D&D - The Next Generation
By: Scott B
In early January 2024, KGS completed their first “Conclave of the Clans”, wherein we canvassed our whole player base for their suggestions on where our priorities should lie this year. A clear favourite amongst many was the request to train or teach the fine art of running a Dungeons & Dragons game, hereafter known as being a Dungeon Master™ (DM) or Games Master (GM).
Always on our list, it took a little while to find the time to schedule this in, but the event took place on Sunday 16th June and was well received by everyone who participated. Special Note: Whilst the event was run primarily by Ryan, Scott & Stewart, there were a few other DM’s sprinkled in the audience who gave input, and we had 5-6 others keen to help but unable to make the specific date. KGS is a place where cooperation and community aren’t just words, but actions.
You Start in a Tavern…
The day started with an introduction by Scott. The outline of the day was provided, and the key concepts of being a good DM were introduced:
· The DM is the narrator.
· The DM plays the NPC roles.
· The DM makes decisions where needed.
Additionally, the introduction mentioned a core concept in any Tabletop Role Playing Game; Collaboration. We reinforced all day that the key role of the DM is to have fun, and this needed the players to collaborate to tell a shared story.
Don’t Marry Her, Have Me
With the introductions and schedule discussed, it was time to Ruin a Wedding, and Stewart took the helm to demonstrate how to encourage and reward role play in a non-combat scenario. Big Tuna, Erin, Dougie and Morgan helped out as they took on the role of a replacement house band at a high society wedding, with the secret mission of peacefully ruining the reception. Key concepts around how ability checks work, as well as the importance (and unimportance) of making stuff up on the spot, were outlined and discussed. Each point led back to the short one-page session notes that Stewart provided, showing our students how some simple requirements and application of the D&D 5E system could create a fun and varied session every time.
Roll Initiative
With the wedding in ruins, we converged onto a table where Ryan ran a couple of combat scenarios with our youngest students. The key concepts in combat were:
· Balancing combat.
· Keeping fun in the fight.
· Ensuring everyone in the party had something to do.
· Tracking HP, Initiative and managing player behaviour.
· DM Tactics.
At key points, decisions the DM made were expanded e.g. at an early level, you don’t need to focus down the caster (who has 22hp) when you can focus on the Armour-clad Paladin. Combat should be challenging but fun.
It’s a Module and it’s Looking Good
The last session was focused on one of the key outputs for the day; Running a published module. As a group of DM’s, we felt this would be a great starting point for fledgling DM’s. Published content is limited in scope, relatively simple, but has often been run thousands of times by others. There is lots of opportunities to learn from the whole world via online resources. Scott ran the first scenario from Defiance in Phlan, the first part of the Tyranny of Dragons module that is available for free in the KGS resource library.
The DM’s learned the value of reading ahead, were given an example of the low bar needed for combat mapping, and different ways of progressing the story whilst staying within the established guidelines for this module. The group were even treated to an awful but earnest Australian accent (Scott says: Just do a voice!) to show where some fun can be extracted.
End of Session. You Levelled up!
We finished up with a good Q&A session, where we answered to the best of our ability a great variety of questions. We also started to note down the key things we would want to add into GM102. The FAQ’s were noted and will be published at some point when we’ve built functionality in the website to support this.
We will definitely schedule more of these. Please get in touch if you are interested in attending.