When most people decide to fill the role “Dungeon Master” for their respective
gaming tables, it is often accompanied by difficult creative choices. You, as the Dungeon
Master, are solely responsible for the decisions that will craft the player's
world. You are responsible for the characters, setting, and challenges that the players must
interact with from the very first minute until the last. For most, this can be
intimidating, and can discourage many new players looking to DM.
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Id like to give a piece of advice to all new DMs, something
that I wish I was told when I started DMing. Don’t be stone, be like water!
When many new DMs begin crafting their world, they often choose a path of rigid
structure. I myself remember writing down several branching brackets, trying to predict every
action the players could take and where to lead them. This is not surprising for a new DM because of how we view stories in general. As the DM you are a storyteller, and whether
you watch a movie or read a book, you will find that most creative ventures are filtered to a
direct point, pushed towards an ending that at all costs must be reached to complete the story.
Dungeons and Dragons does not work like this though. Although your general plan can be
driven to some sort of endgame, this cannot be fully controlled as there are other creative outlets. Those being the player characters. Your group of players will have to create characters to live in your world, and overtime will become living, breathing, moving beings. These beings will often redirect and change aspects of what your overall story is, and it is important to remember this is natural. It is as impossible to ask a DM to try and predict all of the players actions, just as it is to constantly predict the actions of those who surround us in our day-to-day lives. It is also important to remember that part of the game is controlling the moving pieces of your world, but you can not control the player’s characters for them, as it can be discouraging and make the players feel horribly restricted. So how does a DM create a balance between the two and still continue their story? Lucky for you and I, the best advice comes from someone with no knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons, Bruce Lee!
Bruce Lee once said, “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be
assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing
within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be
formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water
into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now,
water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” Mr. Lee’s quote can be applied to life in
general, but I always found it compelling advice for Dungeon Master’s for two particular
reasons.
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
The first reason is because your players will take the shape of things you place around
them, directing their decisions, which can either make telling your story easier or harder. If
you present a world where there is little conflict and discourse, the player may choose more
passive and peaceful solutions to things. If your world is more cut throat and violent, they
may meet the world with equal aggression. Even simple things such as handing out rewards
can show the players that they did well and denying rewards can show players that perhaps
they had other alternatives. When crafting your adventure it is always helpful to review your
decisions under the assumption that the players are “water”, and as you present your story
they can flow with it or they can crash against it.
The second reason is that it reminds us that we ourselves have to have a level of fluidity. We as DMs must be ready to change as the players present new ideas, or new ways to do things. It can at times be more fun and more rewarding to see what the players create from their own imagination and the challenges presented, with you filling in other parts as necessary. It is okay to go into a session with a few things prepared and allow the players to take you in a direction you may not have foreseen. Your goal as a DM should be to move in tandem with the players towards some sort of goal. You must be like water and at times, that doesn’t mean that you can’t design a few unique places or characters for the players to interact with, but be ready to move them around as you see fit. This also does not mean that the players on your adventure won’t, or shouldn’t, come into conflict with anything in your world. Sometimes opposing forces will meet, and that can be a good thing as well!
As a DM I greatly advise you to always keep in mind to be like water. Like many
things for new DMs and players alike, you will find it challenging at first. With some practice
though I promise that in the end it will be healthier for your table and create memorable
moments you may not have been able to create on your own. This to me is the beauty of
storytelling D&D provides. Do not stifle the flow of your players creativity, and
allow yourself and others flexibility, fluidity, and input.
Be like water.
-2 Mimics in a Trench Coat
Useful Tools For Your Campaign:
https://amzn.to/4aoDA3a <---- DM Screen
https://amzn.to/3TqIYvG <----- Dice
https://amzn.to/4a2hSSO <---- Essentials Set
https://amzn.to/3TJsm3K <--- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
https://amzn.to/3PvnDA2 <--- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
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