An Ode to Professional Players

A concept often mentioned in the context of roleplaying games is the one of a forever DM: sometimes used positively, but mostly with a negative connotation. The idea behind this nomenclature is that often there are people who, in a group of friends, play often or always the role of the Dungeon Master.

This comes, of course, from the natural fact that if a newly born group wants to start playing, someone will have to step up and take on the role of the "rule knower", of the adjudicator, and therefore of the DM. Once that hat is worn, then, their destiny is signed and fixed, and there is no chance for them but to DM again and again... forever!

I don't like this concept. I find the mentality behind it not in line with how I see the hobby in general.

First of all, talking about a forever DM makes one think of DM-ing, running a game, as a curse. I for one personally enjoy mastering a game, way more than being a player in someone else's game. I take pleasure in having in my hands the fate of the world at large, and I especially like to get inspired by my players and led by their decision to evolve the world in a way that I did not expect at first and that will allow their fun to evolve further. I like to play the world, I think, way more than I like to play the individuals in it.

There is a second pitfall that I think deserves attention: the discussion surrounding the concept of a forever DM goes hand in hand with the idea that there is something extremely difficult about running a game. After all, why would we not rotate the role more equally if it was easy?

I argue first of all that maybe we should rotate the role! In my experience, many people played better after running a game themselves, while others found running a game (maybe of a different system they are not used to) even funnier than playing.

But even more importantly, I often found players who, at my tables, could bring energy, knowledge and experience to the group, to the point that their role was way more crucial than mine for a positive experience for all the players involved. These are what I like to call professional players.

The concept came to my mind as I was talking with a regular player at our open table: they were expressing some negative comments on their position as "simple consumer" at the table, while I argued that their constant presence and energy brought new life and fun for me at the tables. I commended their professionalism as players, and the name came naturally from that.

A professional player is defined as such by their approach to the game, of course. The understanding of a forever DM is one of an isolated person doing a large portion of the work, but a professional player understands that the load is split. They know being present, active and generous at a table is crucial to have a good session, a nice experience and a fun time. They know their character and are in control of the impact they will bring to the group. They respect the work of all the other players at the table, and worked before on their understanding of the rules, to support each other as well as the game master.

I argue that if as a community we have the concept of a forever DM to remind us of the complexity of this role, it should only be used together with the one of a professional player. Even better, both have a positive spin to it: a forever DM takes pleasure in creating and running worlds, a professional player enjoys breathing life into the characters living and animating them.

I am grateful for the professional players I met along my way so far and look forward to the day I also will learn to be one myself!