3 Signs You’re Raising a Dungeon Master
Might you be raising a child who will one stay sit behind a Dungeon Master Screen?
As parents, we all want our children to become their own people: individuals creating their path, learning their strengths, and pursuing their interests. But at the same time, we do hope they’ll share some of our interests as well, whether it’s playing basketball, reading comic books, or acting onstage. For myself and many other geeky parents, that interest is Dungeons & Dragons. Will my child one day join me in rolling dice, telling stories, and going on epic quests? Perhaps they’ll even grow to become the most revered of players: the Dungeon Master or DM. It’s in Tiny Dragon’s blood; they got two DM parents, three DM uncles and aunts, and a history of playing RPGs since the ripe age of one. And with so many Dungeon Masters in my life – from my friends and family to my awesome young D&D players – I already know the signs.
Sign #1: They Know All The Rules
I read though every rule I saw as a kid…a practice that’s worked very well in my life as a Dungeon Master!
Knowing the rules is one of the most important parts of being a DM. Understanding how the game works enables them to facilitate games and run combat encounters according to the rules. But an interest in rules can look different for different kids; some are quiet, well-behaved rule-followers to a fault (like I was), and others learn all the rules just so that they can find the exact loophole they need (like my little one). When we tell Tiny Dragon they have to take one more bite of chicken before they get more French Fries, they take the tiniest, most delicate bite possible (and then keep it in their mouth hoping that we’ll give them French Fries quickly enough so they can spit it out). Meanwhile, I vividly recall my mom telling me and my siblings to stay put while she got something upstairs, after which I stayed right in my chair and shouted at my siblings when they got up to play…in the same room. That’s Lawful to a fault.
I see plenty of other young rules-lovers too. One young player who does all of their character sheets by hand, and needs to know exactly what each of their many spells do (How do they use this knowledge? Absolute madness: casting Time Stop to give the party Sharpie mustaches or Plane Shift to send their friends to the Preschool Dimension). Another player knows the game by heart and will step in when others say their ideas, explaining (correctly) how they would or wouldn’t work, and always making sure the bad guys get punished and the good guys get saved. For some kids, this interest expands to making up their own rules. Several of my players have created their own magic items, feats, spells, even a sanity system. As kids, my brothers, my husband, his brothers, and I (all of whom grew up to be Dungeon Masters) created our own board games. I also made my own library, charging my siblings 5 cents for every nick, scratch, and day late on books (If you see this kind of behavior, take heart - they may one day use their powers for good).
Sign #2: They Have A System For Everything
For some kids, everything has a perfect place.
Being a Dungeon Master basically requires being organized. From enemy abilities, spell slots, and hit points to relevant locations, characters, and factions, Dungeon Masters have to keep track of a lot. DMs have to track all of these mechanics and systems, even building their own for things like battling minions, building castles, or flying airships! In childhood, this systems-minded brain can show up in pretty obvious ways. Tiny Dragon knows exactly which box all of their toys go in, and will correct me if I get them wrong, going to clean up their own toys just to make sure everything is in the right spot. They also insist that all of the doors in our house stay closed (bathrooms, refrigerators, cabinets…) even if you’re in the middle of using them! When I was a child, all of the books in my aforementioned library were organized alphabetically; when I came home from the actual library with more books, I would order my finds by size, color, topic, page count, and alphabetically by title, author’s first name, and author’s last name.
This organized manner has shown up in several of my players as well. Some of them have special folders for their character sheets, keep journals dedicated to their D&D characters, or carry their own D&D Player’s Handbooks (the relevant pages marked with color-coded Sticky Notes, of course). Others keep track of turn orders and hit points better than I do, telling the party exactly how much HP the big bad has left before I’ve even had time to do the math. One player learned how to use my Virtual Table Top tool and meticulously tracks everyone’s conditions on it: knocked prone by a giant clown hammer or frightened by Skibidi Toilet (yes, these are both real examples). Eventually, I give in to their Dungeon Master proclivities; each of my groups has a player or two who have taken over rule-checking, initiative-tracking, managing the Virtual Table Top, or however else they want to put on their DM hat!
Sign #3: They Love Telling Stories
Telling stories when you’re young easily leads to playing them as you grow up.
Though rules and systems are important, the key job of a Dungeon Master is to help their players tell a good story. As children, this love of storytelling can start early. Tiny Dragon has memorized nearly all of his books, and they like to recite them to themself. It’s not unheard of for Tiny Dragon to be playing with some trucks or splashing in a puddle in silence, only to announce, “One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up, and out of the egg came a tiny, very hungry caterpillar!” I was the same. As a child, I shared my room with my two younger sisters; the youngest had a hard time falling asleep, so I would tell her stories based on her requests (usually including a kitty cat and/or a princess). When I got a little older, I created a superhero alter-ego and made comic books about her adventures, directed my siblings in plays based on Pokémon manga, and wrote my own Magic Tree House Books stories.
This love for stories is evident in nearly all my young players, but there are a few who have a special knack for it. I’ve had players write up pages and pages of backstory for their characters, talk to me to plan an arc they want for their character or a challenge they want for the party, and, in one wild instance, even plan an entire encounter where their character got taken over by evil influences and tried to fight the party. Most recently, a group of young teens decided they were done with medieval-inspired high-fantasy and wanted to create their own world. With a list of Steampunk tropes, a little facilitation, and their imaginations, they created their own complex world with factions, technology, politics, and history.
Give Your Young Dungeon Master A Place To Learn
Our Dragon Leaders course will teach your little one everything they need to know to become a Dungeon Master!
Perhaps you have an inkling that you’re raising a Dungeon Master, or perhaps you just think playing Dungeons & Dragons would be a good activity for your child. We build groups of players with similar ages, play styles, and experience levels and pair them with professional Dungeon Masters experienced in working with young players. If your child has already dipped their toes into D&D and is ready to get behind the screen, we have something for them, too. Our self-guided Dragon Leaders course teaches aspiring Dungeon Masters the tools of the trade and teaches them the basics of leadership skills that go beyond D&D, from public speaking to collaboration and creative problem-solving.
