Dungeon Masters

First of all.  How bad am I at keeping up with this blog?!?  Gee wiz.  I need to organize my life.  Its not like I'm not busy.  Here are projects I am either currently engaged in or wrapping up for publication.

Cartography - This year I've done six maps for clients.  One map is a full sheet on parchment.  Huge.  That is an interior illustration for a novel for a client who is a published screenwriter and author with shows on Netflix, etc...  Pretty excited about that one.

Self Publishing - The Tomb of the Good King  This is a compact but exciting stand alone dungeon adventure that I will self publish on RPG now this month.  April.  Phew.  Gotta make that happen but its written and the maps are done.  All I have left is the cover.

Online Campaign and Youtube Channel - We just finished recording session nine of my online B/X campaign on my RetroDM youtube channel.  RetroDM is about old school homebrew for games like Basic Dungeons and Dragons and AD&D with demos, discussions and examples of campaign play.  I have a little over 60 subscribers now after only about 2 months of having the channel.  So working on that several times a week.  Considering upgrading or expanding to doing a twitch broadcast of the game.  That might be fun.  Also thinking of taking recordings of our live play games and my ramble youtubes onto a podcast channel.  That might also be fun.

I think the missing piece is bring it all together with this blog.  A surprising number of the OSR community members still enjoy reading print in blogs.  Its a nice way to post and keep a record of projects and thoughts.

So.  This blog post is supposed to be about Dungeon Masters.

Specifically, I wanted to take a moment to share an observation about Dungeon Masters in the wider community.  Man.  What a competitive bunch of people. 

I just watched a great creative talent and leader one of the communities to which I belong basically pack up his stuff to stop sharing because he wasn't feeling happy with the response he was getting.  Man.  I sure hope he feels differently after he gets to take a couple of days off, because I admire and love his work.  He does some of the coolest stuff. 

Now I also do cool stuff.  I'm not the best at cartography and art but what I can do I'm solid in.  Because of this sometimes I run across people that kind of throw some snarky jazz my way because of this stupid overly competitive thing some DM's have going on.  Also, sometimes I'll join a community and someone is super active posting cool stuff and then I'll post some stuff and all of the sudden its like the other guy whose work is amazing and better than mine by far will just stop posting.  Like they just got bumped out of pocket because of some goofy jazz that I've posted. 

So.  Dungeon Masters.  You've got to stop being so uber competitive with these other creative people who are also DM's.  First.  There are always going to be fifty other DM's that are better at some aspect of the hobby than you are, no matter who you are.  This is the ocean we all swim in as creative people.  Its not about who is the bigger fish.  Its a big ocean and you get to be the coolest fish you can be in it and still share that ocean with all the rest of the fish.  Also.  That dude that you sometimes feel discouraged by because of this or that reason, their cooler youtube channel or larger following or more awesome artwork or cooler miniatures that they paint - whatever it is - probably admires YOU just as much for something awesome that YOU do better than them.

Its like some of these DMs.  Not all the time but sometimes.  Its like there's this unspoken comparison and competition or need to build some kind of a pecking order that happens in these communities when really, there is plenty of room for everyone to share and be creative and innovative.

Sure.  We all have things we might want to improve in and that's good.  Even so, take some time to appreciate yourself and all the creative cool stuff that you already CAN do well.  Dungeon Masters, you are already pretty cool, creative people hosting fun games for your friends.  Embrace that.  Feel good about that.  When we learn to feel good about ourselves and accept ourselves for who we are then all that crazy pecking order, competition stuff kind of fades into the background.

Sure.  I want to be about to share the enjoyment I have in this hobby in our online communities but even more I want to read about and learn from all of your great experiences and ideas too. 

As to the DM that is taking a break from sharing his stuff, I understand.  Sometimes you just need to take a little break from the online community.  That said, man I hope you come back real soon and post more of your material.  It is SO good.  Some of the most enjoyable stuff I read online.  Don't worry about views or responses.  Its all kind of random anyway.  Some posts get a great response and some don't.  Just keep posting and keep being you and over time you'll build the following you want.