16:00 - my players love to stop the game to just have character development interactions with 1-on-1 or 3-PC convos going on, some on audio and some written out. Sometimes I would get frustrated about the lack of motion and progress in the game, but I realized this is what they want to do and it's a lot of what excites them. No reason to limit that. Plus, means I typically overprepare for sessions because they spend 1+ hours just chatting it up.
Also helpful hearing it is not ultimately my responsibility for individual players having fun. I have said this to my group, but I still feel a lot of pressure to "deliver" a fun game each week. I guess it's more accurate to say it's my job to create an interesting setting and opportunities for fun, and then it's up to the players to seize those.
Sorry to be off topic but does someone know of a trick to get back into an instagram account? I was dumb lost the account password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me.
From my pre first DMing campaign point of view, I think if u dont understand that its not YOUR world, u should never be DM. You are here to give some fun to the players, and so have fun yourself, not the opposite.
Castle I highly disagree.. I am a DM.. and I am at the table to have fun. Why would I run a game I Feel is boring? I wouldn't. As a DM you have to have Some expectations. You are writing the story and that story has to have Some boundaries and a frame. There is Nothing wrong in expecting something from your players to make it fit into your story.
Wow. There's sooooo much to say to new DMs. - Keep all your notes and plans to point form. Things change too much to write more than that. - Create a few plug-and-play encounters for when you either run short on ideas or the players suddenly derail. - Get used to improv. Every DM needs to flex their improvisation muscles as much as possible. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. - Develop a good poker face. When the players find an end-route around your master puzzle, never let them see you sweat. - Learn how to leave them hanging. Set up an exciting moment at the end of a session or - if it's the main part of your session, set up the moment then leave the table to get a drink or a snack, or go use the washroom. The players will have that "NOT NOW" vibe and will immediately go into overdrive on planning. This gives you time to calm down and let the players biild the tension for themselves. - Develop little tricks to put them on edge. Very occasionally...roll a die behind the screen, raise and eyebrow, and record scribbles on paper. It means nothing, but metagaming players will go nuts. Or ask what a payer's "passive perception" score is. I Or use lots of vague terms. Words like "seems", "appears", "might be", and other vagaries create paranoia and give you time to think. - If you're not one to do voices and faces that's fine. Speech patterns and gestures are just as good. I once used a pen behind the screen as a talking animated sword. After a while the players stopped looking at me and started looking at the pen I was holding. - Know when to break. Perhaps a player character died unexpectedly, and the player is upset. Perhaps something went very wrong. Who knows. Sometimes breaking early from a game in such circumstances gives everyone a chance to diffuse, and gives you time to think. - Keep things simple. During a session zero, I'll ask each player for a few defining sentences on their character. I've had players hand me 20 page backgrounds before - that's just not getting read. Ask your players things like short term goals, long term goals, their defining moment, maybe a secret or a flaw. They can do a LOT with that. Feel fee to do this one-on-one with each player. In secret if desired. - Collaborate with players on creating things when you can. Have them name some NPCs or towns. Players tend to remember what they name, and it makes them feel like part of the process. - Use monsters in new ways. Just because the giants in the monster manual throw boulders doesn't mean they can't bowl them. Just because the Giant Hyenas in the book don't have two heads doesn't mean that Yeenoghu didn't make a few. Re-skin and alter some beasts to keep things fresh. It's your world - play with it, not just in it. - Set clear expectations from the get go. Let them know who you are and how you DM. I always start my session zero with the following credo: "I may save you from a bad roll. I might save you from a monster. I refuse to save you from yourselves." I let them know that they have the choice for any attack roll against them to be rolled in the open if they so choose (instead of behind the screen). I also tell them that I tend to follow the rules for things that are known, but I'm open to input for interpretations, and I'm willing to wing it for all the unknowns. Cool wins over rule, but rule beats drool. If the idea is obviously abusive or dumb (throwing a glass of water on a raging ettin because "that will calm him down." - don't laugh. I've seen that tried. And it took her 20 minutes to come up with that one) - And for crying out loud, have fun. If you or any of your players aren't having fun, do something else. It could be burn out or boredom, or maybe some underlying factors the players aren't going to talk about (family stress, job, etc.)
I love it when players name an NPC, it's like an insta-bond :D During one of the side quests, my players freed a captive slave. Turned out, he didn't have a name. So the party decided to name him Cucumber. Several months in - and their buddy Cucumber the Unchained founded his fighter academy and became a strong ally of the group, helping them during sieges :D
I almost stopped playing D&D because of the DM of my first session. The party members were not allowed to talk EVER, unless it was to the DM. Ontop of that, he heavily pushed our choices, until it was just us rolling dice for the actions he wanted. If you questioned him or talked out of turn, he would screw over your character. He was mad that I talked during setup, so he took my character's traits and made sure that my stats were the complete opposite. My character was a clumsy rogue with no charisma or athletics. When investigating, even when I rolled a 19, it some how backfired and paralyzed my character. I litterally rage quit the champaign after one session. I tried it again a year later, when a college buddy recommended that I join the champaign her boyfriend was running. I'm glad I did, because I got to see how D&D SHOULD be played and I'm hooked. I did learn a valuable lesson though. D&D is only as fun as the characters allow it to be. Don't block creativity, every person brings a new perspective to the table, so let them speak their minds. It's the DM's job to guide conversations, not to dictate them.
Well, Oboe Shoes, there are different schools of thought on "who" or "what" made thumbnails, or if they were "made" at all but rather came about naturally over countless years of evolution. For instance, those who hold to the concept of Intelligent Design would argue that..... ohhhhh. _Those_ thumbnails. Um... Yes. You're right.
28:19 "You are not responsible for the player's fun" I actually really appreciate that you acknowledge that the players have to bring their own fun to the game rather than just looking for the DM to automatically provide that to them. There's more of a friendly communication with role playing that I personally find much more enjoyable and that you are talking about. I like the laid back style more than the hard core number crunching. Thank you for bringing it up.
This and the previous one are one of the best. I constantly come back here, back to basics to remember what i'm forgetting. These are gems, these and Jim and Pruitt playing with dragons, that is a masterpiece of the media.
Something I wish I'd heard early on: more than just connections, the Whole Group would benefit if they had a Shared piece of Glue, i.e. something other than just "I know Bob", but a Shared Goal like "we work for The Man", "we are part of the Builder's Guild, and we want to be crowned Platinum Builders", "we all want to get fabulously rich" or whatever - something that will actually help these noobs Work Together (even if the PC's are old friends, siblings or whatever, their goals can easily diverge and they can easily fall out - shared goals are much stronger glue). The glue is separate from the campaign premise, although obviously they shouldn't be at great odds.
On fudging: I really, REALLY hate killing PCs in random encounters that have little to no impact on the story as a whole. When it comes to plot-centric encounters I won't pull punches, but nobody shows up to d&d to play as Boromir
Boromir was the character with the most depth in Lotr, honestly if someone called my character the Boromir of the party I'd consider it a huge compliment, but only if they know a lot about lord of the rings ;p
I ended pulling a borimir in a campaign once. Was playing a ranger in a party of three. Picked a fight with a bandit group at a low level. Needless to say the bandit leader was in the pack. Covered the retreat of the other two party members. Went down swinging ( well shooting) managed to kill three bandits, last kill I had only one hp left. Then the bandit leader finished my pin cushion costume.
To be honest, there is nothing cohesive about this argument. Boromir absolutely did not die to a random encounter with no impact on story. Those orcs didn't just *happen* upon the party, they were physically Tracked Down and Attacked by a known and present threat, and following that war band led the remainder of the party to one of the biggest battles in the trilogy. That sounds remarkably like a planned encounter to me. In D&D terms, it was probably even a multi-part encounter of deadly difficulty. In the book there was very little detail about how it actually happened, but we can assume that there were wave upon wave of common orcs, each led by an uruk (read: Orog), with a final battle of mostly uruks. Now, that being said, I'd still want the player to be on board with this before springing something like that on him, perhaps because he has to leave the game and wants to do it with a bang, or perhaps because he has a character from an earlier campaign who is now needed for whatever reason and his current character wouldn't just walk away.
The way a player sees their character nobly sacrificing themselves is pretty different than if a random low CR thing one-shots you with a crit though, right? Valtur here seems to be overly nitpicky when the intent of OPs statement was clear.
Running a kick in the doors dungeon delve with a social manipulator character. The kobolds are now peace loving, the Ogres have been scammed and the owlbears have emotional quandries. Players are making me work! It's pretty great.
I love games like that. I always leave options like that open: If the PCs just want to go into the dungeon and kill all the enemies and take all their treasure - awesome! If they want to make a treaty with the hobgoblins to help them get rid of the bugbears, which leads to an encounter with the underground wizards' guild, who have been using the bugbears as guards to protect from the even more dangerous dungeon monsters, and the wizards are willing to sell maps to the hobgoblins' hidden treasure, etc. - also cool!
Sometimes it's okay to say 'This monster wants you dead, and it is not smart enough to care what you roll to persuade it', not at all saying you shouldn't listen to your players, but sometimes it is okay to say 'this monster is to dumb and hungry for what your trying to do'
I love the rule of cool. I've let a young player who is playing a bard do a "chidori" from the anime Naruto as a Thunderwave instead of just doing the default spell. Seeing his eyes light up as I explained the giant spider exploding from the inside of the impact. Rule of cool is my favorite way to focus on the the fun aspects of the game.
JPruInc It's actually suitable for you guys. You have enough banter and personality that I think we should get the unbridled wrath of you two. Aside, it would be cool to see you experiment with longer videos and/or stuff showing up on screen... although give us a warning because I usually have WebDM on podcast mode.
+B.D. Sharples there is only one deity of Toril you wretch of an infidel! So splendid the reign of the 5 headed empress of the elements be! Long live Tiamat!
Me and my friends will start to play DnD soon, i have never played before but its starting to look like i'll be the DM, going to study for this shit harder than my exams
Web DM Yeah i pretty much religiously watch Critical Role at the moment. Although i imagine using Matt Mercer as my standard isnt the smartest option. I have about 2 months to prepare the story, and i mostly finished the ground work a few days ago for my own fantasy world, just have to learn how to actually DM.
@@davidconley3734 I learned a lot from Matt Mercer that I think makes me a better GM. But not the accents or acting or even storytelling... I paid attention every time there was a rule conflict and how he handled that. Him reminding his players how certain spells or sneak attack worked drilled it into my own head. How he made mistakes and corrected (or acknowledged) them the next session. Maybe its just how my brain works but I picked up more about the rules watching them play while also enjoying and recognizing the entertainment value. Happy playing!
In my group, at Session 0, it is a little backwards. My players ask what kind of game I want to run. They are fairly good at staying on the story that I prep. I definitely try and ask what their characters goals are to incorporate; but, they are more concerned about a good story before anything else. In fact the newest campaign I am running, it took us 3 sessions before we had a single combat scenario. The combat based folks were able to stay engaged on their own initiative.
The players stay on track haha It probably has to deal the players personalities and their way of playing. There are things you can do to help keep them on track, but their are lines too that can get passed. I mainly try and find holes in their own actions that could coincide with my plans for the central story. Use their actions to grow and adapt your plan, but not subvert it! :)
I have been following WebDM for about 6 months now. and I have only now subscribed. I'm sorry for the delay, but thank you so much for all that you guys have put out!
You guys always help me be a better DM, i ran my 6th session last night of my own homebrew adventure and setting. I have never played DnD before i ran my first game, and the 2 of you helped me immensely
Series of New DM Tips? I'm sold! Honestly, this is one of your best Videos yet. As a DM where I mainly started DMing Six months ago I had to learn a few of these things on my own, another number of them I learned by playing in someone elses Precious setting on their railroads til I ended up half jumping off. And yet even though I learned a lot of these the hard way there were still a good number of good game ideas I hadn't run into yet, but logically listening to it it sounds top notch advice.
So glad you guys are getting much deserved success! Always look forward to Wednesdays and big thank you to all involved that take the time to create these videos.
I am about to dm for the first time for my 2 friends, one who has played once and the other not at all. I wanted to thank you for this information as it honestly answers almost all my questions and worry’s I had and helped put some other content in. in case they don’t follow where I need them too
Great video for new DMs! Could you guys make a video or two where we go through the process of prepping a new campaign with the first adventure or two? That would be so helpful!
Fudging for Story Necessity isn't bad. Sometimes you need a single thing to happen. Now if you're fudging all the time, whether for or against the Players, it becomes an issue.
Just found this channel - really great stuff! Im a teacher and I feel that your way of running d&d is like what I think is good teaching. Listen to each other and find out what makes people motivated, learn from each other and create the story together, set a goal together and dont give the answers instead let the players find out as they go! A very mature way of role playing I think! Subscribing!
As someone who is just about to start being a DM for a new group (none of us have played) this series has been incredibly useful for me. Thank you very much!
Cannot state it enough. Never tell your PCs how they feel. My DM did it to my player one time, and I flat out told him no I don't. This is my rationale. Let me tell you how I feel.
New DM here. I agree that in the middle of the game I would never dictate my player's feelings or thoughts, however in my last game I did obtain pre-session consent to take a small liberty with one of my player's emotions. She had almost died in a combat the week before and I wanted to use her anxiety over the event, it was the first time she has been knocked unconscious, to play into a narrative element that she was not going to be aware of.
@@kevinwheeler7427 that's fine because you had consent. You're not taking agency away from your players. I had a DM tell me my character was intimidated by someone killing a monster which is against my characters build. My character was an oath of vengeance paladin. He's not gonna be intimidated by much.
I quit a game after half a session, not because the GM told me how my character feels, but told me what my character does. Her: "You go in the building." Me: "I don't want to go in the building." Her: "You go in the building and see a glowing rock. You touch the rock." Me: "What? No, I don't; why would I?" Her: "You touch the rock and are teleported to a dungeon. You are chained to the wall and naked. You are going to be tortured." Me: "Bye. I'm not playing this game."
Mathew Corvill talks about that last bit as well. Don't take away a players agency. He gives an example when he did this early on to his players, what happened after and resulted in a character dying. He points out what he would have done differently. When. I think back to some of my later sessions I feel I might have done what your second last point was about deciding what characters feel. I never intended to take that from them, but thanks to this video I will definitely be more aware of stopping myself from doing that.
I remember doing that once. I had the party show up at a village that looked abandoned, they got ambushed, and I said they all got captured, so that I could bring them into the leaders lair. What I should have done was NOT run combat, and describe this all out of game, as background.
It's why I always defend "My Character wouldn't do that". Never FORCE a Player, he knows his Character better than anyone. If that means not taking an action, and that action leads to a TPK... well, that happens. The better outcome is the player finding a good compromise, "I won't do that... but this might help". I hate it when DMs get upset at a Player for keeping to the Character's Morales. That's part of the Story. Does this guy break his will? Or does he stand firm, despite Death being a consequence? They are not your Characters... the NPCs are. DMs shouldn't try to 'control' the PCs... that's the job of the Players. It's a good rule to learn and understand, one that many 'Epic GMs' don't grasp.
TheClimbTo1 I agree, Players know their character and know what they would do. I played an LG paladin once and our party was in a town where the mayor was in his house and most of the town was gathered outside his house. DM wanted us to break in and investigate the house, and I had to repeatedly say that my LAWFUL GOOD character would not willing break the law. I had to talk out of character and explain that as far as my paladin knew, the mayor was innocent and just chilling in his house. Find probable cause to justify breaking and entering and my paladin would go along, but an angry mob is not probable cause. It was really frustrating to have the whole party telling me that I needed to make my character do something fundamentally against his personality without giving an organic reason.
Hi guys. First off, every single video I have watched to this point has been great. Recently I have found myself rewatching some of your new DM/session 0 episodes such as this one. I started DMing a Curse of Strahd campaign with some friends and it is my first time. I was hoping to get some advice or even a video about running a Curse of Stahd campaign. I'm sure I am not the first or only one who has requested that kind of video. Thank you!
I have watched this video 3 times now, going on my forth. Thank you for making this video! Very informative, entertaining, and has given me inspiration to work off of the kernels of gold that are provided to make a session 0 go well. I will definitely be using these methods in an upcoming campaign!
You guys are THE BEST, this video was much needed cope in dealing with "My Precious Setting Syndrome". It feels good to know that I do not have to go crazy before the next session.
Played a few sessions as a PC and about to enter my first time as a DM at my college. I’m starting with Storm King’s Thunder! Thanks for the video guys!
I've never really wanted to DM. Well, each of the classes videos made me wanna play each of these classes, and the same goes for this video, it did make me DM. I'll be DMing a horror adventure in Ravenloft, based on Curse of Strahd cause I have played it but I don't have the book so I will get that setting and plan some things.
DMd my first PF game last night, with four first time players. They loved it, I loved it, and we used 90% of my prepared material. Watching the dungeon crawl unfold in an unplanned yet spectacular way was very satisfying.
You guys should consider going to two videos a week! I realize that would probably make the personal schedules busier. But a week is a long time to wait, and I could listen to you guys talk for hours. In fact I used to before I binged every episode and caught up :0
love this new dm series! has tips for seasoned ones too! I believe giving this kind of tips is much more enjoyable than talking about rules. you have a fan in me!
I wish I heard the part about having the party be pre-established ahead of time. Currently dealing with the party asking "why are we traveling together" after leaving the starter town even though we did session 0 and I vetted backstories to make sure personalities and motivations lined up decently well. I'm going to be transparent next session and layout all their options and try and encourage party unity in-game.
Damn Davies, that description around 26:30 about the first campaign is exactly how I'm doing for my first homebrew campaign! That's so cool! :) ... or well the 2nd attempt at my first campaign, first one met an unfortunate end due to some mistakes.. so many mistakes. But we had fun, haha
I love you guys and all the information that you provide. It always opens my eyes to something new, always teaches me more intimately about the game I'm trying to play, and always has pertinent, relevant information. However, in DnD I face a major issue. I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons with anyone who is actually well-versed in the game. I don't know anybody who has become intimately involved with 5e or anything like that, and I don't know any of the other editions. It's been difficult trying to learn this edition, and I've been trying for nearly 2 years now to get a good DnD party and session going. I've attempted to try and run *several* campaigns, and I've been attempting to DM each and every time. I've always done something wrong, and everything always falls apart for one reason or another. This is the first time I've ever been introduced to the idea of "session 0," so maybe that's been the largest issue. I just seem to think that my lack of experience with the game and how it's played is my main issue. I've watched and followed several groups *play* the game, but I've never been intimately involved, I don't know what it's like away from the table or anything like that, and I want to know if there's some sort of guide you guys could make for people like me. I don't even know what advice to look for or that would be pertinent to someone like me, but I'm sure you guys could think of something. Sorry for the long comment and post, and I'm sorry to bother you boys, but I have a deep seated drive to play/run the game, and I feel as though maybe the only way I'll ever find out what I need is to ask.
My thought processes aren't very organized in this comment, so please excuse the sort of "scatter-brained" feel to it. TL;DR New DM, trying to run sessions, they fall apart and aren't good, disjointed, not good, what do?
The consequences of encounters is pure gold. so many times I have been caught flat footed by introducing my players to NPCs that don't help them and combats that i only thought about the CR balance. best episode I have seen on this channel
I'm newer to DMing and I have a homebrew one I've been doing, and I'm about to start Curse of Strand for my long time friend group. Been watching all the vampire videos, and related videos by you guys for tips. It really helps!
Guys, this video was fantastic. I am transitioning from DMing Rise of Tiamat into a Pugmire game, and have been having a little bit of anxiety about creating a campaign of my own. I absolutely love the idea of an "emergent campaign," and will definitely be taking that to heart while my party emBARKs on their next adventure! (heh heh, dog pun!) Thank you so much for all you do, your videos entertain & give such great knowledge & insight.
I've been watching webDM for a while, you guys hooked my since the first video of yours. The format is so comfortable to listen to while doing other things. I'd really like to see fan-made draws in the background (I miss the old manuals monster art there). Those white panels are screaming to be filled with art.
Dog Fight Game - Ace of Aces. An old game about WWI fighter planes. It was 2 picture books, with each page showing the view of your opponent from your cockpit. You'd each choose a maneuver (L/R bank, hard turn, climb, dive, Immelman...) which would send each to a new page until someone got shot down or got away. Not an RPG, but very cool by itself or as an adjunct to an RPG.
We usually had two characters each: an 8-character party. Then, if a character gets killed or kidnapped or whatever, the player still has something to do.
One exception to the whole "Don't tell the players how their characters feel" rule: sometimes, they'll straight up ask you. The Insight skill is a sort of legitimate way for the player to say, "I don't really know what my character, who grew up in this world that we've only seen for X sessions, would feel or think in response to this. Can I make a roll?" As DM, it's your call whether or not to allow the Insight check, sure. But if a player asks for it, they're often telling you they need more guidance.
Always give a back story for each character that puts them together and a reason to be doing the adventure. Yes, it takes a little away from the players, but its better to do it prior to the game than during game play when your forcing the players to do something they normally wouldn't. Examples are letters from teachers or relatives, hired to guard a merchant, a prophetic dream, ext. I usually find my players adopt the back ground and it allows me to use it later.
You guys are fantastic. I would kill for the chance to play with you guys! I've DMed a handful of sessions, but sadly I've never played myself. Really looking forward to the day I finally can :)
Having that one connection with another player from the start is SO great. In my first roll20 campaign the Ranger in my party said that he and my character (Cleric) had been traveling together for a week or two, and had established a friendly relationship. I didn't have a lot of experience with making decisions in-character so it was really great to be able to kind of latch onto somebody. We had 3 other party members, most of whom I didn't know at all in real life, so it's nice to be able to default to "oh I'll follow THIS guy" and it can also be a great entry-point to figuring out the party social dynamics.
TheK3vin it's always good for a more experienced player to take a newer player in, not just as players, but also as characters. Can be weird figuring out who your character would be friends with when you first start playing
The buddy system is good. Say you have 3 experienced players and 3 rookies The sorcerer looks after the wizard, the barbarian keeps an eye on the rogue and the druid guides the ranger. Works well.
FATE/Harry Dresden does this Session 0 VERY well. I use the "connections" idea during my session 0's. I have the PC's write down their basic background info, then write a paragraph about what got them into adventuring... their "Level 0" adventure that made them now a Level 1 character. I then have them hand their background page to the player on their left and have that player fill out a "guest star" item. How did you guest star in the previous characters Level 0 adventure. Hand it to the left one more time, fill out a 2nd guest star spot and then one final time. That way, with a party of 4 they all now know how they all met as they guest starred in each other's Level 0 adventure. My current groups (I DM for 2 different groups where I am the only overlapping member... it is wonderful have so many active gamers near me!) have 6 pc's each, so there are 2 pc's that everybody didn't get to guest star in, but the know them all tangentially. It really works and helps avoid that trope of "you are all in a bar when the old widow Withers runs in saying she heard a noise in the basement." They all are familiar with 2/3rds of the rest of the party before the first dice are rolled.
I have a good railroad DM story. We had just leveled up the previous session and a few days before the next session I realized I could learn the teleportation circle spell. I emailed the group (including the DM) to give them a heads up about my intentions. Now my character didn't know the sigil sequence for the place we were going but no worries, we were at a monastery with a massive library. So the TWO wizards with maxed out INT went and looked up the sigil for where we were going. I think we rolled mid 20's on both the arcana check to research the sigil and draw it out properly. We step in the circle and boom, we are in a completely different place than intended that is overrun with undead. We spent the entire session fighting them off before teleporting back to the monastery. At the end of the session the player of the other wizard asked the DM: "Would that have happened regardless of how high we rolled?" The DM replied "yep, that's what happens when you mess with God's plans." What a dick. I left that group a couple months later over a dispute that arose when my PC decided to leave the group and I was in the process of rerolling a new character. Don't regret it.
if you have a clear starting location/event for your adventure, share it with your players before you begin - it will help your players to come up with character motivations to simply have to answer the question "why is my character here?" as a group. It will help flesh out backgrounds, character relationships (if they know each other already or not especially),and will help everyone 'buy in' to the setting much better than being thrown that curveball right when they sit down to play. e.g. if the PCs begin traveling in a caravan, as a player i'd have to answer: "why am I here? where did I join this caravan from, and what is my destination? is the reason for my traveling urgent - am I traveling towards or away from trouble? do I know the region we're traveling through well, or am I a stranger to these parts? am I a wealthy passenger, or the hired protection in the rear of the wagon train?" etc. It's a great way for DMs to preview what their players are gonna be interested in doing/exploring in the first session so that you can work those into your planned content, and it helps avoid hand-waivey or half assed "you're all in a tavern/locked room/campsite because reasons" openings.
I know this post is from a while ago, but I wish I had read this before starting my current campaign. Being a brand new DM, I fretted for days on how to start up a campaign where basically the players are thrown into a situation with no knowledge before hand. While I feel I came up with a decent reason, it still led to many questions from the players that I had to come up with random answers to as to why they particularly would be in that situation. (The empire is at war, and the players were gang pressed into being sailors for the royal navy against their choice). If I had informed them ahead of time how it would start, and got them to answer those questions for me. It would not only have increased player buy in, but also avoided that awkward situation of "Well.. lets not focus too much on the details and move on". Loving all these videos as well as all the helpful comments people have submitted! 💕
Plus then you don’t end up like we did. Our DM did no session zero. We came to the table with a monkey rogue, a character that specializes in necrotic damage and a cleric to a dark god. Turns out we were in the Witcher world. Gods don’t talk to mortals (EVER) and nobody really believes in them. The monkey was hated and assumed to be a demon, and everything was resistant or immune to necrotic damage. It was not fun
I'd love to see an episode focused on using playtest material in a game. I'm running a game now with the revised Ranger and an Artificer and I could use (and I'm sure other DMs could too) a helpful video with tips and suggestions on how to manage that. Also, love the show!
Yeah, I feel like not having a session zero was a bit of a mistake for me. My party consists of an Aasimar artificer, Tabaxi ranger (I think), Dwarven monk, Tiefling sorcerer and Tiefling warlock. I hope this isn't much of a problem
Same thing here, ended up with a Kistune bard, a Vanarin monk, a dwarven pirate rogue, a tiefling assassin child rogue, and a standard half-orc barbarian. They don't behave well in society but other than that it's been great
@@unclevivid9028 fell apart when I had to leave college and move across the country. Had some bumps but not too bad. Most or all of the sessions are up on my UA-cam channel, but I would not reccomend watching lol
32:42 I know that look/remark all too well (where the DM is all "how many hit points you got" and you know your character's in trouble). Happened during session 4 in the campaign I was in when a monster attacked my wizard and the DM said in that exact tone, "what's your AC?" and I was all "uhhhh... 10" and he responded with "well, sucks to be you" ...turns out the monster rolled a 10 on the attack roll and did 10 damage, bringing my wizard down to 1HP.
Session 0. Game explanation (Setting, Rules, etc.). Character Creation. Explanation of Starting Scene (i.e. "You guys will all be at Yule's Tavern and Inn, please include some Backstory that delivers you there). Session 1 should be 'First Play'.
You can also keep the plot hook going in the background. That goblin fire cult that was raiding farms that the PCs didn't deal with? Well, they just took over a small village. Eventually, the stuff that the PCs don't deal with with be dealt with by someone else (and they get all the credit and glory) or it'll spiral so far out of control that they end up having to deal with it or they'll just end up encountering it on their own!
I'm going to start running a group in 5 days. I have only dm'ed 3 times 9 years ago. There's gonna be 6 players and i'm so nervous. Your videos help me prepare. Thanks.
I've DMed from quite a while (off and on) and I thought the discussion was useful. Hopefully I'll be able to follow this advice in the heat of the moment.
As a DM your job is to give challenges. As a Player, their job is to solve those challenges. HOW they do so is up to them. As a DM your job is to create a world. As a Player, their job is to tell the story of their Character in that World. Your world can have over-arching stories in it... and it should... but your making a canvas, the players are painting on it.
My current game is based in a megacity and I told my players that in advance. The party we ended up with is heavily charisma based which is excellent for the setting I made. I gave them a three page lore dump which only one of them read. To encourage them to get into the world a bit more, occasionally when they remember a piece of lore I give them inspiration.
Session 0 is a little different for my group. My players usually travel a bit of a distance to play in person, so I run session 0 with each of my players separately, usually over FaceTime or something. Then I let them create their character over the next week or so, then we meet up and I do a .5 session where we talk, I do an opening monologue about the setting and area they are starting, and the adventure starts. Often times I don’t open them up as a group, where they just introduce themselves, but I add them to the game one by one, or as separate groups - especially if they don’t know each other, or are meeting up without much detail. The first quest usually appeals to all of their motivations, so it draws them into a full group.
Not sure if you guys have gone over it, but if not, do you have any tips on mapmaking for campaigns? Things like what to include, what to use, and how to make it feel natural
I am starting my campaign this Saturday, I am doing an Evil/Morally Grey game, I told the players that they can make their characters (aside from the stats) at home, then I told them the only thing I require is that they all got one of their children kidnapped a few years ago, and so in order to cope with the loss, they are all a part of the same 'support group'. And that is how they know each other (aside from living in the same village).
Around 27 minutes you guys said that if the players start pulling on a plot thread they probably won't go on a tangent... That's exactly what my group does. They start down one path, then remember something else they heard or started and go running off. With my group I found it's more useful to know what other entries are doing because my players are pure chaos.
Been ages since I played any sort of P&P so not sure if this counts as fudging. I pitted a level 1 party against a custom monster which was basically a large vat of HP that didn't do much for the first few rounds as it slowly descended from the ceiling. They fought in a partially collapsed building and the creature (a sedan sized juvenile giant silkworm) had covered the entire place in sticky webs which the players had to avoid (constantly having to roll spot as they moved about). The Barbarian in the party rolled a 1 on an attack so I worked it in as he lost grip of his weapon and it flew through the air making a secondary attack on the creature (which it critted). He was unable to retrieve his axe and got himself stuck to the creature in the process. The Wizard got himself tangled up in the webs, unable to do much while the Fighter desperately tried to get him down. At this time the worm had touched down and began spitting acid at random party members. The Rogue slid his dagger across the ground to the Barbarian between shots from his crossbow and finally after a frenzy of knife blows the worm went limp. All new players, all had beaming smiles. Even the ones who didn't get to do much in the encounter. There really wasn't much danger but I think all the mechanics of the fight kept everyone engaged.
What do I do about players who don't take any hints and always default to combat to solve problems? Like I'm running Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and I've mentioned 3 times that in the keep they see groups of healers taking care of injured villagers, to suggest that they try to get some healing themselves, but they keep ignoring that and continuing with low health. I constantly try to give detail that would give the players numerous options for encounters, and even make sure to start off enemies with dialogue but the players still default to attacking, and then some of them have complained to me that there's too much combat
Jim or Pruitt, what should I do if my players really want to play, but they burn themselves out so fast; you can tell they are bored in the first 30 min, no matter how well I try to make it interesting. Also can you make a video on how campaigns can become a planer, I've really tried but it never really works out to well. You guys are awesome. Thanks for making this video it helps a lot!
Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm
Where did you find your DM screen? It's AWESOME?
16:00 - my players love to stop the game to just have character development interactions with 1-on-1 or 3-PC convos going on, some on audio and some written out. Sometimes I would get frustrated about the lack of motion and progress in the game, but I realized this is what they want to do and it's a lot of what excites them. No reason to limit that. Plus, means I typically overprepare for sessions because they spend 1+ hours just chatting it up.
Also helpful hearing it is not ultimately my responsibility for individual players having fun. I have said this to my group, but I still feel a lot of pressure to "deliver" a fun game each week. I guess it's more accurate to say it's my job to create an interesting setting and opportunities for fun, and then it's up to the players to seize those.
" . . . there's a meat pie and it's halfling . . . " LOL
Sorry to be off topic but does someone know of a trick to get back into an instagram account?
I was dumb lost the account password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me.
"The minute session 0 starts it is no longer just your world" An absolute truth. Something every DM should understand
n Linggod it was the hardest lesson for me to learn.
Same. Took me a few games and a a lot of hair torn in frustration. :D
I ran 2 semester long campaigns before I realized this. Probably the most important rule I've learned since I started.
From my pre first DMing campaign point of view, I think if u dont understand that its not YOUR world, u should never be DM. You are here to give some fun to the players, and so have fun yourself, not the opposite.
Castle I highly disagree.. I am a DM.. and I am at the table to have fun. Why would I run a game I Feel is boring? I wouldn't.
As a DM you have to have Some expectations. You are writing the story and that story has to have Some boundaries and a frame.
There is Nothing wrong in expecting something from your players to make it fit into your story.
Wow. There's sooooo much to say to new DMs.
- Keep all your notes and plans to point form. Things change too much to write more than that.
- Create a few plug-and-play encounters for when you either run short on ideas or the players suddenly derail.
- Get used to improv. Every DM needs to flex their improvisation muscles as much as possible. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
- Develop a good poker face. When the players find an end-route around your master puzzle, never let them see you sweat.
- Learn how to leave them hanging. Set up an exciting moment at the end of a session or - if it's the main part of your session, set up the moment then leave the table to get a drink or a snack, or go use the washroom. The players will have that "NOT NOW" vibe and will immediately go into overdrive on planning. This gives you time to calm down and let the players biild the tension for themselves.
- Develop little tricks to put them on edge. Very occasionally...roll a die behind the screen, raise and eyebrow, and record scribbles on paper. It means nothing, but metagaming players will go nuts. Or ask what a payer's "passive perception" score is. I
Or use lots of vague terms. Words like "seems", "appears", "might be", and other vagaries create paranoia and give you time to think.
- If you're not one to do voices and faces that's fine. Speech patterns and gestures are just as good. I once used a pen behind the screen as a talking animated sword. After a while the players stopped looking at me and started looking at the pen I was holding.
- Know when to break. Perhaps a player character died unexpectedly, and the player is upset. Perhaps something went very wrong. Who knows. Sometimes breaking early from a game in such circumstances gives everyone a chance to diffuse, and gives you time to think.
- Keep things simple. During a session zero, I'll ask each player for a few defining sentences on their character. I've had players hand me 20 page backgrounds before - that's just not getting read. Ask your players things like short term goals, long term goals, their defining moment, maybe a secret or a flaw. They can do a LOT with that. Feel fee to do this one-on-one with each player. In secret if desired.
- Collaborate with players on creating things when you can. Have them name some NPCs or towns. Players tend to remember what they name, and it makes them feel like part of the process.
- Use monsters in new ways. Just because the giants in the monster manual throw boulders doesn't mean they can't bowl them. Just because the Giant Hyenas in the book don't have two heads doesn't mean that Yeenoghu didn't make a few. Re-skin and alter some beasts to keep things fresh. It's your world - play with it, not just in it.
- Set clear expectations from the get go. Let them know who you are and how you DM. I always start my session zero with the following credo:
"I may save you from a bad roll.
I might save you from a monster.
I refuse to save you from yourselves."
I let them know that they have the choice for any attack roll against them to be rolled in the open if they so choose (instead of behind the screen). I also tell them that I tend to follow the rules for things that are known, but I'm open to input for interpretations, and I'm willing to wing it for all the unknowns.
Cool wins over rule, but rule beats drool. If the idea is obviously abusive or dumb (throwing a glass of water on a raging ettin because "that will calm him down." - don't laugh. I've seen that tried. And it took her 20 minutes to come up with that one)
- And for crying out loud, have fun. If you or any of your players aren't having fun, do something else. It could be burn out or boredom, or maybe some underlying factors the players aren't going to talk about (family stress, job, etc.)
Excellent advice, Mike!
With all that written you could do your own video ;D
I love it when players name an NPC, it's like an insta-bond :D
During one of the side quests, my players freed a captive slave. Turned out, he didn't have a name. So the party decided to name him Cucumber. Several months in - and their buddy Cucumber the Unchained founded his fighter academy and became a strong ally of the group, helping them during sieges :D
These are all GREAT advices. I just had to copy-pasted them on my computer so I can remember them. Thank you!
i have pre-written dialogue or “barks” for important NPCs and bad guys. you don’t wanna be caught off guard for some things.
I almost stopped playing D&D because of the DM of my first session. The party members were not allowed to talk EVER, unless it was to the DM. Ontop of that, he heavily pushed our choices, until it was just us rolling dice for the actions he wanted. If you questioned him or talked out of turn, he would screw over your character. He was mad that I talked during setup, so he took my character's traits and made sure that my stats were the complete opposite. My character was a clumsy rogue with no charisma or athletics. When investigating, even when I rolled a 19, it some how backfired and paralyzed my character. I litterally rage quit the champaign after one session. I tried it again a year later, when a college buddy recommended that I join the champaign her boyfriend was running. I'm glad I did, because I got to see how D&D SHOULD be played and I'm hooked. I did learn a valuable lesson though. D&D is only as fun as the characters allow it to be. Don't block creativity, every person brings a new perspective to the table, so let them speak their minds. It's the DM's job to guide conversations, not to dictate them.
"You walk through the temple doors to see that it had long since been converted into a mine." CHECKMATE PLAYERS!
whoever is making these thumbnails deserves a raise
Thank you. I've been getting a little carried away.
Please keep getting carried away.
Well, Oboe Shoes, there are different schools of thought on "who" or "what" made thumbnails, or if they were "made" at all but rather came about naturally over countless years of evolution. For instance, those who hold to the concept of Intelligent Design would argue that..... ohhhhh. _Those_ thumbnails. Um... Yes. You're right.
oolon colluphid that my friend was hilarious
raises zombie thumbnail editors
28:19 "You are not responsible for the player's fun" I actually really appreciate that you acknowledge that the players have to bring their own fun to the game rather than just looking for the DM to automatically provide that to them. There's more of a friendly communication with role playing that I personally find much more enjoyable and that you are talking about. I like the laid back style more than the hard core number crunching. Thank you for bringing it up.
This and the previous one are one of the best. I constantly come back here, back to basics to remember what i'm forgetting.
These are gems, these and Jim and Pruitt playing with dragons, that is a masterpiece of the media.
Thank you!
"don't be a dick" always solid advice.
colin campbell it's not rocket science. There are still those people that don't get it though.
JPruInc Yes... yes there are.
What if Richard is the DM, though?
Talk to him about it? And if you can't find common ground then maybe find a new gm. Better yet, start DMing your own campaign :)
Or...OR!!!
Something I wish I'd heard early on: more than just connections, the Whole Group would benefit if they had a Shared piece of Glue, i.e. something other than just "I know Bob", but a Shared Goal like "we work for The Man", "we are part of the Builder's Guild, and we want to be crowned Platinum Builders", "we all want to get fabulously rich" or whatever - something that will actually help these noobs Work Together (even if the PC's are old friends, siblings or whatever, their goals can easily diverge and they can easily fall out - shared goals are much stronger glue). The glue is separate from the campaign premise, although obviously they shouldn't be at great odds.
Hastur Nz that is a good way of putting it!
On fudging: I really, REALLY hate killing PCs in random encounters that have little to no impact on the story as a whole. When it comes to plot-centric encounters I won't pull punches, but nobody shows up to d&d to play as Boromir
Licjr 1018 I would LOVE to play as boromir!
Boromir was the character with the most depth in Lotr, honestly if someone called my character the Boromir of the party I'd consider it a huge compliment, but only if they know a lot about lord of the rings ;p
I ended pulling a borimir in a campaign once. Was playing a ranger in a party of three. Picked a fight with a bandit group at a low level. Needless to say the bandit leader was in the pack. Covered the retreat of the other two party members. Went down swinging ( well shooting) managed to kill three bandits, last kill I had only one hp left. Then the bandit leader finished my pin cushion costume.
To be honest, there is nothing cohesive about this argument. Boromir absolutely did not die to a random encounter with no impact on story. Those orcs didn't just *happen* upon the party, they were physically Tracked Down and Attacked by a known and present threat, and following that war band led the remainder of the party to one of the biggest battles in the trilogy. That sounds remarkably like a planned encounter to me. In D&D terms, it was probably even a multi-part encounter of deadly difficulty. In the book there was very little detail about how it actually happened, but we can assume that there were wave upon wave of common orcs, each led by an uruk (read: Orog), with a final battle of mostly uruks. Now, that being said, I'd still want the player to be on board with this before springing something like that on him, perhaps because he has to leave the game and wants to do it with a bang, or perhaps because he has a character from an earlier campaign who is now needed for whatever reason and his current character wouldn't just walk away.
The way a player sees their character nobly sacrificing themselves is pretty different than if a random low CR thing one-shots you with a crit though, right?
Valtur here seems to be overly nitpicky when the intent of OPs statement was clear.
Running a kick in the doors dungeon delve with a social manipulator character. The kobolds are now peace loving, the Ogres have been scammed and the owlbears have emotional quandries.
Players are making me work!
It's pretty great.
I love games like that. I always leave options like that open:
If the PCs just want to go into the dungeon and kill all the enemies and take all their treasure - awesome!
If they want to make a treaty with the hobgoblins to help them get rid of the bugbears, which leads to an encounter with the underground wizards' guild, who have been using the bugbears as guards to protect from the even more dangerous dungeon monsters, and the wizards are willing to sell maps to the hobgoblins' hidden treasure, etc. - also cool!
Sometimes it's okay to say 'This monster wants you dead, and it is not smart enough to care what you roll to persuade it', not at all saying you shouldn't listen to your players, but sometimes it is okay to say 'this monster is to dumb and hungry for what your trying to do'
"Everybody has to buy a ticket to the Theatre of the Mind." i am meme-ing that immediately.
This video was uploaded just in time for me, I start DM'ing my first game next week
Lewis Turnbull
Best of luck!
Good Luck! DMing is one of the most rewarding and creative experiences around. You will do great. :)
So, how did it go?
One year later, hows it going?
I love the rule of cool. I've let a young player who is playing a bard do a "chidori" from the anime Naruto as a Thunderwave instead of just doing the default spell. Seeing his eyes light up as I explained the giant spider exploding from the inside of the impact. Rule of cool is my favorite way to focus on the the fun aspects of the game.
I needed to hear the dm isn't responsible for players having fun. Great advice love the channel
40mins of web dm, thank the gods
B.D. Sharples it's a tad ridiculous.
it's not nearly enough tbh, i could watch y'all talk about dnd for hours
Same
JPruInc It's actually suitable for you guys. You have enough banter and personality that I think we should get the unbridled wrath of you two.
Aside, it would be cool to see you experiment with longer videos and/or stuff showing up on screen... although give us a warning because I usually have WebDM on podcast mode.
+B.D. Sharples there is only one deity of Toril you wretch of an infidel! So splendid the reign of the 5 headed empress of the elements be! Long live Tiamat!
glad to see my dads again
ijimedia, how was your week?
JPruInc too much studying for finals, not enough dungeons and dragons
ijimedia now what did Jima and I tell you about neglecting your D&D? Hmmm? An imagination is a terrible thing to waste.
JPruInc sorry, I can't help it, studying is just way too much fun
Me and my friends will start to play DnD soon, i have never played before but its starting to look like i'll be the DM, going to study for this shit harder than my exams
You'll do great!! Have you ever seen a streamed game? That'll help a lot.
Web DM Yeah i pretty much religiously watch Critical Role at the moment. Although i imagine using Matt Mercer as my standard isnt the smartest option. I have about 2 months to prepare the story, and i mostly finished the ground work a few days ago for my own fantasy world, just have to learn how to actually DM.
@@davidconley3734 I learned a lot from Matt Mercer that I think makes me a better GM. But not the accents or acting or even storytelling...
I paid attention every time there was a rule conflict and how he handled that. Him reminding his players how certain spells or sneak attack worked drilled it into my own head. How he made mistakes and corrected (or acknowledged) them the next session.
Maybe its just how my brain works but I picked up more about the rules watching them play while also enjoying and recognizing the entertainment value.
Happy playing!
In my group, at Session 0, it is a little backwards. My players ask what kind of game I want to run. They are fairly good at staying on the story that I prep. I definitely try and ask what their characters goals are to incorporate; but, they are more concerned about a good story before anything else. In fact the newest campaign I am running, it took us 3 sessions before we had a single combat scenario. The combat based folks were able to stay engaged on their own initiative.
Awesome!
"staying on the story I prep"
How....how....is that possible....tell me your secrets....Please
FEALTY TOKHORNE get them to bite down on a story thread and make them think it's their idea.
FEALTY TOKHORNE i have been playing with the group for awhile and we know each other's flow. When I give the story hooks, they bite.
The players stay on track haha
It probably has to deal the players personalities and their way of playing.
There are things you can do to help keep them on track, but their are lines too that can get passed.
I mainly try and find holes in their own actions that could coincide with my plans for the central story. Use their actions to grow and adapt your plan, but not subvert it! :)
Man this is my favorite show. I could listen to them prattle on endlessly. I look forward to it every week.
hakonatli thank you!
hakonatli thank you!
Thank you!
I have been following WebDM for about 6 months now. and I have only now subscribed. I'm sorry for the delay, but thank you so much for all that you guys have put out!
Glad you like the videos; thanks for subscribing!
You guys always help me be a better DM, i ran my 6th session last night of my own homebrew adventure and setting. I have never played DnD before i ran my first game, and the 2 of you helped me immensely
Series of New DM Tips? I'm sold! Honestly, this is one of your best Videos yet. As a DM where I mainly started DMing Six months ago I had to learn a few of these things on my own, another number of them I learned by playing in someone elses Precious setting on their railroads til I ended up half jumping off. And yet even though I learned a lot of these the hard way there were still a good number of good game ideas I hadn't run into yet, but logically listening to it it sounds top notch advice.
So glad you guys are getting much deserved success! Always look forward to Wednesdays and big thank you to all involved that take the time to create these videos.
never ignore the dm's bait 3 sessions later the whole countryside will be infested by fire goblins
31:13 "Your friend needs to buy a ticket to the theater of the mind" That's beautiful. So poetic.
Thank you so much guys! Tonight i'll run my first adventure as a DM and this video was very useful!
Hope it went well!
I am about to dm for the first time for my 2 friends, one who has played once and the other not at all. I wanted to thank you for this information as it honestly answers almost all my questions and worry’s I had and helped put some other content in. in case they don’t follow where I need them too
Great video for new DMs! Could you guys make a video or two where we go through the process of prepping a new campaign with the first adventure or two? That would be so helpful!
Fudging for Story Necessity isn't bad. Sometimes you need a single thing to happen.
Now if you're fudging all the time, whether for or against the Players, it becomes an issue.
As a new DM prepping for session 0 next weekend, this was incredibly helpful and stress reducing. Thank you both!
Just found this channel - really great stuff! Im a teacher and I feel that your way of running d&d is like what I think is good teaching. Listen to each other and find out what makes people motivated, learn from each other and create the story together, set a goal together and dont give the answers instead let the players find out as they go! A very mature way of role playing I think! Subscribing!
As someone who is just about to start being a DM for a new group (none of us have played) this series has been incredibly useful for me. Thank you very much!
Glad to help!
Cannot state it enough. Never tell your PCs how they feel. My DM did it to my player one time, and I flat out told him no I don't. This is my rationale. Let me tell you how I feel.
New DM here. I agree that in the middle of the game I would never dictate my player's feelings or thoughts, however in my last game I did obtain pre-session consent to take a small liberty with one of my player's emotions. She had almost died in a combat the week before and I wanted to use her anxiety over the event, it was the first time she has been knocked unconscious, to play into a narrative element that she was not going to be aware of.
@@kevinwheeler7427 that's fine because you had consent. You're not taking agency away from your players. I had a DM tell me my character was intimidated by someone killing a monster which is against my characters build. My character was an oath of vengeance paladin. He's not gonna be intimidated by much.
I quit a game after half a session, not because the GM told me how my character feels, but told me what my character does.
Her: "You go in the building."
Me: "I don't want to go in the building."
Her: "You go in the building and see a glowing rock. You touch the rock."
Me: "What? No, I don't; why would I?"
Her: "You touch the rock and are teleported to a dungeon. You are chained to the wall and naked. You are going to be tortured."
Me: "Bye. I'm not playing this game."
Mathew Corvill talks about that last bit as well. Don't take away a players agency. He gives an example when he did this early on to his players, what happened after and resulted in a character dying. He points out what he would have done differently. When. I think back to some of my later sessions I feel I might have done what your second last point was about deciding what characters feel. I never intended to take that from them, but thanks to this video I will definitely be more aware of stopping myself from doing that.
I remember doing that once. I had the party show up at a village that looked abandoned, they got ambushed, and I said they all got captured, so that I could bring them into the leaders lair. What I should have done was NOT run combat, and describe this all out of game, as background.
It's why I always defend "My Character wouldn't do that". Never FORCE a Player, he knows his Character better than anyone.
If that means not taking an action, and that action leads to a TPK... well, that happens. The better outcome is the player finding a good compromise, "I won't do that... but this might help".
I hate it when DMs get upset at a Player for keeping to the Character's Morales. That's part of the Story. Does this guy break his will? Or does he stand firm, despite Death being a consequence?
They are not your Characters... the NPCs are. DMs shouldn't try to 'control' the PCs... that's the job of the Players. It's a good rule to learn and understand, one that many 'Epic GMs' don't grasp.
TheClimbTo1 I agree, Players know their character and know what they would do. I played an LG paladin once and our party was in a town where the mayor was in his house and most of the town was gathered outside his house. DM wanted us to break in and investigate the house, and I had to repeatedly say that my LAWFUL GOOD character would not willing break the law. I had to talk out of character and explain that as far as my paladin knew, the mayor was innocent and just chilling in his house. Find probable cause to justify breaking and entering and my paladin would go along, but an angry mob is not probable cause. It was really frustrating to have the whole party telling me that I needed to make my character do something fundamentally against his personality without giving an organic reason.
My daughter and i just found these vid's. We are learning so much guys. Thank you
Hi guys. First off, every single video I have watched to this point has been great. Recently I have found myself rewatching some of your new DM/session 0 episodes such as this one. I started DMing a Curse of Strahd campaign with some friends and it is my first time. I was hoping to get some advice or even a video about running a Curse of Stahd campaign. I'm sure I am not the first or only one who has requested that kind of video. Thank you!
I have watched this video 3 times now, going on my forth. Thank you for making this video! Very informative, entertaining, and has given me inspiration to work off of the kernels of gold that are provided to make a session 0 go well. I will definitely be using these methods in an upcoming campaign!
Could listen to yall's content/discussions for hours. Keep up the amazing work fellas
You guys are THE BEST, this video was much needed cope in dealing with "My Precious Setting Syndrome".
It feels good to know that I do not have to go crazy before the next session.
You mentioned the Orc and the Pie! Brought a smile to my face
Played a few sessions as a PC and about to enter my first time as a DM at my college. I’m starting with Storm King’s Thunder! Thanks for the video guys!
I've never really wanted to DM. Well, each of the classes videos made me wanna play each of these classes, and the same goes for this video, it did make me DM. I'll be DMing a horror adventure in Ravenloft, based on Curse of Strahd cause I have played it but I don't have the book so I will get that setting and plan some things.
DMd my first PF game last night, with four first time players. They loved it, I loved it, and we used 90% of my prepared material. Watching the dungeon crawl unfold in an unplanned yet spectacular way was very satisfying.
You guys should consider going to two videos a week! I realize that would probably make the personal schedules busier. But a week is a long time to wait, and I could listen to you guys talk for hours.
In fact I used to before I binged every episode and caught up :0
Keep your ear to the ground; we're working on getting more content out to y'all!
This video series has been amazing guys , even as a dm that's been running a game for a while this video was seriously useful
love this new dm series! has tips for seasoned ones too! I believe giving this kind of tips is much more enjoyable than talking about rules. you have a fan in me!
Glad you like it!
Super advice just when I needed it. Pruitt's reaction to the Halfling meat pie = PRICELESS. Peace, guys!
I wish I heard the part about having the party be pre-established ahead of time. Currently dealing with the party asking "why are we traveling together" after leaving the starter town even though we did session 0 and I vetted backstories to make sure personalities and motivations lined up decently well. I'm going to be transparent next session and layout all their options and try and encourage party unity in-game.
Damn Davies, that description around 26:30 about the first campaign is exactly how I'm doing for my first homebrew campaign! That's so cool! :) ... or well the 2nd attempt at my first campaign, first one met an unfortunate end due to some mistakes.. so many mistakes. But we had fun, haha
I love you guys and all the information that you provide. It always opens my eyes to something new, always teaches me more intimately about the game I'm trying to play, and always has pertinent, relevant information.
However, in DnD I face a major issue. I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons with anyone who is actually well-versed in the game. I don't know anybody who has become intimately involved with 5e or anything like that, and I don't know any of the other editions. It's been difficult trying to learn this edition, and I've been trying for nearly 2 years now to get a good DnD party and session going. I've attempted to try and run *several* campaigns, and I've been attempting to DM each and every time. I've always done something wrong, and everything always falls apart for one reason or another. This is the first time I've ever been introduced to the idea of "session 0," so maybe that's been the largest issue. I just seem to think that my lack of experience with the game and how it's played is my main issue. I've watched and followed several groups *play* the game, but I've never been intimately involved, I don't know what it's like away from the table or anything like that, and I want to know if there's some sort of guide you guys could make for people like me. I don't even know what advice to look for or that would be pertinent to someone like me, but I'm sure you guys could think of something.
Sorry for the long comment and post, and I'm sorry to bother you boys, but I have a deep seated drive to play/run the game, and I feel as though maybe the only way I'll ever find out what I need is to ask.
My thought processes aren't very organized in this comment, so please excuse the sort of "scatter-brained" feel to it. TL;DR New DM, trying to run sessions, they fall apart and aren't good, disjointed, not good, what do?
The consequences of encounters is pure gold. so many times I have been caught flat footed by introducing my players to NPCs that don't help them and combats that i only thought about the CR balance. best episode I have seen on this channel
My question was swiftly answered! \o/ Praise the sun!
Space Iguana PRAISE THE SUN!!!
Space Iguana PRAISE THE SUN!!!
PRAISE THE SUN \[T]/
You know what the best thing in the sky is?
The moon.
PRAISE THE MOON
I'm newer to DMing and I have a homebrew one I've been doing, and I'm about to start Curse of Strand for my long time friend group. Been watching all the vampire videos, and related videos by you guys for tips. It really helps!
Guys, this video was fantastic. I am transitioning from DMing Rise of Tiamat into a Pugmire game, and have been having a little bit of anxiety about creating a campaign of my own. I absolutely love the idea of an "emergent campaign," and will definitely be taking that to heart while my party emBARKs on their next adventure! (heh heh, dog pun!) Thank you so much for all you do, your videos entertain & give such great knowledge & insight.
As a 2 year dm the second part of the video was very informing! Would've liked a seperate video for the do's and dont's for dms.
Starting my first session as a DM (well, since 2nd edition) later this week. Great advise that I will be following.
I will be dm'ing for the first time after 10 years and this was extremely helpful.
This is probably one of the most useful D&D Videos out there.
I've been watching webDM for a while, you guys hooked my since the first video of yours. The format is so comfortable to listen to while doing other things.
I'd really like to see fan-made draws in the background (I miss the old manuals monster art there). Those white panels are screaming to be filled with art.
Great video but need an updated one for how to do this meeting up to create characters in a group setting during COVVID 19
Dog Fight Game - Ace of Aces. An old game about WWI fighter planes. It was 2 picture books, with each page showing the view of your opponent from your cockpit. You'd each choose a maneuver (L/R bank, hard turn, climb, dive, Immelman...) which would send each to a new page until someone got shot down or got away. Not an RPG, but very cool by itself or as an adjunct to an RPG.
We usually had two characters each: an 8-character party. Then, if a character gets killed or kidnapped or whatever, the player still has something to do.
One exception to the whole "Don't tell the players how their characters feel" rule: sometimes, they'll straight up ask you. The Insight skill is a sort of legitimate way for the player to say, "I don't really know what my character, who grew up in this world that we've only seen for X sessions, would feel or think in response to this. Can I make a roll?"
As DM, it's your call whether or not to allow the Insight check, sure. But if a player asks for it, they're often telling you they need more guidance.
This couldn't have come at a better time for my first attempt at running a campaign!
Andrew Lisech good luck!
Jim is literally D&D Jesus. I love you Jim.
Thanks! i wonder what domains I grant access to as D&D Jesus?
Probably Life, Light and Death
Always give a back story for each character that puts them together and a reason to be doing the adventure. Yes, it takes a little away from the players, but its better to do it prior to the game than during game play when your forcing the players to do something they normally wouldn't. Examples are letters from teachers or relatives, hired to guard a merchant, a prophetic dream, ext. I usually find my players adopt the back ground and it allows me to use it later.
You guys are fantastic. I would kill for the chance to play with you guys! I've DMed a handful of sessions, but sadly I've never played myself. Really looking forward to the day I finally can :)
Having that one connection with another player from the start is SO great.
In my first roll20 campaign the Ranger in my party said that he and my character (Cleric) had been traveling together for a week or two, and had established a friendly relationship. I didn't have a lot of experience with making decisions in-character so it was really great to be able to kind of latch onto somebody. We had 3 other party members, most of whom I didn't know at all in real life, so it's nice to be able to default to "oh I'll follow THIS guy" and it can also be a great entry-point to figuring out the party social dynamics.
TheK3vin it's always good for a more experienced player to take a newer player in, not just as players, but also as characters. Can be weird figuring out who your character would be friends with when you first start playing
The buddy system is good. Say you have 3 experienced players and 3 rookies The sorcerer looks after the wizard, the barbarian keeps an eye on the rogue and the druid guides the ranger. Works well.
FATE/Harry Dresden does this Session 0 VERY well. I use the "connections" idea during my session 0's. I have the PC's write down their basic background info, then write a paragraph about what got them into adventuring... their "Level 0" adventure that made them now a Level 1 character. I then have them hand their background page to the player on their left and have that player fill out a "guest star" item. How did you guest star in the previous characters Level 0 adventure. Hand it to the left one more time, fill out a 2nd guest star spot and then one final time. That way, with a party of 4 they all now know how they all met as they guest starred in each other's Level 0 adventure. My current groups (I DM for 2 different groups where I am the only overlapping member... it is wonderful have so many active gamers near me!) have 6 pc's each, so there are 2 pc's that everybody didn't get to guest star in, but the know them all tangentially.
It really works and helps avoid that trope of "you are all in a bar when the old widow Withers runs in saying she heard a noise in the basement." They all are familiar with 2/3rds of the rest of the party before the first dice are rolled.
I have a good railroad DM story. We had just leveled up the previous session and a few days before the next session I realized I could learn the teleportation circle spell. I emailed the group (including the DM) to give them a heads up about my intentions. Now my character didn't know the sigil sequence for the place we were going but no worries, we were at a monastery with a massive library. So the TWO wizards with maxed out INT went and looked up the sigil for where we were going. I think we rolled mid 20's on both the arcana check to research the sigil and draw it out properly.
We step in the circle and boom, we are in a completely different place than intended that is overrun with undead. We spent the entire session fighting them off before teleporting back to the monastery. At the end of the session the player of the other wizard asked the DM: "Would that have happened regardless of how high we rolled?" The DM replied "yep, that's what happens when you mess with God's plans." What a dick. I left that group a couple months later over a dispute that arose when my PC decided to leave the group and I was in the process of rerolling a new character. Don't regret it.
Nice Crown Royal dice bag :)
I always wonder what in the 7 hells Pruitt is writing on that notepad.
Lumpyrox
I'm writing jokes/points that I think of while Jim is talking. Or checking off points that Jim makes before I ask about them.
I think you mean what in the _nine_ hells ;P
Compressed Zip Folder I don't think he wanted to bother Asmodeus with this
Compressed Zip Folder - seven hells is from game of thrones
Thanks! With only one campaign as DM this really helped clear some things up!
I've been waiting for this all day guys, I'm very excited.
if you have a clear starting location/event for your adventure, share it with your players before you begin - it will help your players to come up with character motivations to simply have to answer the question "why is my character here?" as a group. It will help flesh out backgrounds, character relationships (if they know each other already or not especially),and will help everyone 'buy in' to the setting much better than being thrown that curveball right when they sit down to play.
e.g. if the PCs begin traveling in a caravan, as a player i'd have to answer: "why am I here? where did I join this caravan from, and what is my destination? is the reason for my traveling urgent - am I traveling towards or away from trouble? do I know the region we're traveling through well, or am I a stranger to these parts? am I a wealthy passenger, or the hired protection in the rear of the wagon train?" etc.
It's a great way for DMs to preview what their players are gonna be interested in doing/exploring in the first session so that you can work those into your planned content, and it helps avoid hand-waivey or half assed "you're all in a tavern/locked room/campsite because reasons" openings.
I know this post is from a while ago, but I wish I had read this before starting my current campaign. Being a brand new DM, I fretted for days on how to start up a campaign where basically the players are thrown into a situation with no knowledge before hand. While I feel I came up with a decent reason, it still led to many questions from the players that I had to come up with random answers to as to why they particularly would be in that situation. (The empire is at war, and the players were gang pressed into being sailors for the royal navy against their choice).
If I had informed them ahead of time how it would start, and got them to answer those questions for me. It would not only have increased player buy in, but also avoided that awkward situation of "Well.. lets not focus too much on the details and move on".
Loving all these videos as well as all the helpful comments people have submitted! 💕
Plus then you don’t end up like we did. Our DM did no session zero. We came to the table with a monkey rogue, a character that specializes in necrotic damage and a cleric to a dark god. Turns out we were in the Witcher world. Gods don’t talk to mortals (EVER) and nobody really believes in them. The monkey was hated and assumed to be a demon, and everything was resistant or immune to necrotic damage. It was not fun
I'd love to see an episode focused on using playtest material in a game. I'm running a game now with the revised Ranger and an Artificer and I could use (and I'm sure other DMs could too) a helpful video with tips and suggestions on how to manage that. Also, love the show!
Yeah, I feel like not having a session zero was a bit of a mistake for me. My party consists of an Aasimar artificer, Tabaxi ranger (I think), Dwarven monk, Tiefling sorcerer and Tiefling warlock. I hope this isn't much of a problem
ComicSams how did it go
Same thing here, ended up with a Kistune bard, a Vanarin monk, a dwarven pirate rogue, a tiefling assassin child rogue, and a standard half-orc barbarian.
They don't behave well in society but other than that it's been great
@@unclevivid9028 fell apart when I had to leave college and move across the country. Had some bumps but not too bad. Most or all of the sessions are up on my UA-cam channel, but I would not reccomend watching lol
About to GM for the first time and this video is just what I needed! thanks for the advice guys.
7:50 I actually like having a couple (2, maybe 3) sessions where the characters organically come together
32:42 I know that look/remark all too well (where the DM is all "how many hit points you got" and you know your character's in trouble). Happened during session 4 in the campaign I was in when a monster attacked my wizard and the DM said in that exact tone, "what's your AC?" and I was all "uhhhh... 10" and he responded with "well, sucks to be you" ...turns out the monster rolled a 10 on the attack roll and did 10 damage, bringing my wizard down to 1HP.
Session 0.
Game explanation (Setting, Rules, etc.). Character Creation. Explanation of Starting Scene (i.e. "You guys will all be at Yule's Tavern and Inn, please include some Backstory that delivers you there).
Session 1 should be 'First Play'.
Ok so I'm watching the video (great video btw, helping me a TON!), and I have one burning question.... What is that wall in the background?
You can also keep the plot hook going in the background. That goblin fire cult that was raiding farms that the PCs didn't deal with? Well, they just took over a small village. Eventually, the stuff that the PCs don't deal with with be dealt with by someone else (and they get all the credit and glory) or it'll spiral so far out of control that they end up having to deal with it or they'll just end up encountering it on their own!
You guys couldn't have timed these better, just when I'm starting out on my first game.
I'm going to start running a group in 5 days. I have only dm'ed 3 times 9 years ago. There's gonna be 6 players and i'm so nervous. Your videos help me prepare. Thanks.
I've DMed from quite a while (off and on) and I thought the discussion was useful. Hopefully I'll be able to follow this advice in the heat of the moment.
As a DM your job is to give challenges. As a Player, their job is to solve those challenges. HOW they do so is up to them.
As a DM your job is to create a world. As a Player, their job is to tell the story of their Character in that World. Your world can have over-arching stories in it... and it should... but your making a canvas, the players are painting on it.
My current game is based in a megacity and I told my players that in advance. The party we ended up with is heavily charisma based which is excellent for the setting I made. I gave them a three page lore dump which only one of them read. To encourage them to get into the world a bit more, occasionally when they remember a piece of lore I give them inspiration.
These videos on DM-ing have been really helpful, I’m hoping to soon run my first campaign that I’ve been working on that’s based on Norse Mythology.
Session 0 is a little different for my group. My players usually travel a bit of a distance to play in person, so I run session 0 with each of my players separately, usually over FaceTime or something. Then I let them create their character over the next week or so, then we meet up and I do a .5 session where we talk, I do an opening monologue about the setting and area they are starting, and the adventure starts. Often times I don’t open them up as a group, where they just introduce themselves, but I add them to the game one by one, or as separate groups - especially if they don’t know each other, or are meeting up without much detail. The first quest usually appeals to all of their motivations, so it draws them into a full group.
Great video! I'm an experienced DM, and you've taught me many new things.
Not sure if you guys have gone over it, but if not, do you have any tips on mapmaking for campaigns? Things like what to include, what to use, and how to make it feel natural
I am starting my campaign this Saturday, I am doing an Evil/Morally Grey game, I told the players that they can make their characters (aside from the stats) at home, then I told them the only thing I require is that they all got one of their children kidnapped a few years ago, and so in order to cope with the loss, they are all a part of the same 'support group'. And that is how they know each other (aside from living in the same village).
Around 27 minutes you guys said that if the players start pulling on a plot thread they probably won't go on a tangent...
That's exactly what my group does. They start down one path, then remember something else they heard or started and go running off.
With my group I found it's more useful to know what other entries are doing because my players are pure chaos.
Been ages since I played any sort of P&P so not sure if this counts as fudging. I pitted a level 1 party against a custom monster which was basically a large vat of HP that didn't do much for the first few rounds as it slowly descended from the ceiling. They fought in a partially collapsed building and the creature (a sedan sized juvenile giant silkworm) had covered the entire place in sticky webs which the players had to avoid (constantly having to roll spot as they moved about). The Barbarian in the party rolled a 1 on an attack so I worked it in as he lost grip of his weapon and it flew through the air making a secondary attack on the creature (which it critted). He was unable to retrieve his axe and got himself stuck to the creature in the process. The Wizard got himself tangled up in the webs, unable to do much while the Fighter desperately tried to get him down. At this time the worm had touched down and began spitting acid at random party members. The Rogue slid his dagger across the ground to the Barbarian between shots from his crossbow and finally after a frenzy of knife blows the worm went limp.
All new players, all had beaming smiles. Even the ones who didn't get to do much in the encounter. There really wasn't much danger but I think all the mechanics of the fight kept everyone engaged.
What do I do about players who don't take any hints and always default to combat to solve problems? Like I'm running Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and I've mentioned 3 times that in the keep they see groups of healers taking care of injured villagers, to suggest that they try to get some healing themselves, but they keep ignoring that and continuing with low health. I constantly try to give detail that would give the players numerous options for encounters, and even make sure to start off enemies with dialogue but the players still default to attacking, and then some of them have complained to me that there's too much combat
Maybe your players don't know how to RP.
Ricky Hoth Did you ever figure out how to make them not be murder hobos
Jim or Pruitt, what should I do if my players really want to play, but they burn themselves out so fast; you can tell they are bored in the first 30 min, no matter how well I try to make it interesting. Also can you make a video on how campaigns can become a planer, I've really tried but it never really works out to well. You guys are awesome. Thanks for making this video it helps a lot!
Hey Jim, Question, Whats your opinion on players playing the same characters across multiple campaigns?
Mo Harb My fiance plays the same woman (female elf or half-elf druid) reincarnated into a new body.