Worlds of Design: WANTED - More Game Masters

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There never seems to be enough game masters to go around, a problem that’s been around for as long as the hobby has existed. So what do we do about it?

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

Game Mastering is Work​

There’s a long-term trend to reduce the burdens of game mastering so that there are more GMs to play tabletop role-playing games, specifically Dungeons & Dragons and its descendants. There never seems to be enough, and it’s been a problem for the 45+ years that I, and some of you, have been playing RPGs.

I wouldn’t call GMing hard work, but it is definitely work. People don’t generally like to work in their entertainment. Most GMs undertake the work in order to allow their friends to be entertained. We could say that it’s a necessary evil. I always try to persuade most or all of the players in my group to also GM so that no one has to do the work all the time, but my impression is it’s more common for one GM to run a game for many sessions. At college game clubs, there are always enough players when someone offers to GM. Players who can’t find a GM are much more common.

GMing isn’t work for everyone, of course. Some may conceive the GM as a storyteller, and they want to tell (their) stories. I have a friend who is a software engineer and gamer, but also writes haiku every day and novels once a year (in National Novel Writing Month). He says he GMs with just a small amount of notes and makes the rest up as he goes along. So for him GMing may be another creative outlet, no more work than writing his daily haiku.

After having been player far more than GM for many years, my brother ran a campaign as sole GM, because he didn’t allow players to read the rules beyond the D&D Player’s Handbook! I can think of other reasons, but what’s important is that not many people prefer GMing to playing.

Why This is a Problem​

In video RPGs computer programming is as close as we get to a GM, so there’s no problem of lack of GM’s limiting the number of video games that are played. As you know, vastly more people play video RPGs than tabletop RPGs.

This is a problem for publishers. The GM in D&D-style games can be potentially in conflict with players, which is not an attractive role for many people. If a game doesn’t have enough GMs, the number of games played is limited by that insufficiency. And if the number of games played is limited, then there will be fewer people playing the game, which is likely to translate to fewer sales both of player and GM products.

The publishers of D&D undoubtedly saw that the appeal of the game was being limited by insufficient availability of GMs. What could they do to reduce the load on the GM?

How to Fix It​

One way to change the role of GMs so that it’s less likely to conflict with players is to make the rules absolutes rather than guidelines, and make the GM merely the arbiter (interpreter and enforcer) of rules rather than the creative “god” of the campaign.

When rules are very clear, the GM doesn’t have to make a lot of judgment calls, and it reduces negotiation (even though, in essence, RPGs are structured negotiations between players and GM). If you’re a team sports fan you know that fans particularly complain about referee judgment calls. It’s hard to make rules absolutely clear (see my previous Worlds of Design article, “Precision”) but the effort has been made. I’m particularly impressed with the systematic Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules.

Further, those GMs who need encouragement can use commercially available modules/adventures, which do even more to take the burden off the GM. How many GMs still make up their own adventures? I don't know, but evidently a small minority.

The Downside of Making it Easier​

I think of RPGs as games, not storytelling. When everyone plays the same adventure, it creates the risk of the same experience. I like the idea of fun from emergent play, where anything can happen and players stray outside the boxed text.

The x-factor that differentiates each game is the players and GM together. New GMs may stick closely to the text while experienced GMs stray from it, and really experienced GMs just make it up without too much prep time.

I think a good GM using the more flexible methods will create a more interesting game than one using the follow-the-rules-to-the-letter method. In my opinion, role-playing a situation is more interesting than rolling dice to resolve it, both as participant and as observer. Readership of this column surely has a different opinion, hence our poll.

Your Turn: How much do you GM, as opposed to act as a player, in RPGs?

 

[Morrus]

I prefer GMing to playing, by quite a large margin.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I never used to run published adventures (over the course of 30 years of GMing) but I found that I had trouble running my inherent improv style over a VTT. So when using Fantasy grounds, I tend to use published modules for 5E. I still change a lot of stuff on the fly (so much so that my players often ask "what was supposed to happen in the adventure") but I have the structure, pre-coded encounters, tokens and maps etc on hand. At a real life table (SOON!) I just use Tac-Tiles and dice/coins/whatever and feel much more free.

I definitely spend more time prepping now that all of my games are VTT (though they were for years before the pandemic). And if I was running 5e I'd probably be using published modules for exactly the kinds of assets you're talking about. But that's why I wanted to point out that the original post is inherently 5e-centric. For a lot of other systems there just aren't those kinds of VTT-ready modules and assets, even if you wanted to use them.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I prefer GMing to playing, by quite a large margin.

Same here! When I play, I tend to create characters with a lot going on - summoners or wizards who change the environment or characters with followers - because I get bored just having one thing to do.

That said, as a DM, I'm always looking for ways to bring my players into the creative, collaborative side of playing D&D. Some of them just want to show up and swing a sword each week, but I have a lot of fun running games for players who help me create guilds, enemies, NPCs, and interesting areas of the world.

 

[Lanefan]

Re: published adventures:

And, sadly, there's little to learn about adventure design from them either.

I have to disagree. Running published adventures - particularly running the same adventure more than once - can teach a great deal about adventure design, simply by paying a bit of attention to what works and what doesn't in play and-or how different the play/DMing experience is on repeat runs.

Just reading them without running them is of little use IME: some play better than they read and, unfortunately, some do the opposite.

 

[jasper]

As a grandpa gamer who does DM 98% of the time give me guidelines over the Star Fleet Lawyers BS any time. As to young gamers being jerks my group was. But as a teenager I was a jerk also. And NEW players can be jerks too regardless how close they are to Huggies or Depends. It is not the physical age but mental age of a gamer which help the non jerky side. I think more DMs make their own stuff up than run modules as written. But since they homebrew they don’t need no stinking forum to tell them what to do.

GMs to players ratio. Until 5E it was always 7 players and 6 DMs. But we rarely finished a campaign. I have finished more campaigns and seasons with 5E in less time then my 1E to 3.5 E time all together.

As to streaming and DM help on the internet. well !@#$%^&()!@#$%^&( and another !@#$%^&*(
Insert 3 pages of cussing and griping of why this was NOT invented before 1E. Help your DMS, they need hugs, chocolate, presents and the occasional swift kick in the BEEP.

 

[robus]

I have to disagree. Running published adventures - particularly running the same adventure more than once - can teach a great deal about adventure design, simply by paying a bit of attention to what works and what doesn't in play and-or how different the play/DMing experience is on repeat runs.

Ha, I should have said I learned what not to do. For example: don't have a major NPC whose motivation is poor or entirely absent. Too many WotC adventures have two-dimensional baddies that DMs then have to motivate without really grokking what makes them tick. And I'm tired of navigating badly designed lairs/encounters. So yeah, I stand corrected, it taught me a lot by going to the school of hard knocks!

 

[Shiroiken]

While there are a shortage of DM/GMs, by definition more people are going to play than GM. An average group has 5 players and a DM, which means that for every session you have a 5:1 ratio. Even if the group has multiple DMs (like mine) you'll never get past that ratio unless they DM for different groups.

I do agree WOTC needs to focus more on teaching people how to GM. We're mostly old timers.

While I don't miss the bad old days of the rules being hidden from players, I feel the loss of apprenticeships to be a problem. For those unaware, back in the AD&D days it was hard to become a DM, since the rules were both complicated and even hidden from the players in 1E. Usually a DM would find a player with potential to become a DM, and would then take the effort to help guide them. As an old school DM, I still feel it's my responsibility to mentor potential DMs even though I haven't played with a new group in ages.

While BECMI did a great job teaching DMs without needing a mentor, I feel this has fallen off in the WotC years. I don't know what the best solution might be, especially nowadays with so many play styles and preferences. While a book would be ideal, I don't think it would be profitable enough for WotC to print it. Perhaps a PDF or print-on-demand might be better, but I'm still not sure. Another option would be to dedicate a section of their website to it.

I prefer GMing to playing, by quite a large margin.

There are quite a few Forever DMs. While I play about half the time, I'm about to take my first DM hiatus in 6 years. IME there are casual DMs who will run the periodic campaigns, then us Forever DMs that just can't stop for too long before the creative itch returns.

 

[Marc_C]

Forever GM because that is the way I like it.

We alternate between games of Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE and The Expanse AGE. Switching games keeps my creative juices flowing. I never get GM fatigue.

 

[Argyle King]

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Why This is a Problem​

*In video RPGs computer programming is as close as we get to a GM, so there’s no problem of lack of GM’s limiting the number of video games that are played. As you know, vastly more people play video RPGs than tabletop RPGs.

This is a problem for publishers. The GM in D&D-style games can be potentially in conflict with players, which is not an attractive role for many people. If a game doesn’t have enough GMs, the number of games played is limited by that insufficiency. And if the number of games played is limited, then there will be fewer people playing the game, which is likely to translate to fewer sales both of player and GM products.

**The publishers of D&D undoubtedly saw that the appeal of the game was being limited by insufficient availability of GMs. What could they do to reduce the load on the GM?

How to Fix It​

*One way to change the role of GMs so that it’s less likely to conflict with players is to make the rules absolutes rather than guidelines, and make the GM merely the arbiter (interpreter and enforcer) of rules rather than the creative “god” of the campaign.

When rules are very clear, the GM doesn’t have to make a lot of judgment calls, and it reduces negotiation (even though, in essence, RPGs are structured negotiations between players and GM). If you’re a team sports fan you know that fans particularly complain about referee judgment calls. It’s hard to make rules absolutely clear (see my previous Worlds of Design article, “Precision”) but the effort has been made. I’m particularly impressed with the systematic Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules.

**Further, those GMs who need encouragement can use commercially available modules/adventures, which do even more to take the burden off the GM. How many GMs still make up their own adventures? I don't know, but evidently a small minority.

The Downside of Making it Easier​

*I think of RPGs as games, not storytelling. When everyone plays the same adventure, it creates the risk of the same experience. I like the idea of fun from emergent play, where anything can happen and players stray outside the boxed text.

The x-factor that differentiates each game is the players and GM together. New GMs may stick closely to the text while experienced GMs stray from it, and really experienced GMs just make it up without too much prep time.

I think a good GM using the more flexible methods will create a more interesting game than one using the follow-the-rules-to-the-letter method. In my opinion, role-playing a situation is more interesting than rolling dice to resolve it, both as participant and as observer. Readership of this column surely has a different opinion, hence our poll.

Your Turn: How much do you GM, as opposed to act as a player, in RPGs?

*I would counter that video games have trended toward more human interaction, not less. That is why things like Xbox Live and Playstation Network thrive. Likewise, the Nintendo Switch is becoming increasingly popular.

**What is this based upon?

*I do not believe this requires the rules to be "absolute." It simply requires keeping GM-knowledge separated from NPC-knowledge. The GM knowing a piece of information doesn't mean that the BBEG knows something; the role of rules arbiter and the role of world builder are related but not equivalent. Houserules can and do exist. As long as they are communicated to the players, the game works fine. Additionally, having some flexibility as a GM allows for a tabletop game to handle things which programming tends to handle poorly: an example would be that there are some games in which jumping even small objects are not possible. Similarly, there is a reason why a courtroom involves a judge instead of a computer program which simply scans legal code.

**What stops someone from buying modules now? I'm not seeing how that is some sort of change. Further, I'm not seeing how buying modules means someone does not create their own adventures. Anecdotally, I know far more people who play rpgs at home or at a friend's home than people who play Adventurer League (or some thing similar). Many of those people create their own adventures but still purchase modules. Most often (again, anecdotally,) what I see is that people want some sort of "starter" module or series of beginner adventures to get a campaign moving but then take things in their own direction. I also know plenty of people who buy modules and mine them for ideas. Personally, I don't particularly like the Strahd campaign, but there are a lot of bits and pieces of it (like the elevator trap) which I thought were cool.

*I don't understand what you are trying to say here. How is emergent play at odds with telling a story? As a story would change according to a player's actions, I believe that a storytelling game allows for emergent play. I am not sure that I understand what you are saying with your statement or why/how you draw the line between rpgs being (for you) a game instead of a story. How would you categorize something like a choose-your-own-adventure book? For me, tabletop rpgs are sorta like an in-person MMO version of a choose-your-own-adventure book. I am interested in hearing the position you've taken elaborated upon because (as I read it) it seems very alien to my way of thinking.

I answered the poll, but I am overall confused by what your article is saying. I feel as though there are two conflicting messages being presented.

I play and GM roughly equally. Currently, I am a player in two different groups (one playing D&D and one playing a different system). I am also currently prepping to run a new campaign for a group.

 

[thullgrim]

I prefer GMing to playing, by quite a large margin.

I discovers this to be true of myself earlier this year as well. It’s something I’ve suspected for some time but was able to confirm this year.