The upcoming film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has sparked a lot of excitement in the Dungeons & Dragons community. Though the movie itself doesn't seem to feature any Dungeon Masters, DMs are sure to get just as much enjoyment out of the film as their players.
The Dungeon Master has a very important job in D&D, as they ultimately control the game. Being a DM is not for everyone, and requires a lot of statistical balancing, planning, and most importantly, to respect their players and create an adventure that is enjoyable for everyone involved. Some of the worst Dungeon Masters are those who don't take into account the feelings of the party, and these memes poke fun at what are considered traits of those considered "bad DMs."
Blaming The Players
An essential role of the DM is to balance encounters for their party, in order for combat to be reasonable. If a party is facing monsters way below their level, combat can be boring. If the enemies are too lethal, however, a party could result in a TPK.
The Dungeon Master has ultimate control of monster stats and can fudge or recreate numbers according to their own will. Therefore, it makes no sense for a DM to ever blame their players for being overpowered.
Unfair Dungeons
A great Dungeon Master not only controls their D&D campaign but designs it according to what their players will find enjoyable. Trouble will inevitably arise, however, if a DM is stuck in their own ways for what they think is right for the adventure.
As the meme implies, some DMs strive so hard to be rooted in realism that they disregard if the adventure will be fun for their players. While the situation may be applicable to real life, it may not make any sense for a D&D campaign. At the end of the day, Dungeons & Dragons is a game, and the enjoyment for the players should be prioritized.
Injury Tables
While there are preset rules for D&D, DMs are always encouraged to modify them or create homebrew rules in order to have mechanics designed to their liking. For example, the base game doesn't have any special features for lasting injuries in combat, and usually, players can completely heal after a long rest.
Some DMs complain about these mechanics, which is futile, considering there are endless options to add lasting injuries to the game. For example, it's popular for DMs to use injury tables, which can make combat seem more risky and realistic.
Not Compromising
Tweaking the rules for D&D doesn't always have to apply to gameplay. A good tip for a Dungeon Master is to learn how to compromise between the official rules and special requests for players, as long as it is within reason.
Sometimes players will ask to do something against the norm, as in this example, when a player wishes to play a wizard without a spellbook. While this is a perfectly reasonable request to a good Dungeon Master, a stubborn DM might not allow it, which doesn't create a very healthy mindset for the game.
Tyrannical DM
With great power comes great responsibility, and this is certainly true for DMs. The worst Dungeon Masters abuse their position of power and override player input in order to have full control over a campaign.
Thankfully, players never have to be stuck in a situation with a bad DM. It's always a good idea to relocate to a different group or find a different DM if one is being particularly disrespectful, even for players who are in their first campaign.
Hating Min/Maxing
There's no one correct way to play Dungeons & Dragons. Some players like heavy role-playing, others find the game fun for its statistical number crunching. For example, Min/Maxing is a popular strategy in D&D, where a player focuses on buffing a single ability score to its full potential in order to become powerful, despite the lowering of all other stats.
Though Min/Maxing isn't necessarily a focus in the written rules of D&D, it's still completely acceptable to do. If a DM's party wishes to use this strategy, their job is to adapt to their wishes, not limit their creativity.
Not Measuring Up
Dungeon Masters are never perfect. As a single person, it's fairly common to plan something for the campaign that turns out differently when experienced by the players. Part of a DMs job is to roll with the punches and accept when their players notice something that is off.
A good DM should reward their players for smart thinking. A DM who punishes their players for their problem-solving skills is completely missing the point of the game.
A Malevolent DM
A PC death in D&D is not something to take lightly. Occasionally, an enemy will be too hard to fight, and a player might fail enough death-saving roles to have an in-game death, which means they would have to create a new character.
Because of the importance of PC deaths, a DM should moderate enemy challenge ratings to make sure death isn't ridiculously constant in the game. While some players are unbothered by the death of their characters, this opinion is commonly unpopular, as most players wouldn't consider it something to be hoped for.
Punishing Jokes
As a Dungeon Master, it can be difficult sometimes to command the room. Oftentimes, players get excited and distracted from the main task of playing the game, and get caught up making jokes to each other.
Players having fun should never be punished in D&D, however. A good DM aims to keep players focused, while still allowing room for goofing, as you can see in many prerecorded miniseries. A DM who influences the game negatively because of their personal feelings isn't being fair to their players.
Controlling PCs
Occasionally when a player has to miss a session in a campaign, a DM will still run it without them. This can take some careful balancing on the Dungeon Master's part, since ideally they control the PC functionally for the game without impeding on much of their role-play.
If a DM controls too much of a PC, it can be utterly unfair to the player. Since a player has full decision-making on behalf of their character, they would then have to role-play for actions they might never have chosen to make.