Dungeon Master or Dungeon Bastard?

A couple of days ago, one of my best friends sent me a link to a freely available documentary in Hulu.com called The Dungeon Masters (2008). Granted, I have not finished watching the documentary, however I had to write this column after the first 7 minutes of the video. It is not that the video sucks, because it does not – at least not in those 7 minutes. It is Richard Meeks.

We meet Richard Meeks while he is DM'ing a 2^nd Ed. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons session in GenCon 2007. Initially, he seems like very engaging and fun Dungeon Master. A few seconds later, he is handing down double crits and attacks that make the character hit lose one level. He is also being accused of cheating by his players. However, it is what happens next that struck a dissonant chord with me. In an interview, Richard Meeks explains how he killed his players because they were being too greedy and he did not like that. In so doing, he broke up a group of “6 or 7 friends” that had been playing together for 9 years... and he smugly smiles about it as if it was his crowning achievement as a Dungeon Master.

As he tells the story, the characters had been “lovingly developed over 7 years worth of playing.” In his own words:

I killed them all. They were stuck in a room knee deep in gold and I was just really mad that they were being so greedy. And out of the 8 or 9 around the table, they all jumped through the door. It's just that it was not a door, it was a sphere of annihilation and I said 'Ok, you've all jumped into the doorway, give me your character sheets.' And then they go 'Why?' And I say 'You're all dead. You've stepped into a sphere of annihilation.' And they all got up from the table, handed me their character sheets, packed up their dice and books, and went home.

I think the verbatim quote above summarizes many of the things you can do wrong when playing the role of the Dungeon Master. Let's go through them.

First, being a Dungeon Master doesn't pit you against the players. Your role is not to beat the players. You don't get to 'kill them'.  A decent Dungeon Master will not trick his players into walking through a doorway only to tell them it is a sphere of annihilation. Be fair. Give your players a fighting chance. If anything, bend the rules in their favor so that they at least have a fighting chance. A sphere of annihilation is a magically powerful spell or item (or whatever you want to call it). Any magic using player should be able to passively perceive there's some strong magical/arcane force or aura around that doorway. Worst case scenario, at least give them some type of saving throw.

Second, don't put your players in impossible positions and then get upset because they acted like every mother's son. Seriously, you put your players in a 'room knee deep in gold' and then get upset because 'they were being so greedy'? What did you expect would happen? More importantly, what would you have done if you were a player in a room knee deep in gold?

Third, don't get mad and punish players because they did not act the way you expected them to. As a Dungeon Master, your job is not to run players through a linear script. To me, the biggest difference between a tabletop RPG and an MMORPG is precisely that: total freedom in the tabletop game versus very limited options in the computer game. If the players did not act as you expected them, it is your job as the Dungeon Master to adapt. You feel like they dropped the ball because they did something you did not plan for? That's where the fun of being a Dungeon Master lies. Pick up the ball where they dropped it and carry it forward to a fun encounter. Don't shove the ball down their throats.

Fourth, death does not have to be the end of the adventure. This is something many Dungeon Masters forget. When the players die, they go somewhere. What happens when they get to Hell, the Abyss, the Shadowfell, Valhalla or wherever you want them to go? Can they get a chance to redeem themselves and come back to life by helping an Archdevil in a power struggle against other Archfiends? There is more intrigue among infernals, eternals, elementals, devils and angels than you can find anywhere else. Let the fun continue, just change the setting.

In the end, it is all about having fun together with your players.  Don't break up a group of 6 or 7 friends whose characters have been lovingly developed over 7 years worth of playing because you put them in an impossible position and they acted like anybody else would. Even if you feel you must kill them, you can still let the fun continue in a different plane. Embrace your role - be a Dungeon Master, not a Dungeon Bastard.