D&D Tuesday tips for dungeon masters (DNDTTFDM) 04-08-8
Be a player
I was thinking about what makes a DM successful and how I could easily improve my skills. I figured that I could give a simple advice to all current and aspiring DMs: be a player!
No. I’m not talking about charming the ladies (or the men). Head over to Geek’s Dream Girl for that kind of advice.
All DMs have been players at some point. Besides DMing, being a player is the only and best DM training. So if you’re thinking about improving your dungeon master skills, start with the basics. If you’re not involved in a game as a player, maybe you can trick convince a friend to run a one-shot adventure!
Playing D&D is probably the most fun way to improve at DMing too.
More DM tips
Other good resources to improve your DM skills:
- Instant Campaign Builder - Plan your campaign efficiently, save time and have more fun!
- Instant World Builder - My thoughts on quick and fun world creation.
- Treasure Tables Archives - Over 800 articles about GMing.
3 Comments
9:30 pm on April 9th, 2008
I agree completely. I also think that it’s in your best interests to be a Player with a DM who is not a Player in your campaign. Sometimes this is difficult, as it can be notoriously challenging to get together a group of players, much less two.
However, if possible, I think you learn a lot more from a DM who is not one of your players than you do from a DM who is. Much like therapists go see a therapist who is not one of their patients.
11:09 pm on April 9th, 2008
Getting together with 2 groups can be really hard indeed. Maybe building hype and making each session a momentous event can make up for an irregular or infrequent schedule.
10:37 pm on April 10th, 2008
I agree completely with this