9 things D&D players wish DMs did
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
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▼ INDEX ▼
0:00 Intro
0:59 Create themes
2:30 Play with us
3:36 Make combat matter
4:38 Tragedy strikes
5:54 Maintain a schedule
7:13 Use inspiration
8:09 Use safety tools
9:26 Guide us
10:51 Engage with roleplay
12:17 Be kind to yourself
Most Dungeon Masters want to be the best DM they can be - but if the players at your D&D table don't tell you what they're looking for out of a Dungeons & Dragons game, it can be hard to know what to work on! So I asked players on Twitter, instead.
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Once again, the only ads I let run through... Funny and slightly ridiculous. Thanks Ginny
As an original backer I'm not even sure I got this surprised its still in pledge manager
when does the pledge manager close?
You gave me an idea, for players having trouble figuring out clues for the main story, like maybe the miss all 3 clues, you can have a random NPC start a short side quest that leads them to a new clue, or even directly to the information you're trying to clue them in on.
Also this can be used when a party player can't make it to a session. Having in place already or creatively improvising a side quest would give the players something to do that would be interesting and could still tie into the main story in a small way, but not be so major the players that miss the quest are left feeling like they really missed out on key parts of the story.
Back in the early/mid 90's when I was running AD&D 2nd, everyone used to put £2 or £3 into a pot, and the next week, the guy whose house we played at would use that money to buy ingredients and cook everyone a chilli or spiced potatoes. Everyone, even myself as DM, put money in because if you didn't, you wouldn't get any and his cooking was amazing.
There was a shocking number of people who wanted their DMs to provide food during a session. That’s ghastly. The DM is providing the whole ass world you play in for hours on end, players should feed each other AND the DM. C’mon, guys, some care & etiquette please.
That's a big oof, as you said GMs have enough going on. It's different, if the GM lays that out as a ground rule (I had one).
I told my players to bring stuff and it's a running joke that one of them has to bring chips with a weird/unusual flavor xD
Back in the day, the GM never paid for his pizza. It was even a phrase, "Any GM worth his pizza...", meaning if the GM was good.
Hard agree - when we played in University, it was always the players who provided food. If you didn't, people made note.
My group is great about this. One player sometimes bakes goodies or gets Sonic drinks, another brings donuts. I provide some tea for those who might want it, just some jugs in my fridge, but no one expects me to do that.
Ultimately, we work together to provide what we decided we needed early on and it works out for everyone!
For a long long while, I and my co-DM's in a group of mutually-run games operated by the phrase "snack XP best XP". Everyone who brought snacks got a very small XP bonus for that session, even if XP wasn't awarded overall.
When it comes to railroading/allowing to flounder fruitlessly, remember, only you as the DM knows where that clue was hidden. If the party is lost, you can absolutely make it look like the ever-important clue was in this one place the whole time and you didn't just change things in order to help them out.
THIIIIIIIIS
The puzzle seems so obvious when you're the one who built the pieces...
The hidden dungeon that is always where the party thought it would be.
I have phrased this as, "Railroading is fine - as long as the players don't SEE THE RAILS." It isn't the absolute freedom they want (freedom to do anything - freedom to do NOTHING), but the ILLUSION of absolute freedom. If they get bogged down in something they get opportunity to handle it, possibly in a few different ways, but if they CAN'T progress that the DM won't just leave them hanging forever, flailing around hoping that SOMETHING they do FINALLY gets things moving again.
I think a big part of it is that DM's block THEMSELVES from giving players important information. They especially lock it tightly away behind various _checks_ - perception, investigation, knowledge, or actually behind locked doors and chests that PC's have the misfortune to FAIL to open. Information is then kept away from the players when they sometimes most NEED it. The MOMENT a DM sees that happening they should be arbitrarily BREAKING those locks and blockages in order to move their game forward and not simply frustrate their players. If PC's need to know something - TELL THEM. Don't keep making them FIGHT BOTH THEIR DM AND THE RULES to get it. To HELL with the rules when they are getting in the way of THE ONGOING GAME.
@@duanevp I agree. I never hide major plot points, but learning of shortcuts, bonus treasure, and weaknesses are a great way to reward meticulous searching. Just never tell them where you hid secrets after the campaign if they didn't find it. That can backfire really easily in future campaigns.
Long before "safety tools" was a common thing (we're talking 90's ish) I had "....aaand Fade to Black."
In Session Zero, I informed players that if ever they were uncomfortable with a scene they could end it immediately with "aaand Fade to Black." At that point everyone stopped immediately, no questions, and took a 15 minute break. If it wasn't obvious, I pulled them aside and we discussed, in as far as they were comfortable, what aspect upset them. Where initially I did this to better understand what to avoid in the future, it inadvertently worked as a check system as well (I had three a-hole players try to abuse this by "fading" RP cause they were bored and the attention wasn't on them.)
Over the years my Session 0s and tools evolved (questionnaires and such) but I always kept "...aaand Fade to Black".
And for those wondering why I keep writing it like that instead of just abbreviating FtB, I've tried it without the "...aaand". There's something about that sound that overpowers all dialog, breaks verisimilitude, draws everyone's attention to the player's distress, and sometimes adds just the right amount of levity to break the tension of a scene gracefully for everyone. It's been used many times over the years (fewer as I've gotten better at DMing) but I can't tell you how valuable having a simple, quick "Stop" button has been for my players.
Wow, that sound great! thanks for the tip
Fade to Black is a very common safety tool, actually. next to the X card I'd say the one that's mentioned in every list of rpg safety tools I've ever seen. But glad you were so ahead of your time with that, making sure everyone at the table feels safe and comfortable is always good and important!
Also, I think the reason the "and" may be so effective is because it builds anticipation and clearly announces that the DM has something to say, drawing it out with the expectation that you'll show them you're actually listening before they continue. and then having that followed with a well understood shorthand for "let's take a breather" subverts the dread this initially prompts xD or something akin to that
This is actually awesome! I've been dming for over six years, and I've always defaulted to "just get my attention if you become uncomfortable"
This would work way better!
Oh this is great advice!
I'm gonna steal this 😊 thank you for the tip!
I missed saying this on Twitter, but....session zero. That's kinda like the first point, but (just speaking for me) when you're a person that hasn't played in a fair few years or are just starting with a new group, session zeros for both group and player could be really good to have.
I do session 0 whenever I start a new campaign, even if it's a group I've been playing with for a while
This. Session 0 is so so important. Like, always, but especially if someone is new to the game as a whole, new to a group (or playing with strangers), or hasn't played in a while. I'm honestly surprised it took Wizards until _Tasha's_ to be like "Hm. You know what? This is important. Let's add it to a core rulebook".
Yeah. This.
Had a campaign that ended up in the under dark and the fey. Only two people spoke Sylvan and two had dark vision.
I love session zero. however the biggest complaints I have seen in my group is 1) my group at least love to pull surprises on everyone (DM and players a like) 2) some say its boring and just want to start the game.
yes in my group I have stopped doing session zero because I keep getting complaints about it. my players just want to ask questions over text at most. so I have just started sending out the general idea of the game. starting level and equipment. I ask about characters... but frequently get you'll love this character. but no other details. yes the group frequently ends up as a giant mess and stuff but my group just seems to love being the problem group.
I am a new player in all this and in the campaign I am playing right now we started out with a session zero, and i am so happy we did that.
For me to feel comfortable, for me to understand, to ask all the questions, and many other things.
So happy for session zero
Me leaving letters on the study table for the players to find.
Me mentioning the letters multiple times during investigations of the area.
...
The players literally setting the building on fire and walking away without reading the letters.
😝 My current character is a private investigator with several fire spells. We were recently fighting inside an enemy battlefield commander's tent, and I made a point to gather up all the papers (on the desk, etc.) before I set the tent ablaze and dropped it on the remaining enemies. Remembering why you're there in the first place is important!
Lol!! You, groaning, copy and pasting the information and figuring out where else you can shoehorn it in… my sympathies 😆
Ugggghh! So much for the prop letters you took time to prepare. 💔
An updraft from the heat of the fire could have made the letters go out of the window and float towards the party. Just an example
With regard to the "Guide us" feedback: I use NPCs as the gamekeepers in an Escape Room. No one WANTS to ask the person running the escape room for a hint, but if you're not having fun anymore you've got to. NPCs should be prepared to give obvious hints. I mostly get this from a brilliant player of mine who will frequently grab an NPC, point at the party's plan and ask "Is there anything obvious we're missing here?" 9 times out of 10 they get an "I don't know, seems good to me." but that one time was super useful.
Another player does the even more helpful NPC interaction. "Hey, is this a good idea? Are we biting off more than we can chew? Should we NOT fight this guy?" I know a lot of people will call it metagaming, but I can always have the NPC be unhelpful if I think they don't need to ask.
Something I read from another system (Spirit of the Century, I think) has great advice for GMs when the players get stuck: Throw ninjas.
Maybe not actual ninjas, but some kind of action that grabs players' attention and eventually provides them with a clue. Maybe the ninjas/pirates/bandits have a letter on them from the BBEG about the next step in the plan, or the ensuing scuffle knocks an enemy into that hidden switch the players missed.
I usually use random encounters for that. I have a random encounter table that includes battle encounters or social encounters depending on the area the players are in. But in case the players are stuck either encounter would involve giving them a new clue to what they want to achieve.
I like it
The fear of metagaming can be so strong, that you create a new problem: Feigning Ignorance
I ruined a session once 'cause I got mad we couldn't solve the "mystery" (i'm not proud of this tho, i just couldn't help but feel so frustrated). DM threw us into some kind of escape room where we had to solve little stupid enigmas and we were SO lost and there was no one to give us a hint or a direction, I felt so dumb and stupid. I came to the point where I had my character lay on the ground and do nothing 'cause we tried everything and nothing worked. It was horrible. Please DMs, if your players start feeling helpless and clueless, help them, 'cause it's a horrible feeling and it could get out of the way like it did with me hahaha
@@creativeguidous You know what might have been cool there? Your DM having your character roll a perception check once he layed on the floor and when you pass he sees some inscription on the lowest part of the wass that gives you a clue to solving the escaperoom.
Great video!
Personal note on the “rule of three.” It’s also a perfectly valid strategy to pose your party with a problem that you haven’t worked out solutions for yourself. Don’t make it an impossible problem, but allow them to come up with ideas, plan, investigate, ask questions, and see how their plan comes to fruition. Discovering TOGETHER what will happen is one of my favorite things about d&d.
It really comes down to style but in the context of the point you're addressing, players were asking for more guidance. I use the rule of three when prepping but I don't rule out other options just because I have three ways for them to get the information and I make things modular a lot of the time
Yes!
I usually have still some solutions in mind but try to stay as open as possible for my players ideas. Usually they'll come up with something entirely different then what I would have planned anyways.
I CONSTANTLY come up with challenges I have no idea how they will overcome. My wife was reading an encounter I had just planned and she asked me "How are they going to get out of this?" I replied I have no idea. My job is to come up with challenges and the players' job is to figure out how to overcome them. In all honesty, they usually come up with something much better and more imaginative than I would. That is part of the fun of DMing
@@thomasmurphy6501 challenges and encounters yes but the that's not what the rule of three is for. It's like Ginny said generally related to information.
"Surprise! It's general data!"
As a Data Reporting Analyst, I will definitely be using this. 😂
I think it's important to note that common requests are theming and guidance. There's so much rhetoric out there against railroading, which I get, but at the end of the day (at least for me), I'd much rather go through a slightly more linear adventure than an adventure that I feel like I'm floundering in.
I think my solution to this works well for #9, #3, and #2. I just ask my players to collectively agree upon what they want to do (usually session 0, but I suppose any time would do), and run the campaign with that as the central goal.
It kind of obviates the need for railroading, because then you can really only help the players accomplish what was always their own goals. Player agency is implicitly central to the plot.
It's also pretty good for working in player backstories. As a DM, my real adversity with integrating player backstories were because they were completely unrelated to the plot and no players were ever really interested in doing anything with each other's backstory. It was only ever some side thing between the player and DM, and it never felt worth it. But if the player's entire character was built for the same goal as everyone else's from the start, you don't have this issue since their backstory ostensibly leads into the goal they all chose to build their characters for!
That's the difference between a railroad and a clear path
@@andruloniIf there's only one path and all else is featureless scrub, it may as well be a railroad.
On the note of missing players, what we're doing with my current group is that when a player is unable to attend I plan a oneshot in the same universe as the campaign itself in place of that week's session. This way we still get the week's worth of dnd and nobody misses out on the actual plot, a win-win!
We still continue with the main campaign at certain times even if we're not full party, but the oneshots always remain a popular option. The party is small and very close knit so they understandably don't want to proceed with missing players.
The other week someone was missing and we did a sidequest. Same characters, same story just got a different task in between.
Yesssss I love this. It also lets you explore different parts of the world, mix things up, both for you and the players... Definitely recommended
I like one shots when folks are out but not in the actual universe we're playing (or at least not the current time of the world we're in) b/c it can feel like the whole one shot is "pointless" BECAUSE it doesn't effect the main plot and we all know it won't b/c someone is missing. That could just be because we don't have a lot of A/B/C plots in our game, only the main storyline, but it's still frustrating
@@warlikeful One shots don't need to be "pointless" even if you don't have a lot of plot threads open. They don't need to have an immediate effect, either. A one shot set in the past can have consequences that your main party has to deal with; one set in a nearby city can create a set of NPCs that you'll recognise when you go there; you could be the "professionals" that had to go in and clean up a mess the main party created; you could do the classic everyone-is-a-goblin evil one-shot and get a peek behind the curtains of the BBEG as you carry out one of their plans; you could do an option I've seen in JRPGs where you play as a party that tried to defeat the BBEG in the past, but failed, and in your main timeline you will then be able to find their remains, and possibly weapons to help you. There are a lot of options that give you a throwaway one-shot that still has impact.
Player was out for the week so I ran a oneshot fleshing out the past of one of the newer characters in the campaign. Same world, but using new characters that affected the backstory of the current character. Now it's a whole campaign that we run everytime that person is out. The oneshot was a direct link to the main campaign's new character. All the follow-on sessions have diverged and do not have anything to do with that character. They're really enjoying it.
A really cool things I've seen for inspiration is having the players nominate others for inspiration! So when someone at the table does something really creative or funny or inspiring, someone else can say "Hey DM, I think maybe they should have inspiration?" It allows players to celebrate each other and is still ultimately the DMs call, but saves them having to remember it all the time!
I love this in theory! It makes it hard for the DM to say no though, I’d imagine?
Great idea.
The ability to pass it to someone else when you’ve already got one does help with the issue of inspiration turning from oh cool to “awww I’ve already got one”
:)
A great way to combat the did-they-get-the-hint confusion is to let the players do a recap at the beginning, because then it's pretty obvious what they deemed important, what they understood and remembered to the next session.
If the recap just flat leaves out the bread crumb you placed in a NPC interaction, chances are they didn't get it.
Plus, it’s less work for the DM! We use this on our livestream, I love that the players do recaps in character too
Clicked on this on accident, 22 seconds after release, but this is EXACTLY what I need rn, I’m doing my first game this week!
Best of luck!
Good luck! Let us know how it went!
🤔 secretly a were badger🤔
Good luck! Have fun!!!
Here, have a d4 of Inspiration!
Regarding the rule of three. Being a world open to creativity it's very possible that players don't find any of the three solutions. This is why I let them succeed after the third or fourth idea that seems doable. Remember: game design doesn't end when when the session starts.
I just had session where my lawyers got into a tower of a Dwarven stronghold that was buried underground. It was suppose to be one of those, "ohhhh that neat, we should come back later things"
But they ended up getting in. *laughs*
So anyways, the bottom room of the tower had a secret door that lead down into the fortress...that's all I had planned...so I just sat there and let them investigate the room answering all their questions.
Finally one player was like "I know! Dwarves have dark vision right?!"
I was like yes?
Character is 8 foot tall, he climbs back up yhe stairs and blocks the hole that leads to the next floor, so that NO light can reach this room.
I was like...yep, that's it. *laughs*
Then describe how even though it was pitch black the parry could see in the room just fine as thw walls gave a weird glow, and a space on the floor was missing revealing the stairs down.
They were soooooo excited they "figured" it out. Bahahaha. I never tell them I didn't know either, it takes away from that good feeling of success.
It's one of my go to moves a GM. Just plod along until a players idea or comment triggers my own, and just role with it.
For anyone that is a manager at their job (or wants to be): translating these tips to what you do at work as well also helps. Of course you aren't going to be entering combat at work (usually) but managers can help make their employees' work matter to increase engagement and care. So many things a good DM does translates well to management competencies.
Side note: Love the Neopets Paintbrush shirt.
I always equate combat to dealing with customers or bosses-
Make it engaging, but not a slog
The last tip about showers fits perfectly too !
I mean if there is combat at work at least make it interesting lol.
As a "career player", I always appreciate when my DM isn't stingy with plot info/secrets. On the point, I like a DM who is aware that the nuances they've thought up are not necessarily equally obvious to the players, so they don't mind reminding them of certain past details and encounters that help "crack the case".
In other words, I prefer a DM who isn't overly mysterious and vague when communicating through their NPCs.
That silence part i find interesting. as a DM, i feel best when i'm not speaking at all, or if anything, just saying what the reaction is to what the characters are doing. when you get your characters talking amongst each other for like 20 min straight with little to no input from you... to me that means you're doing it right.
Agreed. If they start talking I just let them go. It's fun just to see how the convo goes.
One of the best campaigns my DM did was tell us before the game started that we were imprisoned. We could be criminals or wrongly accused, just had to be a prisoner.
Then he started the campaign and we were shipwrecked from a prison ship, banding together out of necessity to survive in a strange new land.
We all bonded pretty fast over our mutual desire to get back to where we came from.
...This sounds absolutely incredible. I love the specificity of not just saying "make a criminal" but instead a prisoner, for any specific reason. Also gives you an excuse to have every character preloaded with backstory that the others don't know about, and lets it trickle out over time.
@@adamnaameeazim6365 it was great! The DM ended up tying backstories together in clever ways so that everyone was more connected than they first realised. It was the kind of game I'd love to play again with a fresh character 🙂
Sounds like divinity II.
Awesome game. One of my favorite.
On scheduling: The greatest gift I can get from a player is when they show everyone else their enthusiasm for the next game. 😁
Some book I read said the GM is in charge of scheduling the next game, against which I push back heavily. I think Ginny and I are in agreement on this that checking with your GM to ask if you can help scheduling (set up the Doodle, message people, get that group email going, etc) is a huge burden lifted off the GM’s shoulders.
(I did have a player that would beeline for the door at the game’s conclusion, so I learned quickly to do housekeeping first before starting: “Before we start, get our your phones; when can I see y’all again?”…)
Kinda like snacks. And hosting. Don’t make your GM obligated to do it all if they don’t necessarily want to. Maybe I’ll award an inspiration to the next player who nudges the scheduling thread or posts excitement about our next game. By the way, I can attest that Ginny’s inspiration video is 🔥.
As for pacing, I do allow ten to twenty minutes for folks to kibitz, but use an index card intro with music, read by another player. Imagine a captain’s log, opening crawl, or journal entry to start the game and set the mood, awarding inspiration to someone volunteering to read and get us going.
This a thousand time. If I have to MP every single players to schedule a game I'll just stick with the one who cared enough to thanks me for the game (after the session not just to be polite).
Something my brand new group (everyone is relatively new to the game) just learned the hard way with our first session is that equally important to scheduling the start of the game is scheduling the end of the game. (And just how hard of a stop is that end. Our subday night game needs a hard stop so people can get the sleep then need to function at work Monday morning. I think some people voted for Sunday night without considering the implications of that timeslot.)
Combat can easily matter more if you make the enemies feel more than just stat sticks to beat down.
Assign bonus actions that happens on specific turn numbers. (on turn 3 after the archer has attacked, it cuts a rope and triggers a snare trap on one of the players reducing their movement to 0.)
Make enemies with adaptive AC(see skeleton with armor, where it's AC goes down if the armor is destroyed ( armor hp based on numbers of attacks rather than a HP value.)
Give enemies or allies that has benefit or detriment depending on where they stand in the map. (the sand golem with a slow speed of 20 turns to mud and starts to harden and loses 5 ft of movement each turn if it gets too close to the bonfires lit around the room)
an example for #4: one of the games I am watching on twitch, one of the Players has some real world conflicts that came up and can't make it to the table for a few weeks. The DM and her got together and worked out that they will have the party go forward in the campaign, but in the game world, her Character is being taken to court by her Grandfather in an attempt to take the Family Business back from her, which is why she is missing for the sessions.
I designed this super cool campaign about a stolen unicorn for my party. One had an emergency, and the other had scheduled a tattoo weeks in advance. His character was sick with ink poisoning.
Let characters earn up to 2 points of inspiration. They won’t feel like they’re “wasting” it if they have a back up. Worked for me at least.
After playing BG3 I let my players have up to 4 points stored and its been fun.
That last one hit a little too close to home. That's a mantra I need to keep repeating when I'm dm-ing. Excellent video Ginny!
lol yeah when I started DMing for my current group I straight up had (at the time) undiagnosed depression. I was pretty sure that I was just the DM monkey whose only value to these people was the game service I provided, and I had to do it well or lose out on my creative outlet and social life.
Unsurprisingly for most, I was very wrong. Most people are actually pretty cool.
Suggestion 1 is such a great rule. Its sounds like such a small thing, but the difference is night and day when your players have a built in reason to be together and a theme to work on. Gets buy in from everyone and gets everyone on the same page of what it is we are doing.
If a clue is critical for the story to continue, just provide it. Make sure there are other clues that aren't important for the adventure to continue available but will help the players succeed. Example, the thieves' guild meets at the old warehouse as a given, but they have to learn that the guildmaster is a trap-o-holic, or that they have an ogre guard
As a near forever DM I always look forward to these vids. I either learn something new to improve my skills and games or I get validation for the things I already do as a DM
RE: unused Inspiration - our table uses "Card-ic Inspiration" (apologies if this is a well-known mechanic, I'm not sure where the DM got it!) that allows players to draw a card from a deck (ideally, a physical deck that does not get shuffled) and add that to any roll, once per session. It's a neat balance of limiting (by time - if I don't use this session's card, I don't get two uses next time or w/e) and unlimiting (I'll get another card next session whether I use this chance or not) that really encourages use.
Prior to enacting Cardic Inspiration, our DM was really good about awarding inspiration, and suggesting the use of inspiration if players were dissatisfied with a roll - but even then the urge to just hang onto it tended to win over, and our inspiration would just sit unused. Cardic Inspiration means that basically all players end up using their cards, or at least considering using them, every session.
To add to this, a trick from the FATE rpg.
The very first session, give everyone infinite inspiration. They can apply it to every roll. Just that one session though.
This way they get used to spending inspiration, rather than rationing it to use at the right moment.
The "exist, lol" got me so hard that i started crying
I LOL therefore I am.
Absolutely living for the general data moment, I fully cackled
Amazing video, gonna send it to my players as a starting point for feedback! Interestingly, in the Exandria GM round table last night, the point of using session zero to get a direction for the campaign with the players came up. Brennan basically said that if you need to add rails, let the players build them, and that blew my mind! Tied in super well to the first point you made, I love it!
Carefully balancing player agency with driven story (sandbox and railroading) is definitely one of the best things a DM can work towards. You don't want the players to have no idea what they're supposed to do but you want them to feel like their choices actually matter. It's tricky at times, but well worth the effort
For me, that balance is all the way over in sandbox. I don't do stories, the players do stories. I will provide plenty of situations, but they need to figure out how to get involved.
Your video's help me so much to stay motivated as a DM! Once in a while I ask all the players what their favorite moments are in either my campaign or in other campaigns as well, it really helps paint a picture of the exact things my players like to do!! That helps me personally to make the world around them a bit based on what they have liked so far!
0:37 I didn't know Data had made General. I would have thought he'd go for Admiral. Anyway, congrats to him!
My last campaign I ran was called 'Adventure Circus' and they were part of a circus traveling Exandria. When that campaign finished the main feedback for the next one was they really enjoyed being part of something. So for our new campaign, even though I'm running a module, I created a drow archmage who recruited the PCs into a secret society to investigate and stop a wild magic storm they foresee is coming that's essentially the module's 'bad ending'. They get to have that feeling again of being part of something and have a bigger reason to engage in module events aside from 'because it's happening'.
I like to have 5-10 minute feedback times after each session, just to get over any comments, critics or concerns. I find it really helps improve my D&D sessions, and lets the players work through any complaints they might have. (Note, my whole group is a bunch of forever DM's, so we all really know what were doing when it comes to roleplay and combat, which is both good and bad, like when two of them soloed a CR13 monster at level 6
My DM has been giving a lot of combat because some of our party just want to yada yada the social and exploration side. In lieu of story, I've been dropping my character's development through her actions in battle. She stated off as a feisty Tempest Cleric and after realizing the consequences of battle, she's matured and is seeking a more peaceful option where she can support others and deescalate confrontations. I talked to DM about switching to the Peace Domain and he had backstory stuff planned and it would totally make sense.
That’s such a great idea!
@@annafantasia he ended up liking the idea and my initiative so much that he ended up giving my character a piece of magical armor that has thematic mechanical buffs for the new play style but also lore that ties into my character's family for us to explore at some point.
Aww man #1 made me cry a little. Honestly seeing how much fun my party has brings me so much joy and that makes everything worth it.
So many great reminders for us DMs! And thank you for the shout out, Ginny Di. You rock! :) - Paddy, Penny Dragon Games.
#9 i totally agree that self confidence is one of the most important things as a DM, i felt that i lack that recently and besides personal growth what really helped me is put our campaign aside and just play random One-shots together where i prepared nothing and we just talked what we wanna play today, they made characters while i thought about a basic story concept and then we played. This way i felt like nothing is at stake and i can just do what fells right at the moment :) In the end it was a super random story about some weird cult, nothing too special but it gave me a big part of my confidence back ;)
On the inspiration/guide stuff. I gave coins for inspiration to my players to re roll any die roll as well as have a table coin that could be used once per game for anyone to use and could make Me(dm) reroll a d20. Out on the table with a provided die.
For birthdays I would give my players a 1d4 Motes of Intuition/Wish. Where they could at any ask me a question about their quest or ask to do or have something that they may have not been possible. And depending on what was asked I would provide info they would need if it was being forgotten, misunderstood or ignored. As well as gage if what they wanted would be to much/powerful for them to have. To keep it a little balanced
A terrific list. But I think the last point -- LOTS of communication with your players, setting rules, expectations, and an open pipeline for further discussion before, during, and after game as needed -- is the most crucial one.
Thank you so much for this Ginny! That #1 tip really hits home for me. I am both a player and a DM and I can definitely be self critical in both aspects. It’s hard for me to just enjoy the big heist or persuading an NPC sometimes because I get so caught up in my head. This makes me realize that I’m not the only one who is negatively affected by this. It is everyone. This was a great video :) keep it up
Makes me happy that my DM basically checks all these boxes
I really appreciate him!
Make sure to tell him that, DMs often struggle with insecurities and hearing complaints from players really helps.
They like compliments, more.
That first point is what should be done in a session zero. Be open about the campaign...the baddy, the theme, the reasons that the pcs are together and are doing the thing. This is a huge part of how people start a Burning Wheel game.
I start a new campaign this week for a group where we've been playing together for 2+ years, but my first time DMing for them (I've been DMing with other groups for over a year). I'm glad to say most of this is stuff I've learned through getting feedback in previous DM experience, but still, a good reminder. I think the toughest part is balancing between giving enough guidance to move the story vs. railroading. I think the best advice I've learned (from running Princes of the Apocalypse, which... oof, yeah, PCs need help in that sandbox), is don't be afraid to give players enough breadcrumbs to give players guidance, but always leave them options. And even if they choose something that was wasn't according to the module or your DM plan, do your best to allow it, so you don't take away player agency.
Sometimes that means, "Hey, you can go there, but I haven't prepped that so there's not really a map or it may go slower because I'll be catching up on the module as we're running it. As long as we're good with that, let's go." (In my experience most of the time players still want to go, but they at least know what to expect and they are very forgiving of things we beat ourselves up for as DMs.) There will be times you have to say no. "No, it hasn't been 24 hours and you're in the middle of an enemy dungeon. You can't benefit from a long rest and if you stay idle for 8 hours, expect heavy resistance when you open the door." "No, you can't persuade the merchant to give their inventory away for free, even with a Nat 20 persuasion." "No, we can't f*** off from this module and play something else because you, Person A is bored with your character build. Let's just rework your character or find an epic way for them to die and roll up a new one." But most of the time you can say, "Okay, so you know the Ogre has the noble's family in the hills, there's an adult dragon who has been attacking settlements a week away at a rate of one settlement per every 3 days, and in town there have been a series of unsolved murders... what do you want to do?" While you may expect your PCs to choose the immediate and close options, if they say, "DRAGON!" let them go after that darn dragon.
#7- Use terrain to add elements to aid both PC and villian, height or hazards.
Add odd things to the terrain, to see what or if the PCs use them.
Be prepared to wing it.
Ginny, I’m always blown away by how helpful, insightful, and digestible your videos are! Thank you so much for creating this content!
Thanks Ginny!
The way you are presenting these videos is clear and concise.
When you refer to your other work is really helpful to me, it feels like a book refering to chapters.
You've really helped me and my games across many systems.
Number 1 is huge! It is admittedly something I struggle with as well, but I've had a couple players go out of their way to express gratitude for the work I've put in to the game. And it helped me realize that even when unspoken, it's still true. So I can promise, if you're putting in a real good faith effort into the game, the vast majority of players will be grateful
I have a pre-session 0 meetup where I give details about the setting (as non-spoilery as possible) and have the players work out a common backstory or reason to be together.
The result is I can drop them into a more captivating intro sequence without the "meet in a tavern" trope.
This is such a Great companion/complement video to the "game masters of exandria” on Cirtial Role. talking about all things DM… Matt Mercer Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan makes some great point about the conflict with what players want in meta sense and what characters want … he says breaks down what some people really mean when they say they don’t want to be railroading… he also reframes the idea of “railroading” in a great way (to make it necessary and good in that context but I leave it to him…
Ps love your Jester CR cameo … hope to see you play with them in the future!
I had some players leave back in March/April due to scheduling changes in their lives and it got really hard to keep going as a dm. The burnout was real. Decided to take June off to rest my head and work on some larger world building things. I cannot recommend enough, scheduling yourself a break period if you need it. I’m actually chomping at the bit to get back to the table in a couple weeks (we play every other Friday).
It sounds like, for the most part, players wish their DMs watched Ginny! That said, I'm so proud of this community for making "be kind to yourself" #1
Point 3: I tried something and work really well: At the begining, all party members met because they were part of the same adventurer's guild. They take misions pre-generated by me so they had some visible paths to follow, 2 or 3 options usually so they can choose, and they were short adventures of 2 or 3 sessions with his own little story. When they got integrated in the world, when they know more about the setting, i gave them some excuses to leave and let them take his own path and follow their own objetives away from the guild.
A device I learnt from Heart: the City Beneath - form with each player
a list of story beats they want to weave into the campaign that together establish a personal story ark (Thief: steal a valuable item; silence a witness; return the stolen item; etc), then have them mark for the next session 1-2 out of the list. Splendid way to have something to bite from when you need to prepare a plot for the upcoming session.
A nice safety tool is the ability to ask for lines and veils mid gane.
I.e. a hand signal... or other clear sign when a scene needs a veil.
On themes, one of the campaigns I'm in started with all the player characters as prisoners where we became a sort of suicide squad. The guide us section did remind me of a session in our previous campaign where us players spent several minutes trying to find a way to reach the second story balcony using magic or something until our DM reminded us that we have rope. 😂
Let's talk about feedback for a sec. I personally love 'Stars and Wishes' and end up doing it after every session for a new game and then settling into once every two or three sessions after things get acclimated. It is a great way to give and receive feedback and doing it regularly de-stigmatizes the 'feedback is always bad' anxiety a lot of people have.
I have a game coming up in a couple days, after two months away from the table. Thanks for this. It was really helpful.
Great tips as always! Especially the rule of 3.
I used a tip from a previous video to solve the "when should we start playing" problem in scheduling. I let everyone settle in, then give 1 in-character question for them to think on and one "lore-bomb" or local rumour. Then they can think it over while setting up and chatting before diving in.
Thanks Ginny!
My rule with combat in D&D is the same rule as songs in musical theatre - it has to be there to move forward either the plot or a character, not slamming on the brakes to have everyone stop to do a thing.
Just a perfect video to get before I run tonight, thanks Ginny!
The thing about railroading is that a lot of players are there to figure out the grand quest laid before them by the dm. what the dm prepares is the challenge, what the dm has to pull out of his butt for chaotic players is fun and a huge part of the game, but railroading isn't implicitly bad as long as the players have the agency to get off the tracks if they want to
Oh my God
It took me a while but only recently where I started playing with a new DM that I see how AAAAWESOME it is to play with a DM who plans things with me the player, I can truly feel that I am part of the world building and that our choices in the game matter a lot. Best of all things, the DM seems to be having as much fun as we are!!!!
Excellent, as always. We just started my first campaign in my own world. I've been thinking that spending two sessions setting up the theme and events, so then my players can decide what they want to do about it, was maybe too much, but I think maybe it will be ok. From your comments, I think spending two sessions (with some meaningful combat that furthered the story) laying out the guidelines for what's happening in the world, and giving them a reason to be where they are, will help them have a better foundation for making decisions going forward. Thanks for helping me feel more confident in my approach as a first-time DM.
Ah man that last one hit a bit too close to home. I started DMing for what was one group that eventually changed to another group due to scheduling issues. After that I started running a campaign I was extremely excited for, Storm King's Thunder. I was excited to run my very first "real" and grand campaign (I ran LMoP before this). However I put a lot of stress on myself to basically create a ton of content for my players in the ten-towns that I needed to also be in line with the official forgotten realms content(Of which there was none at this time). This made every hour of session prep a big chore and I burned myself out. With some very minor exceptions (as in I ran two one shots over the course of like 2 years and an attempt at a campaign that lasted 1 session) I never really got back into it. For the DMs, be kind to yourself. Don't be afraid to stray away from the "written plot" if using a book or some elaborate planning you did yourself.
Recently I've started prepping again, now for what is supposed to a short arc in a campaign that I will be able to pick up at a later date. Take it easy, not every session needs to be your magnum opus. The player's are there to have fun and so are you, take it easy and relax a bit.
I've been a DM for our group of childhood friends since we started playing about 6 years ago, and this June/July I finally got to play as a player in a campaign ran by my other friend, and you know what, yes, players should be thankful that a DM exists, it feels so amazing to be a player that I can hardly describe how much joy the campaign we are playing is bringing me. Some great tips here by the way, I will definitely be implementing a few when I'm back to DMing. :D
#2 was super validating. I really needed that. I'm often afraid that I leave too much space for RP and don't push the group into "gameplay" (i.e. skill checks and combat) enough. I've never gotten any negative feedback about the pace of the particular game in question where this has been bugging me, but I'm happy to know that there's a chance they genuinely appreciate it.
Only thing I can add is if your players do start telling you things, please actually listen and remember what they are saying
Instead of inspiration, I use Good Boy/Bad Boy cards.
The Good Boy cards are given on Nat 20s or when a player does something in character that is really good, or does something creative that makes me laugh. They can be used at any time, and let them re-roll, automatically pass saves or get something from the Gods.
While the Bad Boy cards are given to me when the role Nat 1s or I've done something that they've enjoyed and let me do stuff like have their weapons or spells not hit or have them fumble at something
These videos are always so helpful and informative. And the way you present your information is nice and concise. A pleasure to watch / listen to. Thank you.
The last note about communicating with your players because every table is different is exactly why I have my players take a survey every so often. That way I can make sure I'm providing a game that not only balances what their character is looking for in game, but also what the player is wanting out of the game. Between that and a clear session zero, I think it's helped.
Good tips
Sometimes it’s hard to do all these things but you have to try.
Remember have fun too!
Might show this to my DM, he definitely needs to hear that last one! (The be kind to yourself bit, not the take a shower bit)
Nice shirt, btw.
I personally don't use inspiration, but hero points. I don't know from where we got the idea originally, (I think some other youtubber), but it makes SUCH a difference. The idea is, I give my players points for fun or good roleplay activities usually 1d4/6 and they write them down. Then, when a player makes a d20 roll, they can choose to add hero points. There are some limits though. The hero points are added first, before bonusses are counted or the result is revealed. It is only allowed to turn your total in a 20 (so If you roll 3, you can add 17 hero points, or if you roll a 19 you may only ad 1). It feels rewarding for the players and allows me to throw bigger challenges at them. Most players use about as much as they gain having an average of about 30. You can also use them on other PC's or NPC's and apply them negatively, but that costs double points. In important moments, it allows character to shine a bit more. My character for example in my brother's campaign, has to fight two other monks in her trials and she saves her hero points for those fights, which is why she currently has 112 (the highest amount of any player). We didn't really set a limit but we might do that. The idea is, it encourages roleplay, gives the players and edge and creates a currency where they can bribe the universe for extra luck.
I never skip through your commercial skits!
Just a note about number two- dms, please remember that not all players want their back stories to be engaged with, or not all parts to come up in the game.
It's a pain to get asked for the fifth time to have *More* backstory when I'm just like "dude I just wanna be a war vet and I don't want literally anything else to matter to the story at all".
Or worse when a throwaway line about a friendly baker is now the campaign villain and I'm wondering why out of all the stuff I put into the backstory, the one I didn't care about is now super important
@gangsteroyster yeah exactly!
Some dms value the twist over good communication, but I don't see anything wrong with just talking about stuff with players.
You can ask if they are comfortable with a twist and still do the twist, it just takes some getting used to but isn't too difficult. Like a simple "hey is someone in your life being secretly evil cool with you?" which can be answered with a "yeah but not the mentor or mother please" or something like that.
Still an unknown, but also talked about with the player.
I just want to be an adventurer who goes on adventures, simple as that.
oof. I think the lesson in this thread is “run with a player’s backstory, not against it.” Take your clues from the player and don’t try to revise what they’ve done in some way.
Know your players for sure. If you have a player that wants no backstory other than an archetype, so be it. They can be "Terribly Mysterious".
How I do it?
Session zero: Lay out expectations for: combat, role play, how much backstory is to be used, topic content/rating etc. Then I ask what they expect: topics to avoid, combat difficulty, hints when stuck, plot direction, etc.
Then after every session I ask each player individually what did you like; what did you not like; what do you wish was happening instead? This goes a long way for determining what a player wants to have happen because the experience is fresh and now I can plan next session with this information in mind.
It requires open and honest communication from everyone involved. It’s my number 1 priority: making my players feel welcome.
Another huge tip is to allow some meta gaming as DM provided information. e.g. A player wants to know if they could get down a 70 foot cliff with 50 feet of rope. Just tell them that it would take 10 feet of rope to secure it and then 30 feet of fall damage. Roll damage to show the player what would happen if they did that before they commit to doing it. Especially for new players, expose some of the gears of the game so they understand and can find more enjoyment.
Things I wish my DM did: ask for feedback
And I mean ask specific fucking questions when pulling feedback, in a one on one setting at a convenient time. Make it via text or email if you have to. Asking the whole table 'anybody have some feedback?' at 10pm at the end of a session when everyone wants to go home and sleep isn't going to get you anything useful. So why did you bother asking?
Ask specific questions: "do you have any thoughts about that big combat we ran?" "Do you have any future multiclassing plans?" "What character options or spells are you planning to pick up on your next level up?" "Was there anything you thought was lacking about that shop you visited?" "Do you think Jeff talks too much?"
That sort of thing.
My girlfriend is great about communicating with me, and I'm always open to plot details, and focusing a session more on roleplay, or on mechanical combat. Your point about collaborating is right on; I've actually been DMing *and* playing a character in one campaign, which is difficult, but investing.
Combat balancing is definitely a tightrope walk. And with tons of party compositions, with all kinds of strengths and weaknesses, it's something that one gains over time with a particular party. Plus it is important to not counter strengths too well; nothing feels worse as a player than a monster that is just anti-your character and makes you useless.
And to point number three, one thing I try and bear in mind is the character often has better perspective on clues than players. If they're pursuing a mystery, for example, and find clue one in session five and clue two in session six, just by virtue of real world time passing players may not know how to connect them. But the character, who found them an hour apart, has all that fresh in their mind. In this sort of case I prompt the player by asking if they want to make an intelligence/whatever skill is relevant check. They're free to decline, but it is an opportunity to give just that one nudge in a way that can feel diegetic.
I think perhaps the occasional anti-your character NPC is okay, as long as it's a rare occurrence and it has vulnerabilities for your fellow party members to exploit so that you aren't completely screwed. Then later you can help your party members fight THEIR anti-them NPCs! That way everyone gets to occasionally feel vulnerable, and they also get to feel useful!
Not only do I love your discussions and videos, but your sponsor plug-ins are the absolute best, I never skip them. Just something that needs to be appreciated and I felt you should know
In an ideal world everyone would have hair as cool as yours. Seriously, what a great shade and it is so vibrant. If you did a video on how you get your hair such vibrant shades my daughter would be SO happy! I am on the wrong side of time, and have to shave my head, but I still appreciate a great shade of green.
Rule of 3 is a great bookmark for DMs to bear in mind as it is easy to make the collaborative storytelling experience too linear ❤
She said she got us general data, but data is a lieutenant
I have legit never played D&D but your videos are always in my recommended.
What I like the most of this video is that you quoted your sources! That, right there, is value that almost no creator brings to the table. I take my hat off!!! =D
The schedule and self-confidence ones got to me as a person with ADD. My excuse is... It's hard... But, I'll try.
Also, I need to tell on myself, I find Ginny so adorable that hearing her curse makes me giggle internally every time and it always sticks out to me. Trying not to say this in a bad way (like"she should not curse" or something stupid like it), it only makes me giggle.
When I started swearing after avoiding it for years, my best friend would giggle or hide a guilty grin EVERY time. It only made me happy that she derived joy from it.
Also, I too have the confusing *focus is hard for me to control* brain thing called ADD/ADHD. Scheduling can be SO hard. And I am soooo guilty of just chatting when we need to get started, even when I'm the DM.
Oh a good thing to look up for safety tool is RPG consent forms and have your players fill one out before hand to get an idea of what they are/aren't comfortable with before you plan your campaign which makes avoiding that discomfort that much easier. The other trick I always plan for players getting stuck let's say on a puzzle and the hints aren't obvious enough then doing simple skill checks is a way to disguise more obvious clues. If they don't think to, tell your players to make a history check and go EG "You just remembered that was famous for riding a griffon." It can be easy to forget that our characters have knowledge and skills we might not know they know and the skill checks can be an easy way to access that.
great video ginny - your recent videos have been packed with valuable reminders of how to run good games!
Great video! I really like how the advice given here ties back to multiple other topics you've covered - allowing people to drill down and find more specific information on the things they might struggle with/be most interested in.
Another superb video. You’re the best! So concise, considerate, and insightful. And the shower comment 🤣
Something I think would be fun and if I ever DM I would try to eventually put this into my campaign if I was in this situation. If 2 characters don’t get along I would set up some scenario where they have to work together maybe the rest of the party is taking away by the enemy or something. Of course the ppl who were taken away would still have their own things to try to get out of the situation. Maybe have the characters who don’t get along both be taken away and they gotta work together to get out of there. Maybe they are in a weird part of the world where somehow the party gets split up. Either that or I would try to find something that I could have the characters relate to. For example in one campaign one character could talk to ghost and I was hoping the DM would eventually have that character get a message from my character’s dead family or something. That would help them bond. Those two weren’t getting along
Try the mind-switching ray on them. Sometimes, the best way to understand others is to literally walk a mile in their shoes. You don't even need to isolate them from the rest of the group.
@@FlatOnHisFace You know what is interesting is some of my friends in a campaign of ours were talking abt doing a little AU type thing where characters bodyswap
@@maem7462 That's cool.
This is my first time seeing your channel. I dig what you have to say! I am first-time DMing and want to show my pals a great time. This was SUPER helpful, thank you many times!
Roleplay doesn't have to stop at the table. Back in the day we used what was then called 'blue booking' (I think originally from Champions RPG). But with things like Discord servers, consider a "Campfire" channel (or emails) where, between sessions, players can chat in character during between session long rests or between adventure downtime. Also, the GM can set a scene with two PCs which might normally not have much in common to share a table and chat between session before the rest of the party arrives...maybe in a private Discord channel. It's like living in the Future!
Oh...if only my group would do more roleplay. Give them lots of opportunities, hints, bringing in backstories, triggers to multiple characters' personalities/loved ones/deities/back stories, had multiple "breakout sessions" where we discussed the topic and game as a whole. Still sooo hard to get any PC-to-PC RP and PC-NPC RP is minimal at best. I think most suffer from having DMs before me that did more rollplay than roleplay.
So, we go on anyway. I try to make things as interesting as possible...mix up the things going on - dungeon crawls, wilderness exploration, road trips, bounty/treasure hunting, mysteries (didn't go over well), horror (totally lost on all but one player), puzzles & riddles (uh...won't do that again with these folks), urban-centric factions/guilds, wars, staged big bads, rescuing the "princess", cult activities, running from law, kidnappings, explore ancient artifacts left over from pre-history of the world, and more.
I even set it up so that the party had 10 adventure hook opportunities to choose from in one city - and they knew they were there. But, they chose option 11 - let's hire onto another caravan and guard it as it goes to different cities and we'll see what happens.
Almost makes me want to just can the group sometimes. But, I know I can figure them out...they keep saying they are having a good time. I don't know how, but it goes on.
Sometimes people just like showing up and rolling dice, they don't care what they end up doing as long as they're doin it.
As a DM, it can be hard sometimes to run the game your players want and not the one you want.
Rule of 3: my players were supposed to go to a Marquis’ castle to pretend to be legal council for an NPC they needed items and information from (and was a long lost, god blood related sister of one of the characters). They did not use the front gate…nor climb over the walls…they dove beneath the waves to look for a secret underwater door. I had to give it to them.
Funny enough, they did not have half the information they needed for the dungeon they stumbled into, but it led to some great RP, some puzzle solving, and one totally badass move by the Monk to end combat in one round (since the Bardbarian had taken down a Black Dragon almost single handed a few sessions earlier).
I can definitely see how I can use some of these
I just found this channel and what a treasure trove! If only we'd had this when we first started playing ... back in the 70s, lol. You are wise and hilarious, looking forward to sifting through this dragon hoard as I plan my next game!
As a dm who sees a lot of different dms who are "better than me at dming" this video really helped me see that im not total shit at everything. Cus i know a lot of dms who are amazing monologuers and ones who make amazing stories and some that are great at remembering rules for combat or dnd lore, and im not really good at most of that but i try to offset my weaknesses by not having monologs and letting the players say stuff instead, or making a strong theme and communicating with my players that theme, or fudging roles or bending rules so that the players can do really cool stuff, are things that i try to do so that everyone can have fun. So to know that the players want to have stuff like that makes me feel a lot better! Though i do struggle with the "dont be so hard on youself" thing. Thanks for the amazing video!