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I surprised my player, Because he asked if his horse would be able to go inside a building, And I had already shown his character the magic veil that devided the room into two, So in a stroke of inspiration, I said yes, it's a grande entrance at least a few meters tall, With a hall that is even taller. Then the first two players passed through the veil, 1 got a foot taller, the other one shrunk 1 foot. The player saw this happen to his fellow party members And thought he'd become even bigger if he was on his horse, So he road on his horse through the veil, Or should I say as his horse, since he was now a full blown centaur. The entire table started laughing at his surprise Near the end of the session I allowed him to reverse it with a role play encounter, But I'm pretty sure he'll never pass through another one of those veils again, Which means I'm gonna add a few more in there. PS: the veil was supposed to be completely harmless, It didn't have much plot relevance, but now it does.
I agree. I was running a monster hunting group and my PCs said that a pet shop owner looked suspicious so they decided to break into his basement while distracting them. As a reward for excellent RP I decided "screw it, this guy is into the occult and turns people into shop animals" They felt smart, I felt satisfied and was also able to world build from that point
The Retcon Rule. Nothing is set in stone until it is. Until your players encounter it, it's "all in your mind"... i habitually change things up just to be perverse, but once it's been instantiated, it stays the same without some good reason why it wouldn't This is how the Horrible Episode of the Billyburger Franchise happened.
Haha, things like that are awesome. One of my players went through the city just looking around and rolled a 29 on Perception. I said she found a suspicious door on an old building. They went in later and found out that this seems like a bandit hideout inside the city. A barkeeper, an Ogre Bodyguard and some suspicious looking people. Later the Dragon attacked and destroyed the building. They found the Barkeep and made that Barkeep their own in their mansion they got the papers for, because he was unemployed now. They also stole something very important from him and convinced him to never look into the box where it was in. They got a barkeep now, know there was a contact to the Bandit King inside the city and found a Spell Scroll. None of that was planned. Loved it. :D
I fucking love when my PCs give me amazing ideas on the fly! I still remember one time where I had a few monsters teleport in near the town that was about to be sieged. One of them went "Shit what if someone went inside the walls as well?!?!" Now...I had planned on this and they already knew that in order to place these circles to begin with they had to actually use several hours to do this (It was still a few miles off the town and it had taken them months to prepar) But one of them was certain that someone would have sneaked in and placed at least one circle somewhere. In order to throw him a carrot (Plus it seemed like a fun idea) I choose to make that reality. 2 people had infiltrated the town a few months prior and placed 1 cirkle each at two noble mens houses. It turned into a mystery of figuring out where the hell everyone had went and actually became a really interesting part of the adventure where the PC got to use a lot of spells he hadn't used that much.
Brilliant. I’ve gone with my players suspicions a few times and it ended up better than my original plan. I don’t always do that, but remaining open is wise.
It would be fine if one of games I've been playing wasn't literally just that. And guy really tried but he's just not a good DM. Which is sad - as a player he's totally cool and a bro.
@@OmegaEnvych It probably stems from some sub fear of forgetting the rules or doing something wrong. That's kind of what I'm thinking when I get hung up on rolls, that or trying to get new people in the habit of doing stuff so they can pick up mechanics faster. If you carpool or talk outside of session, you could talk about hang ups or suggesting that less important rolls get smushed together into 1, or tell them to consider you using the "Take a 10" or 20 mechanic on all observational checks or something. Lack of DM experience is a curve.
Now my campaign has a: -Stoner shopekeeper - Caravan of dogs -god of chaos as a bartender -mimic airship -slimes that make good pets - cocky rival team and also the sky is crying.
"What's that, Katherine? You throw yourself off the bridge?" As someone named Katherine who was staring at this video like 'oh god. I'd love to jump off that bridge right now' I feel psychically called out right now.
I was running a pre gen medieval fantasy game with, my friends, but they were getting bored of it, so aliens invaded the planet in the middle of their quest and blasted the planet completely out of orbit. After some nonsense about how the atmosphere and conditions were preserved by the planetary guardian angels, and after the halfling bard stole the keys to the “Overlord’s” long lost mother ship and became “The Chosen One”(much to the comedic ire of the other characters), we have spent the last two years thoroughly enjoying this campaign that is both sci-fi and fantasy. It is set to draw to a close this summer, and everyone is still on the edge of their seat. I watch your videos on a regular basis, and your tips have been the basis for my growth As a GM. Thank you
if you're ever running a world of darkness game, there's a statpage for a (beautiful) flesh cathedral made out of a tzimisce vampire who melted a lot of bodies into his own to create it
The gravestones rise as an army of constructs ... The zombies the party has been encountering are restless dead wanting their grave markers returned. - that's right, the zombies are the innocent victims.
@Tel Contar "make it explode" is a tried and true storytelling device. That burning barn should have exploded, and now even more things are on fire, and the players are trapped in a roaring inferno.
Listen, and understand. The PCs are out there. They can't be bargained, the can't be reasoned with. They feel no remorse, pity, fear, nor empathy. Above all else, they absolutely will never stop until everything and everyone in the dungeon is DEAD
@@Malidala On the same note you can also say: There is no rule that states, that there can't show up a guy with a gun at every moment. If a situation grinds to a halt, if the players have no clue, if there's a boring situation - throw in a guy with a gun (or warhammer or magic missile) in the mix. Players search for the cult but can't find clues? Hitman sent by the cult Players have investigated in the shady dealings of the mayor? Hitman sent by the mayor. Players are searching for the fairy rings in the wood but can't find it? Hitman sent by the fae. (Don't be persuaded by their cute appearance - those are nasty little buggers with many a skeleton in their closets).
This reminds me of that facebook post: DM: You see a warehouse in the distance Player: Is it like a werewolf, like man turning into a wolf but instead turning into a house? DM: *frantically writing down stats* ... it is now! :D :D :D
Oh god that makes me think of a plothook we had at a larp. We were told about doppelgängers which could also turn into objects. One of the players asked: so, if a doppelgänger turns himself into a house, will he then earn his money by renting himself?
A(daptability) S(tructure) S(urprises) W(eight of decisions) E(motions) C(uriousity) A(rrow traps) N(ecromants who use undead to bring them a cup of tea early in the morning)
I love taking ideas that my players inadvertently give me. I have a character that i once played as years ago and she is my favourite character i've ever created, we'll call her "May". I drop her into my campaigns as an easter egg for myself and she helps/annoys the party members, before leaving again. In the last campaign I played, I only planned to use her once, but one of my players developed a bit of a rivalry with her. May then left to go on other adventures. Anyway, about 10 sessions go by and my players have been working for this monster hunting branch, with an unseen benefactor and leader. Originally it was just supposed to be this old man who was once a great warrior blah blah, but then the player with the rivalry very loudly went "oh GOD NO it's gonna be MAY ISN'T IT? It had BETTER NOT BE! I will not work for her!". No, player, it WASN'T May...but you better believe it is now. "Hello again, friends!" exclaims May as the doors swing open...
One surefire way to surprise your players in almost any location: Mimics. Tables, chairs, doors, statues, rocks, cave entrances, treasure chests, gazebos, facades on the front of an existing structure, and the list goes on. There's almost no situation in which a mimic would be out of place. Use them sparingly though. Too many mimic encounters leads to parties of characters that stab every piece of furniture they come across before using it or passing on.
Every time i hear or read the word gazebo now i can't help but think about a story of a player not knowing what a gazebo is, assuming it's a demon and whacking it until it collapses onto him. Sometimes the best thing a dm can do is stay silent.
So in my Pathfinder game I haven't used mimics yet. Yet our bard, after the party had successfully transversed the DC 27 and DC 30 traps, snuck past the CCTV monsters and found the secret treasure room, proceeded to fire a crossbow at the metal chest. @could be a mimic'. Totally didn't alert the Hag on the top floor and increase the overall encounter difficulty. I've now decided to put tons of furniture everywhere just for giggles
Mimics are pretty boring if 'everything could be a mimic'. What are you supposed to do about it? Unless it's crafted with a LOT of care, players get to choose between 'I guess I get paranoid and won't touch anything, ever' and 'can't do anything about it anyway, eventually a random mimic will appear'. Mimics become interesting when there are ways to spot them that don't rely on rolling perception on every piece of furniture. Silly examples: A square table with five chairs. An empty bookshelf next to a filled one. A cosy bed next to a tattered one.
Thank you. My players shall walk into a rumoured cursed abounded ghost town, where everything was left as if people suddenly disappeared without a struggle or trace while going on their daily lives. Some claim it's village that got transported from from another plain of existants without it's residents. It's all mimics. Mimics how decided to just come together make a town and people started making up legends stories and curses about it.
Love the video! Technique addition here :) Surprise is based on establishing, then subverting, an expectation. Something I learned a long time ago, learning counterpoint, was the rule of 2+ 1/2. Because we are all pattern-finding machines, set up your surprises.... 1) do something once. instance is noted 2) do it the same way again. instance repeated. pattern recognition kicks in. 2.5) Begin a third time. Pattern noticed, this is totally going to///////WAIT it changed halfway into something completely different at the end. Then meta this up one level. Your first surprise follow the 2+1/2 method, your second does too, and your third abruptly departs at stage 2. works super well for single long sessions, or for players who take extremely thorough notes (those rare unicorns).
I can totally imagine a church bending it's steeple over and almost assuming the posture of a dragon before shaking it's head and jangling the bell in it's bell-tower so loudly that the soundwaves shake the players to their bones. It clearly wants those bones for itself.
My favorite surprise was when a GM took a turn of phrase said near an alien. "I'll be back in a Jiffy" > to whats jiffy? > you dont want any jiffy > I need the jiffy whats the jiffy > look here is some jiffy but I only sell jiffy to those worthy of jiffy > I am worthy of jiffy > I don't think your worthy of jiffy > I have a shiny gun is it worthy of Jiffy > hmm barely but I guess it's worth jiffy > hands over a bag of salt > alien leaves happy with his jiffy.
I am going to use this as a sidequest. Evil cleric raised an undead mimic to be his church so he can travel and set up near towns, draw in some followers for sacrifice to his evil deity or something. Players come to investigate, maybe they figure it out and get the jump on him, maybe they don't, either way, at some point, they will be fighting an undead mimic church.
My Players sought the audience of the Elder Druid. They’ve spent the last session gathering as much info about her as possible and knew they had to face the Elder Druids champion! Weapons were out, spells were prepared, and actions readied! Finally the Champion stepped out from behind a towering tree! ... a pixie. He’s a 15th Level Monk with a +4 STR Ring around his waist.
I once ran a Pathfinder one shot out of necessity (for once, nobody else had an idea after our current GM took a break). The PCs had discovered that the undead forces they were supposed to be facing were actually orcs that had been covered with sophisticated illusion and mind-control spells so that they looked and acted like skeletons. Since they could now see through the illusion, they also noticed that one of the "skeletons" was actually a human woman. Upon dispelling the enchantment on her, she told them that the Big Bad (tm) was performing a terrible ritual and they had to hurry to stop it, whereupon she raced down the corridor with the PCs in hot pursuit. They entered a huge ceremonial chamber where the floor was about 30 feet down. Instead of stopping and using the stairs, though, the woman ran and leaped over the banister, hurtling toward the floor below. ...and in midair, she transformed into a huge Silver Dragon, dive bombing the BB in a blind fury. Sadly, she dive bombed straight into the middle of the ceremonial area, which immediately activated as a trap-like effect, completely restraining her and beginning to charge up to cast an epic-level permanent Dominate Monster ritual. The PCs (level 4) now had 10 rounds to defeat the BB (he was gloating, so he told them directly they had a single minute = 10 rounds) and/or stop the ritual or else they would be facing a permanently mind-controlled CR 12 Silver Dragon. I won't reveal what happened, but let's just say the PCs were inspired to be JUST as creative in resolving the situation as I had been in coming up with it. Also, half of what I wrote up there was stuff I pulled out of my ass just 'cause I thought it would be neat.
And may I just say that your rectal-inspired plot was not only unique, but quite in-depth. Personally, I love a story where the protagonists incidentally further the plot whilst trying to thwart it.
@@SerDerpish It's been a couple of months, and I haven't had the luxury of playing any of the Metal Gear games, so I am at a loss. Are you referencing the "oops! I kickstarted the apocalypse while trying to be the good guy and now i gotta do something about it!" trope?
"I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something that I loved from my childhood. Something that would never ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay-Puft."
I had the same thought in my mind the instant Guy said it :D Yes... truly I shall listen to my players tonight. May their undoing be by their own decission....
You know you are doing things right as a GM when your player are so paranoid they whisper to each other about their plans in secret. I really love these advice. It's the downfall of a newly starting GM that they are not used to things and they make boring predictable stories. People hate it and they quit being GM.
During a campaign I had, there were 2 npcs that accompanied the party Once they got to the dungeon entrance, it was decided everyone should rest up first. When Players awoke the npcs were gone Once the Players got to the lowest level they encounteted a nightwalker who was casring spells hokding the 2 npcs ripped out hearts Next episode was a flashback episode where my 2 players played the 2 npcs and the events that lead up to their deaths they actually got to plat through the general consensus was, that it was a neat idea
Shadowrun game. My players found a suitcase nuke because it literally fell from the sky and landed on their car. One of them said, "I bet the combination is something like '666.'" So that's what it was.
Regarding Giving players what they guess....its also a great way to have fun yourself as a DM. It's amazing the number of diferent things that they will come up with, so sometimes Im just like "Oh, yeah that is a much better idea!!".
Surprises: Local gladiator champion is actually a halfling barbarian named "Turo Heavenlyhair". He likes good food and fancies himself as a talented singer and song writer in his past time and he likes smashing heads at work. He has his own fanclub, and indeed, very gorgeus locks. Players like him.
I think one of the keys to keeping games moving is to actually understand the basic structure of RPGs: 1. GM sets the scene. 2. GM calls for action (explicit or implied). 3. Players declare actions (an intention and an approach) or ask further questions about the scene (answer and goto #2). 4. GM adjudicates actions, describing consequences. 5. Goto #1. To make an analogy with riding a bike, this is the "keep turning the pedals and don't fall over" bit of GMing. You can take a bike on a cross-country trip, ride it to work, compete in BMX, whatever you like. Just keep those pedals turning and don't fall over. Same deal with running an RPG. Just keep running through the cycle. You're not going to be able to employ any of the tips in this video (which are all good, BTW) if you don't run through the cycle and keep the game _moving._
I fucking love all do those ideas they can be throwing around. One of my players are still ohh so proud about having figured out a plotpoint in my campaing at one point thanks to the forshadowing and small hints I had done!....when in reality he just kinda mentioned it a few weeks prior and I found the idea absolutely amazing and fitting for what I had been building up so I stole the shit out of it.
My players don't tend to say I bet It's this,....infact I am thr only one who says 'on no it's a ...' but they do give me ideas when talking out of session for stuff that I save for later in the campaign or future ones 😈
I thought of one a while ago when I watched the Death March anime. The MC goes into the tavern and meets the barmaid and she looks him up and down like a piece of meat and goes back to work, and that's all that happens. But in my mind the dialogue should have been: MC: Wow, wait.. is this tavern also a brothel? Barmaid: Well it is now... ROFL
I was doing a one shot for my now group. The goal was to teach the rule and then let the PCs make their own characters. They loved the characters they kept them. I didnt have a master mind for this campaign. The PCs rolled a huge success and forged documents based on an actual NPC who was a high level figure. Surprise! They pissed him off for doing this and he is now the master mind. PCs are truly the gift that keeps on giving.
I've just started GMing and you're honestly keeping me going. Before today's session my nerves were really getting to me (because first session went really well and sequels are stressful), and I watched your video on not giving up being a GM. So that, later on, when my very anxious (new to D&D) friends had a lot of silent patches (made worse by playing on Discord so I couldn't even see them), I reminded myself that it's not my story, I'm doing my best, and my delivery of NPC lines doesn't have to be Oscar winning, and I need to just keep at it. I love your delivery on these videos, and I see I have a whole lot more to learn from!
Loved the video. My favorite situation reversal/surprise I ever did involved a cabal of necromancers. They were threatening mass destruction of a town and the death of the citizens so they could then raise a small band of undead wage war with. PCs successfully did what they had to do to sneakily evacuate the citizens through a underground tunnels that were part of a mineshaft. PCs then have final climactic battle with necromancer cabal who in the throes of defeat evil laugh and say "behold my zombie army" and do a mass raise dead and look very proud of themselves. Necromancers successfully a raise a tiny zombie kitten that a little girl had buried a few days ago. Players look smug and laugh, while BBEG looks sad. Then Necromancer leader on death's door says "screw it" and enlarges the kitten and now we have a giant zombie leopard/panther that wants to eat the party. Now I as DM get to laugh while players look sad (but secretly happy).
"don't give Guy any ideas. No one is to think about what they think is coming up..." That made me think of "Choose and perish. Choose the form of the Destructor" Gozer summoning Stay Puft the destructor in the original Ghostbusters 😂
I've allowed my players to creativity kill the main villain. They followed the rules, used the tools they had and made a plan on the fly. I was in awe and had to let them do it. There were bigger forces at play, but I didn't know that back then
A campaign I was in, our DM made the mistake of giving our druid an "unbreakable box". During the fight with what was intended to be the main villain, we turned him into bunny with polymorph, and shoved him into the box, quickly locking it. Having lost sight of the target the spell wore off and the bbeg returned to his natural form via the keyhole. The sheer pressure of the stream of expanding blood, flesh and bone was enough to kill one of his henchmen. So the dm had to come up with another bbeg that had a counterspell to block our polymorphs. So I cast banish instead :)
To clarify, he was a demon Prince (and then later his father, a demon Lord) from another realm so my banishment worked a treat and he couldn't come back unless he was summoned again which couldn't happen because we killed all the cultists that knew how :)
I love subverting situations. Like imagine you come across an Egyptian style skeleton, slinking and slithering around. He announced himself as a the "Bone Pharaoh. He easily towers over the party. When the players come near, he holds up his hands and says "Don't hurt me! I just want you to know that you're all beautiful, and you cannot argue with me because I'm the Bone Pharaoh!"
I had the party meet an Ogre who curled into a ball and pleaded "No hurt Fluum". They all stopped, mildly baffled. But they liked Fluum the cowardly Ogre. So much so that they brought him with until they found a home for him.
"We need to get holy water from the church and there's probably gonna be zombies" *You come across a church that is being tended to by intelligent, fully sentient zombies. They greet you kindly as you arrive and ask if you are in need of assistance.*
The strongest tip I have, taking this having been on both sides of the DM screen, talk with your players between sessions, come up with cool things, let your players have a part in building the story. If the player has a part in the story, whether it be implementation of their back-story or giving them a major plot point that will come up as things progress, it gives them an investment into the story. I can't tell people how many times I've become so excited with an upcoming session just because I talked with the DM or one of my players about what can be expected in the game either in themes or game mechanics, or in the part the character will play.
11:43 reminds me of that meme that says "You come upon a warehouse." "Is that like a werewolf, but a house instead?" "*Furiously draws up stats* It is now!"
Our first play session this campaign, I had several scenes:Two characters were on a ship, and we had a fairly quick scene of their ship being caught in a storm that seemed to come from nowhere, nearly drowning them, then wash up on a beach, where they ended up in a life and death struggle with scavenging goblins. As I was about to introduce the next character, I described what she saw: rain and tidepools- washed up crabs and her prize: small fish trapped in the tidepools. I described how delicious they looked, and how delighted she was, and how much she LOVED the rain... on ... her... _fur_ . Then I dropped her token on the map- it was of course, an otter. Nobody saw it coming. I had not warned her that she was in fact, an otter. She also turned out to be tougher in otter form than anyone else in the party, and saved them all from the goblins just before, in a sudden flash, being transformed into a slightly bloodied, naked, and very wet girl. I told her she'd been an otter for 7 years now, and had no idea how it happened, nor how she got changed back. The party wrapped her up, and dressed her wounds, and she's been rolling with it brilliantly ever since. She's the girl who thinks like an otter.
I've been running a homebrew campaign for a short while, where turned everything upside down for my players while making them as paranoid as humanly possible. At the time, they had just finished a short quest in a small village. They decided to end the session the local inn, where I told them to level up til next time. - The next session started with them waking up, but not at the inn. They were in a large abandoned mansion. There was no way out of it, and looking outside, they could see that at least half a year had gone by. There was also a new player at the table whos PC no one knew. Exploring the mansion, they found it mostly empty except for a spider nest and some derro's squatting. They also found a lady hiding there, whom they recognized from a painting as the lady of the house (but for some reason, no one questioned how young she looked compared to the ruined house). She as well as one of their party members whos player could not join, were in fact clones created by an oblex hiding in the basement with a few more crazed derro. - Throughout the house, I had planted clues, such as the oblex clones smelling faintly of sulphur, there were notes talking of a monster and it weakness, there were several fire related items pointing to that weakness, as well as a book of monsters where I had written short descriptions of several monsters with similar traits. With enough clues, they would easily figure out that it was an oblex, which they did not. They thought it was a succubus, which was fun. But having every little expectation turned upside down, "friends" stabbing them in the back, and an eerie emptyness in the house made them nervous and paranoid of what manner of trickery I would present them next! - In the end, they managed to slay the oblex, and found their missing comrade who were in a mild coma because of the memory drain. Since they left the house, they have been trying to piece together their lost memory, gaining aid from mages and alchemists alike. Since this is what they were invested in, I created a timeline for each of my player's characters, and I drip feed them fragments of their memories from time to time. Some including their own personal quests, such as meeting a key NPC at one point, or hinting at a later adventure.
I set up a boss room under a mansion that was slowly spawning elementals and my party managed to leave the room before the enemies could fully spawn (I forgot to close the door behind them oops) and exit the mansion and convince the mansion owner that they completed their quest. So I made the owner go into a shed to give them their payment and then the shed fell into the boss room. They wanted the money.
Mimic Church, job done. People have been going missing for years and the town people think its a Ghost. Let them stock up on silver and give em magic items that are great at capturing and containing ghosts so when they're done they can show the captured soul to collect the reward. Once waiting for the ghost to show its self the inside of the church sprouts tentacles and slim leaving them totally unprepared for the encounter of a giant mimic they are already inside. When they kill it and try and claim their prize they get run out of town by the locals for destroying the church without capturing/killing the ghost. The above it good for 4x 3hr sessions depending on how big the town is and the minor quests to go and retrieve the soul stone that can capture the ghost and silver weapons for injuring it enough to be captured.
I was running a game of Weapon of the Gods (Wuxia kungfu game, loads of fun) and the party was after the second leader of the Three Colors Gang Red Sparrow (they defeated the first leader White Crow a few games prior). They met with the governor of the city, who was a sickly man that housed them for a night. After discussing the situation with him he pointed them to the Peony Pavilion, a brothel further in town where Red Sparrow was known to frequent. They go to the brothel and challenge him to a fight as the honorable Wuxia Warriors they were. But during the fight an arrow came flying out and hit one of them with unerring accuracy, a black arrow with black fletchings, that came from the direction of the Governor's home. Turns out the Governor was the third leader of the gang Black Swan.
Subscribing to this channel was one the best things I did on YT!! I've spent an unbelievable amount of hours being bored and watching other players being bored at the gaming table, even to the point of getting their character to suicide in very stupid ways. It happened with different DM's and I wished I had a video like this one back then to comment on the subject with this clarity. The following years of gaming would have been a lot better. I speak up now, and I don't stay in a game if I can't find a point of agreement of what's fun. Great content!!
i did the "living church" trick in vampire the masquerade. my players were invited to a tzimisce haven, and upon them rolling successful intelligence checks, i warned them that tzimisce are 1. known for the art of fleshcraft and 2. very touchy about hospitality and guest conduct laws, and that the player characters probably should take the shoes off as they go in. They didn't take their shoes off, because "the floor was weird". Well, surprise, the floor was a part of their host and he didn't appreciate being treaded upon by a toreador's high heels. Next time when a slavic person tells them to take their shoes off, I know they will ;)
Simply put, do your research, be prepared, and know your audience. I learned that my first couple times being a DM. I'm pretty new but I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job so far. I'm just learning as I go and doing the best I can to make it interesting. Luckily my group is more interested in story than combat.
I'm running a group with new players. One of the players was getting horrible roles all night until he did an arcana check on the Capt. of the Guards cat who the group spent nearly 45 minutes playing with, petting, etc.. He got a nat20. So the Capt.'s cat is now Commander Paws, a chimera pup who was bespelled into a cat form which the other players helped reverse. They don't know why Paws was that way (nor do I) but we'll figure it out. XD
I love dark twists in my campaigns because the people I usually play with are all really familiar with each other and tend to joke around a lot, so the hard hitting stuff hits even harder. My favorite twist I ever did was having a completely silent wizard help out the party and basically point them to what they thought was the solution and the place to further the plot inside of a mine. When the players came back empty-handed from the mine, the wizard had just escaped after razing the city and forest around it, with all life being a pile of ash.
My players were captured by a coven of vampires only to suddenly have one of the "young" vampires be a fan towards one of the players who had a background story of them being part of a band in the past. They had to give a live band performance as an entire group that satisfied the coven despite the one player being the only one with any performance skills or they'd all be eaten. They surprisingly made all the rolls needed to succeed so I didn't have to improvise anything to save them & it was a blast for all of us. They still talk about it to this day & they've learned that if I'm given a background story I'll implement it into my games in some way at a random time.
"Giving them what they guess" is what I use to motivate, and distract, the players. I usually tie it to a character backstories. The party may get super excited about finding out who the warlock's father is that they forget for a bit that they need to stop the ritual or get supplies to the village before it's too late. Combine that with the story being told in game is about the Villain(s) and all these guesses cause side quests and natural distractions giving the villain(s) time to progress their plans. I try not to let them get too far off plot. Traveling bards, knights or militia marching off to fight, something to remind them they have broader responsibilities. Always enjoy your videos Guy. I love the church zombie.. I may need to reskin the Grave Titan coming up in my game.
I know this is a year old but I would say Evil Construct or Undead || Weakness to Fire & Radiant || 10d10 hit dice + HP equal to the amount of people who have died in it Has three attacks- - Slam deals 5d10 dmg and target must make a Dex check if they want to dodge - Deals the same kind of damage as Thunderclap (or whatever the spell is) -Pew Pew: Literally launches the pews from inside itself as projectiles. I'm sure there's furniture based damage in the book somewhere
One of my favorite things to do in combat, is make a trick out of pre-combat "You see a suit of armor on the floor" as my party assumed it was animated armor but THEN they meet a wall of ooze! Took them like 15 minutes trying to get the edge on this thing, but they later found out they never needed it
Give them what they guess is one of the best pieces of advice ever. I can't tell you how many traps/plot twists/special enemies I have conjured up during a smoke break with players in various groups. Often it's the best part of the adventure, and they feel smart for having figured it out.
Personally I try to include a "Chain of Consequence" portion to the mix, every so often you'll have something they did either to themselves or to others coming back around either as a subtle nod that their actions actually did something in the world, sometimes it knocks them on the head though if they happen to let a mid-boss get away or if they caused significant collateral damage in a kingdom or business. Sometimes it's as subtle as a headline in a newspaper, sometimes it's a street urchin who used to be a noble jadedly glaring in their direction, sometimes it's a two tonne mech suit with an AI core that they were too slow in dealing with and had to abandon the city to it's thralls.
My brother was playing a game where he was a consciousness that leaped from marvel universe to marvel universe and entered different versions of himself to act as a hero. Then one time I made it so he wasn’t himself. He was a skrull disguised as himself with amnesia. The look on his face when he came face to face with himself was perffect
They were fighting a giant 50 story elemental monster by using a dam as a barricade while the either fired at it with magic and artillery or mounted on its back and directly attacked its weakpoints. When its turn came around they told me "Ok so it just breaks through the thing i assume, whats next." While that was my original plan, i thought 'nah, lemme do something else' so i decided to let it fail at breaking through. They had one more turn at excitedly and frantically attacking it thinking they actually had a chance to defeat it. Next turn comes up, theyre on their toes wondering what its doing, so i cant just leave it at "it charges a second time and finally breaks through" so i decide... "Ok, so for a second it looks down and arches its back, then roars a mighty deafening roar. Then, all of a sudden, giant flaming wings sprout out of its back". The looks on their faces made the whole mental gymnastics of coming up with SOMETHING so worth it
Wonderful video, Guy!!! AND as one of the two PC's chasing the lone orc into the "cantina" full of an army of orcs... I rushed in right behind the screaming orc, and gave a spirited shout, "BEES!!!" ...chaos ensued... turning from surprise to riot to stampede almost instantly... and nearly bringing that entire block of town to the foundations... as orcs aren't known to be bright (at least not in that region of the world at hand)... and unbeknownst to me, the GM had rolled a "secretive flim-flam check" since I was NOT a bard, nor rogue... passing with apparently a critical success. This went down in our Table's early list of "running gags" and got occasionally repeated by the rest of the Players of our group nearly ad-nauseum... Until some years later, when we were in a Star Wars Campaign, and I found myself once again... one of two PC's suddenly chasing a single storm-trooper through the corridors of a large station... only to find an entire regiment in formation around a final dubious corner... My fellow PC turns as we both skid to a stop, and says, "If you say 'bees', I'm going to smash your rotten head in with this blaster rifle"... To whit, I shrugged and retorted, "Well, it's not going to work NOW!" and on a quick pivot, I took off in a dead-sprint back the way we'd just come. Now... admittedly, these aren't exactly exemplar of a GM's use of surprise... BUT there's also no harm done to the game (at least) when a Player takes up the dubious endeavor of surprising the Table with something clever and unique, even if it's somewhat less than optimal (or admirable?). ;o)
@@waynesanford2869, yeah... the shouting about random "creepy crawlies" thing sort of became a terrible running gag at quite a few tables I've played at... ...it might be "stupid" to all new and epic levels, but playing on the gag practically never failed to get laughs from everyone in the room. ;o)
Once my players were role playing and one of them pissed of the npc they were talking to (an illusionist) so that player had to fight off a bunch of creatures while the others watched and eat popcorn. One of the other players decided to heal the monster he was fighting to! It was great.
One of my players said, "how do you make up quests and characters on the fly? How do you just go with what we do, give us choices and keep making new events on and on?" Inner monologue: *I'm trying not to be boring* 😰
We were running the old Dragonlance modules (but it's more like a reboot because I've changed so much). In the second adventure, the heroes are on a mission to save a group of children being held captive in an enemy stronghold. Along the way, they walk into this enormous room with a red dragon. She's old, her teeth are chipped, her scales are tarnished. She greets them warmly (no pun intended) and asks what they're doing. They say they're taking the children out for a walk. She seems okay with it until it becomes obvious the heroes are removing all of the children. The dragon starts screaming, "My children! Why are you taking my children?!" (She's delusional and thinks the human children are her children.) My group LOVED the encounter. They ended up nicknaming her Grandma Dragon and it became the highlight of the adventure. Meanwhile, I always thought it was the cheesiest part of the story. Eh, just go with it, as long as the players are having fun.
I gotta say thanks man, your videos helped me a lot. I just dm'd my first game last night, with my Wife and her cousin playing. It was an awesome time! I'm pretty sure I fudged a few of the rules by accident, but we had a blast which is what it's really all about so I consider it a roaring success,! Thanks for all the tips man!
I think there's one more thing that should be considered. Don't wait for the players to take action. For example, if they are in the middle of town and don't know what to do next, have a random pick pocket grab something, but make it obvious. Use the pick pocket to lead the players where you need to. I actually have a pick pocket rolled up and ready just in case for my games. As for surprises, there's many. Though, my favorite comes from an ongoing game of Heroes Unlimited. The short of it, the players are locked in a basement by a mutant St Bernard. While investigating, my players found a mutant talking dog that they thought they can trust. Initially, I thought of using the dog for combat. Basically, a talking Kujo with human like hands and above average IQ. One player decided to talk to it, so I made the dog smug and condescending for role play. No combat this time. The dog "agreed" to help them with their investigation. He lead them into a basement they previously examined. When they were in the far corner away from the door, the dog retreated to the door and locked the players in the basement. I figured that they would expect the dog to be loyal to the smugglers and cultists in my game. Instead, they thought it was a wild mutant roaming the property. In a sense, I was more surprised by their decisions then they were of being locked in a basement. Surprises are fun.
I try to adapt based on what the party says/does. One particular adaptation I've made, which I'm very happy with how it turned out, is on one part of the adventure, the party ventured to a farm to retrieve something. They found the farm abandoned, but after some searching, found a girl hidden in a closet. She was there to shed some light on the danger the party was in, but some of the members didn't trust her at all. She wasn't designed to be part of the story beyond the current situation, but my players were hell-bent on proving she was evil. They failed due to bad rolls and poorly chosen spells (most of the group is relatively new to d&d), and reluctantly gave up on the idea. Two sessions later, they are hunting her down after she revealed her true nature, stole the object they retrieved and murdered a city guard that was bringing her and the object to the magister, whom they worked for, while the party was indisposed (actually, imprisoned for horse theft ... One of their many questionable decisions along the way and their first lesson in "Actions Have Consequences"). I had responses such as "You $#@$!! I effing knew it!" and "I told you guys we couldn't trust her!". She makes a wonderful villain that the party loves to hate. It didn't change the overall story, it just added a shift in focus, for the time being. The general plot and story are still roughly the same, but it organically grew to be more than I originally came up with. And I hope they ignore their fellow players when they say "Don't give any ideas" and keep their visions of doom coming :D
If my players are predicting what I'm going to throw at them (and being bored by the obviousness of it), I don't change it radically. If they need holy water from a church, I'm not making a Dread Church thing, because I have been a player who could figure things out in advance before, and it looks as bad as being super predictable, aka "You only did that because we figured it out." What would I suggest? Something "subtle"... like the holy water is oozing out of an ancient priest in the undercroft, and the zombies can't get close enough to hurt him but will attempt to snack on anyone who goes down there. I think subtler moves do better than sudden, over the top stuff.
Oddly, my players would expect that. Though, they would be cautious of said banana because, knowing me, it may explode or peel itself and reveal a monster.
There are things called cohesion and plausibility. In most cases a giant banana is just random. And silly. And not very plausible. And, depending on the setting, breaks cohesion. Yes, it is a surprise nobody saw comming, but it doesn't add any real value imo.
@@olafmeiner4496 if the DM adapts it well enough, the party could be hunting a legendary monster with gargantuan teeth and it comes from the skies leading them to a cave thinking "Well, it's probably a bat" no, it's a giant gorilla who is defending his jungle.
I've actually had the zombie in the church scenario, the players guessed it, but I decided to screw with the group a bit more. Zombie clerics of Wee Jas, the area was so toxic that the living couldn't stay so these priest stayed and allowed themselves to slip into undeath allowing them to ceaselessly assist those in the area trying to rid it of the corrupting magic. One of the many ways I have enjoyed screwing with paladins for being a stick in the mud.
I think subversion of expectations might be a better way to describe this than surprise. Things don't necessarily need to be strange or shocking, just interesting and different to help hold attention. And honestly, if "don't give the GM ideas" isn't a regular phrase at the table, you might be doing something wrong.
Adaptability: There was a situation where the players had defeated a huge demon that attacked them first, but instead of trying to kill it off, they started talking to it and convincing it that "eat humans is bad; only eat if they attack you first" and so I ran with that, and they had a demon companion for a while. Surprise!!
This is honestly such a good channel that I don't want to show my players this, for fear of them learning about my tricks (like "give them what they guess")
Great video. I just started DMming about 3 months ago. I've been playing myself about a year and a half. I always try to make sure my players are having fun, and they have ..so far. I've had them do some crazy things, because I find myself adapting to them a lot. My fear is, what to do, when my brain locks down, and I have no ideas,but your "Give your players what they're guessing, but bigger or smaller," is brilliant. Takes a lot of the trying to decide what I should give them off my mind. Great video.
Love it. I'm just starting out. Finished running my first game last week. The adventure had the ghost of a burn victim hiding patiently and quietly in the room where he died. I changed it so that they heard tortured screaming and cries for help. They rushed to the room, feeling around in the thick smoke for the victim, they found his charred lower half. Then the ghost struck, still screaming for help, trapped in his final moments. Once I know the rules and general stats better, I'd love to do more improvisation as you described. Practice makes better!
God I dread being this as a DM, I have been occasionally, but I manage to avoid it most of the time. Just sometimes I get worried I am straying from the rules to far thanks to a bad old friend of mine who was a rule lawyer and burrowed such things into me my first campaign :/ Been getting better at avoiding this as I go on and gain confidence in myself, and with a bit of help from the good ol' GreatGM!
I'm SO glad I watched this... It really solves an issue I'd been having with an adventure I'm running. The short of it: they're hunting a bunch of bandits in a jungle, who have an informant: the gatekeeper who keeps records of when merchants go into the jungle, and when they're expected to return. The players are very clearly and obviously outsiders, and they literally told the gatekeeper they were hunting the bandits, before they ever entered the jungle... I think I need to place some more obvious hints. Among other things.
In my campain, my characters had to flee their home that was raided by an evil drow wizard and his forces. Way after the defeated him and took back their hometown they came across an monolith filled with necrotic energy. After exermining it it they found themself back in time at the exact moment where the drow attacked their town. They stepped in to defeat him changing the timeline. The town was never ransacked and all the loved once that had died where alive again. But because they never had to leave their home, they never started adventuring. So when time looped itself up they lost all their character levels. To return to their proper timeline they had to travel back to the monolith and destroy it, before she was able to finish it´s creation. After returning to their own timeline they got there levels back because they becam adventurers after all but for other reasons. Cause they changed time i allowed them to change their character. For example i had a player who was tired of playing a ranger. So in this new timeline he left home to become a wizard instead. Nobody exept the time traveling players is now aware that these people safed the town in the first place. You are confused now? Ask my players.. We had a blast with this one even if you might argue that time travel does not work that way - or does it?
The impression in the beginning really hit home. That's how I was the first time I ever ran D&D, trying to run Lost Mine of Phandelver. I felt so bad about my performance that I foreswore using published adventures at all because trying to be true to the adventure keeps me from being present and engaged with the players.
Watching this was great! I'm a relatively new DM, and I switched it up using one of these last week. The big bad villain started to monologue then ran away from then flee. They had no idea what to do, and half the party wanted to pursue immediately! It was great.
This channel is great!! Im currently running a DnD campaign and i am consistently coming back to this channel for tips and tricks to keep it fun and interesting👍
I had a mission in my game that was basically a filler combat mission while I tried to come up with more plot, they PC's had to clear a city graveyard of undead, a bunch of skeletons and zombies, you know, the usual. there was a massive crack in the ground from which came an UNDEAD HYDRA. (Which was promptly destroyed because most of the PC's were level 8 by now). But since it was rather obvious something would be coming out of the massive hole nobody was surprised.. When they moved on and just about finished clearing the graveyard there was just a run down crypt/chapel/tomb building thing, when the players finally got around to opening it up they were faced with a full strength Litch. Which again they utterly destroyed (I think I'm too soft on my players) and found the phylactory but rather than destroying it, they kept it.... Sadly the campaign has died before they've had a chance to unleash their pet litch on their enemies. Couple of sessions later the first time I did any real damage to the party was again another filler combat mission while one of the payers was away where they faught 2 balors.... (originally was planning to send 4 at them but just sent 2 to see how they held up) and all but 1 of the players DIED. (As in failed saving throws level of dead) thankfully the one remaining PC had a couple of casts of revivify left. (and one granted from their goddess for a favour they would have to repay at some point)
Never make your Adventures TOO serious. They can be dark and gritty, but you need a little bit of fun. For example, the best session of D&D I've ever played was when the DM created the Campaign to literally be Monster House, the plot and setting from the movie! It got even better when my other friend's escape plan was to yeet himself out of the window. He was on the 2nd floor, and was knocked unconscious.
Adaptability is so important. Allow me to give an example of that from my own game this past weekend. My players were exploring an icy cave that held an Ice Elemental at the end of it which was the big boss of this session. I had scattered a few chests around with helpful items for the upcoming boss throughout the cave. The party consisted of a fighter, a bard, and a rogue. The rogue was picking the locks on the chests easily and rather than have them just open the last one as easily as the others, I decided to have the lock frozen solid. I told the players that the only heat source that they had, a torch, would take 10 minutes to thaw since it's been in this cave for a while. Meanwhile, the longer they were in the cave, the more they'd have to make constitution saves to combat the ever increasing cold. The players decided to use their torch to thaw it and in that time, out came a giant enemy spider and attacked them. Did I plan for that to happen? Absolutely not, but I did not want the game to be boring and unchallenging since they were just going to a place to get these helpful items and that's it. So adaptability made the experience more memorable for the players... even something as small as having a giant spider come out of nowhere to attack them as they thawed a lock.
In a terminator/mad max esque setting, the PCs approached a construction site of the enemy. They scouted a few guards and snuck up to take a first shot. Little did they know that the guards were decoys, and all of the robotic construction equipment came to life attacking them. The best was the crane that swung a hook to grab players after it hit them flinging them 50 feet high and 50 feet away.
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I surprised my player,
Because he asked if his horse would be able to go inside a building,
And I had already shown his character the magic veil that devided the room into two,
So in a stroke of inspiration, I said yes, it's a grande entrance at least a few meters tall,
With a hall that is even taller.
Then the first two players passed through the veil,
1 got a foot taller, the other one shrunk 1 foot.
The player saw this happen to his fellow party members
And thought he'd become even bigger if he was on his horse,
So he road on his horse through the veil,
Or should I say as his horse, since he was now a full blown centaur.
The entire table started laughing at his surprise
Near the end of the session I allowed him to reverse it with a role play encounter,
But I'm pretty sure he'll never pass through another one of those veils again,
Which means I'm gonna add a few more in there.
PS: the veil was supposed to be completely harmless,
It didn't have much plot relevance, but now it does.
I agree. I was running a monster hunting group and my PCs said that a pet shop owner looked suspicious so they decided to break into his basement while distracting them. As a reward for excellent RP I decided "screw it, this guy is into the occult and turns people into shop animals" They felt smart, I felt satisfied and was also able to world build from that point
wow that's awesome
The Retcon Rule. Nothing is set in stone until it is. Until your players encounter it, it's "all in your mind"... i habitually change things up just to be perverse, but once it's been instantiated, it stays the same without some good reason why it wouldn't
This is how the Horrible Episode of the Billyburger Franchise happened.
Haha, things like that are awesome. One of my players went through the city just looking around and rolled a 29 on Perception. I said she found a suspicious door on an old building. They went in later and found out that this seems like a bandit hideout inside the city. A barkeeper, an Ogre Bodyguard and some suspicious looking people. Later the Dragon attacked and destroyed the building. They found the Barkeep and made that Barkeep their own in their mansion they got the papers for, because he was unemployed now. They also stole something very important from him and convinced him to never look into the box where it was in. They got a barkeep now, know there was a contact to the Bandit King inside the city and found a Spell Scroll. None of that was planned. Loved it. :D
I fucking love when my PCs give me amazing ideas on the fly!
I still remember one time where I had a few monsters teleport in near the town that was about to be sieged.
One of them went "Shit what if someone went inside the walls as well?!?!" Now...I had planned on this and they already knew that in order to place these circles to begin with they had to actually use several hours to do this (It was still a few miles off the town and it had taken them months to prepar)
But one of them was certain that someone would have sneaked in and placed at least one circle somewhere.
In order to throw him a carrot (Plus it seemed like a fun idea) I choose to make that reality.
2 people had infiltrated the town a few months prior and placed 1 cirkle each at two noble mens houses.
It turned into a mystery of figuring out where the hell everyone had went and actually became a really interesting part of the adventure where the PC got to use a lot of spells he hadn't used that much.
Brilliant. I’ve gone with my players suspicions a few times and it ended up better than my original plan. I don’t always do that, but remaining open is wise.
Why do you keep starting off your videos with impressions of me?!
Cuz you suck
😂 I thought he was starting off as me!
@@UniverseAres Roll 1d6 fire damage for that sick burn.
Clearly you are all wrong, as this is a spot on impression of myself.
@@codypatton2859 Thank you, I'm stealing that line now XD
The skit in the beginning hurts oh god
I'm pretty sure I've been in one of those games. I think we also all know why one of the players had her character dive off the bridge.
@@raphaelperry8159 Yeah, same here. It's my biggest D&D fear to become one of those DMs
Ok, I will get you into a campaign then drive you insane the entire time.
It would be fine if one of games I've been playing wasn't literally just that. And guy really tried but he's just not a good DM. Which is sad - as a player he's totally cool and a bro.
@@OmegaEnvych It probably stems from some sub fear of forgetting the rules or doing something wrong. That's kind of what I'm thinking when I get hung up on rolls, that or trying to get new people in the habit of doing stuff so they can pick up mechanics faster. If you carpool or talk outside of session, you could talk about hang ups or suggesting that less important rolls get smushed together into 1, or tell them to consider you using the "Take a 10" or 20 mechanic on all observational checks or something. Lack of DM experience is a curve.
Now my campaign has a:
-Stoner shopekeeper
- Caravan of dogs
-god of chaos as a bartender
-mimic airship
-slimes that make good pets
- cocky rival team
and also the sky is crying.
"What's that, Katherine? You throw yourself off the bridge?" As someone named Katherine who was staring at this video like 'oh god. I'd love to jump off that bridge right now' I feel psychically called out right now.
Good thing he didn't make her roll to jump: "No, sorry... your character doesn't feel suicide is the answered..."
My name is Ryan...
I knew a place called Katherine Bridge. Ironic... 😏
what the frick :D
At least you were saved by the angel lol
I was running a pre gen medieval fantasy game with, my friends, but they were getting bored of it, so aliens invaded the planet in the middle of their quest and blasted the planet completely out of orbit. After some nonsense about how the atmosphere and conditions were preserved by the planetary guardian angels, and after the halfling bard stole the keys to the “Overlord’s” long lost mother ship and became “The Chosen One”(much to the comedic ire of the other characters), we have spent the last two years thoroughly enjoying this campaign that is both sci-fi and fantasy. It is set to draw to a close this summer, and everyone is still on the edge of their seat. I watch your videos on a regular basis, and your tips have been the basis for my growth As a GM. Thank you
Video? Watched.
Undead Church Construct? Stolen for my adventure.
Hotel? Trivago
if you're ever running a world of darkness game, there's a statpage for a (beautiful) flesh cathedral made out of a tzimisce vampire who melted a lot of bodies into his own to create it
@@rateater1857 Vampire... We meet one another once again
The gravestones rise as an army of constructs ...
The zombies the party has been encountering are restless dead wanting their grave markers returned. - that's right, the zombies are the innocent victims.
@@Midrealm_DM The Clergy are the bad guys!
What a twist!
@@rateater1857 I fucking LOVE WoD, what edition and supplement is that flesh cathedral in?
Ha. This totally isn't one of my biggest anxieties when planning. I'll watch anyway.
It'll be ok. Just push forward and you'll get better. 🖒🖒
@Tel Contar "make it explode" is a tried and true storytelling device. That burning barn should have exploded, and now even more things are on fire, and the players are trapped in a roaring inferno.
Listen, and understand. The PCs are out there. They can't be bargained, the can't be reasoned with. They feel no remorse, pity, fear, nor empathy. Above all else, they absolutely will never stop until everything and everyone in the dungeon is DEAD
@@Malidala On the same note you can also say: There is no rule that states, that there can't show up a guy with a gun at every moment. If a situation grinds to a halt, if the players have no clue, if there's a boring situation - throw in a guy with a gun (or warhammer or magic missile) in the mix.
Players search for the cult but can't find clues? Hitman sent by the cult
Players have investigated in the shady dealings of the mayor? Hitman sent by the mayor.
Players are searching for the fairy rings in the wood but can't find it? Hitman sent by the fae. (Don't be persuaded by their cute appearance - those are nasty little buggers with many a skeleton in their closets).
This reminds me of that facebook post:
DM: You see a warehouse in the distance
Player: Is it like a werewolf, like man turning into a wolf but instead turning into a house?
DM: *frantically writing down stats* ... it is now!
:D :D :D
I'd love to see that irl. LOL
Ciaran Little you might’ve already
A were-house? Ha, I think I'm going to use that!
Oh god that makes me think of a plothook we had at a larp. We were told about doppelgängers which could also turn into objects. One of the players asked: so, if a doppelgänger turns himself into a house, will he then earn his money by renting himself?
Plot Twist: Optimus Prime found his way into your universe.
A(daptability)
S(tructure)
S(urprises)
W(eight of decisions)
E(motions)
C(uriousity)
A(rrow traps)
N(ecromants who use undead to bring them a cup of tea early in the morning)
It's so fuckin deep.
2 years later and here I stumble with pure genius stuff.
So fucking deep.
I love taking ideas that my players inadvertently give me. I have a character that i once played as years ago and she is my favourite character i've ever created, we'll call her "May". I drop her into my campaigns as an easter egg for myself and she helps/annoys the party members, before leaving again. In the last campaign I played, I only planned to use her once, but one of my players developed a bit of a rivalry with her. May then left to go on other adventures. Anyway, about 10 sessions go by and my players have been working for this monster hunting branch, with an unseen benefactor and leader. Originally it was just supposed to be this old man who was once a great warrior blah blah, but then the player with the rivalry very loudly went "oh GOD NO it's gonna be MAY ISN'T IT? It had BETTER NOT BE! I will not work for her!". No, player, it WASN'T May...but you better believe it is now. "Hello again, friends!" exclaims May as the doors swing open...
Oml immediate character swaps are like half my character designs lmao
One surefire way to surprise your players in almost any location: Mimics. Tables, chairs, doors, statues, rocks, cave entrances, treasure chests, gazebos, facades on the front of an existing structure, and the list goes on. There's almost no situation in which a mimic would be out of place. Use them sparingly though. Too many mimic encounters leads to parties of characters that stab every piece of furniture they come across before using it or passing on.
Every time i hear or read the word gazebo now i can't help but think about a story of a player not knowing what a gazebo is, assuming it's a demon and whacking it until it collapses onto him. Sometimes the best thing a dm can do is stay silent.
So in my Pathfinder game I haven't used mimics yet. Yet our bard, after the party had successfully transversed the DC 27 and DC 30 traps, snuck past the CCTV monsters and found the secret treasure room, proceeded to fire a crossbow at the metal chest. @could be a mimic'. Totally didn't alert the Hag on the top floor and increase the overall encounter difficulty. I've now decided to put tons of furniture everywhere just for giggles
@@bonogiamboni4830 Oh man this made me laugh so hard.
Mimics are pretty boring if 'everything could be a mimic'. What are you supposed to do about it? Unless it's crafted with a LOT of care, players get to choose between 'I guess I get paranoid and won't touch anything, ever' and 'can't do anything about it anyway, eventually a random mimic will appear'.
Mimics become interesting when there are ways to spot them that don't rely on rolling perception on every piece of furniture. Silly examples: A square table with five chairs. An empty bookshelf next to a filled one. A cosy bed next to a tattered one.
Thank you. My players shall walk into a rumoured cursed abounded ghost town, where everything was left as if people suddenly disappeared without a struggle or trace while going on their daily lives. Some claim it's village that got transported from from another plain of existants without it's residents.
It's all mimics. Mimics how decided to just come together make a town and people started making up legends stories and curses about it.
Love the video! Technique addition here :)
Surprise is based on establishing, then subverting, an expectation. Something I learned a long time ago, learning counterpoint, was the rule of 2+ 1/2. Because we are all pattern-finding machines, set up your surprises....
1) do something once. instance is noted
2) do it the same way again. instance repeated. pattern recognition kicks in.
2.5) Begin a third time. Pattern noticed, this is totally going to///////WAIT it changed halfway into something completely different at the end.
Then meta this up one level. Your first surprise follow the 2+1/2 method, your second does too, and your third abruptly departs at stage 2. works super well for single long sessions, or for players who take extremely thorough notes (those rare unicorns).
your comment is gold
I can totally imagine a church bending it's steeple over and almost assuming the posture of a dragon before shaking it's head and jangling the bell in it's bell-tower so loudly that the soundwaves shake the players to their bones. It clearly wants those bones for itself.
And every creature it consumed they become part of the interior, the strongest become part of the cross.
"500 orcs, all running away from the PC's, why are they doing that?"
Duh, they're murder hobos. XD
Murder hobos that all just got personal fireball necklaces.
@@tylerian4648 I feel personally attacked. LOL
"There is a Paladin 5 XP from level up! Run for your lives!"
My favorite surprise was when a GM took a turn of phrase said near an alien. "I'll be back in a Jiffy" > to whats jiffy? > you dont want any jiffy > I need the jiffy whats the jiffy > look here is some jiffy but I only sell jiffy to those worthy of jiffy > I am worthy of jiffy > I don't think your worthy of jiffy > I have a shiny gun is it worthy of Jiffy > hmm barely but I guess it's worth jiffy > hands over a bag of salt > alien leaves happy with his jiffy.
A jiffy is 0.01 seconds. Gotem, stupid alien
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that.
12:06 "Does it affect your plot? Nah, they're going to kill him anyway."
This sums up adventure design so well.
"The church... IS THE ZOMBIE!!"
It needs to be a shirt.
I'd buy that one.
I am going to use this as a sidequest.
Evil cleric raised an undead mimic to be his church so he can travel and set up near towns, draw in some followers for sacrifice to his evil deity or something.
Players come to investigate, maybe they figure it out and get the jump on him, maybe they don't, either way, at some point, they will be fighting an undead mimic church.
Horus Heresy "Signus Daemonicus" feeling intensifies... Brothers, lock and load. Kill that church!
Sounds more like a gazebo to me.
My Players sought the audience of the Elder Druid. They’ve spent the last session gathering as much info about her as possible and knew they had to face the Elder Druids champion! Weapons were out, spells were prepared, and actions readied! Finally the Champion stepped out from behind a towering tree! ... a pixie. He’s a 15th Level Monk with a +4 STR Ring around his waist.
That sounds more dumb than cool
That sounds very amusing. I might steal that
Describe its attacks Ant Man Style.
You hear a buzzing around your head, suddenly the pixie is in front of you and punches you. You fly back 15 feet.
@@lordilluminati5836 In DnD there isn't always a difference.
@@bibbobella yes, the difference is subjective since "cool" and "dumb" are subjective terms, but it exists.
I once ran a Pathfinder one shot out of necessity (for once, nobody else had an idea after our current GM took a break). The PCs had discovered that the undead forces they were supposed to be facing were actually orcs that had been covered with sophisticated illusion and mind-control spells so that they looked and acted like skeletons.
Since they could now see through the illusion, they also noticed that one of the "skeletons" was actually a human woman. Upon dispelling the enchantment on her, she told them that the Big Bad (tm) was performing a terrible ritual and they had to hurry to stop it, whereupon she raced down the corridor with the PCs in hot pursuit. They entered a huge ceremonial chamber where the floor was about 30 feet down. Instead of stopping and using the stairs, though, the woman ran and leaped over the banister, hurtling toward the floor below.
...and in midair, she transformed into a huge Silver Dragon, dive bombing the BB in a blind fury.
Sadly, she dive bombed straight into the middle of the ceremonial area, which immediately activated as a trap-like effect, completely restraining her and beginning to charge up to cast an epic-level permanent Dominate Monster ritual. The PCs (level 4) now had 10 rounds to defeat the BB (he was gloating, so he told them directly they had a single minute = 10 rounds) and/or stop the ritual or else they would be facing a permanently mind-controlled CR 12 Silver Dragon.
I won't reveal what happened, but let's just say the PCs were inspired to be JUST as creative in resolving the situation as I had been in coming up with it. Also, half of what I wrote up there was stuff I pulled out of my ass just 'cause I thought it would be neat.
And may I just say that your rectal-inspired plot was not only unique, but quite in-depth.
Personally, I love a story where the protagonists incidentally further the plot whilst trying to thwart it.
Tödliche Verwüste that move is called “pulling a Metal Gear” xD
@@SerDerpish It's been a couple of months, and I haven't had the luxury of playing any of the Metal Gear games, so I am at a loss. Are you referencing the "oops! I kickstarted the apocalypse while trying to be the good guy and now i gotta do something about it!" trope?
That is eerily similar to something I came up with for my game. The players have yet to reach it
"I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something that I loved from my childhood. Something that would never ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay-Puft."
Hey blue spirit have you played the homebrew "Incarnate: last of the lacers"? Its a rule set for atla in 5e
I had the same thought in my mind the instant Guy said it :D
Yes... truly I shall listen to my players tonight. May their undoing be by their own decission....
Party members: Wouldn't it be funny if an owlbear fell from the ceiling?
DM: :D
Bard and barbarian in pit trap: D:
And again the one big truth is revealed: The players are their own worst enemies...
You know you are doing things right as a GM when your player are so paranoid they whisper to each other about their plans in secret. I really love these advice. It's the downfall of a newly starting GM that they are not used to things and they make boring predictable stories. People hate it and they quit being GM.
You open the supply room door. In the darkness you see four martial arts masters. "SUPPLIES!!!!!"
UHF!
Lol!
Lmfao
Read this whilst taking a dump and struggling to get it out with all this laughing
Why is this so fucking funny
During a campaign I had, there were 2 npcs that accompanied the party
Once they got to the dungeon entrance, it was decided everyone should rest up first. When Players awoke the npcs were gone
Once the Players got to the lowest level they encounteted a nightwalker who was casring spells hokding the 2 npcs ripped out hearts
Next episode was a flashback episode where my 2 players played the 2 npcs and the events that lead up to their deaths they actually got to plat through
the general consensus was, that it was a neat idea
necro post i know but this is a fantastic way to handle a missing party member for larger groups
Shadowrun game. My players found a suitcase nuke because it literally fell from the sky and landed on their car. One of them said, "I bet the combination is something like '666.'" So that's what it was.
I can relate.
One time i tried to open a suitcase that had 20 dice to defend herself. There was an "agent smith" inside the eletronic lock mechanism
Regarding Giving players what they guess....its also a great way to have fun yourself as a DM. It's amazing the number of diferent things that they will come up with, so sometimes Im just like "Oh, yeah that is a much better idea!!".
Surprises:
Local gladiator champion is actually a halfling barbarian named "Turo Heavenlyhair". He likes good food and fancies himself as a talented singer and song writer in his past time and he likes smashing heads at work. He has his own fanclub, and indeed, very gorgeus locks.
Players like him.
I'll be taking this NPC concept.
@@Shadeogray1113 Go for it! x'D
I think one of the keys to keeping games moving is to actually understand the basic structure of RPGs:
1. GM sets the scene.
2. GM calls for action (explicit or implied).
3. Players declare actions (an intention and an approach) or ask further questions about the scene (answer and goto #2).
4. GM adjudicates actions, describing consequences.
5. Goto #1.
To make an analogy with riding a bike, this is the "keep turning the pedals and don't fall over" bit of GMing. You can take a bike on a cross-country trip, ride it to work, compete in BMX, whatever you like. Just keep those pedals turning and don't fall over.
Same deal with running an RPG. Just keep running through the cycle. You're not going to be able to employ any of the tips in this video (which are all good, BTW) if you don't run through the cycle and keep the game _moving._
I would insert a 5b in there. Gm assesses the situation and adjusts, improvises or outright cheats as needed.
@@TheSingerbear
That's part of adjudication. Deciding if the action needs a roll at all; if so, what roll is needed etc.
And stop cheating.
That's one of my favorite things, when my players tell each other don't give the DM any ideas.
I fucking love all do those ideas they can be throwing around.
One of my players are still ohh so proud about having figured out a plotpoint in my campaing at one point thanks to the forshadowing and small hints I had done!....when in reality he just kinda mentioned it a few weeks prior and I found the idea absolutely amazing and fitting for what I had been building up so I stole the shit out of it.
My players don't tend to say I bet It's this,....infact I am thr only one who says 'on no it's a ...' but they do give me ideas when talking out of session for stuff that I save for later in the campaign or future ones 😈
"Oh my goodness, there's a lich around the corner, right?"
"Well, there is now..."
I thought of one a while ago when I watched the Death March anime.
The MC goes into the tavern and meets the barmaid and she looks him up and down like a piece of meat and goes back to work, and that's all that happens.
But in my mind the dialogue should have been:
MC: Wow, wait.. is this tavern also a brothel?
Barmaid: Well it is now...
ROFL
"The duke is now a vampire. Does it affect your plot? Nah, they are just going to kill them anyways." Greater truths have never been spoken.
I was doing a one shot for my now group. The goal was to teach the rule and then let the PCs make their own characters. They loved the characters they kept them.
I didnt have a master mind for this campaign. The PCs rolled a huge success and forged documents based on an actual NPC who was a high level figure.
Surprise! They pissed him off for doing this and he is now the master mind.
PCs are truly the gift that keeps on giving.
13:58 "isn't it supposed to be holy"
My mind: "there are many gods."
"It's a church of [insert God]"
*Laughs behind screen*
I've just started GMing and you're honestly keeping me going. Before today's session my nerves were really getting to me (because first session went really well and sequels are stressful), and I watched your video on not giving up being a GM. So that, later on, when my very anxious (new to D&D) friends had a lot of silent patches (made worse by playing on Discord so I couldn't even see them), I reminded myself that it's not my story, I'm doing my best, and my delivery of NPC lines doesn't have to be Oscar winning, and I need to just keep at it. I love your delivery on these videos, and I see I have a whole lot more to learn from!
Im love the church golem idea - it very much makes me think of the golden rule of "yes, and?"
No. It's too late. you have AWAKENED the gazebo!"
Loved the video. My favorite situation reversal/surprise I ever did involved a cabal of necromancers. They were threatening mass destruction of a town and the death of the citizens so they could then raise a small band of undead wage war with. PCs successfully did what they had to do to sneakily evacuate the citizens through a underground tunnels that were part of a mineshaft. PCs then have final climactic battle with necromancer cabal who in the throes of defeat evil laugh and say "behold my zombie army" and do a mass raise dead and look very proud of themselves. Necromancers successfully a raise a tiny zombie kitten that a little girl had buried a few days ago. Players look smug and laugh, while BBEG looks sad. Then Necromancer leader on death's door says "screw it" and enlarges the kitten and now we have a giant zombie leopard/panther that wants to eat the party. Now I as DM get to laugh while players look sad (but secretly happy).
"don't give Guy any ideas. No one is to think about what they think is coming up..."
That made me think of "Choose and perish. Choose the form of the Destructor"
Gozer summoning Stay Puft the destructor in the original Ghostbusters 😂
"I couldn't help it! It just sort of happened!"
I've allowed my players to creativity kill the main villain. They followed the rules, used the tools they had and made a plan on the fly. I was in awe and had to let them do it.
There were bigger forces at play, but I didn't know that back then
A campaign I was in, our DM made the mistake of giving our druid an "unbreakable box".
During the fight with what was intended to be the main villain, we turned him into bunny with polymorph, and shoved him into the box, quickly locking it. Having lost sight of the target the spell wore off and the bbeg returned to his natural form via the keyhole.
The sheer pressure of the stream of expanding blood, flesh and bone was enough to kill one of his henchmen.
So the dm had to come up with another bbeg that had a counterspell to block our polymorphs.
So I cast banish instead :)
To clarify, he was a demon Prince (and then later his father, a demon Lord) from another realm so my banishment worked a treat and he couldn't come back unless he was summoned again which couldn't happen because we killed all the cultists that knew how :)
I love subverting situations. Like imagine you come across an Egyptian style skeleton, slinking and slithering around. He announced himself as a the "Bone Pharaoh. He easily towers over the party. When the players come near, he holds up his hands and says "Don't hurt me! I just want you to know that you're all beautiful, and you cannot argue with me because I'm the Bone Pharaoh!"
Alabaster Laserblaster stolen instantly. Its mine now. Thank you.
I had the party meet an Ogre who curled into a ball and pleaded "No hurt Fluum". They all stopped, mildly baffled. But they liked Fluum the cowardly Ogre. So much so that they brought him with until they found a home for him.
That's strange, "The Bone Pharaoh" was my nickname in college. :D ROFL
"We need to get holy water from the church and there's probably gonna be zombies"
*You come across a church that is being tended to by intelligent, fully sentient zombies. They greet you kindly as you arrive and ask if you are in need of assistance.*
Yess
The strongest tip I have, taking this having been on both sides of the DM screen, talk with your players between sessions, come up with cool things, let your players have a part in building the story. If the player has a part in the story, whether it be implementation of their back-story or giving them a major plot point that will come up as things progress, it gives them an investment into the story. I can't tell people how many times I've become so excited with an upcoming session just because I talked with the DM or one of my players about what can be expected in the game either in themes or game mechanics, or in the part the character will play.
11:43 reminds me of that meme that says "You come upon a warehouse." "Is that like a werewolf, but a house instead?" "*Furiously draws up stats* It is now!"
Our first play session this campaign, I had several scenes:Two characters were on a ship, and we had a fairly quick scene of their ship being caught in a storm that seemed to come from nowhere, nearly drowning them, then wash up on a beach, where they ended up in a life and death struggle with scavenging goblins. As I was about to introduce the next character, I described what she saw: rain and tidepools- washed up crabs and her prize: small fish trapped in the tidepools. I described how delicious they looked, and how delighted she was, and how much she LOVED the rain... on ... her... _fur_ . Then I dropped her token on the map- it was of course, an otter. Nobody saw it coming. I had not warned her that she was in fact, an otter. She also turned out to be tougher in otter form than anyone else in the party, and saved them all from the goblins just before, in a sudden flash, being transformed into a slightly bloodied, naked, and very wet girl. I told her she'd been an otter for 7 years now, and had no idea how it happened, nor how she got changed back. The party wrapped her up, and dressed her wounds, and she's been rolling with it brilliantly ever since. She's the girl who thinks like an otter.
I've been running a homebrew campaign for a short while, where turned everything upside down for my players while making them as paranoid as humanly possible. At the time, they had just finished a short quest in a small village. They decided to end the session the local inn, where I told them to level up til next time.
-
The next session started with them waking up, but not at the inn. They were in a large abandoned mansion. There was no way out of it, and looking outside, they could see that at least half a year had gone by. There was also a new player at the table whos PC no one knew. Exploring the mansion, they found it mostly empty except for a spider nest and some derro's squatting. They also found a lady hiding there, whom they recognized from a painting as the lady of the house (but for some reason, no one questioned how young she looked compared to the ruined house). She as well as one of their party members whos player could not join, were in fact clones created by an oblex hiding in the basement with a few more crazed derro.
-
Throughout the house, I had planted clues, such as the oblex clones smelling faintly of sulphur, there were notes talking of a monster and it weakness, there were several fire related items pointing to that weakness, as well as a book of monsters where I had written short descriptions of several monsters with similar traits. With enough clues, they would easily figure out that it was an oblex, which they did not. They thought it was a succubus, which was fun. But having every little expectation turned upside down, "friends" stabbing them in the back, and an eerie emptyness in the house made them nervous and paranoid of what manner of trickery I would present them next!
-
In the end, they managed to slay the oblex, and found their missing comrade who were in a mild coma because of the memory drain. Since they left the house, they have been trying to piece together their lost memory, gaining aid from mages and alchemists alike. Since this is what they were invested in, I created a timeline for each of my player's characters, and I drip feed them fragments of their memories from time to time. Some including their own personal quests, such as meeting a key NPC at one point, or hinting at a later adventure.
"Dont give the DM ideas!" is a constant thing said at my table as well.
I set up a boss room under a mansion that was slowly spawning elementals and my party managed to leave the room before the enemies could fully spawn (I forgot to close the door behind them oops) and exit the mansion and convince the mansion owner that they completed their quest. So I made the owner go into a shed to give them their payment and then the shed fell into the boss room. They wanted the money.
Mimic Church, job done.
People have been going missing for years and the town people think its a Ghost.
Let them stock up on silver and give em magic items that are great at capturing and containing ghosts so when they're done they can show the captured soul to collect the reward. Once waiting for the ghost to show its self the inside of the church sprouts tentacles and slim leaving them totally unprepared for the encounter of a giant mimic they are already inside.
When they kill it and try and claim their prize they get run out of town by the locals for destroying the church without capturing/killing the ghost.
The above it good for 4x 3hr sessions depending on how big the town is and the minor quests to go and retrieve the soul stone that can capture the ghost and silver weapons for injuring it enough to be captured.
I was running a game of Weapon of the Gods (Wuxia kungfu game, loads of fun) and the party was after the second leader of the Three Colors Gang Red Sparrow (they defeated the first leader White Crow a few games prior). They met with the governor of the city, who was a sickly man that housed them for a night. After discussing the situation with him he pointed them to the Peony Pavilion, a brothel further in town where Red Sparrow was known to frequent.
They go to the brothel and challenge him to a fight as the honorable Wuxia Warriors they were. But during the fight an arrow came flying out and hit one of them with unerring accuracy, a black arrow with black fletchings, that came from the direction of the Governor's home. Turns out the Governor was the third leader of the gang Black Swan.
Subscribing to this channel was one the best things I did on YT!! I've spent an unbelievable amount of hours being bored and watching other players being bored at the gaming table, even to the point of getting their character to suicide in very stupid ways. It happened with different DM's and I wished I had a video like this one back then to comment on the subject with this clarity. The following years of gaming would have been a lot better. I speak up now, and I don't stay in a game if I can't find a point of agreement of what's fun. Great content!!
i did the "living church" trick in vampire the masquerade. my players were invited to a tzimisce haven, and upon them rolling successful intelligence checks, i warned them that tzimisce are 1. known for the art of fleshcraft and 2. very touchy about hospitality and guest conduct laws, and that the player characters probably should take the shoes off as they go in.
They didn't take their shoes off, because "the floor was weird". Well, surprise, the floor was a part of their host and he didn't appreciate being treaded upon by a toreador's high heels. Next time when a slavic person tells them to take their shoes off, I know they will ;)
I can confirm. "DON'T GIVE HIM ANY IDEAS!" is indeed frequently uttered when we play with Guy. XD
Hi Jorek!
@@Hirosjimma Hello! Sorry I totally missed your message the first time around. xD
Simply put, do your research, be prepared, and know your audience. I learned that my first couple times being a DM. I'm pretty new but I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job so far. I'm just learning as I go and doing the best I can to make it interesting. Luckily my group is more interested in story than combat.
I'm running a group with new players. One of the players was getting horrible roles all night until he did an arcana check on the Capt. of the Guards cat who the group spent nearly 45 minutes playing with, petting, etc.. He got a nat20. So the Capt.'s cat is now Commander Paws, a chimera pup who was bespelled into a cat form which the other players helped reverse. They don't know why Paws was that way (nor do I) but we'll figure it out. XD
I love dark twists in my campaigns because the people I usually play with are all really familiar with each other and tend to joke around a lot, so the hard hitting stuff hits even harder. My favorite twist I ever did was having a completely silent wizard help out the party and basically point them to what they thought was the solution and the place to further the plot inside of a mine. When the players came back empty-handed from the mine, the wizard had just escaped after razing the city and forest around it, with all life being a pile of ash.
As a new dm, this really helps me with the campaign I'm leading. It's been dim lately, and now I've got some new ideas.
My players were captured by a coven of vampires only to suddenly have one of the "young" vampires be a fan towards one of the players who had a background story of them being part of a band in the past. They had to give a live band performance as an entire group that satisfied the coven despite the one player being the only one with any performance skills or they'd all be eaten. They surprisingly made all the rolls needed to succeed so I didn't have to improvise anything to save them & it was a blast for all of us. They still talk about it to this day & they've learned that if I'm given a background story I'll implement it into my games in some way at a random time.
"Giving them what they guess" is what I use to motivate, and distract, the players. I usually tie it to a character backstories. The party may get super excited about finding out who the warlock's father is that they forget for a bit that they need to stop the ritual or get supplies to the village before it's too late.
Combine that with the story being told in game is about the Villain(s) and all these guesses cause side quests and natural distractions giving the villain(s) time to progress their plans. I try not to let them get too far off plot. Traveling bards, knights or militia marching off to fight, something to remind them they have broader responsibilities.
Always enjoy your videos Guy.
I love the church zombie.. I may need to reskin the Grave Titan coming up in my game.
So.... what kind of moves and stat blocks should I use for this church-zombie? >.>"
Golem.
I know this is a year old but I would say
Evil Construct or Undead || Weakness to Fire & Radiant || 10d10 hit dice + HP equal to the amount of people who have died in it
Has three attacks-
- Slam deals 5d10 dmg and target must make a Dex check if they want to dodge
- Deals the same kind of damage as Thunderclap (or whatever the spell is)
-Pew Pew: Literally launches the pews from inside itself as projectiles. I'm sure there's furniture based damage in the book somewhere
One of my favorite things to do in combat, is make a trick out of pre-combat
"You see a suit of armor on the floor" as my party assumed it was animated armor but THEN they meet a wall of ooze! Took them like 15 minutes trying to get the edge on this thing, but they later found out they never needed it
6:24 "my wrist doesn't rotate that way"
*SURPRISE!!*
This is great advice! My early days of of GMing were burdened by these issues? Everyone is having more fun now, even me!
Give them what they guess is one of the best pieces of advice ever. I can't tell you how many traps/plot twists/special enemies I have conjured up during a smoke break with players in various groups. Often it's the best part of the adventure, and they feel smart for having figured it out.
Personally I try to include a "Chain of Consequence" portion to the mix, every so often you'll have something they did either to themselves or to others coming back around either as a subtle nod that their actions actually did something in the world, sometimes it knocks them on the head though if they happen to let a mid-boss get away or if they caused significant collateral damage in a kingdom or business.
Sometimes it's as subtle as a headline in a newspaper, sometimes it's a street urchin who used to be a noble jadedly glaring in their direction, sometimes it's a two tonne mech suit with an AI core that they were too slow in dealing with and had to abandon the city to it's thralls.
My brother was playing a game where he was a consciousness that leaped from marvel universe to marvel universe and entered different versions of himself to act as a hero. Then one time I made it so he wasn’t himself. He was a skrull disguised as himself with amnesia. The look on his face when he came face to face with himself was perffect
They were fighting a giant 50 story elemental monster by using a dam as a barricade while the either fired at it with magic and artillery or mounted on its back and directly attacked its weakpoints. When its turn came around they told me "Ok so it just breaks through the thing i assume, whats next." While that was my original plan, i thought 'nah, lemme do something else' so i decided to let it fail at breaking through. They had one more turn at excitedly and frantically attacking it thinking they actually had a chance to defeat it. Next turn comes up, theyre on their toes wondering what its doing, so i cant just leave it at "it charges a second time and finally breaks through" so i decide... "Ok, so for a second it looks down and arches its back, then roars a mighty deafening roar. Then, all of a sudden, giant flaming wings sprout out of its back". The looks on their faces made the whole mental gymnastics of coming up with SOMETHING so worth it
Wonderful video, Guy!!!
AND as one of the two PC's chasing the lone orc into the "cantina" full of an army of orcs...
I rushed in right behind the screaming orc, and gave a spirited shout, "BEES!!!"
...chaos ensued... turning from surprise to riot to stampede almost instantly... and nearly bringing that entire block of town to the foundations... as orcs aren't known to be bright (at least not in that region of the world at hand)... and unbeknownst to me, the GM had rolled a "secretive flim-flam check" since I was NOT a bard, nor rogue... passing with apparently a critical success.
This went down in our Table's early list of "running gags" and got occasionally repeated by the rest of the Players of our group nearly ad-nauseum...
Until some years later, when we were in a Star Wars Campaign, and I found myself once again... one of two PC's suddenly chasing a single storm-trooper through the corridors of a large station... only to find an entire regiment in formation around a final dubious corner...
My fellow PC turns as we both skid to a stop, and says, "If you say 'bees', I'm going to smash your rotten head in with this blaster rifle"...
To whit, I shrugged and retorted, "Well, it's not going to work NOW!" and on a quick pivot, I took off in a dead-sprint back the way we'd just come.
Now... admittedly, these aren't exactly exemplar of a GM's use of surprise... BUT there's also no harm done to the game (at least) when a Player takes up the dubious endeavor of surprising the Table with something clever and unique, even if it's somewhat less than optimal (or admirable?). ;o)
BEES!
@@waynesanford2869, ... SPIDERS!!!
...that works too. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 good thinking, I'll use that if I get an opportunity like this
@@waynesanford2869, yeah... the shouting about random "creepy crawlies" thing sort of became a terrible running gag at quite a few tables I've played at...
...it might be "stupid" to all new and epic levels, but playing on the gag practically never failed to get laughs from everyone in the room. ;o)
Once my players were role playing and one of them pissed of the npc they were talking to (an illusionist) so that player had to fight off a bunch of creatures while the others watched and eat popcorn. One of the other players decided to heal the monster he was fighting to! It was great.
One of my players said, "how do you make up quests and characters on the fly? How do you just go with what we do, give us choices and keep making new events on and on?"
Inner monologue: *I'm trying not to be boring* 😰
We were running the old Dragonlance modules (but it's more like a reboot because I've changed so much). In the second adventure, the heroes are on a mission to save a group of children being held captive in an enemy stronghold. Along the way, they walk into this enormous room with a red dragon. She's old, her teeth are chipped, her scales are tarnished. She greets them warmly (no pun intended) and asks what they're doing. They say they're taking the children out for a walk. She seems okay with it until it becomes obvious the heroes are removing all of the children. The dragon starts screaming, "My children! Why are you taking my children?!" (She's delusional and thinks the human children are her children.)
My group LOVED the encounter. They ended up nicknaming her Grandma Dragon and it became the highlight of the adventure. Meanwhile, I always thought it was the cheesiest part of the story. Eh, just go with it, as long as the players are having fun.
I gotta say thanks man, your videos helped me a lot. I just dm'd my first game last night, with my Wife and her cousin playing. It was an awesome time! I'm pretty sure I fudged a few of the rules by accident, but we had a blast which is what it's really all about so I consider it a roaring success,! Thanks for all the tips man!
I think there's one more thing that should be considered. Don't wait for the players to take action. For example, if they are in the middle of town and don't know what to do next, have a random pick pocket grab something, but make it obvious. Use the pick pocket to lead the players where you need to. I actually have a pick pocket rolled up and ready just in case for my games.
As for surprises, there's many. Though, my favorite comes from an ongoing game of Heroes Unlimited. The short of it, the players are locked in a basement by a mutant St Bernard. While investigating, my players found a mutant talking dog that they thought they can trust. Initially, I thought of using the dog for combat. Basically, a talking Kujo with human like hands and above average IQ. One player decided to talk to it, so I made the dog smug and condescending for role play. No combat this time. The dog "agreed" to help them with their investigation. He lead them into a basement they previously examined. When they were in the far corner away from the door, the dog retreated to the door and locked the players in the basement. I figured that they would expect the dog to be loyal to the smugglers and cultists in my game. Instead, they thought it was a wild mutant roaming the property. In a sense, I was more surprised by their decisions then they were of being locked in a basement.
Surprises are fun.
I guess I'm a big time "give them what they guess" DM. I've always thought of it as the "Schrödinger's Dungeon" approach.
One of the best intros so far, speaking acting-wise.
Not to mention that the subject of matter happent to the best of us ))
I try to adapt based on what the party says/does. One particular adaptation I've made, which I'm very happy with how it turned out, is on one part of the adventure, the party ventured to a farm to retrieve something. They found the farm abandoned, but after some searching, found a girl hidden in a closet. She was there to shed some light on the danger the party was in, but some of the members didn't trust her at all. She wasn't designed to be part of the story beyond the current situation, but my players were hell-bent on proving she was evil. They failed due to bad rolls and poorly chosen spells (most of the group is relatively new to d&d), and reluctantly gave up on the idea.
Two sessions later, they are hunting her down after she revealed her true nature, stole the object they retrieved and murdered a city guard that was bringing her and the object to the magister, whom they worked for, while the party was indisposed (actually, imprisoned for horse theft ... One of their many questionable decisions along the way and their first lesson in "Actions Have Consequences"). I had responses such as "You $#@$!! I effing knew it!" and "I told you guys we couldn't trust her!". She makes a wonderful villain that the party loves to hate.
It didn't change the overall story, it just added a shift in focus, for the time being. The general plot and story are still roughly the same, but it organically grew to be more than I originally came up with. And I hope they ignore their fellow players when they say "Don't give any ideas" and keep their visions of doom coming :D
If my players are predicting what I'm going to throw at them (and being bored by the obviousness of it), I don't change it radically. If they need holy water from a church, I'm not making a Dread Church thing, because I have been a player who could figure things out in advance before, and it looks as bad as being super predictable, aka "You only did that because we figured it out."
What would I suggest? Something "subtle"... like the holy water is oozing out of an ancient priest in the undercroft, and the zombies can't get close enough to hurt him but will attempt to snack on anyone who goes down there. I think subtler moves do better than sudden, over the top stuff.
Biggest way to surprise the PCs: you enter the cave and see...a giant banana
Oddly, my players would expect that. Though, they would be cautious of said banana because, knowing me, it may explode or peel itself and reveal a monster.
There are things called cohesion and plausibility. In most cases a giant banana is just random. And silly. And not very plausible. And, depending on the setting, breaks cohesion. Yes, it is a surprise nobody saw comming, but it doesn't add any real value imo.
@@olafmeiner4496
I've made the strangest things cohesive.
@@olafmeiner4496 if the DM adapts it well enough, the party could be hunting a legendary monster with gargantuan teeth and it comes from the skies leading them to a cave thinking "Well, it's probably a bat" no, it's a giant gorilla who is defending his jungle.
@@olafmeiner4496 There's ways to cohesively incorporate a giant banana, just not many where the banana isn't key to the plot.
I've actually had the zombie in the church scenario, the players guessed it, but I decided to screw with the group a bit more. Zombie clerics of Wee Jas, the area was so toxic that the living couldn't stay so these priest stayed and allowed themselves to slip into undeath allowing them to ceaselessly assist those in the area trying to rid it of the corrupting magic. One of the many ways I have enjoyed screwing with paladins for being a stick in the mud.
I think subversion of expectations might be a better way to describe this than surprise. Things don't necessarily need to be strange or shocking, just interesting and different to help hold attention.
And honestly, if "don't give the GM ideas" isn't a regular phrase at the table, you might be doing something wrong.
Adaptability: There was a situation where the players had defeated a huge demon that attacked them first, but instead of trying to kill it off, they started talking to it and convincing it that "eat humans is bad; only eat if they attack you first" and so I ran with that, and they had a demon companion for a while.
Surprise!!
This is honestly such a good channel that I don't want to show my players this, for fear of them learning about my tricks (like "give them what they guess")
Great video. I just started DMming about 3 months ago. I've been playing myself about a year and a half. I always try to make sure my players are having fun, and they have ..so far. I've had them do some crazy things, because I find myself adapting to them a lot.
My fear is, what to do, when my brain locks down, and I have no ideas,but your "Give your players what they're guessing, but bigger or smaller," is brilliant. Takes a lot of the trying to decide what I should give them off my mind.
Great video.
Love it. I'm just starting out. Finished running my first game last week. The adventure had the ghost of a burn victim hiding patiently and quietly in the room where he died. I changed it so that they heard tortured screaming and cries for help. They rushed to the room, feeling around in the thick smoke for the victim, they found his charred lower half. Then the ghost struck, still screaming for help, trapped in his final moments.
Once I know the rules and general stats better, I'd love to do more improvisation as you described. Practice makes better!
I was speed reading the title and misread it as "avoid being a DM" and was like... damn..
Best DM advice ever.
I laughed and laughed at Zombie Church - may your imagination never fail!!!
God I dread being this as a DM, I have been occasionally, but I manage to avoid it most of the time. Just sometimes I get worried I am straying from the rules to far thanks to a bad old friend of mine who was a rule lawyer and burrowed such things into me my first campaign :/ Been getting better at avoiding this as I go on and gain confidence in myself, and with a bit of help from the good ol' GreatGM!
"Give the players what they guess" is always a huge win. It makes the players feel smart and engaged and it makes the DM look smart for the setup.
I'm SO glad I watched this... It really solves an issue I'd been having with an adventure I'm running.
The short of it: they're hunting a bunch of bandits in a jungle, who have an informant: the gatekeeper who keeps records of when merchants go into the jungle, and when they're expected to return. The players are very clearly and obviously outsiders, and they literally told the gatekeeper they were hunting the bandits, before they ever entered the jungle... I think I need to place some more obvious hints. Among other things.
In my campain, my characters had to flee their home that was raided by an evil drow wizard and his forces. Way after the defeated him and took back their hometown they came across an monolith filled with necrotic energy. After exermining it it they found themself back in time at the exact moment where the drow attacked their town. They stepped in to defeat him changing the timeline. The town was never ransacked and all the loved once that had died where alive again. But because they never had to leave their home, they never started adventuring. So when time looped itself up they lost all their character levels. To return to their proper timeline they had to travel back to the monolith and destroy it, before she was able to finish it´s creation. After returning to their own timeline they got there levels back because they becam adventurers after all but for other reasons. Cause they changed time i allowed them to change their character. For example i had a player who was tired of playing a ranger. So in this new timeline he left home to become a wizard instead. Nobody exept the time traveling players is now aware that these people safed the town in the first place.
You are confused now? Ask my players.. We had a blast with this one even if you might argue that time travel does not work that way - or does it?
Subtle flex at the end "I'd respond if I can, but there is simply too many comments to do that." Funny Guy, funny Guy.
The impression in the beginning really hit home. That's how I was the first time I ever ran D&D, trying to run Lost Mine of Phandelver. I felt so bad about my performance that I foreswore using published adventures at all because trying to be true to the adventure keeps me from being present and engaged with the players.
Watching this was great! I'm a relatively new DM, and I switched it up using one of these last week. The big bad villain started to monologue then ran away from then flee. They had no idea what to do, and half the party wanted to pursue immediately! It was great.
This channel is great!! Im currently running a DnD campaign and i am consistently coming back to this channel for tips and tricks to keep it fun and interesting👍
I had a mission in my game that was basically a filler combat mission while I tried to come up with more plot, they PC's had to clear a city graveyard of undead, a bunch of skeletons and zombies, you know, the usual. there was a massive crack in the ground from which came an UNDEAD HYDRA. (Which was promptly destroyed because most of the PC's were level 8 by now). But since it was rather obvious something would be coming out of the massive hole nobody was surprised..
When they moved on and just about finished clearing the graveyard there was just a run down crypt/chapel/tomb building thing, when the players finally got around to opening it up they were faced with a full strength Litch. Which again they utterly destroyed (I think I'm too soft on my players) and found the phylactory but rather than destroying it, they kept it.... Sadly the campaign has died before they've had a chance to unleash their pet litch on their enemies.
Couple of sessions later the first time I did any real damage to the party was again another filler combat mission while one of the payers was away where they faught 2 balors.... (originally was planning to send 4 at them but just sent 2 to see how they held up) and all but 1 of the players DIED. (As in failed saving throws level of dead) thankfully the one remaining PC had a couple of casts of revivify left. (and one granted from their goddess for a favour they would have to repay at some point)
Never make your Adventures TOO serious. They can be dark and gritty, but you need a little bit of fun. For example, the best session of D&D I've ever played was when the DM created the Campaign to literally be Monster House, the plot and setting from the movie! It got even better when my other friend's escape plan was to yeet himself out of the window. He was on the 2nd floor, and was knocked unconscious.
Adaptability is so important. Allow me to give an example of that from my own game this past weekend. My players were exploring an icy cave that held an Ice Elemental at the end of it which was the big boss of this session. I had scattered a few chests around with helpful items for the upcoming boss throughout the cave. The party consisted of a fighter, a bard, and a rogue. The rogue was picking the locks on the chests easily and rather than have them just open the last one as easily as the others, I decided to have the lock frozen solid. I told the players that the only heat source that they had, a torch, would take 10 minutes to thaw since it's been in this cave for a while. Meanwhile, the longer they were in the cave, the more they'd have to make constitution saves to combat the ever increasing cold. The players decided to use their torch to thaw it and in that time, out came a giant enemy spider and attacked them. Did I plan for that to happen? Absolutely not, but I did not want the game to be boring and unchallenging since they were just going to a place to get these helpful items and that's it. So adaptability made the experience more memorable for the players... even something as small as having a giant spider come out of nowhere to attack them as they thawed a lock.
I'm glad Katherine made it in the end. Rock on, man! Great content.
The False TPK is one of my favourite surprises. Very reliable way to make sure the players are paying attention.
In a terminator/mad max esque setting, the PCs approached a construction site of the enemy. They scouted a few guards and snuck up to take a first shot. Little did they know that the guards were decoys, and all of the robotic construction equipment came to life attacking them. The best was the crane that swung a hook to grab players after it hit them flinging them 50 feet high and 50 feet away.
Oof