Many players have asked me, “how hard is it to be a dungeon master?” I usually respond with a few responses. It’s not hard, but it is a lot of research and homework. Or, it’s a lot of fun, but you need to be good at improvising.
Let me tell you a story of how I became a dungeon master because I have found that I prefer it instead of being one of the players.
I started playing Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords with a few friends. My sorcerer was the arcane magic user for our group and I specialized in burning everything!!! He became a bit of a pyromaniac, but I really enjoyed playing him.
My first Dungeon Master was an inspiration.
He introduced me to the game and proved to be a very entertaining dungeon master. The DM knew the story and brought it to life. When we made mistakes, he invented ways to guard us against a total party wipe. We were taught to think about our social and combat interactions. He convinced us goblins were dumb and may have even sung a goblin song. He played music in the background to add suspense. I believe he did a fantastic job.
My college group led me to become a dungeon master.
I am the leader of a college group at my church. Some of my students were having difficulty bonding during some of our Bible studies. We discussed that I played Pathfinder and after describing the game, several students expressed interest. I decided that I would attempt to run a session for them. It would be a trial run to see if they enjoyed it or not.
I started watching Critical Role to learn from the great Matthew Mercer. I read up on the rules and the storyline. The students learned to create their characters. We decided to hold an intro session that described their background story that led them to Sandpoint(the starting point for the adventure path). Several different tales and stories were weaved together which helped to form their characters and I loved it. I began to improvise and write story hooks and side quests. I became the NPCs, crafted events as the group progressed, imagined new NPCs on the fly and described critical successes and failures. The entire process was exhilarating and it to open a creative side of me that I didn’t know existed.
What I loved most about being a DM is watching people bond over the shared experience. Learning how people function as a group and seeing people come out of their shell.
Should you become a Dungeon Master?
I would highly suggest if you enjoy improvisation, storytelling, and tabletop role-playing games, then consider trying to DM a session. And if you need some tips or help along the way, please let me know. I would be happy to give some advice to new dungeon masters.
If you have a story to share, feel free to contact me with it. I will be sharing some of my experiences here!
So, is being a dungeon master hard? Yes, but it is completely worth it.
