Just wanted to make a thread to discuss the DM shortage, and how many new systems and mechanics tend to foster a space that puts a hell of a lot of pressure on game masters. Here's a video that pretty much perfectly explains my points:
I finally had a chance to watch the video, and the ideas presented were interesting.
It almost seems like there really isn't a DM shortage, just a shortage of players willing to play. Along with this, it seems, is how DMs are advertising their games. Honestly, I don't like the term "homebrew" because it can mean so many different things, so I shy away from games that use this term. Then there are the DMs who want to charge $20/player per session to run Lost Mines...are there really players falling for this scam?
Another aspect of this "shortage" that I've seen, are people who claim they want to play but just can't find any games. Then when games are presented to them, they find excuses to not play...usually found in the poser/hipster circles.
I found myself nodding while they were talking about player options. I don't mind the races, sub-races, classes, sub-classes showing up in my games. The player just needs to have the book(s) at the table, and an understanding that if they're playing a monster then the NPCs may treat them as such. Also, if the player is still a novice they should really be sticking to the PHB.
Finally, they mentioned players seeking out optimal character builds. This caused me to flashback to when I played Magic: The Gathering. I used to LOVE the game, it was a $150 a week habit. Then folks started "net-decking" and the fun was immediately sapped out of the game and it became WAY too competitive. People were bringing identical decks to events, until the next OP combo was discovered. Well, these character builds work sort of the same way...they're handy in some specific situations, but are useless in others. The players then find themselves not having any fun unless they are in those specific situations, and if the DM fails to plant them in those situations the view is that the GM has failed somehow. Again, undue pressure on the DM because a player has a narrow view of the game...possibly because of misrepresentation found elsewhere. It feels some vocal players do treat D&D as a competition ("my character is better than yours").
But in the end, I'm just some old guy on the constant search for others to play this game. So there may be a tinge of bitterness in my post.
I'm not sure I see a DM shortage as such, but I certainly see a disinclination in players to step into the DM breach. (I've run the current campaign for ten years now -- the original idea was that we'd switch.) And I agree fully that there is pressure put on the DM, not least because there is this discourse that the DM has "responsibilities" other than those of the players. Not only should the DM come up with and run a story, manage all the prep, keep track of every blessed opponent in a fight ... they should also "talk to their players" about any social problems that come up, make sure everyone has a good time, make sure everyone is equally involved ...
But I have yet to see or hear someone say that each player is responsible for making sure that all the other players at the table (including the DM) have the best time, or to have a chat with a problematic co-player after a game, or create their character concept to make the story awsome for everyone (including the DM), not just for themselves. For me, D&D is a game between friends, for everyone's enjoyment. It should be obvious, at least in a group where everyone is an adult, that responsibility for the group and the fun we have together is equally divided. (And the suggestion that the DM's "job" is to do this or that is risible in most cases; I certainly do not get paid for DMing.)
Having watched the video @deadPan_c suggested also made me wish that there were some WotC product for DMs that addressed how to challenge the various combinations abilities of the different classes, sub-classes, races, sub-races &c, &c that a DM risks facing -- because at some point, the party's potential abilities have become too complex to deal with through anything but (educated) guesses. Candy is constantly thrown to the players; maybe spare a thought for the DM who is meant to deal with it?
In this city, there are way more players looking for games than vice versa....and a lot of the players are "forever DMs" who want to actually be a player. One thing I've noticed with the professional (online) DMs is they seems more interested in the players having a good time...because there is some accountability (people have paid and can review them).
I agreed with the parts about there being a lot of Options for players but not enough support for DMs to learn the strengths and weaknesses of those options. This makes it a challenge to assess whether new content is OP for my campaign. Instead, DMs are supposed to watch YT videos of more experienced DMs to make such assessments. The job of the game developers is to generate not only new content, but also content that is balanced for the game per the expectations set in the DMG and the Player's Handbook. If they introduce subclass features that don't "fit" into the rest of the game rules without providing a "DM's Supplement" for dealing with those suddenly really powerful options, it makes it more of a headache for the DM to do their unpaid job.
We have the same problem with the devs not properly playtesting and editing their own content. This is how we got near infinite movement with Hadozee, spells that barely make sense like Tenser's Transformation, etc.
As always, knowing when and how to say "no, you can't do that" is a valuable tool, one which should be more thoroughly inculcated to new DMs.
I think they're "streamlining" where they can get away with it because they think that they can just use A.I. to run online games in the future, which decreases the "GM Shortage" problem, which increases profit. Supposedly.
I disagree with the DM shortage. In fact, I feel as though there's been a player shortage. I used to be a part-time premium DM but still made sure to have fun with my own campaigns. Lately, since the disaster happened this year, I have seen a huge decline in players seeking games. Even among free games, there's always been a lack of people. You can find tons of premium DMs advertising for decent rates, but when it comes to the free market. They get discouraged by the people online they meet. I make sure my players are happy and try to discuss with them their characters, goals, and rates. Always making the effort to make a schedule between 12-hour shifts online. It's completely different playing with a group of friends, rather than strangers who just barely met. I feel there is a big lack of communication when people build up these expectations but don't take a moment to step aside and discuss little issues when things go south.
Even games like Baldur's Gate or AI generated stuff make it impossible to meet those demands until you push yourself toward finding a decent party. Taken in years of experience and making mistakes have taught me that the effort you put in a game depends on the current mindset. Which have been very low ever since.
There isn't a DM shortage. There is a "DM who wants to run exactly the kind of story in which I am the lead character " shortage.
I've been offering learn to play and low-level (tier 1) Adventurer's League in a metropolitan area for over a year now. And more often than not I don't have any players on the weekends I run it (2x month). And more often than not I get players who have never played before but want to create a very specific character and start in a campaign. All too often these are the people who get frustrated and quit because things do not meet their expectations after 1-2 sessions.
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Just wanted to make a thread to discuss the DM shortage, and how many new systems and mechanics tend to foster a space that puts a hell of a lot of pressure on game masters. Here's a video that pretty much perfectly explains my points:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W90bIdMHqMQ
Edit: I have no idea why this post has been moved to Streams & Video. It's a discussion.
[REDACTED]
I finally had a chance to watch the video, and the ideas presented were interesting.
It almost seems like there really isn't a DM shortage, just a shortage of players willing to play. Along with this, it seems, is how DMs are advertising their games. Honestly, I don't like the term "homebrew" because it can mean so many different things, so I shy away from games that use this term. Then there are the DMs who want to charge $20/player per session to run Lost Mines...are there really players falling for this scam?
Another aspect of this "shortage" that I've seen, are people who claim they want to play but just can't find any games. Then when games are presented to them, they find excuses to not play...usually found in the poser/hipster circles.
I found myself nodding while they were talking about player options. I don't mind the races, sub-races, classes, sub-classes showing up in my games. The player just needs to have the book(s) at the table, and an understanding that if they're playing a monster then the NPCs may treat them as such. Also, if the player is still a novice they should really be sticking to the PHB.
Finally, they mentioned players seeking out optimal character builds. This caused me to flashback to when I played Magic: The Gathering. I used to LOVE the game, it was a $150 a week habit. Then folks started "net-decking" and the fun was immediately sapped out of the game and it became WAY too competitive. People were bringing identical decks to events, until the next OP combo was discovered. Well, these character builds work sort of the same way...they're handy in some specific situations, but are useless in others. The players then find themselves not having any fun unless they are in those specific situations, and if the DM fails to plant them in those situations the view is that the GM has failed somehow. Again, undue pressure on the DM because a player has a narrow view of the game...possibly because of misrepresentation found elsewhere. It feels some vocal players do treat D&D as a competition ("my character is better than yours").
But in the end, I'm just some old guy on the constant search for others to play this game. So there may be a tinge of bitterness in my post.
I'm not sure I see a DM shortage as such, but I certainly see a disinclination in players to step into the DM breach. (I've run the current campaign for ten years now -- the original idea was that we'd switch.) And I agree fully that there is pressure put on the DM, not least because there is this discourse that the DM has "responsibilities" other than those of the players. Not only should the DM come up with and run a story, manage all the prep, keep track of every blessed opponent in a fight ... they should also "talk to their players" about any social problems that come up, make sure everyone has a good time, make sure everyone is equally involved ...
But I have yet to see or hear someone say that each player is responsible for making sure that all the other players at the table (including the DM) have the best time, or to have a chat with a problematic co-player after a game, or create their character concept to make the story awsome for everyone (including the DM), not just for themselves. For me, D&D is a game between friends, for everyone's enjoyment. It should be obvious, at least in a group where everyone is an adult, that responsibility for the group and the fun we have together is equally divided. (And the suggestion that the DM's "job" is to do this or that is risible in most cases; I certainly do not get paid for DMing.)
Having watched the video @deadPan_c suggested also made me wish that there were some WotC product for DMs that addressed how to challenge the various combinations abilities of the different classes, sub-classes, races, sub-races &c, &c that a DM risks facing -- because at some point, the party's potential abilities have become too complex to deal with through anything but (educated) guesses. Candy is constantly thrown to the players; maybe spare a thought for the DM who is meant to deal with it?
In this city, there are way more players looking for games than vice versa....and a lot of the players are "forever DMs" who want to actually be a player. One thing I've noticed with the professional (online) DMs is they seems more interested in the players having a good time...because there is some accountability (people have paid and can review them).
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E/RPG geek.
I agreed with the parts about there being a lot of Options for players but not enough support for DMs to learn the strengths and weaknesses of those options. This makes it a challenge to assess whether new content is OP for my campaign. Instead, DMs are supposed to watch YT videos of more experienced DMs to make such assessments. The job of the game developers is to generate not only new content, but also content that is balanced for the game per the expectations set in the DMG and the Player's Handbook. If they introduce subclass features that don't "fit" into the rest of the game rules without providing a "DM's Supplement" for dealing with those suddenly really powerful options, it makes it more of a headache for the DM to do their unpaid job.
We have the same problem with the devs not properly playtesting and editing their own content. This is how we got near infinite movement with Hadozee, spells that barely make sense like Tenser's Transformation, etc.
As always, knowing when and how to say "no, you can't do that" is a valuable tool, one which should be more thoroughly inculcated to new DMs.
I think they're "streamlining" where they can get away with it because they think that they can just use A.I. to run online games in the future, which decreases the "GM Shortage" problem, which increases profit. Supposedly.
I disagree with the DM shortage.
In fact, I feel as though there's been a player shortage.
I used to be a part-time premium DM but still made sure to have fun with my own campaigns.
Lately, since the disaster happened this year, I have seen a huge decline in players seeking games.
Even among free games, there's always been a lack of people.
You can find tons of premium DMs advertising for decent rates, but when it comes to the free market. They get discouraged by the people online they meet.
I make sure my players are happy and try to discuss with them their characters, goals, and rates. Always making the effort to make a schedule between 12-hour shifts online.
It's completely different playing with a group of friends, rather than strangers who just barely met.
I feel there is a big lack of communication when people build up these expectations but don't take a moment to step aside and discuss little issues when things go south.
Even games like Baldur's Gate or AI generated stuff make it impossible to meet those demands until you push yourself toward finding a decent party.
Taken in years of experience and making mistakes have taught me that the effort you put in a game depends on the current mindset.
Which have been very low ever since.
There isn't a DM shortage. There is a "DM who wants to run exactly the kind of story in which I am the lead character " shortage.
I've been offering learn to play and low-level (tier 1) Adventurer's League in a metropolitan area for over a year now. And more often than not I don't have any players on the weekends I run it (2x month). And more often than not I get players who have never played before but want to create a very specific character and start in a campaign. All too often these are the people who get frustrated and quit because things do not meet their expectations after 1-2 sessions.