Playing Under a Novice DM

Over time, there's been a great deal written about how to train a new player, how to become a better Dm, and even some help for novice DM's. However, there has been very little written about playing under a novice DM, and how an experienced player should adjust his play style to suit. So, let's try to redress that, shall we?

But why should I give a damn?

Okay, you're an experienced player. You've played for years, and you've got all the techniques down. Why should you help out a newbie? Why make the effort to assist another? And why is it important, anyway?

Well, quite aside from the responsibility to help others in need that decent human beings generally have, there's a practical benefit. Unless you want to DM yourself, there may come a time when you need to recruit a DM for your group. The more good DM's there are out there, the better for all concerned. And the only way to increase the number of new DM's is to help out the novices. They'll learn, but not if you destroy their confidence and/or love of the game in the meantime.

Why is it important to adjust your play style to play in a novice DM's game? Well, the truth is that a novice DM will almost certainly not have generated the game to end all games. He probably won't have dozens of plot hooks, well crafted characters at every turn, and an encyclopediac knowledge of the rules. Your regular DM might well have these things. Since the novice can't, it is up to the players to pick up the slack, and that means changing your style somewhat.

Before the Game

There's not much needing done before the start of the game. If asked for help and advice, give it, but otherwise, stay clear. The novice DM needs to do as much himself as he can. One thing you can do to help, though, is to meet up with the DM before the game and help to set out the game area.

Now, I'm aware that this contradicts my advice to the novice DM to arrive first, and do the set-up himself. I'm now going to take the somewhat ridiculous step of claiming that both pieces of advice are good, and that both should be applied.

Actually, the ideal situation is if the novice DM arrives before anyone else, and does some of the early set-up alone, to get a feel for the room. However, shortly before the game, it is good if one experienced player arrives and helps finish the task. By chatting with the Dm, that player can then help settle the DM's nerves, and generally help him get himself ready.

When talking to a newbie DM before his first game, do NOT ask him if he's ready, ask if he's remembered such-and-such, or probe for details of the adventure. The DM is as ready as he can be at this stage, so all you can do with such questions is to destroy his confidence. Instead, ask if he's looking forward to the game, and when he says he's nervous just say, "you'll do fine." Maybe recount a horror story of one of your own early games - this DM knows that every game you run is awesome, so if your early games sucked he won't feel so intimidated. Oh, and tell him that you're looking forward to finding out what he's got planned.

During the Game

The key rule here is to make things easy for the new DM. Not too easy - he has to run the game himself - but reasonably easy. This means a few things:

1) Go along with his plot. Okay, the plot hook sucks. But, frankly, you're here to enjoy a good adventure, so just get in there. After all, what would Star Wars have been like if Anakin had said, "No thanks, Qui-Gon, I think I'll stay here with Mom."?

2) Don't argue the rulings. Okay, the DM gets it wrong, and you should have had five attacks of opportunity. This time, deal with it. It's nothing personal. And besides, if you've read my earlier post you'll know that I've advised the newbie to stick to his guns. It's important that his authority in the game is maintained, even if he's wrong.

3) Don't fight with other players, in-character or out. A skilled DM can deal with in-character disputes. An experienced DM can even handle out-of-character disputes. A newbie can't. Just this once, can't you all just get along?

4) Don't jump in with advice and rules-knowledge. This may seem odd. You know the rules backwards and forwards. You've been DM'ing for years, and playing the game since it came out. You know everything aout everything, and I'm telling you to not use that knowledge.

The reason for this is simple: the DM must do this on his own. You aren't running this game, he is. So, let him run it without interference.

There is, of course, an exception to this. If the DM asks for your help, offer it at once. Similarly, if the DM really needs your help, offer it at once. So, if the DM says something like, "I know the rules for Trip are here somewhere..." and starts frantically looking for the appropriate rule, feel free to jump in after a few seconds with "it's on page 158. Oh, and you need the rules for being prone of page 311 as well." (Make sure you have a copy of the rulebook with you :-)) Likewise, if the other players are getting out of line, pull them back into line.

Important Note: If you find yourself having to pull other players back into line, it is vitally important that you DO NOT, under any circumstances, comment on needing to do so because it's the DM's first adventure, that he's finding it tough, or any other reason that might detract from the DM's authority. Such things don't help.

5) If something is cool, well-handled, or otherwise good, comment on it. If something is bad, poorly-handles, or otherwise sucks, keep quiet for now. If something isn't worthy of comment, don't needlessly hype it up. Don't be a patronising bastard just to cheer the guy up - it won't help in the long run.

After the Game

This is the point where you start to help the guy improve his DM'ing. Anything you say before or during the game can only hurt the DM, but here there is an opportunity to make things better.

As with everything else, there is a right way and a multitude of wrong ways to go about providing feedback. There are really two things to consider:

1) Everything you say must be constructive. Saying, "I thought X sucked," doesn't do anyone any good. On the other hand, saying, "you should probably play up the brutality of X a bit more," actually gives something that can be worked with.

2) Absolutely anything negative you have to say must be said privately. If you comment that a particular ruling was incorrect, and then entire group then chime in with their own incorrect rulings, that guy will never DM again. However, if you drop him a quiet email about the subject, he'll just do things differently in future.

The best way to offer feedback is in three stages. Step one comes immediately after the game. Thank the DM, and praise the things he did well. Hopefully, the rest of the group will do likewise. This then encourages the DM to run again, especially if you say, "and I'm looking forward to next time."

Step two occurs when you cunningly dispose of the rest of the group to the pub, while you and the DM clear up, saying you'll join them later (or otherwise get rid of the group). The idea here is that you're alone with the DM, but it's just after the game. This is the point where you ask what he thought went well and went poorly, reinforce the good, and offer advice on how to improve the bad. It's entirely possible that the DM thinks something was bad that wasn't, or wasn't a big issue, in which case you can set his mind at ease (a big plus). You might also say something along the lines of, "I have a few suggestions, if you'd like to discuss them at a later time."

Step three is the meat of it, though. This you do a couple of days later, probably by email. And here you can bring up anything, but no more than six things per game, and not all at once. So, if the novice DM made hundreds of mistakes, you probably want to tackle the worst one in your first email. Suggest ways to fix the problem, and move on. Say your piece, and have done. And make sure you comment on the good as much as the bad - remember that it is really easy to stop this guy from ever running a game again, but that's probably not your goal here.

At What Point Do You Stop?

At some point, the newbie DM will run another game. For the second game, you get to be a bit less 'soft'. You can question rulings a bit more, maybe not go along with the plot quite so meekly, and so on. But, do so a bit at a time - you're still easing the guy in. It builds from there. At each step, the DM will get better. He'll need your help less and less, and you'll have fewer comments to make. And you'll have another DM in your group.