An artist friend of mine often remarked, “People ask me how I paint really good bricks. I tell them to go home and paint one thousand bricks.” Like it is for all disciplines and hobbies, mastery comes from repetition.
But, repetition by itself is not enough, especially in collaborative hobbies, like TTRPGs, tabletop wargaming, and martial arts (I recently returned to my old Tai Chi teacher, so it’s been on my mind!) With these types of endeavors, you must constantly practice your craft with new people – the more various, the better.
For Mastering the Dungeon, this is one of the concepts we return to repeatedly on the podcast and in articles. You can quickly spot DMs who play often with multiple types of groups and those who either have played with the same group forever or who armchair pontificate about how “things are supposed to be”: in other words, the “Telephone Tough Guy DMs.”
Once you’re running different types of games, with lots of different people, your opinions become a little less… rigid.
This was brought into stark relief this past weekend when we got together to re-enter the world of Sandy Peterson’s Call of Cthulhu, with our Keeper of Arcane Lore being a longtime gamer (along with her husband, who turned out to be an evil PC the whole time) to our gaming table for the first time.
This got me thinking about what we learn, how we improve, and what makes a true Master of the Dungeon, distilled into three 3WD tips!
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude
We get used to whatever we’re exposed to. It’s just a fact of life, it’s one of our greatest strengths, our ability to adapt to anything. But we realize that what we really need to grow is new things that we’re unsure of and uncomfortable with.
By bringing new players to your table, you’re exposed to different ways of perceiving things, processing information, various ways to interact with the game, and have fun in a collaborative setting.
When you bring in someone new to run your games, this is even more apparent, as the entire world that you’re playing in is new. How do they narrate and introduce scenes? How much character development do they look for? How will they adjudicate the situations that arise? Hell, our entire podcast is an example of how different DMs look at gaming – as many times as we agree, we disagree. And we all run very different tables.
I Didn’t Think of That…
With our recent Call of Cthulhu one-shot, I saw something that I had never seen anyone do at an actual table that wasn’t a livestream. They approached the game with the idea that the players were the characters, as well as being the audience.
I had only seen this once in an actual play from the guys over at Dungeon Musings… that they were playing the old Marvel Super Heroes as Alpha Flight pretty much required me to watch it (Sasquatch!)
Now, in a livestream/actual play type of game (like our example of Dungeon Musings), this is, in my opinion, what makes them enjoyable. The understanding that the game is being played like any other game, but is also being watched like a television series or movie.
However, in a home game, I had never felt comfortable in breaking that wall and having the players be both character and audience in a more concrete sense. But, you know what? It worked. It gave a cinematic flair to the entire game, making it feel like we were truly playing out a movie or an episode of Lovecraft Country.
Tips and Tricks
Finally, one of the best things that you get from bringing new players and DMs into your group is new tricks. Every time someone else is DMing, even if it’s someone that I’ve played in games with before, I’m always picking up new tricks in scene setting, encounter building, social roleplay encounters, etc. My senses are on high alert for new ways that will make my job as DM easier, more fun, and more engaging.
With brand-new people, this idea is even more present, as they are bringing ideas, concepts, and a bag of tricks that you haven’t seen any of yet (see the above example!)
Final Thoughts
If you want to paint really good bricks, you’ve got to paint one thousand bricks. Repetition is key, you’ve got to get behind the screen and just start running, like DM Lenny said in our “Just Do It!” episode.
But, as we discussed, repetition by itself is not the key to growth and success, as our ability to adapt to things can quickly get us into a rut. The answer for this is simple: run games for new people, play in games with new people, run different systems. Get comfortable with uncomfortability, and leverage your ability to adapt to allow your unique DM style to flourish.
Until next time, Heroes… LIVE THE ADVENTURE!
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