by David Smith

Created on: August 23, 2009

I cannot possibly tell you, no matter the word count of any article, how to be the perfect dungeon master. That is because the perfect dungeon master doesn't exist. There are people who make great dungeon masters, and there are those that get to be the dungeon master once, and only once. What makes a good dungeon master is the attitude that the dungeon master brings to the game. Bearing that in mind, here are some things to remember as a dungeon master.

Leaving aside actual game play, it is important to remember that the world that you are running the players through needs to be enjoyable to them. If you are one of the dungeon masters that is going to see the world as you, the dungeon master, versus them, the players, your players are not going to enjoy themselves very much, and you may find them moving on to another gaming venue. One thing that you have to remember is that the tools available to the dungeon master to kill the players are far better and more available to you than the players tools and abilities to survive such encounters. So, don't do everything in your power to kill the characters each and every time that you play, but make sure that they know that you are leaving that option open.

Making the game enjoyable for the players does not insinuate that you have to make all of the encounters insanely easy to win. It doesn't insinuate that the dungeon master should make every riddle or puzzle easy to solve either. It is important to remember something about the human psyche. Often times, the most enjoyment in life come from doing work worth doing, and accomplishing tasks that seem to be impossible. Making a task difficult to accomplish, or a fight difficult to win will not necessarily make the players leave the game, it will most likely keep them on as the task was fun.

One of the hardest things that you have to do as a dungeon master is to identify with your players. This is easy when you are among friends that you have had for years and years, but how about when they bring on new players that you have only just met or don't know very well. Watching these players play the game will give you an idea of how they like to play the game, and this will give you the information that you need to better include them in the game. One of the best ways to identify with your players is through the use of non-player characters (NPC's). By your NPC's interacting with the players, you can really get involved with the game. Getting involved with the game is a very necessary part of the players' experience, and NPC's are a very easy way to get this done.

Make sure that you make the players think during the game. If you style of game play is to kick the door in and kill everything in the room, that is fine. However, you need to make sure that you have down times during the play, to give the players time to get their players much needed supplies, rest to heal, and time to research spells and the like. A game where the characters are just killing the monsters, one after another, session after sessions, can also get a bit boring. A good game play alternative is a mix. Let the characters use their minds to find the monsters' nests and lairs, and then have a few gaming sessions where they are concentrating on taking care of the baddies that they found.

Finally, as a dungeon master, you are responsible for the enjoyment that your players are having during the game. You should have fun making sure that they are having fun. If you are looking forward to playing to have fun developing a character or killing the bad guys, then maybe you should consider letting someone else run a game and you participate as a player.

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