The current edition of the world’s most popular role-playing game is arguably the most successful version yet in terms of the number of people playing the game. It is not hard to find players for a 5e game in person or online. Finding a 5e DM may present a bigger challenge, however.
I call 5e a “players game”. That means I see the game as aimed primarily at appealing to the players who run characters, not at the person behind the referee‘s screen. I say this for a number of reasons. The 5e game is easy to play, even for a beginner with no prior experience with role-playing games. The character sheet is intuitive and the Starter Set pre-made character sheets are very user friendly. Characters start out fairly robust and competent and they advance quickly to mid levels. The adventuring challenges are “balanced” so as to be survivable encounters and resource management is not crucial to character survival. Characters have many abilities and the game is designed to allow each player to have their turn demonstrating their character’s distinctive powers.
So what is there in the game for the DM in 5e?
The default setting is the kitchen sink, vanilla Forgotten Realms, which may appeal to some potential DMs, but not to me. I like to run games in a setting of my own design and customize character races, classes, monsters, and magic to give the play experience I am most interested in.
The optional tools presented in the Player‘s Handbook and even the Dungeon Master’s Guide seem aimed at giving players more choices for their characters rather than actual tools for the DM running the game. All this is great for the game’s overall appeal since there are more players than DMs. But let us not forget, that without the DM there is no game to play.
As a DM (I prefer the title, referee, or even judge) with more than 40 years experience running the game through all its editions I find 5e less rewarding to prep for and run than White Box, B/X, BECMI or either the 1st or 2nd version of the Advanced game. I have made my peace with 5e and this is how. I run Starter Set rules.
The 5e Starter Set is an excellent product containing one of the best adventure booklets written for any edition - Lost Mines of Phandelver. The Starter Set rule book contains just enough material to run the game using this adventure while allowing the DM much room to improvise and add customization. The only thing lacking are rules for character generation, but there are some excellent pregen characters included which are tailored for the adventure. The Essentials Kit or the free Basic Rules download covers character creation and more monsters and together these products give me a complete game and the 5e set I am most comfortable running as a DM. By limiting my game to the Starter Set rules and any additional content my players and I come up with together I feel comfortable at having creative control of the setting and game I am responsible for running.
I have often mentioned that the hobby is my creative outlet and no more so than when I am acting as referee/DM. I enjoy the challenges of making rulings during a game I am refereeing and that is an important part of my fun. I enjoy making content to share with others and for our mutual entertainment. Over time I have found that designing certain elements specifically for a player’s character brings much more satisfaction to each of us than using what the game designers offer. Picking and choosing off of a list is fine, but working together making it up is so much more rewarding. Why run a paladin from the PHB when you can play a Knight of the Silver Chalice, or a standard druid when we can together create the rules for a Disciple of Nature’s Way?
I enjoy customizing backgrounds, classes and archetypes to specifically fit my setting. I think it makes the game unique, personal and special and it deepens the immersion for my players who share creative control. Personalizing one’s character by choosing from a menu of options pales in comparison to imagining what you would like for your character to be and making it just so.
My 5e isn’t a perfect game. It’s not even my preferred game, but it gives me a compromise solution when asked by my players if I will DM 5e for them. I get to use my own setting, design my own monsters and magic items, make a few judgement calls while applying the Basic Rules, and collaborate with my players to design their custom characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment