Back in the Saddle Again: Our Best Tips and Tricks for Coming Out of DM Retirement and Running Your First D&D Game in Decades

3 Wise DMs

We’ve done several episodes and articles about how to best onboard new DMs and GMs to the hobby, including episode 113: Just Do It, with DM Lenny, about running his first game ever. But what about all the Grognards and OG DMs that were playing it out of the White Boxes assembled by Gary Gygax in his own home?

In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with our good friend, Scott Washburn of Paper Terrain, to discuss his recent return to the DM chair with his homebrewed campaign “World of the Five Gods.” True to form, Scott kitbashed together the original White Box D&D with some flair from 5e.

For all the DMs who have thought that “Retirement Sucks,” whether its been 40 days or 40 years, this is the episode for you.

2:15 Our very Special Guest DM, the Scott “Wizard” Washburn, from our Terrain, Maps, and Minis episode, who recently returned to the DM chair after a FORTY YEAR HIATUS, and a brief review of the recent game.

9:10 What would Scott have done differently, or what would he have prepped more (or less) having finally ran a game again?

14:25 Don’t get lost in the worldbuilding and the introduction of the massive breadth of your setting, get the players rolling dice as soon as possible.

16:40 Make the adventure objective clear.

17:10 How Scott made adventuring in dungeons a significant driver of the economy and commerce (including taxes!)

19:45 Scott shares his thought process in how he approached running his first game back, as well as leaning into some of his skill sets from an unlikely source, and some of the changes he would make.

27:15 Some of the things we enjoyed about the system, including the return to OD&D, 1e, and the OSR – including removing initiative as we know it!

32:30 Final Thoughts.