How to Be a Dungeon Master | Secrets of the Trade
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2018
- In this video I go over the 12 most important things a dungeon master does to run a D&D game. There's probably more, but these will get us started.
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#dungeonsanddragons #dnd #d&d #dungeonmaster - Ігри
What do you think is the most exciting part of being a DM? What about the most intimidating part?
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Planning the world is the most interesting to me.
Watching the players ignore all the plot hooks and go somewhere I haven't prepared yet is annoying, not really intimidating, because I'll improvise SOMETHING. That something might be a very long trek with nothing really interesting until they get to the next town. Usually I keep a "ruins on a hill" handy, that I can place anywhere, for them to run into.
Yeah, I hear you. My players don't go off track very often, but when they do I figure it out, even if it's not as good as what I would normally run. Improvising is a core skill of a DM for sure. Stopping a session with "oh I haven't planned that yet; come back next week" would be lame. Lol
Exciting part? The monsters and unexpected things you can find or come up with... like gray slimes can look like a stone wall, so I want players to walk past it into the dungeon and then the slimes will cover the entrance to the dungeon... it's an decently easy perception check I believe to spot it but I think the players will more so doubt their own knowledge of the dungeon and they looking for another way out, crossing thsi way off as "incorrect". Basically planning it the puzzles, answers, dungeons, plots, or weird events just to mess with the players heads... "the zombie screams at you and runs away calling for guards when you pull out youre sword"
Intimidating part... making it fun, story interesting, and challenging without being so challenging you discourage the players from continuing... like yeah you could run EVERY enemy tactically but I ran 8 1/8 bandits as pretty stupid tonight against lvl 3 party and it was fun, no "focus the healer" or anything. Hell the last boss they had, nilbog was convinced to humo into the acid pit and died (for the 13th time that night, I found it funny to possess a random goblin near him on his turn when he was dead so each foot soldier goblin would just get possessed by the God nilbog randomly and suddenly become the new priority threat
@@fhuber7507 how I remedy this, multiple things happening at once, and or a B plot, gives you something to immediately fall back on
"Oh you're stuck or going the wrong way on your quest to rid the world of the Orcus cult? Well... THE FEYWILDS ARE MAGICALLY CAUSING THE MOON GO TURN PPL INTO WEREWOLVES!!!
I'm totally new to dnd started playing last December, a few months later I'm dming. It's been probably 6 games one a week. Now I'm prepping for ghosts of saltmarshes. So, I study and focus on the players having fun.
Most exciting : World Building
Most intimidating: Finding people
have you considered being an author?
@@Psychomaniac14 Yes, the publisher said my book sucked.
@@StrazdasLT damn, I guess that means you need more proofreading. I could help you with that
@@Psychomaniac14 Nah its probably more that my stories suck and the good writting only happens when other people innovate in the TT game forcing me to adapt the story.
I just went with the "go ham or go home" approach and started by writing an entire system, world included, without ever having DM'd before. Now, a lot of people may call that lunacy, but it's actually going really well.
The best part about that is building the world from the ground up together with my players. Obviously, the setting doesn't have the deep lore that other systems have accumulated over decades, but I love taking whatever my players end up doing and fleshing it out into canon events, building around them, perhaps for the next generation of players.
It is a metric fuckton of work as I spend a lot of time drawing tokens, maps, coming up with adventures and characters... all that stuff. In fact, I probably spend about twice as much time preparing as we are actually playing.
Is it worth it? Hell yeah, maybe I'll try and publish it someday when I have sufficiently polished the whole thing.
Nice same approach here like 4 seperate notebooks of world info npc info and adventrures as well as a whole set of rules for ship to ship combat as my world is set in a giant ocean essentially
That can be an advantage in some cases. Not having 30 years of canon lore, means you dont have to deal with players who know more about that setting/lore being...overbearing about it, or using that knowledge to push for advantages.
@@matthewbarker4109 but are there Devil Fruit and Haki? 😋
I just write different fantasy stuff for fun . So I always have npcs already thought up, different environments and places to go, blah blah blah with an over arching plot and smaller plots etc. I'll just plop the PCs into that world and see what happens. Helps give me ideas too for my own stories that are new and refreshing.
Literally what I've just started doing. I have played on/off for a few years so I'm decently familiar with the game, but I've always loved the story-telling aspect of the game and want to be able to tell a great story to others through playing, so I literally just sat down on docs and started doing what you did. Lots of work, but SO FUN so far. Haven't yet DM'd the first sesh or anything, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Im new to DMing, but I can already tell I love it because of one specific moment. I was running a one shot a night ago to introduce my players to a new setting and they had managed to break all my plans and cause rioting in the streets. They managed to kill off a spy, and then using a smoke bomb and a really good strength roll crash through a metal door into the sewrrs to escape the guards, the expression on their face and their reaction to pulling this off was just amazing to me
That's awesome! Glad to hear you're enjoying DMing! It's some of the most fun I've ever had. 😁
now have a poop monster in the sewer
I really like world-building, but it’s also very daunting. I especially hate maps, because I‘m really bad at making them.
Yeah, maps... My trick to dungeon maps is doing a Google search, finding something I like and then customising it. For world maps I reference a map of Earth and then build customize and tweak. I find creativity to be really hard in a box, without exrernal reference.
I do map building and world building because i’m an aspiring author but also D&D player and DM. It is very scary and annoying but it’s a fun kind.
Let me know if ever need any help or advice i do plan to make videos on UA-cam to help other aspiring authors or dungeon masters.
For The minis i use lego figures ;)
I started out with that and now I have two FDM printers that I use for minis and terrain
Smart, i used small transformers
Same
Yes Yes and Yes, having a character that you develop evolve, train and level up is lot lot and lot of fun... BUT!
You know why I love DM-ing?
There is nothing better than seeing your players confused face after they unlock one door and end up in upside-down room. There is nothing that gives me joy more than looking at my players thinking they got this puzzle but instead they still have 10x more puzzles to go through. Watching them talk with NPC, with each-other, with some random animal.
Living with their characters for dozens of sessions and watching them leveling up not only in game but in real life too.
I started DM-ing 4 months ago and I love doing this, building world, making NPC and Villains. Setting stage for some crazy battle, or drawing maps for my PC-s to explore.
I don't think I would enjoy playing as a PC more than being a DM honestly.
Wow. That's a busy 4 months
My favorite part is when i see the players interacting in the world ive created for them and having fun and laughing
The most intimidating part is the prep for sure trying to make sure i have enough stuff to make a fun and exciting campaign
I feel exactly the same way on both points! DMing is one of the most rewarding pursuits and most challenging. 😁 (btw, last night I finished scripting an upcoming video that deals with creating a campaign, so you might find that helpful...when it comes out. 😁)
I created my own world as well, made a huge map and everything and will slowly be filling it as the adventures go... but seeing as we're so new to this, and everyone has been Really excited about this, I think our shortest session has been 10 hours, usually more along the lines of 12(except for a one-shot I ran, which was like, 6 hours)
Getting everything ready, Making up an actual adventure and trying to incorporate other players stories into the campaign takes a lot of time.
I think I've spent more time making maps, figuring out encounters(not meaning the random ones) and looking up material, than we've actually done playing.
For me, the scariest thing would probably be that they ask a really crucial question about the plot and I haven't thought about that at all...
That's awesome! A couple years ago my groups averaged 8 hours, but now we force ourselves to stop around 6. It's amazing how much fun DnD is and how quickly the time goes during a session!
When I get questions I don't know the answer to, I sometimes just say I don't know and then get back with the players later. Usually, though, I try to keep up the all knowing DM facade as much as possible. 😁
made my own world as well called Tileron and mostly got everything shorted for now the longest game i did was 4 or 5 hours and both were test games of short all homebrew we have a dwarf bard an elf archer another elf but uses a claymor and conjured creatures and a lizard girl mage that burns things.
I told my friends I'd host a dnd session with them so we all could learn DND together, and they decided they wanted a fully custom world balanced with both roleplay and battle. I love making all of these hilarious puns and inside joke characters referencing all kinds of easter eggs and side interactions- but I am absolutely mortified at the nitty gritty parts of making the entire world, what monsters would be appropriate, and how to scale with a party that is so diverse I can't quite anticipate any one action from them all. I told them it will take me a lot of time, and I am still learning, but they do feel like I've very much backburned the campaign with my nervous struggling. :, ]
It gets better with practice. Most DMs are a little terrified inside when they first begin. The trick is to keep doing it. With time you hit a grove amd then think nothing of it. Even if you're always a little nervious, think of the fun you're enabling you and your friends to have. That's an awesome thing worth battling some nerves for. 😁
Creating everything is massively exciting to. I'm scared of shuddering over my words and my family/friends not getting the picture well
Yes it is. Creation is like 70% of why I DM I feel. Creating cool stuff is fun.
So my very first ‘campaign’ was very ‘little rascals’-esque where they were usually thought up the week before the session where there was no real development.
So what I did is spent a couple of months creating a world, a few cities, and loads of NPC’s and just recently we kicked off the new campaign.
Immediately I noticed a HUGE difference. It’s a hybrid between Sword-coast pre-written material, and my own creations. Sessions feel less erratic, I feel much more comfortable with the game, and there’s an actual explanation to encounters in the game! Worldbuilding goes really far.
What I love is to watch the faces of the players when cool or awesome encounters happen.
Most exciting part about being a dungeon master & having a family game night playing a fantasy setting & sharing the experience with everyone over playing a video game away from my family. The most daunting part is i am new to DMing & trying to peak everyones interest & be as excited as i am, but i have learned that the more we play the better i get at doing it. It also is hard finding a good schedule time for everyone to play which i find the hardest of all
I don't think you'll come across this, but the most exciting and terrifying part for me is being the center of attention. Ensuring that I can talk the entire time and explain things clearly.
As a DM I spend more time listening than talking. 😁 You are the center of attention many times though.
The most exciting part of DMing to me is setting up some dramatic events and anticipating the players reaction.
The scariest part however is that my plans always get tossed through the window the moment the players touch it, forcing me to improvise.
Also I HAVE 8 PLAYERS I STARTED WITH THREE OH GOD HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
Me: *is going to run first campaign ever in a couple of weeks that is 90% homebrew (it’s a Voltron based campaign that occurs 100 years after VLD)* BINGE WATCH THR ENTIRE PLAYLIST AT 5AM FOR NO REASON!
I feel like I should have prizes for achievements like that. 😁
That sounds like a lot of work,
I hope it went well.
For me the balancing act of everything
Was very difficult, but I feel like
My players like the feeling that we're all learning together.
I'm running Mines of Phandelver,
But with a bit of Curse of Strahd
Woven into the story
to make a bigger overarching campaign.
It's challenging and I change a lot,
But in the end I mostly try to lend a hand.
Since the original dungeon was more difficult,
And I already nearly killed two characters
With my powered down version.
My favorite part of dnd is immersing my players in this fantasy world. Having semi detailed descriptions of mysterious vials in a witches shack, the smells of the marsh, the cawing of crows and wind against the trees. I use a sound board to add to the immersion and I plan to use some scents in my next campaign.
The most intimidating part I would say is the prep. Making sure my story makes sense but I leave enough room to let my players actually play the game and being able to come up with stuff on the fly. My hope is that this comes with time.
Yeah, that sound board stuff is awesome! Anything that augments the atmosphere usually goes a long way towards uping a game. 👊
The most intimidating part for me is the need to remember so much: NPCs, world history, area history, gods & goddesses and their particulars, information from past sessions, and so on. I read and read and read but there's so much I just can't recall on the fly.
I'm currently a DM in high school in a group of 7 people including myself. I think its hard, but I love it because I'm a creative person and a leader type. I look forward to weekly after school sessions with my English teacher (even if each session is only an hour and a half) and my favorite part of d&d is either the worldmaking/creating stuff in general (It's a homebrew game) and I love just seeing my players smile, laugh, and roll nat 20's.
I saw hero quest stuff in this video. That was my favorite board game as a kid. I still have it in a storage locker. It's even got a gouge in the cover from the knife I used to open the plastic seal with and was too excited to get into it. So I cut right into the box lol
Yeah, I loved that game when I was in high school. Played it all the time with my brother. I would make up custom adventures for us.
Im gonna be starting my first campaign really soon, and im watching the whole playlist to get some ideas on what to do for it!
Thank you so much for this it helps a lot I'm a new starting dm and it's been hard to fully understand everything about dnd but I hope in time I'll get it down 😁
Just hit my 1st year anniversary of being DM and I still get overwhelmed with planning sessions. I struggle with describing scenes and doing theater of the mind. I love your channel though, I'd probably have given up without ya! Thanks Luke
I think what is most exciting is being able to throw my ideas into a world and watching people enjoy my ideas, but the most intimidating, which isn't so much intimidating as it is frustrating, is when a player comes in and starts metagaming spoutin out magic items names to your merchant, or when a bunch of players are having an argument among themselves, what does one do in either of these instances?
I tend to approach those sorts of problems head-on. In the case of a player's character metagaming about magic items I would just simply tell him how does your character know about all of those magic items? What level is he how much experience does he have in the world is he proficient in Arcana? Basically I called the player out and say that you don't know about those things unless there is a good reason for him to know about them.
As far as players arguing among themselves it depends on what they're arguing about. I'm going to try to resolve the situation but it's going to be case-by-case depending upon what they're arguing about.
This was really helpful! My first dm session is on Thursday, making characters with a group who have never played dnd before. I’ve only played once before myself, haha. It could go interestingly, but it should be fun.
That's awesome! Hope you all have a blast. Let me know how it goes. Glad you founs the video helpful! 😁
How’s your sessions going after 9 months? Curious to hear what’s up?!
Same. Update please! 😁
Most exciting and intimidating part of being a GM is all the same thing.
World creation.
Im a amateur writer. I use the same world that I write about for our game setting. Its exciting because it no longer becomes just a mess of words in a document, it comes to life walking the party through the forests, taking them in to the dark mountain ranges, in to the noble coirts.
Its intimidating for the same reason. Im always wondering "did I play that true to the book?" "Did this nobleman come off too harsh?" "Did I make this scale right?" "Is this realistic and within the relm of plausible reality?"
End of the day though, my players seem to love it, and we all have a great time. Ive had 3 vet players who have learned the world and love introducing it to new players (military town, lots of players leave randomly). So it definately has its rewards.
I actually found this video very good. I have been running games since the 80s of several different systems and this video is pretty on point.
Your bit at the end about how rewarding being a GM is was great. I have explained it in the past as a Labor of Love and being a good GM requires a servant's heart.
Most Exciting: Letting the players make their own path in the world I establish
Most Intimidating: Improvising how the world reacts to the actions the players make
Contradicting it may be, but I love DMing because of how my own expectations get shattered constantly by my players
I’m doing an Eberron campaign and even though I’m not world-building, I’m doing everything else-creating adventures, guiding players, making sure they’re having fun.
I’ve DMed a few one-suits before, but watching this playlist will help!
Best part for me is seeing people having fun and doing the improv stuff. It also made me feel important because of the fact that a group where we were all learning together trusted me to be the creative one. Also, we had a TPK during my first time dming, we never finished that module, but I had a ton of fun and I'm fairly confident that they did too. Most intimidating is also doing the improv stuff.
Great info for new folks. I have been playing since '79 and DMing since '82. Use your experience and knowledge of the world to handle questions you have not prepared but write down your answers for continuity. I hate my players catching me in a screwup like that.
I just got my first projector. Myself and my group are so excited to add 3d printing props and minis to augment our already DungeonFog based game.
Project DF onto the table, add minis and props like tables and chairs. Should be a blast.
love forgotten realms and have played in that realm more than any other! also read some of the novels! started my adventure in 1989
Great stuff! Been playing D&D, etc since Grey Hawk. Some easy tips: Dominoes make great walls, trees, boats & other stuff. Whiteboards or some form of erasable material can make for good terrain, especially if you can draw or use a ruler. Also, I've had friends painting miniatures & drawing maps for me. Also my groups have often been taking turns being game master with their own campaigns. Some times players can bring their characters from one world to another, some Game Masters won't do that & some just put a limit on levels &/or magic items brought in to their world.
So im pretty new to DnD and play a game with friends on discord. My fav thing to do is torture the players with the choices they have made in the game making it feel like they have effected this world.(i have some fugitives in the current world i created) the thing i hate the most is that i dont feel like i describe things well or know how to describe them and that it takes away from the game. i know this comment is pretty late but felt like sharing.
I know this is a few years old now, but I've taken the advice. Got a small crew of 3 players, and I'm the DM because I used to do it in Middle and High school. Feels like I have to learn it all over again lol (Damn near forty). Just bought Icewind Dale for our first upcoming session, but definitely want to start building my own once I get the groove going again. Thanks for the content!
So, I've been looking for this channel for a year and didn't know it. LoL. Thanks
On the topic of theatre of the mind vs grid: the middle ground also works alright. Use a chess board and the chess pieces. Beasts are horses, pawns are small humanoids, mini bosses can be the king or the queen. Just try to get a mini for the BBEG, it will have the impact of novelty and quality when compared with the chess pieces
The intimidating part for me is having to DM the players that don’t want be as fluid as a river, or lake. They are hell bent on rules, character design, and etc which is good, but if there’s anyone that DM’s like me then you would know there are some rules that kind of don’t make sense for certain situations, stories, or characters.
Something i do like about being a DM is telling a story. I ran a campaign filed with more action than exploring, or more exploring than action, or balanced. Just like you said the DM Laid is that being a DM is fun and is one of the most rewarding things.
Yes, if everyone at the table isn't having fun most of the time, something is wrong.
Great video, very professional
Great video but that "finding players" segment was especially validating for me atm. I started a neighborhood club and had 8 players show up for first game. I thought some would leave but they all stayed. After 6 months had a few players drop due to new jobs, new baby, and summer vacation. I was hesitant player drop off would reflect poorly on my as a DM, but I'm glad to hear its natural, and I wont feel embarrassed recruiting new players. (I've been watching for 2 years? but just now saw this video) Cheers Luke!
I'm new to being the DM, I'm currently running my first session. My favorite part is watching my players use interesting ways to beat enemies and my dungeons. The most intimidating part to me is making smooth transitions in the campaign itself. Ex: the players are on the main mission of the campaign but i feel like I'm forcing them to go along that mission. They don't complain and they seem to love the quest, but I feel like I'm rail roading at times.
Something I do that doesn't sound like a good thing to do as a dm but it actually works really well, I just go with the flow of what the characters do, I may take 10 minutes and make a main bbeg and then I throw things together as we play which makes it a lot easier when I player makes an unexpected choice you didn't plan for.
The most daunting part for me is creating an immersive with well thought out and interesting plots, without completely railroading my party and still allowing full player agency.
I buy and paint minis because I think it's fun and with the two at the table groups I play with, they provide literally everything else so worth
New to your channel love the content.
Also, if you don't want to do theater of the mind and can't afford minis but do have a good amount of spare time, you can make "paper minis/tokens" in place of them as a more affordable "improvised" option similar to how some DMs will substitute random objects in if they don't have enough minis to cover the scenario.
Most exciting is definatly watching players react to the world , caring about your npc's , actually getting scared etc .. most daunting is the sheer amount of work put in to creating everything
My wife and I would use dry erase maps for the combat, sometimes a chess board and used a mix of extra dice, and chess pieces for the combat encounters. Adds enough extra flair without breaking the bank. Though yes minis are awesome.
You don't need minis if you use candies and nuts :p
Especially if you figure out what your players are like. Gets them extra excited to slash some minions lol
Yeah, play with trail mix! That'll give everyone amped up to kill some baddies. 😀
Actually been tempted to be a DM. I usually like being a PC, but i none of the people I'm about to play with have much experience with DM'ing. So this video actually helped helped out a lot
I plan to use sound effects for monsters and villains, and background ambience/music. Pre-recorded oneliners and maybe prologues. The sounds will help set the atmosphere and mood, while the recordings will tell a story like an audio book.
Personally, creating a world and a lore is one of my favorite parts of creating a campaign. I'm an utter noob in the DMing department, but the parts of my campaign that I find myself going back to are those that involve the large, overarching world: stuff that my players won't see for many levels to come, if at all.
I started DMing with Homebrew because in my opinion most of the published adventures are very unsorted for running the game directly so I came to the conclusion that the time I spend preparing an homebrew adventure is the same as reading through the book for several time until I understand what comes up when
You should totally run Dark Sun. One of the best (if not THE best) official settings ever published for D&D (First boxed set almost exclusively, though).
!stt time looking at your vids this old Lyuke.And gotta say, darn you loook young
I love creating my own stories and world, and I did some fun campains! Like one where my players are guards, but wond up being essencially their City's 5.0 and actually building am empire, an other, they age building their own vilage, and I also have a campain where my players are level 80 gods!
My favorite part is developing the scenarios that are based on the plot and creating custom mechanics.
That sounds awesome! 😃I enjoy creating adventures most myself. That's were a lot of the fun is at for me.
Level 80!!!??? Wow how long have they been playing? Do they own the entire lower and upper planes? Is the lady of pain your house servant? Lol I’d love to hear a coles notes on how they made level 80!!!!
I’m about to run my first game today and every one of my players is a veteran and have all dmed before and I have only been playing a year and this is my first time dming wish me luck!
As a dm I like playing all the NPCs and allies for the players along with crafting the story and adventures for the players. But the hard part for me is keeping all the rules right. Except for house rules
I enjoyed watching my players role-play, but the was only two of them. I struggled with my friend group since the majority didn't take the time to learn how to play the game. I was intimidated by the task of having to learn as many rules as I could, as well as learn my players class and race stuff. They didn't make it easy either, since the majority of my players never got attached to their characters and would play someone new maybe every 4-5 sessions. I ended up leaving that group at the beginning of June, but will hopefully look back on the better times with that group.
Most Exciting: Roleplaying as the Npc’s
Most Daunting: Making Own Adventures
For me the most exciting and most intimidating part is building the world as I like making my own
The most exciting part for me for being a dungeon master is coming up with ways to incorporate PC backstories
Most exciting: Setting my friends up for epic moments.
Most intimidating: "Will they like this?"
I like twisting together several stories to make something new.
Currently I am starting a campaign that combines the LMoP and Ice Spire Peak with a "return to Pern" where the world of Pern has suffered from evolution of the genetically engineered creations of the settlers.
Pern is the world of "The Dragon Riders of Pern" and explains their dragons as a genetic engineering project performed upon some cat sized dragon-like creatures (which will nicely morph into a series of psuedo-dragon creatures) Lots of genetic engineered beasts and plants in the book allow me to apply a few thousand years of evolution and a natural disaster, then we get something akin to the traditional medieval D&D worlds, with almost every possible creature's existence explained.
A lost technology campaign with a bunch of twists.
I'm so creative that my ideas won't stop coming, and in the end I've written like 10 adventures instead of 1
I tried 3 times to DM and just create my world from scratch and every single time has been so stressful. So when you said you run in the Forgotten Realms I remembered I have a pdf for Sword Coast, and I've been wanting to play a Port City game and I've been stressing trying to figure out where everything goes. So instead I'll just study the Sword Coast and implement my own ideas to the world instead of pulling things out of my ass without having any DM'ing experience since I just wanna start playing as soon as possible the solo campaign I'm planning for my sister
ghosts of salt-marsh is soooo goooood
I'm enjoying what I've read thus far from it!
You could also create terrain online and just put it up on a TV screen
On point and useful! I now run 2 different games and was asked about running a 3rd. How many is too many?
LOL - DMs are in demand, that's for sure. I run four currently, but it's a big time commitment. You can run as many as your time permits and you desire to run, at the end of the day. I'd make sure you're not compromising other important commitments in your life, such as family, health, and work.
One option to help you run more groups is to make some of them meet less frequently. If people are really bugging you to run, maybe you agree but say it'll be just once a month. And to better use your time you could run the same adventures/campaign for multiple groups. Just ideas for getting the most bang out of your time.
My favorite part of being a DM is being the NPCs and how to be thrown of by what the players do, so i have to change how the NPC is acting
Yeah, that's also sometimes tough to do when players throw curve balls at you. But that's where awesome stories come from, too, I feel.
That sure is one "tricky" shirt.
Heyy Luke have really been enjoying your content and have been looking to start dming for a few friends (it's been years since any of us have played and when we did it was very rules light theater of the mind) I'm looking to run a 3.5e (the edition I was introduced to DND on) campaign in eberron, any starting points or tips I'm super lost on calculating xp and loot and setting up appropriately challenging encounters any help is greatly appreciated
- a struggling noob
Hello me and my friends are beginners and i was designated the dm but do you think you'll ever make a video about some in game rules like saving throws? Just wondering because i enjoy how easy it is to follow you
I love being a DM because I can unleash creativity. I don't like being a DM because I create too much( time consuming) ! I make alot of dioramas and paint miniatures as well. So I probably need to quit my day job.
First long running campaign with two groups. One on Sunday and one on Monday. My Sunday group doesn’t jive as much with my world. Some of that is probably on me due to me being a little bit railroad (I try not to railroad but it’s a wee bit hard wren my players just kinda sit there even after big plot reveals). They also don’t really interact or try to really get into the world or enjoy the history. They were more upset and concerned that I didn’t have dinosaurs in my world or that I didn’t allow polymorph in it. Most of their characters were fairly two dimensional for most of the campaign. Leading me to feel like I favored the ones who bothered to sit down and figure it out ahead of time. They also have a weird party dynamic where half of them want to explore the world and follow the story. The other half just wants to partake in shenanigans and blackmail the mayor or something like that.
Monday group really delves into the world. They basically are always dying to know more and pay attention to the world. When I drop a huge plot reveal or twist they’re shocked and we have a giant discussion on our chat about the plot. All of them have super well fleshed out characters which allow for easy plot hooks and such to bring their characters more into the fold. If I suggest a new mechanic they’re usually quick to tell me yes, no, or let’s take it for a test spin.
I try with the Sunday group, but it has been more of a trail than a game. What would you recommend on how to deal with the rambunctious group?
When you say "rambunctious group" are referring to your Sunday group? The one where sometimes they just sit there and don't want to do anything?
the DM Lair yes. Correct.
the DM Lair I call them that. Sunday=rambunctious
Monday=I guess we can call them teacher pets?
And do you feel like some of the players just aren't getting into it? Like maybe they're not having fun in the game?
the DM Lair a little bit? I run very role play and story drive campaigns and I’m not sure half the party in Sunday’s group are as into that.
Half the party want to know about the objective. The other half are trying to blackmail the mayor or are getting tanked at the bar.
On alternatives to grids my D&D group plays in a classroom during lunch and just use the whiteboard
I predraw encounter maps on graph paper and use chits to mark players and monsters
In my experience, D&D Beyond makes character creation so simple and quick that it becomes borderline trivial (aside from backstories and allies, if applicable.) If strictly pen and paper, sure, the time consumption still stands.
This video was very informative thank you very much. But I have just got into Dungeons and Dragons this year during the quarantine and currently in a campaign that is about session 30-ish at the moment.
However I want to run my own dungeon and dragons with my other friends and they are all newbies.
I don't know how to run the campaign with them, and have been brainstorming how to run one.
I have a story that I want to try, the monsters are also set. The players are set and schedule is not an issue.
However, I am still not familiar with rules and do not own single miniature nor terrain and can only rely on the internet.
Is there any advice on how I should run my ever first campaign?
I find I have more problems with using a premade world like forgotten realms or golarion in pathfinder. I get overwhelmed trying to know the map, what cities are nearby, what races live where, etc. The current game I am running the players have met up on the road to this town that is at a crossroads between the major kingdom they are in and a small wilderness. I make up the world as we go along with ideas I have in my head already
Probably the laziest comment you'll get but. I have never Dmed before or played for that matter. On a whim I picked up the DandD starter set, got the family together and tried my best. It was really overwhelming. I know that I was not prepared but here are some questions. Is there any software that i could load the player stats into and the monsters at an encounter? Have the players thrown the die and then I impot that and the software tracks everyone's damage? I just personally had a very hard time keeping track of everything. I ended up just making stuff up as I went, picked a DC of ten and if they rolled higher, they hit the goblin and killed it. I would just like to keep trach of things better.
I write my own rules. I have never run a published set of rules. I first GMed in the 80's. That way you don't get rules lawyers very often.
Is it just me or would it be cool if the DM lair DMed for the dungeon dudes
That would be fun! 😁
yeah voices are great or you can describe how the NPC talks in the same way that any novel would
I ran my first session last week and it was a disaster... I am scrambling to fix what went wrong before the session tonight. hah....
When I did DM (many years ago with 2nd Ed and v3.5) the most intimidating thing for me was getting too wrapped up in the rules / system. To me, rules are there to keep the game under control and figure out if players can succeed or fail when trying different actions. I'd overthink things to the point of what my brother calls 'analysis to paralysis'. So I tended to avoid DM'ing as a result. Any suggestions on how to overcome that? The most exciting thing was creating adventures and acting out the various NPC's. I co-DM'd once with a friend who was great at running the game but she didn't like acting out the NPC's. I did the acting and helped create adventures, and she ran the game, and it worked out quite well.
I know this question is 7 months old but seeing that there's no answer yet...
_Own your game._ Build enough understanding of the rules to know what you like enough to master and what you want to change because it doesn't work for you (might be too complicated or too fidley or too boring or....) And figure out how you would rather do that.
Write down any changes you make so your players know how you've changed the game (and can play along as consensual participants in the changed game) and have fun.
There is a role playing game called ironsworn that is made to be played with or without a dm and can be played alone. Who needs players? Lol jk it's a fun option though. It's PDF is free on drive-thru RPG
U can be the dm n the player it’s just u “really” just need to be logical about it. Finally it’s mostly for the dm to get a feel how characters can act by being tough on yourself of what they can do
Do you ever DM family games?
is there a dnd discord i can go to that can help me dm? im wanting to run house of lament with some friends for my first experience as a dm.
Creating Laws. need insight on laws for each kingdom
Can't believe you couldn't think of the name Professor Dungeon Master
I don't recommend starting out with a bought module. They're just too complicated for new DM's. Start out with a 1-shot and see where it goes after the first session
What do you do with players that don't play their players i have a group with a thief i put artwork in rooms that cast very much 33k gp but those the thief try to take it nope even when putting it in the room i imagine how would i play the thief of so i see artwork on a wall i pull out my knife and cut it out of the frame roll it up and place it in one of my bags... nope i get nothing they actually leave it of course i tell them at the end they left some serious gold but its too late next time next time comes smh
How much coffee or crack
I am a highschool teacher who has just started a D&D club for my students. I am being asked to be a DM... I am a new player myself... Please help!!!!! What can you suggest?????!?!!!???
First, join my Discord where you can get help from other DMs. 😁
Next, I'd watch some live D&D games on Twitch to see how folks play the game. Then read the rules a bit. Finally JUST DO IT. 😁 You may not be good at first but you'll learn much more from doing it and getting better in small increments.
As a teacher heading up a club, have you considered it doesn't have to be you running games all the time? Why not give your students some creative writing assignments where they have to write a short story from the perspective of the villain? Bring in a youtube video on accents? The occasional terrain making class? There are so many aspects of DM'ing that can fill up a lot of time. Why not teach them to enjoy all of them, rather than putting all that pressure on yourself.
Yes, great ideas, Eddie.
How has it all gone for you? Some of my students are thinking about starting an after school club with me. I was thinking of projecting maps/grids onto a my whiteboard where we could even write on it and use things like magnets.
Logistician?
Ye old 2nd Ed Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting