Five DM Do's & Don'ts in Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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- Опубликовано: 6 июл 2024
- MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... We go over our top things you should be doing as a DM to make your games better for everyone, and the things you should be avoiding.
TIME STAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Do: Want to prepare
04:04 - Do: Know the core rules
08:05 - Do: Listen to your players
10:57 - Do: Set boundaries
13:22 - Do: Learn from your mistakes
17:09 - Don't: Overwhelm yourself with details
21:34 - Don't: Railroad or antagonize players
24:47 - Don't: Neglect the session zero
27:40 - Don't: Be afraid to use "yes, but"
31:05 - Don't: Forget to have fun yourself
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20:10 - I once had a player with a PhD in geology start asking excited questions about some rock formations. After winging my way through the first two, I literally just paused and said “Look, I’m going to run out of geology knowledge way faster than you’re going to run out of questions. How about you tell me what you’re looking for in broad terms, I’ll give an equally broad answer with a more narrative focus, and you can fill in the technical details to your heart’s content.”
Perfect
Was their character a geologist?
@@sleepinggiant4062 Nope, I think he was playing a paladin of Bahamut in that game (it was a while ago). He just got excited about the rocks after I improvised some flavor text and accidentally made them sound too interesting.
I think the only time my geology phd came up in gameplay was a quasi-metagame thing where I suggested we use thermal shock (making rock very cold, then very hot) to break through stone with cantrips (shape water and create bonfire). He had a dwarvish background though so I figured that was something he might have seen in the mines before. I think ecology would have more metagaming risk.
I went to an engineering school and I do have some geologists and biologists in my D&D group. In my last campaign I did research the plate tectonics and weather patterns of my world even though they didn't end up leaving the first city, and they wound up complaining about the weaponry and roads instead. My current campaign is on a floating sky island surrounded by a magical forcefield and one of them still managed to complain that the climate is not right, but at least I have the excuse that a wizard did it.
On a tangential point about railroading: try and avoid presenting *too many* options to the party. I DM for an extremely chaotic group of people and create multiple strands they can potentially follow to reach the same major plot section. They love having freedom to make choices, but sometimes run into the problem of "wtf do we do now" because everyone has the attention span of a goldfish.
Best option is to keep it to 3 threads and give them time sensitive limits and costs. The earlier they get on something the easier the goal. The more they put something off the more they have to deal with.
This feels so familiar 😂😂
"well, of course I know the player with goldfish attention span.
He is me.
I've learned this lesson the hard way as a player and early as a DM. As a DM I learned my players are reeeaaaallly bad at taking definitive action so I present them with options to take which sometimes lead to different goals.
As a Player I made sure to be able to take definitive action to help keep the game moving. The problem then came when 3/5 of the party were *incredibly* indecisive. Making us sit and converse in circles about where we would lay our heads for rest (true story) for upwards of 30 minutes + having side conversations. So when my players are taking a while to decide, I like to give them options and help them weigh pros cons and objectives
I'm the note taking players who when faced with a choice of which tunnel to take in a party with my gloomstalker/rogue and two other rogues just said "okay option one is I scout the left and you scout the right then we come back and share observations or option two we can just make a decision now."
This is not only excellent advise for new DMs, it also serves as great reminders for seasoned DMs.
Glad you think so!
Yeah I agree.
Agreed, that's why I'm here.
Take it from someone who experienced this… Don’t: Let your games spiral out of control with players in a party who are polar opposites. A friend group of 10 years got destroyed because I as a DM didn’t reign in some of my more aggressive players. It isn’t fun when your final session ends with a physical altercation that ruins the friend group 😔
If someone’s being an ass, CALL. IT. OUT. Nip that in the bud right away. Don’t make the same mistake I did and let them do it in the name of “roleplaying their character”
Hey somebody.. that's not the dms or your fault if people are going to act like kids. I wouldn't let that weigh you down.
@@matttaylor3120agreed. It's the DM's job to run the game, not the behavior of other people. They were responsible for being bad friends that would promote behaviors that ended in a fight and loss. Maybe sad regardless, but good riddance.
@@matttaylor3120also players can police themselves in situations like this. Being an asshole above table isn't just for the DM to solve
Maybe you could have done more as a DM, but if a group of people can't sit at a table together and roll dice without it turning into a fist fight, doesn't seem like they were really friends in the first place
DO: Enjoy Dungeon Dudes videos with fun and friendly advice . . . DON"T: forget to hit the "thumbs up"
Or that "Subscribe" button
Honestly the biggest thing I had to learn as a new dungeon master is that it’s okay to say no. It doesn’t need to be said often, but the DM is there for a reason
Truth. I also learned pretty quickly not to be too rigid with your adventure. Be flexible a d prepare for decisions you never imagined that your players will make.
Sometimes I’ll run one shots for our party to give our DM a break, and one thing I noticed in our most recent one shot that worked really well was creating a challenge on my end, but not creating a solution. In my case, they needed to cross a pool of acid to get to a shortcut. I didn’t have any solution in mind, and they ended up just creating one for me after scheming for several minutes. It was silly and everyone had a blast.
I’m in this exact same situation. We have our main campaign, and for the holidays they were interested in a mini campaign I proposed. It’s in the Greek mythos and the first session is against the Minotaur. The labyrinth is filled with traps, but only about half of them have a planned solution because I know they will find unique ways to avoid them
Thank you for that clear delineation between railroading and sticking to the plot. When you're a new DM with a published adventure it's difficult to know how to get them back on track subtly.
As a DM with 30+ yrs of experience, Improv is one of the Best tools in a DMs kit.
If you can always "Look" like you are prepared and adjust to what the group/campaign needs.
You will be a great DM. Sometimes just make it up on the fly. Rule of Cool!
As a new DM, I have almost nothing prepared (exept battlefield and enemies, maybe important NPS and location) and Improvisation is a hint to make a good story and add something intriguing to the game. (But it better to keep a couple of aces in the sleeve)
A Grimdark 'My Little Pony' adventure sounds awesome. We should call the Dimension 20 people.
I have a problem I never thought I'd have. My new D&D group is all teachers. Every single one of them wants to be the DM - so we're running multiple campaigns at once and it's hard to keep track of all my characters' personalities when we switch back and forth.
All history teachers right??
I actually play in 5 games and run 1 myself. It really helps if my characters have distinct personalities, a specific voice, and detailed notes. There are nights when my characters bleed into each other, but I can usually catch myself and reign it in.
@@dreamup8431 hehe :) 1 history teacher, 1 french teacher, 1 science teacher and our librarian actually.
My group consists of 2 lawyers, 2 teachers, and me (factory worker), somehow I'm the DM.
As Miss Minogue sang .... Lucky Lucky Lucky!
Coming to the end of Curse of Strahd, my first module I've ran. Tried a few homebrews prior to that, that just fell apart.
To your first point, prep work. I think it's important to understand the story, when and how important npc enter, and have basic plans for which direction they go. You don't need every possibility, but having a couple paths forward will help a lot when having to change plans.
The biggest thing I've learned from CoS is that I did not fully understand Barovia. I did not introduce things properly. The players didn't care about Ireena at all, and completely ignored a plot in Vallaki that was ment to be important, and their first major game changing decision.
My biggest advice for new dms. Keep things small, and take your time to understand the world and consequences. Don't rush to introduce all the npc in a zone. Let the players find them naturally. At the minimum you should know the npc's short term goal, and relevance to the story. What is their purpose for interacting with the player?
Good video! I'm going to very gently push back against the idea that one should strive to make every game better than the last. I've known a lot of potential DMs who ran a fantastic great few sessions, with well prepared story lines, great world building, voices, battle maps and so on, and then they eventually stop running games because its just too much work. I had to come to terms with the facts: my group and I want to play every week, and I can't put hours into prepping every session. So some sessions are inherently "worse" than others. That's okay! What matters is we had a good time and the story continued. There's always varying levels of polish beyond that, but don't feel pressured to measure up to what past you might have pulled off. Cheers!
I agree with this, but I think the inclusion of doing better each time is ok in the context of learning from your mistakes
That's absolutely true and it's good for pacing, too - every session doesn't need to be 'bigger' than the last, if anything some should be smaller. If they finish a quest or deal with a tough encounter, go ahead and give them a session that's mostly just rest and talking to people. If your players are fighting boss after boss with no breathing room, *they'll* get burnt out, too.
I’m doing my session zero for my first campaign TONIGHT!!! So this is such wonderful timing for a video :) . Thank you as always, dungeon dudes!
Best of luck yo
Have fun!
Good luck!
How did it go??? I just had my 2nd session EVER as a gm on friday for pathfinder 2e and they all said they had a lot of fun!!
@@darkwyspercreations session 0 went quite well. Everyone is very excited to start and so am I! We’re doing Waterdeep dragon heist
Thank you very much for this video. It helped me tremendously!!!! I’ve been playing D&D for a little over three years and started DMing a year ago. As my wife tells me all the time, I am my own worst enemy. I am very hard on myself and come down on myself harshly when I mess up. HOWEVER, over the past three or four months that is changing and am learning to prep less, give the players freedom to change things from my pre scripted plans, etc, and I am finding ,self more relaxed, enjoying the game more, and being way more lenient with myself. I’ve ached many of your videos and it’s nice to hear you guys share your mess ups and realize that it happens to everyone. Thanks again.
Thank you!
at 11:30 Monty made me remember about Lord of The Rings, in wich a group of (mostly) happy fun hobbits have to deal with the enourmous burden of the evil and corruption from Sauron and the Ring. In moments of the movies like the "second breakfast", we watch the way they are trying to overcome these huge obstacles and how they keep the Shire in mind as something to return to. I think the stark contrast of bubbly characters and the impending doom of the world might make for awesome and inspiring stories, although it should always be discussed in a session zero with the players. Overall i think any story can be told, but player participation in its weaving and the collaborative aspect of it are fundamental to reaching that goal. Great video guys!!
Talking about encounter balance, my dm just did a homebrew Christmas one shot. He realized that he over tuned the first encounter, so he just had some of the enemies run away after getting fireballed. There are many ways you can retune an encounter if you realize it's too hard or too easy.
I started running Princes of the Apocalypse a while back. When meeting all the various characters in Red Larch, I accidentally mispronounced a name when discussing the marketplace. "Grund" became "Grung", and the entire party got extremely excited.
"Oh my gosh, are we about to meet a Grung named Grung!?"
I had no choice but to roll with it.
My roommate got into D&D because of me and she is planning on running something for a discord friend group soon. She said this to me “I think I will also have a character to play with them, my own little NPC character that travels with them” I cannot describe the sheer sense of horror that filled me when I had to explain to her about what DMPC’s are and why they’re hated
Dang, too true, while having an NPC that accompanies the party like an escort mission is nice it's a slippery slope of falling into making this NPC suddenly so much more important than the party.
Our DM realized he made an encounter too much so he made a joke character who was passing by… a Goliath Gunslinger who was afraid to fight. Only used for one session, and ended up running away halfway through the battle after taking down a bunch of HP. 😂
So, flexible can be found in many ways.
I was in a group for 10 years before I was at a different table and learned just how much I hate DMPCs. 10 years of them. Oof
My solution was actually to make a bunch of NPCs the players can take on quests with them, but only a few per quest. Each NPC is different in class, backstory and personality, and were only mandatory for one mission and besides that existed in basically the groups base of operations where they could further be interacted with. They got to figured out which NPCs they actually like, which ones fill in roles they as a party needed(Such as not having a dedicated healer) and the relationships they've each developed with not only the party, but specific NPCs, really broadens the game for them, or so they've told me.
Having one character who's basically as good as or better than the party as far as the story and gameplay goes is bad, but making multiple characters who the players can interact with and have help them at various points throughout the campaign? In my experience so far, it works really well.
@elesabrooks769 I've taken to the mentality of "important NPCs, not DMPCs". You can have characters come with, and even help, but the highlight should always be on the players. Similarly, if they do bring an NPC, don't be afraid to target them. Boblin is not immune, no matter how much the party loves them. Give them a little panic, as a treat.
Kelly’s point at 14:03 is completely me….I feel so bad about getting some things wrong, or not remembering a rule. My biggest thing that I’m hard on myself with is tryin to see if everyone had fun or not. I asked them, and they said yes. But I just feel like I could do more for them. Idk. I’ve been DM’ing for only a year and a half, and I feel like I’m losing my touch.
Nah keep going, takes time. I've been running for 13 years, and I continue to improve and learn. I feel like I'm way better than I was even 2 years ago. So just keep pushing through
DMs have a ton on their plate, even extremely experienced ones get stuff wrong all the time. it doesn't really matter and no one will hold it against you (at least no one worth playing with), just correct yourself and move on. when you and the players think back on that campaign in 5 years no one is going to remember when you forgot a random rule, they're going to remember when they realized their long lost friend was revealed as the BBEG or when they got a nat 20 and killed the dragon as the last party member standing, so focus on those moments and making them worth remembering
Thanks Kelly and Monty…love your channel! I have found it invaluable for helping me navigate as a first time DM in 5e.I hadn’t played DND, let alone DM’d a campaign since AD&D way back in the late 80s, early 90s. Somehow my friends roped me into DMing a one shot like 6 months ago, and with your channel’s help, they now want me to be their DM for the foreseeable future, and we’ve been running a campaign since then ongoing…it’s been a blast!
Running Session 1 of CoS tonight! This is my first time DM’ing so this came at the perfect time. Definitely helped to dispel some of my nerves about needing to prepare every possibility.
How did it go?
Thanks for the new video on DM Tips! You guys are the reason I got into DMing and learned the game so fast. I always send your videos to new/old players who want to try new classes and other things! Love the videos!
Great video dudes. I just started playing and DMing Dnd last december and these lessons helped me quite a lot. Thanks for the edutainment!
I want to make sure you dudes know how much I appreciate you. I either learn something new or you confirm something im already thinking. Your videos are coming and informative and Im so happy i stumbled upon your channel.
I loved the “yes, but” tip! It’s a much better alternative to the “are you sure about that?” Response, because it’s proactive and keeps the game going, presenting players with potentially difficult decisions that drive the narrative! I’ll definitely be using it here on out!
Currently running Phandelver and below for my first ever adventure and one thing that's really helping me is having one of my past DM's be a PC. When I don't know certain things and I'm already fumbling through the adventure manual, it's nice to have a walking talking DM guide lol
intermediate DM here and starting my first campaign in a few years. I’ve been anxious about getting back into it and this video has come at just the right time to ease some of that stress
There's really no feeling quite like saying goodnight to your players after the week's session, and you can hear them discussing and laughing about the events of the session, just knowing that as they carpool to their respective homes they're still talking amongst themselves about the experience you gave them. As I cleared that table one night, waved them off, and returned to my room to put things away, I had that realization. The realization that my friends were talking about our campaign like they would a movie they just saw, or newest episode of a show they watch, or something along those lines. I couldn't help but feel accomplished.
i can't get enough of these real talk constructive advice videos!
As a somewhat experienced DM I have one piece of advice, don’t say no, learn when to say no. You’re gonna need to develop a sense of when something should or shouldn’t be allowed for your game and if you’re unsure say yes but be willing to take it back. I made these mistakes and they helped me grow and I wouldn’t want it any other way cause I don’t think I’d be as good as I am now.
Awesome video thank you! Definitely has some points that I've learned recently through the first year of my first campaign!
I've dm'ed two other times but both were with newbies so now that I'm about to dm for expierienced players, ONE OF WHICH IS A DM, I've been finding really good advice. Thank you so much!
Fantastic video, thanks for the gift!
Thank you for sharing this! I especially love what you had to say about "linear plots". I'm currently writing a campaign that uses a linear plot and I never even heard this term before watching your video. I kept thinking, "This is going to feel really railroaded. But it's not railroaded because the players can go anywhere they want. It's just over HERE is where the story is taking place. And the story is going to happen whether the players get involved or not. I want my players to be part of the story and not just let the story happen without them. This has really helped me to re-think my plot line. Again, thank you for sharing!
I think there's kind of a two way street for expectations that has to exist. The DM presents the players with story hooks, and the players should find some reason to choose them. If the players just adamantly don't want to do the story and don't care about the world, then why are they doing this campaign at all? Giving the players one or two problems to solve, but letting them come up with the path(s) to solving that problem, is perfectly acceptable.
Excellent list. So many DMs need to see this.
Just DM’d my first session on Sunday! I’ll be using your tips for my next one. Thanks DD’s!
How'd it go?
@@donc7664 I was intimidated at first. The RP portion was fun, but clunky in the beginning. I worked on some simple characters I’ve been rolling around. Combat was amazing! It was just a simple goblin raid, but the big bad is now canon in our main campaign. Thanks for asking!
@@nickellingson705 I just DM'd my first session on Halloween. Waited forever to try it. Like to hear how it goes for other noobs. Here's to your next sesh!
Great video. Had a lot of points that were super informative. Actually having a session zero(character creation session today as a first time DM, and this was helpful. 😊
I needed this. I’m looking at running my first ever campaign of Lost Mine of Phandelver with some friends, so thanks
On the details point, the campaign I'm running is in a middle East/ North African desert setting. I have cacti as scenery on the table during combats. I'm a bit of a biology nerd and know cacti come from the Americas. I'm waiting for the players to find out these cacti are all mimics just waiting for their opportunity to pounce hehe.
More of this please!!! I miss you guys focusing on the DM tips side of stuff
More videos of DM advice please. Love these
Oh yeah, let's go! More Dungeon Dudes!
OOO ty for this video i was looking to making my first campaign
Great video. Shared it with a friend who's going to start DMing soon
Awesome advice. As always.
A lot of great Do and donts. I hate games that force me to make decisions I don't want and appreciate y'all discussing linear vs. railroading. Thanks again
Knowing whats fun for you and your players is the most important. I would also add that to make sure you include your fun as DM evenly throughout. As DM youre going to do a lot playing so its important to not get bored or negative just because you haven't included fun NPCs, comabat, story, etc for a while.
Big agree on the session zero. Really lets you get ahead of any problems with group dynamics, individuals and gives you valuable info about what players like. Also having 1-3 generic easy combat encounters prepared helped me handle a few surprise decisions where i would need an encounter, and it let the players feel good while flexing a bit or getting used to the rules without pressure.
Great advice.I appreciate all the work y'all do. After years of playing D&D, I've adopted the Lazy Dm prep model. I also believe that I, as a DM, am just another player in the game. I lean more towards a sandbox-style game. Knowing the basics is really important. The other tips are so important. Thank you for making great content.
Thank you for distinguishing between linear plot and railroading
I appreciate all your videos. Thanks for all the help.
I appreciate you!
All good tips
I prepare one session at a time and try to be flexible, some of the best sessions are when they do something off the wall and I had to react to it.
I always look for feed back after the game and I’m always trying to learn how to be a better DM
Session zero was a game changer for me, great video
Thanks for the video!
Great timing, I;'m running my first ever campaign (a 1 shot with three friends) in 3 weeks' time.
During my first session as DM, I expected them to speak to the bartender and the patrons, then head out on their way to their first boss. Instead they spent three hours robbing the barkeep blind and trying to convince the whole town that the disguised warlock was actually the barkeep and the barkeep was an imposter...
I like your "happy medium" of prep advice.
I just watched some of your older videos yesterday, maybe 5 or 6 years old. You guys are aging like fine wine!
The explanation of railroading vs linear path was great. I always thought i was guilty of railroading cause i had no other plan than, "hey get to the castle and rescue the princess" but i let them scout out the castle, figure out how to get in. Made me realize I wasn't railroading so i feel so much better.
I see a Dungeon Dudes video - I hit the Like Button. Then I actually watch the video.
Not all heroes wear capes.
The one point I’ll make about over-preparing is that while getting bogged down in details is bad, I think planning out important plot points throughout the campaign is good because I like there to be foreshadowing and hints leading up to a boss fight or big reveal, so the moment feels more meaningful/cool for the party. Sometimes I’ll come up with cool ideas later on in the story, but I then have to go back to earlier points of the story to hint at the idea so players will also get it.
From not a new DM, great advice.
I'm a D&D player of only about 2.5 years myself. For about a year, I've had this idea for a campaign I wanted to consider running and about two months ago I chose to start it officially. I have no experience DMing, but I'm just going for it and making it a bit harder on myself by making my own world and altering some rules, many of which were inspired by this channel such as elemental conditions and death save alterations.
So far, I've done pretty much all these Do options and avoided the Don't options pretty well and found them to be pretty intuitive, complying with them without really thinking about it. The game itself is in its early stages, so I don't know how things will go long term, but its already proving to be fun for the players and a good learning experience for me as I learn to balance the game. I'm using mechanics like having a battle take place in a settlement where there are many buildings and possible reinforcements could be in any given structure, or not, as I need them. This gives me flexibility to increase or lower the difficulty of the combat on the fly, spawning new foes if the party is cleaving them down fast or deleting them if I'm pushing too hard. I follow this versatility up with the death save changes I made, making it harder for PCs to outright die, allowing me to setup TPK/O scenarios and take the party prisoner if they all go down, while also making the process of going down more serious and punishing the >Downed > Healing Word loop, having players incur penalties for getting back up without being stabilized first.
In the end, I do find these bits of advice great to keep in mind as I go.
Thank you for your information video
Add it if they imagine it. That is great advice. It makes their time have tangible value. Use their creativity and you'll find you don't have to do everything. That's good for everyone.
Hey guys thank you for this video I’m a new DM and I need to just submit device I really appreciate this video
Ran my first session as a one shot designed from the base of a one shot i looked at.
All i did for prep work aside from enemies and dungeon design was the stat block for the boss, and basic interactions and basic dialogue from a potential miniboss cause i made him a potential companion and it definitely helped having a foundation to improvise from.
Gonna work on it some more and change some things then plan to throw it at him and my first DM sometime.
Thanks dudes!
I ran a homebrew version of the Isle of Dread. I gave them free range to go anywhere on the map, but I needed to know ahead of time so I could prepare. So after clearing the Great Wall (some elements were the same), I threw some classic D&D monsters at them (displacer beast, sabretooth lions) before I revealed the dark tower. According to the map they received from the friendly villagers, that tower wasn't supposed to be there. This was at the end of that session. So the choice was Jungles leading to some badlands to the west, swampland to the north, or the tower to the east. They chose the tower. But next week, they got cold feet when they found a cockatrice nest. So they wanted to go west or north. I had to explain that I had only prepped the tower and if we wanted to do something else, it would more random encounters and making stuff up on the fly which wouldn't be as much fun. Short story long, they systematically blew the tower, level by level, and even defeated the wizard's (young elf wizard) pet manticore. The wizard flew away to the NE, saving himself but leaving all his stuff. I put some useful (magic bow, wand of magic missile, nature's mantle) with some not so useful (cloak of many fashions). So all in all, they had a good time, had some good loot, and then I had time to prep the next area. That's how it went for the entire campaign.
Actually, all good story telling is made of a series of “but”. Frodo inherited a magical ring but the ring is the one ring to rule them all. Frodo tries to bring the ring to Bree but he's hunted by black riders.
I'm craving Mac’n Cheese but my fridge is empty.
And so on.
Instant Drama isn't always the best way forward, though. Especially when you use "Yes, and..." and "No, but..." dogmatically.
You’re craving Mac and cheese but your cupboard is really a mimic. Who also loves Mac and cheese. 😅
@@galmorzu that would explain why I haven't seen my girlfriend in a while. (but that's a good thing)
New set, hells yeah!
The Dungeon dudes are awesome!!
I run modules and a downside to modules is when the players do things not mentioned in the material. When the players are going off the rails of the module, as a DM, it's important to be prepared enough to know where the characters are needing to go and get them there despite their shenanigans. Thinking on your feet and improvisation is vitally important and in my opinion my players forcing me to do that (I tell them they have "Broke the DM!" when it happens) is what really makes the game just as fun to DM as it is to play a session as a player.
About time we had some decent content from these guys
Hey!! Same favorite (in the long run) Dino! Sweet.
Such solid, solid best practices. I agree with “Yes, but” BUT I leave the but unsaid. “Yes, absolutely, you can x, here are the potential consequences.
Suuuuch a good video! so well said :D
That geology group really rocks. 😊
Thank god, the wait is real.
Not saying this is necessarily a good idea for everyone, but I've got a nice story: I recently ran my first one-shot after being inspired largely by the Dudes. I always heard that you need to prepare for every dnd session (and especially your first), that it's really handy to run it out of a module, and that you should run it at a low level... naturally I proceeded to do basically none of that (explanation of why I did this is down below). What I found is that the single sentence I gave my players as my prep was absolutely sufficient.
What I did: clearly and explicitly informed the players the situation. It was to be a 13th level 1shot where the only prep I was allowed to do was give the players a one sentence prompt as to what they were doing (everything else was on them). I made everything in that session up on the fly (frantically looking up monster stat blocks at times)
The reason I did this was because I was slightly intimidated by the idea of DMing, and knowing my personal failings of wanting way more preperation than I need, I figured it'd be a good experiment to place myself in one of the most disadvantaged possible places I could for the first session I ran so that I could realize that I really don't need much prep at all to be effective.
In retrospect, this actually went really well. I think the biggest thing is that you know yourself (what you can do and a good idea of what you can't). The reason this crazy thing worked for me is because I thought I could do it for one, but also my friends were instrumental in it working. Even with such a silly idea, I knew that they were on board with it due to our communication, so even if it crashed and burned, they signed up to see the fire.
Tldr, it's really good to follow advice like this video, but also consider how you are as a person and your strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately though, communicate to your players where you're at
“Yes, but” is my biggest takeaway. Thanks, Dudes!
in my experience, the easiest path to railroading is being so excited about the game you imagine a really cool scene and decide to put it in your game. You can have cool scenes, but it's risky to take away the agency of your players while you do so. Like haha my villain will threaten the party's friendly goblin and force them to cooperate! Then the party asks a bunch of questions to try and figure out ways to resolve the situation but you were just planning on it being a dramatic surrender, and they'll get frustrated when they realize there's nothing they can do.
You need a group of generic game elements, a sort of toolbox. A small groups of generic elements like this is your safety net when the players don't do as you planned:
- You need a small roster of NPCs as friends and enemies.
- A few (5-10) names should be enough.
- You need a few "level and general area appropriate" creatures and monsters, such as a band of goblins, bandits, zombies, pirates, or others
- You need some generic maps, ready to use, such as a stretch of road, a road and bridge, crossroads, and a wildness "no roads" area; and maybe a swamp, canyon, or other feature.
- Also, you need some extra small villages, houses, maybe farmland and/or ranch maps, forest land, in case the players stray from the path you have.
- Have maps of a few odd houses, mansions or a keep, shacks.
- Have ways to add unexpected NPCs and monsters. That may be tokens or minis.
- Be aware of how to add monsters, and unexpected maps, NPCs, encounters (such as in a VTT).
You don't need these general kit bits to be elaborate; you just want something ready as a backup plan to prevent panic scrambling.
Run a practice game. Have a notepad.
"No, but..." is also essential. Im setting limits but respecting your desire for something cool or to have a hand in my gameworld.
One "Do" I would add is "Steal from other sources". You don't have to make absolutely everything from scratch. Even if you aren't running a module, that doesn't stop you from stealing a quest, dungeon, or NPC and just filing the serial numbers off and throwing it in your campaign. Use the monsters from the manual or other books, and, if needed, reskin them to look different (and throw off your experienced players). Steal the plot of your favourite movie or book, or reskin some historic event you know about as part of your campaign. You do not need to completely build a world from scratch to be a good DM. I think a lot of new DMs get overwhelmed by this idea that they need to come up with everything completely fresh and new, when they don't. Story starter: Your party used to live in a far away kingdom, but the kingdom was taken over by a beholder and everyone had to flee or were killed. The party has uncovered a hidden map that they think will allow them to sneak into its lair, and are going to head home to retake their lost kingdom. New story? No, that's The Hobbit with a new coat of paint. Will your players notice? Probably not, but if they do, who cares as long as they are having fun.
My best time as a DM is still listening to the PC's discussing what the Big Bad's plan was ... (it was the PC's, and not really the Players... the PC's and the players knew about the same) ... they dismissed several ideas as silly, two as unlikely, and one as the probable answer ....
One of the Unlikelier ones was my vague idea of what I had planned, the likely was dull ... So the other Unlikely idea became the Big Bad's actual plan ... it was so much better then what I had planned ... half an hour of role play, and me surreptitiously making notes, and I got a thanks for a great session ...
For my group, I prep flavor text for each area, bullet points of things I don't want to forget, monster token standees, and item cards. I wish I could prep less but I tend to freeze if I feel unprepared
I've been DMing for about 2 years now, and you made some really fantastic points that I had to learn the hard way.
Don't neglect session zero, I ended up having to do it like 5 sessions in because no one was on the same page and it was becoming hard to play.
Do set boundaries, remember you should have boundaries too, so when you have a bunch of friends getting excited that you are starting a campaign, don't be afraid to say no I can't handle that many players. The first campaign I ever ran is still on-going and was originally a group of 13 that has since shrunk to a group of 10. If you are thinking about DMing for the first time, don't have a group that large, have multiple campaigns with crossovers or figure something else out, but do not have that large of a group for your first time. It is draining and managing that many players and trying to give each of them their moments in the spotlight is very challenging until you are more comfortable behind the screen.
Another thing for me that I had to learn was not to withhold information. I liked making things a surprise and keeping this close to the chest so when I player changed to a Knowledge domain cleric and started asking me for a bunch of information I found it hard to want to give them it I've gotten better with it but I still struggle with telling information.
I never did GM much. But one of the best times i ever had GM-ing was to just let the players do what they did, and have the characters i created react and act in what was their nature to do. I actually got a real kick out of how my players were beating mine. I was being super smart, and yet the players kept coming up with ingenious ways to kick my characters asses. And i LOVED it. So even when i lost, i still won.
But at the end of the day, i am a born in the wool player. GM-ing is a calling, and some people are good at it, and others are good at playing. And some fortunate few can do both. Knowing which of the three you are is the key to having fun.
I've never tried "Yes, but..." Because I always think my players will try to do the most crazy thing that may not make sense. But the examples of using life force to cast a spell or explaining that if they want to herd goats into a dungeon it'll cost them a ton of time and gold really gave me a new perspective. I'll have to give it a go!
i had a player who wasn't a geologist but was a dork for mushrooms and geodes. they played a druid and every time i said something akin to "and there be loot", they always asked for details on the gemstones that i just randomly pulled out of a generators and threw into a pile. i'd swear i could have said the whole loot pile was rocks and they'd be thrilled about that more than the values.
"Listen to your players" - that comes in handy whenever I do a puzzle/riddle encounter. I like those, but oftentimes puzzles for 5 year olds overwhelm my players mentally, so after listening to the players debating the answers I'll usually allow answers that aren't exactly correct for the puzzle, but would make sense from a player's perspective. Otherwise I'd spend a 3 hour session on just trying to answer a riddle ^^
not me having a campaign that literally has a Tabaxi, Kenku, Tortle, and Harrengon..... in Theros. Hell yes you can play that!
Good video. Lots of good stuff here.
Session 0 is a must. Run the game you want to run. Don't let others force you into something you won't enjoy.
Encounter balance can be achieved when it is well thought out. I disagree with telling beginner DMs that it can't be done with 5e. Tell them the things to watch out for, like adding in too many or too few combatants, how ambushes make it much harder, don't group all the enemies on the same initiative, etc. This is a very important skill to master and it takes time and experience with your players and their playstyle. If you don't put effort into designing encounters to make them appropriate, then combat doesn't mean anything because you will be fudging to make it more or less difficult on the fly. If a fight you thought would be tough turns out to be easy, plan the next one better.
Saying no is very appropriate as a DM. Many things players ask to try are impossible.
Take a break when you need one. DM burnout is a thing.
12:47
Here's a pretty hilarious thought: bronies back in the day were surprisingly willing to go the grimdark route, does anyone else remember how they used to ponify everything? Warhammer 40K, dark souls, fallout?
Hey I saw your Arcane monk build and fell in love with it. But since I’m already 6 levels into the campaign, asking my DM to include it would hinder the experience gained on both a playing and romp aspect.
However, I was wondering, if you all had an idea of how to build a similar monk in BG3?
@ 27:40 the "yes, but" reminds me of Reverend Lovejoys timeless quote from the Simpsons: "the short answer is yes with an if, the long answer is no with a but"
This was a good video
15:33
I had an incident where I was introduced to a new spell. long story short, I completely fumbled it and turned it into such a mess that recovery was virtually impossible. In a frantic decision, I just let the spell succeed.
I stepped out of the DM role and conversed with my players. they graciously explained to me how it should have worked.
"Thanks everyone, I got frustrated and confused, thank you for understanding and helping me to know how to run it next time. Let's get back to the game."
From then on my.players have been very helpful in informing me about something we haven't yet run before they spring it on me.