Spurred on bythis thread on "professional level DM'ing", I got to thinking what really is/would be professional level DM skills?
Clearly, being proficient ( and ideally talented ) at professional DM skills, right? Right ... that's just dodging the question. What are the skills that a professional level DM should develop? Because - really - shouldn't we all be trying to develop those skills as DMs? I mean, if we really want to be good.
And that really brings up another question - do we really want to be good DMs, or do we want to just be good enough? And I mean for the friends and family with and for whom we play our games. There's nothingwrong with the "good enough" DM - so long as we're finding value in the time we're putting into it, and the players are getting enough value out of the game that happens as result.
But let's just pretend that we want to be the best damned DM we can be.
How do you think one should approach that? What are the skills we should develop outside knowing the game rules?
Here's some thoughts off the top of my head, in no particular order. It's a pretty pretentiouslist, and I'm not saying we should all be devoting our lives to becomes professional actors, authors, and hostage negotiators. These are just skills I think that could be useful and inform our skills as DMs. It may be worth dabbling in these.
The Rules - not just of D&D but learning other systems, the different design choices they make, why, and what the results are.
Game Design
Basic statistics and probability ( what are the outcomes of these dice rolls and rules; what are other mechanics with the same outcomes; what are similar mechanics with vastly different outcomes ).
Writing
Screenwriting, not necessarily novel or short-story writing. We don't have that much control over a session. What may be learned of creating fiction would need be adapted to the unique character of RPGs.
Plot development,
Character development.
History ( specific to pseudo-historical fantasy; other RPGs might stress other areas of knowledge ).
Mythology ( ditto )
Group management, and negotiation
Public speaking
Improvisational Theatre
Voice/accent Training
World-building ( whole legion of skills here; a thread for another time ).
So - the two basic questions:
Good Enough DM or Best Possible DM ?
Assuming you think the latter, what's the path from the former, to the latter, an what skills should be you trying to build to bridge the gap, and where would you start?
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Do it a lot. You'll get better at everything through practice and repetition.
Don't linger on mistakes. Own them and move on.
Work on improv (see #1). The more you can naturally roll with surprises, the more fun everyone (including you) will have.
Learn to read the table. Determine the kinds of players you have and what is important to them.
Spread the spotlight around. Is someone bored, distracted, feeling left out? Put them on the spot in a good way to let them have a moment of importance
Shut up and let the players play. If two or more players are talking to each other, that's magic. Don't interrupt them. They're doing your work for you!
At the end of the day, if everyone had a good time, everything else is secondary.
Do it a lot. You'll get better at everything through practice and repetition.
Don't linger on mistakes. Own them and move on.
Work on improv (see #1). The more you can naturally roll with surprises, the more fun everyone (including you) will have.
Learn to read the table. Determine the kinds of players you have and what is important to them.
Spread the spotlight around. Is someone bored, distracted, feeling left out? Put them on the spot in a good way to let them have a moment of importance
Shut up and let the players play. If two or more players are talking to each other, that's magic. Don't interrupt them. They're doing your work for you!
[7.] At the end of the day, if everyone had a good time, everything else is secondary.
I don't personally disagree with anything you've listed - although there are points that I think would be disagreed with ( points 5-7 ) by people who have a differing style of DM'ing than you and I seem to share.
However, this is also the current common wisdom that seems to be gleaned from inside the game.
I guess what I'm asking is what are the skills and endeavors that we can bring in from outside the game to improve it - and asking if that's even something we should be doing?
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Empathy to read the table, develop communication skills outside the game so that you can maintain a fun environment for everybody. Some sort of artistic skill or literary skill to create small in-game handouts to give to the players.
It really depends a lot though; for instance, I just bought a 3D printer with the idea that I can print terrain and (rough approximations of) minis. That’s an entire subset of skills to do that, but it does bring another level to the game. If I weren’t doing that, I’d want to be artistic enough to draw custom battle maps on grid paper.
I think an important skill to develop is self discipline - that is to say, knowing when you can devote a lot of time to the game and when you can’t. After all, DnD is a hobby, and (for most people) not a job. We need to know when we’re spending too much time on the game, and we also need to know the times that we can devote ourselves to development of the campaign wholeheartedly. It’s a fine line to walk but it’s one that every DM does.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
This is taking an interesting philosophical twist, which I'm liking ;) Both you and TexasDevin raise points - as applied to D&D - which I think are general policies one should be applying to life in general: practice, roll with the punches, move past mistakes quickly, manage your time, and know when you're obsessing to much.
It's caused me to realize that - perhaps erroneously - that I think that the development of skills and perspectives on life are good things in and of themselves.
So, it may not matter if D&D related activities are taking up a ( so called ) disproportionate amount of your time, if that really means that you're learning to write, or computer-assisted-design and 3D printing, or history & mythology, or getting out and meeting people, developing socials skills so you're better at handling your table, etc. The only caveat here being that it can't become an obsession, where the time devoted to such things negatively impacts other, more important, things - family, health, work, etc.
It may be an unusual motive for personal development, but the end results are worthwhile.
On the flip side, if we grow complacent, if we have developed a practical way to DM that works for friends and family, and we know the material cold, and nothing's really changed in a long time - that may be OK as well. But at that point, it's become relaxation or down time. Nothing wrong with that - but perhaps we cannot justify nearly as much time on that front before it becomes an issue. Sitting at home and watching soccer 4 hours on weekends is one thing - getting out and playing soccer 4 hours on weekends is another.
Maybe the answer here to the good enough vs. best damn DM question is highly influenced by time and life. If you are going to make the time commitment to be the best you possibly can be, then also make sure that you're getting other worthwhile benefits out of your skill building. If you're fine being good enough - then recognize that it's a relaxation hobby, and that you can't let it consume more time than is appropriate for relaxation activitiies.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
1. be critical you can't improve if you don't see and recognize your flaws.
2. Practice & repetition Once you find your flaw it becomes a point in which you want to improve. You can just DM weekly, but if you aren't critical you just keep repeating the same mistakes. Until they eventually become a bad habit. Just like in powerlifting 10 sets of 3 repetitions is better then 3 sets with 10 repetitions. Know why? Because beginners can't do many repetition successfully and flawless yet. They need a lot more coaching moments. Moments that remind them what they're doing well and what not. Reset themselves in the proper mindset/technique and practice again.
Which leads me to the question. Where and How will you receive such coaching? For me, as a good enough DM, I notice things that can be better. Like environmental descriptions. So I gave that extra attention for a few weeks. Then moved on to another area I wanted to improve in. However when you reach a certain phase you'll be pretty darn good. Finding ways to improve marginally is very difficult to spot. Compared to being a beginner and you suck at pretty much everything.
3. Set realistic progression goals Don't aim to be the best in a single aspect. You will not achieve that in a reasonable timeframe. You'll get discouraged. Set micro goals towards that final end goal. Do this for every aspect you want to improve in. Then work on improving towards 1 micro-goal in environmental description. Then work towards a micro-goal in narrating. etc etc to see gradual progress across the board.
4. Don't just focus on D&D rules. Expand your own horizon It is important to look in other aspects. Read up on some history and how societies came to be, grew and evolved. Delve into warfare. In short look at what your upcoming game sessions/campaigns are about. Then do some research on little aspects of it. Understanding some ecology and sociology will help to make your cities feel more real and plausible. Just like the previous set realistic progression goals. Don't expect to be an academic know-it-all. That will come with years of doing this.
5. Invest in Yourself!! - Follow (management) seminars/work shops This ties into the previous thingy. Truth be told I never did this in my own time. It was always part of something job related, but it helps me now. Learning to manage the table, time and how to talk with people helps the atmosphere around the table. It also aids in dealing with potential issues quickly. You can of course also follow other seminars/study groups to become better at improvising. Self Esteem classes. Writing classes etc etc. Whatever you think might benefit you in some way. Going to take money and time investment that will pay it in other fields outside of playing DnD as well.
6. Getting ideas. Don't have to reinvent the wheel!! This can often be difficult. We all want to have something new and original. Let's be honest. Everything has been done in some way already. Read lots of books about varying topics, watch movies/tv series, play other games. You can get tons of ideas. Don't be afraid to copy things and just change the fluff of it. You don't have to reinvent the wheel when most of the work has already been done for you. You can find everything and just tweak it to your own campaign.
7. Presentation As a good enough DM will you use theatre of the mind? Grid paper, a virtual table, a projection from laptop to x surface, will you hand make dungeons or use modular heroforge tiles. Do you want players taking notes and have a binder with all sorts of information. Bring extra lighting and music for atmosphere. Do you spend time and money gathering items you can use as handouts for your players. These are steps worth looking at as well.
One thing I'd take away from you list as inherently there in your points 1-3, just not explicitly stated is: know what you want the end results to be. This can be an explicit set of criteria ( I want my friends to all have fun, I want the descriptions to pop and be vibrant, I want to present complex & interesting scenarios which the players turn into exciting plot lines, etc. ), or perhaps a role model ( I want to be a DM like that guy over there ).
Then 1-3 are a lot easier to do.
I think that you can be self-coaching, if you can be self-critical. The trick to being self-critical is neither to be too lenient on yourself, or to harsh. I tend to be the latter, but I try to remind myself that being to harsh with self-criticism is a form of ego ( why should I expect that I can be perfect? Be content if I'm better than last time, or at least no worse ).
You raise excellent points about being able to develop, and see concrete improvements, when you're beginning and "suck at pretty much everything". But for later stages, I would take a page out of martial arts practice here. You might be a second-Dan black belt, but you still practice white-belt level kata to constantly reinforce the basics. Your performance of that kata may not have changed in years, but practice for skill maintenance is the point. Going back and practicing aspects of a skill that we have down cold is still of value. It takes a little more discipline, as you don't have the payback of "hey, that was better!".
In D&D, I think your players can be also be a good resource for coaching. Checking their reactions implicitly, you can gauge how you're doing. Having one or two players that you can trust for balanced, honest, critical feedback, is gold if you have them. And perhaps you should expand your player base - so long as you can devote the time to it. Maybe learning to run "one shots", and setting up a monthly "pick up" game on Roll20 or your local game shop, exposes you to new players, and exposes you to new feedback. Perhaps you could even ask your one-shot players to fill in a feedback questionnaire at the end of it all - although that seems a bit odd to me ( then again, I'd be happy to do that as a player ).
I'd also add to your point #4 and #6 - read. Read fiction, think critically about how the author builds the story. Read history, and anthropology, and sociology. Watch lectures - there are dozens of Universities which publish their lecture presentations and course material online. Don't have time to sit and read? No problem, audio-books, podcasts, and the audio portion of video lectures on Youtube can fill that gap - pop in your headphones during your bike ride, or your subway ride to-and-from work ( or play it on your vehicle stereo; I wouldn't wear headphones while driving ). Watch and/or listen to D&D podcasts - not just Critical Role - critically evaluate what the GM is doing, learn, incorporate things you like.
Your point #7 is a whole topic in and of itself. I know I'm not good enough for theater of the mind when it comes to combat - I like my battle-mat and dry erase markers for that. Clearly I can do better in this area.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I agree atmosphere is a big part of getting your players invested. I think it's important to bring the equal amount of effort in your story and your atmosphere as you expect from your players. Encouraging players to get involved without directly telling them to do so. Also decorating youe tools can be a useful way to do this. Instead of a regular note journal get a leather bound one or use pretty dice and markers thay reflect the mood of that campaign.
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Spurred on by this thread on "professional level DM'ing", I got to thinking what really is/would be professional level DM skills?
Clearly, being proficient ( and ideally talented ) at professional DM skills, right? Right ... that's just dodging the question. What are the skills that a professional level DM should develop? Because - really - shouldn't we all be trying to develop those skills as DMs? I mean, if we really want to be good.
And that really brings up another question - do we really want to be good DMs, or do we want to just be good enough? And I mean for the friends and family with and for whom we play our games. There's nothing wrong with the "good enough" DM - so long as we're finding value in the time we're putting into it, and the players are getting enough value out of the game that happens as result.
But let's just pretend that we want to be the best damned DM we can be.
How do you think one should approach that? What are the skills we should develop outside knowing the game rules?
Here's some thoughts off the top of my head, in no particular order. It's a pretty pretentious list, and I'm not saying we should all be devoting our lives to becomes professional actors, authors, and hostage negotiators. These are just skills I think that could be useful and inform our skills as DMs. It may be worth dabbling in these.
So - the two basic questions:
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
A few soft skills to add from my opinion:
At the end of the day, if everyone had a good time, everything else is secondary.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I don't personally disagree with anything you've listed - although there are points that I think would be disagreed with ( points 5-7 ) by people who have a differing style of DM'ing than you and I seem to share.
However, this is also the current common wisdom that seems to be gleaned from inside the game.
I guess what I'm asking is what are the skills and endeavors that we can bring in from outside the game to improve it - and asking if that's even something we should be doing?
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Empathy to read the table, develop communication skills outside the game so that you can maintain a fun environment for everybody. Some sort of artistic skill or literary skill to create small in-game handouts to give to the players.
It really depends a lot though; for instance, I just bought a 3D printer with the idea that I can print terrain and (rough approximations of) minis. That’s an entire subset of skills to do that, but it does bring another level to the game. If I weren’t doing that, I’d want to be artistic enough to draw custom battle maps on grid paper.
I think an important skill to develop is self discipline - that is to say, knowing when you can devote a lot of time to the game and when you can’t. After all, DnD is a hobby, and (for most people) not a job. We need to know when we’re spending too much time on the game, and we also need to know the times that we can devote ourselves to development of the campaign wholeheartedly. It’s a fine line to walk but it’s one that every DM does.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
@VanZoeren
This is taking an interesting philosophical twist, which I'm liking ;) Both you and TexasDevin raise points - as applied to D&D - which I think are general policies one should be applying to life in general: practice, roll with the punches, move past mistakes quickly, manage your time, and know when you're obsessing to much.
It's caused me to realize that - perhaps erroneously - that I think that the development of skills and perspectives on life are good things in and of themselves.
So, it may not matter if D&D related activities are taking up a ( so called ) disproportionate amount of your time, if that really means that you're learning to write, or computer-assisted-design and 3D printing, or history & mythology, or getting out and meeting people, developing socials skills so you're better at handling your table, etc. The only caveat here being that it can't become an obsession, where the time devoted to such things negatively impacts other, more important, things - family, health, work, etc.
It may be an unusual motive for personal development, but the end results are worthwhile.
On the flip side, if we grow complacent, if we have developed a practical way to DM that works for friends and family, and we know the material cold, and nothing's really changed in a long time - that may be OK as well. But at that point, it's become relaxation or down time. Nothing wrong with that - but perhaps we cannot justify nearly as much time on that front before it becomes an issue. Sitting at home and watching soccer 4 hours on weekends is one thing - getting out and playing soccer 4 hours on weekends is another.
Maybe the answer here to the good enough vs. best damn DM question is highly influenced by time and life. If you are going to make the time commitment to be the best you possibly can be, then also make sure that you're getting other worthwhile benefits out of your skill building. If you're fine being good enough - then recognize that it's a relaxation hobby, and that you can't let it consume more time than is appropriate for relaxation activitiies.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
1. be critical
you can't improve if you don't see and recognize your flaws.
2. Practice & repetition
Once you find your flaw it becomes a point in which you want to improve. You can just DM weekly, but if you aren't critical you just keep repeating the same mistakes. Until they eventually become a bad habit. Just like in powerlifting 10 sets of 3 repetitions is better then 3 sets with 10 repetitions. Know why? Because beginners can't do many repetition successfully and flawless yet. They need a lot more coaching moments. Moments that remind them what they're doing well and what not. Reset themselves in the proper mindset/technique and practice again.
Which leads me to the question. Where and How will you receive such coaching? For me, as a good enough DM, I notice things that can be better. Like environmental descriptions. So I gave that extra attention for a few weeks. Then moved on to another area I wanted to improve in. However when you reach a certain phase you'll be pretty darn good. Finding ways to improve marginally is very difficult to spot. Compared to being a beginner and you suck at pretty much everything.
3. Set realistic progression goals
Don't aim to be the best in a single aspect. You will not achieve that in a reasonable timeframe. You'll get discouraged. Set micro goals towards that final end goal. Do this for every aspect you want to improve in. Then work on improving towards 1 micro-goal in environmental description. Then work towards a micro-goal in narrating. etc etc to see gradual progress across the board.
4. Don't just focus on D&D rules. Expand your own horizon
It is important to look in other aspects. Read up on some history and how societies came to be, grew and evolved. Delve into warfare. In short look at what your upcoming game sessions/campaigns are about. Then do some research on little aspects of it. Understanding some ecology and sociology will help to make your cities feel more real and plausible. Just like the previous set realistic progression goals. Don't expect to be an academic know-it-all. That will come with years of doing this.
5. Invest in Yourself!! - Follow (management) seminars/work shops
This ties into the previous thingy. Truth be told I never did this in my own time. It was always part of something job related, but it helps me now. Learning to manage the table, time and how to talk with people helps the atmosphere around the table. It also aids in dealing with potential issues quickly. You can of course also follow other seminars/study groups to become better at improvising. Self Esteem classes. Writing classes etc etc. Whatever you think might benefit you in some way. Going to take money and time investment that will pay it in other fields outside of playing DnD as well.
6. Getting ideas. Don't have to reinvent the wheel!!
This can often be difficult. We all want to have something new and original. Let's be honest. Everything has been done in some way already. Read lots of books about varying topics, watch movies/tv series, play other games. You can get tons of ideas. Don't be afraid to copy things and just change the fluff of it. You don't have to reinvent the wheel when most of the work has already been done for you. You can find everything and just tweak it to your own campaign.
7. Presentation
As a good enough DM will you use theatre of the mind? Grid paper, a virtual table, a projection from laptop to x surface, will you hand make dungeons or use modular heroforge tiles. Do you want players taking notes and have a binder with all sorts of information. Bring extra lighting and music for atmosphere. Do you spend time and money gathering items you can use as handouts for your players. These are steps worth looking at as well.
Awesome list Giblix!
One thing I'd take away from you list as inherently there in your points 1-3, just not explicitly stated is: know what you want the end results to be. This can be an explicit set of criteria ( I want my friends to all have fun, I want the descriptions to pop and be vibrant, I want to present complex & interesting scenarios which the players turn into exciting plot lines, etc. ), or perhaps a role model ( I want to be a DM like that guy over there ).
Then 1-3 are a lot easier to do.
I think that you can be self-coaching, if you can be self-critical. The trick to being self-critical is neither to be too lenient on yourself, or to harsh. I tend to be the latter, but I try to remind myself that being to harsh with self-criticism is a form of ego ( why should I expect that I can be perfect? Be content if I'm better than last time, or at least no worse ).
You raise excellent points about being able to develop, and see concrete improvements, when you're beginning and "suck at pretty much everything". But for later stages, I would take a page out of martial arts practice here. You might be a second-Dan black belt, but you still practice white-belt level kata to constantly reinforce the basics. Your performance of that kata may not have changed in years, but practice for skill maintenance is the point. Going back and practicing aspects of a skill that we have down cold is still of value. It takes a little more discipline, as you don't have the payback of "hey, that was better!".
In D&D, I think your players can be also be a good resource for coaching. Checking their reactions implicitly, you can gauge how you're doing. Having one or two players that you can trust for balanced, honest, critical feedback, is gold if you have them. And perhaps you should expand your player base - so long as you can devote the time to it. Maybe learning to run "one shots", and setting up a monthly "pick up" game on Roll20 or your local game shop, exposes you to new players, and exposes you to new feedback. Perhaps you could even ask your one-shot players to fill in a feedback questionnaire at the end of it all - although that seems a bit odd to me ( then again, I'd be happy to do that as a player ).
I'd also add to your point #4 and #6 - read. Read fiction, think critically about how the author builds the story. Read history, and anthropology, and sociology. Watch lectures - there are dozens of Universities which publish their lecture presentations and course material online. Don't have time to sit and read? No problem, audio-books, podcasts, and the audio portion of video lectures on Youtube can fill that gap - pop in your headphones during your bike ride, or your subway ride to-and-from work ( or play it on your vehicle stereo; I wouldn't wear headphones while driving ). Watch and/or listen to D&D podcasts - not just Critical Role - critically evaluate what the GM is doing, learn, incorporate things you like.
Your point #7 is a whole topic in and of itself. I know I'm not good enough for theater of the mind when it comes to combat - I like my battle-mat and dry erase markers for that. Clearly I can do better in this area.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I agree atmosphere is a big part of getting your players invested. I think it's important to bring the equal amount of effort in your story and your atmosphere as you expect from your players. Encouraging players to get involved without directly telling them to do so. Also decorating youe tools can be a useful way to do this. Instead of a regular note journal get a leather bound one or use pretty dice and markers thay reflect the mood of that campaign.