Homework For The Novice Dungeon Master: The Art Of Learing From Experience
Mithic Realmz Newsletter #0008
Learning From Those Who Came Before Us
When I first started playing as a (backup) DM in the mid to late 80’s there was no meaningful internet to draw gaming inspiration or personal experience from.
To do this I had to;
A: Draw inspiration from others I came across at game stores, little gaming get-togethers or even parties and be able to talk with other DM’s.
B: Dedicated game stores where others ‘may’ play D&D and were also DM’s.
The problem was other people in real life who also played, were far fewer than today. Secondly, MtG was hitting its strides and everyone was putting role-play games on hiatus because EVERYONE was into this collectible card game.
Learning Is So Much More Accessible now
The internet is VASTLY different today.
Also, resources from beginner, intermediate and long-standing experienced DM’s are so much more readily available.
Live plays on Twitch & Discord
YouTube and TikTok educational video’s
Learn as-you-go articles on blogs
Websites chock full of tips, tricks, hacks and 1,2,3 plays in abundance across the net, not to mention HEAPS of ready-to-access PDFs to encompass learning to play from places like itch.io & DriveThruRPG
That also presents another issue, there is a MASSIVE information to sort through to make it viable, and for it to fit where YOU are in your learning as a DM.
The Just-In-Time approach.
If there is one aspect of researching, pulling apart and getting an understanding of a concept I need to learn to start using in my education it’s the just-in-time learning approach. This is also an extremely helpful way to learn something new.
There are various ways to learn and this way of the JIT approach involves taking in information of ONE concept and only learning that concept in a short time period.
So instead of some long-winded course that covers many concepts and facets of learning over several weeks, the JIT approach is learning a singular subject in a finite time to learn.
Here are a couple of examples;
’I need to familiarize myself with rules on trap creation’ You would check the DM’s Guide and read the section on creating a trap for your chosen environment, you come to understand Difficulty Class, damage, trigger mechanism, and potential countermeasures. Then when the players encounter that trap, you have confidence in explaining the results based on your learning, if they trigger or disarm the trap.
’I need to create a deadly NPC who is undead’, You come across a video on YouTube from a well-known D&D 5E DM who explains how to create an Undead NPC and set thematically how the players may encounter this creature. As you have the players encounter this beast, you describe the eeriness, the cold feel of the air, and how its presence may make the players feel. You may then relate events as they unfold if this encounter enters combat and how you describe that the creature reacts to spells, summoning, weapons or attempts to turn the creature if they figure out it is undead!
These two scenarios allow for some in-depth learning, preparation and understanding of a singular concept you can use in your game as you learn it, just in time. Taking this approach is much easier and simpler and helps you manage your time more effectively without the potential overwhelm of longer learning many concepts.
It's more efficient to focus on mastering a single concept within a short timeframe through just-in-time learning.
Further Resources & Curated Content
Article
A Medium article on Lessons Of A First Time DM
Podcast
An older podcast Inter-Party conflict, an intro episode and also some info on running a game for beginner DM’s - A Podcast episode.
Video
The Official Wizards ‘How To Play 5E Dungeons And Dragons’ Video of
DnD Wizards how to play 5E
Free one-shots to get you started - 25+ adventures
Ebooks - loads of ebooks on Drive Thru RPG
Image by Gerhard Janson from Pixabay