A Dungeon Master, or DM, is the person who runs a game of Dungeons & Dragons: they describe the world, play every character who does not belong to a player, and decide what happens when someone tries something uncertain.
What is a Dungeon Master?
Narrator and referee, both at once. As narrator, they describe what the characters see, hear and find: a damp crypt, an innkeeper who lies, a bridge that creaks. As referee, they apply the rules and decide when something is settled with a die.
Everyone else at the table plays one character. The DM plays the rest of the world: the villain, the innkeeper, the crowd, the weather. That is why at a table of five players there are five characters and, besides them, one person speaking for every other inhabitant of the place.
The word “dungeon” refers to a vault or cell below ground, but the title stuck even when the adventure happens in a forest, at a party or in a city. In other roleplaying games the same role goes by another name, such as narrator or referee.
What do they do during the game?
During the session the DM repeats a very simple cycle: describe a scene, listen to what each player wants to do and tell the consequences. When what is being attempted could go wrong, they ask for a dice roll and compare the result with a difficulty they decide. If you open an ordinary door, you open it. If you try to pick a lock while someone is coming, there is a roll.
Beyond that, they look after several things at once:
- Pace: they speed up when the table gets stuck and slow down when a scene deserves to be savored.
- Attention: they make sure each player has a moment, even the ones who speak little.
- Rules: they explain them at the instant they are needed and settle doubts without stopping the story.
- Combat: they keep the turn order and play the monsters.
If you propose something the adventure did not foresee, the DM improvises.
Does the Dungeon Master play against the players?
No. Although they control the monsters and the villains, their job is to make the game good for everyone, not to make the characters lose. A DM who wipes out the whole group in the first room did the job badly, and so did one who never lets anything go wrong.
If the plan is bad, the die can punish it, but the DM explains why something went wrong instead of just announcing it.
What does a DM prepare before the session?
They prepare the material for the adventure and leave room for whatever the players do. Depending on the story, that can be a drawn map, a list of the characters who will appear, an opening scene, the monsters with their numbers and a few clues that lead from one place to the next.
They do not prepare the ending; they prepare interesting situations. At first-time tables, the DM also has the ready-made characters on hand and a short version of the rules that will be needed.
What styles of Dungeon Master exist?
There are as many styles as DMs, but they group into a few preferences: story, combat, mystery, humor. The same game feels different depending on who runs it, so look at the DM when you pick a table.
At DND México tables, three people run games with different styles:
- Mariana Ocampo, slow-burn horror and mystery (since 2014).
- Rodrigo Salgado, tactical combat and dungeons (since 2019).
- Itzel Bahena, first games and humor (since 2021).
If it is your first time, the simple choice is one of Itzel’s tables. If you have played before and like being scared, The Crypt of the Nameless Bishop is one of Mariana’s games, designed for levels 3 to 5.
Do I need a Dungeon Master to play?
Yes: without someone carrying the world, the game does not start, although there are ways of playing without a DM that change the experience quite a bit. The person who runs the game prepares the most, so many people find it practical to book a table that already has a DM: you arrive and play. The profiles are on the Dungeon Masters page.
Can I become a Dungeon Master?
Yes, and it almost always starts with playing. People who want to run games usually go through several tables first, to see what each DM does well and what they would do differently. After that, the most sensible step is to run a short adventure for a group of friends, with a handful of rules and a single place where everything happens.
You do not need to memorize the rulebooks. You need to know where to look up a rule when it comes up and to agree with the table that, when in doubt, you will pick whatever makes the story more interesting and keep going.
How do I start if I have never played?
Book a first-time table and watch what the DM does. The first-time guide explains what happens in the session, and the game The Night of Lanterns costs $70 MXN with a ready-made character. After one night, most questions about what a DM does answer themselves.