Hi there, you are probably wondering where my authority comes on this subject. I have played D&D as well as other genres of table top roleplaying games since 1993. Yeah, that means more than a decade. True, I was a child when I started but I am an adult now who still likes tabletop roleplaying after all of this time with his friends. So, I have some experience in the field. I am not the sharpest tool in the toolshed, so you can rightly assume that I have made all kinds of mistakes while roleplaying. As a player, I have done all sorts of dumb things. As a DM/GM (whatever acronym you wish to use), I have put players in dumb situations and done some debatable stuff. By the way, I use the acronym DM & GM interchangably but they are the same thing in my mind (gamemaster versus dungeonmaster). So I am seasoned enough to say "been there, done that, & wearing the convention t-shirts", but I have some fun campaign stories to tell under my belt of experience that just might be good enough to become short stories. Maybe someone can read this and learn from my dumb mistakes before making them and join in on my hobby. I might even include a few short stories of what those campaigns were like in future blogs, but I will try to pace myself with this blog for now.
Today is 09/01/11 and today is another thursday game night at a friend's house and I am currently running a campaign as a DM. The current campaign is Planar Airship campaign using rules from 3.5 books, planscape books from 2nd ed for backup reference, the 3.5 neverwhen book, and a little online information regarding 2nd ed information from spelljammer. Yeah, plenty of information there ...... Okay, I need to say this as rule one ..... Being a DM/GM means YOU NEED TO READ BOOKS OR EBOOKS. Start with the core roleplaying books trio of the edition you like; Player's Handbook, Dungeonmaster's Guide, & Monster Manual. With the exception of the highly rare boxed set first marketed in the 1970's, (by the way, if you even have those very first beginning pamphlets, you are holding onto something worth auctioning) every set of roleplaying books has these as core books. Everything else is supplemental and you can improv as you go along. As your collection of books grows, you will gather together quite the library. I converted this information into ebooks for reference on a laptop with the information on USB flashdrives so that I don't have to lug around a large pile of books. Yeah, I hurt my back carrying around lots of books. It is 2011 people, ...... books are not the only form of storage medium for information so GET A LAPTOP PC OR TABLET PC and store the information there as ebooks if possible. Books are nice to have and I like books, but for a real fun roleplaying experience, carrying around a large pile of supplemental & core books is hindering since packing away that stuff takes a while after the session ends. If you need to bring the actual books, try instead having a couple copies of the main core roleplaying books, then one or two supplemental books, (plus the current adventure module packet if you are using those preconstructed modules). That will be more than enough since you will have paper, dice, & pencils with you as well (or you can be extra fancy and bring miniatures, wet erase markers, and the battlegrid map, but the issue of too much stuff comes to mind). Keep in mind how much stuff you have and try to keep it simple with how much stuff you are bringing in general. Another point I would like to make about supplemental books in general is that they are for reference so try to read the information, remember the information the best you can, and if you can't remember the information, just remember that being the DM means you can improvise & bluff your way. Improv & Bluff works because of the golden rule of being DM, what you say goes .......
So you noticed I am borrowing information for all sorts of sources. So how does that work? Bluff & Improvisation ....... Please don't misunderstand that phrase. I have read information from those sources, read conversion rules from the neverwhen book & core books, and wrote down a bunch of stuff relating to the current campaign session, but bluffing goes a long way so put on that default poker face. Okay, so now brings up core issue # 1 I have to deal with as DM: preparation versus improvisation. Believe me, that is one juggling act all by itself. Being prepared is important, but a person can't prepare for every single contingency. Players should have some freedom of self expression for travel, but have a main outline of what the players will encounter, then let the creativity flow. Roleplaying is a hobby that is about creativity, players interacting with a story the DM made up.
So now I will have to prepare for later by drawing a map, outlining a few things they will encounter in the dungeon, and see how the evening plays out from there.
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