What you’re doing is actually incredible - it’s basically motivational interviewing (a strategy health professionals use to inspire lifestyle change) but directed and adjusted in a fashion to suit roleplay. Incredible approach 🙏🏻
Can you explain in what way he is using M.I.? Are you saying that in this video he uses M.I. On us, the viewers, or are you saying that he is encouraging us to use M.I. On our players during a game session?
I starting playing D&D for the first time a few months ago. I was absolutely hooked. I started scratching out all the details of my character and really looked forward to playing him in our adventure. I started thinking about mastering my own game for some friends. As you can imagine I have a lot to learn. I have found these videos extremely helpful. Thank you for your lectures! I will continue to watch and take notes!
That's awesome! Glad to have helped out, and please feel free to ask questions, we love questions! And good luck on your awesome journey of role-playing!
I've been having a lot of anxiety over feeling I'm not a very good DM. My brother recommended this channel to me and even this one video has made me feel like I'm not doing as bad as I think, but still feel inspired to do even better.
3:09 Got it. Peter Chang is a mini van driver. He has been at this job for years and hasn't been taking good care of his van. The colour has faded from red to pink and is in poor condition. During work he takes regular breaks since if you drive tired you could cause an accident. During these breaks he eats a banana.
Peter change steals a pink mini van and trys to flee the scene but the tires slip on a banana, hitting an important politician who happens to be taking a walk at the moment
Lots of years have passed since I have found you, looking to expand my knowledge as a GM and the fruits of my labor have ripened. I am so appreciative of you Guy, and my many players I have that love my games all appreciate you as well. I hope you're doing well, I hope to hear from you again one of these days :D
I really enjoyed this video, looking forward to watching those that follow (I purposefully went to the oldest available at the time), but I do have one caveat I'd like to offer on the subject of having fun. I would argue that it isn't the GM/DM's job to ensure everyone is having fun, merely that they ensure the atmosphere allows for it. It could be a discussion on semantics, but it really is a matter of the players to decide to have fun. I say that because if someone arrives at the session after a horrid day at work or a big fight with their significant other or family member, it's not within the GM/DM's power to change their attitude at that point, merely to offer a change of attitude within the purview of the game. (If that makes sense. It's after midnight and I fear I'm not being very clear.)
Excellent video! I really appreciate how you broke imagination down into four activities that you can practice: research, experience, inspiration, and free form association.
Peter Chang is in a lot of distress, because there is a pregnant banana giving birth in his pink mini-van and he must rush to the fruit hospital IMMEDIATELY.
How to be a Great Game Master The pink mini-van, which Peter Chang is driving, is the father. The mini-van does not know that yet because Peter Chang did not complete his time machine until two years later... This was also the reason why the banana looked for the mini-van and Chang in the first place.
Hey, I'm not only a new GM but new to dnd all together. Your videos have really helped me out. Currently running a campaign with 7 players and its going great. Thanks a bunch :-)
I've always struggled with Freeform weaving, when it's good, the party skips over the main quest entirely, when it sucks it feels like a railroad, I can never find a balance.
I came to your page via Cody @ Taking 20. with only 1 video watch i can see instantly why you rank among his favorites. Add to that your creative writing back ground and I cannot wait for more. I have been the primary GM for most of my 30 years of gaming and while I am currently running a good game with Great players and a few newbies, I want to to be better than I have been in the past. thus I am researching GMing. Thanks for being part of the process.
I have to admit as well that, the best things about post-session discussions are when the players keep talking about what they did and what amazing thing happened during the week leading up to the next session, and when they planned ahead about what their char is going to do the next session...makes my cold, dark, helfire GM heart smile...and chuckle with incessant, death foreshadowing...*cough* cough* I mean uplifting glee :)
Invaluable advice! It never occurred to me to ask my players questions, but after trying it out, I do think it helps everyone feel more involved and indeed, satisfied.
Hallo there, i am a new gm for a Group of People and just wanted to Tell you that your youtubechannel has been a great resource and helped me a lot in terms of becoming a good dm/gm (maybe someday even a great one we'll see ) so thank you:D
Huge thumbs up! I recommend this channel to any game master, veteran or beginner! You have been such an immense source of inspiration. I have been a player for a few years now and recently decided to master my own rpg with some friends. I watched a few of your videos and the tips and info you give really are awesome! They helped me create an elaborate and coherent story for my players. We had our first session last week. At the end, I asked them how they thought it had went (one of your tips! ;) ). They all said that it went great and that they had really enjoyed themselves and couldn't wait for the next session! One of my players in particular is an experienced games' master himself so I was particularly pleased when he said that the plot seemed rich and the story telling really made the whole adventure come to life! I was so happy ; I think the most important thing is that the player have fun, and to see them like that made me feel like I had achieved my goal! Thumbs up for all your precious advice! I can't wait for your next videos!
Excellent. It would be great if you could add summaries in the comments section, so I can easily refer back to this (I hate having all sorts of notes in my computer filesystem, as I never consult them): *Imagination* Research Use your experiences Store/take note of any moments of inspiration (which can strike at any moment) Free association (a kind of practice exercise) *Ask questions of your players* What does your character want to do? Why does your character want to do this? *Backstory* Explore backstory for the characters (they explore it by discussing it with you, the GM)
I am thrilled that I found your channel! I am about to start playing Cyberpunk 2020 with my tabletop group but it's going to be my first time as a GM and while I'm a little nervous I'm not as bad as I was after watching your channel!
+Andrea Kruta Very glad to have been able to help! I hope you continue to use the channel for inspiration and that you'll share some of your adventures with us!
Absolutely Brilliant! I am about to adventure on GMing my first campaign. I have been researching my upcoming role for sometime, and your channel has become a wonderful avenue for me. Many thanks, Good Sir!
Thank you so much! I've been feeling like I failed my players recently but I couldn't figure out why. I took a character's backstory from them (an action possible to take in Apocalypse World). I have plans for it and all but I didn't even realize the actions they were taken were in an attempt to get a plot hook towards getting it back, and instead of feeling involved they felt ignored, or worse singled out. I'm going to rectify this as soon as possible. I don't want any of my players not having fun like that again and I'm so glad you got me to realize how I made a mistake.
You feel so laid back in this one, I don't know, it feels much more relaxed and approachable and less intense, don't get me wrong, I love your new stuff but this is pretty good.
Great video. Good examples, simple soothing voice with no cliche phrases or cheesy photos and sounds effects. You found the focus, and stuck with it. I watched this and felt respected, and had the feeling of talking to a friend. Compared to being a faceless person on the internet who gets bored easy and must be entertained. Easy sub and like.
+HuskHunter Well friend - welcome to the channel, and let's talk! I love engaging with viewers and making them friends. So much to learn from others. If you have suggestions on other videos you'd like to see - let me have it! :)
How to be a Great Game Master I think a good video could be about traps. Such as types of traps, when and where to put them, and how to really make your players nervous about opening that next chest, or even looting that dead body. Things beyond a simple Arrow Trap, or holes in the ground. You could bring up how instead of it being a chore to check for them, it could be a reward. Such as getting a piece from the trap. Maybe a small smoke pellet, or a magical gem :)
"3 things everyone can do" Aphantasiacs started sweating profusely when you talked about imagining senses such as smells or visualizing a troll in a cave lol
Hey all, Massive thanks to everyone who got us to over a 1000 views! Secondly tomorrow From the Cave will be posting up three more video's so watch out for that. Included is a review of the new DND release, and how it helps you to tell an even better story!
Thanks for this. In my head I created a world where the undead and vampires were rising up to try to take back the human cities, and my group would be introduced to each other during an invasion of the capital human city. But one of my players said his character was a former slave and had a vendetta against slave owners, he seemed really excited by his backstory. Now initially I thought it had no place in my world, but instead of telling him no, I adjusted my world a little bit to include a few small colonies/cities where slavery was still allowed, but the capital city outlaws it, so that he could develop his character.
Your videos are really, really good, please continue making them! Furthermore, may I suggest returning to character creation and backstory, like you mentioned at 6:10 or so? I'm really enjoying these!
+Neo Rush Welcome to the table! It's always happened on my other channel! Bacon RPG - it's called How to be a Great Player - and there are a couple videos on character creation!
A note on character backstory: one thing that I do is my friends are rather clueless when making a backstory so I help them and plant seeds and one thing I do is I do one shots that tell the most important event in their backstory so that way they get a clearer picture of what they want their backstory to be and the experience is more visceral and real than just writing the backstory down.
Wonderful video with some very interesting info. My friend has recently learned the hard way on trying to make a structured story for his players, so I'll have to link him here. Thanks again, great stuff. Can't wait to see more!
This became my favorite youtube channel with this video. :) I have a question though, regarding backstory. You mention that we should help our players create backstories by "asking questions". What questions should one ask? I have this problem, and I try to ask questions like "What are your characters dreams?", which is fine in creative writing, but when Game Mastering and dealing with "normies", what should one ask?
I as a player do backstory the other way around. I try to tailor my _character_ to whatever I imagine _the DM_ has planned, or barring that, write a character that shouldn't interfere too much.
Very cool video, I learned a lot. Yet one question is hitting my mind. Everytime i do backstory with my players (I play mostly Exalted where the Backstory is played in solo session) I Ask them question and give them example like : "Ok so where their any thaumatic event in your character's childhood" "Hmmmm" "Like for example, your parent go murdered in front of you" 9 times out of 10 they answer : "Ho yeah like you said" And i'm like "mehhhhh"
+Alroc123 I have had players like there - where they are uncertain about their own imagination and would rather go with someone else's. My advice is this: Ask them WHY questions. So your character dresses in black? Why? To avoid being seen at night. Oh why don't they want to be seen? There is a whole session I could go into on the Why question. That way - you're asking them to solve a question rather than come up with an answer. But it's a good question and I'll see if I can do a post about it in the near future!
i do have a tip for keeping your playes active i dont know if you do it or not, its usaly easier to do if you know your players but one thing i always do is brig snacks. i think it helps alot!
cheers for the video. You touched on players reluctant to do backstory... what about those who view sitting down to talk about backstory as badwrongfun? I know a player like that and i'm wondering if i could handle him better?
Player's who don't like sitting and discussing back-story are usually afraid their back-story isn't as good as your GMing skill (they're worried they'll look silly) or are players who have control issues. That's on the good side. On the bad side it might be players who feel your game isn't worth back-story because it never gets used. Why bother writing it if I don't get to explore it/rewarded for playing to it/have a chance to let others be part of it. Alternatively they might not understand why a back-story is needed. So look there first. Do you use your players back-story? Now I have a player who hated back-story because she 'wasn't' creative and would far rather someone else write it, or just not have one. So I turned that into her back-story. Her character doesn't know it. Memory wipe. And she would slowly discover stuff over time. It turned out to be a time-changing doppleganger race that she wiped out in the past whilst defending the future from shadow-wraiths or something and was awesome. You are always going to get players who 'don't wanna'. My response to them is - fine, but then either I get to do it, or don't cry when you don't get a series of adventures dedicated to your back-story. I hope this helps, and thank you for watching the video's. I hope to make more some day!
Grea C, like How to be a Great Game Master said, it's mainly to do with them not fully opening up to the roleplaying experience, because they think of themselves of as inferior and/or think it will be silly (again inexperience and fear of their own writing). For me, I always make sure, at the beginning, before characters are made, that they understand that they have to think of who they are in this world (the who as in character), and who they are in relation to the other PCs (their relationships, motivations etc...) Incorporating their backstories (or even hints of ones) can be so engaging for the players as they progress through your story, so it is required of the GM/DM to include this kind of thinking in your storytelling process. And it's totally fine to have only minor details and have major ones missing, and you, the DM, will need to think about why/how they do not know this.
Oh, wow I actually feel weird to have something to contribute but in that free form association section I though of a game I had made for myself and basically it was to try to link two random object in the longest chain you could without stopping to think. Take ice cream and imperial china, and just start by associating something with ice cream ( like ice cream is cold, ice is cold), and something with that thing you associated with ice cream (like ice is found in arctic regions), and so on until you end up at imperial china, and the more you do this the more you'll notice loops you end up in and the way you think and how to avoid, or change, those and it's really good for training your brain to think on the fly.
As like a really quick and short example of that ice cream, imperial china thing, Ice cream is cold, ice is cold, ice is found in the arctic, the arctic was explored by intrepid explorers, intrepid explorers also explored tall mountains, the Himalayas contain some of the highest mountains int the world, Tibetan monks find the Himalayas to be a semi-religious location, Tibet follows a strict sect of Buddhism, Buddhism was spread through imperial china long ago. It's not totally about accuracy it's more about quickly thinking about the next step as you say (or type) the last one.
Great GM, thanks for the video, very helpful as all your content. I remember watching a video you made on vocal acting and changing voices that I found amazing but I cannot find now, can you direct me to which one is it? Thanks
i also think it would be pretty cool if you could make a video on how to make props or something i have three small ones which is two potion shaped bottles one the traditional fat rount one and then another long kind of one that i really like and i filled them with water and added dye and they have cool cork stoppers for lids.(i bought them at michals for $1.56!) and the other is a plasma ball i use as like a sorcery orb or something.
Thanks! I'm relatively new to GM-ing. I've run a few sessions and I'm enjoying it and working on becoming a better GM. :) Your video is excellent and I also enjoy creative writing and appreciate your thoughts on the topic.
Peter Chang was driving to work in his Subaru cross trek. He is running a little late so for lunch he just grabbed the left over German food from the night before. While driving someone throws a banana peel out their window and peters car hits it. Nothing happens of course but Peter does start to think about the situation and gets distracted enough to plough into a pink minivan. A mother and her nine year old son are rushed to the hospital with serious injuries but within a couple days they return home mostly recovered. Years later the boy who is now a man is still very cautious on the road never able to forget that day. Peters grave rarely gets any visitors.
Question for experienced GMs. I'm about to run a detective-themed RPG at the table. Does anybody know the best way to handle scenes where only certain players are privy to certain information, e.g if player detectives are at different locations or receive a line of detail that is for their knowledge only. Any ideas how to deliver such a mevhanic so that the player gets the decision as to how much to share of what they know wiith the other players at the table?
Been absorbing a lot of Lazy DM tips from Sly Flourish. This is the missing glue. He says to make lists and short descriptions or elements you may use each session But you have to hone your freeform association chops to pull that together in the moment
Insert a giant banana... a cobra dragon who owns a massive city and has a giant throne made of gold, but he is a good and friendly cobra dragon who likes riddles and jokes like a copper dragon and also likes conversations to... I believe that’s what a copper dragon likes. Basically a cobra dragon with the manipulative power of the cobra dragon but the friendliness of a copper dragon because this is my world and a red dragon doesn’t always have to be a primal evil chaotic force of destruction.
I've watched this video a bunch of times to try and hone my story telling skills. However, I cannot seem to get a good grasp on how to properly provide exposition. It seems that there are different means to doing (ie. "show don't tell") - but what works best as a GM? This is honestly, the single most difficult thing for me as a GM.
+Mike Kellett So last night I ran small impromptu game with some friends. I'd written out a very clear scenario, with clues every-where. My players are really really smart. And yet, there were times where the clues were totally misinterpreted. I needed to do some fairly dramatic turns of exposition to get them back on track using NPC's, roll successes, and the like. I think your answer is: It depends on the players how much you do, and how to do it depends on you. I'll make a video on this subject as I think it's important.
Hey there, welcome to the table and thanks for your comment! I mainly write scripts for film and TV. So unless you watch South African television I doubt you'd have come across much :) Some of my modules will be available in due course on the website! I've tried writing a novel but always seem to change my mind or get bored of typing lol!
Could you please make a video about how to keep your players entertained i GM and often my players end up not listening and leaving the table and walking around playing on electronics and ive tried to keep them from getting bored but it always happens it might be because the campaign is just starting and not very intresting but im not sure i would be so happy if you could make a video about it
To be honest - I'd kick those players from my table. No questions asked and none answered. Alternatively you could ask them to GM since they seem to have better ideas/plans than your own. I totally agree the GM is responsible for keeping the pace of the game alive and I entertain through the use of humour to keep the guys focused, or intense action. But if my players begin to leave the table, then the table is closed. There are thousands of other players out there who won't show you that kind of disrespect. My blood pressure is rising on your behalf...
well all but one of my players do it and he's also a GM(much better then me) and they are my friends so thats not really an option but i have kicked out two players in the past and i think my next session will go much better since i posted that comment after i finished a session and had an guesst player who was really bad and argued with me and kept trying to end the game to gm his own pathfinders.I ended up asking him to leave and afterwards my players did pay attention more but i think he kind of made them bored so they werent really participating much.I usually GM at my friends house and it has alot of distraction so im going to try to move my location since we were interrupted by my friends little sister and her friend a vacuum and some other stuff. and again the campaigns just starting and is a bit dull
Thanks for your feedback though next time im going to just take their electronics away.I usually when i get really mad and absolutly no one is listening is use a bug zapper to zap them which i dont like doing and is probraly a bad idea
i do also kind of wish they had a more fun player because my friend gms with the same group execpt without him and with me and its alot more controlled not to brag but i am a fun player and keep them entertained with all the funny and hilariously stupid things i do. one thing i did which we will all never forget was we needed some important information from this one guy we call "The bagel dude" because i did something that annoyed the guy and he was handing out bagels and everyone got one but me so i got super mad and tryed to steal one i then failed and decided to kill him and take all the bagels then i had to deal with guards and go to jail blah blah blah but because the guy was important to the story he miraculously survived, but i got my bagel! and every time he see's us he goes oh hi then he see's me and goes oh you.
I DM'ed for a group I know and no matter what I did, they just never got into it like I expected. They said they enjoyed it and that they wanted to keep playing, but to me a lot of the time it just felt like it's something they had to do instead of what they wanted to do. I tried so many different things to try and change their attitude, but nothing ever worked and they just carried on going with the motions instead of getting fully into it.
Hey so I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I have a bit of a dilemma. My GM, who is my twin brother has this weird thing with me that he doesn’t like to take information from me. So he’s very new to GMing, and he doesn’t know the rules very well, or understand the numbers. Now that can all come with experience but where the problem lies is that, he doesn’t care to learn them. It’s one thing to rules lawyer but it’s another to just ignore them entirely, and he makes up house rules for almost everything, and nearly every time they favor the NPC’s. This is a particularly big problem because we’re playing through Mines of Phandelver right now and we only have a group of 3 PC’s, and he’s not scaling the encounters, for which I have him a tool to do so should the need arise because the unaltered version is for 5-6 players. So we’re getting the shit kicked out of us, and he’s making house rules that favor the enemies as we go, (for example that my green flame blade will only hit enemies standing to the left or right of the enemies instead of just within 5’ as the real rule states) making it way less useful. I don’t know what to do, and I’ve brought it up twice already. Does anyone know what I can do? Or maybe if you know the module well enough is there something I could do to get enough of an edge for my party to push through? It’s all of their first experiences with D&D and it feels awful.
The majority of my experience comes from roleplaying in MMOs. I've spent, I think, 10 years of my life playing roleplaying games 4 to 5 hours a day and actively roleplaying my character, always coming up with new and strange things to put in front of my fellow players and tickle a new, evocative response out of them.
I have tried online role-playing in MMO's. I have to say it's a very different feeling! It is definitely role-playing but different. Do any of the videos help you at all?
How to be a Great Game Master Most certainly! Roleplay in MMOs is indeed very different, but not always in a good way. A lot of MMOs have static worlds, so roleplay tends to revolve around personal plotlines or around nothing in particular. The more revered GMs in MMOs manage to tell stories which affect the world in a more abstract way that doesn't need to be cosmetically reflected. New information that changes the worldview of the characters. The death of a regional, inconsequential, overly dramatic baddy. Still, I always strived towards RP that was closer to tabletop games. The last four years of that experience was on private servers where you actually can make physical changes to the world if you can manage it. The culture is very.. Strange on private servers. You are required to react to people in character if you can manage it, even though you know they're just there to ruin your day, not to tell a story. I don't recommend it, even though I learned a lot there. I learned through adversity and that is not something that I can recommend. I'm much, much, much happier playing tabletop games.
Are there any online games for that word association games? I know a card game called Dirk Gently (based on the show) which uses a system like it, but I'm wondering about any kind of app to associate words together in my free time to help myself with "improv" EDIT: totally not using it to become better at making puns though, nope not at all... In my theater of mind there's no such thing as a play on words!
Peter chang sells bananas to children coming home from school out of a pink mini-van and everyone is extremely suspicious of him but really, he just has a passion for bananas.
I don't entirely know where this question belongs, so I'll just put it here. My and my friend both want to dm and be players and kind of trade of who is dming at one time, we were wondering if it's a good idea to both use the same world for this or just make our own separate ones, thoughts?
Same world is fine, different parties and different parts of the planet - better. If you both controlling the same party, long terms plans can be inadvertently destroyed. Same part of the world and the two parties might conceivably collide. But same world is cool because then you developing a world together, which is always fun!
Peter Chang is an old master martial artist of Dragon Kung Fu. He lives in an old pink minivan and can repower his chi by eating large quantities of bananas.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
What you’re doing is actually incredible - it’s basically motivational interviewing (a strategy health professionals use to inspire lifestyle change) but directed and adjusted in a fashion to suit roleplay. Incredible approach 🙏🏻
Can you explain in what way he is using M.I.? Are you saying that in this video he uses M.I. On us, the viewers, or are you saying that he is encouraging us to use M.I. On our players during a game session?
Peter change slipped on a banana causing him to end up in front of an on coming pink mini van. Roll for dexterity
The roll for dexterity part really brings the whole story together
I starting playing D&D for the first time a few months ago. I was absolutely hooked. I started scratching out all the details of my character and really looked forward to playing him in our adventure. I started thinking about mastering my own game for some friends. As you can imagine I have a lot to learn. I have found these videos extremely helpful. Thank you for your lectures! I will continue to watch and take notes!
That's awesome! Glad to have helped out, and please feel free to ask questions, we love questions! And good luck on your awesome journey of role-playing!
7:12 out of context greatness.
I'm calling it without watching that particular part again - it's the insert-giant-banana bit.
Yup, called it.
I've been having a lot of anxiety over feeling I'm not a very good DM. My brother recommended this channel to me and even this one video has made me feel like I'm not doing as bad as I think, but still feel inspired to do even better.
Iw watch nearly all things on how to be a better GM/DM and you 2 videos have helped me more then all others. Keep on good work.
Thanks a lot, I am planning to make more someday. :)
@@HowtobeaGreatGM I think you fulfilled that promise... to possibly the fullest extent
3:09
Got it. Peter Chang is a mini van driver. He has been at this job for years and hasn't been taking good care of his van. The colour has faded from red to pink and is in poor condition. During work he takes regular breaks since if you drive tired you could cause an accident. During these breaks he eats a banana.
+Bobby Ranger Hahahahaha. Now ask yourself this - what if he opened his lunch pack to find... a handgun?
Peter change steals a pink mini van and trys to flee the scene but the tires slip on a banana, hitting an important politician who happens to be taking a walk at the moment
Lots of years have passed since I have found you, looking to expand my knowledge as a GM and the fruits of my labor have ripened. I am so appreciative of you Guy, and my many players I have that love my games all appreciate you as well. I hope you're doing well, I hope to hear from you again one of these days :D
I really enjoyed this video, looking forward to watching those that follow (I purposefully went to the oldest available at the time), but I do have one caveat I'd like to offer on the subject of having fun. I would argue that it isn't the GM/DM's job to ensure everyone is having fun, merely that they ensure the atmosphere allows for it. It could be a discussion on semantics, but it really is a matter of the players to decide to have fun. I say that because if someone arrives at the session after a horrid day at work or a big fight with their significant other or family member, it's not within the GM/DM's power to change their attitude at that point, merely to offer a change of attitude within the purview of the game. (If that makes sense. It's after midnight and I fear I'm not being very clear.)
Excellent video! I really appreciate how you broke imagination down into four activities that you can practice: research, experience, inspiration, and free form association.
Peter Chang is in a lot of distress, because there is a pregnant banana giving birth in his pink mini-van and he must rush to the fruit hospital IMMEDIATELY.
I like it. Who is the father?
How to be a Great Game Master The pink mini-van, which Peter Chang is driving, is the father. The mini-van does not know that yet because Peter Chang did not complete his time machine until two years later... This was also the reason why the banana looked for the mini-van and Chang in the first place.
Henrique Kenzo ... you amuse me greatly.
this reads like an episode of uncle grandpa
Hey, I'm not only a new GM but new to dnd all together. Your videos have really helped me out. Currently running a campaign with 7 players and its going great. Thanks a bunch :-)
I've always struggled with Freeform weaving, when it's good, the party skips over the main quest entirely, when it sucks it feels like a railroad, I can never find a balance.
I came to your page via Cody @ Taking 20. with only 1 video watch i can see instantly why you rank among his favorites. Add to that your creative writing back ground and I cannot wait for more. I have been the primary GM for most of my 30 years of gaming and while I am currently running a good game with Great players and a few newbies, I want to to be better than I have been in the past. thus I am researching GMing. Thanks for being part of the process.
I have to admit as well that, the best things about post-session discussions are when the players keep talking about what they did and what amazing thing happened during the week leading up to the next session, and when they planned ahead about what their char is going to do the next session...makes my cold, dark, helfire GM heart smile...and chuckle with incessant, death foreshadowing...*cough* cough* I mean uplifting glee :)
I'm sooo happy I found this video, thanks for working to help the folks that struggle with creating thinking.
+Nick Schonberger Always happy to hear that these videos help! Enjoy watching them, and remember to subscribe if you already haven't :)
Invaluable advice! It never occurred to me to ask my players questions, but after trying it out, I do think it helps everyone feel more involved and indeed, satisfied.
Hallo there, i am a new gm for a Group of People and just wanted to Tell you that your youtubechannel has been a great resource and helped me a lot in terms of becoming a good dm/gm (maybe someday even a great one we'll see ) so thank you:D
Huge thumbs up! I recommend this channel to any game master, veteran or beginner!
You have been such an immense source of inspiration.
I have been a player for a few years now and recently decided to master my own rpg with some friends.
I watched a few of your videos and the tips and info you give really are awesome! They helped me create an elaborate and coherent story for my players.
We had our first session last week. At the end, I asked them how they thought it had went (one of your tips! ;) ). They all said that it went great and that they had really enjoyed themselves and couldn't wait for the next session!
One of my players in particular is an experienced games' master himself so I was particularly pleased when he said that the plot seemed rich and the story telling really made the whole adventure come to life!
I was so happy ; I think the most important thing is that the player have fun, and to see them like that made me feel like I had achieved my goal!
Thumbs up for all your precious advice! I can't wait for your next videos!
I've been a DM for over 15 years, and I can say this is some excellent advice.
I'm soon going to be a GM with a group of newer players and this is gold! Thank you so much for the wonderful tips AND the giant banana.
+Designated Wizard Never underestimate the power of a giant Banana!
Excellent. It would be great if you could add summaries in the comments section, so I can easily refer back to this (I hate having all sorts of notes in my computer filesystem, as I never consult them):
*Imagination*
Research
Use your experiences
Store/take note of any moments of inspiration (which can strike at any moment)
Free association (a kind of practice exercise)
*Ask questions of your players*
What does your character want to do?
Why does your character want to do this?
*Backstory*
Explore backstory for the characters (they explore it by discussing it with you, the GM)
I am thrilled that I found your channel! I am about to start playing Cyberpunk 2020 with my tabletop group but it's going to be my first time as a GM and while I'm a little nervous I'm not as bad as I was after watching your channel!
+Andrea Kruta Very glad to have been able to help! I hope you continue to use the channel for inspiration and that you'll share some of your adventures with us!
Absolutely Brilliant! I am about to adventure on GMing my first campaign. I have been researching my upcoming role for sometime, and your channel has become a wonderful avenue for me. Many thanks, Good Sir!
Fantastic video! Thank you for giving a name to free form association. Much easier to explain my dm style now.
Thank you so much! I've been feeling like I failed my players recently but I couldn't figure out why.
I took a character's backstory from them (an action possible to take in Apocalypse World). I have plans for it and all but I didn't even realize the actions they were taken were in an attempt to get a plot hook towards getting it back, and instead of feeling involved they felt ignored, or worse singled out. I'm going to rectify this as soon as possible. I don't want any of my players not having fun like that again and I'm so glad you got me to realize how I made a mistake.
+Xenophyter You are totally welcome! And let us know how it goes? It takes guts to accept a mistake as a GM! I wanna know what happens!
You feel so laid back in this one, I don't know, it feels much more relaxed and approachable and less intense, don't get me wrong, I love your new stuff but this is pretty good.
Thanks for this I’m only 12 but me and my friends play RPGs and I am always the GM
Hopefully you will escape the fate of being the forever-GM someday :)
About to GM my first game of Edge of the Empire. Thanks for all of this. liked and subbed.
+Kevin Syers How did it go?
+Kevin Syers How did it go?
Great video. Good examples, simple soothing voice with no cliche phrases or cheesy photos and sounds effects. You found the focus, and stuck with it.
I watched this and felt respected, and had the feeling of talking to a friend.
Compared to being a faceless person on the internet who gets bored easy and must be entertained.
Easy sub and like.
+HuskHunter Well friend - welcome to the channel, and let's talk! I love engaging with viewers and making them friends. So much to learn from others. If you have suggestions on other videos you'd like to see - let me have it! :)
How to be a Great Game Master I think a good video could be about traps. Such as types of traps, when and where to put them, and how to really make your players nervous about opening that next chest, or even looting that dead body. Things beyond a simple Arrow Trap, or holes in the ground. You could bring up how instead of it being a chore to check for them, it could be a reward. Such as getting a piece from the trap. Maybe a small smoke pellet, or a magical gem :)
Awesome. I think someone else mentioned Traps. It is added to the list!
"3 things everyone can do"
Aphantasiacs started sweating profusely when you talked about imagining senses such as smells or visualizing a troll in a cave lol
your content is unique and substantive. thank you for existing. freeform association is amazing as a concept.
+bridgeburner92 I shall continue to exist as long as I can be of help! Thank you :)
These videos are so good, you deserve more subs!
Welcome to the table! And thank you. Please feel free to share these if you think it will help make for better games :)
I definitely will :D
I just DM'd my first session of DMing D&D tonight. Finally, I can use your tips about being a great GM!
Great stuff here! I would also like to add that freeform is another great way to keep people included in your main story.
+TIMORUM Gamers Oh yes excellent point. It really allows you add in extra branches to your story to accommodate the other players.
Hey all, Massive thanks to everyone who got us to over a 1000 views!
Secondly tomorrow From the Cave will be posting up three more video's so watch out for that. Included is a review of the new DND release, and how it helps you to tell an even better story!
Wow must feel weird to have 148k views now, congrats on your success your videos are so helpful.
Greetings from Greece.
You shared some really helpuf info here mate. Thanks for sharing it with us. :)
+Periklis Paschidis Hello Greece!
Thanks for this. In my head I created a world where the undead and vampires were rising up to try to take back the human cities, and my group would be introduced to each other during an invasion of the capital human city. But one of my players said his character was a former slave and had a vendetta against slave owners, he seemed really excited by his backstory. Now initially I thought it had no place in my world, but instead of telling him no, I adjusted my world a little bit to include a few small colonies/cities where slavery was still allowed, but the capital city outlaws it, so that he could develop his character.
If I could give you more than 1 like, I would...
Free form association. Brilliant idea!
Your videos are really, really good, please continue making them! Furthermore, may I suggest returning to character creation and backstory, like you mentioned at 6:10 or so? I'm really enjoying these!
+Neo Rush Welcome to the table! It's always happened on my other channel! Bacon RPG - it's called How to be a Great Player - and there are a couple videos on character creation!
Your videos are really good and as a new GM are helping me with lots of ideas :) so cheers, keep up the good work
+ajtame Many thanks! Glad they help! We always keen to hear what videos you'd like to see so share with us!
I think "Insert the giant banana" is the best out of context thing I've ever heard... I'm so mature
A note on character backstory: one thing that I do is my friends are rather clueless when making a backstory so I help them and plant seeds and one thing I do is I do one shots that tell the most important event in their backstory so that way they get a clearer picture of what they want their backstory to be and the experience is more visceral and real than just writing the backstory down.
Wonderful video with some very interesting info. My friend has recently learned the hard way on trying to make a structured story for his players, so I'll have to link him here.
Thanks again, great stuff. Can't wait to see more!
This seems like some super solid advice. Thanks for sharing!
you need like 50k more subscribers
+Reiza I totally agree. Do you have any? :P
Nope, but I'm not a genius, I just talk in a way that makes others smile X'D
That's a pity. Then join me and together we can raise the number! Mwahahaha bring on the universe!
He needs 50 *m* more
@@JeremyHopsonLIVE Are there even that many people on earth!? I honestly wouldn't know I failed my Intelligence Check
Thanks for the content man 🙏
This became my favorite youtube channel with this video. :)
I have a question though, regarding backstory. You mention that we should help our players create backstories by "asking questions".
What questions should one ask? I have this problem, and I try to ask questions like "What are your characters dreams?", which is fine in creative writing, but when Game Mastering and dealing with "normies", what should one ask?
Simple tips. I try to make things quite similar to that and I agree!
Dude your the best thoguh i left quite a lot of comments and you took the time to respond to them all
If they valid questions or comments I feel I should respond no?
no yeah it makes sense
Very good video. You are a Smarvilous teacher :)
Great video :) Giant banana idea is great!
I as a player do backstory the other way around. I try to tailor my _character_ to whatever I imagine _the DM_ has planned, or barring that, write a character that shouldn't interfere too much.
It's a shame there aren't more of these!
Well I think you are a great story teller, that is a reason!
My thanks. But I believe we all can be. It just takes a little practice.
Very cool video, I learned a lot.
Yet one question is hitting my mind.
Everytime i do backstory with my players (I play mostly Exalted where the Backstory is played in solo session) I Ask them question and give them example like :
"Ok so where their any thaumatic event in your character's childhood"
"Hmmmm"
"Like for example, your parent go murdered in front of you"
9 times out of 10 they answer :
"Ho yeah like you said"
And i'm like "mehhhhh"
+Alroc123 I have had players like there - where they are uncertain about their own imagination and would rather go with someone else's. My advice is this: Ask them WHY questions. So your character dresses in black? Why? To avoid being seen at night. Oh why don't they want to be seen? There is a whole session I could go into on the Why question. That way - you're asking them to solve a question rather than come up with an answer. But it's a good question and I'll see if I can do a post about it in the near future!
i do have a tip for keeping your playes active i dont know if you do it or not, its usaly easier to do if you know your players but one thing i always do is brig snacks. i think it helps alot!
Snacks are a reason I'm not known as the Great Thin GM... :) Yes good advice.
Holy shit, this is great! I'm certainly going to use this next time my players come around. Subbed instantly.
/Dude with 6 months of GM experience
+kainan613 Welcome to the table dude with 6 months of experience! I hope your players soon learn that you are a Great Game Master!
cheers for the video. You touched on players reluctant to do backstory... what about those who view sitting down to talk about backstory as badwrongfun? I know a player like that and i'm wondering if i could handle him better?
Player's who don't like sitting and discussing back-story are usually afraid their back-story isn't as good as your GMing skill (they're worried they'll look silly) or are players who have control issues. That's on the good side. On the bad side it might be players who feel your game isn't worth back-story because it never gets used. Why bother writing it if I don't get to explore it/rewarded for playing to it/have a chance to let others be part of it. Alternatively they might not understand why a back-story is needed. So look there first. Do you use your players back-story? Now I have a player who hated back-story because she 'wasn't' creative and would far rather someone else write it, or just not have one. So I turned that into her back-story. Her character doesn't know it. Memory wipe. And she would slowly discover stuff over time. It turned out to be a time-changing doppleganger race that she wiped out in the past whilst defending the future from shadow-wraiths or something and was awesome. You are always going to get players who 'don't wanna'. My response to them is - fine, but then either I get to do it, or don't cry when you don't get a series of adventures dedicated to your back-story. I hope this helps, and thank you for watching the video's. I hope to make more some day!
Grea C, like How to be a Great Game Master said, it's mainly to do with them not fully opening up to the roleplaying experience, because they think of themselves of as inferior and/or think it will be silly (again inexperience and fear of their own writing).
For me, I always make sure, at the beginning, before characters are made, that they understand that they have to think of who they are in this world (the who as in character), and who they are in relation to the other PCs (their relationships, motivations etc...)
Incorporating their backstories (or even hints of ones) can be so engaging for the players as they progress through your story, so it is required of the GM/DM to include this kind of thinking in your storytelling process.
And it's totally fine to have only minor details and have major ones missing, and you, the DM, will need to think about why/how they do not know this.
Oh, wow I actually feel weird to have something to contribute but in that free form association section I though of a game I had made for myself and basically it was to try to link two random object in the longest chain you could without stopping to think. Take ice cream and imperial china, and just start by associating something with ice cream ( like ice cream is cold, ice is cold), and something with that thing you associated with ice cream (like ice is found in arctic regions), and so on until you end up at imperial china, and the more you do this the more you'll notice loops you end up in and the way you think and how to avoid, or change, those and it's really good for training your brain to think on the fly.
As like a really quick and short example of that ice cream, imperial china thing, Ice cream is cold, ice is cold, ice is found in the arctic, the arctic was explored by intrepid explorers, intrepid explorers also explored tall mountains, the Himalayas contain some of the highest mountains int the world, Tibetan monks find the Himalayas to be a semi-religious location, Tibet follows a strict sect of Buddhism, Buddhism was spread through imperial china long ago. It's not totally about accuracy it's more about quickly thinking about the next step as you say (or type) the last one.
Dear lord this is put so well.
Thank you. Also welcome to the table :)
Amen, brother!! PREACH!
HOW ON EARTH can you say that 7:13 and not burst out laughing??
+Sean ossu Years of lecturing ;) and it usually gets viewers to laugh which means it's working :) Thank you for watching and I hope you did laugh!
Awesome tips! Thanks I'm going to enjoy your videos.
Some really nice insight in there thanks for that
Liked and subscribed! Great insight.
Great GM, thanks for the video, very helpful as all your content. I remember watching a video you made on vocal acting and changing voices that I found amazing but I cannot find now, can you direct me to which one is it?
Thanks
Such solid advice. Wow!
+Andrew Himmler I hope it's usable and makes your games better?! Let us know!
i also think it would be pretty cool if you could make a video on how to make props or something i have three small ones which is two potion shaped bottles one the traditional fat rount one and then another long kind of one that i really like and i filled them with water and added dye and they have cool cork stoppers for lids.(i bought them at michals for $1.56!) and the other is a plasma ball i use as like a sorcery orb or something.
I shall add it to the list! Watch out next week for a tutorial on making miniature figs for use on your gaming table!
Subscribed at 3:25 Excellent video!
+Steven Fox Welcome to the table!
Thanks! I'm relatively new to GM-ing. I've run a few sessions and I'm enjoying it and working on becoming a better GM. :)
Your video is excellent and I also enjoy creative writing and appreciate your thoughts on the topic.
Awesome man! I love creative writing! Let us know how your games are going!
Peter Chang was driving to work in his Subaru cross trek. He is running a little late so for lunch he just grabbed the left over German food from the night before. While driving someone throws a banana peel out their window and peters car hits it. Nothing happens of course but Peter does start to think about the situation and gets distracted enough to plough into a pink minivan. A mother and her nine year old son are rushed to the hospital with serious injuries but within a couple days they return home mostly recovered. Years later the boy who is now a man is still very cautious on the road never able to forget that day. Peters grave rarely gets any visitors.
Question for experienced GMs. I'm about to run a detective-themed RPG at the table. Does anybody know the best way to handle scenes where only certain players are privy to certain information, e.g if player detectives are at different locations or receive a line of detail that is for their knowledge only.
Any ideas how to deliver such a mevhanic so that the player gets the decision as to how much to share of what they know wiith the other players at the table?
Been absorbing a lot of Lazy DM tips from Sly Flourish. This is the missing glue. He says to make lists and short descriptions or elements you may use each session
But you have to hone your freeform association chops to pull that together in the moment
Great advice. I don't agree with all of it, but very solid overall!
Wonderful video, thank you!
Insert a giant banana... a cobra dragon who owns a massive city and has a giant throne made of gold, but he is a good and friendly cobra dragon who likes riddles and jokes like a copper dragon and also likes conversations to... I believe that’s what a copper dragon likes.
Basically a cobra dragon with the manipulative power of the cobra dragon but the friendliness of a copper dragon because this is my world and a red dragon doesn’t always have to be a primal evil chaotic force of destruction.
Rory´s story cubes are awesome for free form association!!
I've watched this video a bunch of times to try and hone my story telling skills. However, I cannot seem to get a good grasp on how to properly provide exposition. It seems that there are different means to doing (ie. "show don't tell") - but what works best as a GM? This is honestly, the single most difficult thing for me as a GM.
+Mike Kellett So last night I ran small impromptu game with some friends. I'd written out a very clear scenario, with clues every-where. My players are really really smart. And yet, there were times where the clues were totally misinterpreted. I needed to do some fairly dramatic turns of exposition to get them back on track using NPC's, roll successes, and the like. I think your answer is: It depends on the players how much you do, and how to do it depends on you. I'll make a video on this subject as I think it's important.
Oh! Loved this
Awww 1st videoo ♥️
That's damn good advice presented memorably. And as you're a lecturer on creative writing, I assume you can direct me toward some of your own fiction?
Hey there, welcome to the table and thanks for your comment! I mainly write scripts for film and TV. So unless you watch South African television I doubt you'd have come across much :) Some of my modules will be available in due course on the website! I've tried writing a novel but always seem to change my mind or get bored of typing lol!
Could you please make a video about how to keep your players entertained i GM and often my players end up not listening and leaving the table and walking around playing on electronics and ive tried to keep them from getting bored but it always happens it might be because the campaign is just starting and not very intresting but im not sure i would be so happy if you could make a video about it
To be honest - I'd kick those players from my table. No questions asked and none answered. Alternatively you could ask them to GM since they seem to have better ideas/plans than your own. I totally agree the GM is responsible for keeping the pace of the game alive and I entertain through the use of humour to keep the guys focused, or intense action. But if my players begin to leave the table, then the table is closed. There are thousands of other players out there who won't show you that kind of disrespect. My blood pressure is rising on your behalf...
well all but one of my players do it and he's also a GM(much better then me) and they are my friends so thats not really an option but i have kicked out two players in the past and i think my next session will go much better since i posted that comment after i finished a session and had an guesst player who was really bad and argued with me and kept trying to end the game to gm his own pathfinders.I ended up asking him to leave and afterwards my players did pay attention more but i think he kind of made them bored so they werent really participating much.I usually GM at my friends house and it has alot of distraction so im going to try to move my location since we were interrupted by my friends little sister and her friend a vacuum and some other stuff. and again the campaigns just starting and is a bit dull
Thanks for your feedback though next time im going to just take their electronics away.I usually when i get really mad and absolutly no one is listening is use a bug zapper to zap them which i dont like doing and is probraly a bad idea
i do also kind of wish they had a more fun player because my friend gms with the same group execpt without him and with me and its alot more controlled not to brag but i am a fun player and keep them entertained with all the funny and hilariously stupid things i do. one thing i did which we will all never forget was we needed some important information from this one guy we call "The bagel dude" because i did something that annoyed the guy and he was handing out bagels and everyone got one but me so i got super mad and tryed to steal one i then failed and decided to kill him and take all the bagels then i had to deal with guards and go to jail blah blah blah but because the guy was important to the story he miraculously survived, but i got my bagel! and every time he see's us he goes oh hi then he see's me and goes oh you.
@@BeanchiT how did it went?
I DM'ed for a group I know and no matter what I did, they just never got into it like I expected. They said they enjoyed it and that they wanted to keep playing, but to me a lot of the time it just felt like it's something they had to do instead of what they wanted to do. I tried so many different things to try and change their attitude, but nothing ever worked and they just carried on going with the motions instead of getting fully into it.
+larmoth401 its tough. i have had the same issues and sadly it may be time for a new group?
Hey so I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I have a bit of a dilemma. My GM, who is my twin brother has this weird thing with me that he doesn’t like to take information from me. So he’s very new to GMing, and he doesn’t know the rules very well, or understand the numbers. Now that can all come with experience but where the problem lies is that, he doesn’t care to learn them. It’s one thing to rules lawyer but it’s another to just ignore them entirely, and he makes up house rules for almost everything, and nearly every time they favor the NPC’s. This is a particularly big problem because we’re playing through Mines of Phandelver right now and we only have a group of 3 PC’s, and he’s not scaling the encounters, for which I have him a tool to do so should the need arise because the unaltered version is for 5-6 players. So we’re getting the shit kicked out of us, and he’s making house rules that favor the enemies as we go, (for example that my green flame blade will only hit enemies standing to the left or right of the enemies instead of just within 5’ as the real rule states) making it way less useful. I don’t know what to do, and I’ve brought it up twice already. Does anyone know what I can do? Or maybe if you know the module well enough is there something I could do to get enough of an edge for my party to push through? It’s all of their first experiences with D&D and it feels awful.
This actually helped alot
This is the video I use to introduce people to the channel.
you used to talk few times faster than you do now
you are also far more theatrical and relaxed in the more recent vids!
Great vid, thanks
The majority of my experience comes from roleplaying in MMOs. I've spent, I think, 10 years of my life playing roleplaying games 4 to 5 hours a day and actively roleplaying my character, always coming up with new and strange things to put in front of my fellow players and tickle a new, evocative response out of them.
I have tried online role-playing in MMO's. I have to say it's a very different feeling! It is definitely role-playing but different. Do any of the videos help you at all?
How to be a Great Game Master Most certainly! Roleplay in MMOs is indeed very different, but not always in a good way. A lot of MMOs have static worlds, so roleplay tends to revolve around personal plotlines or around nothing in particular.
The more revered GMs in MMOs manage to tell stories which affect the world in a more abstract way that doesn't need to be cosmetically reflected. New information that changes the worldview of the characters. The death of a regional, inconsequential, overly dramatic baddy.
Still, I always strived towards RP that was closer to tabletop games. The last four years of that experience was on private servers where you actually can make physical changes to the world if you can manage it.
The culture is very.. Strange on private servers. You are required to react to people in character if you can manage it, even though you know they're just there to ruin your day, not to tell a story. I don't recommend it, even though I learned a lot there. I learned through adversity and that is not something that I can recommend. I'm much, much, much happier playing tabletop games.
Now i have a picture in my head of a Klingon Troll brushing his teeth in a cave. Thanks.
Wow this was such a helpful video!
Are there any online games for that word association games?
I know a card game called Dirk Gently (based on the show) which uses a system like it, but I'm wondering about any kind of app to associate words together in my free time to help myself with "improv"
EDIT: totally not using it to become better at making puns though, nope not at all... In my theater of mind there's no such thing as a play on words!
All this value, not charging a penny, nice guy.
And you know it :p
Peter chang sells bananas to children coming home from school out of a pink mini-van and everyone is extremely suspicious of him but really, he just has a passion for bananas.
Great video! ^^
Yes, sensei... I shall use this new knowledge to insert a giant banana into my players.
Only if they consent.... always make sure they agree to allow you to do it.
I don't entirely know where this question belongs, so I'll just put it here.
My and my friend both want to dm and be players and kind of trade of who is dming at one time, we were wondering if it's a good idea to both use the same world for this or just make our own separate ones, thoughts?
Same world is fine, different parties and different parts of the planet - better. If you both controlling the same party, long terms plans can be inadvertently destroyed. Same part of the world and the two parties might conceivably collide. But same world is cool because then you developing a world together, which is always fun!
+How to be a Great Game Master Thanks!
*Cracks knuckles* Ok, hopped around at random and watched campaign creation recent stuff, time to do a proper archive run. 520 videos. Dang.
My issue is not being low on imagination.. the issue is the chaos.
Peter Chang is an old master martial artist of Dragon Kung Fu. He lives in an old pink minivan and can repower his chi by eating large quantities of bananas.