As part of the 2016 D&D Dungeon Master Survey, I asked DMs to describe their favorite trick for running a great D&D game. I wrangled the answers a bunch of different ways, all of which you can read about in the survey results article. As part of this, I clustered the text for the tips into eight different clusters, all built algorithmically. I didn't define what the clusters were. Nearly all of the clusters had something interesting to say but two of them caught my attention. These two clusters focused on two specific contradictory words: "make" and "let".
At first this clustering stuff sounds like a bunch of technobabbling tealeaf-reading bullshit, but when we think about it for a minute, "make" and "let" represents an interesting split in attitudes.
"Make", for example, is very active. We make things. We make the story do things. We make monsters do things. We make sure the game is fun. We make the monsters challenging.
"Let" is the opposite. We sit back and let things happen. We let the characters drive the story. We let major villains die in surprising ways. We let the story flow naturally. We say yes and let ourselves lose control of the narrative.
There's no right answer between "make" and "let". Both of these attitudes serve our game. Circumstances sometimes dictate that we're better off making things happen. In other circumstances, we're better off letting things go as they will. There's a careful balance between "make" and "let", one we must constantly and continually gauge as we run our games.
Are things slowing down and players are starting to reach for their phones? Maybe it's time to make something happen. Are the players fully engaged in discussing their plans to disarm the huge dwarven vault door? Maybe we should sit back and let the discussion unfold.
In Weird Discoveries, Monte Cook describes the importance of pacing. Knowing when to make things happen and when to let things happen is the pulse of pacing. It's the clock cycle of our game that we must continually monitor.
Ok, enough philosophy. What are some things we might "make" and what are some things we might "let" happen? Let's jot down some ideas. A few of these I stole directly from the tips people submitted in the survey.
Ten Things to Make Happen
- Make NPCs come alive.
- Make locations fantastic.
- Make characters (and players) sweat (but not all the time).
- Make the characters heroic.
- Make the actions of the characters matter.
- Make monsters horrific and memorable.
- Make the story move.
- Make the world live and breathe.
- Make trouble.
- Make character and story hooks with deep barbs.
- Make the game fun.
Ten Things We Let Happen
- Let go of the direction of the story.
- Let the world move on its own.
- Let players make meaningful decisions.
- Let players describe their actions.
- Let villains die in unexpected ways.
- Let players debate important and interesting decisions.
- Let players laugh and banter.
- Let the direction of the story surprise you.
- Let characters try something crazy.
- Let the dice decide!
Leaning Forward and Sitting Back
We DMs must maintain both strength and flexibility. We have to be fluid enough to let a world grow from our minds and the minds of our players and solid enough to make that world move, breathe, and live. We need to make our game fun so they keep coming back. We need to let the game go so it becomes something greater than ourselves. Sometimes we must let these two contrary ideas live in our minds and manifest at the table if we want the game to turn into something wonderful. What will you make happen? What will you let happen?