The Basics of becoming an Expert DM

Blue Box Expert Advice

Yes, this title is a bit of a play on words. In my opinion the best "Beginner" version of The World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game is Basic/Expert edited by Frank Mentzer and released circa 1981. Frequently referred to as BECMI, the acronym for Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal box sets, this version builds upon the original 1974 edition authored by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (often called ODD or White Box), and the previous "Basic" versions of J. Eric Holmes, and Tom Moldvay, David "Zeb" Cook and Steve Marsh (B/X). BECMI seems to be the most novice friendly and complete edition while retaining much of the spirit of free innovation and creativity that characterized the early days of the hobby. Using clear language accessible to everyone, in his Basic and Expert sets Mr. Mentzer describes how to roll the unusual dice, record important game data on your character sheet, map your first dungeon as a DM and create your own setting including home town and wilderness. 

In the Red Box BECMI basic set, the author describes how to begin play as a character (using a solo game) and how to draw and populate a beginner dungeon to run for your friends/family. Like the previous versions of Basic, this set covers play for character levels one to three and encourages the gamer to pursue higher levels by purchasing the next product.

Turning to the next in the series, the Blue Box Expert Set, we find a concise explanation of the process for designing a setting and suggestions for running a successful FRP campaign. In two short pages (pp. 28 & 37) of Expert, the essentials of "mastering the game" are presented in an organized and easy to follow manner. 

A careful reading of these two pages will reveal that taking the time for "thinking it through" is more important than anything you may put on paper. The setting "lives" in your head more than it exists in the maps, notes and boxed text you put on paper. By imagining a character "living" in your fictional world and making a mental note of their point-of-view, what they know, what they likely see, etc., we start to develop the "facts" regarding our fictional world. 

Mr. Mentzer suggests we start with what we know about the "real world" borrowing from things like gravity, weather, and technology (15th Century Europe is the game's default assumption, but it need not be yours) before we add in some fantasy "magic". This assumption of reality forms the basis for improvisation as we continue to imagine how the characters interact with their fictional world, especially during play when the unexpected is sure to happen. We simply cannot pre-plan for everything. Preparation for the campaign is primarily getting yourself into the mindset of our fictional setting.

Blue Box Expert suggests one start the process of actually putting things on paper by designing the home town. In Basic we learned that the dungeon is the "basic" setting for the game. Expert adds a wider context, the world in which our characters spend their days and will find the dungeon. In this way the game shifts from a series of episodic delving sessions to campaign play and continuity takes on meaning. 

In designing our fictional world, the guiding principal is to start local and to keep it relevant to play. One need not create all the heavens and earth prior to our first session. A small area will suffice. Place the home town/starting place from which the characters will venture out seeking fame and fortune at the center. Place the dungeon nearby so the party can easily go back and forth. Give some thought (from a characters' perspective) as to what lies just beyond the local area. Expert suggests giving some thought to the area under human control, the area under non-human control, and how power is exercised. (A rumor or two may be a nice incentive for exploration.)

Home Town is a place where services are available, NPCs abound, and rumors can be heard. It is wise to make Home Town a safe place (at least in the beginning of the campaign) as the dungeon and wilderness will offer enough danger and excitement. (If we think about it, a place of safety is probably why the town was built to begin with.) The PCs may be seen as "intruders" by the locals or themselves be natives to Home Town. Home Town will connect by road or river to other sources of trade and will offer a local market place for goods. It will thus likely attract the attention of thieves or bandits at some point. 

When thinking about the setting, it is important to keep some objective perspective. The PCs are the most important drivers of play, but they are a relatively small part of the world in which they live. By portraying the NPCs as having their own business to go about you will add to the richness of your setting.

Expert doesn't do your work for you, however. The maps, descriptions, encounter tables, and adventure ideas presented in this section of Expert are merely examples meant to inspire your own creations rather than being "ready made" adventures. Setting down in type something for you to run simply by reading to your players was Basic, Expert teaches the art of running the game by first showing you (the DM) how to design our own version of a setting. To "master" the game is to go beyond merely applying the rules. To become a master is to become a "creator". 

Thus we have Expert step-by-step advice on designing your own setting and running a successful campaign all on less than two pages of text.