Not enough would-be GMs have The Lunatic in their player groups. No plot, no railroad survives a lunatic player. Then again, it's thanks to the Lunatics that we get have to think on our feet and get the best tabletop experiences with emergent plot developments.
@@gagrin1565 It's always greener on the other side. I wish I had players who did insane crap and derailed the campaign. But a GM who has to deal with it every week would probably like to be able to have their prep work survive the session.
@@gackybass It's not a complaint per-say, just an observation. I have never played with anyone who thought the aim of the game was to follow the breadcrumb trail, but almost every group has at least one person who thinks fire is a rational solution to minor problems.
The method he mentions of planning a one-shot has worked wonders for me. People are often more willing to try a game for a single night than commiting to a campaign. Maybe they will want to play more after the one-shot, maybe not.
@@brynjarjohannesson5685yeah I've tried that and enough drop out that I can't do a campaign going forward and by the time I get more to fill in the gap the older players from the previous one shot that wanted to play have moved on or gotten irl stuff happening
@@Ike_of_pykejust focus on one-shots for awhile. Some will bounce, others will click, and you will gradually build up a list of folks that are more flexible. In the end, just announcing that you aren't running 5e anymore will let them know that if they wanna play, then they gotta adapt
If you have a group that must play 5E then the best fix is to homebrew it. You should check out Dungeon Coach, he makes a lot of homebrew content for 5e which makes the game way easier to run and waymore fun. His book Alkander's Almanac is a literal buffet of his best homebrew ideas.
With the early editions of D&D, the books seem designed for players in an established group. That's how I learned. I feel sorry for players who picked them up blind and tried to make sense of it all
Mentzer's 1983 Basic Set remains one of the best introductions to DMing. Before Critical Role upended how people discovered D&D, there was a long, long period of time where I believe the majority of people playing the game were playing with DMs who had either learned from Mentzer or had learned from someone who learned from Mentzer. (I have no actual evidence to back this up.) The original 1974 edition can be somewhat opaque through its Gygaxian prose and... let's say "eclectic" organization. But if you can penetrate that, it unsurprisingly does a pretty good job of telling you exactly what to prep for a dungeon-under-the-castle campaign and exactly how to run it. (I say "unsurprisingly" because it's not like the vast majority of people buying it would have any previous experience with the game.)
@@TheAlexandrian A lot of people at that time write with more enthusiasm than editorial experience. It shows in other games as well. GW were really fond of making special exceptions on top of special exceptions, and drifting off for a page or two with rules for oddly specific situations. They seem just as surprised in old WD that people would request an FAQ. There's a fun passage in Apocrypha Now where GW outright states that a conversion rule between WFB and WFRP (in case players want to put their band of bums in a miniature battle) is mathematically broken and can make characters stronger through rounding errors. But you are all reasonable gents who would not stoop to fixing numbers in a game.
@@Rageaholic2097I mean it's true the possibility to die is notably low and people are rather powerful in 5e. The fact you're turned off by a random player/dm in a comment section is a bit weird imo but it's up to you if that's what makes you turned off.
@@Rageaholic2097 The people giving you shit here help support your point. I've been refereeing OSR games almost exclusively for a good while now, and it's not unusual that 5e players will have a negative opinion of the OSR purely based on this macho self-righteous nonsense and the usual aphorisms.
I swear by the cheat sheet method. I basically create a condensed version of all the rules as I read through it (basically talking notes like I did in college). Also because most games are WAY TO VERBOSE. I have recently distilled The One Ring 2e (and all my homebrew) into about 30 pages from around 300 in the book. Lol. Of course that book is horribly organized
It is a pleasant surprise to see Justin Alexander in the flesh for this interview. His Alexandrian site has been instrumental with informing me about how a DM should go about his craft. I remember using every bit of his advice for Descent to Avernus and my players loved it. I have used his three clues and jacquaying the dungeon countless times to deliver a better a dungeon experience. With that thank you Justin for making my DMing a much greater joy than I ever thought it could be.
I pre-ordered Justin's book and received it early. A few chapters in and I love the inclusion of a dungeon tracking sheet with the implication it should also be used for 5e. I don't play 5e but I'd be injecting portions of the old-school rules like this if I did.
Hmm...I watch these kind of videos because I think that I prepare to much or the wrong stuff, or that my story is to vage and not focussed enought. And then I hear advice like: "Prepare only what you can't improvise. Don't prep stories, prep situations. Let the world react to your players and don't force your players in a direction" And then I'm like: "Lol, that's what I am doing already. Where is the Advice I am missing? Why don't I feel like I am a good DM? Why does it feel like my players don't have fun?" And then I hear another DM brag about how little he preps and that I should check out the Lazy Dungeonmaster Guide, and I allready did, and for every advice I think: "I'm doing that already" And then I hear: "Talk to your players" and they say "We have fun"... But why doesn't it feel to me that way?
You may just be too hard on yourself. Your players are obviously having fun, but you are still feeling anxious. In the end no matter how much we DMs read to become better like anything it will just come down to more experience to feel comfortable in what you are doing. Your doing great, just keep going and keep learning from your experiences, you've got this!
awesome conversation! Thanks and gratitude. Both of you have been great GM resources, sources of inspiration for making the hobby better, and creating better informed participators in the hobby,
I have been reading Justin Alexander's blog for more than ten years now and no other single source has done more to improve my DMing skill and confidence. Very few people in the hobby, professional or otherwise, are dissecting what happens under the surface of TTRPGs with such rigour and insight. A brilliant interview, thank you both.
I got into roleplaying through gamebooks - fighting fantasy and lone wolf specifically. I basically imitated what I'd seen in there but free form. Worked very well.
Those were published in translated form here. Lone Wolf was a big hit. Others were frustratingly cut short, as they gave up translating and publishing halfway through a series.
There is no DM crisis. The whole concept of a "DM Crisis" is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I can't throw a rock without hitting a dozen people that run games. Now finding people that play something that is NOT D&D 5e is a different topic.
Well, from the DM resources group, it appears that the vast majority of these self-titled 5e DMs arent even slightly competent. We were once newbs once too, but they just don't seem to be interested in listening much.
Im in a group that runs Cincinnati's Con. They were begging for anyone, even newbies, interested in GMing last weekend, offering free stuff etc and saying they might have to cancel tables. I guess it depends on where you are, but if you have your group it probably seems ok. We see messages of people looking for groups all the time though with rarely any options for them.
@@NemoOhd20I spent 25 years in Louisville, so... very close to Cincinnati. I'd like you to consider the context of your statement. There is "DM shortage" which indicates that you can't find a game anywhere because no one there wants to run it. Then there is "DM Shortage" in the context of running a convention. That is a different context. For many DMs that run private or even store games, the idea of going up a level to a convention is a different monster entirely. I used to run games for the RPGA. I still run games every week and have for 30 years. However I will never ever run a game at the convention again after I had a bad experience in 2011 and I know several DMs that feel similar about messing with conventions. So again - DM shortage? Or DMs willing to DM at convention shortage?
As a grognard, I find new players and GMs are missing out a lot of what we picked up from OD&D. Since people don't have the time & energy to do trial and error anymore, I feel this turns modern rpgers off prematurely.
I will buy the book. But the great thing about advice from the Alexandrian website is much of the advise works for almost any edition of DnD including 5E. And I play OSE and 5E. Thank you for your websites.
My friends who play 5e on their odd weeks describe it as the more functional, streamlined game. Like 3/3.5 that has discovered what it wants to be and moved through a transition period.
the easiest way is to play a rules light system. who wants to memorize every feat and possible bonus action. if everybody gets a bonus action it means everybody gets two actions, don't be stupid. simple is fun, taking 5 min for every person in a combat is not
An effect of the gnarly, risky combat in WFRP 1e is that even small combat situations have weight. Two dudes with knives, a sniper with a crossbow who takes a potshot or three guys pushing onto your coach become impactful threats. Combat has a few more steps but it doesn't become a slog.
@@bobhill-ol7wpsure if you find one you like. There’s something nice though about having a list of names preselected to fit the cultures present in your games location.
In the UK in the 1980s called What is Dungeons & Dragons? that was a great introduction to how to play. I have no idea if it was published in the States, i guess not. It was incredibly helpful at the time! Looking forwards to Justin's book very much.
I just learned about this book while doing a let's read of Imagine Magazine (TSR's UK magazine) from 1983 on my Twitch channel, so I tracked down a copy which just arrived in the mail last week. I'm really looking forward to giving it a read! It looks like it DID receive a US printing, but I'm not sure how popular it was here.
+1 to the suggestion of running a one-shot with throwaway characters as the session zero. It serves as a prologue to a new campaign and lets the players and DM test drive things (table's social dynamic, learn the rules of the system, setting and style) before committing to the campaign.
Chaosium got good at writing (and sometimes describing) what an investigative adventure can look like. The PCs arrive to an ongoing situation. You are folks with an interest in investigating the mythos, your Armitages and what have you. The keeper gets a quick rundown of what has happened when the investigators arrive, different personalities and locations and information sources the can access. Time is often more generous than players think, an investigation can go on for a week or more. If the situation is ongoing, there are events with or without a timetable that can advance things. There shouldn't be a single trail the investigators must follow. With a bit of patience, they should be able to unearth several angles towards the mystery or find new ones to confirm things or add more tools and allies as they approach their confrontation. Always spend a couple days reading the local newspaper archive.
Any idea where I could find the source interview with Sean McCoy where he talks about exploding barrels? Amazing interview! I’m reading Justin’s book now. SO MUCH simple, easy to implement advice that will make my games more fun. Ben is doing us all an incredible service with his thoughtful interviews of Justin, Sean McCoy, Mike Pondsmith, and so many more!
The story of his first role-playing game is super funny. Back in 1993, when I was 11, I bought “Das Schwarze Auge” (actually the only thing you could buy regularly in Germany). Before that, I had a few books called “Reich der Urwesen”. There were cards with monsters and characters that had numerical values for power or magic, for example. My first attempt at making something of my own was a lot of monsters and creatures that I gave my own values and for which I drew pictures. But I hadn't yet understood that simply comparing values to determine a winner wasn't enough to make a game out of it. The idea for the dice only came when I was reading an existing system. 😅
Since I always preferred to be the monster when playing "play pretend" as a small child, the role of Game Master fell to me almost automatically. To this day I haven't lost my enjoyment of it, but I understand the hurdle it poses for many new players. This was easier when you couldn't compare yourself to everyone on the internet. We just played innocently and freely. It didn't matter if it was silly or crazy.
Respect to Justin for throwing Eclipse Phase out there! Love that game! Sounds like the new book will be a great resource for starting GMs. Thanks for contributing this resource to our hobby!
In contrast, doing exactly the opposite by learning the rules, using them extensively, tearing them apart and learning the game design, and then proceeding with a thorough understanding, has been extraordinarily useful to me. Imagine you need a surgery and the person doing the surgery picks up a medical text for the first time, skims through it, throws it across the room, and just gets to it. He'll figure it out as he goes along. Or a mechanic, or a mathemetician, or a plumber, or a baker. Almost anybody.
25:07 Also pull on other levers then the dice resault like make the out come not as server or have something happen that will un"F" the situation... Because mistakes will happane just make sure they won't again.
I love the point about the dungeon being a physical manifestation of the adventure path. It's something I thought of as I was watching, before Justin talked about it.
If the story isn’t being formed as a result of what the players say and do ( instead being pre written ) … Are you even playing D&D? I think the forced narrative concept is one of the worst ideas in the hobby. Dam you authors, you know who you are. BECMI Forever! Long Live King Elmore!!
I am going to get this book now, and also get some OSR and older edition games going. I've been playing since the late 90's, usually the DM/GM, but the older style procedural stuff just seems more fun. I had never ran a module until just a few years ago, and spent more time fixing it than playing it.
I remember my first exposure to rpgs was "The Dummies Guide to Dungeons and Dragons" for 4th edition. Honestly was a great intro to running and playing an rpg, even though I probably wouldn't go back to that edition.
25:34 I think this is what I needed to hear right now as I am trying to take on larger GMing projects like creating my own settings and content. I remember having a lot of fun making things up on the fly, I just need to get more confident in that.
I did a multi-shot in a homebrew world I wanted to use and only fleshed out as much of the world as I needed for the one shot itself. The players ended up liking the world and the aesthetic a lot. Now that our main campaign is nearing completion, we're going to move to the homebrew world. Without that one shot I would've never been brave enough to undertake the effort it takes to homebrew an entire world for my players. I highly recommend that method.
at 12:20, you mentioned recording running a scenario with subtitles for your thought process while running it. Can you give me a URL for it or put it into this video's description? Much thanks
I can't find a venue. My local FLGS told me to my face with their mouth that they only do Magic. My local library is a crater till the new one is built. And I'm too female to want to invite strangers to my house until I've gotten to know them.
It really just boils down to you preparing a scenario for your players to deal with how they see fit. Where as preparing plots is akin to running your players through a story you've wrote with a predetermined outcome. Last session, I stole the "geyser and chains" room from White Plume Mountain, a DnD module. Basically, a field of lava with swinging chains holding metal plates over the lava, and without certain magic or magic items, it was the only way to get across. I had no idea how they were going to do it, but they ended up figuring something cool out. That's a scenario, IMO. You provide some obstacle without actually determining how it can be resolved. That part is up to the players.
all ya gotta do is think of interesting scenarios: You gotta steal some horses, but one of the horses belongs to (important person) and the stable is under surveillance by the local town watch. -or- There is a farmer whose son and daughter have been taken as collateral by a local Orc Tribe because a Cow that was offered as tribute was too thin, the orcs will return the kids when a beefier cow is brought to them -or- You got a tip about an angry worker is planning to set fire to a storage yard, but there is a deed/will/contract etc your players need to obtain before the fire is started and hopefully not caught and blamed for the arson. ------Come up with a few of those, find a way to connect them if you want. Think of those situations as the skeleton of a situation, as a DM/GM your job is to flesh that out a bit. What does the horse look like? do you need saddles? Why do they need a cow? what is the deed for? literally close your eyes, imagine the scenario, so when players ask what they see, tell them what you dreamed up.
It is an interesting interview, but doesn't really have much to do with the title of the video. Ultimately, there is only a DM "crisis" when it comes to D&D 5E. There are a lot of people out there who are interested in running games in other systems.
I bought five torches deep and had the same issue as stated at the beginning - having played games like heroquest and warhammer I thought I might be able to work it out, but no. Ended up getting OSE and there was enough there to work things out. I realise now that FTD is intended to be used by experienced people, not noobs.
I have done, the system has some good ideas, but a lot of the writing is a train wreck. You need to focus on your session zero, since the setting kind of assumes that everyone will be in the same sort of hardware.
I have two campaigns going on two years each now, I’ve DM’d and GM’d countless games in the past, and I’ve asked several of my players if they’d like to DM over the years. They always say no, they prefer to play in my games. So the best thing that would help me is creating a video game style backend that helps with encounter/game management: random shit the players find in rooms/on bodies/in encounters at **scale**, better conflict management and resolution information in the DMG’s and GMG’s out there, a host of tables for anything the players might run into, comprehensive NPC generators, better shop generators, a DM’s engine to store all of this information in completely separate from the VTT, better worldbuilding management fully integrated with character data that I don’t have to learn netcode or Java to use. Idk, just some thoughts. If you alleviate the backend pressure from new GM’s I think they’ll find it far more inviting and intuitive.
11:53 as someone who enjoys making TT games over playing them I have the issue how to I write down what I do? Like I can do it for rules but for setting/campaigns I draw a blank despite being able to write novels and GM months long games...
I don't know how the latest Cthulhu games run. All I know is that Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium barely changed between editions. They updated some situational rules and clarified small things (like how fast a human moves) and streamlined some rules like armour coverage. But it was still the same basic game.
It blows my mind that both Justin, and Mike Shey, now each, have written better GM books than what the biggest TTRPG company puts out for the mainstream TTRPG. 2024 updated DMG should be postponed until WotC is sure it's the best GM guide period. 2014 version doesn't just need a revision. Yes, I am harsh, but I firmly believe it's valid. I look forward to getting Justin's book early next year when it's available where I live.
Haha! Immortal was simultaneously a WW knock-off system wise, and a Highlander knock-off, where the power was stored in the "vox," which could be released and stolen by destroying the vox... aka cutting off another immortal's head! 🤣🤣🤣
I'm just going to run the B2, B5, B6, and L2 modules. I'm just focusing on running the modules. I use some creativty when narratively stitching the modules together. I some some creativity to create accurate maps. B5, and B6 there be hex-maps an I sort of let the player's off the leash. The hex map is still a dog park though.
Got this book for Christmas 🎄 As would Hasbro say: “This book is undermonetized” 🤣 I will enjoy this book for another 10 years because there is so much information that it’s impossible to memorise it all
Just bought the book two weeks ago and can't wait to dive in. I started DMing in 1983 but I'm sure there will be some real pearls of wisdom to be had even for this old Grognard.
The comment that "we didn't have youtube to learn how to DM, we just made it up is soooo true." Then again, the players didn't have youtube and they didn't know if we were screwing it up.... so.......
For me it's the organizational and social part of how to move people together. The game itself is easy. Things like finding locations, set up a local club or association and find peeps is the harder part. Associating with other blokes, testing out this game and other games and finding people to get together with is a big part of a social hobby like ours. Sometimes we play games just to get a view into history and to see what ideas they had. We found that a rotating schedule works well. With two alternating games, there's at least one week where the current DM sits back and players. Other players take the seat when a module is done to take even more preparational load off.
After being called out by one of my players (my wife) for mispronouncing chasm, it’s so nice to hear that a master GM like Justin Alexander makes the same the mistake.
I listen to a lot of these rpg tubers, and I can't think of one who doesn't mispronounce some word or words all the time. So don't feel bad. Just don't do it anymore! lol
@@MisterZimbabwe I think that's actually a thing. Readers learn to pronounce words without hearing them, and there are some words that stay that way even after you've heard them and "know better." I think we've all got them. English is weird like that.
And the way he says "narrative" -- no judgment, just strikes me funny. Like Colville saying "archetype" with two syllables. I flinch, but it's fine, really.
Preordered in June, gotta wait til Mid-December. The joys of being overseas. Great video, lot of similar thoughts heard echoed between the two of you. I think the only thing I'd add is that when trying to run a new or different game, whilst putting forward many systems and styles or themes can work, sometimes simply stating that you're running X game and setting a date, and its free for anyone who shows up, can get people who otherwise would push back to play new things. I accept this is better for one-shots than long campaigns, but the benefit is that a one-shot can lead into a campaign and everyone has tried the system in question. If you scattershot a lot of demo style games in different systems, that's a bunch of variety most modern RPG'ers might not get, and the commitment is realatively minimal.
19:01 Meanwhile something I learned long ago is that everyone who plays a game is a player as they are not a developer... I got this from video games but it is even more so true for TT games with GMs as everyone tends to forget a GM is a player too.
32:47 I have no idea what he means when he talks about building adventures with exploding barrels and toppling shelves(?) when it comes to designing an adventure (Not just exploding barrels in a fight)
Create volatile situations that will explode (with interesting consequences) when the players interact with them. The opposite end of the spectrum are extremely stable situations in which the players can't affect a situation even if they try. For example, a superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss is fine. A superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss... and that triggers a crime war as various factions compete to fill the void (so you have to deal with all those consequences), that's better. A superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss, a crime war starts, and also the Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, and other masked-villains take a cue from the hero and start transforming crime in fantastical ways. Also, how does the masking (or choosing not to unmask or failing to find) cops on the take from the Mafia affect the police department? And there's a mayoral election, so what's the fallout there? And... and... and.. and... Okay, now we're cooking with gas. This is not all stuff you need to prepare ahead of time: You just design the crime world, the police department, etc. so that their status quo is highly unstable. Like a house of cards, there's no way to know how it will tumble until you know which cards the PCs start knocking over. But it WILL fall over.
Improve DM's books FFS for starters. Make very dangerous monsters that can fight back the justice league with a spoiled bratty mindset. It's easy to get out of options after level 5.
I really like Justin's stuff, it's all really interesting, but most of the time it's far, far away from my preferred culture of play. From what I'm hearing, that book is mainly for people playing D&D-esque and trad games and particular styles of OSR. I wonder if it will be helpfull for more advanced GMs/MCc running more post-story game / PbtA / Gauntlet style games. To give a lil' bit of context: I' play a lot of rpgs. I'm currently running two 3h sessions every week, but sometimes, I'm running three or even four 3h sessions every week. For the last 2-3 years I played maybe 30-40 different games. But I had never played D&D and I have no intentions to do that in the future. I'm also not interested in playing trad games but sometimes I run some neo-tradish things (I would call City of Mist a neo-trad for example). So, I've lately finished a long campaign of Brindlewood Bay and a couple of shorter runs of Trophy Dark. Currently I'm running The Between and Trophy Gold campaigns. After that I'm going to run Imp of the Perverse and Pasion de las Pasiones. My question is: Will the book give me usefull principles, tools, tips & tricks, to run those kinds of games better, or is it more for trad GM's?
I haven't played Trophy Dark, so I can't comment directly there. Brindlewood Bay is designed to be played with a specific scenario structure. So the first half of the book where I'm presenting lots of different scenario structures that can be used with lots of different games won't be particularly useful for that type of game, since you'll just be using the Brindlewood Bay scenario structure. (There are a few nuggets that you might pull out, like framing scenes, playing factions, effective descriptions, etc.) The back third of the book is a lot more general advice, though: Creating and roleplaying your supporting cast. Tools for tracking long-term continuity and payoff in campaigns. What do when the party splits up. That kind of thing.
@@TheAlexandrian Oh nice! Thank you very much for that response :) Most of the games I'm currently playing have their dedicated modules (or "scenario structures"), as you called. BB has it's Mysteries and Trophy Dark / Gold both have Incursions - playsets with a very specific structures. I deeply recommend reading / playing Trophy Dark & Trophy Gold - it is really interesting, different design philosophy, than a lot of modern games. Dark is much more a dark fantasy tragic horror play to loose story game. And Gold is trying to emulate oldschool gaming with story game procedures and mechanics. I will buy & read your book anyway - I'm sure I can interpret your gaming wisdom via my specific play style / culture. Greetings from Poland! And thank you for you content! :D I'm currently reading your really interesting articles about "social crawls" :D
How to solve the GM crisis: Step 1: Play something other than 5E Step 2: Refer to step 1 particularly if your party or adventure is already past level 5 Step 3: Come on, if you aren't going to follow Steps 1 and 2 can you at least follow step 1 at parties that are past level 10 or so? Crisis adverted: better balanced games that also do not suffer from power creep due to way too many supplements (Since they likely do not base their revenue source on continued supplement sales but just core book sales) would actually go a really long way to get more people into being a GM successfully and without needing extensive practice, tools, advice, etc.
I looked at the 5e player's handbook checking the fighter class. Fighter has always been the most easy to handle mechanically of all the classes. But in 5e you have a mountain of super powers. It looks like an Exalted character. I have no idea how I'd GM around a party of people with more super powers than the average Marvel hero. Even playing Baldur's Gate 3 your little hotbar at the bottom of the screen will fill up with spells and abilities pretty quickly. I couldn't imagine the average player being able to keep that in their head at the table, let alone the GM keeping track of an entire party.
really? A lot of the old kits are way more complicated than what fighters in 5e get. You get "manuevers", "better crits" or "some spells". That's compared to several fairly different character concepts
Earthdawn is a game that gives classed characters a lot of little abilities. Not overwhelmingly so, but each adept has spell-like abilities and skills. We could grasp what our class did pretty intuitively. An archer adept can magically guide their arrows. A warrior adept can dance like a butterfly with a skill and dodge a lot better. One of my friends asked how people handle high-level play in OD&D recently, and what level people actually play up to. I think most answered 3-4. No one higher than 6. Gronk the level 1 guard sergeant doesn't have a very high chance against some level 8 bloke. I was much more used to BRP games like Call of Cthulhu where PCs do not level up their hp at all. A CoC PC can get more skilled, buy a better gun and armour, learn more spells and have a more skilled player but they aren't going to get tougher. Same with Classic Traveller PCs, except they don't get skills either. A single Traveller skill point represents 2-4 years of your active duty career.
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Done and done and done.
"Create situations not plots" - holy crap this is such good advice
Not enough would-be GMs have The Lunatic in their player groups. No plot, no railroad survives a lunatic player. Then again, it's thanks to the Lunatics that we get have to think on our feet and get the best tabletop experiences with emergent plot developments.
@@MisterZimbabwe If I ever meet a player who isn't a lunatic I'll let you know.
@@gagrin1565 It's always greener on the other side. I wish I had players who did insane crap and derailed the campaign. But a GM who has to deal with it every week would probably like to be able to have their prep work survive the session.
@@gackybass It's not a complaint per-say, just an observation. I have never played with anyone who thought the aim of the game was to follow the breadcrumb trail, but almost every group has at least one person who thinks fire is a rational solution to minor problems.
As someoene who likes the idea of dming more but wants to get away from 5e it's harder to find groups that are willing to take the plunge
Discord! There's a lot of communities that are more open....
The method he mentions of planning a one-shot has worked wonders for me. People are often more willing to try a game for a single night than commiting to a campaign. Maybe they will want to play more after the one-shot, maybe not.
@@brynjarjohannesson5685yeah I've tried that and enough drop out that I can't do a campaign going forward and by the time I get more to fill in the gap the older players from the previous one shot that wanted to play have moved on or gotten irl stuff happening
@@Ike_of_pykejust focus on one-shots for awhile. Some will bounce, others will click, and you will gradually build up a list of folks that are more flexible. In the end, just announcing that you aren't running 5e anymore will let them know that if they wanna play, then they gotta adapt
If you have a group that must play 5E then the best fix is to homebrew it. You should check out Dungeon Coach, he makes a lot of homebrew content for 5e which makes the game way easier to run and waymore fun. His book Alkander's Almanac is a literal buffet of his best homebrew ideas.
With the early editions of D&D, the books seem designed for players in an established group. That's how I learned. I feel sorry for players who picked them up blind and tried to make sense of it all
Mentzer's 1983 Basic Set remains one of the best introductions to DMing. Before Critical Role upended how people discovered D&D, there was a long, long period of time where I believe the majority of people playing the game were playing with DMs who had either learned from Mentzer or had learned from someone who learned from Mentzer. (I have no actual evidence to back this up.)
The original 1974 edition can be somewhat opaque through its Gygaxian prose and... let's say "eclectic" organization. But if you can penetrate that, it unsurprisingly does a pretty good job of telling you exactly what to prep for a dungeon-under-the-castle campaign and exactly how to run it. (I say "unsurprisingly" because it's not like the vast majority of people buying it would have any previous experience with the game.)
@@TheAlexandrian When I read Gygax I have to mentally distill a paragraph down to a sentence!
@@TheAlexandrian A lot of people at that time write with more enthusiasm than editorial experience. It shows in other games as well. GW were really fond of making special exceptions on top of special exceptions, and drifting off for a page or two with rules for oddly specific situations. They seem just as surprised in old WD that people would request an FAQ.
There's a fun passage in Apocrypha Now where GW outright states that a conversion rule between WFB and WFRP (in case players want to put their band of bums in a miniature battle) is mathematically broken and can make characters stronger through rounding errors. But you are all reasonable gents who would not stoop to fixing numbers in a game.
For me it's a player crisis. in the OSR scene it's hard to find players.
D&D 5e spoiled at elast two generations of players to think they should start as a collection of superpowers with a 0,01% of chances to die.
@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 Give it a rest, I'm way more put off OSR by this sort of crap than I am by the rules.
@@Rageaholic2097I mean it's true the possibility to die is notably low and people are rather powerful in 5e. The fact you're turned off by a random player/dm in a comment section is a bit weird imo but it's up to you if that's what makes you turned off.
@@Rageaholic2097facts hurt.
@@Rageaholic2097 The people giving you shit here help support your point. I've been refereeing OSR games almost exclusively for a good while now, and it's not unusual that 5e players will have a negative opinion of the OSR purely based on this macho self-righteous nonsense and the usual aphorisms.
I swear by the cheat sheet method. I basically create a condensed version of all the rules as I read through it (basically talking notes like I did in college). Also because most games are WAY TO VERBOSE. I have recently distilled The One Ring 2e (and all my homebrew) into about 30 pages from around 300 in the book. Lol. Of course that book is horribly organized
Everyone talks about a DM crisis but I can't find players who want to play IN PERSON for the life of me.
Keep trying
Also true lol
The issue is that you have to find them in person
Go to where the nerds are. This is where you will find your players. Best of luck out there. You’ll find them eventually.
I'm going to be DMing for the first time with OSE this week!
Good luck partner!
Godspeed!
Good luck!
It is a pleasant surprise to see Justin Alexander in the flesh for this interview. His Alexandrian site has been instrumental with informing me about how a DM should go about his craft.
I remember using every bit of his advice for Descent to Avernus and my players loved it. I have used his three clues and jacquaying the dungeon countless times to deliver a better a dungeon experience.
With that thank you Justin for making my DMing a much greater joy than I ever thought it could be.
If you want to see more, Justin has his own RUclips channel called @TheAlexandrian
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad I could help!
I pre-ordered Justin's book and received it early. A few chapters in and I love the inclusion of a dungeon tracking sheet with the implication it should also be used for 5e. I don't play 5e but I'd be injecting portions of the old-school rules like this if I did.
omg omg omg omg omg it's out there omg ♥
@@TheAlexandrian and it's delightful!
really grateful and humbled to start gming at a time where there’s so much free and helpful advice.
I really love how the OSR and independant community seem to really come together since the OGL fiasco! :) Keep it up!
Hmm...I watch these kind of videos because I think that I prepare to much or the wrong stuff, or that my story is to vage and not focussed enought. And then I hear advice like: "Prepare only what you can't improvise. Don't prep stories, prep situations. Let the world react to your players and don't force your players in a direction"
And then I'm like: "Lol, that's what I am doing already. Where is the Advice I am missing? Why don't I feel like I am a good DM? Why does it feel like my players don't have fun?"
And then I hear another DM brag about how little he preps and that I should check out the Lazy Dungeonmaster Guide, and I allready did, and for every advice I think: "I'm doing that already"
And then I hear: "Talk to your players" and they say "We have fun"...
But why doesn't it feel to me that way?
You may just be too hard on yourself. Your players are obviously having fun, but you are still feeling anxious. In the end no matter how much we DMs read to become better like anything it will just come down to more experience to feel comfortable in what you are doing. Your doing great, just keep going and keep learning from your experiences, you've got this!
@@kegkog3
Thanks
awesome conversation! Thanks and gratitude. Both of you have been great GM resources, sources of inspiration for making the hobby better, and creating better informed participators in the hobby,
I have been reading Justin Alexander's blog for more than ten years now and no other single source has done more to improve my DMing skill and confidence. Very few people in the hobby, professional or otherwise, are dissecting what happens under the surface of TTRPGs with such rigour and insight. A brilliant interview, thank you both.
Why not invite the AngryGM to interview? You guys would be surprised how much of what you guys are discussing he's got down. :>
I got into roleplaying through gamebooks - fighting fantasy and lone wolf specifically. I basically imitated what I'd seen in there but free form. Worked very well.
Those were published in translated form here. Lone Wolf was a big hit. Others were frustratingly cut short, as they gave up translating and publishing halfway through a series.
2:25 - "The Batmobile lost a wheel and Joker got away!" 😂🤣🤣🤣
There is no DM crisis. The whole concept of a "DM Crisis" is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I can't throw a rock without hitting a dozen people that run games. Now finding people that play something that is NOT D&D 5e is a different topic.
I thought the same thing. SPG DMs talk about having problems filling their games daily.
Well, from the DM resources group, it appears that the vast majority of these self-titled 5e DMs arent even slightly competent. We were once newbs once too, but they just don't seem to be interested in listening much.
That has been my experience, too. Once you get away from 5E, there really isn't nearly as much of a disparity.
Im in a group that runs Cincinnati's Con. They were begging for anyone, even newbies, interested in GMing last weekend, offering free stuff etc and saying they might have to cancel tables. I guess it depends on where you are, but if you have your group it probably seems ok. We see messages of people looking for groups all the time though with rarely any options for them.
@@NemoOhd20I spent 25 years in Louisville, so... very close to Cincinnati.
I'd like you to consider the context of your statement.
There is "DM shortage" which indicates that you can't find a game anywhere because no one there wants to run it.
Then there is "DM Shortage" in the context of running a convention. That is a different context. For many DMs that run private or even store games, the idea of going up a level to a convention is a different monster entirely.
I used to run games for the RPGA. I still run games every week and have for 30 years. However I will never ever run a game at the convention again after I had a bad experience in 2011 and I know several DMs that feel similar about messing with conventions.
So again - DM shortage? Or DMs willing to DM at convention shortage?
As a grognard, I find new players and GMs are missing out a lot of what we picked up from OD&D. Since people don't have the time & energy to do trial and error anymore, I feel this turns modern rpgers off prematurely.
I will buy the book. But the great thing about advice from the Alexandrian website is much of the advise works for almost any edition of DnD including 5E. And I play OSE and 5E. Thank you for your websites.
My friends who play 5e on their odd weeks describe it as the more functional, streamlined game. Like 3/3.5 that has discovered what it wants to be and moved through a transition period.
the easiest way is to play a rules light system.
who wants to memorize every feat and possible bonus action.
if everybody gets a bonus action it means everybody gets two actions, don't be stupid.
simple is fun, taking 5 min for every person in a combat is not
An effect of the gnarly, risky combat in WFRP 1e is that even small combat situations have weight. Two dudes with knives, a sniper with a crossbow who takes a potshot or three guys pushing onto your coach become impactful threats. Combat has a few more steps but it doesn't become a slog.
The audacity of saying you have name lists and not sharing them with DMs in need
The Alexandrian has at least 5 articles of names or how to come up with names which you can find with a simple search on the site.
@@bobhill-ol7wpsure if you find one you like. There’s something nice though about having a list of names preselected to fit the cultures present in your games location.
@@bobhill-ol7wp Which really fails to convey themes
In the UK in the 1980s called What is Dungeons & Dragons? that was a great introduction to how to play. I have no idea if it was published in the States, i guess not. It was incredibly helpful at the time! Looking forwards to Justin's book very much.
I just learned about this book while doing a let's read of Imagine Magazine (TSR's UK magazine) from 1983 on my Twitch channel, so I tracked down a copy which just arrived in the mail last week. I'm really looking forward to giving it a read!
It looks like it DID receive a US printing, but I'm not sure how popular it was here.
+1 to the suggestion of running a one-shot with throwaway characters as the session zero. It serves as a prologue to a new campaign and lets the players and DM test drive things (table's social dynamic, learn the rules of the system, setting and style) before committing to the campaign.
Chaosium got good at writing (and sometimes describing) what an investigative adventure can look like. The PCs arrive to an ongoing situation. You are folks with an interest in investigating the mythos, your Armitages and what have you. The keeper gets a quick rundown of what has happened when the investigators arrive, different personalities and locations and information sources the can access. Time is often more generous than players think, an investigation can go on for a week or more. If the situation is ongoing, there are events with or without a timetable that can advance things. There shouldn't be a single trail the investigators must follow. With a bit of patience, they should be able to unearth several angles towards the mystery or find new ones to confirm things or add more tools and allies as they approach their confrontation. Always spend a couple days reading the local newspaper archive.
I’m a bit of a fan of Justin’s, so this is cool. Great interview!
Great interview Ben. The nugget about ‘exploding barrels’ is a great metaphor which I have so far failed to ensure is included in my GM tool belt.
Any idea where I could find the source interview with Sean McCoy where he talks about exploding barrels?
Amazing interview! I’m reading Justin’s book now. SO MUCH simple, easy to implement advice that will make my games more fun.
Ben is doing us all an incredible service with his thoughtful interviews of Justin, Sean McCoy, Mike Pondsmith, and so many more!
@@tedarlauskas4290 Don't quote me, but it might have been on The Lost Bay podcast...? I can't quite recall.
The story of his first role-playing game is super funny.
Back in 1993, when I was 11, I bought “Das Schwarze Auge” (actually the only thing you could buy regularly in Germany).
Before that, I had a few books called “Reich der Urwesen”. There were cards with monsters and characters that had numerical values for power or magic, for example.
My first attempt at making something of my own was a lot of monsters and creatures that I gave my own values and for which I drew pictures. But I hadn't yet understood that simply comparing values to determine a winner wasn't enough to make a game out of it. The idea for the dice only came when I was reading an existing system. 😅
Since I always preferred to be the monster when playing "play pretend" as a small child, the role of Game Master fell to me almost automatically. To this day I haven't lost my enjoyment of it, but I understand the hurdle it poses for many new players.
This was easier when you couldn't compare yourself to everyone on the internet. We just played innocently and freely. It didn't matter if it was silly or crazy.
Respect to Justin for throwing Eclipse Phase out there! Love that game!
Sounds like the new book will be a great resource for starting GMs. Thanks for contributing this resource to our hobby!
the secret is to read the rules like once and ignore most of it.
In contrast, doing exactly the opposite by learning the rules, using them extensively, tearing them apart and learning the game design, and then proceeding with a thorough understanding, has been extraordinarily useful to me.
Imagine you need a surgery and the person doing the surgery picks up a medical text for the first time, skims through it, throws it across the room, and just gets to it. He'll figure it out as he goes along. Or a mechanic, or a mathemetician, or a plumber, or a baker. Almost anybody.
@@googiegress big homie i'm american and poor, if i need surgery i'm probably gonna die instead.
but good analogy tho fr
So weird i started with the batman roleplaying game as well and i had no idea either. Lol i also started with d&d basic set and had to teach myself.
Got the book on pre-order since May... It won't be arriving 'til December here in the UK. Gutted!! haha :D
25:07 Also pull on other levers then the dice resault like make the out come not as server or have something happen that will un"F" the situation... Because mistakes will happane just make sure they won't again.
I love the point about the dungeon being a physical manifestation of the adventure path. It's something I thought of as I was watching, before Justin talked about it.
Jaquaying the Dungeon is still my favorite series of articles from The Alexandrian.
Jaquaysing. She wants her S back.
Me too
That’s how I discovered The Alexandrian and I agree.
It's now called "Xandering". Jennell Jaquays asked him to change it.
@@CaptainShield Jennel Jaquays has no business telling someone to change that name
If the story isn’t being formed as a result of what the players say and do ( instead being pre written ) …
Are you even playing D&D?
I think the forced narrative concept is one of the worst ideas in the hobby.
Dam you authors, you know who you are.
BECMI Forever!
Long Live King Elmore!!
I am going to get this book now, and also get some OSR and older edition games going. I've been playing since the late 90's, usually the DM/GM, but the older style procedural stuff just seems more fun. I had never ran a module until just a few years ago, and spent more time fixing it than playing it.
I remember my first exposure to rpgs was "The Dummies Guide to Dungeons and Dragons" for 4th edition. Honestly was a great intro to running and playing an rpg, even though I probably wouldn't go back to that edition.
25:34 I think this is what I needed to hear right now as I am trying to take on larger GMing projects like creating my own settings and content. I remember having a lot of fun making things up on the fly, I just need to get more confident in that.
I hear people talk about the DM Crisis but... No one tells _How_ to get recognized as one.
Wish I could like this one twice
I wish I could like YOU twice, too.
(swoons)
A sandbox with no toys is just a box of sand.
I did a multi-shot in a homebrew world I wanted to use and only fleshed out as much of the world as I needed for the one shot itself. The players ended up liking the world and the aesthetic a lot. Now that our main campaign is nearing completion, we're going to move to the homebrew world. Without that one shot I would've never been brave enough to undertake the effort it takes to homebrew an entire world for my players. I highly recommend that method.
at 12:20, you mentioned recording running a scenario with subtitles for your thought process while running it. Can you give me a URL for it or put it into this video's description?
Much thanks
I can't find a venue. My local FLGS told me to my face with their mouth that they only do Magic. My local library is a crater till the new one is built. And I'm too female to want to invite strangers to my house until I've gotten to know them.
this "prep situations not plot" principle is repeated a lot, but theres not a lot of tips on how to prep situations
It really just boils down to you preparing a scenario for your players to deal with how they see fit. Where as preparing plots is akin to running your players through a story you've wrote with a predetermined outcome.
Last session, I stole the "geyser and chains" room from White Plume Mountain, a DnD module. Basically, a field of lava with swinging chains holding metal plates over the lava, and without certain magic or magic items, it was the only way to get across. I had no idea how they were going to do it, but they ended up figuring something cool out.
That's a scenario, IMO. You provide some obstacle without actually determining how it can be resolved. That part is up to the players.
all ya gotta do is think of interesting scenarios:
You gotta steal some horses, but one of the horses belongs to (important person) and the stable is under surveillance by the local town watch.
-or-
There is a farmer whose son and daughter have been taken as collateral by a local Orc Tribe because a Cow that was offered as tribute was too thin, the orcs will return the kids when a beefier cow is brought to them
-or-
You got a tip about an angry worker is planning to set fire to a storage yard, but there is a deed/will/contract etc your players need to obtain before the fire is started and hopefully not caught and blamed for the arson.
------Come up with a few of those, find a way to connect them if you want.
Think of those situations as the skeleton of a situation, as a DM/GM your job is to flesh that out a bit.
What does the horse look like? do you need saddles? Why do they need a cow? what is the deed for?
literally close your eyes, imagine the scenario, so when players ask what they see, tell them what you dreamed up.
It is an interesting interview, but doesn't really have much to do with the title of the video. Ultimately, there is only a DM "crisis" when it comes to D&D 5E. There are a lot of people out there who are interested in running games in other systems.
Exactly! It's just that the players have their button stuck to "5E only"! It's infuriating!
I bought five torches deep and had the same issue as stated at the beginning - having played games like heroquest and warhammer I thought I might be able to work it out, but no. Ended up getting OSE and there was enough there to work things out. I realise now that FTD is intended to be used by experienced people, not noobs.
FTD definitely seems like it was written by someone who wanted to run OSR games but the group desperately wanted to keep playing 5e.
My first owned rpg was Robotech by Palladium and I have yet to play an actual session of that these 35 years later. 😅
I have done, the system has some good ideas, but a lot of the writing is a train wreck. You need to focus on your session zero, since the setting kind of assumes that everyone will be in the same sort of hardware.
Game Mastering by Brian Jamison is also a fantastic resource!
I have two campaigns going on two years each now, I’ve DM’d and GM’d countless games in the past, and I’ve asked several of my players if they’d like to DM over the years. They always say no, they prefer to play in my games. So the best thing that would help me is creating a video game style backend that helps with encounter/game management: random shit the players find in rooms/on bodies/in encounters at **scale**, better conflict management and resolution information in the DMG’s and GMG’s out there, a host of tables for anything the players might run into, comprehensive NPC generators, better shop generators, a DM’s engine to store all of this information in completely separate from the VTT, better worldbuilding management fully integrated with character data that I don’t have to learn netcode or Java to use. Idk, just some thoughts. If you alleviate the backend pressure from new GM’s I think they’ll find it far more inviting and intuitive.
11:53 as someone who enjoys making TT games over playing them I have the issue how to I write down what I do? Like I can do it for rules but for setting/campaigns I draw a blank despite being able to write novels and GM months long games...
I could never have played Trail of Cthulhu if it was for Justin. My hero
I don't know how the latest Cthulhu games run. All I know is that Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium barely changed between editions. They updated some situational rules and clarified small things (like how fast a human moves) and streamlined some rules like armour coverage. But it was still the same basic game.
16:55 YES YES YES!!!
It blows my mind that both Justin, and Mike Shey, now each, have written better GM books than what the biggest TTRPG company puts out for the mainstream TTRPG. 2024 updated DMG should be postponed until WotC is sure it's the best GM guide period. 2014 version doesn't just need a revision. Yes, I am harsh, but I firmly believe it's valid.
I look forward to getting Justin's book early next year when it's available where I live.
Haha! Immortal was simultaneously a WW knock-off system wise, and a Highlander knock-off, where the power was stored in the "vox," which could be released and stolen by destroying the vox... aka cutting off another immortal's head! 🤣🤣🤣
Absolutely Wonderful Content Here! Justin Alexander isa legendary Legend as far am I'm concerned. I have 3 copies of his new Book! 😉🤨👽👻
I'm just going to run the B2, B5, B6, and L2 modules.
I'm just focusing on running the modules.
I use some creativty when narratively stitching the modules together.
I some some creativity to create accurate maps.
B5, and B6 there be hex-maps an I sort of let the player's off the leash.
The hex map is still a dog park though.
28:01 Yeah... Good point which I starting to understand stuff about game dev that I knew but could not write thanks!
Got this book for Christmas 🎄 As would Hasbro say: “This book is undermonetized” 🤣 I will enjoy this book for another 10 years because there is so much information that it’s impossible to memorise it all
Just bought the book two weeks ago and can't wait to dive in. I started DMing in 1983 but I'm sure there will be some real pearls of wisdom to be had even for this old Grognard.
The comment that "we didn't have youtube to learn how to DM, we just made it up is soooo true." Then again, the players didn't have youtube and they didn't know if we were screwing it up.... so.......
Fantastic discussion. Thank you gentlemen!
"I read the book and it's awesome!"
For me it's the organizational and social part of how to move people together. The game itself is easy. Things like finding locations, set up a local club or association and find peeps is the harder part.
Associating with other blokes, testing out this game and other games and finding people to get together with is a big part of a social hobby like ours. Sometimes we play games just to get a view into history and to see what ideas they had.
We found that a rotating schedule works well. With two alternating games, there's at least one week where the current DM sits back and players. Other players take the seat when a module is done to take even more preparational load off.
After being called out by one of my players (my wife) for mispronouncing chasm, it’s so nice to hear that a master GM like Justin Alexander makes the same the mistake.
I listen to a lot of these rpg tubers, and I can't think of one who doesn't mispronounce some word or words all the time. So don't feel bad.
Just don't do it anymore! lol
When you've only ever seen the word written and have never heard anyone else pronounce it... Story of my life.
@@MisterZimbabwe I think that's actually a thing. Readers learn to pronounce words without hearing them, and there are some words that stay that way even after you've heard them and "know better." I think we've all got them. English is weird like that.
And the way he says "narrative" -- no judgment, just strikes me funny. Like Colville saying "archetype" with two syllables. I flinch, but it's fine, really.
Preordered in June, gotta wait til Mid-December. The joys of being overseas. Great video, lot of similar thoughts heard echoed between the two of you. I think the only thing I'd add is that when trying to run a new or different game, whilst putting forward many systems and styles or themes can work, sometimes simply stating that you're running X game and setting a date, and its free for anyone who shows up, can get people who otherwise would push back to play new things. I accept this is better for one-shots than long campaigns, but the benefit is that a one-shot can lead into a campaign and everyone has tried the system in question. If you scattershot a lot of demo style games in different systems, that's a bunch of variety most modern RPG'ers might not get, and the commitment is realatively minimal.
19:01 Meanwhile something I learned long ago is that everyone who plays a game is a player as they are not a developer... I got this from video games but it is even more so true for TT games with GMs as everyone tends to forget a GM is a player too.
Seems like a good book.
I get it, but what do I actually do.
Thats the big question I struggle with every week
Is that book on CD Audio? I'm interested but I know I won't read it.
Oh, and I really want a tour of that bookshelf behind you!
Fantastic discussion from two great GMs. I love the book.
Love the UVG game screen in the background.
What a great interview Ben, thank you. Diving into the Alexandrian now.
I love this interview, I’d love if you had an entire podcast just interviewing DND people!
I have a playlist on the channel with lots of interviews!
Great interview, I’ll be picking this book up!
32:47 I have no idea what he means when he talks about building adventures with exploding barrels and toppling shelves(?) when it comes to designing an adventure (Not just exploding barrels in a fight)
Create volatile situations that will explode (with interesting consequences) when the players interact with them.
The opposite end of the spectrum are extremely stable situations in which the players can't affect a situation even if they try.
For example, a superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss is fine.
A superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss... and that triggers a crime war as various factions compete to fill the void (so you have to deal with all those consequences), that's better.
A superhero campaign where you take out the local Mafia boss, a crime war starts, and also the Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, and other masked-villains take a cue from the hero and start transforming crime in fantastical ways. Also, how does the masking (or choosing not to unmask or failing to find) cops on the take from the Mafia affect the police department? And there's a mayoral election, so what's the fallout there? And... and... and.. and... Okay, now we're cooking with gas.
This is not all stuff you need to prepare ahead of time: You just design the crime world, the police department, etc. so that their status quo is highly unstable. Like a house of cards, there's no way to know how it will tumble until you know which cards the PCs start knocking over. But it WILL fall over.
That part about stating the obvious in published adventures is spot on.
Great interview and flow!
We need more of something. What could the answer be?
Amazing interview.
Ayyy its Justin!
Pre-ordered! Thanks!
yeah that's a better angle
This Sounds interesting!
1337 views?
Awesome!
Chasm is pronounced kazəm, not with the ch (as in church) sound.
I came here to write this. I don’t want to buy a book from a man who mispronounces ‘chasm’.
Improve DM's books FFS for starters. Make very dangerous monsters that can fight back the justice league with a spoiled bratty mindset. It's easy to get out of options after level 5.
If you play the WotC way , if you look to 3rd party they are adding a lot like mcdms flee mortals , they have the options
So, what's the answer to the GM problem?
Teach new players how to GM using concrete advice and procedures
I really like Justin's stuff, it's all really interesting, but most of the time it's far, far away from my preferred culture of play. From what I'm hearing, that book is mainly for people playing D&D-esque and trad games and particular styles of OSR. I wonder if it will be helpfull for more advanced GMs/MCc running more post-story game / PbtA / Gauntlet style games.
To give a lil' bit of context: I' play a lot of rpgs. I'm currently running two 3h sessions every week, but sometimes, I'm running three or even four 3h sessions every week. For the last 2-3 years I played maybe 30-40 different games. But I had never played D&D and I have no intentions to do that in the future. I'm also not interested in playing trad games but sometimes I run some neo-tradish things (I would call City of Mist a neo-trad for example).
So, I've lately finished a long campaign of Brindlewood Bay and a couple of shorter runs of Trophy Dark. Currently I'm running The Between and Trophy Gold campaigns. After that I'm going to run Imp of the Perverse and Pasion de las Pasiones.
My question is: Will the book give me usefull principles, tools, tips & tricks, to run those kinds of games better, or is it more for trad GM's?
I haven't played Trophy Dark, so I can't comment directly there.
Brindlewood Bay is designed to be played with a specific scenario structure. So the first half of the book where I'm presenting lots of different scenario structures that can be used with lots of different games won't be particularly useful for that type of game, since you'll just be using the Brindlewood Bay scenario structure. (There are a few nuggets that you might pull out, like framing scenes, playing factions, effective descriptions, etc.) The back third of the book is a lot more general advice, though: Creating and roleplaying your supporting cast. Tools for tracking long-term continuity and payoff in campaigns. What do when the party splits up. That kind of thing.
@@TheAlexandrian Oh nice! Thank you very much for that response :)
Most of the games I'm currently playing have their dedicated modules (or "scenario structures"), as you called. BB has it's Mysteries and Trophy Dark / Gold both have Incursions - playsets with a very specific structures.
I deeply recommend reading / playing Trophy Dark & Trophy Gold - it is really interesting, different design philosophy, than a lot of modern games.
Dark is much more a dark fantasy tragic horror play to loose story game. And Gold is trying to emulate oldschool gaming with story game procedures and mechanics.
I will buy & read your book anyway - I'm sure I can interpret your gaming wisdom via my specific play style / culture.
Greetings from Poland! And thank you for you content! :D I'm currently reading your really interesting articles about "social crawls" :D
I am co-teaching a high school D&D class, and we just made Justin's book our textbook.
How to solve the GM crisis:
Step 1: Play something other than 5E
Step 2: Refer to step 1 particularly if your party or adventure is already past level 5
Step 3: Come on, if you aren't going to follow Steps 1 and 2 can you at least follow step 1 at parties that are past level 10 or so?
Crisis adverted: better balanced games that also do not suffer from power creep due to way too many supplements (Since they likely do not base their revenue source on continued supplement sales but just core book sales) would actually go a really long way to get more people into being a GM successfully and without needing extensive practice, tools, advice, etc.
So true. Try a game like EZD6 or Knave that's designed to be easy and fun to run for a GM.
New GM: "Ok, then, I'll play 4e instead."
Jaquays rollin in his grave
Don't play 5E. That is all. Have a good day.
I looked at the 5e player's handbook checking the fighter class. Fighter has always been the most easy to handle mechanically of all the classes. But in 5e you have a mountain of super powers. It looks like an Exalted character. I have no idea how I'd GM around a party of people with more super powers than the average Marvel hero.
Even playing Baldur's Gate 3 your little hotbar at the bottom of the screen will fill up with spells and abilities pretty quickly. I couldn't imagine the average player being able to keep that in their head at the table, let alone the GM keeping track of an entire party.
really? A lot of the old kits are way more complicated than what fighters in 5e get. You get "manuevers", "better crits" or "some spells". That's compared to several fairly different character concepts
Earthdawn is a game that gives classed characters a lot of little abilities. Not overwhelmingly so, but each adept has spell-like abilities and skills. We could grasp what our class did pretty intuitively. An archer adept can magically guide their arrows. A warrior adept can dance like a butterfly with a skill and dodge a lot better.
One of my friends asked how people handle high-level play in OD&D recently, and what level people actually play up to. I think most answered 3-4. No one higher than 6. Gronk the level 1 guard sergeant doesn't have a very high chance against some level 8 bloke.
I was much more used to BRP games like Call of Cthulhu where PCs do not level up their hp at all. A CoC PC can get more skilled, buy a better gun and armour, learn more spells and have a more skilled player but they aren't going to get tougher. Same with Classic Traveller PCs, except they don't get skills either. A single Traveller skill point represents 2-4 years of your active duty career.
That's now how you pronounce 'chasm'.
I maintain my pronunciation as a refugee from the original timeline.