"I cannot control the players, I cannot control the results of the dice, I cannot control the story." That's your new T-Shirt for the shop!

@genegodbold830

6 ай бұрын

That's a darn good idea for a T-shirt, not to mention a bumper sticker with a Deathbringer logo.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@ronrader8714

6 ай бұрын

I'd buy that shirt!

@doublekrpg

6 ай бұрын

*"I do not like Green Eggs and ham, make a CON Save, Sam-I-Am."*

@Stray_GM

6 ай бұрын

This is a mentality I heartily agree with that I feel like modern DnD players no longer follow.

One of the wisest things a DM has ever told me when asked for advice about running games is “I don’t write the story of the PCs, I write the story of what would happen if the PCs never got involved and then decide how their actions effect that story.”

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Great advice. Stealing it.

@sexyshadowcat7

6 ай бұрын

pretty sure that's in one of the editons of the DMG

@slaapliedje

5 ай бұрын

I pretty much set up the environment, then let the PCs react to that environment. (That includes NPCs, etc). I have had sessions where their characters literally just sat around a table and planned things. Was hilarious.

@taragnor

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, that's a much better way of phrasing it. Honestly I find the "GM is not a storyteller" thing very misleading advice. There are several useful DMing skills that come from storytelling, many of which PDM actually talks about in other videos. Short but vivid descriptions of your situation, memorable characters, the management of pacing in a scene, cutting out shoe leather, the general 3 act structure. Every good DM is almost definitely at least an average storyteller. If you've been in those slow tables full of boring pointless scenes that feel like a waste of time, you can attest to the value of good story-telling skills.

"a game master is NOT a storyteller" - *closes the vampire: the masquerade book* - hello darkness my old friend…

@JamesHazlerig

6 ай бұрын

In Ars Magica, a game that Mark Rein-Hagen co-designed before moving on to the WoD and which WotC tried really hard to tie-into the WoD, despite Ars Magica players hating that concept, the GM is called the "Storyguide" (NOT the storyteller). I really like that term--you're not telling a story; you're guiding it, co-creating it with your players.

@RottenMechGaming

6 ай бұрын

@@JamesHazlerigstill have all my ars Magica, just no players for it 😂

@FornaxusCrucible

6 ай бұрын

@@RottenMechGaming Sadly, this is ubiquitous. I miss my California gaming group for this very reason.

@craigjones7343

6 ай бұрын

The GM is not be of several storytellers. The entire group contributes to the over all story, not just the GM.

@AM-yk5yd

6 ай бұрын

Also VtM's STs: can probably leave for several hours without anyone noticing as there is too much lore and allegiances to discuss for players

"A game master is not a storyteller, they are instead a conflict designer" thank you, exactly this!

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thanks! Please share!

It's a great thing to see a 'story driven' DM have that realization of how the game can open up when you let go, and stop planning out the beats. Embracing the chaos and watching the game unfold spontaneously can lead to some magnificent and unexpected twists and turns. Those are the games we remember.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Absolutely!

@PMandrekar

6 ай бұрын

Agreed. Why roll the dice if you aren't going to use the results to bend and turn the story as you go?

@jameshildebrand907

6 ай бұрын

As a DM, one thing I always would do when a player used a make-or-break action is I would roll the saving throw in the middle of the table for all to see as a 1 is a failure. There has been many memorable moments as a result of this.

@WouldbeSage

6 ай бұрын

I'm that "story driven" DM. I have linear plots in mind. My players mostly* enjoy following the narrative beats. I have found that most of the time if you drop them into the middle of an open-world sandbox, they are confused about where to go and what to do. And if you feed them adventure hooks in that open world, then it's not so different from a linear adventure, huh? *and when they do go "off-script" it's usually for all the right reasons and I secretly love it. But that has to arise organically from the story they are apart of. They have to be invested in the world in order for it to mean something.

@sutyi06

6 ай бұрын

I consider myself a story driven DM. The story is never written in advance, however...

THE TARANTINO ONE GOT ME 🤣🤣🤣

@stargateproductions

6 ай бұрын

So.. many.. feet :(

@joshavandervelden4764

6 ай бұрын

#MeToo

Another version of fudging that an increasing number of DMs seem ok with: "I don't track hit points. The big bad just dies when it's dramatically appropriate." Good way to kill any stakes or sense of accomplishment.

@yellingintothewind

6 ай бұрын

Agreed! If I'm having on off night, or otherwise struggling to keep all the details, I stop tracking the exact number. Rounding to the nearest 10 reduces the book keeping considerably generally without changing the outcome. But not tracking at all so _I_ can pick when the players win is a recipe for a bad time.

no planned story survives contact with the players

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Correct!

@johnhansen4794

6 ай бұрын

Prolly 50% of the genre's popularity. We all know how Parcheezi goes.

@mergettheborgerhrunter3386

6 ай бұрын

That should be in the DMG

@n.d.m.515

6 ай бұрын

one of my players was confronted by some guards as to why they were there. The player came up with telling them he was there as an interior designer. I put the chances of success very high, but the player actually ended up getting a higher roll. Needless to say, at least for that part of the adventure, things got interesting.

@tuomasronnberg5244

6 ай бұрын

Plans are useless but planning is indispensable.

I'm absolutely giddy about the potential of a full Deathbringer book.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

I wrote a lot this weekend. Thanks for your patience. Book writing takes awhile.

@billdefranza4927

6 ай бұрын

I'll second that. (Edit: I meant that I'm giddy for a DB book. But also, writing a book is a PITA).

My late father was (literally) a professor of Probability theory (Professor VS Mandrekar, 1939-2021). He was not a gamer, but very much appreciated how the dice help to make the story emerge, and I have used that approach as a GM/DM and the players contribution for the past 42 years of RPGs. Thank you for such great game advice, as always!

When I roll for a wandering monster in my game, I also roll for "monster reactions." Monsters might turn out to be eager to see the players, or even friendly! Players die in encounters but I think they can fundamentally change the story in other ways. I love em'

@yellingintothewind

6 ай бұрын

I do the same. In the current game, we've had 3 random encounters, and rolled max hostility on each one (100 on a d100). Sometimes the dice want chaos.

I played in a campaign that in two WHOLE sessions cleared out one single dungeon room. Not a dungeon, A ROOM! Oh, and they drank a lot of wine and talked about their jobs and marriages...

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Oh man...

@mrgunn2726

6 ай бұрын

@qwaserity Awful! Had a CoC game break up because of relationship drama, two of the four players were a couple and one cheated on the other...

@mattminus

6 ай бұрын

My game goes that way sometimes. We're all friends and we're playing a social game, stuff like that happens. In our session 0 we establish that the game is "bowling night", that people will be imbibing, many a joke will be made during play, and we're not gonna shush people who go off topic.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

@@mrgunn2726 With the other person in the group?! That would be juicy.

@dustinwilson4815

6 ай бұрын

I can speak for my group when I say sometimes you just need to go hang out, eat some food, and get all the chatter out once in a while. Then, next time you get back to the table, they have less "catching up" to do. Works for us, anyway.

I used to feel like I was running a freeform game for a long time. However, after playing Blades in the Dark recently, I realized that even though the characters always had choices, it was like I had them on an extendable leash. Once I let chaos take over completely, the game evolved into something completely different from what I or the players had anticipated.

@Frostrazor

6 ай бұрын

If you love BitD as I do, you gotta give Dungeon World a try. It was what BitD was birthed out of - similar games style. These two are my go-to games, and the fun is amazing when the players have that kind of freedom to explore their actions and consequences thereof.

@sachamm

6 ай бұрын

@@Frostrazor I love DungeonWorld, I'm going to have to take a look at BitD! :)

Excellent video. I especially loved your pearls of wisdom on how not to be "that guy." Keep these instructional videos coming!

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

5 ай бұрын

Thanks, will do!

I would love an entire video or just a list of examples of your initial 5 minute goals. I live for the improvisation once my players start interacting with the scenario but it's coming up with scenarios that are interesting to interact with that I have blocks around.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

You are in luck! I have written a video called "The First 10 Minutes" which deals with this very topic. I talk about my module MacDeath, Masks of Nyarlathotep, and the film Blade Runner. Shooting soon. Probably will be released next month.

Fun video! I once had to roll to see if my character died at childbirth- played a conventional game where the DM had a teleport device that worked only 5 times- there were 10 players at the table- the DM (a published module author ) laughed at screwing over 5 players who were now out of the game - Like players- DM’s can suck too

@kolardgreene3096

6 ай бұрын

Okay, but that first example is so insane I can't help but laugh. 😂 Now there's an idea for a funnel adventure in DCC: Escape from the Womb

@tasty_wind4294

6 ай бұрын

And people complain about Traveller’s character creation

The idea that the GM is not a storyteller, but a conflict designer is, IMO the single most useful GMing advise I've encountered. It is extremely simple to formulate and understand, and yet it affects so much of the GM's work. It makes planning easier and it allows one to sit back and enjoy what the players come up with to a grater degree. So thanks for that Professor DM, great advise.

I'm glad to see another older DM who keeps certain rolls 'player' rolls secret, like listening at doors, searching for secrets, or trap finding. It prevents metagaming.

@Xplora213

6 ай бұрын

It’s ridiculous to do such things in the open if the result is known from the roll rather than the narration.

@josephpurdy8390

6 ай бұрын

The same goes for character ability scores, hit points, poison saves, diseases. A player can keep a list of memorized spells, and equipment. If the player character loses something without their knowledge. The player needs to spend some time going through all their belongings. This will change player behaviours, and add tension. This tension is relatable to fear of uncertainty.

@synthetic240

6 ай бұрын

@@josephpurdy8390 No? What a weird extreme to take this to. My standard is: will the result of the roll be imminently known to the player? If the answer is no, then it should be hidden. When not finding something that isn't there looks the same as not finding something that is there, the player has the option to try again. If he knows the result of the previous roll, he can decide if he will roll again with near certainty; just keep going until he gets a high enough number.

@josephpurdy8390

6 ай бұрын

@@synthetic240 How many times must I be stabbed to die. Most people are not going to subject themselves to this. In order to find out what it takes to experience death. These are not extreme limitations placed on a player's knowledge. These cause players to act with uncertainty in their outcomes. You would react in a similar fashion to avoid life threatening consquences. A DM should impose limits on player knowledge to avoid metagaming. This grants player agency on taking risks, and not leaving it up to them knowing facts that a character wouldn't already know in a mechanical sense.

@synthetic240

6 ай бұрын

@@josephpurdy8390 "How many times must I be stabbed to die. Most people are not going to subject themselves to this." I never suggested this, weirdo. Stop putting words in my mouth.

My understanding of the hobby changed after I played Pandemic board game, where a team works to save the world. A good TTRPG experience is a collaboration, everybody working together to create the richest tale possible ; a story where dices hold Fate!

Great advice, as always, Professor! I really liked the end part of the video when you talk about the DM also being surprised by the actions of the players. I love it when the players in my daughter's campaign come up with something I never would have thought of. If I'd tried to get them to follow a script, those fun and creative things never would've happened. I tell you, tween/teen girls come up with really unique solutions!

Here! Here! Love this video Dan. I also like the language you used here, with the 'Story' expressed as an emergent property the events that occur as a result of the die rolls and the player's interaction with the setting. I say I am NOT a story TELLer, I'm a story ENABLER.

Thanks, this is mature, practical, adult advice that can save a lot of hurt feelings for beginning players. It's also a salient reminder for us old farts.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Old farts forever!

@jeffstormer2547

6 ай бұрын

Hail, Grognards! @@DUNGEONCRAFT1

@krispalermo8133

6 ай бұрын

You try being 13years old and having to mix run AD&D, TMNT, WEG Star Wars, Nintendo Castlevania/Zelda .. and run the action like a cartoon for a bunch of teenagers, or else. 16 years later and I had to deal with my aunts' teenage boys and crossing WotC 3e with Harry Potter. a.) Treat new players as if they are playing a video game. They die, they just get respawn back at the start of the last check point. Or get drag to the next level. b.) Sometimes we give new players two different class PC to run. So they can hold two index cards and see how two different classes work, along with given them the chance to work their voice acting. c.) We would have pre made n/PC on index cards and random draw them and free wheel it. My last shop DM and group was firm enough where the players would just randomly jump into a N/pc and bounce of the DM and each other so story drama. 2.) The .. edge lord .. New guy wanted to run an edge lord but he wanted to be some type of purest starting at 1st-level and not the shop's stander 4 multiclass. So I had my edge lord rogue1/wizard1 cantrip spells, dark blue padded armor, eye patch, big camping short sword knife, and rapier. My pc came into the edge of the village and offer the old women if they would like some extra rabbit for dinner and if they had a horse stable. DM as old woman, " How did you get the eye patch ?" .. chance to drop PC backstory in short sound bite. I then acted like I lift an eye patch from my face and said, " I walked into a tree branch, how bad is my black eye ?" The DM rolled 1d6, and called the eye a shiner. Four other regular players start PC the voices of a bunch of gossip noisy old women roasting me the whole time. Yes we rolled charisma check to see how funny our jokes where. Old woman, " Who made your clothes ?" Me, " My granny and aunts, they said it would make me look .. proper. Did they do a good job ?" DM rolls how bad my outfit .. Really .. looks. The new guy said to h3ll with it and ran DM village N/pcs bounce off of the other players learning how to multi role play. After that game, we played a bunch of 12th-level multiclass wizard6/druid6s, old crazy aunts out gossiping and fishing. The more outlandish fish stories the better.

Of all the great things that came out of Apocalypse World (and all of the PbtA games the followed), I think some of the most powerful is the idea of "Agenda, Principles, and Moves" - a very clear outline of how the MC should approach the game. Among these core lists are things like "Play to find out what happens," (don't railroad) and "Be a fan of the players' characters." (don't play against them, but also give them opportunities to be awesome). I think that a lot of the PbtA principles can actually teach people to be better GM's in any game.

@taragnor

4 ай бұрын

Yeah honestly even if you never intend to ever run a PbtA game, I feel there's a lot of value in reading the principles. The thing I always find really useful is the idea of foreshadowing your dangers. Don't just have things come out of nowhere. If the players get ambushed by a skulking rogue in "a network of shadowy streets, full of tight corners and narrow alleys", it flows naturally with the story, where if the same rogue just sprang out at them on an open field it would seem arbitrary and cause dissonance.

That's some real quality advice here.

As someone who wants to be a GM and is trying my best to soak in as much as I can, I really appreciate you going over all of this. I want to grow and improve as a GM but I want to make sure my future players have a good experience at the same time

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Don't sweat it! You'll be great!

@sleepinggiant4062

6 ай бұрын

Make sure to read the forums and get a lot of different perspectives! The forums are great for asking questions.

Great video. So many DMs need to hear this. But another problem can arise, Dan. I share a second screen with the table where they see my rolls. They see what I see at the same time. No secrets. I think out loud with my dice logic for chaotic d100 rolls etc. If they want to do something I negotiate the outcome before the roll so the player understands the character's ability to assess the gamble of the decision. My NPCs are designed to always offer a fact or rumor about the main quest, and a unique suggestion of how they think it best to achieve it, (granted the players know the NPC's flaws and therefore the fallacies and blindsides within each suggestion.) My NPCs also offer a personal side quest that could add to the main quests success in the long term. All my NPCs are connected to the player's backstory somehow, or their previous character's backstories/factions. With the exception of long rests being a tedious minigame (for deterring players abusing the long rest mechanic, and also many RPG story reasons about player curses, amnesia, dreams, and environmental hazards), i do my darndest to eliminate shoe leather. Small encounters are only designed to whittle players down leading to a larger conflict, and often never require true play by play initiative. This makes players think twice at the end of the road when faced with a larger plot conflicts, which can always be avoided with charisma and wit, or damned by a bad roll. every fork in the road has several approaches, and each approach is only determined by how the players want to solve the challenges with their own common sense and sheets stats. They know where the BBEG is camping is they want to charge in. They know the time limit in which they must achieve their main quest before the campaign ends. The order in which they choose to achieve things IS the story... i do not dictate their choices, or punish them for choosing something I don't want them to do. *however* what has happened in this situation, is that my nature of story telling (in which i trust the PC to know/remember/assume things that the player does not remember because we gather at the table once a month), has lulled my table into not needing to pay attention, take notes, remember names, or even remember what their next goal is. I have built (what i think) is a very challenging and thoughtful open world for the players to tell their own stories; based on what they told me is their backstories! It's a world i would love to play in myself. What i have, is players who can't remember their backstories; who seem to want a railroad: a long hallway of events to unfold in order without having to overthink it, debate it, or roleplay counting the cost of each decision. They want a movie with dice. all this to say Dan, with utmost humor, is that the TTRPG-sage-to-youtube-advice-vlog-pipeline fails to acknowledge that players want whatever is NOT in front of them. lol. a "grass is greener" situation. The moment I shift them into a hallway adventure, their neurons will start firing with curiosity and they'll start looking for branching paths. lol in short... *it would seem sometimes you need bad DMs to make players mad enough to get good.*

The players should know what they’re supposed to do in the first 5 minutes. What a great guideline. Thumbs up.

Eloquent as always, Professor. Thank you for such an entertaining and thoughtful analysis. Once again you demonstrate why Dungeon Craft is one of the most indispensable RPG hobby channels on KZread. Respect and regards, Chris AKA Li’l C

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. I really worked hard on this video. I hope it finds an audience.

Great video. It started me thinking about what comes up when I DM. This one hasn't happened in at least a decade, but during D&D 3e and part of Pathfinder, I transformed into one of those DMs that called for too many rolls. I've introduced scheduled plot elements that did not interest the players, and instead I should have focused my energy on what they were already doing. I had to learn that less is more. Out of a sense of fairness to the players--I really look at the role of DM as referee that sets up an interesting world filled with different challenges--I would spend too much time looking up rules whenever a player felt slighted in some way. I had to learn to make a call and move on, researching after the game. I also cannot roll behind a screen. I roll too well. I wouldn't believe the numbers I roll. I even change out d20s if one is rolling too well. To keep NPCs or hirelings from outshining the players, I limit them to +1 or 0 for their attribute bonuses and keep them at least 1-2 levels lower (if a similar role or class to a PC). If a PC dies and wants to play the NPC, suddenly that NPC transforms into a much better set of ability scores. What's really funny is that my players completely spoil their henchmen or hirelings, often equipping them with prime magical loot. While this makes for a loyal retainer, it does make it harder for that hireling not to outshine players. I discovered through much player death that often monsters or opponents--even my intentionally incompetent monsters/opponents--have a single battle plan. In contrast, my group of 4-5 players have 4-5 different battle plans and are always at a severe disadvantage. As a result, my players think I'm some kind of master tactician and are terrified of monsters they should walk over. In my adventures, the players drive the story. I do this not out of some intuitive DM wisdom, but out of purely selfish reasons. I love seeing where they're going to go and what they're going to do. It's so entertaining for me and keeps me sane as a forever DM.

Absolutely true. Once I had a whole adventure lined up for my players. They were going to spend one night at the inn and carry on. But a random encounter roll happened and a ghostly shadow (home brew) showed up. They had so much fun with this haunting. They got the NPCs from the inn involved and it was a great time. That was the whole session. Never got to the "plot" at all. Great fun.

Little dmg trick I use (b/c I’m bad at maths) is I take the average dmg from the book and add a fudge die per dmg dice. So it slightly adjusts the dmg dealt just slightly enough for quick game play but add some spice for the players.

Another excellent and insightful video, Professor DM! When I was new to running games, I tried to control way too many things. However, once I learned that I couldn't control everything during a session, I started to embrace the surprises that arose and began having more fun than ever playing RPGs.

I played a game once where the first session (2hrs as some time prior to this was put together for social and character rolling) our group had 8 deaths…. The second session we had 16 deaths….. it was the worst DM master I’ve ever had and it went on for 6 sessions. I never got involved in that group again. 😢 Our very first encounter, was a troll that wiped us out. Our second encounter was 3 trolls…. We ran from the 3 trolls only to encounter giant spiders, then the trolls found our tracks and we had them again too…. This was the entire experience. We just kept dying and rerolling characters and the only person having fun was the DM, who thought he was the best DM ever and was shocked when we said it was a pointless boring mess.

@2:27 oh that's great editing. Flipping the camera angle left to right. Remember, the right side has to be the punch line.

When I first started playing rpgs in high school our GM made the characters. Whoever was running the game made the characters and we had a blast.

The "over powered NPC" part reminded me of Biff Bam from the "Achy Breaky Mythos" back in the day... "Wait, I thought he was a dilettante, how is he a master gunfighter AND ninja?"

I agree: the GM's job is to present conflicts and then REACT to the players' choices. I have been striving for this in my recent games, and it's much more exciting for me as the GM, in fact, much more fun than me trying to mastermind all the possible content ahead of time. What I do is sketch out the main areas of choice, where the players' priorities might lead them. But the details of that emerge as we go! I do much more improv this way, and I do WAY LESS talking. It's thrilling to listen to the players talk out their options and strategize, maybe with me chiming in with NPC input. But as they talk, my wheels are spinning as I weave the next "path" together... I don't know where it's going exactly, and that is a sweet spot between prepared Content & Chaos!!!

Your advice is truly invaluable!

Spot on. I had my group decide they wanted to help the BAD GUY. So, I rolled with it. Were they shocked. When the towns guard summoned their version of the A-team. Actions lead to reactions.

Dan, once again that was the best DM/GM advice I’ve ever heard! Watching this while prepping my session! Perfection.

When you’re right you’re right & you’re right again. Perfect example, tonight I started the Shattered Obelisk Campaign with one of my groups, they decided to split the party, half stayed with the wagon at the ambush site on the Triboar Trail & the other 2 went to Cragmaw. Deeper & deeper they went into the cave complex, ignoring all the signs that they were getting into something that was way over their head & I did absolutely toning to stop it. One got captured, the other got beat up pretty bad & barely escaped with his life only to have to run back & get the others to form a rescue party. Even though the party went completely off the page right off the bat it the session up being far more entertaining than anything I could have planned.

Well-said, Prof. Gotta admit, I had never noticed the feet in Tarantino flicks.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Lol. Now you won't be able to unsee it.

Good one, lots of food for thought. Even if you're not a "That Guy" DM, its still good to pay attention to issues like those brought up in this video to make sure you dont pick up bad habits (even the best DMs can sometimes use a little advice to stay on track) Lemme tell ya about my worst "That Guy" . I have never seen a worst example of a control freak DM. Not only were the sins of Forced Storytelling and Railroading taken to an absurd extreme but.... awarded experience points were based entirely on the volume and quality of notes taken by players. Player binders were mandatory, and the DM kept them to - I s**t you not - grade them between sessions. Any character action that didnt support the DMs plot were dismissed with a "no, your character wouldn't do that because..." followed by a 15 minute World Building exposition. The players and our characters were nothing more than action figures/barbie dolls, and I dont think he really needed us there at all except to provide appropriate dialog for the story he wanted to write. I noped out of there....

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

As a teacher I grade notebooks based on volume. But not as a DM.

If "that guy" is the DM then leave the game. Write up your own campaign, or at least a quest, and game on. Life's too short to waste your time on jerks, bastards, or bullies.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Not bad advice.

@nowayjosedaniel

6 ай бұрын

Yes, but sometimes the jerk/bully is just an inexperienced DM who never learned that theyre are a jerk/bully and dont mean to be. Those types will correct themselves when someone is finally honest with them.

@TheRedkdawg

6 ай бұрын

I walked out on one because he made informs gathering insanely difficult. One session he did that while giving me a poop eating grin. I said nothing and just gathered up my stuff and left.

im glad the episode markers are returning

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

In the title? Yeah. It depends on if the title is too long. Duly noted.

This is the best video I have seen on being a DM to its core, it is so usefull, thank you a lot well explained!

This is great! That introductory role call had me laughing! Followed by great advice.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Glad you liked it! Please share with your friends!

My favorite part of gming is when the players think of something clever to resolve a plot point. I love it when a player says "What if we do X?" and my immediate thought is "I never considered that." Keeps me on my toes and allows players to have a role in moving the game forward.

Thank you for this video! I really love what you said at about 5:36 about the story revealing itself! I think it works that way in many different games I've played too! I'm totally going to quote you in a video. I really love how you worded that. Thanks for the great advice!

All good tips I grew to dislike DMs who saw their role as "storyteller" and the PCs as essentially actors in their play. But all the other pitfalls are real, too. I also dislike fudging but have had that happen much less often. But in a campaign I was in back in the day every one of us brought our character into the action when we DM'd. So it was including a DM's character into the adventure. Admittedly tho this campaign was when we were in middle-school & high school so it's an adolescent behavior. Not defending it it just was what it was. These campaigns were among the most fun I ever experienced but despite this not because of this. The enjoyment was for other reasons (and the fact that RPing was all fresh to us).

Right on the mark, excellent video.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

Some games make it easier to do this than others. The more rules heavy the game, the harder it seems to be. I"ve played a lot of game systems and Dungeon World and Blades in the Dark are by far the best (among those I've played) for allowing this style to truly flourish. The more sandboxy game you can run, the more player driven story/content you can have. The most heavily DMs rely on published adventures / adventure paths, the less so. DMs who can run an Adventure Path but add plenty of areas to allow creative sandbox elements at times are a rare breed. Those that can do everything via sandboxy and adlib effectively all game are even rarer. Dungeon World truly caters to the latter, which is what I am currently running for the past 6 months and has become my favorite all time. And It is the best sandbox experience I've ever been part of and the players TRULY drive the story, and the "Chaos" brought by them and the dice has been tremendous and so entertaining and YES - those are the games and encounters we remember most.

I often say my game prep is fleshing out the world so I know how it reacts to my PCs' shenanigans.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Good point.

This reminded me of a principle in writing: You can start with the craziest premise in the world, and that's okay. But if you introduce that same premise later in the story, it appears as deus-ex-machina. For RPGs this means you can set-up the environment, situations and NPCs as you like. You own that part. You can tell what happens next as a natural consequence of player choices and rolls. But any left-field crazy you introduce at that point will be met with suspicion.

RAAAGHHH thank you for being the light in the dark for actual TABLETOP roleplay games! We love you professor, please never stop making these videos 🙏

This is so magical thx so much for collaborating with us., storytelling lovers!

"I cannot control the players, I cannot control the dice, I don't control the story" is a motto that every GM should live by. It took me some years to learn it, expecially the dice part, but I feel much more free now that I truly live by it. Also, after having finished watching The Expanse for the first time (a bit late to the party, I know), I cannot help but view "that guy" as a completely different person from the one you describe 😅.

I've been a dedicated dm for 25 years now. I made several of these mistakes early on, but was lucky enough to learn to overcome myself and just let the dice fall where they may. When I build adventures now I give my npc's an alignment, a goal, and a personality. Unless they are meant for a combat scene, I don't even stat them out or equip them. I'll be bookmarking this video for prospective new dm's to watch. Love the content.

Great job promoting this video from the more "clika bayti" one. Which i also enjoyed by the way. This didn't even appear in my endless wall of random suggestions😂

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching them all!

wow, yesterday I gave advice to my young nephew who wants to become GM, this video summarizes almost every point I offered. Thanks Prof, ill be sending it to him for revision^^

Totally agree with all that, it was your comment about the first scene/encounter of the session that really hit home to me. I have always tried to rev the game up with some action right off the bat, but now I will focus more on the actual begining scene/encounter ......thank you.

Had a dm that took control of the player characters and told us what our characters were doing whether we like it or not.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. I think we've all met that guy.

@artblockonthefrontlawn6701

6 ай бұрын

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 it's truly appreciated, professor. Also my group and I are hyped to get your book.

@nowayjosedaniel

6 ай бұрын

YIKES! (then we later discover this was a TOR or CoC game where the character entered a madness insanity state). Jk.

@Xplora213

6 ай бұрын

I see this but I’m wary of criticising. Sometimes it would be ok to maintain verisimilitude and it would be wise to see. Your character is not an avatar. You have moments where you don’t respond as expected. But I’d be careful about it. Very careful.

@Vaasref

6 ай бұрын

​@@Xplora213 Agreed. The same way there are stakes in combat only if a character can die, sometimes there are stakes only if a character can lose their mind or the control of their body or something. Same as killing a PC, it's dangerous but sometimes worth it or even needed. Of course it's way better if the player play it themself, in my opinion there is a no better fun than to play my character being crazy or under drugs. But I have played my character for more than 15 years now, I built a good understanding of how she would react in any given situation.

Such wisdom! Such mantra! Such this guy!

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thank you.

@adammcclendon5258

6 ай бұрын

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 you always have great content, have you thought about doing an episode on post character death. How to bring new characters to a currently running game so it doesn't feel like they dropped out of the sky

I was in a group with a friend, he was DMing, and we had some new players. We signed on to run a simple, starter adventure - Lost Mines of Phandelver. He had DMed only once before, and myself and a more veteran DM encouraged him just to run it simply so he could get a grasp of the game. Halfway through the adventure he changed it to a Warhammer-themed game and introduced homebrew rules without asking any of us for our input for rule changes. He dictated our characters, and had weird food porn scenes "the goblins in your employ create immaculate meals that leave you drooling and hungry for more." He brought in a DMPC character that we all hated and got off to a bad foot on because of how stubborn the character was. He got us to roll for damn near everything - we spent 20 minutes on a PC rolling to do a painting for a sign. It was an absolutely terrible experience, and those are just the parts I remember. He's also "that guy" as a player, and always seeks to take the spotlight and be the hero, overshadows other players, and creates the edgy lonewolf characters. I'm at a breaking point where I'm going to stop playing with him.

I was not prepared for the foot montage

When I run a game, I try to make sure the players will have some way of overcoming the challenges posed by the scenario--and then I enjoy sitting back and watching as they invent totally unforeseen ways to approach it.

The best advice I ever followed was from this channel: Only prepare a session or two in advance. Some throwaway NPC is now very important because my players didn't kill him like I thought they would. After each session, I ask myself how I would expect the world to react to what the players did and make notes of what's going to happen next. I once used to make the mistake of trying to plan out a long campaign arc. I used to stupidly think I could predict every possible decision a player might make and have a contingency for it. Not by a longshot.

So much great information here!

I recently finished a years-long online game -- started during the Stay At Home Alone times with a VTT, which was the first [and hopefulyl last] time I'll DM over a VTT, and early on realized that rolling openly was a huge pain in the butt with the VTT so spent the wwhole game with all my rolls being secret. Normally I like rolling combat openly. Yesterday, we had out forst game of the new campaign, which is back to physical dice at a literal table with actual pens and paper. During the first combat of the campaign, some of the players seemed shocked that I just rolled the enemy attacks in the middle of the table, and it was interesting to see ho that one little thing changes the way they approach combat. They already seemed to get that I don't fudge die rolls to protect them anyway -- they had more than enough close-calls and panicked efforts to save their dying friend before it was too late and such last game to get any feeling of safety out of their heads -- but, it definitely seems to impact them more when they actually watch the dice roll the nat 20, or the nat 1, than when I had to just tell them it was a critical hit or miss from a behind-the-screen roll. It also made sure all of them were looking at the table, even during enemy turns, to see what the rolls turned out to be. I'm not sure they were even cognizant of how much more alert they were just because they could see the dice, but, it's such a massive difference from my side of the screen. Seriously -- if you're a GM and worried your players might not trust you to roll honestly in life-or-death cases, I can' reccoment enough just making the rolls in the open.

As a GM, I think I've had the most fun when the game surprises me in interesting ways and when the players pull something really cool (especially if it's not something that's on their character sheet). That's not to say my players and I haven't had fun with more on rails adventures; but it's hard to have those have as much impact.

My group asked me to increase the number of rolls that I called for, up to that point I'd been strictly calling for them when there was uncertainty. So I obliged, and took it as an opportunity to add in interest and bits of humour.

This really goes to the essence of what it is to be a great game master. Great advice!

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate your viewership.

I have have a bad habit of pulling punches, but no more. The dice roll for thee. Baha ha

Excellent video btw! Also, I'm always amazed how you do these videos with no swears.

In my dnd group we have a "kid" that had never DM'd before and wanted to try his hand so he ran Mad Mage. He was making us roll for everything. We were once sneaking oast a sleeping giant when he had us make stealth rolls. I rolled aomethimg like a 3. He awkwardly explained how we got past the giant and we could tell he hadn't planned on us failing this. So after the session I told him a well known secret. If you don't want to entertain failure, don't have the players roll the dice. The corollary to that is, if you have the players roll the dice, then have a fail scenario ready in your back pocket. My friend is now running a game and his DMing skills are amazing. The party is truly enjoying themselves and that's the whole point of the game.

What I think is, you are absolutely right about everything you said in this video.

Man I long for the day when I can say that my video with 37K views didn't perform. Love your stuff PDM, there's still a lot of us who are here for this kind of content. Don't stop making it.

Excellent video, more GMs need to hear things like this.

I'm not sure who coined the term "story tender" but I love it.

I'd been dming for many years before I figured out that the sessions where we had the most fun were the ones where I presented the players with a problem and then sat back and watched them solve it. My job was to ajudicate the game; to say no when something was clearly impossible, to say yes when something would obviously work, and to roll dice when the outcome was doubtful and the consequences of success or failure were interesting.

Great tips as always! Thanks for the vid! :D

Great advice and goodness those are some awkward anecdotes.

"...what my players bring to it is often more interesting than what I could have planned myself." This in a nutshell is what I find exciting about being a GM.

Thank you for another quality video. Anecdotal "Always do this, never do that" kind of advice makes me feel that there aren't enough Session Zeros going on out there. Run the game you want to see in the world and get buy-in from your players based on your Session Zero results. The rest is just noise.

I consider myself an experienced DM for my players, and love your videos because they always bring up something Ive never considered.

There are times when failure is not an option, but it feels like the right time to make a dice roll. I will tell them to roll for how long the activity will take, subtracting modifiers. I don't do it often, but the players enjoy it when I do throw it in.

I'm sure I was one of those GMs at times when I started, at least a few times. But, I have spent a fair amount of times watching actual plays and videos like yours, specifically watching the GMs, to pick up tricks on pacing, design, improvisation, and other skills. I'm not interested in trying to become Matt Mercer or Brennan Lee Mulligan, but there are some great lessons to be learned if you're just trying to add elements to your own toolbox. Your video on cutting shoe leather has really helped and this video has some good solid advice as well. Thanks for putting out material like this! I feel like I'm now running some of the best games of my life because of all of the good advice and examples I have out there.

Holy hells, I haven't heard "rock on" in such a long time. Time to bring that one back into use. Great suggestions btw 🤟🏻

Lava pits. Thanks for the idea!

I cannot wait until Saturday when my players will face a bad guy to rescue some hostages, unbeknownst to them, one of the hostages has been turned into a vampire. I don't know how it's going to unfold but I look forward to watching them write a story.

Thank you for this. Learning how to DM, and this all makes sense. But just because it makes sense, doesn't mean you always remember it! Love the mantra, and intend to use it next game. (Plus the other tips are great!)

Another really good episode Poffessor. I don't GM TTRPGs but I do GM a narrative tabletop war game campaign, and your advice has been indispensable. Keep up the good work.

Lots of good advice in this video, very much in line with my own style. I have been running games for decades at this point and I have 2 guidelines that I follow when it comes to conflict and danger in the game. 1- Always give the players a chance to see what is coming, either through dice rolls or narrative elements. This allows the players to have meaningful interactions in the game later 2- Describe the results of dice rolls in narrative form whenever possible, and allow the players to do the same for their characters, especially when they succeed on a die roll. This helps to immerse the players into the game and makes it less abstract and more story-driven These guidelines are just a couple of guidelines I follow when running games, but by far not the only ones. These are just critical for my style of mutual storytelling

This is a standout video in your catalog. If Professor Dungeon Master had a class like "DMing 101" the content of this video would be worth filling an entire session.

I don't completely agree that the DM is only a conflict creator. I believe the DM co-creates the story. They are one of those playing the game, after all. The world the PCs adventure in has many moving parts and that world (including the rooms!) and the NPCs react to the player choices...but in ways that the DM has to figure out, just as the players have to figure out how the PCs react to that world. The DM CAN be a storyteller...as long as they remember that the players are ALSO telling the story. It's a joint effort. I think it's just a difference in definition. As illustrated by Prof. DM then giving examples of things DMs have control over that are actually co-creating the story!

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

I agree.

gem after gem of wisdom here

One of the greatest skills a GM can learn is to Read The Room; pay attention to your players, listen and watch for when they're getting bored, frustrated, or distracted, and adjust your presentation accordingly. Likewise, if they're obviously excited, engaged, or emotionally reactive (in character), let that sh*t roll! And these moods can change, even in the course of the same session.

If the GM also writes the adventure beforehand, they _are_ a pure storyteller for that duration beforehand. When it reaches the table, there's a shift between drafting the story (=storytelling) and delivering it. It's like the distinction between a director and a screenwriter. We can do both, but it involves a change of hats. The emphasis on emergent storytelling can push GMs too much into a virtuoso or 'improv' mode, when it's also about the groundwork to prepare adventures that stand up to their collisions with players.

Thanks professor. I'm getting back into refereeing and I needed to hear this. ❤

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

You are very welcome

A video just about me? I'm honored.

@DUNGEONCRAFT1

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for having a good sense of humor.