Today I will talk about some aspects regarding your Dungeon Master and how can you help him deliver his best story all around. It will concern details like, character creation, rules, etiquette and of course, munchies! Please be advised that this is my personal take on the subject and you are not only encouraged but asked to submit your own experience and opinion in the comments below.
Lets begin with some basics.
First of all, Dungeon Masters around the world are people too. They create, write and draw from their sheer passion for such activities and love to share their tales and stories at a game table with friends be them new or old. Also, Dungeon Masters have egos and when you wreck their stories, you simply deprive them of their enjoyment. Thus don't wonder why your character is the only one that fell to his death in the Pit of Everburning Despair.
Second, a Dungeon Master takes from his time quite a lot to put together a meaningful puzzle, a cool NPC or a memorable villain, all within the framework of his story. Making fun of all these and being ornery about his or her effort, is not only bad table etiquette but also a way to lower his or her self-esteem and worth as a Dungeon Master, which in turn will make others at the table punch holes into the story, NPC, villain or puzzle.
With all these covered lets see how can we help our Dungeon Master!
1. Your character and your sheet
Before you begin to create your awesome character for the game, please be thoughtful and consider speaking with your Dungeon Master first, and include him in your creative process. Not only you will show that you trust his judgement but also he can provide feedback regarding your character's background and how to make it better fit into the world and story he is writing.
Run by your Dungeon Master any idea you have and work together to make a cool story, awesome and a cool character, badass!
By the same account, keep your character's sheet clean and tidy so the Dungeon Master can easily reference it: what items your character has, what spells prepared and what bonuses come from what attribute or ability. All these details concern a Dungeon Master a great deal, as he cannot remember such details. He is responsible for all your character sees and interacts with and thus, keeping your sheet clean and crisp, will help your Dungeon Master to easily asses whatever he can put against you and your group or how to better bring your character into the story.
2. Table responsibilities
A good group that loves its Dungeon Master, will help him or her with the small tasks regarding the flow of the game. Learn to volunteer to keep track of initiative, experience points, loot and items and story.
Keeping the initiative, helps the group plan better an encounter and helps the Dungeon Master run his goons better and even give them some enjoyable twists by describing them while everyone rolls for initiative. If you keep tabs on loot and experience, it'll help your group better plan their progression and also give the Dungeon Master an insight into tweaking his story to fit your group at that point in time.
A special case is regarding the story. If one of you, players, keeps tab of the story's evolution and flow and maybe even distill it into a personal character story, then you set yourself for a very good time in a long run, having a good memory to recall. It takes a bit of attention but your Dungeon Master will be grateful as he will draw upon those notes to better plan the adventure when he had less inspiration and prep time to come up with something.
3. Battlemat, Miniatures, Dice and Props
For all intents and purposes, it is recommended to have a set of seven dice and keep it in front of you along with the miniature. But this is not very relevant. What is relevant is the fact that you should help your Dungeon Master to set up all those mentioned above.
Help by asking what miniatures will be required for the next encounter, draw the appropriate map and even bring some props of your own (trees, houses, etc). Besides giving your Dungeon Master some breathing room, letting him plan ahead easier. you also help in increasing the actual gaming time and lower the table prep time, required for each encounter.
Afterwards, it is good table etiquette to help your Dungeon Master wrap up the said props and keep them at an agreed location to be easily retrieved at the next session. A good idea is to keep all your gaming necessities at the Dungeon Master's place, as this will avoid any missing pieces in case one of you cannot come to the session.
4. Munchies !
Usually a game of D&D (or whatever system) occurs in one of three places: at Dungeon Master's place, at your or one of your friend's place or at a gaming venture. In all three cases, ask your Dungeon Master whatever he would enjoy to munch-munch alongside the group.
Consider that the Dungeon Master spends a good portion of his or her time to provide enjoyment and good time for quite some time, varying from 4 to 8 hours. Thus is a good idea that, as a group, to chip in and gather some munchies and share those with your Dungeon Master.
It is recommended also, that the Dungeon Master participate at this group expense and never rely on his group for free munchies, yet some groups are gladly feeding their Dungeon Master, expecting various "advantages" (loot, experience or that Carsomyr +3). In any case, this is a group decision which includes the Dungeon Master and a good table etiquette is that sometimes to show your appreciation for an exceptional good story, with an extra slice of pizza.
5. Conclusion
Remember that the Dungeon Master is nothing without his players, but also the reverse is also true. Keep in mind that he or she puts aside his fun as a player character and decided to go further not only for his enjoyment but also for yours.
With these in mind, help your Dungeon Master deliver a good time, an enjoyable story and a memorable villain, by taking from his shoulders the small details that keep the game running and the table clean and orderly.
Have a good one!
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