Thanks to Dante and the StupidRanger crew for letting us in on their big secret of how to write D&D posts. When I’m accepting my ENnie someday, I’ll be sure to thank you!
As you all know, I’ve started DMing recently. I’m even writing a series of posts about it.
You might not know that my daylight job is that of a teacher. I am a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescent and Young Adulthood Music. (Yep, it’s a mouthful.) What does that mean? I know a lot about teaching and learning.
The more I get into DMing, the more I’m seeing the parallels between the two jobs. Let’s check those out!
A Teacher Knows Her Subject :
A DM Knows Her Game
A good teacher has extensive knowledge of her subject area. If she is thrown into a class that she is not as knowledgeable in, she takes steps to increase her knowledge so she is able to teach her students. For example, I was asked to teach Piano classes at my former school. My only piano training was two years of basic piano required of a Music major. I definitely did not consider myself to be a pianist. I worked to increase my skills at piano and read up on piano teaching strategies so I was better able to reach my students.
A DM has extensive knowledge of the game. (This is an area where I am lacking!) In the absence of extensive knowledge, the DM has players who are able to help in double-checking rules and such. However, I will admit that games run much smoother when the DM knows all!
A Teacher Preps For Lessons :
A DM Preps for Game Sessions
The word “prep” is tossed around frequently in the education world. “Prep” the noun refers to a particular class – so for example, someone who teaches English 1, Honors English 1, and Journalism 1 would say that they have three preps. They need to prepare lessons for three different classes.
In preparing for a lesson, a teacher knows it is best to over-prepare. Always have more material than you can possibly go over in one class period. This serves a couple purposes. First, it takes the pressure off you if something comes up and you can’t prepare before class one day. Second, if your students really latch on to the concept and master it quickly, you have material to be able to move on.
A DM may have multiple preps if he DMs more than one game. DMs also know it is best to over-prepare in case the players move quickly through the encounters. For some DMs, this means having a few extra encounters from further along in the adventure ready. For others, it means having some improvised encounters that can give the PCs some trouble.
A Teacher Knows Her Students :
A DM Knows Her Players
A good teacher knows her students. She knows the general vibe of each class, but also the things that motivate individual students. She can divide her students up into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. While John may understand the concept the first time he hears it, Sue may need to see a photo, diagram, or chart to fully understand. A good teacher is prepared with many different ways to teach the same concept so she is able to reach every student.
A DM knows the players. On a basic level, the DM knows the strength of the party and is able to create encounters that are neither too hard nor too easy. Beyond the basics, a DM knows what motivates each party member. Is the party more into roleplaying or hack-n-slash? Will they pick up on a tiny clue in a room or do they need a neon-flashing-sign clue? Is the party ranger the one who always runs headfirst into danger? Does the warlord’s player need a little nudge to really step into that Leader role?
A Teacher Sets the Pace of the Classroom:
A DM Sets the Pace of the Game
The teacher sets the pace of the classroom by feeding off the cues given by her students. She is able to assess each student, make corrections when necessary, give feedback and praise. When she feels the students have mastered the concept, she moves on to a new one. If the students are struggling, she finds ways to strengthen their weaknesses, pulling from her knowledge of the subject and her students.
A DM sets the pace of the game. As the storyteller, the DM is able to create smooth paths or rocky roads. If the PCs aren’t ready to face the dragon, the DM finds a way to divert them elsewhere or perhaps lets them preview what’s ahead and decide on their own that they are not ready!
A Teacher Reflects on Her Lessons :
A DM Reflects on Her Game
After each lesson, a good teacher reflects. What parts of the lesson went well? What parts were enjoyable to the students? What teaching strategies were most effective? What parts of the lesson did not go as planned or were not received well by the students? What parts of this lesson plan need tweaking before the lesson is taught again? Whether this reflection is written on paper or stored in the teacher’s mind, the reflection process is the most important step to being a good teacher.
A DM reflects on the game after it is complete. What parts ran smoothly? What did the players enjoy? What encounters were the most balanced for the group? What parts of the session did not go as planned? Did the PCs do anything that was unplanned? What parts of the session frustrated the PCs? For the next session, what needs more (or better) prep?
In Front of the Board or Behind the Screen
In front of the board, the teacher knows her subject and her students. She prepares for lessons using this knowledge, sets the pace and tone of her classroom, and reflects on each lesson when it is done.
Behind the screen, a good DM knows the game and the players. She prepares for sessions using this knowledge, sets the pace and tone of the campaign, and reflects on each session when it is done.
Whether it’s the ABCs of reading or the hack-n-slash of a great battle, it’s comforting to know that there’s someone at the helm, steering you in the right direction.
About e
Congrats on the Natl’ Boards.
My wife did it a few years ago, it isn’t easy…
ebertran´s last blog post..Dungeon Magazine maps
So true, all I could think about back when I did my teacher training was how much of the theory we were being taught linked in with gaming.
Start lessons with a quick, engaging activity/open a game with an engaging scene.
Ensure every pupil’s learning style is accounted for/account for each player’s playstyle.
We learn best when/enjoy our games most when we’re at that sweet spot between being too relaxed and too pressured.
And of course they both rely upon that age old skill of pretending you know exactly what you’re doing
Excellent post, and really true. I’ve always known I should have been a teacher instead of an engineer. But I wouldn’t be playing RPG with you if I had chosen another way.
Hyb’
Nah, Hybban. Being a DM is a lot like being an engineer, too.
Maybe I should write a post on that one…
(Civil student, by the way.)
Graham´s last blog post..Pathfinder 26 – One month after the fact.
I completely and utterly agree. As a teacher for the last 13 years, I have always equated DMing to teaching. One thing I think should also be mentioned is patience. Teaching teaches one to be patient with their students. Being patient with players is no different.
Tony Law´s last blog post..You gotta suck ‘em in and keep ‘em hooked
You certainly make some valid points in your comparisons. I think preparation is most always a key element. Thanks for your article.
@Graham: I dunno. Being an engineer, I realize that I prep/run my games very differently than my job. But I’d love to read a post about that, that may enlighten me (I may be a bad engineer
)
@ ebertran – Thanks. It was a TON of work, but as a writer, it’s actually not too bad.
@ Forte – “Always stay a few pages ahead of the kids”?
@ Hybban – If you were a teacher, you’d have 1/16th of the RPG collection you have currently because you’d be poor like me!
@ Graham – You SHOULD write that post! Go do it!
@ Tony – Patience is something I’m STILL learning! It’s tough.
@ Dan – Welcome! Glad you liked it!
@e: my salary is better, but I have a wife… And I would still have my electronic library
E…Excellent post. For a long time, I’ve equated being a DM with running a board meeting (I’m a cube monkey in an office building). You have a meeting purpose, intended outcomes, an agenda, and participants that wish (hopefully) to collaborate. I’ll have to blog about that soon. I guess that just goes to show that there’s more than one profession that can relate to playing an RPG.
Dead Orcs´s last blog post..Printers — Not Just for Paper Anymore
@ Dead Orcs – Welcome to the comments! You should definitely write that article.
Great post. As another teacher/GM (I run an after school game club once a week to keep the torch burning in the younger generation), I can attest to the fact that the parallels do exist. Many of the skills I’ve learned as a GM, especially about keeping people’s attention, are things I’ve used in the classroom as well.
MJ Harnish´s last blog post..Hands off the wheel: Giving up Narrative Control in a RPG
Okay E, it’s up. The article about DMing being like facilitating a board meeting. The link love on this reply should catch the link.
Dead Orcs´s last blog post..
The best advice on DM/GM’ing I ever saw was in the old West End Games Star Wars RPG manual.
1) Tell a good story, it’s all about having fun, and a good narrative that draws the players in and sets the mood is essential. Props and music (being a Star Wars RPG they recommended Star Wars theme music, what a shocker) can really help.
2) Don’t get hung up on the rules, fudge them a bit to help the story, as long as the players are having a good time, it’s all good.
3) Reward players that help the story or show some creative thinking. If a player pulls something that helps the story, or, pulls some real out of the box thinking that makes things interesting or solve a problem in a creative way, reward them well with xp or loot.
4) Be able to improvise, or have a back up plan. Players won’t always co-operate, they may figure that the motivations for doing the quest you intend aren’t good enough. You can occasionally get away with the local guard forcing them to do the job, or something equivalent. That just makes things a chore, be prepared to shelve your plans and strike out in a new direction if the players don’t want to do your quest.