GMs are like DJs
I recently had a conversation with a friend that doesn’t play any TTRPGs about the role of a Game Master. And then he hit me with this (awesome) question: “So are GMs like DJs?” And it stuck with me. Are GMs like DJs? Analogies like this excite me - if I understand the similarities and differences, I unlock a fresh perspective to learn from. In this case, I was curious about how DJs transition from the prep stage to the execution stage, and whether I could learn something from that shift (and then struggle with writing a blog about it so that maybe you might benefit from it too).
TL;DR
Yeah, I think that GMs and DJs are very similar in nature - and the main takeaway I got from it is that DJs prep for flexibility, and we can learn a lot from that as GMs.
Here we go again, who is this guy anyway?
I’ve been playing TTRPGs for about 20 years now. The same old story of a game shop that opened at that the time, and we decided to buy some books. I was immediately hooked.
I loved making characters, building rich backstories, and going on adventures. Very soon, I realized I enjoyed GMing even more than playing (the engineer in me just couldn’t let go of the temptation to build worlds rather than just characters). Within 2-3 months, I grabbed the reins, and I’ve mostly been the GM ever since, across numerous systems (especially 5e).
Long story short: I’m a big nerd, and I have no idea as to-
What does a DJ actually do?
And that’s very important thing to know if I were to draw this comparison, so I set out to find out.
Well, actually, I have some idea. The only thing I do know is when we wanted to hire one for our wedding; so lets start with that.
Initial knowledge from personal experience
We interviewed several DJs, and the process was always similar: They talked to us about our musical tastes, played samples that matched our style, and experimented with new mixes to see how we reacted. They outlined our wedding’s musical journey, adjusted it based on our feedback, and asked about venue specifics and essential “must-play” songs. Crucially, they emphasized they’d need to improvise on the day, adapting to how the crowd responded.
I think that is the part where I understood I can learn a whole bunch more here. This was a classic Session 0.
Further research
I put on my reading pants, and battled with LLMs and consumed a whole bunch of articles from multiple sources, to eventually distill my findings into concise “buckets”. I found that it would be best if I split them into Roles and Responsibilities and Essential Skills.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Music Selection & Curation (Prep) - choosing track to match the theme, audience and (the varying) energy of the event into a cohesive musical journey
- Event Coordination (Logistics) - organizing the event’s schedule, key moments, venue setup, equipment requirement and delivery
- Maintaining and Narrating the Flow (Operation) - executing on the plan and orchestrating the energy of the crowd, maintaining flow and adjusting according to real-time changes and demands
- Schedule Guide (Ringmaster) - providing audio cues and flexible pacing to support key segments in real-time
These can be (quite clearly) segmented into 2 subsections:
- Prep (Music Selection & Curation, Event Coordination)
- Real-time Execution (Maintaining and Narrating the Flow, Schedule Guide)
Essential Skills
- Musical Knowledge - domain knowledge, deep understanding of genres, tempos and how they affect mood
- Mixing & Transitions - technical ability to shift between tracks smoothly
- Rhythm & Timing - precision in beatmatching, cueing and controlling tempo
- Technical Proficiency - know your tools, and being able to troubleshoot on the fly
- Adaptability - responsiveness to audience, technical issues, schedule changes, etc
- Creativity - adding uniqueness though custom edits, remixed and unexpected choices
- Communication - coordination with event staff, the crowd, venue
As opposed to the roles & responsibilities, the skills are a mix and match between for both the execution and the operation. The only thing I could think of that would help to make this distinction was that different approaches and skill level determine how well you can use those skills in the prep stage and the real-time execution stage.
By the Flame of Anor, I might be Skrillex
While it’s true that you can draw correlations between almost anything, Both GMs and DJs do extensive prep, then translate it into real-time execution, improvising and adapting while managing logistics. Lets use the power of tables to show how the roles and essential skills align:
Roles and responsibilities
| Stage | DJ | GM |
|---|---|---|
| Prep | Music Selection & Curation | Adventure Design & Worldbuilding - crafting narrative arcs, NPCs, environments, and scenarios tailored to the players and tone |
| Prep | Event Coordination | Session Planning – coordinating calendars, materials, character sheets, rules references, and session outlines |
| Execution | Maintaining and Narrating the Flow | Narrative Flow & Improv – managing pacing, reacting to player choices, flexibly guiding the story while keeping the tension and fun |
| Execution | Schedule Guide | Session Timing & Scene Transitions – keeping things moving, adjusting on the fly for encounters, time checks, breaks, and scene cuts |
Essential Skills
| DJ | GM | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Music Knowledge | System & Narrative Literacy – understanding stories, and how they interact with one another within the system | Understanding what makes a betrayal from a beloved NPC twist land emotionally, and how it affects the system |
| Mixing & Transition | Scene Transitions – shifting from combat to RP to exploration without jank | Wrapping up a tense fight and naturally sliding into a quiet campfire chat |
| Rhythm & Timing | Beat Control – knowing when to pause for impact or speed things up | Letting a moment breathe after a dramatic twist vs. snapping to action |
| Technical Proficiency | Tool Proficiency – VTTs, audio cues, session notes, rules references | Operating the different materials, music, lights, initiative tracking |
| Adaptability | Improv Agility – reacting to chaotic player choices or unexpected NPC actions | The party decided to become drug-slingers for the crime-boss that just paid two goons to have them killed? well- alrighty then |
| Creativity | Worldbuilding & Scenario Design – homebrew worlds, custom monsters, wild twists | Building a world in a shape of a disc resting on 4 celestial elephants’ backs. Why not? |
| Communication | Table Management – player dynamics, session zero alignment, tone setting | Getting shy players involved (sharing the spotlight), de-escalating table tension, and keeping the tone inclusive |
Hold the Sending - where does this analogy break down?
No analogy is perfect, so now that we’re got an understanding what the similarities are; and before we draw conclusions, lets understand where do they differ. Where GMs and DJs are unlike each-other?
- The party’s a lot bigger for DJs - and they have to find a very common denominator. They can’t focus on each individual person at the party, so the theme and their own personal style is more prominent, and that’s also why-
- GMs are more interactive - We all know that annoying person that comes up to the DJ to request a song- That’s the norm for GMs. Players do things, and we have to respond to them constantly. Doing anything other than that and you put on your conductor hat for the railroad show.
- DJs have way more standard tools - while there’s a plethora of GM tools out there, none of them are the state-of-the-art tool that lets us seamlessly transition from the prep stage to the execution stage. That’s not for a lack of trying. I think it’s because every GM tells stories differently, and because GMing styles change for each party.
- GMs operate on multiple mediums - the DJ has the magical domain of sound to master, but a GM has to coordinate between multiple medium such as storytelling, music, lighting, props, minis, terrain, tactics, tracking - this is not to say that the DJs job is simpler, it’s just that a good GM is required to be a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none, while the DJ optimizes for mastery over a specific domain - and within it they can excel at different sub-domain (such as improvisational skills, mixing, etc)
Prep for flexibility - GMing, the DJ-way
This is absolutely my main takeaway here - Prep for flexibility. DJs optimize their entire workflow and prep to be able to either press play and “chill” in some moments, and provide themselves with the right tools and agenda to improvise, adapt and make the music flexible to the event at any given moment in time - given everything that’s going on. This is the main takeaway for me. They could fall in love with their sets and just press play, but in so doing - they would be worst DJs for it.
I think that this is what Sly Flourish is always trying to convey in his (incredible) books Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, and its supplements (and a lot of other GMs all throughout YouTube). In them, he explains on how to prep “Secrets & Clues” - a list of things that the players might find, but the nature of them finding out is unknown to you yet. This promotes active listening by the GM - and lets the GM “complete” incredible stories that by stitching them directly as effect for the PCs actions.
As we speak I’m looking at a picture framed by one of my players of a map I made that the party managed to pickpocket out of a random train conductor while they were trying to search for keys to a cabin. I remember this moment very vividly, and apparently so did they. I had the map of the train, and they might have found out about it, given the right circumstance - and out of their own ingenuity they manifested something. I don’t know about you, but to me - this is magic.
We can prep a theme, a storyline, some general story beats and potential scenes - but not prep in a restrictive way.
Don’t fall in-love with your prep
We’ve all been to weddings where the DJ played a song nobody danced to, leaving us wondering “but why?”. GMs do the same - we craft amazing story arcs that players ignore in favor of chatting with a random NPC. My wedding DJ emphasized flexibility: the playlist wasn’t final; they’d have to read the room. They taught me not to fall in love with the prep, but to fall in love with the experience.
Let’s take from a recent experience: I prepped like hell, and used my experience not to assume what the party will do, but what they definitely wont do. And they went ahead and did just that. They chose to become drug dealers working for the crime boss who just sent two goons to kill them. And that was one of the best sessions we had.
I often find myself “falling in-love” with my creation during the prep stage and can’t wait to get it going so that we can play out my ideas. Sometimes it works, and it’s great and everybody has a good time. Just like DJs we should realize that great sessions aren’t ones we just “press play” and let the narrative unfold - they’re dynamic and engaging. If you want to play your own story - write a book (seriously, there are some awesome LitRPG ones - I’m reading Dungeon Crawler Carl and it’s awesome).
Flexible stories make for better ones
Think about a great DJ set. Have you ever seen a DJ notice a subtle shift in the crowd - like more people starting to sway or someone mouthing along to a track - and then lean into that vibe? Maybe they drop a remix that builds on that moment, and suddenly the whole floor is moving. That kind of energy doesn’t come from sticking to a playlist - it comes from listening, responding, and building something with the crowd, not just at them.
Game mastering works the same way.
Can you recall a moment when someone really listened and responded to what you said? It feels great, doesn’t it? When you give that to your players, their engagement grows - and so does yours. That feedback loop creates the best kind of play: the kind that sticks in your memory for years. Everyone feels like they have a stake in this epic tale. Like the world is alive, and their creativity shapes it. They don’t have to know it was a prefab element that just happened to click. It’s a win-win; you get to prep epic scenarios and they get to activate and surprise you with better stories that you could have even imagined.
I know, I know… you’re probably just sitting there thinking “yeah but you don’t understand, my players aren’t like that. They’re passive, and just wait for my narration”. Some players are naturally more shy/passive than the other - but this doesn’t mean that they can’t share in the spotlight. A simple directed “what do you do?” that leads to a skill check that reveals a secret is enough to make their day. You will see that this pays dividends over time.
Your prep should serve tools, not only stories
Think of a DJ’s setup. They might have a wild-looking deck with pads, knobs, dials, maybe even a drum machine - but the pros don’t just have gear to look cool. They know exactly what each control does and when to use it. If they freeze mid-set, staring at buttons they barely use, the vibe dies. Mastery doesn’t come from having the tools - it comes from using them, over and over, until they disappear into muscle memory.
So as discussed, Secrets & Clues and Potential Scenes are great materials for a prep session because it provides you with tools to unravel the world according to your players. They can be anything that you want (intrigue, twists, encounters, reveals, and even actual props).
But you know you best - what do you need that prevents you from being flabbergasted? Is it random tables? oracle dice? To me it’s a printed sensory reminders - so that I remember to describe not only visual things.
However, from my years of GMing, I’ve found every GM does things differently. You have to build you own way of doing things little by little. It constantly changes. One day I’ll get used to describing multiple senses and something else will replace it (or not). It’s all about building proficiency in actually using your tools, rather than have them be there and look pretty. Which leads me to-
More tools is not mo’ betta- Don’t overdo it
Tools require mastery - remember Technical Proficiency? More tools won’t automatically make you better - running the game will. Look at a DJ’s deck: it’s not huge, but each button serves a purpose they fully understand. I also guarantee you that they even remember when (and for how much) they bought each and every device in their deck.
You should respect your tools, by knowing them intimately. There is no substitute for experience, and it’s gained only by doing the thing; not by reading about it, or “optimizing” your workflow. Remember -
“The main thing is to keep the main this the main thing.”
From “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey
Fewer tools means that you can give your attention to the ones that you do have, and actually understand their purpose. Once you establish a base ground - expand and grow, only then will you realize what you’re missing and either add it, or create it on your own.
Conclusion - Don’t prep to execute a story. Prep to run one.
Great sessions aren’t scripted, they’re orchestrated—like a DJ mixing live. You don’t hit “play” on your prep and hope it works. You build a toolkit, a vibe, a structure. Then you listen. You adapt.
If you’ve read my other posts, you know I’m a bit of a tool freak. I love building systems that work the way I think. That’s why this DJ analogy hit me so hard: it explained why I build GM tools the way I do.
There’s a gap between prep mode and session mode—and the tools to bridge it just don’t exist yet. So I’m building them. And maybe, if any of this resonated with you, you should be too.
Onwards and upwards, this has been my first blog posting about something non-technical. Hope it helped you like it did me!