Following Matt Mercer: How to be a better Dungeon Master

The Hero is You (how to centre the PCs)

So, compared to last week, this one's actually pretty simple. In fact, for a lot of you? You're going to read it and say "well, DUH!" and wonder why people would ever need to be told this. The thing is, someday you'll be running a session and you'll look up, remember this article, look back down at the game and go "damn." Because EVERYONE does this at least once in their careers as Dungeon Masters.

Okay. Enough foreplay. The lesson this week is; "remember your player characters are the heroes." 

That's it. That's the whole thing. Again, really simple, right? Right. But also something that people forget ALL THE TIME. Usually, the problem starts in world-building. Now, let's be honest; half the reason people want to sit in the Dungeon Master's chair is that they want to get to build a world from scratch. It can be absolutely intoxicating; every character, every town, every culture - ALL OF IT is yours to create and control. Heck, Dungeons and Dragons should really come with a warning about not believing you're an actual God outside of games because you get to be one.

But then, before you know it, you've built deep, complex lore, with heroes and gods and monsters, and it's GREAT - and utter poison to run a campaign in. You won't see why immediately. In fact, you'll feel confident that this will be the best game you've ever run. You know this world inside out, after all. But then, out of nowhere, you will look at your players' faces and they will be bored out of their minds.

Of course, they are. They haven't done anything except watch your NPCs argue with each other about geopolitics you explained a half-hour ago. They haven't done anything.

This is the cardinal sin of Dungeon Masters and the greatest death blow that can ever be dealt with a game of Dungeons and Dragons. You have treated your players like an audience. Now, don't be too hard on yourself, because everyone does this at least once. Heck, I've done this. One of my groups once had to sit and watch me roll for a good three turns as a battle raged that they weren't actually part of. They're still my players, mind, which proves you can recover from this, but trust me; it's a bad habit to get into.

Now, this is a problem of mindset. Dungeon Masters are often writers or want to be writers. There's a book they've had knocking about in their head for years, or a play or a movie or a fifteen-minute storytelling dance routine or whatever. You probably do too- or you will soon enough. Just remember that those mediums all have audiences. You have collaborators. Don't mix the two up, and you'll be fine. 

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