We're back again with another episode of Nice Job, DM! where we talk to DMs about their day jobs.
Today's guest is Danny Durrant, a seminary instructor who teaches at the tabletop as well as the pulpit!
Can you please introduce yourself and your day job?
Hello! My name is Danny. So, my job is very unique. I am a seminary teacher for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
How did you get into that line of work, and what’s your favorite thing about it?
I used to be a Marriage and Family Therapist but then I had a friend say that I should try teaching with him. So I did some student teaching and then I got hired! My favorite part about my job is helping youth to deepen their love and conversion to Jesus Christ.
When and why did you start DMing, and for what systems?
I only started DMing about a month or two ago. I have some friends that had never played and wanted to try it with me as the DM since I had the most experience. I had never done it before and the thought of it scared me for that reason, and also I am only familiar with 5e. Since they didn’t know any better I told them that was the system we were going to use and they were fine with that. But since our first night, I have absolutely loved it! After our first couple of sessions I told my coworkers about it and they said that they really wanted to try, too. So once or twice a week we play during lunch. I am running the same campaign for both groups. At first my work group was behind my friend group but because it is easier to coordinate lunches than family schedules, we have since moved further ahead during the campaign.
Are there any other systems, campaigns, modules, or one-shots you’d recommend?
I am currently playing Lost Mine of Phandelver and it is awesome! But I would also highly suggest Curse of Strahd. That one was so epic and I still think about it even though we finished that one years ago (Shoutout to the Chaos Crew!).
What is your favorite part of DMing?
It is really hard to just pick one thing. If I had to pick just one, I would probably say the roleplaying aspect of it. Roleplaying is my favorite pillar of D&D and as the DM I get to do that a lot more with more variety. Among other things, I also like the power that I wield over the PCs.
On a scale of The Witcher to Monty Python, how silly do your games tend to get?
I would say for my lunch group it is definitely more towards the monty Python side. It is a 3-man party and two of them are racist towards each other with the third guy constantly trying to keep the peace. My friend group is probably more of The Witcher side but only because we haven’t had many sessions together. I’m confident that as we get to play more that they will become livelier.
Can you tell us your best memory from the table? How about your favorite non-combat encounter?
My best moment from the table came as a player when I played Curse of Strahd years ago. My character died and came back as a Barovian Revenant. But during the course of the game, we came across a magical deck of cards and one of the players pulled a card that granted a monkey paw wish. When the campaign finished, we found out that he ended up using that wish to bring me back to life and I just about cried IRL. It was so cool!
My favorite non-combat encounter was probably when each of us disclosed to each other whether we made bargains with the Dark Powers or not and then we, as PCs, talked about the worth of a soul. It was super powerful and deep.
1: Don’t take yourself too seriously and be yourself. I thought in order for the group to have fun, I had to be the perfect DM and know everything and not make any mistakes. But, really, it is all about having fun and making memories with friends. Which leads me to number 2: My favorite rule has been to make a temporary ruling, let the group know, and then tell them that I will look it up later and let them know what the real rule is. That has been super comforting and both of my groups have been understanding and appreciate the disclosure.
I have pretty much bought all of my dice from Dice Envy (I’m a huge fan) and so I let everyone else use the acrylic and resin dice. I choose my favorite dice which are my amethyst and crystal sets (Mystic Sigil and Redemption). They have only ever been for looking but not playing because I went through a stint where I wasn’t playing at all. I also never let anyone roll them. So now I get to finally play with them and they have been causing a lot of trouble for my players.