Behind the GM Screen

Have you ever wondered what the Games Master/Dungeon Master gets up to behind their screen during a game of Dungeons & Dragons? Or perhaps you’ve wondered how they prepare for each session? Maybe you’re thinking about having a go at being the DM yourself but aren’t sure where to start?

In this blog post we’re going to have a look at what the GM gets up to before and during a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

Some people will tell you that there are two kinds of DM - there’s the ones who plan everything in advance and are prepared for every eventuality, and then there are the ones who don’t plan anything and just make everything up during the session as it arrives!

The reality is that every DM has to do a bit of both! We need to plan the rough outline of the session at least, and here’s where some DM’s will do more planning than others, but we also need to be ready to make things up during the session when the players inevitably do something unexpected, or decide that they want to hear the life story of the shopkeeper who the DM didn’t even plan a name for.

So what kind of planning does a DM actually need to do? Well that depends on what kind of game you’re playing.

If you’re playing a pre-written campaign, such as one of the official D&D published campaigns like ‘The Curse of Strahd’ or ‘The Wild Beyond the Witchlight’, then the DM will need to read the relevant chapter of the book that the game is in and familiarise themselves with the key locations, characters, and plot points that are likely to come up next.

If you’re new to being the DM then running a pre-written campaign is a great way to start, as you don’t have to worry about thinking up a plot or characters, as they’re all there for you already in the book.

However if you’re the creative sort who loves writing your own stories then you don’t have to follow a book or a pre-written campaign. Lots of DM’s create their own games entirely from scratch, which means that they create the whole world that the game takes place in, the characters (both the goodies and the baddies), and the plot and adventures they the characters are going to explore. Obviously this requires a bit more planning than just following a book!

Regardless of whether you’re running a pre-written campaign or a homebrew campaign (that’s what it’s often called in D&D when the DM has created the world and the plot themselves), there’s still a little bit more preparation that the DM needs to do, and that’s to prepare for combat.

When combat happens in D&D there usually needs to be a map on which the battle takes place – this is important because each attack has a specific range, so everyone needs to know how far away they are from each other. Combat can also be made more fun when the area in which it takes place affects the battle, for example there might be a swampy area that makes it hard to move through, or rocks or trees that characters can hide behind, or there might be some lava that will burn anyone who touches it. In some higher level battles there can also be ‘lair actions’ where the environment itself can take an action or allow the bad guy to take an extra action outside of their normal turn.

Along with the map the DM will also need to prepare tokens for the baddies that the players will be fighting, so that they know exactly where they are on the map.

Preparation of maps and tokens will look different depending on whether the game is played online or in-person. If the game is played online the DM might use a digital map that someone else has made, or might make their own using an online map making tool, such as Dungeon Scrawl, for example. The same with tokens, they might be pre-made or they might make them in an online tool such as Hero Forge.

If you’re playing in-person then the sky is the limit for what the DM might create as a battle map! Some DM’s (who have a lot of time and money) might make super intricate and realistic 3D landscape models, others might draw it on a big piece of paper, or they might get players to use their imagination and just use a grid to show positions. The same goes for tokens, some DM’s will have 3D printed miniatures, I like to draw the enemies on some cardboard and use that as a standee, others will just use a random object and the players will use their imaginations. There’s no right or wrong, it all depends on how much time, money and creativity the DM has available.

So that’s a brief look at what the GM gets up to before the game, but what about during? What are they doing behind that screen?

Well, they might be furiously looking back at their notes to try to remember what the name of that farmer was that the party met three weeks ago and have now decided is their best friend, or they might be secretly rolling a perception check to see if the guard that the party hasn’t spotted has seen them instead!

Most of the time though, they’re just consulting their notes or the campaign book to guide the guide the game and the players and give all the descriptions and clues that the players need to visualise and explore the world as they play D&D.

So there you have it, a very brief look at what the DM needs to do to prepare for a game of Dungeons & Dragons. Hopefully this has helped you feel like you might be able to have a go at being the DM, or at the very least given you an appreciation for the work that your DM does to prepare for your games!

If you’re a DM let us know in the comments if you have any top tips for preparing for games! Or if you’re a player who wants to try having a go at being the DM let us know in the comments if you have any questions about what’s involved or what you need to do. We’d love to hear from you!