Musings of a DM

My group will be starting an Iron Kingdoms RPG campaign. For the uninitiated, think Dungeons and Dragons with a steampunk vibe. In keeping with the idea that I'm just a giant geek, I'd like to talk about  my history as a Dungeon/Game Master.

I honestly don't remember how I came across it, but one day at the age of 15 I found myself cracking open the 3rd edition D&D starter box. I had 0 experience with tabletop role playing games, but for some reason I saw fit to purchase this thing. 

After digging through the rules and doing a solo-play of the adventures, I managed to convince a friend to try it out with me. I barely understood the rules, and explaining to another 15 year old how to play 5 characters was, in hindsight, a mistake. But we pushed through it, and after a few hours we managed to knock out a few of the adventures. That the only time I played it, but for some reason I was never able to get rid of it, I tried selling it in a garage sale once, but fortunately no one was smart enough to buy it for a buck.

I tried getting some cousins to play with me when we went to visit them, but that was a nightmare. They made it through one adventure, but when almost every piece of DM dialogue ended with "what do you do?" the game quickly got away from us and we instead had a Nerf war. After that I didn't think much about D&D. I'd look it up once in awhile on the internet, and even bought a 3rd edition Player and GM book that I opened a handful of times. Seriously, there was a lot to read and it terrified me!

Fast forward 8 years. I wasn't able to sleep one night, so for whatever reason I went digging through our gaming shelf and found my old D&D game being squished by... well, everything else. After doing my best not to send everything crashing down and waking my newborn, I took the box to the living room and jumped into nostalgia as I read through the rules, admired the character sheets, and once again ran myself through the first adventure.

And I still haven't gotten rid of it!

At this point I wasn't completely cut off from the rest of the geeky world. Google was a thing, and I abused the heck out of it that week. And wouldn't you know it? A brand new edition of D&D was releasing in about two weeks! I jumped on the Wizards forums and got every piece of info and advice I could from experienced gamers (all while learning about the "edition wars" when they were in full swing).

I talked to my eternally supportive wife, who agreed to play the game with me. Then it was a matter of getting a couple more people to join me as I closed my eyes and blindly swung my way through something I'd never done before. My brother-in-law Brian and best friend Schick were gracious enough to come hang out one Saturday (with the promise of free food) and try the game with me. I still remember leaving my last college class of the day, racing over to Barnes and Noble, and picking up my reserved copy of "Keep on the Shadowfell," and full-fledged introductory adventure for people like me.

After our first game, I felt energized in a way I'd never experienced. I was creating a world for my friends to adventure in, and they had loved every minute of it. To this day we still joke about their most hated foe - a kobold slinger that they just couldn't kill. He wasn't a boss or even a very powerful character, but it's one of those memories that only a tabletop RPG can create.

I've always been a big fan of cooperation over competition. It's hard to tell when my portfolio includes Warhammer 40k, Warmachine/Hordes, Magic the Gathering. Call of Duty... but honestly, I'd rather spend hours working with a friend toward a common goal rather than working against them in a game that sometimes leads to one of us getting frustrated.

And that's what makes being a DM/GM so exhilarating  It allows me to get together with friends as we work together to create a story featuring characters that they care about. It's not like a cooperative video game where you're enjoying someone else's work. I create the framework for the story, and my friends help me create the story around it. 

I realize being a DM isn't for everyone. Many people approach it as "me vs them," and try to "beat" the players. Others don't want to put in the surprising amount of time it takes to prepare a game session. And to me, that's totally fine. For awhile I was envious of my players. Not in any mean way, but because they got to work together in combat and role-playing while I was on the other side of the table.

Then Wizard of the Coast (creators of D&D) started a weekly event called "D&D Encounters." It was an event every Wednesday that was sort of like a TV series. You had weekly "episodes" (called Dungeon Delves) that stood on their own, but also had enough story bits that eventually wove together to create a final encounter. It was here that Schick and I got to experience playing on the same side of the table.

I went for most of the first season, and I learned that being a DM was much more satisfying. It was fun to craft a character and see him come to life, but it felt so limited. Here I was, a man who'd created an entire world, and now I was only in charge of one person whose story only existed in a small bubble.

I thought that perhaps this was just because of the nature of D&D Encounters. Getting matched with 3-5 random players made roleplaying a bit difficult. But after going through a couple of games with other DMs (including one who, in my opinion, is the best DM out there, and my wife who killed us all in our first game), I realize I'm just not made to be a player.

Don't get me wrong. It's a blast to have a character that is 100% yours, who you care about as he goes from a humble adventurer to someone who saves villages and kills the greatest evils out there. It's an experience that's wholly different from being a DM. But to me, it's the difference between eating a delicious meal, and being the one who made it for everyone to enjoy.

So with my new IKRPG campaign only a few days a way (I hope), I continue to get more and more excited about sitting behind the DM screen and watching as my friends cheer at victories, groan at failures, and threaten to kill me after a plot twist they weren't expecting.

I'll let you know how things go. Although I feel like a rather seasoned DM, I've never strayed from 4th edition D&D, so this will be a bit of a new experience. I'm feeling pretty confident, and I hope my players will enjoy the story I've prepared.

See you tomorrow!