If you’ve ever wondered how to game master or how to DM then look no further. This will be an in-depth guide on how to improve your skills as a game master to help your players (and self) enjoy your roleplaying games more. First Id like to start with a short description and then break it down more.
The short summary for how to game master, or how to DM(dungeon master), is to arbitrate the outcome of actions between your player’s characters and the world they play in. That’s not all there is to it so let’s start first with what it means to game master/dungeon master.
What does a game master do?
A game master is responsible for creating everything a player doesn’t. From the NPCs that players interact with to the setting, environment, world, and story. Generally, this means that a game master will start out by coming up with a campaign idea and work backward.
This idea is normally some variation of “the ultimate big bad guy is trying to take over or destroy the world and only you can stop it”. You then come up with specific plot points that the players come upon and have to overcome either with wits, will, or weapons.
Most roleplaying games and game master guides tell you to further the plot line only if specific answers, skills, items, etc are used to get through the challenge. In my experience, this is an utter waste of time because you are often shooting yourself in the foot as often the players don’t use or do the thing needed to move things forward. There are other ways to game master.
How to game master
Most of the information above is fine to do. Specifically having a setting is great, that is usually taken care of just by picking a game to use like: Rifts, Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Magictech, Earthdawn, etc. The setting however is not a story, here’s what I mean.
A story is the interactions that players are going to have within the setting. NPC A has done X and now you can either stop them, help them, take advantage of it, or whatever. A cool setting is stagnant and does not create a story on its own. After you’ve picked your game ask yourself what kind of story you want to build: combat-focused, adventure-based, or player-focused.
Types of games you can play
In a player-focused game, the story is the player’s actions. This method requires you to be more adaptable and come up with stuff off the top of your head. If that’s not your style don’t worry, you can learn it. In addition roll tables or lists of NPCs and common reactions, personalities, etc for them helps tremendously.
Adventure-based games are more about the continued progression of your story more than the nitty-gritty details of combat, the situation, or even the actions characters use to make progress. Don’t get bogged down in how things work, so long as the ideas they come up with are good ideas then allow them to work.
Combat-focused games are kind of the norm, especially for new players. It helps you learn the game mechanics so it’s not bad. It can become a crutch however when you lock story progression behind always having a fight.
Story creation
The story is defined in the WHO, WHAT, WHY, and WHEN. Who are the NPCs/monsters the players are interacting with? What are they doing and why are they doing those things? The when can be literal and it can also be when the players show up and what happens next.
Before you tell yourself you can’t and you’re not good enough let me say this. The players will not know any different! Whatever story you come up with, nobody will know any different. It’s not important what the story is, so long as you have a story. Your story can span several hours or it can link between multiple sessions it’s up to you.
So who are the NPCs in the area your players are in? (Help yourself out here and come up with a list of 5-10 things they are having problems with. Some can be related to your main story and others can be side missions. The rest of the townsfolk are simply filler- I regularly will state that to players if they try to fixate on super inconsequential NPCs- I have a story to tell dang it!).
What are those NPCs doing? What is their general disposition, ie. helpful, friendly, kind, motherly, angry, etc? Are they related to your overall game story and how so? What problems are they facing that they would like help with? Are they a major bad guy or underling trying to sow chaos, mistrust, confusion, or something else?
Why are they doing these things? You can go into big detail with this or trivial. The most common reason we all do things in life is based on money, love, romance, and power. You don’t “need” to get any more detailed than that, however, sometimes you’ll be inspired to have some elaborate plot chain or character reasoning for why things are as they are. Whatever you decide remember: nobody will know differently (unless you tell them- so only tell them what you want them to know).
When do things take place? Does plot A have to be after plot B, or do actions L, T, S, and R have to take place first? When things take place can be a great place to start because it can help you create a timeline for your story. This is also known as creating a campaign if you have lots of plots going together. Many campaigns get started, but few are ever complete.
How to become a great game master
Truly the most time-tested method here is through practice. The more you are a game master the more it will become a habit. The most helpful thing you can do is to jump in and get started as a game master.
The next thing you can do is don’t let things be a problem for you as a game master(or dungeon master). What I mean here is that often times we get bogged down in the details and make a bigger deal out of tiny things than they need to be. Sometimes this can take the form of players not working towards the goal you want, don’t worry just roll with it. Other times it can be blowing a bad die roll into the worst possible scenario.. all.. the.. time.
It’s a really bad idea to get into a habit of always making up the worst-case scenario always come to pass. For one it doesn’t help you tell your story, and it often makes the players feel like they are always in retreat mode. This can lead them to always feel like they can never accomplish what they set out to so why even try?
How to game master better
Other than the above information I’d give two pieces of advice.
Expand your understanding
Watch what other GMs do and adopt parts for yourself. When first starting you can gain great inspiration from how others respond to players. You can abstractly draw good ideas from listening to or reading books in an attempt to expand your ideas of what roleplaying is, what power is, and other things.
Examples:
“He warped the very world just by being there” -Cradle series
“The speed of light is slow. Space battles are different because you have to anticipate ahead of time” -Expeditionary force
Dragonball Z- need I give more examples about power differences?
How to expand your understanding
Do you know what the 4 basic psychological needs are? Do you understand how your own ego mind works? Why do you want to play RPGs?
Subconsciously we all want 1) comfort, 2) authenticity, 3) importance, 4) connection, and our ego tries to give these to us by getting us to seek to be special. So this applies to roleplaying games in that often I see people viewing their character as an extension of who they themselves are. This becomes a problem when things in the game go against the character. The player then feels like the GM is out to get them. That is almost never the case.
Knowing this as a game master can help you to be more understanding of your players. It will help you to express that you are not there to make them look bad, you are simply responding to how the NPC would react.
Heres an article that outlines our philosophy on roleplaying better that helps gms and players: check it out especially if you are struggling with games.
Prepare in advance
This pretty much goes without saying but for new game masters you may not know so I’ll address it. There is a lot of work game masters need to do to set up for a game. You have to write up your story on what the campaign is about. Decide on the NPCs within it, what the starting area is, how the players get involved and other basics.
That’s all great. That’s all the standard stuff you’ll do.
What I don’t see often is game masters prepared to handle when players come up with stuff outside the direction they think the game is going to go. This is the preparation that will save you a ton of headaches.
It doesn’t take a lot of time nor does it have to be difficult. This is where you can come up with roll tables to help generate random rolls for player actions.
In addition, you can have a list of common types of people with basic bonuses, equipment, etc. This list does not need to be exhaustive nor do you need to flesh out these possible NPCs like you do the primary movers in your games. It could be a list of common soldiers, town bums, kids running around, or other people that players commonly run into. Include 2-4 different ways they may respond and 1 or 2 problems they are having.
All players and GMs can use something from this list of roleplaying game tools.