The Honor of "DM/GM" in Dungeons and Dragons

I am a HUGE Dungeons & Dragons fan. I have always LoVeD fantasy stories, and games. Dragons, faeries, elves, adventure, saving the realms and kingdom! I love roleplaying, I am the girl that who will go to the Ren Fair dressed in a FULL faerie get-up. Hand made and everything. If I had ever found a LARP community nearby, you can bet that I am so there. In essence. I'm a giant freaking nerd and I'm super proud of it. I never actually got to play the real D&D until earlier this year though, due to never having found a group.

And one should know, the first step and the hardest step of getting into D&D is finding a group that you can fit in with. I enjoy easy-going company and while I'm not opposed to meeting new people and adventuring with them, I'd rather have a group of people I know and am comfortable with (just so you know, this is why I never found a group before, because of my stupidly high standards, if you're less anti-social and anxiety-ridden then I am, I hope your adventure is much better and easier!).

I didn't want to be in a group that took things too seriously because the whole point of playing a game is to have fun, and if the people made me uncomfortable, then well...it's just not fun. I have also dived into the world of Critical Role - a lot of famous voice actors play D&D and have made a WHOLE thing with it, and they raise money for charities and use a lot of profits to for philanthropic things, but they've exploded. They are worth a search on YouTube, and I suggest starting on Campaign 2 if you'd like to get to know them! It consumes all the quiet hours of my life running errands or trying to fall asleep, their campaigns are SO good! Matt Mercer is the DM (his most recent HUGE role was playing Gannon on Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)

It's from listening to Critical Role and playing that I have come to understand that a DM/GM (Dungeon Master or Game Master) is a lot more involved than what a lot of people understand. Being a DM is not just showing up to game night with your bag of dice and character sheet. There are a lot of things that go into planning and running a campaign. Not everyone can do it, and we will go through that.

1st the DM picks or creates a campaign.

Most people just starting to DM usually follow a campaign, and it does require some money involved. A starter set such as this one has a campaign book, a DM's screen, miniature figures, maps, dice, character sheets, and grid maps. These are useful tools when you are first learning to be a DM and your group first starts out. A good campaign to start with is Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.

Some DM's like Matt Mercer from Critical Role, take it a step further. They can create their own campaigns, villages, maps, (it's easier to do with these customizable map pages), and storylines.

2nd the DM Preps For Game Night

You don't get to be a DM by just having the starter set. Let's be clear, it's not the items that make a good DM. A good dungeon master reads their campaign book. They study the book and then take notes. Just because the dungeon master isn't a player in the game, doesn't mean that they aren't playing the game.

The dungeon master has to bring to life all these NPCs, enemies, shopkeepers, villages, dungeons, and towns. They have to be able to improvise and be prepared for ANY path the players may take - because the fun part about D&D is there is no set course. The players can choose any path based on the information given to them. So a DM has to be pretty well prepared in advance, and able to swing with whatever road the adventure takes them on. They even are in charge of figuring out how to do random encounters with enemies, so that means having the monster manual within reach is convenient.

Some true game masters will even supply themselves with miniatures of their players and the enemies, and print or draw out maps of the various maps they can take out during battles. That's a lot of information that a DM has to keep track of, including your characters, remembering details about them throughout the game, and knowing the basic rules of the game. By the way, the concept of D&D and the rules literally require a whole handbook to explain. And if you're going to be a DM, it's not optional.

Does it seem like an easy job to you?

Lastly, a DM has to be open flexible, and open to improvision.

Despite there being a handbook a monster manual, and SO much information it's almost overwhelming, a DM/GM has to be open to improvise. The most fun thing about D&D is that it's an adventure, it's fantasy, and while there are core rules and fundamentals to remember, the land of The Forgotten Realms, or any of the other worlds of Dungeons and Dragons is a place where almost anything is possible.

The hardest job for a DM, is being open to allow things to happen, all the while not letting the players metagame or break the game. They have to be flexible, in order to allow every player's imagination to allow them to have fun during the game, and still keep them within the line of 'reality' with the game.

So now you know what it takes to DM. Do you think you could do the job? Are there any GMs out there that think I missed something? please tell me in the articles!

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