Being a dungeon master is a huge responsibility. To ensure a fun experience for the whole group, DMs should take care to avoid certain mistakes.
Dungeons & Dragons reigns as the world's best tabletop roleplaying game. In the wake of fantastic new product releases and the new trailer for the D&D movie, this fantasy franchise looks better than ever. Most players know what it's like to create a character and go on adventures with their friends, but it's also rewarding to be on the other side of that DM screen.
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The DM, or the dungeon master, creates and oversees the entire adventure, serving as a narrator, the controller of all enemies, and even a referee or rules judge, among other duties. This can be an immensely rewarding experience, but first-time DMs should check their strategies to ensure they don't fall for obvious pitfalls related to being a group's dungeon master.
A skilled dungeon master will strike a fine balance between keeping the story on track and maintaining enough breathing room to let the players help dictate the story's events with their decisions. It's good to rein in players who stray too far from the story, but railroading is an equally serious problem.
Railroading occurs when the DM uses strict methods to force the players to follow the adventure's script, which often robs the players of chances to control their characters. Railroading can help preserve the pacing, it's not worth the cost.
Perhaps a longtime player can make an expansive homebrew campaign as a first-time DM and get away with it, but that's the rare exception. Most new DMs need to ease themselves into being the dungeon master. They should start small and/or rely on a pre-made module first.
A new DM may lose control of their game if they try to be the next Tolkien. Instead, a new DM can break themselves in by using a module like Curse of Strahd or Out of the Abyss, making the experience more fun for everyone. Homebrews should wait until everyone is ready.
Navigating Dungeons & Dragons rules is really just a matter of balance and discretion. For the most part, DMs should refer to the dungeon master's guide and follow the story of a module's book. Enforcing the rules can also prevent players from totally breaking the game.
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New players may go too far and become a rules lawyer, micromanaging or questioning everything because they're afraid to bend a single rule or stat. That's more trouble than it's worth, and some rules aren't even worth following to the letter. The manuals are excellent, but they're not foolproof.
Dungeon masters have every reason to expect their players to be creative and imaginative when playing the campaign, and DMs don't have to applaud every single in-character line of dialogue. On the other hand, DMs should reward exceptional creativity rather than taking it for granted.
A great dungeon master will note when a player says or does something incredible in-game and reward them with inspiration or other in-game benefits. In fact, well-delivered roleplay can turn a narrowly failed skill check into a narrowly successful one.
As with most games, Dungeons & Dragons is most immersive and fun when players keep their real lives and their game lives separate. Bringing personal drama or real-life politics and debates into the game not only breaks immersion, but it also turns the players against one another.
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DMs must refrain from using real-life context when creating or running a campaign, even if they're desperate for material. Doing so will probably backfire. On a similar note, DMs should make sure the players also refrain from mixing real-life drama with their role-playing.
Concerning the use of dice, a new dungeon master can sabotage the game by failing to strike a balance between two extremes. Ideally, the DM will smartly balance rolling the dice and simply using storytelling and logic to progress the adventure. However, new DMs may fumble with this.
If a new DM uses dice too often, bad luck may cause illogical outcomes, such as a weak gnome easily knocking down a heavy door. If DMs use dice too rarely, it can damage the suspense and players' skills and stats may feel irrelevant. It's a shame if the barbarian has a great Strength modifier but can't ever make use of it.
The dungeon master has the benefit of a physical screen to hide their notes and dice rolls to make sure the players don't cheat. This also means the DM can cheat for benign reasons to avoid an early TPK (total party kill) or give an unlucky player a much-needed break.
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However, fudging rolls and making it obvious to players remains a classic DM blunder. Even worse, some explain they're performing the fudging out loud. New DMs, if they slip up, may upset their players by hacking the game and warping the gameplay. This can also ruin the players' trust in the novice DM.
It's understandable if a new DM hopes to see their players act out their characters and bring them to life. It is a role-playing game, after all. However, overly eager DMs may project this onto their players and unfairly pressure them to act like an expert theater troupe.
A new DM must understand that some players lean more heavily into role-playing than others, and it's a matter of personal preference and talent. The new dungeon master should pay close attention and figure out who's a passionate actor and who's not, so they can run the game accordingly.
Crafting helpful directions requires a balance, as new DMs won't want to make things too easy or too difficult. It's boring if the road ahead is too obvious, so a dungeon master can force players to make skill rolls, read maps and figure out simple puzzles to figure out where they should go.
A new dungeon master may go too far and make the road ahead hopelessly confusing or obscure, giving players an unnecessary challenge. This will frustrate the players and hamper the pacing, so new DMs should err on the side of making things straightforward and easy until they have more experience creating puzzles.
A D&D campaign will have essential signpost scenes or turning points in the plot, and DMs must balance open-ended exploration with having players reach those vital scenes. If they aren't careful, a new DM may accidentally create an adventure where one scene must happen, and everything falls apart without it.
A new DM must know that if the players accidentally avoid that vital scene, the DM must find a logical way to redirect players to that scene or invent a new, similar scene to keep the story going. Since the game is an improvisational adventure, new dungeon masters shouldn't grow too attached to a particular plot point.
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Louis Kemner has been a fan of Japanese animation since 1997, when he discovered Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z in elementary school. Now he's a bigger anime/manga fan than ever, and is ready to share what he knows with readers worldwide. He graduated high school in 2009 and received his Bachelor's in creative writing from UMKC in 2013, then put his skills to work in 2019 with CBR.com. He's always looking for a wonderful new anime to watch or manga series to read.
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