Support the channel and get truckloads of AWESOME D&D DM RESOURCES you can use in your games right here! www.patreon.com/thedmlair ~~~LINKS TO PLAYLISTS~~~ D&D Adventure Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIXuWVDx4BJ3_TuHWlV2ddo0.html Improving D&D Combat Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIVJGEdP9xisBvtteMdO2Hfx.html Trap Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIXLyaC2cCNPbcBjkP2V4d6w.html Encounter Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIWAgFiY7xLM70qcEz3e73av.html The 3 Pillars of a Successful D&D Game czcams.com/video/dg_pIJoDXJE/video.html D&D Campaign Creation Part 1 czcams.com/video/NeqyCf7CHHU/video.html
i been running games since 1981 and i will take and learn anything i can from every game master and even players that cross my path or see on line and just want to say thank you for what you do..
2:16 I didnt know I needed to hear this cus its so obviously true but. Hearing it hits different. I started to mistake Matt coleville calling running the game easy, for not prepping as much as I should. And for your next tip uh. That one took you too many words xD Its a coop game
Probably one of the greatest skills and hardest is to hold your players to a standard that is for the good of the game and dropping them if they fail consistently to act according to that standard.
Bingo. If a player ever criticizes you and tells you that you need to more like Mercer, tell them they need to be more like the players on Critical Role.
You forgot the last secret: Having great, enthusiastic players! I know when my players are really into the game, it makes me want to work that much harder at being a better DM for them.
I was just getting ready to say this. The players make the game fun. I do my best to engage all players. Some players are just quiet. Everyone in the studios understand they can't be the power gamer. They all share the spotlight and have moments that make them shine.
The ‘secret’ is that they’ve been building worlds since they were little kids. Everyone talks about how great they are but no one sees the work and time that they put into their games.
Although I agree that is a major part, as someone who has been doing the same since I was 8 it didn't make me a great one lol I need tips like this to help better my games
If you want to worldbuild a world as deep, expansive, and immersive as Mercer’s, it is never too late to start. I started building a world of my own starting in January of this year. My players have been playing in it since April. It’s already more detailed, fleshed out, and alive than most other homebrew worlds I’ve heard of. It really excites me. The best part is that it’s not a full time job or anything. Creating one or two NPC’s per day is about the amount of daily worldbuilding i do on average, and I’ve now got 7 continents, 3 of which have been populated by countries complete with general racial demographic, capitals, and some with flags and primary exports and cultural dietary staples. Maybe I’m having too much fun with this…
@@Magnus2dead The fact that you are still looking for ways to improve as a DM is a very good sign sadly some people think they know it all no matter how much you know there are always away to improve as a DM or as a player
I'd say to add on to that they have fleshed out skills that assist with their games. Matt Mercer and the group are voice actors, they know how to get into a roll. Brennan Lee Mulligan and his group are comedians and improv experts. 2 very applicable skills for making RP better.
#1 Preparation. In interviews, Matt said he used to do one hour of prep per hour of gameplay... But when they started getting big streaming, it was closer to four hours of prep per hour of gameplay 😬😬😬
Well, I would hope so! There’s a big difference between running a game for your friends after work one night per week and running a game being your JOB or one of them!
*Shutting up and listening to my players talk* has yielded me with idea's for plot hooks and events which are FAR superior to anything I would ever have thought of myself.
What sucks is whenever I issue a break for bathroom or refilling a water, they'll RP... I get that's cool and all but I do wanna listen in too for this EXACT reason...
I know this is mostly an ADHD problem but I genuinely find it much easier to just write an adventure then to read, interpret, take in and come to understand an adventure designed by someone else.
I don't think its mostly an ADHD problem, but I'm also ADHD, so who knows. That being said - yeah, I feel paralyzed by premade content. It's all really poorly organized, and it feels wrong to make changes to it, so I worry about whether I'm getting things correct. If I tell people we're going to play LMoP - they expect LMoP - not Rich's "Yojimbo with Goblins". All the lore from the Sword Coast doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy "oh you've got all this stuff to fall back on" but a sense of dread that I need to get it all right. I spend more effort in time trying to get things right than I do making things fun. And the same holds true with prep. If I get down to prepping specific encounters, I run those encounters whether or not they're thematically appropriate, and I don't run any other encounters. And that's way worse than just having a list of "typical enemy types for this faction" and winging it when it seems appropriate. So I run all homebrew, and I have factions with motives, and I see what happens, and it works much better for me than prepping heavily. And I really wish the neurotypicals would stop being shitty about this stuff.
One of the secrets, additional to all the things already mentioned, is to have awesome players that are committed to help telling the story as good as they can. When people talk about the Matt Mercer effect my takeaway of CR is not to expect more from my DM. But a motivation to become a better player that does his best to make the game a fun experience for everyone.
Players I've met in recent years expect the DM to essentially do all the work... Even their backstories are practically 1 or 2 sentences like this is a one shot. These were players who then wanted me to be a really good storyteller which isn't the DM style I do and yet... I had no material to work with from them for their characters.
Another thing is often under looked, even from players that want the "Mercer experience" and DMs that feels insecure about their abilities, is "he's a wonderful DM, yes, but his players are amazing too, he's not the only one creating the story and they improve it too, not everything relies only on his abilities". I have two players that really like being at the table but they are of the silent type, they enjoy how we play but I know that if a part of the story revolves around their characters it will have a difficult road because it will be more of a one side talk and not a two way. (e.g. one player stayed in silence the whole conversation with a NPC of his background, a very important one. I waited 15 second after each of my sentences to wait for a reply that never came). So everyone remember, there is no grow in a sterile ground, play the game and improve yourself every time you're playing with others because that's the main way to be always better than before.
Many GMs I have known are really good and fun GMs but the absolute best ones, those whose games were the most fun to be in, were the ones who excelled in offering the players opportunities to do what the players liked best. I mean that the GMs gave clues the players picked up easily and could form into actions that they enjoyed. Players want in a fun moment or a glorious action sequence or an escape by the with of a hair? The GM sees it and offers an opportunity.
Yes preparation is key. I’ve been DMing for over 30 years, and still spend hours prepping. Death is inevitable in D&D. Yes you need to know the rules, maybe not all of them off the top of your head. Watching other’s videos on D&D helps too. The three pillars are a must for a campaign. You also have to know your table and prep for them. Using backstories of the PCs in your campaign helps a lot too.
I find that the most important part creating and running adventures and campaigns is player investment - and that's also a massive part of what makes Critical Role what it is. All the player characters have detailed yet open backstories that the players wrote and thus care about, which then gives Mercer the mateiral he needs to get them invested in the adventures he creates. Having a random NPC appraoch the party and offer them X amount of gold if they go and slay the dragon who's been terorrizing nearby villages and travellers is an adventure hook, but it hardly icentivizes players to get invested into the adventure. However, having an NPC from one player's backstory call upon their adventurer friend to help because their home village might be next to get attacked by that same dragon is far more engaging and personal for the player and character. As a rule of thumb for new DMs, player's backstory should include: - Who their character is - What their character wants to achieve - A place the character cares about (for me to burn) - A few NPCs the character cares about (for me to stab) - An antagonist (for them to maybe stab) This can all fit on half a page in bulletpoints, it doesn't have to be a 5-page essay.
Sad thing is I've found players these days don't want to do their share... That's on the DM now... Even their backstories... I've tried anyway and the player then complains because I didn't know HOW famous they were... HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? "FAMOUS MUSICIAN" doesn't tell me much... What genre? Instruments? Singing? Studio? I NEED to know.. It's COOPERATIVE storytelling... Cooperative means I get help no?
I recently finished the first campaign from Not Another D&D Podcast and just found out how AMAZING Bryan Murphy is as DM, just as good as Matt and Brenan.
Today was a great example of good DMing. We had to do a bit of platforming. The DCs weren't high, but our rolls were terrible. We got about half way, frustrated at how bad this was going. Then I remembered we had just picked up two immovable rods. And with the help of Mage Hand, it got pretty easy. The DM gave us the clues, but let us figure out how to use them. Oh, and our guide on the way there was hilarious, singing a silly song as he cleared the way. And yes, the DM sang. It was horrible, yet highly entertaining.
So I was speaking with my players. I had mentioned that I had a blast (which I did) and I had hoped they enjoyed it as much as I did. Well one of my players said, unprompted, that they adored me as a GM. It was, by far, the nicest compliment I had ever received.
If Matt had held back in campaign 2 against Mollymauk, we might never had gotten the amazing arc of Lucien. be fair, but play the difficulty that the scenario demands, I say. Usually it can lead to some amazing stuff, like a genuine drive for revenge against a powerful foe. that's character- and world-building which lends to the immersion
I have no problem with killing PCs but I feel that combat and the recent campaign 3 combat were not telegraphed. Especially the combat with mollymauk’s death, PCs were kidnapped and the other players did not have much choice but to try and get them back. Making that an imbalanced combat was pretty unfair …. But I also think it may have been prearranged and Taleisen suicided his character.
@@tonymaurice4157 I think all live plays are basically an old fashioned radio show. It’s most enjoyable to consume them that way and it explains why critical role is the most successful (actual voice actors performing in a radio show).
The best GMs don’t show what is behind the curtain. I mean they don’t say sings like „oh yea I totally made that up..“. That’s something I do from time to time and I think that is a bad habit (most of the time). A GM is an actor who is good at pretending he is a great GM. If I was a DM I would totally become a patreon. Lair magazine looks dope.
I really love your CZcams content because I feel like I learn something every video. Also, the Lair Magazine is saving my butt sometimes. :D You and your team are doing an awesome job!
It doesn't hurt to run a session by the seat of your pants once in a rare while just to keep your improvisation skills sharp. Not suggesting zero prep, only minimal prep. I recently did this myself by giving my players a list of optional side quests to choose from. I had a bare bones outline of key NPCs and their goals, but let my players' ideas on how to solve the quest guide me. It was a very successful session, I think.
I would like to add some personal advice. I usually take the first few sessions where the PCs get to settle the party, roles and so on to test and pry into what they like and dislike. This allows you to try and focus on what the PCs preffer to do and generally makes better campaigns
I'm a busy DM, single mom with autistic daughter (who discovered and fell in love with Rapappa the Rapper and dre3ssed up like him for Halloween- she is epic awesome!). I love writing my own campaigns. I make up for lacking prep by customizing the game to the players. They are always so thrilled with how much consideration I take for their story arcs and am open to static or developing PCs. I achieved this by studying how to write novels and short stories. I HIGHLY recommend studying character development and how to create a basic skeleton plot line to follow, leave out the flesh so you can LET THE PLAYERS WRITE THE STORY AROUND YOUR BASIC PLOT TRAJECTORY
The secret to Matt mercer is that he has amazing players. You will NEVER see someone criticizing Matt on a decision. If he makes a ruling and someone dies. They die. The players don’t intentionally try to railroad the game for the sake of fun. Not saying that they take a unique approach to a problem but refuse to take ANY plot hooks and just want to sit in the tavern all day because it’s fun.
One thing I learned early on is that too much prep is a waste of time, but in a very specific sense: when you start the game you should know your NPCs, your locations, your lore, the basic story etc. You should have stats and everything you need to run the game to hand. But what you don't want to do is to spend an hour planning something very specific which your players then don't do - instead, plan on such a way that you can flexibly use what you've planned _irrespective_ of what your players do. I'm a big fan of the method advocated by Sly Flourish. He calls it 'lazy' prep, but it's really quite thorough. Lazy prep in his sense is about understanding what you really need to do to prepare, and not doing more than that. I think it's the very best approach, particularly for busy DMs. I've also found that when I overprepare is when I'm most likely to begrudge my players for not acting how I wanted them to, and it makes me railroady.
One thing I’ve heard Matt point out I stole to remind my players is I didn’t do anything to you the bad guy/ world did. If I wanted your character dead, I’d just have “rocks fall everyone dies”
I’ve been building worlds since I was twelve and I’m 58 now. Was doing it since starting playing with 1974/75 boxed sets (3 books). And prep is important. It always good to be able to have improvisation skills when needed. 😀
I prepare somewhat and then improvise when needed. I essentially write out an outline for what the session will be and then improv what I need to to make things run smoothly. I feel it gives me more creative freedom and allows me give my players more agency because I'm not doing some hardcore railroading.
Something that might feel tedious initially but really benefits adventure design and customizing towards your players, is just collecting some info up front. Individually talking with the players before starting the campaign or sending out something like a google forms questionnaire can actually give you a really strong bank of info to draw from for the type of game they're looking for in terms of tone, scale, and more. Just a few really basic questions without the rest of the group present to affect answers can go a long ways towards a player's enjoyment and consequently their engagement with the story. If it's a new group or new player joining an established group, even getting an idea of loot preferences can really make players enjoy combat more. Some folks might love the potential of a weapon with a crit effect while others might dislike the inconsistency for example.
Great content as always. Lots of people focus on MM’s obvious voice talents etc but I agree, his success to me at least is that he is super prepared and he KNOWS the characters. He weaves their personal hopes and dreams and fears into the fabric of the campaign. That’s why he gets the emotional responses he gets.
Giving your players the illusion of control by allowing them to roll dice on "random" encounters that are actually prepared and set is a great method. You can railroad a whole group and they'll think they decided every step of the game
Excellent advice. I've been DMing since the mid-80's and I used to think of myself as better at improvising. But what it came down to was that I was better at improvising in a game setting and plot-line that was my own, instead of running a published module. In other words -- I was better at improvising when I was well prepared :) vs a module where I usually was not (I was lazy!) On treating Players fairly, I think this is where good acting skills really kick in. Being able to separate the choices you make as a DM from the choices the antagonists make (and being really indicative that it's "them") can help alleviate the Players perceptions that you're out to get them. Having stupid monsters do stupid things, but BBEGenius do smart and horrible things, but in a sinister voice ..:) seems to help.
I'm loving this advice! I prep way more than I play. I prep stuff that sometimes doesn't even get used. It just goes into a file for possible later use. I love your channel!
Great vid! I don't follow Crit Roll, but in my Sesion Zero, is specifically say that this is a dangerous world, and you have a dangerous job. 5e makes it hard to perma-die, so if you do, it's the will of the dice. (and you will make a new character)
He sits back and lets the PC-PC role playing happen, listens and uses that in the campaign. The enigmatic peering at the players... giving nothing away. I use "The smiling DM" Always smile. Everything is always "just the way I planned" (the players think) even when I'm panicking because they took the campaign off the rails into a differnt universe.
One thing I think good DMs do is sometimes they'll bend the rules to make the most fun and dramatic tension at the table. Take EXU: Calamity with Brennan lee Mulligan. There was some conflicting rules at play with reactions, mage slayer, rogue with Travis' character and there were some weird rule-bending to make things more engaging, tension building and fun for the whole crew
For those willing to move adventures from one system to another, pathfinder 1e has a lot of low session count mini modules and a number of them are available for free online.
I mean, I consider myself an improvisional dm, and I still have to have some sort of prep. I've just found that many dms don't realize what they need to prep on. I still have a general outline of what I want the threat to be, and have my stat sheets for monsters ready. I just make sure I'm prepared enough to handle when things go off course. The more I think about it, the more I'm probably not a traditional improv dm, and just open to what my players want to do. XD
Great video and spot on! Yes Bacon is delicious Ive been binge watching your vids for the last several weeks. Just joined your patron today. Great content!
It's amazing how hard it can be for folks to properly embrace the idea that, unlike a tabletop wargame, a tabletop RPG is NOT a PVP experience. It is, in the end, a collaborative effort. The goal of the GM should be (for the "average" game) to create the framework for player characters to be the protagonists of an epic story. Players, and their characters, should be challenged, while there is always a risk of true failure. How much you balance "rule of cool/fun" and "fate is a cruel mistress" is a matter of group taste. And as for know the rules, I totally agree. While no one should expect a GM to know every rule by heart, a GM should at the very least strive to be directly familiar with the rules that come up most often (and this can vary by campaign and PCs) and beyond that, being familiar enough that even if you don't know the rule, you know where to look for it so that checking it is a quick reference and not a search. The trick I have with trying to use character backstories is that, for whatever reason, it always feels so awkward, like I'm taking liberties with someone else's character and potentially taking elements of it and using them unintentionally in ways that the player feels twists or corrupts what they had in mind for what it means. It's just hard getting past the notion that I'm "rewriting" background elements of someone else's character, especially if I don't want it signposted to the player of "hey, the next adventure is going to feature elements of your character's backstory, can you work with my and know 1/4 of the adventure ahead of time by proxy?".
In addition to the talk less, listen more, Matt Mercer engages his players. When a player is speaking, Matt is looking at them, engaged in active listening. When a player does something awesome, he engages with them and the rest of the party by being equally as excited.
I know that i suck in improvisation, so i prepare a lot of stuff weeks before sessions, preparing what i've wrote during the week just before the session and read again the day before... With that, i know where my player can go following their decisions. They already ask me if everything in the game is prepared and i tell them the thruth : yes it's prepared but not necessary for this time (a town encounter prepared can be played in other town 5 session later). They have more respect for the game. Also, one time my player say "hey, can I open this room mark as 'do not open'" obsiouvly ... i didn't prepare this room so my improvisation was "ok, you open the door and ... i don't have prepare that, so it will be played the next session ? " everyone agreed "Ok, you run out the room, cover by blood and mud blablabla" and the next session I have the scenar for this room.
I like prep and all that, but I have had some of the most fun in D&D when we had to be imorov. Most of the time, my players have completely derailed what I have had planned, and I had to improv. I kind of enjoy that chaos, because even I have no idea what is going to happen. I don't claim to be a "good dm," but my players and I have fun.
One thing that drives me crazy: Many (too many) threads, many of which are very subtle that all the players are expected to pickup on. If the players are experienced, this isn't a bad thing. If the players are newbies mixed in with experienced players, the newbies can be lost and will just wait for the battle scenes. DM's get to be aware of the players and adjust to their level instead of steamrolling their storyline. This will lead to more inclusion and excitement.
On the note about DM's not preparing for games because they're very good at improvisation. I'm one of those DMs that's good at improvisation and guess what? I have my games planned out months in advance so they're pretty freaking awesome. Don't settle.
I've been dming for over 30 years. #1 you have to be a good storyteller. #2 you need to be flexible and able to improvise on a whim.#3 remember your setting the table the players are the ones eating. It's not about winning as a DM. #4 and last listen to what your players are saying if they are not having fun, then they won't want to play. Love DMing and playing rpg's.
He's also not telling me his underwear size but there are some things he should be able to keep to himself. All you need to be a good dm is creativity and patience. If you can master those two things all the rest is just fluff.
on prepping: I'm good at improv, bc I know where the PCs are going (bc I know the world) & I already have a backlog of adventures in my head. I have developed the adventuring area of my Homebrew world enough, so I know that "here be civilized Orc villages"; "here be terrifying Black Dragon"; "here be Orcus cultists"; & so on.
i really got the preparation thing. i consider myself decent at improvising, but I try to do as much prep as possible anyway. hell my players say i go overboard sometimes.
You know, I think the same way about preparation. Still, the two games I had almost nothing prepared are among some of my best games in my current campaign. They were mostly roleplay, and they were "let's see what they come up with and go with it" type of games. One of them was infiltrating the king's castle while there's a meeting of lords to find information about this shady lord, and the other one is the subsequent escape from the city after the vengeance paladin attempted to kill said lord when she found out he was responsible for her family's murder. I still think preparation is key, but I don't know what to make of that.
Lol I was actually proud of letting characters die. Sometimes things happen and the dice just don't roll in the players favor. But I've noticed lately, no matter what goes wrong, they blame the DM. I recently had a group that found, and took over an abandoned tower. They stayed hold up in it for 3 sessions. Then they complained about lack of combat. I still don't understand it.
Funny enough. Rule 1 doesn't apply always. If you play DnD, yes. Because usually DnD expects of the DM to make the world and the story almost alone. But I often play rulebooks with an open world and we explore the world together. And the few games I wasn't satisfied with because I literally made everything up on the fly, were the games my players enjoyed the most. Well I guess the couldn't see me sweat and panic inside ;D. But still some nice advice in the Video.
Great dungeon masters LISTEN to their table's feedback; not just hear it. "read the room" is the best adivce i've ever recevied as a DM, and the first tip i give any DM asking me for advice.
I ran the game with prep and with almost no prep and out of the two the little to no prep approach was better. I don't know if what i do would qualify as improv as i just know my world really well and i have it react to the things the players do accordingly. I also, think about the plot, the player characters and the game world a lot, which is kinda like prep for the game. I basically do what the players do, I play as the game world, they have to improvise what they say and do, i do the same thing. This method allows me to be surprised by what happens next in the same way the players get to.
Preparation I'm good at improv BECAUSE I prepare so much. I know where my improv wiggle room is, and I have resources and options to hand. All because I prepare stuff in advance. Honestly, prepare more, your improv will get better too. Dying Death is really easy to fix in DnD/Pathfinder. It's hard for death to stick unless the DM removes the options for resurrection. Run Fun Combats You can't just take monsters as is from the Bestiary. Customize them, especially integrating strengths and weaknesses of your party. Look up Telegraphing attacks and come up with something thematic to the creature. Integrate the environment, the personality and tactics of the creature. Social + Combat Above all, if the creature can speak in a language they understand, do it! Talk! Bargain, banter, beg for your life, be belligerent or just berate the players. Get them arguing back about ideals and morals, or just motivate them to shut this creature up already. But, if the players get the better of them verbally, have an effect ready. Stagger/shaken for even 1 round is great, some kind of stat penalty from negative morale, or have the enemy change tactics. Instead of the wizard throwing another fireball, she ducks under cover and drinks a potion while she rethinks her stake, perhaps even preparing to exit the fight. Many options.
😃 Great Stuff! Please continue to leave links. I would have some video examples in Mr. Mercer's game. Or links to Mr. Mercer's segments. Do you ever discuss Concentration spells? I Have difficult time to see a spell caster concentrate & do other stuff.
My most prepped games have been the most smooth, and the most fun and energetic. Got lazy and couldn't bluff my 4 year old into thinking I had it together
Thank you for the video! Can you do a follow up on how we can be/act pro PCs? I have no intent on being pro but to bring a higher level play makes it better for DMs and other PCs
I find it funny how people are "mad" at Matt for killing characters in that encounter by calling it unfair or unwinnable when the only thing that made it more difficult was the direct actions of the players and the luck of Initiative. If they had stuck to one strategy they would have had a far better chance of either beating her back or getting away, but some ran, some fought, and poor Ashton got wiped by lower initiative. Of course it didn't help that they all started to panic as well. If they all would have fought, they could have done better considering they have some heavy hitters in the party, and if they all would have run they would have had a better chance of escape. But they gave the enemy the perfect battleground for their tactics, which are divide and conquer, the way she was bamfing around the field and cutting them down one by one would have been severely negated if they would have ganged up on her instead of scattering.
Yup. And really only Ashton tried to run. The others all used an action then just moved away. They never truly ran. I think the big problem was that they felt it likely that running would have forced them to sacrifice a party member. They made a lot of mistakes and had some bad luck. Sometimes that happens in D&D.
I get the email magazine, I haven’t actually played any of the adventures but I have read them through and they are well constructed and interesting. The production value (maps) is excellent.
Re: #1, Question: "What is Batman's superpower?" Typical response: "Batman doesn't *have* a superpower, dummy." Rebuttal: "Wrong. Batman's superpower is PREPARATION. He is supremely prepared for any situation, which is why he always comes out on top." This came from a corporate training session awhile back, and it really stuck.
I am a new DM and I just want to say this: it is very hard to know all the "rules". So even DMs are constantly learning, especially us new ones. The older ones lean more unto the learning curve of the niche situations or oddball situations that don't necessarily have rules for them. However, something that can help new DMs is this: make a small outline with page numbers. Omg has that helped me out A LOT! A simple thing like - Cover Rules pg. XYZ or -Climbing pg. XY. If you organize a little 2 page document with bullet points like this u can at least cut down on the time that you look something up. Slowly but surely, you will remember what the book says. Never give up, never surrender! Lol
the best games i ever played in were when i was young and my friends were young. we try to relive some of those adventures occassionally. the imagination and dream state are gone. adulthood has killed our dreams like a full grp of copper dragons. we hardly ever played within the rules. i honestly believe we created respawning. late 70s very early 80s. Weve taken many parts of many games and made our own game in these days and altho we still have fun .... its not the same as yesteryear.
I had a DM as a teen that would always give a player the worst results for failedskill checks, but the player thought it was funny and it became a thing. That was the only case I've ever seen where mistreating a specific player didn't cause a problem.
A good dm accepts they will make mistakes and try to have 2 probable outcome ideas. 1 talking and 1 murder hobo. That way when they go off the deep end, it will probably be close to one of those two endings.
Three very basic little tips: 1) NEVER, EVER reveal to the players what’s going on “behind the curtain.” Sometimes you improves, sometimes you’v got things written down. They should never know. All they should know is what their characters experience. (An aside: I HATE Referees who tell players “this is what you missed” etc. If they didn’t see it in the game, they didn’t see it. I also prefer to have a bartender tell me about the world in the game than have the Referee do it outside the game.) 2) To keep NPC portrayals consistent - keep an actor or TV/Movie character in your head as you play them. You impression won’t be very good, but in trying to sound/act like the template in your head you’ll keep the portrayal constant. (NEVER tell players who, or even that, you’re trying to do an impression of.) 3) If you’ve got a rectangular table, try sitting the Referee in the middle of one of the long sides. It’s counter-intuitive but it works - especially to give all players equal access.
More fantastic advice! Thank you for the straight shooting and advice. But, though you should save the characters' bacon, as bacon should always be saved! Never save the characters' butts in a fight, but always save the bacon. Ummmmm, bacon (he says as he drools).
I totally agree with it being ok that Matt killed a few of the players and almost the others in that recent episode. He said himself that he and the players have mutual respect, trust, and understanding about the possible ways the campaign could go, and I bet he had a plan for how he wanted the story to go, because while it is still a DnD game, they play it for entertainment, so the story has to be entertaining, so it needs to have risks, needs to have danger, and the viewers, who have fallen in love with the PCs, should at times feel concerned for them, and at times certain doom is expected in such stories, which makes the fear and sadness of a character dying all the more impactful. And not just for the entertainment of the viewers but also the players, they are along for the ride just as we are, and they know Matt, their good friend, is going to put their characters in danger, at times certain doom, but not without a plan, not without a good reason.
Lots of great tips, but here's one more: try another system, whether running or playing, a little experience with a different (even one you don't end up liking) game can give you some great perspective.
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~~~LINKS TO PLAYLISTS~~~
D&D Adventure Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIXuWVDx4BJ3_TuHWlV2ddo0.html
Improving D&D Combat Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIVJGEdP9xisBvtteMdO2Hfx.html
Trap Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIXLyaC2cCNPbcBjkP2V4d6w.html
Encounter Creation Playlist czcams.com/play/PLo4-n9V0bKIWAgFiY7xLM70qcEz3e73av.html
The 3 Pillars of a Successful D&D Game czcams.com/video/dg_pIJoDXJE/video.html
D&D Campaign Creation Part 1 czcams.com/video/NeqyCf7CHHU/video.html
i been running games since 1981 and i will take and learn anything i can from every game master and even players that cross my path or see on line and just want to say thank you for what you do..
2:16 I didnt know I needed to hear this cus its so obviously true but. Hearing it hits different. I started to mistake Matt coleville calling running the game easy, for not prepping as much as I should. And for your next tip uh. That one took you too many words xD
Its a coop game
I feel like only 2 pcs dying in mercer games is way too little, if more than half of the original party survives a campaign it was an easy campaign
A big tip: Having incredible players makes the DM look better. Matt is a great DM, but his players elevate his prowess even more.
On god. The ability to DM amazingly is killed if you have bad players especially
Yes. Sometimes it actually is just the players, that are disinterested or dont really take any initiative in the game.
Probably one of the greatest skills and hardest is to hold your players to a standard that is for the good of the game and dropping them if they fail consistently to act according to that standard.
D&D is somewhat of a team activity......
Bingo. If a player ever criticizes you and tells you that you need to more like Mercer, tell them they need to be more like the players on Critical Role.
You forgot the last secret: Having great, enthusiastic players! I know when my players are really into the game, it makes me want to work that much harder at being a better DM for them.
I was just getting ready to say this. The players make the game fun. I do my best to engage all players. Some players are just quiet. Everyone in the studios understand they can't be the power gamer. They all share the spotlight and have moments that make them shine.
The ‘secret’ is that they’ve been building worlds since they were little kids. Everyone talks about how great they are but no one sees the work and time that they put into their games.
Although I agree that is a major part, as someone who has been doing the same since I was 8 it didn't make me a great one lol I need tips like this to help better my games
If you want to worldbuild a world as deep, expansive, and immersive as Mercer’s, it is never too late to start. I started building a world of my own starting in January of this year. My players have been playing in it since April. It’s already more detailed, fleshed out, and alive than most other homebrew worlds I’ve heard of. It really excites me. The best part is that it’s not a full time job or anything. Creating one or two NPC’s per day is about the amount of daily worldbuilding i do on average, and I’ve now got 7 continents, 3 of which have been populated by countries complete with general racial demographic, capitals, and some with flags and primary exports and cultural dietary staples. Maybe I’m having too much fun with this…
@@Magnus2dead The fact that you are still looking for ways to improve as a DM is a very good sign sadly some people think they know it all no matter how much you know there are always away to improve as a DM or as a player
I'd say to add on to that they have fleshed out skills that assist with their games. Matt Mercer and the group are voice actors, they know how to get into a roll. Brennan Lee Mulligan and his group are comedians and improv experts. 2 very applicable skills for making RP better.
critical role is a soap opera... It's nothing like D&D from the 80s
But this is the soy boy era
#1 Preparation.
In interviews, Matt said he used to do one hour of prep per hour of gameplay... But when they started getting big streaming, it was closer to four hours of prep per hour of gameplay 😬😬😬
Ask Marisha, she will often not see him for hours, days in a row.
Well, I would hope so! There’s a big difference between running a game for your friends after work one night per week and running a game being your JOB or one of them!
*Shutting up and listening to my players talk* has yielded me with idea's for plot hooks and events which are FAR superior to anything I would ever have thought of myself.
Truth!
Also, Luke doesn't suck.
-
Almost forgot... BACON
What sucks is whenever I issue a break for bathroom or refilling a water, they'll RP...
I get that's cool and all but I do wanna listen in too for this EXACT reason...
I know this is mostly an ADHD problem but I genuinely find it much easier to just write an adventure then to read, interpret, take in and come to understand an adventure designed by someone else.
I don't think its mostly an ADHD problem, but I'm also ADHD, so who knows.
That being said - yeah, I feel paralyzed by premade content. It's all really poorly organized, and it feels wrong to make changes to it, so I worry about whether I'm getting things correct. If I tell people we're going to play LMoP - they expect LMoP - not Rich's "Yojimbo with Goblins". All the lore from the Sword Coast doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy "oh you've got all this stuff to fall back on" but a sense of dread that I need to get it all right. I spend more effort in time trying to get things right than I do making things fun.
And the same holds true with prep. If I get down to prepping specific encounters, I run those encounters whether or not they're thematically appropriate, and I don't run any other encounters. And that's way worse than just having a list of "typical enemy types for this faction" and winging it when it seems appropriate.
So I run all homebrew, and I have factions with motives, and I see what happens, and it works much better for me than prepping heavily. And I really wish the neurotypicals would stop being shitty about this stuff.
One of the secrets, additional to all the things already mentioned, is to have awesome players that are committed to help telling the story as good as they can.
When people talk about the Matt Mercer effect my takeaway of CR is not to expect more from my DM. But a motivation to become a better player that does his best to make the game a fun experience for everyone.
Players I've met in recent years expect the DM to essentially do all the work... Even their backstories are practically 1 or 2 sentences like this is a one shot. These were players who then wanted me to be a really good storyteller which isn't the DM style I do and yet... I had no material to work with from them for their characters.
Another thing is often under looked, even from players that want the "Mercer experience" and DMs that feels insecure about their abilities, is "he's a wonderful DM, yes, but his players are amazing too, he's not the only one creating the story and they improve it too, not everything relies only on his abilities".
I have two players that really like being at the table but they are of the silent type, they enjoy how we play but I know that if a part of the story revolves around their characters it will have a difficult road because it will be more of a one side talk and not a two way. (e.g. one player stayed in silence the whole conversation with a NPC of his background, a very important one. I waited 15 second after each of my sentences to wait for a reply that never came).
So everyone remember, there is no grow in a sterile ground, play the game and improve yourself every time you're playing with others because that's the main way to be always better than before.
Many GMs I have known are really good and fun GMs but the absolute best ones, those whose games were the most fun to be in, were the ones who excelled in offering the players opportunities to do what the players liked best. I mean that the GMs gave clues the players picked up easily and could form into actions that they enjoyed.
Players want in a fun moment or a glorious action sequence or an escape by the with of a hair? The GM sees it and offers an opportunity.
Yes preparation is key.
I’ve been DMing for over 30 years, and still spend hours prepping.
Death is inevitable in D&D.
Yes you need to know the rules, maybe not all of them off the top of your head.
Watching other’s videos on D&D helps too.
The three pillars are a must for a campaign.
You also have to know your table and prep for them.
Using backstories of the PCs in your campaign helps a lot too.
I find that the most important part creating and running adventures and campaigns is player investment - and that's also a massive part of what makes Critical Role what it is. All the player characters have detailed yet open backstories that the players wrote and thus care about, which then gives Mercer the mateiral he needs to get them invested in the adventures he creates.
Having a random NPC appraoch the party and offer them X amount of gold if they go and slay the dragon who's been terorrizing nearby villages and travellers is an adventure hook, but it hardly icentivizes players to get invested into the adventure.
However, having an NPC from one player's backstory call upon their adventurer friend to help because their home village might be next to get attacked by that same dragon is far more engaging and personal for the player and character.
As a rule of thumb for new DMs, player's backstory should include:
- Who their character is
- What their character wants to achieve
- A place the character cares about (for me to burn)
- A few NPCs the character cares about (for me to stab)
- An antagonist (for them to maybe stab)
This can all fit on half a page in bulletpoints, it doesn't have to be a 5-page essay.
Sad thing is I've found players these days don't want to do their share... That's on the DM now...
Even their backstories... I've tried anyway and the player then complains because I didn't know HOW famous they were... HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? "FAMOUS MUSICIAN" doesn't tell me much... What genre? Instruments? Singing? Studio? I NEED to know..
It's COOPERATIVE storytelling... Cooperative means I get help no?
I recently finished the first campaign from Not Another D&D Podcast and just found out how AMAZING Bryan Murphy is as DM, just as good as Matt and Brenan.
Today was a great example of good DMing. We had to do a bit of platforming. The DCs weren't high, but our rolls were terrible. We got about half way, frustrated at how bad this was going. Then I remembered we had just picked up two immovable rods. And with the help of Mage Hand, it got pretty easy. The DM gave us the clues, but let us figure out how to use them. Oh, and our guide on the way there was hilarious, singing a silly song as he cleared the way. And yes, the DM sang. It was horrible, yet highly entertaining.
So I was speaking with my players. I had mentioned that I had a blast (which I did) and I had hoped they enjoyed it as much as I did.
Well one of my players said, unprompted, that they adored me as a GM. It was, by far, the nicest compliment I had ever received.
One of your best videos, it is packed with excellent suggestions that all GM's should do in their games and prep.
If Matt had held back in campaign 2 against Mollymauk, we might never had gotten the amazing arc of Lucien. be fair, but play the difficulty that the scenario demands, I say. Usually it can lead to some amazing stuff, like a genuine drive for revenge against a powerful foe. that's character- and world-building which lends to the immersion
WE also would have never gotten Caduceous, who was one of the best characters I've seen.
@@davedawanderer Amen to that
I have no problem with killing PCs but I feel that combat and the recent campaign 3 combat were not telegraphed. Especially the combat with mollymauk’s death, PCs were kidnapped and the other players did not have much choice but to try and get them back. Making that an imbalanced combat was pretty unfair …. But I also think it may have been prearranged and Taleisen suicided his character.
critical role is a soap opera... It's nothing like D&D from the 80s
But this is the soy boy era
@@tonymaurice4157 I think all live plays are basically an old fashioned radio show. It’s most enjoyable to consume them that way and it explains why critical role is the most successful (actual voice actors performing in a radio show).
The best GMs don’t show what is behind the curtain. I mean they don’t say sings like „oh yea I totally made that up..“. That’s something I do from time to time and I think that is a bad habit (most of the time). A GM is an actor who is good at pretending he is a great GM.
If I was a DM I would totally become a patreon. Lair magazine looks dope.
I really love your CZcams content because I feel like I learn something every video. Also, the Lair Magazine is saving my butt sometimes. :D You and your team are doing an awesome job!
Awesome, happy to hear the content helps! 😁
It doesn't hurt to run a session by the seat of your pants once in a rare while just to keep your improvisation skills sharp. Not suggesting zero prep, only minimal prep. I recently did this myself by giving my players a list of optional side quests to choose from. I had a bare bones outline of key NPCs and their goals, but let my players' ideas on how to solve the quest guide me.
It was a very successful session, I think.
I would like to add some personal advice. I usually take the first few sessions where the PCs get to settle the party, roles and so on to test and pry into what they like and dislike. This allows you to try and focus on what the PCs preffer to do and generally makes better campaigns
I'm a busy DM, single mom with autistic daughter (who discovered and fell in love with Rapappa the Rapper and dre3ssed up like him for Halloween- she is epic awesome!). I love writing my own campaigns. I make up for lacking prep by customizing the game to the players. They are always so thrilled with how much consideration I take for their story arcs and am open to static or developing PCs. I achieved this by studying how to write novels and short stories. I HIGHLY recommend studying character development and how to create a basic skeleton plot line to follow, leave out the flesh so you can LET THE PLAYERS WRITE THE STORY AROUND YOUR BASIC PLOT TRAJECTORY
The secret to Matt mercer is that he has amazing players. You will NEVER see someone criticizing Matt on a decision. If he makes a ruling and someone dies. They die. The players don’t intentionally try to railroad the game for the sake of fun.
Not saying that they take a unique approach to a problem but refuse to take ANY plot hooks and just want to sit in the tavern all day because it’s fun.
One thing I learned early on is that too much prep is a waste of time, but in a very specific sense: when you start the game you should know your NPCs, your locations, your lore, the basic story etc. You should have stats and everything you need to run the game to hand. But what you don't want to do is to spend an hour planning something very specific which your players then don't do - instead, plan on such a way that you can flexibly use what you've planned _irrespective_ of what your players do.
I'm a big fan of the method advocated by Sly Flourish. He calls it 'lazy' prep, but it's really quite thorough. Lazy prep in his sense is about understanding what you really need to do to prepare, and not doing more than that. I think it's the very best approach, particularly for busy DMs. I've also found that when I overprepare is when I'm most likely to begrudge my players for not acting how I wanted them to, and it makes me railroady.
One thing I’ve heard Matt point out I stole to remind my players is I didn’t do anything to you the bad guy/ world did. If I wanted your character dead, I’d just have “rocks fall everyone dies”
100% agree with all. That’s why I watch you and respect you.
Thank you!
I’ve been building worlds since I was twelve and I’m 58 now. Was doing it since starting playing with 1974/75 boxed sets (3 books). And prep is important. It always good to be able to have improvisation skills when needed. 😀
I prepare somewhat and then improvise when needed. I essentially write out an outline for what the session will be and then improv what I need to to make things run smoothly. I feel it gives me more creative freedom and allows me give my players more agency because I'm not doing some hardcore railroading.
That was one of your best videos, keep up the great work!
I kinda feel like matt prepares everything.
And I mean EVERYTHING.
Something that might feel tedious initially but really benefits adventure design and customizing towards your players, is just collecting some info up front. Individually talking with the players before starting the campaign or sending out something like a google forms questionnaire can actually give you a really strong bank of info to draw from for the type of game they're looking for in terms of tone, scale, and more. Just a few really basic questions without the rest of the group present to affect answers can go a long ways towards a player's enjoyment and consequently their engagement with the story.
If it's a new group or new player joining an established group, even getting an idea of loot preferences can really make players enjoy combat more. Some folks might love the potential of a weapon with a crit effect while others might dislike the inconsistency for example.
Great content as always. Lots of people focus on MM’s obvious voice talents etc but I agree, his success to me at least is that he is super prepared and he KNOWS the characters. He weaves their personal hopes and dreams and fears into the fabric of the campaign. That’s why he gets the emotional responses he gets.
That segue was so smooth I'm both angry and amazed
Giving your players the illusion of control by allowing them to roll dice on "random" encounters that are actually prepared and set is a great method. You can railroad a whole group and they'll think they decided every step of the game
Excellent advice.
I've been DMing since the mid-80's and I used to think of myself as better at improvising. But what it came down to was that I was better at improvising in a game setting and plot-line that was my own, instead of running a published module. In other words -- I was better at improvising when I was well prepared :) vs a module where I usually was not (I was lazy!)
On treating Players fairly, I think this is where good acting skills really kick in. Being able to separate the choices you make as a DM from the choices the antagonists make (and being really indicative that it's "them") can help alleviate the Players perceptions that you're out to get them. Having stupid monsters do stupid things, but BBEGenius do smart and horrible things, but in a sinister voice ..:) seems to help.
I'm loving this advice! I prep way more than I play. I prep stuff that sometimes doesn't even get used. It just goes into a file for possible later use. I love your channel!
Great vid! I don't follow Crit Roll, but in my Sesion Zero, is specifically say that this is a dangerous world, and you have a dangerous job. 5e makes it hard to perma-die, so if you do, it's the will of the dice. (and you will make a new character)
Number 8: Run Fun Combatstion.
I see your video editing team was on the ball today 😂
Preparation is key, and it makes your job look easy to players. And it is - a little bit- on game day if you prepped for hours beforehand.
Honestly wasn't a fan of the skits but this video felt more genuine. Subscribed because of this video.
I can't believe people have gotten upset that Matt killed some characters. It's part of the game and makes it feel real and worthwhile
Barbarian had a lot of fun on that keyboard.
A good DM connects the adventures/monsters/traps to the characters personally.
He sits back and lets the PC-PC role playing happen, listens and uses that in the campaign.
The enigmatic peering at the players... giving nothing away.
I use "The smiling DM" Always smile. Everything is always "just the way I planned" (the players think) even when I'm panicking because they took the campaign off the rails into a differnt universe.
Matt Mercer uses a LOT of old AD&D adventure modules, revised for 5E.
I recognize the maps.
The DM rewarding player creativity is huge.
One thing I think good DMs do is sometimes they'll bend the rules to make the most fun and dramatic tension at the table.
Take EXU: Calamity with Brennan lee Mulligan. There was some conflicting rules at play with reactions, mage slayer, rogue with Travis' character and there were some weird rule-bending to make things more engaging, tension building and fun for the whole crew
For those willing to move adventures from one system to another, pathfinder 1e has a lot of low session count mini modules and a number of them are available for free online.
I mean, I consider myself an improvisional dm, and I still have to have some sort of prep. I've just found that many dms don't realize what they need to prep on. I still have a general outline of what I want the threat to be, and have my stat sheets for monsters ready. I just make sure I'm prepared enough to handle when things go off course. The more I think about it, the more I'm probably not a traditional improv dm, and just open to what my players want to do. XD
I am an old DM (ran my first game in 1980) and tend to be one of those sandbox/improv kind of DM's. Oddly enough, these take more prep - not less.
Great video and spot on! Yes Bacon is delicious
Ive been binge watching your vids for the last several weeks. Just joined your patron today. Great content!
In order to be good at improv, you must practice AKA *being prepared* for when it's needed
It's amazing how hard it can be for folks to properly embrace the idea that, unlike a tabletop wargame, a tabletop RPG is NOT a PVP experience. It is, in the end, a collaborative effort. The goal of the GM should be (for the "average" game) to create the framework for player characters to be the protagonists of an epic story. Players, and their characters, should be challenged, while there is always a risk of true failure. How much you balance "rule of cool/fun" and "fate is a cruel mistress" is a matter of group taste.
And as for know the rules, I totally agree. While no one should expect a GM to know every rule by heart, a GM should at the very least strive to be directly familiar with the rules that come up most often (and this can vary by campaign and PCs) and beyond that, being familiar enough that even if you don't know the rule, you know where to look for it so that checking it is a quick reference and not a search.
The trick I have with trying to use character backstories is that, for whatever reason, it always feels so awkward, like I'm taking liberties with someone else's character and potentially taking elements of it and using them unintentionally in ways that the player feels twists or corrupts what they had in mind for what it means. It's just hard getting past the notion that I'm "rewriting" background elements of someone else's character, especially if I don't want it signposted to the player of "hey, the next adventure is going to feature elements of your character's backstory, can you work with my and know 1/4 of the adventure ahead of time by proxy?".
In addition to the talk less, listen more, Matt Mercer engages his players. When a player is speaking, Matt is looking at them, engaged in active listening. When a player does something awesome, he engages with them and the rest of the party by being equally as excited.
I know that i suck in improvisation, so i prepare a lot of stuff weeks before sessions, preparing what i've wrote during the week just before the session and read again the day before... With that, i know where my player can go following their decisions. They already ask me if everything in the game is prepared and i tell them the thruth : yes it's prepared but not necessary for this time (a town encounter prepared can be played in other town 5 session later). They have more respect for the game.
Also, one time my player say "hey, can I open this room mark as 'do not open'" obsiouvly ... i didn't prepare this room so my improvisation was "ok, you open the door and ... i don't have prepare that, so it will be played the next session ? " everyone agreed "Ok, you run out the room, cover by blood and mud blablabla" and the next session I have the scenar for this room.
The real secret was the friends we made along the way.
I like prep and all that, but I have had some of the most fun in D&D when we had to be imorov. Most of the time, my players have completely derailed what I have had planned, and I had to improv. I kind of enjoy that chaos, because even I have no idea what is going to happen. I don't claim to be a "good dm," but my players and I have fun.
Where did you get your shirt? My orange tabby recently passed away and that shirt is amazing!
Amazon.
Sorry to hear about the kitty. 😪
One thing that drives me crazy: Many (too many) threads, many of which are very subtle that all the players are expected to pickup on. If the players are experienced, this isn't a bad thing. If the players are newbies mixed in with experienced players, the newbies can be lost and will just wait for the battle scenes. DM's get to be aware of the players and adjust to their level instead of steamrolling their storyline. This will lead to more inclusion and excitement.
Heads up. Big spoiler alert for CR campaign 3.
On the note about DM's not preparing for games because they're very good at improvisation. I'm one of those DMs that's good at improvisation and guess what? I have my games planned out months in advance so they're pretty freaking awesome. Don't settle.
I've been dming for over 30 years. #1 you have to be a good storyteller. #2 you need to be flexible and able to improvise on a whim.#3 remember your setting the table the players are the ones eating. It's not about winning as a DM. #4 and last listen to what your players are saying if they are not having fun, then they won't want to play. Love DMing and playing rpg's.
He's also not telling me his underwear size but there are some things he should be able to keep to himself. All you need to be a good dm is creativity and patience. If you can master those two things all the rest is just fluff.
on prepping: I'm good at improv, bc I know where the PCs are going (bc I know the world) & I already have a backlog of adventures in my head.
I have developed the adventuring area of my Homebrew world enough, so I know that "here be civilized Orc villages"; "here be terrifying Black Dragon"; "here be Orcus cultists"; & so on.
And I would say good at putting feeling into the act.
Great video and thank you for all your hard work as well!
Number 11:
have players that want to tell stories with the DM & don't have the Player Vs DM mentality. yes, it goes both ways.
i really got the preparation thing. i consider myself decent at improvising, but I try to do as much prep as possible anyway. hell my players say i go overboard sometimes.
You know, I think the same way about preparation. Still, the two games I had almost nothing prepared are among some of my best games in my current campaign. They were mostly roleplay, and they were "let's see what they come up with and go with it" type of games. One of them was infiltrating the king's castle while there's a meeting of lords to find information about this shady lord, and the other one is the subsequent escape from the city after the vengeance paladin attempted to kill said lord when she found out he was responsible for her family's murder.
I still think preparation is key, but I don't know what to make of that.
Thanks for keeping it real.
Your best video ever!! Bar none!!!
Lol I was actually proud of letting characters die. Sometimes things happen and the dice just don't roll in the players favor. But I've noticed lately, no matter what goes wrong, they blame the DM. I recently had a group that found, and took over an abandoned tower. They stayed hold up in it for 3 sessions. Then they complained about lack of combat. I still don't understand it.
Funny enough. Rule 1 doesn't apply always. If you play DnD, yes. Because usually DnD expects of the DM to make the world and the story almost alone. But I often play rulebooks with an open world and we explore the world together. And the few games I wasn't satisfied with because I literally made everything up on the fly, were the games my players enjoyed the most. Well I guess the couldn't see me sweat and panic inside ;D. But still some nice advice in the Video.
Great dungeon masters LISTEN to their table's feedback; not just hear it. "read the room" is the best adivce i've ever recevied as a DM, and the first tip i give any DM asking me for advice.
I ran the game with prep and with almost no prep and out of the two the little to no prep approach was better. I don't know if what i do would qualify as improv as i just know my world really well and i have it react to the things the players do accordingly. I also, think about the plot, the player characters and the game world a lot, which is kinda like prep for the game. I basically do what the players do, I play as the game world, they have to improvise what they say and do, i do the same thing. This method allows me to be surprised by what happens next in the same way the players get to.
0:45 well, every art is practiced best by those who master the basics.
Preparation
I'm good at improv BECAUSE I prepare so much. I know where my improv wiggle room is, and I have resources and options to hand. All because I prepare stuff in advance. Honestly, prepare more, your improv will get better too.
Dying
Death is really easy to fix in DnD/Pathfinder. It's hard for death to stick unless the DM removes the options for resurrection.
Run Fun Combats
You can't just take monsters as is from the Bestiary. Customize them, especially integrating strengths and weaknesses of your party. Look up Telegraphing attacks and come up with something thematic to the creature. Integrate the environment, the personality and tactics of the creature.
Social + Combat
Above all, if the creature can speak in a language they understand, do it! Talk! Bargain, banter, beg for your life, be belligerent or just berate the players. Get them arguing back about ideals and morals, or just motivate them to shut this creature up already. But, if the players get the better of them verbally, have an effect ready. Stagger/shaken for even 1 round is great, some kind of stat penalty from negative morale, or have the enemy change tactics. Instead of the wizard throwing another fireball, she ducks under cover and drinks a potion while she rethinks her stake, perhaps even preparing to exit the fight. Many options.
😃 Great Stuff! Please continue to leave links. I would have some video examples in Mr. Mercer's game. Or links to Mr. Mercer's segments. Do you ever discuss Concentration spells? I Have difficult time to see a spell caster concentrate & do other stuff.
I am so behind on CR and this was a HUGE spoiler 😆
My most prepped games have been the most smooth, and the most fun and energetic. Got lazy and couldn't bluff my 4 year old into thinking I had it together
Excellent points
Thank you for the video! Can you do a follow up on how we can be/act pro PCs? I have no intent on being pro but to bring a higher level play makes it better for DMs and other PCs
Who knows, that may open up doors to play with ‘bigger’ groups.
I find it funny how people are "mad" at Matt for killing characters in that encounter by calling it unfair or unwinnable when the only thing that made it more difficult was the direct actions of the players and the luck of Initiative. If they had stuck to one strategy they would have had a far better chance of either beating her back or getting away, but some ran, some fought, and poor Ashton got wiped by lower initiative. Of course it didn't help that they all started to panic as well. If they all would have fought, they could have done better considering they have some heavy hitters in the party, and if they all would have run they would have had a better chance of escape. But they gave the enemy the perfect battleground for their tactics, which are divide and conquer, the way she was bamfing around the field and cutting them down one by one would have been severely negated if they would have ganged up on her instead of scattering.
Yup. And really only Ashton tried to run. The others all used an action then just moved away. They never truly ran. I think the big problem was that they felt it likely that running would have forced them to sacrifice a party member. They made a lot of mistakes and had some bad luck. Sometimes that happens in D&D.
I get the email magazine, I haven’t actually played any of the adventures but I have read them through and they are well constructed and interesting. The production value (maps) is excellent.
Re: #1,
Question: "What is Batman's superpower?"
Typical response: "Batman doesn't *have* a superpower, dummy."
Rebuttal: "Wrong. Batman's superpower is PREPARATION. He is supremely prepared for any situation, which is why he always comes out on top."
This came from a corporate training session awhile back, and it really stuck.
I am a new DM and I just want to say this: it is very hard to know all the "rules". So even DMs are constantly learning, especially us new ones. The older ones lean more unto the learning curve of the niche situations or oddball situations that don't necessarily have rules for them. However, something that can help new DMs is this: make a small outline with page numbers. Omg has that helped me out A LOT! A simple thing like - Cover Rules pg. XYZ or -Climbing pg. XY. If you organize a little 2 page document with bullet points like this u can at least cut down on the time that you look something up. Slowly but surely, you will remember what the book says.
Never give up, never surrender! Lol
the best games i ever played in were when i was young and my friends were young. we try to relive some of those adventures occassionally. the imagination and dream state are gone. adulthood has killed our dreams like a full grp of copper dragons. we hardly ever played within the rules. i honestly believe we created respawning. late 70s very early 80s. Weve taken many parts of many games and made our own game in these days and altho we still have fun .... its not the same as yesteryear.
Great tips, Thanks
You can see when Matt Mercer isn't prepared. He struggles like the rest of us and gets wishy-washy on the rules.
I had a DM as a teen that would always give a player the worst results for failedskill checks, but the player thought it was funny and it became a thing. That was the only case I've ever seen where mistreating a specific player didn't cause a problem.
“Critical role is social interaction heavy” *Travis starts fidgeting
A good dm accepts they will make mistakes and try to have 2 probable outcome ideas. 1 talking and 1 murder hobo. That way when they go off the deep end, it will probably be close to one of those two endings.
Three very basic little tips:
1) NEVER, EVER reveal to the players what’s going on “behind the curtain.” Sometimes you improves, sometimes you’v got things written down. They should never know. All they should know is what their characters experience. (An aside: I HATE Referees who tell players “this is what you missed” etc. If they didn’t see it in the game, they didn’t see it. I also prefer to have a bartender tell me about the world in the game than have the Referee do it outside the game.)
2) To keep NPC portrayals consistent - keep an actor or TV/Movie character in your head as you play them. You impression won’t be very good, but in trying to sound/act like the template in your head you’ll keep the portrayal constant. (NEVER tell players who, or even that, you’re trying to do an impression of.)
3) If you’ve got a rectangular table, try sitting the Referee in the middle of one of the long sides. It’s counter-intuitive but it works - especially to give all players equal access.
Well said
As you said, at the end of the day, Matt is rooting for the players to succeed. And he likes bacon (I bet)
Great advice : D
More fantastic advice! Thank you for the straight shooting and advice. But, though you should save the characters' bacon, as bacon should always be saved! Never save the characters' butts in a fight, but always save the bacon. Ummmmm, bacon (he says as he drools).
Jeya! Good stuff.
I totally agree with it being ok that Matt killed a few of the players and almost the others in that recent episode. He said himself that he and the players have mutual respect, trust, and understanding about the possible ways the campaign could go, and I bet he had a plan for how he wanted the story to go, because while it is still a DnD game, they play it for entertainment, so the story has to be entertaining, so it needs to have risks, needs to have danger, and the viewers, who have fallen in love with the PCs, should at times feel concerned for them, and at times certain doom is expected in such stories, which makes the fear and sadness of a character dying all the more impactful. And not just for the entertainment of the viewers but also the players, they are along for the ride just as we are, and they know Matt, their good friend, is going to put their characters in danger, at times certain doom, but not without a plan, not without a good reason.
dude, so much product placement, its tough to get through sometimes!
Lots of great tips, but here's one more: try another system, whether running or playing, a little experience with a different (even one you don't end up liking) game can give you some great perspective.