Let's be honest guys. The only tip any new dungeon master needs is: "Read the Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master"

you deserve more views man. your content is crystal clear, good pace, nice voice to listen to and pleasant watching experience overall.

I wish your youtube would blow up like Matt Colville's, your content is excellent and you deserve it. You and Matt Colville made me get into DMing and I love it!

Prepare to improvise. I'm glad you stressed that enough for me to start doing it.

Then I start a new campaign I try to focus on something I want to do improve. In my next campaign I will focus on relinquishing control over the game.

Great advice, Mike. I feel that it's necessary (because I'm an internet jerk), to point out that these are all (all) encapsulated in the Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark GM rules (not advice, literal rules). Even if you think you'll never play those games they should be required reading for any GM. The reason I say this is because unlike DnD, both PbtA and FitD have mechanics that directly support the excellent advice. DnD is great, but there are a lot of potential pitalls when you do something like approach the game from "let the players take the story where it wants to go" when the mechanics require the GM to overprep their railroad in order to stay out of the book. I'd like to push back on the fiction-before-mechanics approach with DnD. DnD is mechanical by design. That's why you can have a fun campaign in which players never develop beyond their stat block. But most friction I've had at the table boiled down to somebody (including me) wanting the fiction to overrule the mechanics at point A, but then wanting mechanics to overrule the fiction at point B. Of course it comes down to what the table wants, and you can work it out, but that's a fundamental conflict in DnD that GMs need to work through.

A top 10 list without any hint of satire or sass? Great list, a sound aggregate.

Mike this is awesome once again thank you for all your advice and guidance. I just want to say you've taught me how to become a great DM. I now find myself teaching other DMs your ways or the ways of the grandmaster. 🙏😉

@SlyFlourish

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

The internet really advocates for this GMing style where you let the story unfold at the table. That sounds like a lot of fun and I'm glad if it works for other people, but I gotta say its never worked for me at my table. So I'd like to say a few words in praise of a different style. I used to worry a lot I was 'railroading' my players, but they seem happy with my games. I think my table is just very happy to follow along with the story I lay out for them rather than forge their own. After all, they don't know what's going to happen, even if I do. Also, having a good sense of what's going to happen eases my anxiety and gives me confidence to run. I never force things to happen as I plan. That would be railroading and that would be bad. And things never happen ~exactly~ as I plan them, but if you compared my pregame notes to a record of what actually happens during the session, it'd be like reading accounts of two next door universes. They're almost identical in the broadest strokes, but the details vary quite a bit. And the unplanned details are often the best bits. The idea of setting up situations is something that has worked for me. However, even when I don't know how the party will resolve the situation, I've got a pretty good idea what will happen in the session. Thanks for all your great work, Mike!

@Hallinwar

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, it really depends, and you are not abliged to follow anyone's opinion. For example, on Guy's channel, before he opted out from using the word "plot", he was speaking about story structure, arcs and types of adventures. Personally, I could never follow his advice (Matthew's too). And even if I see that on abstract level that I may run games with a similar kind of structure, I can't if I'm actively doing what Taking 20 said. But now I take a different approach. Professor Dungeon Craft, Dungeon Coach, Bob and others have a lot of different ideas, and with a grain of salt I decide what should I adapt for my games. In the end of the day, there is no one concrete guide on how to run the game. Damn, people still argue on the topic of "nat 20 should always be a success". Just listen to your heart, masters!

@JKevinCarrier

Жыл бұрын

This is my experience as well. Watching D&D streams online, you might get the impression that every player is a highly self-motivated go-getter who wants to take an active part in shaping the story and the world. But in my experience, most players don't want to work that hard; they just want to kick back and kill some orcs. The DM is expected to set up the scenario and keep it moving along.

@paysongough

Жыл бұрын

Another common bit of advise from the internet is to involve players in the worldbuilding. My players hate this vehemently. I think partly it feels like work to them and partly it destroys their immersion in the world. I wonder if they prefer to follow a story pre-ordained by the GM because it feels more real to them? Again, I've heard of involving players in the world building going very well, just not at my table.@@JKevinCarrier

Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it!

I do play very DnD-unlike games but your tipps and tricks always help me a lot. Thank you very much 👍

Great video, Mike! I was live-writing on my upcoming campaign document as you were talking. Such good advice and insights.

I really like the idea of "pools," or as I call them "grab bags." Since I started using them, I can't think of a time when I was ever at a loss for what my players did. I could just pull an encounter out to stall for time until I got back on track, or an NPC or item that ended up having a much bigger story than I ever imagined. So that's one of the best tools you can have.

I guess this fits here: I've been meaning to write to you for a while about how much I have been enjoying Forge of Foes. It has so much useful information for preparing and running encounters for a game that should have been somewhere in the DMG or the Monster Manual. Trying to come up with and approximately balance a new monster would make me break out in a sweat before, but it is a relatively simple task with the book, and that's just a small fraction of what the book helps with. I've bought a lot of RPG books in the last couple of years, but that has been one of the best-value purchases I've made. Excellent work.

@SlyFlourish

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks

Mike, after I've run a session I'm always a bit disappointed in myself and not convinced I'm a good DM because I always remember the things that didn't go that well. As you listed all these tips I've become more confident again I cannot be that bad because I follow most tips quite well. Only I have still difficulty with pacing, setting the scene/descriptions and run more fluent combat encounters, but at least I know now what I need to work on ;D

@SlyFlourish

11 ай бұрын

Don’t be hard on yourself. Talk to your players about their experiences and I bet you find they had a great time.

Hi, how do you manage the prep on dungeons? How much prep to puzzles or traps?

It may sound controversial, but from all of the videos on this topic from many gms on youtube I learned one thing: not all the tips are going to work out for me Turns out after a while you just find your way somehow. Now I watch these videos not for advice, but for ideas

@thomasbruinsma

Жыл бұрын

Very true. I often use a language learning model to expand on the ideas I already had, or of I'm stuck and need a little kick. But I don't think I've ever taken what those AI language models put out, I always pick and choose and change to my own liking.

@wingedhussar2909

Жыл бұрын

I agree. You have to know your group and what they want out of a game. You have to develop your own voice and playstyle.

Yes good tips I try to learn from every game and I always prep just for the next session

Thanks for all your advices Me Dheq, I bought three of your books and they are the best money I spent so far! If I may ask you a questioni, do you think it Is worth a Master's time to write separately secrets and clues from published adventures? Isn't easier to just know what they are and where to find them?

I swear I've seen this one before.

@SlyFlourish

Жыл бұрын

If your a patreon, it was previewed there.

Can't believe you didn't put your KZread forward for those awards :/ (Erm, and maybe sorry as a community for not putting you forward!).

@SlyFlourish

Жыл бұрын

I know. I forgot

Great advice, Mike. I feel that it's necessary (because I'm an internet jerk), to point out that these are all (all) encapsulated in the Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark GM rules (not advice, literal rules). Even if you think you'll never play those games they should be required reading for any GM. The reason I say this is because unlike DnD, both PbtA and FitD have mechanics that directly support the excellent advice. DnD is great, but there are a lot of potential pitalls when you do something like approach the game from "let the players take the story where it wants to go" when the mechanics require the GM to overprep their railroad in order to stay out of the book. I'd like to push back on the fiction-before-mechanics approach with DnD. DnD is mechanical by design. That's why you can have a fun campaign in which players never develop beyond their stat block. But most friction I've had at the table boiled down to somebody (including me) wanting the fiction to overrule the mechanics at point A, but then wanting mechanics to overrule the fiction at point B. Of course it comes down to what the table wants, and you can work it out, but that's a fundamental conflict in DnD that GMs need to work through.

Thanks