I Cast Magic Missile: Intro (Part 2)

Though some are content to categorize players into different playing styles, I firmly believe that there are as many different styles of playing as there are people on the planet, no matter the role. But there are trends that emerge in players, and though they might seem it, many aren’t mutually exclusive.

Dungeon Masters, for example, can take an infinite number of routes, depending on a multitude of factors, such as group size, personality, tendencies, and preferences. Trends in DMs, however, are easily recognizable once they are set:

The Quickie DM: This Dungeon Master is often in his position to fill a hole, or simply to experiment as being a DM. They aren’t quite familiar enough with the particular style of gameplay they want to forge, so they often resort to dice-rolling and consulting a guidebook. Storylines developed by these DMs are simple, but not uninteresting, and show a lack of thought before the gaming session. Descriptions are conjured hastily and often leave adventurers wanting, and lines like, “You kill the goblin,” and, “You enter the town,” pop up frequently. Though the want to create good gameplay is there, the will to create it isn’t yet present.

There’s a long gradation from this white into gray space that leads us to…

The Committed DM: These guys are really into what they do, and they absolutely love it. They contrast starkly to quickie DMs, and oftentimes even those in between, because of how intricate plotlines are, how varied geography and demography can be in their worlds, and how intense gameplay situations are. These DMs are in their element all the time, no matter what the adventurers do, and have a way of manipulating the other players to do just what they want to spring brilliant plot points upon them. Often, they employ every method they know to make the world more real: they might whisper to adventurers when they discover a secret that only their character is being told, or yell and flail intensely when the flame golem’s fiery hand comes down to crush the wizard, but at the VERY last second a spiraling spout of water erupts from his staff and puts the entire golem out, and then he turns to you, his blonde hair streaking out behind him, magical essence snapping in the air, and…

You get the idea.

Adventurers, on the other hand, face much more restriction: they only have one character to manage, and can only act as they would. But despite (or maybe because  of) these restrictions, there are hundreds of different playing styles an adventurer can take, such as:

The Looter: These people absolutely love the idea of amassing a huge store of gold and magical items and thusly do all they can within the game to acquire riches and fame for themselves.

The Quester: Players like this take joy in exploring the world that the Dungeon Master has laid out for them, and

The most important quality in a player is their willingness to play! If they dismiss acting out the adventure as silly or boring, act as a ‘troll’ within the group and go against everyone else’s wishes, or are just outright obnoxious, they become a nuisance quite quickly and can ruin individual sessions and even entire games. However, when the DM and the adventurers are committed, Dungeons and Dragons sessions can become the most anticipated hours of one's week, if not month. Because of this, I strongly recommend at least trying out a few sessions of DnD with a group that seems legitimately concentrated. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the player that turns the tables in that final battle with the dragon ;)


In my next blog, I'll be continuing the I Cast Magic Missile series, kissing the surface of actual basic DnD gameplay.

(Blogging Week 2)


Have fun, good gaming, and remember - don't feed the trolls.
-Toast