I’ve had more than two decades of experience acting as a Dungeon Master and a player in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, alongside numerous other Tabletop RPG systems, and a few things have become evident in determining which campaigns will flourish and which will fail. I love the DM role, since I can create a story and twists, conflicts and antagonists, and portray myriad unique NPCs during a game. DMing is exciting to me. If a DM is simply going through the motions, and does not bring energy to their game, the campaign is likely doomed. The DM must be excited.
The role of DM has become a strange one in the modern era of DnD. There are TTRPGs that don’t need Game Masters, and others that are completely solo experiences, but these lose out on the joy of a well-executed TTRPG campaign that embraces the traditional roles of Game Master and players. With DnD, the energy the DM brings to the campaign sets the “ceiling” for players. A group of enthusiastic players might be able to coast through a few sessions with an indifferent DM, and still have fun, but eventually, the DM’s evident lack of enthusiasm will become infectious.
The DM Sets A Cap For A D&D Campaign’s Overall Energy
Players Cannot Be More Excited Than The DM During A Lengthy Game
There are horror stories of sadistic DnD Dungeon Masters’ house rules, but the more common, albeit less dramatic, bad campaign experience comes from groups with DMs who took on the role out of a sense of obligation rather than true investment. Even if a DM’s specific style does not perfectly match the expectations and preferences of their players, if the DM is having fun, and shows that they are engaged and excited for the campaign, players will enjoy themselves more. Conversely, a highly experienced DM with a great skill set can still run a dud if they phone it in.
A DM who needs pre-gen adventures is not ready to run a yearlong campaign. DMs who are ready do not need pre-gen adventures and typically find them terribly tedious.
The reason many seasoned DMs avoid DnD tropes in campaigns is not just to keep their players on their toes, but because the DMs themselves are rarely excited about running yet another opening where a group of new adventurers meet in a tavern. Some groups approach this the wrong way, taking a sort of survey of player preferences before the campaign, and having the DM make a game to try to appeal to as many of those as possible. This can be fine for very new groups, where the DM is still discovering their own preferences, but it remains problematic.
Among the advice for new DnD Dungeon Masters, one thing I rarely hear voiced is that the DM needs to be enjoying themselves just as much as the players. The DM is the “hype man” for their own campaign, and part of their role is drumming up ongoing enthusiasm, not just at the start of a game, but every week in between sessions. If players ever miss a session because it simply slipped their mind, it usually means the DM has not done their job with mid-week check-ins between sessions to confirm attendance. I also use these to build excitement.
Running A Long D&D Adventure Path May Not Excite DMs
Tabletop RPG Mega-Modules Occupy A Strange Middle Ground
I want my DnD players immersed in their characters, and questions in between sessions help reinforce this. I might ask players what their characters thought about a specific event from the last session, or what they might be worried about in advance of the upcoming session. I also use the time in between sessions to handle tedious procedural elements. There are no “shopping sessions” or sessions taken up with leveling up characters, or crafting, since I deal with all those procedural gaming elements outside of session time, so they do not kill the energy and pacing during actual sessions.
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Whether Dungeons & Dragons adapts classic adventures to its latest rule set or produces original modules, there are dozens of options out there, but the expectation that DMs will run a pre-written “Adventure Path” rather than creating an original campaign has become detrimental to DM energy. Pre-written modules are great for new DMs, but adventure paths that take a party nearly all the way from level 1 to 20 baffle me. A DM who needs pre-gen adventures is not ready to run a yearlong campaign. DMs who are ready do not need pre-gen adventures and typically find them terribly tedious.
If the DM grows bored with the game, or fails to continually drum up excitement, that “new campaign smell” will fade over time.
Even relatively new DnD DMs make original campaigns routinely, and these are usually stories they are much more excited to tell, bringing more excitement to the game. The perceived “DM shortage” with DnD could come from the expectation that most DMs will be running one of the established mega-adventures, like Curse of Strahd or Shadow of the Dragon Queen, committing to about a year of play in which they act as referee, or director, for someone else’s screenplay and storyboard. Few DMs can be excited, week after week, to go from the front of an adventure book toward the back.
The DM Is A D&D Player As Well, Not Simply A Referee
If The DM Is Enjoying The Game, The Players Will Typically Mirror That
Groups need to realize the best DnD campaign for Dungeon Masters is not any of the high-profile adventure paths from Wizards of the Coast, but the game they design themselves. The DM is a player in DnD as well, and their enjoyment matters even more than those who portray PCs. This does not mean a tyrannical DM is justified in making players miserable to get their kicks. This means the DM must be having fun for the players to have fun, over the course of a lengthy campaign. The games I am excited about compel the best responses from players.
If a DM is running multiple games at once, odds are they will be giving none of them their best efforts, and certainly their energy will become spread far too thin.
Some of the more unique and atypical TTRPG campaign worlds will draw inherent interest from my players at the onset of a campaign. I see this pattern in many games I have experienced from both sides of the DM screen. Players can begin a game excited over the limitless possibilities and the excellent campaign they imagine in their head, where their characters will truly get to shine. If the DM grows bored with the game, or fails to continually drum up excitement, that “new campaign smell” will fade over time. It is vital that DMs work to maintain that energy.
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If you are starting a campaign and find you are not genuinely excited about it, consider stepping aside. While most DnD fans struggle to find games that work with their schedules, a few DMs, and players, lose their enthusiasm for campaigns simply because they are taking part in too many concurrently. If a DM is running multiple games at once, odds are they will be giving none of them their best efforts, and certainly their energy will become spread far too thin. Running your weekly session of a game in which you are swinging for the fences is absolutely thrilling.
For groups that have limited members, if none of them truly want to DM, they could consider seeking a DM from outside the group, or participating in Organized Play until they find one.
Running the third or fourth session each week, however, turns a passion project into a job. There is good reason for the rise in “Paid DMs” as a career. If I ran the Age of Worms campaign for more than a year, or ran six games each week, I would want to get paid, too. Even running one game a week, I constantly work to keep things fresh for myself and my players to avoid burning out. Multiple games compound that risk. I love being a Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons, and my players mirror the energy I bring.
Source: Dungeons & Dragons/YouTube
Dungeons & Dragons
- Created by
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Summary
The Dungeons & Dragons franchise is a fantasy adventure series based on the iconic tabletop role-playing game. The franchise includes both live-action and animated adaptations, with the most notable being the recent film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), which brought the fantasy world of D&D to a broader audience with its blend of humor, action, and classic D&D elements. The franchise explores themes of heroism, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of adventuring in a magical world filled with dragons, wizards, and mythical creatures.
