New DM Tips with the Dungeon Coach ▶▶ kzread.info/dash/bejne/m4iom8yJlbSfeM4.html Alkander's Almanac of All Things ▶▶ www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedungeoncoach/alkanders-almanac-of-all-things?ref=8ohl3j

Had a long time friend become a problem player. She told me that she was thinking about quitting D&D, not just our campaign but also another campaign, she said she wasn’t happy playing anymore and because of that she was acting out and causing problems for everyone else. After much discussion I told her that I thought it the best and we will hold onto her character just in case. Couple days later she showed up late for work. Then later that day I stopped by her house and found her sitting in her car in her garage, door down. Pulled her out, called her mom, stayed with her until her mom could get her to the hospital. Turns out, she had taken herself off her own meds and was going through a bipolar depression. 6 months later, she rejoined our campaign. Got her meds right, and everyone welcomed her back with open arms.

@daegannlongstrider1293

Жыл бұрын

Not all heroes wear capes

@christianresel8051

3 ай бұрын

Good job saving her, bad that she needs medics realy. My GF would need those too, yet we found a counter wich in fact IS DND. The very same game that can hurt as well as heal one. Not only that but also me (duh) staying with her despite our difficulty's from time to time given her depression and all. There are 2 kinds of problem players, and one of them, the lesser evil one might call it, is the person SCREAMING for help instead of "i just cause problems because its my fun to ruin it for everyone else". Distinguishing those 2 things (i hope i did write this word right XD) is the hard part, not the "your a problem player" and putting them in the same box.

@jameshwren

3 ай бұрын

@@christianresel8051 nice. Yeah my friend was struggling with work isolation during Covid. It’s amazing how different people coped with it.

Welcome to MY New channel now! I will be renaming it "The DM Coach"! I have now taken over!!!

@chellobalgar9552

3 жыл бұрын

The DM Lair Coach! Now giving advice on coaching in your DM lair! P.s. now with 35% more beard!

I know it's meant for new DM's but for someone who's been in tabletop's for 15 almost 16 years and has been a DM for most of it, hearing "dealing with problem players" rephrased as "protecting good players" gave me some food for thought, I've had perfect players who quit tabletop games because of 1 or 2 wangrods

I have found that being a DM has been one of the best leadership training exercises I've ever done. Dealing with concerns early saves relationships as well as games.

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

It really is honestly something you could put on your job resume!

@doctorlolchicken7478

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDungeonCoach Maybe not. I did just that and the interviewer had a bad opinion of roleplaying games, so it potentially cost me the job. Remember that a lot of companies want people who fit in, so whether you mention it depends on whether you think it would make you fit in. Usually it won’t.

@keanefire786

2 жыл бұрын

If your interviewer doesn't like you mentioning your DM experience, I would ask, what if I mentioned I was a QB in high school? Would that make you think more highly of my people and leadership skills? It's very similar. Interpersonal skills, making quick decisions on a moment to moment basis. The only difference is you like one game better than another.

Me, about to DM for the first time: *giveth me the knowledge, KZread* KZread: **recommends this channel** Me: *thou hast pleased me. thank you. this is a good channel*

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

"Dont Stop Thinking" as a great video for begginner DM's too! But thats why we are all here to help people exactly like you get more confident and have more fun :)

@MonkeyJedi99

3 жыл бұрын

@Ahan Singhal I also get good tips from Monarch Factory's and Ginny D's channels

@TheDurektor

3 жыл бұрын

Gotta shout out my bois, Runesmith and XP to Level 3! They tend to be more comedic than informative, but they put out solid content

@dustrockblues7567

3 жыл бұрын

The Omnissiah's blessed algorithm guides and protects.

@KnicKnac

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDurektor Dungeon Dudes is also a good resource

My personal scheduling rules are: * If I (the DM) and at least 3 players can make it to a game session, we're playing. * There can be up to 6 regular players and up to 2 stand-in players for when other players can't make it. * No more than 6 players can be in the game at once. * The party has a magical stone that teleports PCs who's players are missing to safety and back to the party later. * The player(s) who miss the session(s) have the opportunity to tell a story of the adventure their PC went on while away. * If a regular player leaves the game, stand-in players will get first dibs on the regular player slot. * If the session involves a player directly who can't make it, I'll insert a travel encounter or something to slow the party down.

When I was a new DM, I would punish players by dealing them 0.000000000000000000001 psychic damage. Imagine writing that on the character sheet.

Regarding the Scheduling Spiral- recently, due to adjusted restrictions in our country, the game's store where we play had to alter the time slots. One player literally said "Oh this new time isn't really worth it for me, can't we reschedule" (not inconvenient, he literally said the time slot makes the campaign "not worth it"). I just said that's okay, I'll just continue playing with the rest of the party for who it is worth it. He ended up actually coming to the session, since he didn't want the rest of the party to get benefits/loot that he wouldn't.

DC usurped not just the DM seat, but also the poor wizard. He didn't even allow for the sleezy plug!

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

The channel is now MINE so welcome to the channel slimee88!

@Ambers128

3 жыл бұрын

Idk, he also killed fat cat. :'(

The dm wins when your players say that's awesome can't wait to see you next session

I told my dm "good job, we one" when we finished a campaign that lasted over a year with me as the only player. I'm mostly a dm, but the dm wins with the player. The true wins are totally when the dm successfully made a good game were everyone had fun and is satisfied

That COLAB was surely unexpected and appreciated!

It's very valuable to get the viewpoint of a second experienced GM! Do more colabs in the future please!

@dovahchicken935

3 жыл бұрын

Bouncing ideas is the best way to get good solutions

I made the mistake of ignoring a problematic player once; that was the end of that campaign.

You got me laughing on the "crappy encounters" part. I just had a whole arc planned, and my players decided the best way to travel was by underground magical steam train. (Roll with it.) I had to plan a cave travelling session with a shit-ton of kobolds, with the moving train and jumping attackers that would die in one hit. I thought it was mindless and shallow, and that the players would think I was padding the game. They absolutely loved it. Gotta give 'em some of those crap encounters. Players love crap encounters here and there.

@chazzitz-wh4ly

4 ай бұрын

In my experience when players get to see their ideas come to fruition they’ll have a blast. It’s our job as a DM to make it happen for them within reason.

Dude, the internet is never gonna forgive you for killing that kitty. Bad DM, No more pizza for you! lol

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

Hhahahahah I had NO IDEA I was killing a cat! Lukes script just said "act like you are throwing fireballs" then I just watched it and saw that one of the targets was a cat!!

@punkrockbrewer

3 жыл бұрын

No problem with that. Cats have nine lives. You dont even need to spend a diamond to revivify it.

I often use what I call "fuzzy time adventures" when we have a couple of players absent. They don't affect the storyline, but give the other players a chance to play, earn xp, and get some goodies.

Kills all players "Now let's play some D&D!" .... "Oops." LOL

Here when one of my player cant play we still use his character but not his character sheet. I usually provide some passive bonus that represent that character, a fighter would give an extra atack, an cleric could cure some HP per turn... And if the group need some hability of the character they use it but they use their resources for this, like a sorcerer using a spell slot to activate some cleric magic while he is not in the tabble

@benjaminholcomb9478

3 жыл бұрын

Smart

6:44 - Same thing happened in my game... But the wrong player re-rolled in my opinion. I think the other player's character should've just apologized. P1 is playing PC1, a Druid, in the party since level 1, P1's first ever ttrpg character, has the morals of "the natural order is what's good" P2 is playing PC2, a Warforged, in the party since level 11, used to be a Dragonborn who got super old and created this new body for himself. (Side note, his ex-wife in his backstory was a Druid who stopped aging (Timeless Body) and prompted the divorce by pushing his wheelchair down some stairs.) PC1: Insults PC2 in passing for being aberrant for not dying naturally, violating the natural order, comparing him to a lich, not meaning it as an insult, just stating it as if it's a fact PC2: Roleplays along with this P1: Gets anxiety due to the disagreement, but has no problem with P2 themselves. Unwilling to have PC1 apologize (which is all it'd take to solve the issue) P2 is now rolling up PC2's granddaughter to play as instead to keep from having the conflict. It's a bit ironic that his conflict both in his backstory & in the party was with a Druid and was related in some way to someone not aging.

Loving the barbarian's Eeyore mug! I am so jealous. - This was a good discussion between you two on these points.

17:35 How do you find these supposed "good players" who actually show up on time ready to play?

@varenoftatooine2393

3 жыл бұрын

A Wish spell.

@fhuber7507

3 жыл бұрын

You have to bribe the players appropriately.

@SakraIgor0qNomoko

3 жыл бұрын

You only need one player on time. You make the rest so by starting on time, whether they're there or not.

@Piqipeg

3 жыл бұрын

Put the foot down a bit, instead of asking if a date and time works for everyone, tell them a date and time you've decided on. Then you play with those who show up or you start looking for a new group to DM for. When your players start asking why you haven't invited them in a while, tell them that you stopped asking due to lack of interest.

@varenoftatooine2393

3 жыл бұрын

@@Piqipeg that only works after you establish things like work schedules and other important time-sensitive things of course, but I do agree. If they want to play, they'll make time, if they don't, they'll make excuses.

players should be rewarded for creativity, intelligent decision making and good engagement. that being said, i had a player with 5 hp left, who wanted to jump into the mouth of a purple worm to try and kill it from the inside out. he rolled VERY poorly. but he died from his poor decision making, not just the R.G.N.

Yeah I got a fellow player and he constantly picks A-hole type characters. This bleeds over into when some players go for the gold, where the other players go for what's right in the game. Basically, he is evil and the rest are not, which creates a moral divide in the group.

As a long-time experienced DM I found this video very educational as well...it is always good to go back to basics (although some of these things I have seen seasoned DM's have issue with). Thanks for the collab and sharing!

A win for me as a GM is if my players manage to successfully navigate and experience the campaign setting and storyline. Killing them rarely helps accomplish that. Of course, since most settings include the possibility of death, making things too easy prevents them from fully experiencing the setting too, so it's always a fine line.

I've had to remove my cousin from the group before we even started. It sucks but it happens

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! I feel ya

I'm a really, really newbie DM (just had one game so far) and I really appreciate all the stuff on your channel! Really helpful

We had a TPK because 3 players didn't come to our planned game. We played anyways and had a ton of fun. Rolled up a new campaign and we've been doing that campaign for over a year now!

@Clone0785

3 жыл бұрын

LoL that's kinda awesome. Imagine being the guy who comes back to a new campaign because the last group got slaughtered.

one thing i love about my party is the thing we do with rules lawering. the standard dnd rules always apply to their own actions. if the DM does something and the rules are broken then thats a scary scenario cause anything can happen now.

Regarding the Winner Mentality of a DM: I added a couple challenges early on that rely on the use of skills to avoid battle in situations that are deadly. My goal is to give the players a hint that not every situation can or should be solved with violence. I'm hoping two brushes with death will be enough to make them think before each encounter lol. The trick is, the campaign starts as hack and slash, to quickly become one of strategy and consequence. Much of the experience points in the earliest levels will be from avoiding battles, some random encounters relevant to the horror theme, and really only two dungeons meant to be fought through.

Absolutely love this collab y'all did. Always hilarious. Great job guys!

Awesome colab, you guys work well together

It's an old adage from Dorkness Rising, too! "If you have a problem in game, solve it in game." The same holds true conversely! If you have a problem outside of the game, solve it outside of the game.

love these vids with Dungeon Coach! always such good talks you guys have. also, you made me feel better about being a bit annoyed with my players for not wanting to play with people missing in one of my campaigns. it is def something i'll have to address or the campaign is going to fall apart

That moment when you get a KZread add for Alkander’s Almanac to all Things in a video that alresdy did a spot for it

Thank you both for always putting together such useful videos

You guys are chill and really enjoy the collaborations. Scheduling killed my game had four yet barely had three to play. It wasn't fair to me as the DM or the one player who wanted to play. I work nights so scheduling was already hard to figure out.

That video made me realize I should talk to one of my players there. And went amazing! Thanks you two!

I can understand that the DM is supposed to lose, but I have issues when the Players quickly overcome a challenge I set up and I had something planned to occur during it. Dropping exposition, introducing a concept/theme that will be important later, or that this wasn't supposed to be a combat encounter and I need this one guy to live because they have a role later in the module.

Great vid so far, keep up the good work.

@TheDungeonCoach

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Guy in the Comments! your in the comments... how Ironic!

@ImperialCommunicationsUnit

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDungeonCoach LoL. Love your videos btw.

Loved the collab with DC. I like the way you two compliment and contrast each other.

I love how into the skits he's gotten hahaha

This is all fantastic advice. Thanks guys!!!

I like your colabs!

The side conversations are the problem I struggle. It doesn't happen often, but when it does its hard to break it

WE had a group of 4 friends join our group, 1 was a problem player, after a few weeks, it came to a head and the bad player was told to not come back. Fortunately, the other 3 players came back and were with us for quite a while. Our every other Tuesday group has switched weeks if someone will miss the session. If we drop below 4 players, we usually do a 1-shot or a classless Pathfinder campaign.

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

Tryed avoiding confrontation by taking on an extra Player. Grated on me and than tge group spok to me saying they can't work with them. I would not make a confrontation for me but if it makes my game not fun for the group I will be uncomfortable. So I talked to them and they still did things that grated on the group and me so I had to kick them out. Don't avoid confrontation when it's needed! It normally just escalats into a worse confrontation!

As someone who still hasn't narrated an adventure, I think the "DM is supposed to lose" is like being a Gym Leader in Pokémon. You're there to be a roadblock, but one to be surpassed. You're not hitting the challengers with all you've got (it's just cowardly to throw your perfect battle-trained Ancient Red Dragon, I mean lv. 100 Charizard, against a newbie whose strongest Pokémon is a trained-along-the-way lv. 12 Butterfree), because that's no fun. Worst case scenario, you discouraged your challenger to the point they give up. Congratulations, you won so hard that player won't ever want to play with you again! You're there so your challenger can prove their worth and continue their journey. The badge you hand out upon defeat isn't recognition that you suck, it's recognizing your challenger's worth and preparing them to handle bigger challenges in the future.

Love for DM Lair man but DC'S beard has you beat. Great to see you two working together again!

Yeah, I proposed to our group if one of us can't make it to a game we don't do the main campaign, we get one of us who is more inexperienced and we rotate dming a one shot, so we dont miss the main campaign and we get experience build up to running full campaigns so nobody is stuck as the forever Dm, we have a stockpile of 1shots on hand we can look over with a day or two notice.

One way I avoid the Scheduling Spiral: I have six Players in our Group (FGU and Discord). The 'rule' is if we have four, We Roll. I prep/plan for four Players, if more than that are present, the Encounter or what have you is somewhat easier because of more Players. XP and Coin Treasure is divided evenly among all six, but magic items are First come First serve. We also Play on a weekly basis, three sessions on, one week off. This allows for scheduling family activities, gives my brain an opportunity to cool off, helps with burnout and gives us a 'floating off session' option. We come back and the three on - one off resets.

I'm starting up a campaign of two PC groups within one world. This way the players who want to play every week can pilot two characters (alternating) while the players who only want to play every other week can do so. It also should help with the scheduling spiral, as the two groups are not only connected to each other and trying to achieve the same ultimate goal, but are also connected to a third group which is comprised of npc characters. Players who miss a week will have their character jump over there and an NPC from the third party will take their place. The next session they will go back to their normal group and have information to share about the third group. What the players who are playing every week don't know is that they might not be playing the character they're expecting to play during any given session as the characters in each group displace each other from time to time and for reasons they won't understand until deep into the campaign. I'm starting the 3 groups as far apart as possible, it will be interesting once the groups start overlapping territory.

My group of best friends have a B-Team of characters that play whenever one of us has a life event (working, vacation, etc.) And we cycle through us as DM as well. We just started a high risk campaign as level 1 and got TPK... Good we had the others to play with. LOL

LOVE the video

Sorry Luke, you are one of my favorite DM coaches, but you really need to work on your beard

Something that accentuates rooting for the players I've seen, Web DM showed a resource Telecanter's Receding Rules Creepy Combat Commentary Creatures that are part human or not-quite human can be even creepier adversaries because of the things they say during combat. In general, treating PCs as if they aren't even there, or are just unintelligent prey creatures is creepy. Also, acting in ways that would be odd for a human set upon by multiple foes might be off-putting for players.

The players on this channel are the best.

Underated guy

Glad too know. I have the right instincts.

Man thank you guys bc I've been questioning how to deal w a player thats been kind of a jerk and was bringing my group down.

@joshuakrause2229

3 жыл бұрын

I'm new to dnd and dming. I found this player on my second session and second time playing.

Who remembers “ive been a highschool since dungeon master”. Anyone

*The thing about collaborations that i don't like is many of them end up with the video going into dead end loops in conversation that go no where .*

I had to deal with both scheduling issues and a problem player. It was hard because they are genuinely good people. But eventually i had to dump the game, i acquires new players and restarted the campaign. New set of players are great they get along and i haven't cancelled a session in few months. My rule is (full group is 6 players) 1 player out game goes on. 2 players out, we vote to play. 3 or more session cancelled.

I like these videos where several people discuss, better than when one tells their own thoughts on a topic. 1 + 1 = 5

I just like to say I am a new DM I really do like this video thank you when I get some free time I will watch it. You're one of the two channels I go to for DM advice. The other one being Seth's uskoski mispronounced last name. But my question is the following how would you run a political Intrigue campaign?

Sorry bro dungeon coach has the better beard!

For the scheduling thing my general rule of thumb if more than half of my players can't make it is when we cancel a session

I once had an argument with another player about who would get a certain item, there were 2 items, each of which were a benefit to both of us. We both wanted item 1 over item 2 so we argued our points, and they were essentially the same point. Instead of just arguing into oblivion the same thing, I said "since we're not making any headway here, let's just roll for it and whoever gets higher gets the item" they just absolutely refused that and said that they would rather go pvp and fight my character. I insisted hey, let's just roll for it and be done with it. But they kept refusing making me very angry and i almost left the game myself. It 100% ruined the session for me because the only other people to speak up sided with the other player or just said "don't get me involved" even the DM said that. I ended up just giving in and letting them have item 1 and i took item 2. I wasn't pissed off i got item 2, i was pissed at the players behavior and that everyone else just let it happen. Still gets on my nerves to this day and it was over 2 years ago now.

I heard a cat die at 6:50

@Sievers808

Жыл бұрын

I scrolled for way too long just to see if anyone else mentioned it. Thank you.

I find it really interesting that some people see canceling when a player can’t make it as punishment. I’ve been playing with the same group of friends for almost 25 years, and we almost always cancel if someone can’t make it. We would consider it a punishment to play without one of our friends. But we do play weekly, and as a rule there are fewer than 10 weeks of the year that we have to cancel due to player absence. No one has small kids, though, no one has weekend jobs, and some of the players don’t have many relatives who expect them to attend family events all the time.

@gurdan-friedman

3 жыл бұрын

I guess when we're playing with friends, it's a different case. There are people who play with a group that is SPECIFICALLY just a D&D group, and not a group of friends. Maybe the video is talking about such group.

I make sure to give my players an out. Session 0, I tell them that if at any time you don't want to play in my campaign then to let me know and there's no hard feelings. I'll admit, if I feel players may still feel uncomfortable about letting me know that they don't want to be in my games by making excuse after excuse, then I'll confront them about it. I only want players that want to play in my games. When players come in and are distracted or show lack in interest in my games that is where I draw the line and ask them to leave.

24:20 You just described a retro

DUNGEON COACH!

With scheduling spiral of death. My rule is if one person misses, I continue with an NPC in place, likely related to at least one of the present PCs. 2 or more (out of a 4 person group) that's a bit much to push. The only exception is if we're in Final Boss territory.

@monkeymox2544

2 жыл бұрын

We run one-shots if there's more than one person missing, it keeps the habit up and means that we get to do something different

I think “No ingame punishments” is becoming a meme like “Don’t split the party.” I think the more subtle point is that bad player behavior should be dealt with outside the game and bad character behavior should be dealt with in the game. I say this because you have “bad players” who do not always look like the obvious bad player: they are pleasant and polite, and they won’t admit they are doing anything wrong. But if their character is, then the game should react, and that can help reveal the bad player, such that more players recognize the bad player as such. Then you talk to the player again, this time with more concrete evidence.

I like to throw the occasional combat in which there are large numbers of creatures that will die in a hit or two. The players get to feel very powerful, but the monsters do some damage by sheer numbers.

Only one or two players for a session? Have a more intimate one-shot on standby with pre-mades or different characters. Better yet, a one-shot of a different RPG, probably on the lighter side. Changing up the flavor, it could be a nice getaway from the norm and a refreshing experience.

You gents are awesome!

Asking: I have a good friend who is interested in playing, but has been upfront about not being able to schedule regularly. I suggested we could make him a Monk or something similar and when he is missing then it is because his character has to return to the monastery for prayers, reflection and teaching. What would you think about this? I am trying to get a group together on a small island (gulp) so interested parties may be hard to find... so far I have two people who are committed. I am looking for more.... but my sometimes absent friend could be valuable.

I have had to have social contracts for my sake. I just had a simple google doc that I sent to all my players before session 1 and we also discussed it in session 0

Sometimes people mix up a problem player with a good player at a problem game

This video could have been bullet points of these very self explanatory concepts with one person talking and have it wrapped up in 2 minutes.

The dungeon master only wins if the game session was engaging and entertaining (which does require player participation). D&D is a cooperative game. Players and DM. DM's deal in the 3"Cs: conflicts, complications, and consequences. Players deal with, overcome, and solve the 3 Cs. If this engages and entertains us, we win.

MOAR

I always have a rule its the first thing I say to a new group for the first few time we game if you are not happy with the way the game is going let me know we can work it out. Yet one of my games fold due to the most experianced player who was also the Party leader saying to me sorry mate but the game is not going like I want it so wont be coming back. He did at least 40% of the RP and steered the group where he wanted to go I ended up reacting to him. It made me a bit angry but then when we had a new player join he did say he would take him under his wings and the first thing he did was get him drunk.

This episode should just be called gstekeepibg 101

6:50 MEEEEEOW

Problem is my table constraints of two players other than me the DM.. if they can't make it I'll just have to play with my wallpaper..

Dunno if anyone is ever going top fat cat rocking the full body beard.

I'm a new dm and one of the previous dms for my groups has decided I am in fact a bad dm and does things out of character because he doesn't like my dm style :/

I'm a big fan of killing a pc early on, in order to establish dominance

its funny cuz I've tried using the anonymous survey but they wont actually do the survey and the one or two that do so give me blank words giving me the "yea its fine" statements

Luke's beard is far superior to the Dungeon Coach's beard

Allen? I thought his name was Joe Mangianello?

1) Bad players are like a dripping faucet. All waiting it out does is make it worse. 2) Is there anything more petty than in-game punishment? 3) or dumb player choices! 4) Real friends are the ones who'll tell you you've got something in your teeth. 5) A player death or two is fine...

I love that you need a beard to be a good dm! I guess being female and unable to grow a beard is why I'm not the best!

Ok so, can I wear a fake beard? Since I'm a female..are those valid? Lol ...I'm a super new DM. . meaning I haven't done it yet and I'm running a game full of people who are also green! Lol ...the videos are super helpful in my research so thanks! 🤘🏻