To Be, or Not To Be, That is a DM.

Copyright to Image Creators - Source Unknown.

During one lunch time break at work I sat with two colleagues, both friends and members of our newly formed RPG group, one of whom has been bitten by the RPG bug and is already eager to learn the ways of becoming a DM. His weapon of choice? Dungeons & Dragons.

Recalling my first tentative steps on that beckoning wilderness path of adventure that was my first rule book, my mind was both excited and confused at the same time. More questions pulled themselves out of the muddy ground of my mind like restless undead in a hill top burial ground. I will admit, the core rules of my early years were far less number driven in complexity, and upon reflection, were very straightforward by comparison. Today, however, it seems number crunching is order of the day, and there is a roll for everything and every action. Why? I ask. If I wanted a dice rolling convention of a game, I'd play Yahtzee.

Back to the lunch time Q&A session with my two friends. Understandably, John (the fledgling DM in training) was finding more questions than answers from his first readings of the recent edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rule book. Owning a copy myself, I totally understand where his questioning arises. I admire his determination and tenacity to know everything possible written in these tomes of D&D, but as I pointed out, they are not written in stone, and shouldn't be treated as such.

If a game is flowing and the players are in 'the zone', the last thing I ever want to do is slow or even stop the flow with those dreaded words, "Let me look it up in the rule book."
This is when a DM should use common sense and forego the rule book. Being a DM isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but by the same token it can be one of the most rewarding experiences a person has the opportunity to experience. And believe me, those sessions will live on in the memories of your group long after the dice have stopped rolling. For years. Maybe even for the rest of their lives.

'THE ZONE': 

What is it?  Well, for starters it's something not guaranteed to happen every RPG session, and some poor groups will never experience it, which is a sad thing to say, but much depends on both the player dynamic and the DM, general mood of the group, their focus, the ambience of the game environment, i.e. the room within which your session is hosted, are just a few of the contributing factors.

When it does happen, as a DM, you will see it in the faces of your players. On rare occasions even the atmosphere surrounding the group changes - believe me, it's a thing. Their attention is rapt. Their stare is far off as they are viewing with their mind's eye the unfolding events you, the DM, are breathing life into. There is no fidgeting, no doodling on character sheets, just silence and 100% attention to the moment.
You have total control, and I don't mean that in a egotistical or megalomaniac fashion, but as the narrator of a story brought to life. In part, you are also 'in the moment'. Your words hold power to paint a tapestry of suspense, high drama, emotional tension, haunting dread, or a breath-taking vista. No rule book can teach this. No rule book has rules on this, and if it does, toss the piece of shit out the window.

There is nothing worse than the stymied imagination of a budding DM due to the naive belief that the rule book is to be obeyed no matter what.

In essence I suppose you could define that moment when everyone around the table is in 'the zone' as being on par with a subtle version of mass hypnosis. Saying this is going to be a contentious thing, I know, but do not take it literally. God forbid that anyone reading this runs screaming from their RPG group under the impression their DM is a satanic, Devil-worshipping hypnotist, intent of evil doing. Though, should this be the case, then I suggest role playing games are NOT for you, and maybe think about taking up colouring by numbers or something equally as challenging instead.

What I am trying to say is this: it is the shared moment, where the players and DM are in sync in their imaginations, where several people experience as one entity. Visualise as one mind, feel the dread or excitement as one heart.
As an example I'll point you to the crowd of football supporters, all in sync and lost in the moment, erupting in rapture as one when the goal is scored, or collectively crest-fallen if missed. Same thing, but on a smaller, and somewhat more intimate level.

'COMMON SENSE':

This is the best item within the DM's toolbox next to creative thinking and imagination.

If you struggle with this concept, or have no clue as to what I refer to, maybe you should spend more time as a player and learn from that angle of perspective. Not everyone is blessed with a fully fledged base of common sense, just like some folks are not good with numbers or don't have good spatial awareness. You can be the most brilliant academic, but a total butt-flap in day-to-day interactions due to a lack of common sense, whilst others are the complete reverse. I should know, as I'm more of the latter.

Don't underestimate your life experiences, as in many cases they are the corner stones that create a great foundation to your common sense, they can be invaluable in resolving situational dilemmas caused by the unpredictable nature of the average (or cunning / scheming) role player within your group. You will need this common sense to make judgement calls when the rules fail you, and fail you they will, as they are not (as I keep saying) the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to your game sessions as a DM. Your best laid and carefully thought out, or so we (DMs) kid ourselves, will be unravelled the moment a player announces their character intentions, that are utterly and totally, diametrically and irrevocably opposite to anything you have planned for.

You, dear DM, may do one of two things:
1) Do your best goldfish impression whilst your brain stalls and the warning lights begin to flash.
2) Seethe silently whilst maintaining a cool, clam exterior, and act as if you have it covered.

*Note: there is an option 3), but you'll lose players. We never talk about option 3). Never. Think 'Fight Club'. I'll say no more.

Where common sense really comes into its own is when players interact with your Non Player Characters (NPCs). Again, dice rolling isn't always the answer to resolving situations where players are trying to gain advantage over your NPCs. Common sense will help you to flesh out your NPCs, not rolling the dice. The interactions will be more natural (hopefully), and flow, giving an impression of substance for the players. Situations such as acts of thievery require the dice, as these rolls can be used in order to back up any arguments relating to failures by the thieving characters to which the owning players disagree with or complain about. Please feel free to use the one liner below.

"Life in the fantasy world is tough, so suck it up, Princess."

Humour is also essential, especially when being the DM, as (hopefully) the one liner above should demonstrate. If the above one liner disturbs, upsets or offends you, then allow me to refer you back to the previously mentioned, challenging alternative of 'colouring by numbers', instead of role playing games.

Common sense will also serve you well on times when the rule book is just being a total arse and makes no logical sense, seemingly only serves to slow your game down to a crawl. Where they view numerous dice rolling as 'exciting', I view it as a (very) poor second to visceral, colourful, vivid and atmospheric narration and direction by a creative and switched on DM.

For a party to enter a hostile situation where the very lives of their beloved characters potentially hang in the balance, that entire sense of danger and even victory is lost to rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling and yes, even more rolling. And again, YES, as boring as it was to read all the times I typed 'rolling', it can be more so in game terms, especially when coupled with a DM of limited vision, imagination and narration skills and common sense.
The latter aspect comes in with the decision to feel the mood of the group, anticipate their expectation of the upcoming encounter and keep the tension, drama, excitement and danger flowing - this is where common sense tells you, 'less dice, more description, more action'. 

I can honestly say, in all the years I've been running RPGs, I've never once heard a player complain about NOT rolling their dice enough times, or wishing they could have rolled them more.
BUT your players will not tell you directly when they felt bored due to the fact that the majority of the session was dice rolling and adding and subtracting like some elemental school maths revision session. More likely you'll get the message to say something has cropped up and they can't make the next session. Common sense should also let you know that you've fucked up.

'BALANCE':

Balance is everywhere. Without it the world as we know it would collapse, as is beginning to happen in certain parts of the USA, but that's not a topic for this post.
Balance is integral to life and everything we do within it. Being a DM is also included under this umbrella. 
As mentioned above, too much dice rolling can be bad. Too much narration can be bad, as players are then sat listening and not doing. Too much action will kill the excitement as players become numb to it. Not enough can lead to boredom. Too much reward can have the same effect as too much action, as does not enough. So you see where I'm coming from here - balance.

As a new DM you want your players to wet themselves with excitement and joy when you run your first game for them. Some will even desire praise. A few will also expect their players to be so blown away as to be moved to a near-religious epiphany and fall down at their DM feet. Ok, slight exaggeration on that last one. But don't be that last one. You'll be forever disappointed.

This topic extends throughout the entire aspect of gaming. ANY aspect of gaming, be it console, pc, board games, table top war games or role playing games. Balance is the proverbial hinge pin in the seesaw of a players drive and desire to continue with their chosen gaming experience, even, as is the case, they are totally unaware of it. THAT, dear reader is the golden nugget you should aim for as a DM - for players to appreciate a balanced game is for them to not even detect it. Balance and Flow are almost joined at the hip, they have a symbiosis of sorts and without one or the other players will feel it and notice it. It will make for, at best, an average game session experience, and at worst, something a player has no real desire or urge to repeat, just leaving you with an empty seat.

Your game should be a graph of peaks and troughs. For every heart-thumping encounter should be a calmer, regrouping cycle so players can digest events, reassess if need be, distribute any loot, heal and plan for the next move. Failure to do so will result in a game of character attrition, and unless your players continually refuse to flush the toilet after use, or gorge themselves on the chocolate digestives before you've had a chance to eat any yourself, or pick their nose and deposit their hard work on the underside of your table, wiping them all out systematically is unworthy of any DM.

Balance can even extend to the players themselves. By this I refer to player numbers as one example. Knowing your limits as a DM is vitally important. Have too many players can mean that a two hour session can translate to your player characters only moving down the street due to some hostile interaction with a street thief. Too few players can also be difficult, especially if your group usually numbers four or five and two are unable to attend. Do you carry on and use the absent characters as NPCs? Do you create a side quest on the fly for those attending? Or do you postpone until all can play at the same time? 
The most I've ever DM'd for was eight players, and I'll never do it again. I originally started with two players when I set out to become a DM.
I draw the line at six. That's my maximal number. Five is good, but four, I feel, is the sweet spot in terms of player numbers. No doubt there are DMs out there who disagree on all points, but that's fine, as there is no hard and fast ruling to how many people you should DM for.

Ultimately it's your choice. Experiment and find out for yourselves, that's how I did it. That's all I'll say for now on the topic of being a DM.

Until next time.