DMing

6:00 PM - There are three other people at the table and they all seem incredibly cool, this is looking good.

6:12 PM - He hasn't looked at my character sheet at all, but I assume that's alright. My randomly generated name is Sidney "Coxswain" Chaos. I may change my real name to this.

6:30 PM - Wait. Did he just tell that girl she can't use chill touch because it's melee? He also called all her spells useless non-melee spells but she has both chill touch and witch bolt. 

A friend of mine has been running D&D events in places like local libraries. These events are often kid-centric -- after all, what kid in 2018 doesn't want to get into Stranger Things-like hijinks with their multi-cultural friends? In my day, we were chased down flickering, blood-soaked halls by brutal and otherworldly monsters on the way to buy a Crystal Pepsi for 5 cents at the malt shop.

Taking criticism isn't easy for anyone. But as a DM, you're making yourself incredibly vulnerable. You're sharing every part of yourself, from your analytical thinking to your creativity. Players can be thoughtless when they come up with DM criticism, as well as unhelpful:

Professional DMing and GMing is becoming a reality. For some, being a professional DM is a full-time career. For others, it's a way to translate a particularly involved hobby into cash. Some people charge just enough to pay for their materials -- and others are trying to make a living at it. If the career seems interesting to you, it may be time for you to make the jump towards being a professional.

"Just so you know, if the game gets sexual, I'll probably bow out." My DM looked at me, his eyes suddenly full of panic. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean, if it goes sexual in a way that doesn't service the plot or make sense, I'm out. Sex in DND is just not my taste." "I can't really control what other players do." "I'm not asking you to, I"m just telling you what I will do."

There are few magics as dark and arcane as DND scheduling. Everyone wants to play DND, but no one has the time. Whether it's school, work, or family, scheduling a group of six people means scheduling around six sets of problems. It can be done, but it will take some extra work.

In the final installment of this series, we’re going to talk about player goals. In other words, the encompassing goal that the player has for their character. Some characters have complex motivations; a fallen paladin on a quest to find out whether their God failed them at a critical moment in time in the past. Others have very simple ones; get gold. Some players have meta goals, such as playing a class they’ve never played before; other players are simply rolling the dice.

“I take a rope, tie it around Thomas, and throw him down the well.”

“Wait, he does what to me?”

“Thomas plummets down the well until the rope pulls taut.”

“What?”