The zen DM - part 1: limits
Posted by Yax on May 2, 2008
Don’t describe the red dragon, be the red dragon!
Welcome to the first installment of “The zen DM” - a series of articles that deals with achieving game mastering nirvana by reducing workload and increasing (chances of) success.
From the omniscient Wikipedia: Zen [...] is a school of Buddhism notable for its emphasis on mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious and judgmental thinking.
Know your limits
Most DMs care about their campaign and players. Some DMs even stress about upcoming games - now that’s caring! But stress is the mind-killer - or is it fear? I forget. Anyhow, stress can sap fun and energy so make sure that everyone’s expectations match the time you are willing to take to prepare. Thankfully you don’t need that much time to prepare a great D&D session.
Maybe you have plenty of time to prepare, but you can’t act, or you draw secret doors on the battle map before your players search for them. Being aware of your DM weaknesses makes you instantly better if you can accept that you’re not the perfect DM - nobody is.
Expy the dragon
haiku-izes:
Zen DM knows well:
Red dragons uber-awesome.
Keeps stat block handy.
Accept your limits
In my younger days, when I was a semi-pro athlete ( I was a full time pro athlete making no money, which averages out to semi-pro), and I was competing on the world stage my best results did not come when I was had the better technical knowledge and physical skills. My best results came when I was slightly past my prime and I couldn’t do all I wanted to do in competition. So I had to pay attention to and be aware of my limitations. I beat a lot of younger, better, and even smarter athletes who just wouldn’t accept that they were not as good as they thought they were.
So take some time to think about what works for you and don’t be afraid to stick with that. You’ll be a better DM and everyone at the table will have fun.
Push your limits
Knowing and accepting your limits doesn’t mean that you can’t get better! Here are a few free resources for dungeon masters that can help you learn and stay motivated:
Yax, your description of your athlete days cracked me up! ;-)
Stress is a killer for everything - athletes, DMs, musicians… the best performances for ANYTHING happen when you let go and remember that you are prepared and know what you’re doing. :)
I’m glad it made you laugh. My bank account (and probably my parents) didn’t enjoy my lack of income! Ah, the good ol’ days!
Expy’s haiku is funny but I think he’s biased. I’d rather throw something random and unexpected at my players like a monster from MM5 instead of the overused - and overrated - red dragon.
Oops Johnnay, you are taking extreme risk saying such things about red dragons here…
However, I can’t imagine how a DM can get stressed when GMing for well-known people. However, stress can happen when you are playing with people you don’t know well or in a completely new system.
Note Johhnay’s name is red. It means he’s been marked for death by Expy! :)
Hopefully Johnnay made this comment to get something out of Expy. It’s kind of funny but he’s going to roast in a burning ball of flame anyway.
@Johnnay:
You’re going down, human! I have spells now. You should be afraid, very afraid.
Hey Yax,if you don’t mind telling us,what sport were you talking about? If not,no worry…but it would still be cool to know.
Footbag! => video
known to the rest of the world as hacky sack! :)
Oh, and might I add, Yax has a rockin’ bod. :)
Thank you, but make that past tense!
awww…. Yax used to have a rockin’ bod? Now he has the beer gut? ;-)
Meh, let’s just say the 6 pack is fading into a 4 pack.
Hey, 4 pack is better than a 1 pack. : )
Great moves Yax!
Thanks, Showstopper! That’s what dropping out of college will do for you. I graduated almost ten years after high school but I got some sweet hacky sack moves now.
This discussion is really going off-topic… ;)