A fresh Dungeon Master in Dungeons & Dragons wonders what truly makes a good Dungeon Master and turns to the community of Critical Role. However, both DMs from the group prove that there isn’t just one answer to this question.
What question is on the table? Many players of Dungeons & Dragons have a very high likelihood of having heard of Critical Role or might even be loyal fans. A fan who is now starting as the DM of his group wants to know what he could learn from the different styles of the two DMs, Matt Mercer and Brennan Lee Mulligan, and what makes a “good DM”. For this, he reaches out to the “Critter” community:
“I haven’t quite understood what really makes a ‘good DM’ and how to develop my own ‘flair’,” writes Smooth-Finger-7893 on Reddit. He feels that both Matt and Brennan are lucky to work with good players, but he still can’t quite determine what the difference in their styles is and what exactly makes them so good.
Other fans of Critical Role explain what makes the styles of Brennan and Matt so unique, but they also give a hint regarding the question of what makes a good DM. Both are true professionals, despite the fact that they master so differently.
Here you can see the preview of the fourth campaign of Critical Role, in which Brennan Lee Mulligan takes over from longtime DM Matt Mercer for the first time:
Audiobook Narrator vs. Game Engine
How do the styles of the two DMs differ? While both DMs share many similarities, there are some distinctive features in their styles that set them apart. The community recognizes this. In an observation by the fan raccoonillustrated, which received the most upvotes from the community on Reddit, he describes these differences as follows:
Matt, who has led the first three campaigns of Critical Role, is a professional voice actor and storyteller, which gives him a strong focus on the description of scenes, characters, and voices. This is why his campaigns feature significant NPCs and a well-established worldbuilding.
Matt often draws his inspiration from video games and creates an environment in which players can unleash their creativity and become alive. You can tell that he knows his players well, as they have been friends for a long time, and he knows what triggers he can use that his friends will certainly react to.
Brennan focuses primarily on narrative and can still respond quickly, wittily, and with a good dose of humor due to his background as a comedian. Therefore, he creates his NPCs more as a reaction to what his players do and to advance the story.
Brennan’s inspiration often lies in literary works as well as philosophical and sociological themes that are significant in his stories. Compared to Matt, he relies less on the behavior of the players at the table and more on the characters they portray.
Summarizing it very similarly, but much more concisely, Fantastic_Bug1028 writes on Reddit: “Brennan is an audiobook narrator and Matt is a game engine.”
What can a new DM take away from this comparison? The probably most important hint for a new Dungeon Master comes from the same comment from the fan. Those who look to long-time and famous professionals as newcomers can only be disappointed. Rather, the different styles of Brennan and Matt show that there isn’t an exact blueprint for a good DM, but many different ways that can all be great.
“Both are professional DMs who have been doing this for years, so their level of experience is significantly different from your own,” explains raccoonillustrated on Reddit, “As with any art form/skill, you get better through a lot of practice and the willingness to improve each time. You can’t and shouldn’t measure yourself against the standards of these people, but if you still want to do that, you should be aware that it will take years.”
Since the start of the fourth campaign of Critical Role and the change of the DM from Matt to Brennan, the new DM has been very positively received by the fans. However, the new DM is not the only thing Critical Role is doing differently in its new campaign; the overall style is also: The new campaign of Critical Role takes place for the first time in a completely different style – What is a West Marches campaign?
