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Dragon	-	-	-	Dragon 48

CHECKLIST
1. Did you enjoy playing with these people?
2. Does his magic system favor MagicUsers?
3. Is his combat system vague?
4. Does this DM ever allow no-saving-throw deaths, other than those examples in the AD&D rules?
5. Do his variants improve the flow of play?
6. How long does it take for the players to assemble?
7. Is the DM ready to run?
8. Are you comfortable?
9. Is this a convenient time for you to play?
10. If you are bringing an old character to this new world, does the DM examine it carefully?
11. Does your new DM have a variant procedure for character generation?
12. How plausible is your new DM’s rationale for your entry into his/her campaign?
13. What is the range of player-character experience levels in the campaign?
14. How rigorously does the DM make the players provide for the equipment of the party?
15. Disputes over equipment will inevitably arise during the expedition. How does the DM handle these arguments?
16. You should observe the behavior of the other players while setting up, especially those who frequently play with this DM. Are they talking excitedly about previous expeditions?
17. Do they feel that they are strands in a rich tapestry of events?
18. Do they have ideas for the expedition?
19. Do they have standard operational procedures?
20. Do they make decisions quickly and without ill-will?
21. Now the party is equipped and ready to go. What are you going to do?
22. First, did the DM lead you by the nose?
23. Is he obviously directing the party?
24. Is the purpose of the expedition clear?
25. Are the mechanics of movement smooth?
26. Does the DM make players follow through on decisions which they have called out to him?
27. Does the DM ensure that each player can and does act independently during resolution of encounters?
28. How does the DM handle NPCs?
29. Does your new DM use hybrids or weird beasties: e.g. blink dragons, uranium golems, exploding orcs, sword swallowers?

Someday you will face a change in your
life so wrenching that oblivion seems almost
preferable. Your DM will get tired, or you’ll
move, or he’ll move—anyway, something
will be different, and you’ll need a new DM.

When you find a prospective new DM,
arrange to play with him and see if anyone
with whom you have played has played with
this DM. Did you enjoy playing with these
people? If not, remember to notice how the
new DM handles the “problems” these people may cause for you.

Try to talk with the DM for at least a few
minutes before you play. Ask him if and how
he has modified the standard AD&D™ rules.
Does his magic system favor MagicUsers?
Most do.
Is his combat system vague? This often means he likes to fudge
the results. You will probably like this the
first few times you get lucky. Soon, though,
you will realize that an unfair combat system makes victories less meaningful. Does
this DM ever allow no-saving-throw deaths,
other than those examples in the AD&D
rules? This can lead to no-saving-throw violence between the players and the DM.
Don’t take your cherished character into a
killer dungeon. Finally, remember that there
is no virtue in unnecessary complication.
Do his variants improve the flow of play? Be
inquisitive now rather than enraged later.
Find out as much as you can, but don’t rush
to judgment. Play with anyone once.

Assuming that you do play, you should
consider a few administrative details. How
long does it take for the players to assemble? Punctual, well-organized players
make for a better campaign. Is the DM
ready to run? He should be immediately
ready to transact minor business with characters. He should be ready to run a major
expedition with no more than a half-hour of
on-the-spot preparation. Are you comfortable? Is this a convenient time for you to
play? These questions will take on more
importance as the campaign continues.
Think about them now.

If you are bringing an old character to
this new world, does the DM examine it
carefully? As a player, you may not like this,
but a superior DM will be skeptical and exacting. The best DM with whom I have
played will allow no imported characters.
Every character in his campaign was generated in his world. As a result, his players
have a visceral involvement with the campaign. I personally follow two rules.
One, I allow no transplanted characters to bring their magic items.
Two, I allow no transplanted characters of higher level than the lowest-level “native” member of a party.
This ensures that the players field a balanced and integrated party composed of
trustworthy old comrades. Assembling a
group of suspicious strangers—and if they
aren’t suspicious, they should be!—
creates pointless and distracting diversions
from the main business of the expedition.

Does your new DM have a variant procedure for character generation? This is a
common time-waster. I once played with a
DM using a system in which it took 2 hours
to set up a six-member party. That is inexcusable. Furthermore, it is my experience
that variant ability scores are most often
used as constraints on the players’ actions.
One DM made us roll for superego. Then,
whenever I wanted to do anything morally
questionable, I had to make a saving throw
vs. superego. I object vehemently to psychological constraints on players. Fantasy
role-playing is not a psychoanalytic simulation. It is a game, and the players must be
free to play their roles.

How plausible is your new DM’s rationale for your entry into his/her campaign?
Your character should be inserted into the
campaign milieu in a logical way. If there is
an influx of adventurers into an area, the
campaign environment should reflect the
consequences of this influx. Prices should
inflate, goods become scarce, and merchants prosper.

Good DMs will have well balanced
campaigns. They will not make it easy for
1st-level player characters to join up with
high-level characters. That is a sure ticket
to Monty Haul Dungeon. What is the range
of player-character experience levels in the
campaign? Something is liable to be wrong
if there are any characters of 9th level or
higher. The best campaign in which I have
played has only one character as high as
4th level. L’lan the Betrayer reached that
exalted peak only after a year of weekly
play and several escapes from nearly certain death. But the other extreme is just as
bad: there should not be an endless succession of 1st-level characters killed time
and again. Low-level characters with continuity yield the most balanced and exciting
play.

How rigorously does the DM make the
players provide for the equipment of the
party? This is difficult to evaluate. While
specificity simplifies play later on, it slows
things down at the start. One good compromise is to provide an “Adventurer’s
Package” at the local General Store. A
standard list of equipment can be made
available at a discount if purchased as a
package. Disputes over equipment will inevitably arise during the expedition. How
does the DM handle these arguments? If he
can persuade the players that no, they
would not “of course” have packed a pressure suit, he is doing his job. If he can do so
amicably, he is doing his job well.

You should observe the behavior of the
other players while setting up, especially
those who frequently play with this DM. Are
they talking excitedly about previous expeditions? Do they feel that they are
strands in a rich tapestry of events? Do they
have ideas for the expedition? Do they have
standard operational procedures? Do they
make decisions quickly and without ill-will?
If the answer to these questions is “yes,”
the DM has been doing a good job of maintaining player interest.

Now the party is equipped and ready to
go. What are you going to do? Once the
purpose of the expedition has been defined, you have some significant new data
to use in assessing the DM. First, did the
DM lead you by the nose? Is he obviously
directing the party? The superior DM will
manipulate players in more subtle ways.
(To paraphrase Heisenberg: all DMs manipulate players.) Is the purpose of the expedition clear? Well-defined missions increase the probability that your character
will survive. Almost as importantly, if you
are a peaceful soul like I am, clear plans for
an expedition drastically reduce the opportunities for long, irritating arguments about
what to do next.

There are several criteria of the superior
DM which you can test during play itself.
Are the mechanics of movement smooth?
You may be lost and confused, but you
should always have an idea of the terrain
you’re on at the moment. Does the DM
make players follow through on decisions
which they have called out to him? Failing to
do so is a common weakness of soft-hearted DMs. Players should think carefully
about the consequences of their words and
deeds. DMs should be consistent in their
interpretation of the rules. A moment of leniency one night followed by strict constructionism the next will lead to charges of unfairness.
Does the DM allow players to improvise? Narrow-mindedness about physical possibilities is an easy way to stereotype
play. In role-playing games, the imagination
must be free. If your DM thinks it would be
difficult to do something, he should point out
concrete dangers and obstacles, not simply
forbid the action. Otherwise, encounters
will become routine, the players unenthusiastic, the DM bored.

Probably the most important function of
the DM is description. He should be coherent, thorough, and imaginative. Form
should follow function. The DM must create
a plausible environment for the players to
inhabit. He should not gloss over background information such as the details of
furniture, lighting, and atmosphere. In the
real world, one is instantly aware of these
things. The DM should not force the players
to ask such obvious questions. But he
should force the players to be specific when
they are fishing for answers which require
some intelligence to deduce or infer. No
shortchanges and no free rides! Finally, the
DM must provide the color and flavor which
make adventuring such a delight. Anyone
who has ever played with a pre-packaged
module or a computer dungeon knows how
drab the descriptions can sometimes be.
The good DM has an eye for the telling
detail and the synthesizing perspective.
The better the DM, the more real and meaningful his world will seem.

DM will be completely conversant with the
combat rules. Does the DM ensure that
each player can and does act independently during resolution of encounters? It is essential that each member of the party feels
that he has had a hand in the action.

How does the DM handle NPCs? The
superior DM loves to play NPCs to the hilt.
They should be every bit as curious, suspicious, sensitive, greedy, obnoxious, and
aggressive as the player characters. Each
individual NPC should have a personality of
his own. The NPCs should fit into the campaign background. If there are very highlevel NPCs in the area, there should be a
good reason why they haven’t cleaned out
the dungeon. The powerful NPCs should
have economic and political clout. The
NPCs should have relationships with each
other, not just with the player characters.
After every expedition, the DM should think
about what the “idle” NPCs did in the meantime. Then, when he brings the players up
to date, he can give them the feeling that
they are involved in a complex society. The
DM should above all resist the tendency to
use NPCs as crutches for weak character
parties. He must remember: the players
must take risks to develop self-reliance.

After you have had an encounter or two,
you will know if you are in a killer dungeon.
Inferior DMs try to create exciting situations
by proliferating rare, unlikely monsters. A
good DM will use simple monsters to set up
complex problems. Does your new DM use
hybrids or weird beasties: e.g. blink dragons, uranium golems, exploding orcs,
sword swallowers? Beware of the DM who
kills your whole party just so you can praise
his oh-so-ingenious monster or laugh at his
simpleminded puns. Killer DMs don’t usually have the guts to let the party get the
treasure even after it has beaten the invincible monsters. All too often, there will be a
series of tough wandering monsters, accompanied by chuckles from the DM.

At the close of the session of play, think
about how the DM awards experience
points. Make sure you aren’t playing with a
Monty Haul DM. Only extraordinary expeditions should give you any chance at all of
going up a whole level. Most expeditions
should advance you no farther than 10% of
the way towards the next level. Ask the DM
what bonuses he gave the players for cleverness, resourcefulness, and ingenuity.
Only inferior DMs stick to the book and
award experience points strictly for killing
monsters and getting gold. I am less bloodthirsty than most DMs, so I will award points
to players for talking or thinking their ways
out of dangerous situations. Incidentally, I
never award points to characters— excepting Assassins—who kill creatures already
knocked out or helpless. I give points to
reflect the skill gained by defeating the
monster. A body count is not a measure of
heroism.

You should be sure to see that there is
some sign that the DM has given thought to
the experience point system. He should not
award full points to high-level characters
who defeat low-level monsters. He should
reward innovation and improvisation. I justify this by citing the Law of Diminishing Returns. After you’ve opened the door, killed
the monsters, and glommed the treasure
for the nth time, you aren’t adding much to
your combat experience. To reach higher
levels, you must develop new skills and
seek out new challenges to meet. These
new challenges you may face after changing DMs are one sound reason to experiment with several DMs.

If you follow the checklist sketched
above, you will be able to assess the technical competence of the Dungeon Master. <make an actual checklist>
Often players avoid new DMs not because
they are incompetent but because they do
not want to play with strangers. As long as
you don’t hate someone, you should be
able to play with him. My advice to the player seeking the ideal DM is this: ignore any
fastidious twinges you may have. Sanity is
neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for being a good DM or player. In a
good campaign, player personalities will be
obscured by character personalities anyway. Give the people in your new campaign
a chance; give yourself a chance.