Why did you start DMing?

[ForceUser]

Damn isolationist San Diego ENWorlders.

Take heart. I met one of my groups right here on ENWorld. That guy Mythusmage, for instance, has had "looking for a game" in his sig for like a billion years, and he's a San Diegan.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

1979. I had never even played D&D before. A bunch of us wanted to play. We got together and were about to start rolling up characters when I asked, "Who's going to DM?" My brother responded, "You." When I protested, he said that I was the only one who had anything "prepared" (ha!). I had some doodles on graph paper which qualified as a dungeon. That led to a five-level dugeon crawl culminating in the encounter detailed below:

Ah the fond memories of stocking a 10X10 room with an ancient huge red dragon.

Amateur. Put Tiamat in a 30x30 room on the last level of the dungeon.

At least the monsters got harder as the levels got deeper--that is my only consolation while remembering the first dungeon I ever "designed" (and I use the word loosely).

Still, the main objective was accomplished--we had fun.

 

[Graybeard]

I started running a Harnmaster game several years ago. That ended after most of the palyers had to drop out for various reasons. Then one day, one of my former players asked me to join a D&D game he was in. I played for a few years before our DM had to stop running his game due to time constraints. I started running a homebrew after that alternating with another person who is running an Eberron game. I ran the Harnmaster game because I was the only one in the area who was familiar with the game, having played it for several years.

 

[jtone]

I had no fellow gamers, so I DM'ed and forced non-gamers to play. I was desperate, what can I say.

That about describes it for me as well. I live out in the boonies and with three young kids I can't get out much. I convinced a couple that my wife and I are friends with to give gaming a try and it's gone very well.

(And I like the feeling of power and coming up with villainous schemes for my players to thwart. )

 

[Odhanan]

I was 11 years old, I had no fellow gamers beside me, and wanted to play RPGs. I was offered the Dark Eye Basic Rules boxed set for Christmas, and ran a few sessions with friends of mine. Then, I "fell" on the red box of D&D. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

[S. Baldrick]

I was on a power trip I think. That was well over 20 years ago so I can only vaguely recall.

 

[Einan]

Because I was never completely satisfied with the campaigns I was playing in. I figured that the only way I could be satisfied is if I ran a game the way I thought it should be run. Now if only I could develop multiple personality disorder I could then play in a game run exactlly the way I like it.

Exactly! I loved my first DM, but it was always "This isn't QUITE the game I want to play," so I decided to run that game. And my players enjoyed it. Now I run mainly because it's convienent for all concerned and because our experiences at round-robining have been less than stellar. Of course, I can always count on them to take over when I need a brief other side of the screen respite.

Einan

 

[Qualidar]

Well, It's been so long that my DM origins are Lost in Time (1981), but to the best of my (sketchy) recollection: we all bought the boxed set and just assumed that the DM mantle would be passed from person to person.

~Qualidar~

 

[Lord Mhoram]

It was late seventies - I had played in a Basic D&D with my friends older brother trying to GM, and I thought I could do better, so I ran 1st ed gamma world... first for the group, then solo for my friend. As I was the one with the money I bought the Hardcover AD&D books as they came out, and thus, became the GM.

 

[Tinner]

I did it first because my best friend had been DMing for a while, and he wanted to try playing.
Later I did it because I was a megalomaniacal control freak.
Still later I did it because no one else wanted to.
I often do it because I am the best DM in our group.
Now I mostly do it because I love it.
And a little bit because I am a megalomaniacal control freak.