Here is one technique: I always flesh important NPC or big bad evil villian with three personalities reflection on; The offical personality, how they act when they meet someone. The friendly personality, how they act when they get to know one. The self, the personality they see themself having and inner thoughts. Its easy to adapt this method of thinking when I need to flesh out an npc I thought was going to be one scene deal, to be more alive. Example: Official: Secure about himself, leader. Friendly: Insecure, is all an act. Hard to trust, because doesnt want to be a failiure. The self: The need to do the right thing, need to lead so I can make my parents proud.
Personality is good to know (your method sounds similar to, the WOD idea of Natures and Demeanors, though with an extra aspect), but for me the two essential things I need to know about a character in order to roleplay them is what the character wants and what they _won't_ do to get it. I find this gives a real clarity to what decisions any given character (PC or NPC) will make, something you really need when the unexpected happens.
@@nickwilliams8302 This idea is based on storytelling classes, so in a sense little bit different media than roleplaying which means it's not perfect. But for me it works as a second nature when I need to flesh little bit more believable personalities. Yeah, needs and wants is a big thing for knowing a characters motivation - especially for bigger NPCs, PC and villians in a campaign. And creating drama, or conflict, is answering question why they can't have what they want/need. For random city guard or fishmonger, this is not much needed since PCs have no interest, time or for the sake of the story need to figure out their wants/need. In those cases I would recommend let them just have a quirk so live up the encounter and make it more interesting. The city guard has a gambling problem and really want the thrill again. Fishmonglers hobby is swords and knows everything about that. And something I learned and find very helpful from playing couple rounds of Fiasco. Characters with high ambition and low impulse control creates alot of interesting conflicts and drama.
My one player is hunting his evil siblings, one fled to the north. When they eventually arrive at the castle she fled to they find she's guarded by powerful knights. They agree to be disarmed to meet with her. The player sarcastically says "want a hug" and is suddenly embraced by a sobbing and apologetic sister who reveals she was blackmailed by their truly manipulative brother, Cornelias. The player was floored
@@DungeonClass That is *DEFINITELY* not made by a team of Mind Flayers! (The joke is a reference to the Monster Manual, look at the 2nd side of the very 1st page of it, there some pretty small text, this is referencing that.)
One of my techniques is to open the campaign with a "what is your character doing?" scene. Players are typically more invested in their characters than in the story at that point, so I spotlight them one at a time and let them do some storytelling about what their character is doing right before the inciting incident hits. This gets some of their self-interest out of their system by letting them express themselves, and also forcing them to listen to everyone else at the table. This can actually take that slower energy at the start of a first session and turn it into an advantage, getting the group to listen to each character's story in turn, slowly immersing them in a game world that's still unfamiliar. Also, "hard not to overdo plot twists." We think alike.
I always create a node map, that shows what the antagonists will do if the players do nothing, and how things might change with some predictable actions by the PCs. If they come up with something I didn't think of, I adjust the node map based on the new conditions.
Michael Matejka I think he means a really complex version of the probability tree diagrams we all hated back in geometry or whatever, but instead each branch is a different playable storyline
@@michaelmatejka1068 First, I build a timeline of what the antagonists will do if the PCs do nothing. Then, I try to anticipate things the PCs might do, and what affect each of those reactions will have on the antagonists timeline, and come up with new/altered threads for the antagonist(s). Then I'll treat those new possibilities the same as the original timeline, try to anticipate the PC actions, and corresponding reactions by the antagonists. I usually don't go further than 2-levels deep, because this iterative process could go on forever! Once I have that, I already know how to respond (usually) to the player's choices. On occasion, they'll come up with something I didn't anticipate, and I'll have to go back and adjust. One time, I had to end a session prematurely, because they were going in a completely new direction, and I had to make major changes to the node map. I don"t like plot hammers, so I let the story go organically where it will, but always affected by both the protagonists and antagonists plans (as they evolve). There may be consequences for choosing the "wrong" path, but never as a punishment, and (almost) never to force a certain result. I find the process of thinking and rethinking fun, and it makes the GM more of another player, and in one way, does away with the adversarial atmosphere....but in another, creates a new, different (and I would argue better) one! I never understand GMs who get angry because the players came up with a different solution or thought of something the GM didn't. I love that stuff! It makes me think, and makes what could otherwise be boring and rote, dynamic. I also feel like if the party is creative, that's a victory of a kind for me, because I've trained them well.
Both my boyfriend and I help each other when running our games (we alternate between story arcs so that we each get a turn playing or being DM). One of the techniques we use together is having a PC plant: a player who is tasked with making sure a particular piece of info is brought up or pointed out. Usually, it's one of us, since we help each other with planning, but sometimes we give the task to other players. It isn't ALWAYS in character (sometimes it's just the players chatting while someone draws a dungeon map), but it's a good way to get an idea in the players' heads so that it catches later when it's brought up in session. Just as an example (and also combining foreshadowing), one of the story elements in his campaign involves the PCs becoming the replacements for these heroic figures known as the Horsemen. The previous Horsemen were themed/named on times of day: Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight. My boyfriend had each of the PCs' backstories connect to one of them, to set the foundation (my character, a changeling assassin raised as a drow in the Underdark, is connected to Midnight, a female drow from the same city who follows Eilistraee), and we've been getting little nods to these connections throughout the campaign. Recently, we found a mural in the Underdark of our characters depicted as the Horsemen, so there's the foreshadowing. The PC plant technique came in a couple of sessions earlier. The thing is, even though part of the plan is to have our characters become the new Horsemen (I'm the only player that knows this for certain, because I've been helping with the planning), the PCs won't have the same names/associations. Instead of times of day, the PCs will be different seasons, with names from Pagan holidays for each of those: Imbolc (Winter), Beltane (Spring), Lughnasadh (Summer), and Samhain (Autumn). That idea is a little harder to get into everyone's heads in game, so I brought it up as a player during combat set up, when we happened to be placed around a circle like a compass rose (we were summoning a demon to fight). I brought up directional associations for the seasons/elements, which in turn got everyone talking about which character would be which season, thus getting the thought in their heads for the later reveal. To be fair, part of the reason this was done was so that people wouldn't fight over who got to be Samhain, since we all LOVE Halloween. It worked beautifully and was a great way to pass the time while the map was drawn. We also ended up placing ourselves to be on the "proper" points of the compass. tl;dr: Having a player casually bring up story elements out of character during downtime is a good way to help the other players pick up on foreshadowing in game.
A plot twist that I’m currently using (I hope my players aren’t reading, it’s gonna be revealed in the next game!) an essential NPC who has been a hunter of a devil, the main villain of the arc, is actually his assistant, delivering the party to enslave them. If I might add, this can be used to help swing combat difficulty greatly: each building combat has been the devil, with maybe a summoned assistant or two, versus a very full party. Now it will become the devil, his summoned assistants, and the NPC who is actually a seared devil, delivering the party into a trap inside the devil’s lair. I imagine the difficulty swinging from from “heh, we got this guy” to “oooohhhhhhhh crapcrapcrapcrapcrap”
I've used all of these to varying degrees over the years (though I never knew #4 had a name to it; I just remember seeing it in film a lot). Foreshadowing I use the most though, and in my current campaign, players have learned that when a certain song is heard, they can expect something unexpected to happen. a soundboard or playlist cued up on an MP3 player or tablet is great for setting mood btw.
In my last session, my party was at a temple of space and time, where time does not act normally. A new player happened to hop in the group. I wanted to get him into the action quickly. So we agreed his character would appear to the party as someone who lived 50 years prior to the campaign's present, but to him not a day had passed. This allowed the players and I to come up with some new plot points, such as the PC describing the changes to his hometown within 50 years. When working with PCs you have to be able to spitball and let them suggest things about the world. I try hard to work my players' characters to fit in my campaign setting, they often start with pre-gens from Forgotten Realms, so I spend lots of time working with them on their backstory to fit into the homebrew setting. The extra detail gives me a rich supply of material to work with.
I'm a huge fan of putting the bbeg in front of your face for the 1st part of the campaign as the nice old man helping the party/the mentor that everyone looks up to. I'm also a fan of putting harmless ogres in their face, and killing them triggers a war with the neighbouring horde, keeps them on their toes all the time
Some more good tips I keep close to me are: 1 - Seed gently, and keep track of them. It minimizes sidetracking and feels rewarding to the players. 2 - Dont draw maps. The party will start stumbling upon all the right places.
A good way to think about the structure of a story is to consider them mini arcs that create a regular arc, which create a grand arc. For example, think of a TV show. Each episode should be an arc of its own, telling a self contained story. But all those episodes tie in to the overall arc of the season. In turn, those seasons make up the arc of the show as a whole. The structure should be fractal-like, where you have episodic ups-and-downs within seasonal ups-and-downs within overall ups-and downs.
Another great video! Would love to see a combination of this, world building and basic rules. So I could see how story telling ties in with the rule system. I always feel like I'm relying too heavily on stat checks when I DM.
I think you for this video,aldough I know some stuff allready,here is an example from one of my campaighns "as Ralph sleeps,a dream appears in his mind,he sees ships,many ships,and all the sudden the flashesof their canons appear,2 seconds later,he woke up it was just a dream" meanwhile 5 months later "as the king awaits the fleet to rescue him he spots somehing different,the flags were wrong,they were the flags of the revolutionaries,and the flashes from their guns in the distance was the last thing he saw,the Greendesert kingdom,once undiputed ruler of the world,was no more" foreshadowing
Been playing PC for years but this evening will be my first time DMing for my friend and her kids this evening.... (wish me luck 😅) thanks for all your advice and tips my dude 🧡
Wonderful advice! One of the techniques I use when building plots is drawing the relationship between various factions. Combined with their motivations and some other traits, it gives me an overview of the story, which is a great source for future inspiration. I speak about the subject in a video in my channel if you're interested 😁
Yes, I also use this technique. If you know the motivation and the relationship of a character you can act without having any plan (because the party is doing again things that are not planned ) A second tool is a flexible time line for every bigger planed side event. With this two things and the flexible milestones of your adventure you have great tools to act out of the planed area (what often happen, missing time on both sides, crazy or funny ideas ... in most cases they don't follow the straight forward way ;) but that is nothing I must say to other GMS :D )
Over the last two years I've studied story structures - the essential elements that every story needs in order to be very good. More specific that the "esposition > rising action > climax" model. After some practice and trying out systems like Primetime Adventures (which I can't recommend highly enough) I'm now kinda successfully using either a 4- or a 5-act structure during my games. Allows me to improvise a lot while still being able to tell a coherent sotry with good tension. 1st act: Find out what the issue is; ask the dramatic question. Inciting incident and the 1st plot point need to happen. 2nd act: Explore and feel the opposition. 1st pinch point should happen. 3rd act (optional): protagonist(s) become active rather than passive, make some sort of decision in light of the dramatic question. No more exposition, new characters or plot elements from this point on. Just use the stuff already present in the story. 4th act: opposition increases, potential for a crisis, increase stakes. Should end with the 2nd plot point, protagonists entering the final conflict. 5th act: the final conflit, climax, the dramatic question gets an answer, resolution, denouement. If I know in which act the story is I know what my next goal is as the GM as I nudge the story forward while having as much player input as possible. So, using story structures like that is my main advice when trying to tell stories.
Thanks for the video! Now I can evolve my storytelling beyond setting up a whole campaign around a pun or silly joke (like the one I'm currently running). Jokes aside, I've been taking inspiration from some of my favorite movies, but never realized the specific devices that are used to make a story truly gripping.
Downtime is great for pacing. I've been using the rest variant from DMG for quite some time and it just brought us great moments. We usually do not have fast forward moments, because time is a precious resource in the game.
this a good video, I have a system to allow a DM to use story structure, rather than the story. This allows the players to emerge with their own story rather than the DMs story.
I don’t play any rpg’s. I love these videos though.. I really hope I can be a game master someday :) or at least find some d&d fans at my school and start playing
If you learn the game enough to try to DM, I guarantee you’ll have people lining up to play. Get yourself a starter set and you’ll be well on your way.
About foreshadowing and plot twists: Our d&d-group breaks right now as we all start studying in different cities which means we can almost never meet to play. So we need to find an end to our campaign. As we met up not so long ago, the party found out that the suggestions they made about foreshadowed Characters who weren't already explained well turned out to be true. It's pretty silly but very very fun to see how weird and absurd theories about villains turn out to be true as the theories weren't mostly made in serious manners. The plot twist can be used to end a campaign early if possible.
- Riddles and Puzzles for finding hidden treasure. ( Riddle written on statue which opens up a hidden door ) - give players specific choices and ask them, what do you do? ( Take the blue pill or the red pill )
Wow! I never thought of all this!?! You are so creative. I’ve dm’d a couple of times, but I don’t think I’m very good. After all I’ve only been playing for a year
the fact that this game is one that after over a year one can still feel "there is more to know and learn" is what makes it wonderful. i have watched countless hours of advice video's and read players handbook basically cover to cover and still feel like i have missed vast quantities of lore etc...
During Harry's time at Hogwarts (1991-96) there were 13 multiyear subjects being taught. We know this because Hermione signed up for all the subjects in the '93 - '94 school year, dropped out of Divination mid-year and dropped Muggle Studies at the end of the year - she got Outstanding in her OWLs in 10 subjects, and an Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts. There were one-off subjects like flying and apparition, and various clubs (like the gobstones club mentioned in 'The Order of the Phoenix') - I like to imagine that Sirius joined the Muggle Art Club as an excuse for plastering his walls with pictures of muggle women and motorcycles, though the real reason was to annoy his parents.
i've heard it said "if the players dont go to the monster , the monster can come to them...." villains don't need to just sit in there tower waiting patiently. they can make their way out to the town/market etc and make their presence known.
What are some tips you have for DMs to keep the campaign exciting for both the Players and the DM?How do we keep our campaign fresh?And at last,how can we turn a campaign into a horror story that's actually very scary
Hey, another DM here (been running games for over a decade now). Creating horror in a game session can be more about delivery than actual content. Last year, I worked a module into my campaign that was very Lovecraftian (4e D&D, Ashenport, if you're interested). The trick with horror is that everything should feel kind of off: there's something WRONG with how overly friendly NPCs are, for example, how they seem just a little TOO helpful. This can be achieved by changing your tone of voice, by implying that there's something more going on, then denying it casually when confronted directly. It takes practice, but it can be easy to implement into pretty much any setting. If you want performance examples, look up videos of Walt Disney World castmembers working at the Tower of Terror. Part of the job is coming off as REALLY creepy.
I really liked WA. I think they are really onto something. For me however, the data loss was enough to frustrate me. Would really like to see something along the lines of WA but a tad less expensive where you can keep your whole world private. Thanks for a great video.
I think I've figured out why I'm so aggro with my home game: 4 sessions of constant, if not exponential rising action (3 of which happened without a long rest), and Null is coming for my character's soul at dawn (the beginning of the next session) because he took a soul stone off a corpse like 5 sessions ago.
The thing about foreshadowing is that it doesn’t need to be something they notice and wonder about - it’s just as effective, if not more, as something they realise the significance of only later. Perhaps there’s a dragon cult, and when they encounter the big bad they realise that the barman with the dragon-shaped pipe wasn’t just flavour, he was a key player all along. As a bonus, if they *miss* those hints... well, then they’ll think they’ve wiped out that cult, but they haven’t twigged that the barman was in on it - and now he’s got a grudge. And he’s currently in the inn kitchen, cooking their dinner.
Great point. Great examples. The thing is, it still has to be memorable enough that they can realize it’s significance later. If they don’t even remember the little detail from earlier, the foreshadowing is lost on them.
@@WASD20 Maybe not useful to us, but if your game has an audience, THEY can notice the foreshadowing that the players missed. I've often rewatched Critical role only to find more and more subtle hints I could only notice on later repeats.
Another awesome video Nate! Keep it up. I have learned a lot from watching you lately. Although I am currently a PC in a campaign my group has recently started, your videos have me thinking about wanting to be our next DM when the time comes. Do you have any videos that go in depth about your actual prep/notes you have used for your own game? I have haven't had time to watch all of your archived videos yet. I have run a few one shots for my group, but never a campaign lasting for more than 2 or 3 sessions. Would love to develop a story we could play through over several months or longer.
I'm currently running a campaign and the bbeg actually hurt some npc's the players liked and offered to heal them (he's a cleric) in exchange for a unicorn horn. The party members decided to get the horn, get the friends healed then kill him. Surprise when he sent a doppelganger knowing they would try to kill him.
thing i use. talking with the occasional player. asking if they're ok to play with a mindfuck. "should your character die "off screen". would you be ok to play the monster in disguise and infiltrate the party?" So the bard likes to charm. I dropped in a succubus. She killed him ruthlessly while the rest of the party was elsewhere. The player then played the disguised succubus. Using all the items and gear his original character used. Even more fun when another PC made a deal with a devil. Gaining Hell Sight and being able to see through disguises/illusions. But the PC had learned a little about the hellish hierarchy. Unsure what faction the succubus belonged too he kept it quiet. Played out really great over time. Especially since the PC worked for an underling, way down the chain, of asmodeus. Ordering the PC to deal with the Red HAnd of Doom and Tiamat's forces. While the Succubus was aiding another arch devil. which is great inter party conflicts and such.
These tips are great. One of the challenges I have is finding a way to incorporate my players’ actions into the story and adapting accordingly. I have a tendency to railroad and I genuinely struggle to adapt on the fly based on the players’ choices. Do you have any tips on this? Maybe this would make a good topic for a video of its own. :)
Watching this video for a one shot I'm DMing for a birthday party. There's this cult of necromancers that kill people/monsters and bring them back to life as there evil slaves. The players have to go to their temple. I was trying to think how I could add a plot twist like you said, then I realized I already had. There's this one room that has what looks to be two prisoners, and they say they know the way out of the temple but they need the players help. They proceed to lead the players to an empty room, then the players find out they were actually zombies, the zombies lock them in, and leave. Then the floor starts to engulf the room in fire.
Great ideas! A year ago I started DMing after a few decades off. I mistakenly gave my group a ring of the ram as a quest reward. It is too powerful and I am not sure how the get rid of it without making my group upset. Anyone have any ideas? Love your videos!
The best approach would be to just talk to them. Tell them that you made a mistake giving them the ring, and ask if it would be okay to retcon it and replace it with a less powerful magic item. If your players aren’t all “that guy”s, you should have no issues. Hope this helps!
I wouldn't try to retcon it. How many charges did you give the ring? You could just wait it out, depending on how many. You could also have it expel extra charges if they ever roll a one while using it, and have it not work for a day, or they have to get it worked on to get it fixed, then you have the opportunity of it coming up missing, maybe the shop was robbed where it was being fixed at? Just some thoughts.
Game Master is a more general term. I tend to use the terms pretty interchangeably.
5 років тому+2
Tip #6. Flaming arrows are not a real thing. Launching a lit arrow from a bow always blows it out. Always. And even if didn't, a flaming arrow landing on a roof has a negligible chance of setting it aflame. Even if it landed in the middle of a barn filled with dry hay, the chance of it causing the entire barn to go up in flames is rather small. You'd need tens of thousands of burning arrows to hit a target to have a reliable chance of starting a large fire (unless your target is soaked in gasoline or something like that). Obviously, that is impractical. If you want to tell an immersive story, do not mention flaming arrows. Or studded leather armour. There is no such thing as studded leather armour.
You know what's sad about these tips, is that he is just sharing Literature elements. These are literally (used for the pun) the exact same key terms that I teach in the first lesson of my Introduction to Literature course. Any writer, story teller, or the most basic student of literature would consider this information to be all "duh" info.
I’m totally there with you. That’s why I called storytelling basics. It’s 101. But when I first started DMing, it’s amazing how much I didn’t apply them in my planning because I was so worried about ‘encounter balance’ and making fun encounters. My hope here is that these tips can serve as a reminder of what we all learned in high school literature class, and provide some examples of how they can be applied in your games.
Here is one technique:
I always flesh important NPC or big bad evil villian with three personalities reflection on; The offical personality, how they act when they meet someone. The friendly personality, how they act when they get to know one. The self, the personality they see themself having and inner thoughts. Its easy to adapt this method of thinking when I need to flesh out an npc I thought was going to be one scene deal, to be more alive.
Example: Official: Secure about himself, leader. Friendly: Insecure, is all an act. Hard to trust, because doesnt want to be a failiure. The self: The need to do the right thing, need to lead so I can make my parents proud.
Personality is good to know (your method sounds similar to, the WOD idea of Natures and Demeanors, though with an extra aspect), but for me the two essential things I need to know about a character in order to roleplay them is what the character wants and what they _won't_ do to get it. I find this gives a real clarity to what decisions any given character (PC or NPC) will make, something you really need when the unexpected happens.
@@nickwilliams8302 This idea is based on storytelling classes, so in a sense little bit different media than roleplaying which means it's not perfect. But for me it works as a second nature when I need to flesh little bit more believable personalities.
Yeah, needs and wants is a big thing for knowing a characters motivation - especially for bigger NPCs, PC and villians in a campaign. And creating drama, or conflict, is answering question why they can't have what they want/need. For random city guard or fishmonger, this is not much needed since PCs have no interest, time or for the sake of the story need to figure out their wants/need. In those cases I would recommend let them just have a quirk so live up the encounter and make it more interesting. The city guard has a gambling problem and really want the thrill again. Fishmonglers hobby is swords and knows everything about that.
And something I learned and find very helpful from playing couple rounds of Fiasco. Characters with high ambition and low impulse control creates alot of interesting conflicts and drama.
My one player is hunting his evil siblings, one fled to the north. When they eventually arrive at the castle she fled to they find she's guarded by powerful knights. They agree to be disarmed to meet with her.
The player sarcastically says "want a hug" and is suddenly embraced by a sobbing and apologetic sister who reveals she was blackmailed by their truly manipulative brother, Cornelias. The player was floored
Hehehe, the dark lord that just wants to make his parents proud. There is some potential there though, maybe a prince turned tyrant.
@@gossamera4665 Is'nt it in a sense what Lichking from Warcraft is? ;)
I dm'd my first game yesterday after watching your tutorials for months, and the players loved it! Thanks, Nate!
That's so cool! Thanks for the report. :D
Congrats! Nate is a great teacher for the worlds greatest role playing game.
Congratulations!
@@DungeonClass That is *DEFINITELY* not made by a team of Mind Flayers! (The joke is a reference to the Monster Manual, look at the 2nd side of the very 1st page of it, there some pretty small text, this is referencing that.)
One of my techniques is to open the campaign with a "what is your character doing?" scene. Players are typically more invested in their characters than in the story at that point, so I spotlight them one at a time and let them do some storytelling about what their character is doing right before the inciting incident hits. This gets some of their self-interest out of their system by letting them express themselves, and also forcing them to listen to everyone else at the table. This can actually take that slower energy at the start of a first session and turn it into an advantage, getting the group to listen to each character's story in turn, slowly immersing them in a game world that's still unfamiliar.
Also, "hard not to overdo plot twists." We think alike.
Downtime is a great tool for developing emotional ties, Players need you to create these emotional triggers to make the payoffs greater.
Great comment 28mm! Downtime can be just as important to the overall story and table interaction than anything else in D&D.
@@DungeonClass thanks, sub'd yas
I'm starting my first campaign as DM and this tutorial is gold for me, thanks!
Oh boy, I get to put my useless college degree in english to work for something! Been playing for years, but first time DM.
I'll be honest. I think it'd be hilarious if your useless college degree couldn't even make you a good DM lol
You got this! Just present a simple backdrop and starting conflict and the story will naturally evolve from there. Have fun!
I always create a node map, that shows what the antagonists will do if the players do nothing, and how things might change with some predictable actions by the PCs. If they come up with something I didn't think of, I adjust the node map based on the new conditions.
SiriusMined can you explain a bit more what you mean. It sounds interesting
Michael Matejka I think he means a really complex version of the probability tree diagrams we all hated back in geometry or whatever, but instead each branch is a different playable storyline
@@michaelmatejka1068 First, I build a timeline of what the antagonists will do if the PCs do nothing.
Then, I try to anticipate things the PCs might do, and what affect each of those reactions will have on the antagonists timeline, and come up with new/altered threads for the antagonist(s).
Then I'll treat those new possibilities the same as the original timeline, try to anticipate the PC actions, and corresponding reactions by the antagonists.
I usually don't go further than 2-levels deep, because this iterative process could go on forever!
Once I have that, I already know how to respond (usually) to the player's choices. On occasion, they'll come up with something I didn't anticipate, and I'll have to go back and adjust. One time, I had to end a session prematurely, because they were going in a completely new direction, and I had to make major changes to the node map.
I don"t like plot hammers, so I let the story go organically where it will, but always affected by both the protagonists and antagonists plans (as they evolve). There may be consequences for choosing the "wrong" path, but never as a punishment, and (almost) never to force a certain result. I find the process of thinking and rethinking fun, and it makes the GM more of another player, and in one way, does away with the adversarial atmosphere....but in another, creates a new, different (and I would argue better) one!
I never understand GMs who get angry because the players came up with a different solution or thought of something the GM didn't. I love that stuff! It makes me think, and makes what could otherwise be boring and rote, dynamic. I also feel like if the party is creative, that's a victory of a kind for me, because I've trained them well.
@@Gangsign-dp6zl sort of, but not as onerous.
SiriusMined yeah ofc, tree diagrams suck
Good tips
I’ve been DMing years but always looking to learn to be better
Good video
Both my boyfriend and I help each other when running our games (we alternate between story arcs so that we each get a turn playing or being DM). One of the techniques we use together is having a PC plant: a player who is tasked with making sure a particular piece of info is brought up or pointed out. Usually, it's one of us, since we help each other with planning, but sometimes we give the task to other players. It isn't ALWAYS in character (sometimes it's just the players chatting while someone draws a dungeon map), but it's a good way to get an idea in the players' heads so that it catches later when it's brought up in session.
Just as an example (and also combining foreshadowing), one of the story elements in his campaign involves the PCs becoming the replacements for these heroic figures known as the Horsemen. The previous Horsemen were themed/named on times of day: Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight. My boyfriend had each of the PCs' backstories connect to one of them, to set the foundation (my character, a changeling assassin raised as a drow in the Underdark, is connected to Midnight, a female drow from the same city who follows Eilistraee), and we've been getting little nods to these connections throughout the campaign. Recently, we found a mural in the Underdark of our characters depicted as the Horsemen, so there's the foreshadowing.
The PC plant technique came in a couple of sessions earlier. The thing is, even though part of the plan is to have our characters become the new Horsemen (I'm the only player that knows this for certain, because I've been helping with the planning), the PCs won't have the same names/associations. Instead of times of day, the PCs will be different seasons, with names from Pagan holidays for each of those: Imbolc (Winter), Beltane (Spring), Lughnasadh (Summer), and Samhain (Autumn). That idea is a little harder to get into everyone's heads in game, so I brought it up as a player during combat set up, when we happened to be placed around a circle like a compass rose (we were summoning a demon to fight). I brought up directional associations for the seasons/elements, which in turn got everyone talking about which character would be which season, thus getting the thought in their heads for the later reveal. To be fair, part of the reason this was done was so that people wouldn't fight over who got to be Samhain, since we all LOVE Halloween. It worked beautifully and was a great way to pass the time while the map was drawn. We also ended up placing ourselves to be on the "proper" points of the compass.
tl;dr: Having a player casually bring up story elements out of character during downtime is a good way to help the other players pick up on foreshadowing in game.
Loved this, sounds like a great idea I might take inspiration from :D
So many great ideas! Keep it up
A plot twist that I’m currently using (I hope my players aren’t reading, it’s gonna be revealed in the next game!) an essential NPC who has been a hunter of a devil, the main villain of the arc, is actually his assistant, delivering the party to enslave them. If I might add, this can be used to help swing combat difficulty greatly: each building combat has been the devil, with maybe a summoned assistant or two, versus a very full party. Now it will become the devil, his summoned assistants, and the NPC who is actually a seared devil, delivering the party into a trap inside the devil’s lair. I imagine the difficulty swinging from from “heh, we got this guy” to “oooohhhhhhhh crapcrapcrapcrapcrap”
I've used all of these to varying degrees over the years (though I never knew #4 had a name to it; I just remember seeing it in film a lot). Foreshadowing I use the most though, and in my current campaign, players have learned that when a certain song is heard, they can expect something unexpected to happen. a soundboard or playlist cued up on an MP3 player or tablet is great for setting mood btw.
In my last session, my party was at a temple of space and time, where time does not act normally. A new player happened to hop in the group. I wanted to get him into the action quickly. So we agreed his character would appear to the party as someone who lived 50 years prior to the campaign's present, but to him not a day had passed. This allowed the players and I to come up with some new plot points, such as the PC describing the changes to his hometown within 50 years. When working with PCs you have to be able to spitball and let them suggest things about the world. I try hard to work my players' characters to fit in my campaign setting, they often start with pre-gens from Forgotten Realms, so I spend lots of time working with them on their backstory to fit into the homebrew setting. The extra detail gives me a rich supply of material to work with.
I'm a huge fan of putting the bbeg in front of your face for the 1st part of the campaign as the nice old man helping the party/the mentor that everyone looks up to.
I'm also a fan of putting harmless ogres in their face, and killing them triggers a war with the neighbouring horde, keeps them on their toes all the time
I remember the story diagram from english when i was in school. I call it the mountain.
Some more good tips I keep close to me are:
1 - Seed gently, and keep track of them. It minimizes sidetracking and feels rewarding to the players.
2 - Dont draw maps. The party will start stumbling upon all the right places.
I must draw maps.
I kinda like that players stumbling. It makes me feel your players cares about your campaign and world. (I also LOVE drawing and filling maps)
Maps need not be accurate >:)
A good way to think about the structure of a story is to consider them mini arcs that create a regular arc, which create a grand arc. For example, think of a TV show. Each episode should be an arc of its own, telling a self contained story. But all those episodes tie in to the overall arc of the season. In turn, those seasons make up the arc of the show as a whole.
The structure should be fractal-like, where you have episodic ups-and-downs within seasonal ups-and-downs within overall ups-and downs.
Another great video! Would love to see a combination of this, world building and basic rules. So I could see how story telling ties in with the rule system. I always feel like I'm relying too heavily on stat checks when I DM.
I think you for this video,aldough I know some stuff allready,here is an example from one of my campaighns
"as Ralph sleeps,a dream appears in his mind,he sees ships,many ships,and all the sudden the flashesof their canons appear,2 seconds later,he woke up it was just a dream" meanwhile 5 months later "as the king awaits the fleet to rescue him he spots somehing different,the flags were wrong,they were the flags of the revolutionaries,and the flashes from their guns in the distance was the last thing he saw,the Greendesert kingdom,once undiputed ruler of the world,was no more" foreshadowing
Been playing PC for years but this evening will be my first time DMing for my friend and her kids this evening.... (wish me luck 😅)
thanks for all your advice and tips my dude 🧡
Good luck!
Wonderful advice!
One of the techniques I use when building plots is drawing the relationship between various factions. Combined with their motivations and some other traits, it gives me an overview of the story, which is a great source for future inspiration.
I speak about the subject in a video in my channel if you're interested 😁
Yes, I also use this technique. If you know the motivation and the relationship of a character you can act without having any plan (because the party is doing again things that are not planned )
A second tool is a flexible time line for every bigger planed side event.
With this two things and the flexible milestones of your adventure you have great tools to act out of the planed area (what often happen, missing time on both sides, crazy or funny ideas ... in most cases they don't follow the straight forward way ;) but that is nothing I must say to other GMS :D )
You can extrapolate a lot of things by just noting allied, rivalling and enemy factions to any given faction. So I definitely recommend this method.
Just starting to GM for a new group, and was great to get a bit of a refresher on ideas. Nicely done.
Over the last two years I've studied story structures - the essential elements that every story needs in order to be very good. More specific that the "esposition > rising action > climax" model. After some practice and trying out systems like Primetime Adventures (which I can't recommend highly enough) I'm now kinda successfully using either a 4- or a 5-act structure during my games. Allows me to improvise a lot while still being able to tell a coherent sotry with good tension.
1st act: Find out what the issue is; ask the dramatic question. Inciting incident and the 1st plot point need to happen.
2nd act: Explore and feel the opposition. 1st pinch point should happen.
3rd act (optional): protagonist(s) become active rather than passive, make some sort of decision in light of the dramatic question. No more exposition, new characters or plot elements from this point on. Just use the stuff already present in the story.
4th act: opposition increases, potential for a crisis, increase stakes. Should end with the 2nd plot point, protagonists entering the final conflict.
5th act: the final conflit, climax, the dramatic question gets an answer, resolution, denouement.
If I know in which act the story is I know what my next goal is as the GM as I nudge the story forward while having as much player input as possible.
So, using story structures like that is my main advice when trying to tell stories.
This was really helpful. i’ve literally only ran 1 adventure before to only one person.
Congrats SadisticSamon! Keep it up and most importantly, Have fun!
Thanks for the video! Now I can evolve my storytelling beyond setting up a whole campaign around a pun or silly joke (like the one I'm currently running).
Jokes aside, I've been taking inspiration from some of my favorite movies, but never realized the specific devices that are used to make a story truly gripping.
Downtime is great for pacing. I've been using the rest variant from DMG for quite some time and it just brought us great moments. We usually do not have fast forward moments, because time is a precious resource in the game.
this a good video, I have a system to allow a DM to use story structure, rather than the story. This allows the players to emerge with their own story rather than the DMs story.
Great quality content, the examples are very good!
I don’t play any rpg’s. I love these videos though.. I really hope I can be a game master someday :) or at least find some d&d fans at my school and start playing
If you learn the game enough to try to DM, I guarantee you’ll have people lining up to play. Get yourself a starter set and you’ll be well on your way.
Dungeon Class thanks for the advice :)
About foreshadowing and plot twists:
Our d&d-group breaks right now as we all start studying in different cities which means we can almost never meet to play. So we need to find an end to our campaign.
As we met up not so long ago, the party found out that the suggestions they made about foreshadowed Characters who weren't already explained well turned out to be true. It's pretty silly but very very fun to see how weird and absurd theories about villains turn out to be true as the theories weren't mostly made in serious manners.
The plot twist can be used to end a campaign early if possible.
Nice! I love it.
In media res sounds amazing. Thank you. I will try it out tomorrow
This is an awesome video with some excellent advice. Thank you, Nate.
- Riddles and Puzzles for finding hidden treasure. ( Riddle written on statue which opens up a hidden door )
- give players specific choices and ask them, what do you do? ( Take the blue pill or the red pill )
Wow! I never thought of all this!?! You are so creative. I’ve dm’d a couple of times, but I don’t think I’m very good. After all I’ve only been playing for a year
the fact that this game is one that after over a year one can still feel "there is more to know and learn" is what makes it wonderful. i have watched countless hours of advice video's and read players handbook basically cover to cover and still feel like i have missed vast quantities of lore etc...
Actually first maybe? Love your videos and map tips! Just started my first attempted at DMing wish me luck!
good luck!
Love the Grixis touch!
During Harry's time at Hogwarts (1991-96) there were 13 multiyear subjects being taught. We know this because Hermione signed up for all the subjects in the '93 - '94 school year, dropped out of Divination mid-year and dropped Muggle Studies at the end of the year - she got Outstanding in her OWLs in 10 subjects, and an Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts. There were one-off subjects like flying and apparition, and various clubs (like the gobstones club mentioned in 'The Order of the Phoenix') - I like to imagine that Sirius joined the Muggle Art Club as an excuse for plastering his walls with pictures of muggle women and motorcycles, though the real reason was to annoy his parents.
The disguise self plot twist should be known as the Scooby Doo Method
i've heard it said "if the players dont go to the monster , the monster can come to them...." villains don't need to just sit in there tower waiting patiently. they can make their way out to the town/market etc and make their presence known.
Wow nice to see all the ‘boring’ analysis in English class finally pays off. Thanks Nate!
What are some tips you have for DMs to keep the campaign exciting for both the Players and the DM?How do we keep our campaign fresh?And at last,how can we turn a campaign into a horror story that's actually very scary
Hey, another DM here (been running games for over a decade now). Creating horror in a game session can be more about delivery than actual content. Last year, I worked a module into my campaign that was very Lovecraftian (4e D&D, Ashenport, if you're interested). The trick with horror is that everything should feel kind of off: there's something WRONG with how overly friendly NPCs are, for example, how they seem just a little TOO helpful. This can be achieved by changing your tone of voice, by implying that there's something more going on, then denying it casually when confronted directly. It takes practice, but it can be easy to implement into pretty much any setting. If you want performance examples, look up videos of Walt Disney World castmembers working at the Tower of Terror. Part of the job is coming off as REALLY creepy.
I really liked WA. I think they are really onto something. For me however, the data loss was enough to frustrate me. Would really like to see something along the lines of WA but a tad less expensive where you can keep your whole world private. Thanks for a great video.
Thanks for watching!
I JUST PLAYED MY FIRST SESSION OF D&D YAYYY IT WAS DO FUN!!! Also i need help to lvl up to lvl 5
I think I've figured out why I'm so aggro with my home game: 4 sessions of constant, if not exponential rising action (3 of which happened without a long rest), and Null is coming for my character's soul at dawn (the beginning of the next session) because he took a soul stone off a corpse like 5 sessions ago.
The thing about foreshadowing is that it doesn’t need to be something they notice and wonder about - it’s just as effective, if not more, as something they realise the significance of only later. Perhaps there’s a dragon cult, and when they encounter the big bad they realise that the barman with the dragon-shaped pipe wasn’t just flavour, he was a key player all along.
As a bonus, if they *miss* those hints... well, then they’ll think they’ve wiped out that cult, but they haven’t twigged that the barman was in on it - and now he’s got a grudge.
And he’s currently in the inn kitchen, cooking their dinner.
Great point. Great examples. The thing is, it still has to be memorable enough that they can realize it’s significance later. If they don’t even remember the little detail from earlier, the foreshadowing is lost on them.
@@WASD20 Maybe not useful to us, but if your game has an audience, THEY can notice the foreshadowing that the players missed. I've often rewatched Critical role only to find more and more subtle hints I could only notice on later repeats.
I tell my friends that every decision will shape the world they are in, they can even fight themselves and become the villain of the story ha ha!
Another awesome video Nate! Keep it up. I have learned a lot from watching you lately. Although I am currently a PC in a campaign my group has recently started, your videos have me thinking about wanting to be our next DM when the time comes. Do you have any videos that go in depth about your actual prep/notes you have used for your own game? I have haven't had time to watch all of your archived videos yet. I have run a few one shots for my group, but never a campaign lasting for more than 2 or 3 sessions. Would love to develop a story we could play through over several months or longer.
I want to be a DM but I'm not sure if my home brewed campaign is any good, but thanks for Storytelling advice.
Liked, nice ten head info
I'm currently running a campaign and the bbeg actually hurt some npc's the players liked and offered to heal them (he's a cleric) in exchange for a unicorn horn. The party members decided to get the horn, get the friends healed then kill him. Surprise when he sent a doppelganger knowing they would try to kill him.
thing i use. talking with the occasional player. asking if they're ok to play with a mindfuck.
"should your character die "off screen". would you be ok to play the monster in disguise and infiltrate the party?"
So the bard likes to charm. I dropped in a succubus. She killed him ruthlessly while the rest of the party was elsewhere.
The player then played the disguised succubus. Using all the items and gear his original character used.
Even more fun when another PC made a deal with a devil. Gaining Hell Sight and being able to see through disguises/illusions.
But the PC had learned a little about the hellish hierarchy. Unsure what faction the succubus belonged too he kept it quiet.
Played out really great over time. Especially since the PC worked for an underling, way down the chain, of asmodeus. Ordering the PC to deal with the Red HAnd of Doom and Tiamat's forces.
While the Succubus was aiding another arch devil. which is great inter party conflicts and such.
These tips are great. One of the challenges I have is finding a way to incorporate my players’ actions into the story and adapting accordingly. I have a tendency to railroad and I genuinely struggle to adapt on the fly based on the players’ choices. Do you have any tips on this? Maybe this would make a good topic for a video of its own. :)
Good video nate.
Thanks for the video, I spy your Dan Mumford pieces!
you say the plot twist should be unexpected but what about foreshadowing the plot twist?
Stacy, Brian, and Tristan? Jesus, that's one helluva group.
I rolled on my d100 random 21st century names table.
friggin Brian
Thanks, MegaMind!
Watching this video for a one shot I'm DMing for a birthday party. There's this cult of necromancers that kill people/monsters and bring them back to life as there evil slaves. The players have to go to their temple. I was trying to think how I could add a plot twist like you said, then I realized I already had. There's this one room that has what looks to be two prisoners, and they say they know the way out of the temple but they need the players help. They proceed to lead the players to an empty room, then the players find out they were actually zombies, the zombies lock them in, and leave. Then the floor starts to engulf the room in fire.
Sounds cool.
this guy looks like he can read your mind
jokes aside this was quite helpfull
World Anvil seems so cool and useful, but it's so clunky to get into...
Great ideas! A year ago I started DMing after a few decades off. I mistakenly gave my group a ring of the ram as a quest reward. It is too powerful and I am not sure how the get rid of it without making my group upset. Anyone have any ideas? Love your videos!
The best approach would be to just talk to them. Tell them that you made a mistake giving them the ring, and ask if it would be okay to retcon it and replace it with a less powerful magic item. If your players aren’t all “that guy”s, you should have no issues. Hope this helps!
I wouldn't try to retcon it. How many charges did you give the ring? You could just wait it out, depending on how many. You could also have it expel extra charges if they ever roll a one while using it, and have it not work for a day, or they have to get it worked on to get it fixed, then you have the opportunity of it coming up missing, maybe the shop was robbed where it was being fixed at? Just some thoughts.
8:00
Also I was just wondering, why do you say GM and not DM. It’s all up to you what you say, just saying, why?
Game Master is a more general term. I tend to use the terms pretty interchangeably.
Tip #6. Flaming arrows are not a real thing. Launching a lit arrow from a bow always blows it out. Always. And even if didn't, a flaming arrow landing on a roof has a negligible chance of setting it aflame. Even if it landed in the middle of a barn filled with dry hay, the chance of it causing the entire barn to go up in flames is rather small. You'd need tens of thousands of burning arrows to hit a target to have a reliable chance of starting a large fire (unless your target is soaked in gasoline or something like that). Obviously, that is impractical. If you want to tell an immersive story, do not mention flaming arrows.
Or studded leather armour. There is no such thing as studded leather armour.
This man gets it.
That sounded like a sick crow.
The last time i did the GM, i did it very poorly, now im gping nack armed to the teeth. 😎
my players never take notes..=_=
this guy looks like gollum or sméagol after rehab
Yay
You know what's sad about these tips, is that he is just sharing Literature elements. These are literally (used for the pun) the exact same key terms that I teach in the first lesson of my Introduction to Literature course. Any writer, story teller, or the most basic student of literature would consider this information to be all "duh" info.
I’m totally there with you. That’s why I called storytelling basics. It’s 101. But when I first started DMing, it’s amazing how much I didn’t apply them in my planning because I was so worried about ‘encounter balance’ and making fun encounters.
My hope here is that these tips can serve as a reminder of what we all learned in high school literature class, and provide some examples of how they can be applied in your games.
2nd
Hello