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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Tech Deck

The Spokesman-Review guide to being a Dungeon Master

The humble DM comes from the grandfather of the modern Roleplaying Game (aka RPG), Dungeons and Dragons (aka D&D). In that game the player running the adventure is referred to as the Dungeon Master. Meanwhile the other players are the adventurers going on that adventure.

Snidely Whiplash
Generic Villan: Snidely Whiplash

Specifically to D&D these adventures often have something to do with evil person/being X is doing evil things to person/group Y. The players are then set out to stop the big bad Evil X. There are a variety of different variants, with the only limit being your imagination! Actually gaming is handled with improvisation and dice rolling (to add randomness and authority to players and DM [more on that in a later article]).

Looking outside of D&D, other RPG’s have their equivalent though most commonly you will see either Game Master (GM) or Story Teller (I usually see this with White Wolf games). For all intents and purposes if you see the phrase DM you can substitute for whichever you prefer.

Speaking of preferences, as the DM you have one of the most important roles to a gaming group. You are the one who brings the adventure, sets forth the conflict and ultimately determines what happens when dice are rolled. Your word is law. If there is an argument over the rules, you are the arbitrator. Just because a player rolls poorly doesn’t mean they have failed entirely and should be punished, alternatively just because a player rolls well doesn’t mean they have succeeded spectacularly either. I will cover more of this in a later post.

A full set of dice
A mostly full set of dice - Which is missing?

I have a lot to talk about and I greatly look forward to writing these blogs, so I hope to stick with me. Now before I go I want to leave a tip that will help DM’s across the board. Call the game right before a major event and leave them with a hook for the next adventure. They will hate you for it, but it will get them thinking and excited for what will happen next. For example:

DM to players: “You storm up the stairwell to warn the Prince in his reading room. Rushing passed the surprised guards. You see him. He sits next to an open window. Hearing your approach he looks up and waves. A dark form emerges behind the Prince. A glint of metal in its hand. The doors slam shut before you can react! There is a scream…!”

Well, folks I think we’ll call it there and pick it up next time. <end session>


Quote of the week:

“Mankind is noodlekind.” – Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen.

 

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Andrew Smith is one of The Spokesman-Review's IT gurus and resident dungeon master.