This issue - more people wanting to be players than DMs - is far older than Reddit. In fact, it was a decade-old problem when the founder of Reddit was born.
The easiest way to solve this problem - Dungeon Master. Then you’ll have your pick of players and can have an easier time getting a group together. More importantly, once you have a group that meshes, other players will be inclined to take up the DMing mantle in subsequent campaigns.
As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work, and its so relaxing and easy when I get to be a PC. Nevermind that playing with strangers is kind of a risk, so you might invest insane amounts of time building a campaign, and if one or two of the players isn't a good match for you (eg: you're a DM in it for the roleplay and you've got a murderhobo rules lawyer that makes you dread playing) that means a huge loss of time and heart if you're a DM vs a player who's only investment was creating a character they can just use elsewhere if they want.
I've been playing since high school and have played the earlier editions too (my friends parents gave us books! they were awesome!), and I can also say that DMing 5e is like 100 times more difficult than I ever remember it being back when I was a child playing 2e. My theory about that is that a lot of the design decisions are centered around getting players to buy books-- the playtests seem oriented that way too-- and not aimed at DMs, who I think have a very valuable top-down view of the game, and have their own needs and desires that kinda get ignored a lot. Back in earlier editions, it was DMs that bought the books to play in person with friends, so the maybe the game design was oriented differently because capitalism or whatever. But anyway that's just a theory.
You could always jump onto the reddit and offer to try DMing! Or get a group of people who are willing to take turns DMing one-shots. I'd actually like to try to set up that second option sometime when I get more free time.
I admit though, that part of the fun for me is simulating medieval economies and societies, so if I'm your DM, you better enjoy some facsimile of the old pounds/shillings/pence system, be prepared for regional dialect changes to the Common Speech, and half the campaign villains being evil merchants from the Grocer's guild, etc.
As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . .
This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing. A more accurate statement would be “DMing has a reputation for requiring an insane amount of work - and there are DMs who put insane amounts of work into DMing - but you do not have to put in that level of effort to be a competent DM, and there are plenty of tools out there to make DMing easier.”
The reputation for DMing being hard is overblown. Sure, some folks put crazy degrees of effort into it—I know I fall into the crazy side of the spectrum—but the floor for being a competent DM is pretty low. As OP pointed out, there are far more players than DMs out there—most folks will accept a new DM struggling to get better if their alternative is not playing. With a premade campaign and a few pointers on DM dos and don’ts, one can effectively put together something players will enjoy while expending minimal effort. The only really hard part is curating a party that will work out - and that is less a “actually hard” problem and more a “it might take a bit to develop a sense of who might make a good or bad player” problem.
"As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . ."
"This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing."
Fine.
It doesn't take an insane amount of work to DM.
But it takes an insane amount of work to DM well.
Even DMing “well” does not necessarily take an “insane” amount of work - each DM is going to be different. I Have seen DMs who put in an “insane” amount of work whose sessions feel rushed; I have seen DMs who put no effort into their prep and ad lib exceptional sessions that feel like they were designed for weeks.
It also should be noted that doing “well” is a far lower standard than doing exceptionally. Even a novice DM running a campaign straight out of the book can do “well” as long as they ensure their players are having fun.
Overstating the effort requirements and threshold competency for DMing does the game a disservice and often comes off a bit like gatekeeping. I think a lot of DMs forget that, just because they go above and beyond, doesn’t mean that is a requirement for DMing.
"As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . ."
"This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing."
Fine.
It doesn't take an insane amount of work to DM.
But it takes an insane amount of work to DM well.
No. It really doesn’t. Back in the day the dm’s job was to remember to bring the character sheets. All you needed were dice, pencils, paper, and an imagination. We used to wing it at least 2/3 of the time. I would often be drawing dungeon maps for the first time in front of the players. And we still had fun. And 30 years later we are still having fun.
You don’t need to be super special to dm, it’s not some secret elite group no matter what people might tell you.
As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work, and its so relaxing and easy when I get to be a PC. Nevermind that playing with strangers is kind of a risk, so you might invest insane amounts of time building a campaign, and if one or two of the players isn't a good match for you (eg: you're a DM in it for the roleplay and you've got a murderhobo rules lawyer that makes you dread playing) that means a huge loss of time and heart if you're a DM vs a player who's only investment was creating a character they can just use elsewhere if they want.
I've been playing since high school and have played the earlier editions too (my friends parents gave us books! they were awesome!), and I can also say that DMing 5e is like 100 times more difficult than I ever remember it being back when I was a child playing 2e. My theory about that is that a lot of the design decisions are centered around getting players to buy books-- the playtests seem oriented that way too-- and not aimed at DMs, who I think have a very valuable top-down view of the game, and have their own needs and desires that kinda get ignored a lot. Back in earlier editions, it was DMs that bought the books to play in person with friends, so the maybe the game design was oriented differently because capitalism or whatever. But anyway that's just a theory.
You could always jump onto the reddit and offer to try DMing! Or get a group of people who are willing to take turns DMing one-shots. I'd actually like to try to set up that second option sometime when I get more free time.
It’s been my experience that the reason 5e takes more work to DM than 2e is because the way people play has changed so significantly. Older editions like 2e were much more location based, the DM created a location and populated it and gave the NPCs motivations and goals and the means by which to accomplish them, and that was it. Then we simply let the players do what they do. Now however, the game is more narrative with story arcs etc., which takes more work to put together.
I don't frequent Reddit, but this is a common problem pretty much everywhere. Dungeon Mastering is more work than playing, and as such, less people are going to volunteer themselves for DMing and more people are going to volunteer themselves as players. I mean, look at this poll thread about Discord. 91.4% of over 13,000 participants said they were interested in the site for playing not DMing. So while being the Dungeon Master isn't an "insane" amount of work, it still is a pretty sizable amount of work. And looking at it from personal experience at least, I and most other people I know play the role of Dungeon Master because it is the only way to get a campaign going, even if it is a bit more work for me. So if they have the option of being a player in a campaign, a lot of people like me will take it and you'll end up with a lot more players than DMs.
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[...]being the Dungeon Master isn't an "insane" amount of work, it still is a pretty sizable amount of work[...]
I think there is an issue of language here. What is an insane amount of work? Outside of D&D and similar TTRPGs, someone spending an hour or two on prepping a game would generally be considered an insane amount. Pretty much every other game I play, even if I'm playing host (or whatever the equivalent of a DM is), the amount of prep is negligible. Most of them, so long as I'm familiar with the rules, I can just pick up and start. 15 minutes would be considered a lot.
The difference with D&D and DMing in particular is...that it's just accepted that DMs do that. I mean, as a player, I might spend an hour creating my character, but afterwards, it's a couple of minutes before each session, a few minutes longer if we just levelled up and I need to make the changes. DMs are just accepted to be spending a ton of time prepping for games. The only reason why anyone is claiming that DMs don't spend an insane amount of time is because...DMs always have, so spending a few hours prepping a game doesn't feel like it's insane...but it is. I don't mind, it's worth it (at least, in my opinion), but let's not pretend that it's not fair to describe spending 10-20x the amount of time we spend doing most other games as "an insane amount".
I also think there is some crossing of wires of what it means to "DM well". I can throw together an enjoyable one shot in 10 minutes. A solid campaign though? That takes much longer than 10 minutes per session to do well. especially if you're doing it all from scratch.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
"As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . ."
"This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing."
Fine.
It doesn't take an insane amount of work to DM.
But it takes an insane amount of work to DM well.
Even DMing “well” does not necessarily take an “insane” amount of work - each DM is going to be different. I Have seen DMs who put in an “insane” amount of work whose sessions feel rushed; I have seen DMs who put no effort into their prep and ad lib exceptional sessions that feel like they were designed for weeks.
It also should be noted that doing “well” is a far lower standard than doing exceptionally. Even a novice DM running a campaign straight out of the book can do “well” as long as they ensure their players are having fun.
Overstating the effort requirements and threshold competency for DMing does the game a disservice and often comes off a bit like gatekeeping. I think a lot of DMs forget that, just because they go above and beyond, doesn’t mean that is a requirement for DMing.
I agree that there is an overstatement on how hard it is to DM, but there is definitely more work and, more importantly, more pressure. You can't just sit down and play - even if the effort is just reading through an adventure.
If you're playing with friends that are all on the same page, starting DMing might be easy, but playing with strangers online can be tough for a first time DM.
In my experience, DM'ing isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be. Don't get me wrong; it's a fair amount of work, but unless you're writing everything entirely by yourself (i.e. not shamelessly stealing ideas from the internet) it's not that hard. Although, I mostly run prewritten modules, so take my advice with a proverbial grain of salt.
For the most part, it's fun and pretty dang rewarding.
I'm a pretty much forever gm. (admittedly i don't run D&D often which has gobs and gobs of ready made resources). I spend 5 to 6 hours planning the campaign at the beginning (mostly setting up character creation and interesting social groups as interesting hooks for character creation and creating the general plot (what the baddies are up to) - I could spend considerably less but I like to do it). I spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down ideas when I have them (usually reminders for new campaigns players vote from choices for future games so having cool ideas to mine from are good). Then maybe 30 minutes tweaking maps on the vtt to fit the adventure i want to have. Then 15 or 20 minutes making notes about the adventure. Sometimes I read a few new monster stats.
Its not a nothing effort but I suspect except for creating the world and adventure maybe twice a year (at least half of it because i enjoy it) players spend almost as much time working on their character as i spend prepping the game. I won't claim I'm Matt Mercer (I'm bad with accents) or Brennan Lee Mulligan but my players have fun, we laugh sometimes we cry and I help them tell great adventures that some of my friends still talk about almost 30 years later).
New Gms think they have to put this enormous effort in but they don't have to.
I'm a pretty much forever gm. (admittedly i don't run D&D often which has gobs and gobs of ready made resources). I spend 5 to 6 hours planning the campaign at the beginning (mostly setting up character creation and interesting social groups as interesting hooks for character creation and creating the general plot (what the baddies are up to) - I could spend considerably less but I like to do it). I spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down ideas when I have them (usually reminders for new campaigns players vote from choices for future games so having cool ideas to mine from are good). Then maybe 30 minutes tweaking maps on the vtt to fit the adventure i want to have. Then 15 or 20 minutes making notes about the adventure. Sometimes I read a few new monster stats.
Its not a nothing effort but I suspect except for creating the world and adventure maybe twice a year (at least half of it because i enjoy it) players spend almost as much time working on their character as i spend prepping the game. I won't claim I'm Matt Mercer (I'm bad with accents) or Brennan Lee Mulligan but my players have fun, we laugh sometimes we cry and I help them tell great adventures that some of my friends still talk about almost 30 years later).
New Gms think they have to put this enormous effort in but they don't have to.
Exactly this. And people should remember that you get better at DM'ing reasonably quickly. I still make mistakes pretty often but I'm definitely exceedingly better at it than I was even a year ago.
I'm a pretty much forever gm. (admittedly i don't run D&D often which has gobs and gobs of ready made resources). I spend 5 to 6 hours planning the campaign at the beginning (mostly setting up character creation and interesting social groups as interesting hooks for character creation and creating the general plot (what the baddies are up to) - I could spend considerably less but I like to do it). I spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down ideas when I have them (usually reminders for new campaigns players vote from choices for future games so having cool ideas to mine from are good). Then maybe 30 minutes tweaking maps on the vtt to fit the adventure i want to have. Then 15 or 20 minutes making notes about the adventure. Sometimes I read a few new monster stats.
Its not a nothing effort but I suspect except for creating the world and adventure maybe twice a year (at least half of it because i enjoy it) players spend almost as much time working on their character as i spend prepping the game. I won't claim I'm Matt Mercer (I'm bad with accents) or Brennan Lee Mulligan but my players have fun, we laugh sometimes we cry and I help them tell great adventures that some of my friends still talk about almost 30 years later).
New Gms think they have to put this enormous effort in but they don't have to.
Exactly this. And people should remember that you get better at DM'ing reasonably quickly. I still make mistakes pretty often but I'm definitely exceedingly better at it than I was even a year ago.
You’re better because of the mistakes you’ve made, not in spite of them. It’s through our mistakes that we learn the most. Make mistakes, never worry about making mistakes, only about not learning from them.
You’re better because of the mistakes you’ve made, not in spite of them. It’s through our mistakes that we learn the most. Make mistakes, never worry about making mistakes, only about not learning from them.
These are wise words my friend... (In all seriousness, I can't help but agree with you that mistakes and failures are a stepping stone to success. Not a roadblock to it.)
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
I'm a pretty much forever gm. (admittedly i don't run D&D often which has gobs and gobs of ready made resources). I spend 5 to 6 hours planning the campaign at the beginning (mostly setting up character creation and interesting social groups as interesting hooks for character creation and creating the general plot (what the baddies are up to) - I could spend considerably less but I like to do it). I spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down ideas when I have them (usually reminders for new campaigns players vote from choices for future games so having cool ideas to mine from are good). Then maybe 30 minutes tweaking maps on the vtt to fit the adventure i want to have. Then 15 or 20 minutes making notes about the adventure. Sometimes I read a few new monster stats.
Its not a nothing effort but I suspect except for creating the world and adventure maybe twice a year (at least half of it because i enjoy it) players spend almost as much time working on their character as i spend prepping the game. I won't claim I'm Matt Mercer (I'm bad with accents) or Brennan Lee Mulligan but my players have fun, we laugh sometimes we cry and I help them tell great adventures that some of my friends still talk about almost 30 years later).
New Gms think they have to put this enormous effort in but they don't have to.
Exactly this. And people should remember that you get better at DM'ing reasonably quickly. I still make mistakes pretty often but I'm definitely exceedingly better at it than I was even a year ago.
You’re better because of the mistakes you’ve made, not in spite of them. It’s through our mistakes that we learn the most. Make mistakes, never worry about making mistakes, only about not learning from them.
You could always jump onto the reddit and offer to try DMing! Or get a group of people who are willing to take turns DMing one-shots. I'd actually like to try to set up that second option sometime when I get more free time.
My goal when I wrote this was to respond to the OPs distress about there being a dearth of DMs, share my experience, maybe probe a little into what might cause the DM shortage, and encourage more people to DM, knowing what they're getting into. So to @Dracis and @Short_term_user and anyone who might have read my response above-- it definitely wasn't my intention to discourage new DMs by talking about why there's not a lot of DMs out there compared to players, and I really hope no one took it that way.
DMing is really rewarding. As a writer, I love that I get not only to write a story, but see how emotional and invested my players are in the feels I've created. When it goes well, the feeling is *amazing*. It's also a really great exercise in learning to let the characters lead the story, and shape the environment to the plot and not the charcters to the plot (I guess that's more of a writerly concern) It's also fun to make new NPCs and personalities and come up with fun scenarios to improv and roleplay. It's definitely an amazing wonderful experience that has given me all kinds of creative skills I never would have had the chance to explore and develop otherwise. I firmly believe everyone should try it sometime, it's wonderful.
A more accurate statement would be “DMing has a reputation for requiring an insane amount of work - and there are DMs who put insane amounts of work into DMing - but you do not have to put in that level of effort to be a competent DM, and there are plenty of tools out there to make DMing easier.”
You're right, there's a million ways to play the game and they're all wonderful in their own way. In my defense, I have never in my life met or played with anyone who doesn't put lots of effort into DMing compared to players. I've DMed some fun one-shots where i threw stuff together quickly, but there was still a lot of effort, especially *while* playing. I'm really impressed (and a little jealous!) that you can do that, but until today I this is the first time I've ever heard of a DM that could put in equal effort to the players .
As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . .
This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing.
First off: both you and I want for there to be more DMs! I want more people to love the game as much as I do and get the chance to play.
I don't think what you've said here is a fair statement. There's a huge imbalance between the number of players out there and DMs. If a DM is telling you why they think that is, in their experience, and you tell them that sharing their experience is causing people not to DM... It silences what could be a really useful conversation on how the game could be made to be DM-friendly. As a result, I think this way of putting things is harmful to our shared goal of having more DMs.
There are some big design issues that are interesting to contemplate (I think writing about those would fit better in a separate response to @Iamsposta -- btw thank you for engaging me on that topic @Iamposta ! ), but just on the interpersonal level, it's really a joy to have players who understand and appreciate all the work (at least for that those of us who do put work into DMing) are doing, and help us out. In all seriousness it makes a world of difference.
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I took a look at the DND LFG sub reddit and it was depressing, so many people wanting to play but no one willing to DM.
This issue - more people wanting to be players than DMs - is far older than Reddit. In fact, it was a decade-old problem when the founder of Reddit was born.
The easiest way to solve this problem - Dungeon Master. Then you’ll have your pick of players and can have an easier time getting a group together. More importantly, once you have a group that meshes, other players will be inclined to take up the DMing mantle in subsequent campaigns.
As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work, and its so relaxing and easy when I get to be a PC. Nevermind that playing with strangers is kind of a risk, so you might invest insane amounts of time building a campaign, and if one or two of the players isn't a good match for you (eg: you're a DM in it for the roleplay and you've got a murderhobo rules lawyer that makes you dread playing) that means a huge loss of time and heart if you're a DM vs a player who's only investment was creating a character they can just use elsewhere if they want.
I've been playing since high school and have played the earlier editions too (my friends parents gave us books! they were awesome!), and I can also say that DMing 5e is like 100 times more difficult than I ever remember it being back when I was a child playing 2e. My theory about that is that a lot of the design decisions are centered around getting players to buy books-- the playtests seem oriented that way too-- and not aimed at DMs, who I think have a very valuable top-down view of the game, and have their own needs and desires that kinda get ignored a lot. Back in earlier editions, it was DMs that bought the books to play in person with friends, so the maybe the game design was oriented differently because capitalism or whatever. But anyway that's just a theory.
You could always jump onto the reddit and offer to try DMing! Or get a group of people who are willing to take turns DMing one-shots. I'd actually like to try to set up that second option sometime when I get more free time.
Weird.
I prefer DM'ming.
I admit though, that part of the fun for me is simulating medieval economies and societies, so if I'm your DM, you better enjoy some facsimile of the old pounds/shillings/pence system, be prepared for regional dialect changes to the Common Speech, and half the campaign villains being evil merchants from the Grocer's guild, etc.
This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing. A more accurate statement would be “DMing has a reputation for requiring an insane amount of work - and there are DMs who put insane amounts of work into DMing - but you do not have to put in that level of effort to be a competent DM, and there are plenty of tools out there to make DMing easier.”
The reputation for DMing being hard is overblown. Sure, some folks put crazy degrees of effort into it—I know I fall into the crazy side of the spectrum—but the floor for being a competent DM is pretty low. As OP pointed out, there are far more players than DMs out there—most folks will accept a new DM struggling to get better if their alternative is not playing. With a premade campaign and a few pointers on DM dos and don’ts, one can effectively put together something players will enjoy while expending minimal effort. The only really hard part is curating a party that will work out - and that is less a “actually hard” problem and more a “it might take a bit to develop a sense of who might make a good or bad player” problem.
"As a DM I can tell you it takes an insane amount of work . . ."
"This statement is false and statements like this are a significant reason why folks are afraid to try DMing."
Fine.
It doesn't take an insane amount of work to DM.
But it takes an insane amount of work to DM well.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Even DMing “well” does not necessarily take an “insane” amount of work - each DM is going to be different. I Have seen DMs who put in an “insane” amount of work whose sessions feel rushed; I have seen DMs who put no effort into their prep and ad lib exceptional sessions that feel like they were designed for weeks.
It also should be noted that doing “well” is a far lower standard than doing exceptionally. Even a novice DM running a campaign straight out of the book can do “well” as long as they ensure their players are having fun.
Overstating the effort requirements and threshold competency for DMing does the game a disservice and often comes off a bit like gatekeeping. I think a lot of DMs forget that, just because they go above and beyond, doesn’t mean that is a requirement for DMing.
No. It really doesn’t. Back in the day the dm’s job was to remember to bring the character sheets. All you needed were dice, pencils, paper, and an imagination. We used to wing it at least 2/3 of the time. I would often be drawing dungeon maps for the first time in front of the players. And we still had fun. And 30 years later we are still having fun.
You don’t need to be super special to dm, it’s not some secret elite group no matter what people might tell you.
It’s been my experience that the reason 5e takes more work to DM than 2e is because the way people play has changed so significantly. Older editions like 2e were much more location based, the DM created a location and populated it and gave the NPCs motivations and goals and the means by which to accomplish them, and that was it. Then we simply let the players do what they do. Now however, the game is more narrative with story arcs etc., which takes more work to put together.
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Your first mistake was thinking Reddit would yield anything positive.
I don't frequent Reddit, but this is a common problem pretty much everywhere. Dungeon Mastering is more work than playing, and as such, less people are going to volunteer themselves for DMing and more people are going to volunteer themselves as players. I mean, look at this poll thread about Discord. 91.4% of over 13,000 participants said they were interested in the site for playing not DMing. So while being the Dungeon Master isn't an "insane" amount of work, it still is a pretty sizable amount of work. And looking at it from personal experience at least, I and most other people I know play the role of Dungeon Master because it is the only way to get a campaign going, even if it is a bit more work for me. So if they have the option of being a player in a campaign, a lot of people like me will take it and you'll end up with a lot more players than DMs.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I think there is an issue of language here. What is an insane amount of work? Outside of D&D and similar TTRPGs, someone spending an hour or two on prepping a game would generally be considered an insane amount. Pretty much every other game I play, even if I'm playing host (or whatever the equivalent of a DM is), the amount of prep is negligible. Most of them, so long as I'm familiar with the rules, I can just pick up and start. 15 minutes would be considered a lot.
The difference with D&D and DMing in particular is...that it's just accepted that DMs do that. I mean, as a player, I might spend an hour creating my character, but afterwards, it's a couple of minutes before each session, a few minutes longer if we just levelled up and I need to make the changes. DMs are just accepted to be spending a ton of time prepping for games. The only reason why anyone is claiming that DMs don't spend an insane amount of time is because...DMs always have, so spending a few hours prepping a game doesn't feel like it's insane...but it is. I don't mind, it's worth it (at least, in my opinion), but let's not pretend that it's not fair to describe spending 10-20x the amount of time we spend doing most other games as "an insane amount".
I also think there is some crossing of wires of what it means to "DM well". I can throw together an enjoyable one shot in 10 minutes. A solid campaign though? That takes much longer than 10 minutes per session to do well. especially if you're doing it all from scratch.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I agree that there is an overstatement on how hard it is to DM, but there is definitely more work and, more importantly, more pressure. You can't just sit down and play - even if the effort is just reading through an adventure.
If you're playing with friends that are all on the same page, starting DMing might be easy, but playing with strangers online can be tough for a first time DM.
In my experience, DM'ing isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be. Don't get me wrong; it's a fair amount of work, but unless you're writing everything entirely by yourself (i.e. not shamelessly stealing ideas from the internet) it's not that hard. Although, I mostly run prewritten modules, so take my advice with a proverbial grain of salt.
For the most part, it's fun and pretty dang rewarding.
The LGBTQ+ communities are friendly. That's about all the positivity on Reddit.
[REDACTED]
I'm a pretty much forever gm. (admittedly i don't run D&D often which has gobs and gobs of ready made resources). I spend 5 to 6 hours planning the campaign at the beginning (mostly setting up character creation and interesting social groups as interesting hooks for character creation and creating the general plot (what the baddies are up to) - I could spend considerably less but I like to do it). I spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down ideas when I have them (usually reminders for new campaigns players vote from choices for future games so having cool ideas to mine from are good). Then maybe 30 minutes tweaking maps on the vtt to fit the adventure i want to have. Then 15 or 20 minutes making notes about the adventure. Sometimes I read a few new monster stats.
Its not a nothing effort but I suspect except for creating the world and adventure maybe twice a year (at least half of it because i enjoy it) players spend almost as much time working on their character as i spend prepping the game. I won't claim I'm Matt Mercer (I'm bad with accents) or Brennan Lee Mulligan but my players have fun, we laugh sometimes we cry and I help them tell great adventures that some of my friends still talk about almost 30 years later).
New Gms think they have to put this enormous effort in but they don't have to.
Exactly this. And people should remember that you get better at DM'ing reasonably quickly. I still make mistakes pretty often but I'm definitely exceedingly better at it than I was even a year ago.
[REDACTED]
You’re better because of the mistakes you’ve made, not in spite of them. It’s through our mistakes that we learn the most. Make mistakes, never worry about making mistakes, only about not learning from them.
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Content Troubleshooting
These are wise words my friend... (In all seriousness, I can't help but agree with you that mistakes and failures are a stepping stone to success. Not a roadblock to it.)
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Well said. Thanks for the advice.
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My goal when I wrote this was to respond to the OPs distress about there being a dearth of DMs, share my experience, maybe probe a little into what might cause the DM shortage, and encourage more people to DM, knowing what they're getting into. So to @Dracis and @Short_term_user and anyone who might have read my response above-- it definitely wasn't my intention to discourage new DMs by talking about why there's not a lot of DMs out there compared to players, and I really hope no one took it that way.
DMing is really rewarding. As a writer, I love that I get not only to write a story, but see how emotional and invested my players are in the feels I've created. When it goes well, the feeling is *amazing*. It's also a really great exercise in learning to let the characters lead the story, and shape the environment to the plot and not the charcters to the plot (I guess that's more of a writerly concern) It's also fun to make new NPCs and personalities and come up with fun scenarios to improv and roleplay. It's definitely an amazing wonderful experience that has given me all kinds of creative skills I never would have had the chance to explore and develop otherwise. I firmly believe everyone should try it sometime, it's wonderful.
You're right, there's a million ways to play the game and they're all wonderful in their own way. In my defense, I have never in my life met or played with anyone who doesn't put lots of effort into DMing compared to players. I've DMed some fun one-shots where i threw stuff together quickly, but there was still a lot of effort, especially *while* playing. I'm really impressed (and a little jealous!) that you can do that, but until today I this is the first time I've ever heard of a DM that could put in equal effort to the players .
First off: both you and I want for there to be more DMs! I want more people to love the game as much as I do and get the chance to play.
I don't think what you've said here is a fair statement. There's a huge imbalance between the number of players out there and DMs. If a DM is telling you why they think that is, in their experience, and you tell them that sharing their experience is causing people not to DM... It silences what could be a really useful conversation on how the game could be made to be DM-friendly. As a result, I think this way of putting things is harmful to our shared goal of having more DMs.
There are some big design issues that are interesting to contemplate (I think writing about those would fit better in a separate response to @Iamsposta -- btw thank you for engaging me on that topic @Iamposta ! ), but just on the interpersonal level, it's really a joy to have players who understand and appreciate all the work (at least for that those of us who do put work into DMing) are doing, and help us out. In all seriousness it makes a world of difference.