Expectations as a Dungeon Master

I’m not going to lie to you, game mastering can be time consuming. But, the more you put into it, the more you get out. This seems obvious, but many great game masters often forget this simple fact.

Another important thing to remember is that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Give yourself the time and space that’s necessary to build your game world. I mean, God created the Universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

No one said creativity was easy. Be patient and build slowly and purposefully.

The more time and creativity you pour into short and long-term game prep, the more fun you and your players will have. And short term planning accumulates into long-term campaigns and enriches your experience as a DM and your campaign’s game world.

Your players are the key to all of this effort, because without them, there’s no game. And what’s the fun of running an RPG by yourself?

One of the most overwhelming things for a novice DM - or even a veteran DM who hasn’t game mastered in a while - is knowing where to start. Starting from scratch seems daunting. How does someone go from absolutely nothing to having something worthy of a story, campaign, or even a side trek?

The simple answer is: Don’t start with nothing.

Starting with something

In the marketing world, great copywriters start with a swipe file. A swipe file is a collection of successful marketing and advertising examples. These can include print ads, online ads, email marketing campaigns, social media posts, landing pages, and any other marketing materials that have been effective in attracting and converting customers.

The purpose of a swipe file is to provide inspiration and reference for marketers when creating their own campaigns. By studying and analyzing successful examples, marketers can learn from what’s worked in the past and apply those principles to their own marketing efforts.

So, as a DM you can start with something similar. But first, here’s the general outline of an advertising swipe file:

1. Start with a problem the audience cares about

2. Agitate the problem to make them care and unable to ignore it

3. Solve the problem by offering a solution they can take immediate action on

This is called the PAS framework: Problem, agitate, solution.

In the story of Spider-Man, we can see how the death of uncle Ben played a pivotal role in having Peter Parker commit to his new superpowers and become the hero he didn’t think he could be.

Problem: Peter had the opportunity to stop a burglar from escaping with some money. The police chased the burglar and called out to Peter to stop him. Peter didn’t think it was his responsibility and let the burglar go saying to the officer, “It’s not my problem.”

Agitate: Later, Peter discovers there’s been a car jacking and a suspect shot a driver who refused to give the burglar his car. When Peter investigates the shooting, he realizes it was his Uncle Ben who was shot. Peter exchanged a few last words with his uncle before he dies.

Solution: Feeling guilt and responsibility for his Uncle’s death, Peter races off to capture the burglar when the police radio provides details on his whereabouts.

This simple framework can work wonders to help you kickstart your campaign or side trek.

Now, you obviously don’t want to solve the problem for your players but you want to provide clues to how they can get started. Remember, the goal is to create a compelling reason for them to take action.

Next week, I’ll provide a few examples of how the PAS framework can help. Stay tuned.

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Thanks,

Joe