The Administrative DM (CSC)

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Part of the job of being a DM has nothing to do with actually running adventures. What follows is a look at situations a DM may encounter between game sessions, or that may complicate the way he runs his world.
==One World, Many DMs==
What happens when several people in a group want to DM and everybody wants to keep the same player characters in each world? One solution is to share the world. Most worlds are going to be big places. It should be a simple matter for each DM to take a part of the world, say a major country or wilderness area and continue to flesh it out and run adventures there. The player characters then physically travel from place to place, adventuring in the area controlled by whomever is DMing that session.
It can work and it can be fun. Still, drawbacks exist. Any secret information about a character, such as special abilities or independent actions that are usually shared only between a player and the DM soon become common knowledge as each player in turn takes over the duties of DMing. Second, the characters will end up doing a lot more travelling than might be realistic or reasonable.
A better solution might be to share the world, but have different player characters in each DM's campaign. This allows for the eventuality of teaming up player characters from different campaigns for particularly difficult missions, but keeps characters private.
==One Player, Many Characters==
Nowhere is it carved in granite that each player shall play but one character. If it suits the needs of the game, allow as many characters per player as the DM sees fit. Many players and DMs find it convenient to have multiple characters. If one hero is off on an unfinished quest, his backup character can go on another adventure in the same world.
If a player is competent enough to play each character as an individual (rather than elements of a group mind), he may even play more than one character within a single adventuring party. This is tricky, but extremely useful when the number of players is far less than the number of characters needed for good adventuring.
In such situations, both the players and the DM must keep in mind that even characters controlled by the same player will not freely share or give up personal belongings. The player is encouraged to roleplay the personna of each individual character. If a player insists on playing his characters "out-of-character," remove one (or more) secondary characters from his control and make them into DM-controlled NPCs for the remainder of the adventure.
==Visitors from Other Worlds==
It happens to every DM and every campaign at least once. A new player joins the group and wants to bring Sigimund, his 14th level chaotic good barbarian fighter/thief with him. How should the DM decide the matter? There are no hard rules and it can be a tough call. Several "rules of thumb" can be applied to help the DM make his decision.
First, ask to see the incoming character's record sheet and any applicable notes. Everything the character possesses should be detailed here.
If the incoming character's experience level is much higher than the rest of the characters, do not allow the transfer. Stripping a player's favorite character of hard-earned (or otherwise) experience can only cause grief. Tell him the character must "wait in the wings" until the other PCs reach his power level, and have the new player create a new character.
Either disallow characters with nonstandard character classes (those not covered by official AD&D game rules) or requires that the incoming character adopt a standard character class.
Disallow nonstandard magical items, the logic being that the physical laws of the two prime material planes are not similar enough to allow the new magic items to function. This allows the DM to avoid any possibility of "padding" a magic item with extra powers that the player's original DM would be surprised to find or to have the player pmposefully overlook any attendant curses.
Disallow any magical (or technological) item which would Wlbalance game play. If the DM has not allowed players in his own world to acquire such items, then they should disappear between transference (to be held safely in limbo).
Finally, tell the player what will and will not be allowed in the DM's world. Be honest and firm. If the player's favorite character must be stripped down to fit his new home, the player may elect to create a new character instead.
==New Players==
Over the course of time the DM should expect his game campaign to lose old players through attrition (they move, they graduate, they get married, they get new jobs, they get bored). Similarly, new players will be joining the campaign, in the form of experienced players, inexperienced novices, and brand new neophytes (they are easily recognizable as the players who think dice only have six sides). At some time or another, the DM will find the need to integrate each one of these three types of players into the existing campaign framework.
Experienced players usually have experienced characters and will greatly appreciate the chance to continue playing a character that they have been working hard to develop. Just remember to check them at the door for nonstandard magic items and create a logical (or just plain mysterious) explanation for their cross-planar journey.
Novice players (those who have played before, but not much) and neophytes present a special problem for DMs. EveI)' player remembers his first encounters with fantasy role-playing. when nobody really Imew what was going on, or which monster was which-but gosh, wasn't it great? Throwing greenhorns in with veteran players ruins that journey-of-wonder feeling. The vets will be spouting gamespeak jargon and rolling dice without explaining themselves and the new guys will feel lost and worthless.
The good DM owes it to these new players to let them get their feet wet first. Have them explore a few low-power areas as 1 st level adventurers (possibly with a few henchmen controlled by veteran PCS along for the ride). Let the new players make the decisions with no help from the experienced players and after a few supportive game sessions like that, they will feel comfortable as companions to their more experienced comrades.
==Hosting One Shots==
What does a DM do when cousin Bob shows up and wants to play in his campaign world, but the DMs regular group is in the middle of a quest to save the world from the icy clutches of Kreplock, mage-fiend of the frozen north? The answer is what is known as a oneshot adventure. Invite cousin Bob to bring his favorite character from his group in Muncie, and ask those among the DM's "regulars" who can make it on an off gaming night to show up with either their favorite dead characters (allowing them to resurrect dear-departed adventurers for one special playing session) or with characters not currently involved in the ongoing campaign quest.
The DM should design a short adventure that can be played to completion in one game session. A "game tournament" style approach, with a definite goal, is probably the best way to go. The player characters mysteriously appear together and must find out what they have to do. Contrary to the recommendation that the players' actions have a real and measurable effect on the world, this adventure should take place on the DMs world, but not be a part of any major story or plot line.
Dungeon Mastering is an art which takes a few minutes to learn and years to perfect. It goes beyond world or adventure creation, beyond social grace, even beyond advanced crowd control. It combines vast amounts of creativity with the ability to make quick accurate judgment calls. It requires a mind that can visualize situations as they happen and determine the probable (and often highly unprobeable) results of the actions taken by the players and their characters.
The ultimate goal is to provide the players with gripping adventure within the fantastic realms of a shared imagination. Although all players (including the DM) contribute to the quality of the game, ultimate success depends on the DM himself He is responsible for both its challenging content and riveting delivery.
Prior to the game session, the DM will have prepared the content: his world and the situations and environs the characters will encounter. The need for dynamic delivery challenges the DM to be at his best as he presents the world to the players through the eyes of their characters.