How to Dungeon Master Parenting

A Guidebook for Gamifying the Child Rearing Quest, Leveling Up Your Skills, and Raising Future Adventurers

Shelly Mazzanoble

• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781609389826
• Print ISBN:
  9781609389819

2025 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Parenting & Family

2025 Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY Awards) bronze medalist, Parenting

2024 Zibby Awards, Best Book for Parents selection

2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist, Family & Relationship 

2024 American Book Fest Best Book Award Finalist, Parenting

Gather your party, it's time to level up your parenting game!

For years, millions of fans have looked to the beloved roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons for fun, friendship, and entertainment. And now parents and parents-to-be can use D&D to gain inspiration and how-to when it comes to their most challenging and rewarding role yet. Dungeon Masters are not just expert storytellers and arbiters of the rules, they're compassionate, creative, quick-thinking leaders who embody the same traits that make a great parent.

Where do you find an adventuring party who will have your back? What must-have starting equipment should you own before venturing into babyland? How does your gaming style reflect your parenting style? You don't have to know how to be a Dungeon Master to master parenting—just think like one. Kids may not come with rulebooks, but now their parents do.

 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for How to Dungeon Master Parenting
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Prologue: Session Zero Clue
• 1. Parenting at 1st Level
• 2. The Thirteen Traits of Highly Effective Dungeon Masters (and Parents)
• 3. To Market, to Market We Go!
• 4. Let’s Party!
• 5. A Long Rest
• 6. The Other Five S’s
• 7. Parenting by the (Rule) Book
• 8. Know Thy Game, Know Thy Player
• 9. I Think We’re Aligned Now
• 10. Hey, You’ve Got Style!
• 11. To the Best of Their Ability Scores
• 12. Kids Play the Darndest Things
• 13. Emotional Baggage of Holding
• 14. The Dice Made Me Do It
• 15. Building Character the Old-Fashioned Way
• 16. Tears of Play
• 17. What’s Left of the Ruins
• 18. Changelings in the Air
• 19. We Never Left the Tavern
• Epilogue: The Quest Continues
• Acknowledgments