A
amerigoV
Guest
If you want to improve your skills in this area, run a horror adventure. It really forces you to think about description, scene setting, and building suspense.
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One Thing You Can Do to Become a Better DM
- Thread starter TarionzCousin
- Start date
If you want to improve your skills in this area, run a horror adventure. It really forces you to think about description, scene setting, and building suspense.
Gilladian
Adventurer
When your players describe things, welcome it. Let them say what they're wearing. Let them describe how good the bright and sunny morning makes them feel (if the morning IS bright and sunny!).
I love it when my PCs stomp in a puddle and send mud showers at the insulting bard after I've told them it is another rainy day in Ptolus. I love it when they tell me they've decided to put an "elevator" in their newly remodeled house so the brownies can get from basement to attic while still remaining hidden. And then they give me complete floorplans!
Making the players feel that their characters LIVE in the world makes a tremendous difference to how deep the world feels.
I love it when my PCs stomp in a puddle and send mud showers at the insulting bard after I've told them it is another rainy day in Ptolus. I love it when they tell me they've decided to put an "elevator" in their newly remodeled house so the brownies can get from basement to attic while still remaining hidden. And then they give me complete floorplans!
Making the players feel that their characters LIVE in the world makes a tremendous difference to how deep the world feels.
Pbartender
First Post
Get a DM throne... Preferably one upholstered in orange velvet.
Really great stuff here!
I'm fairly new to DMing, but one thing I find works well, and has been sort of mentioned above, is accents. Take an hour, go onto YouTube, and learn how to speak in a French, Russian, Czech, Italian, or any other accent. It will help with characterization, and even if you completely botch the accent, it's not suppose to actually be an accent specific to a region of the real world anyways. The hooks the players can inadvertently throw into this are great. If a villain speaks in one type of accent, and then another NPC they meet speaks in that same accent, there is an instant distrust there, and they are wary of the NPC without much reason other than the way he speaks.
I also use Google Translate to translate different texts into various languages. For example, maybe halfling is greek, and elvan is spanish. It doesn't matter if you botch this either. In fact, it's probably better you botch it so it sounds more alien.
I'm fairly new to DMing, but one thing I find works well, and has been sort of mentioned above, is accents. Take an hour, go onto YouTube, and learn how to speak in a French, Russian, Czech, Italian, or any other accent. It will help with characterization, and even if you completely botch the accent, it's not suppose to actually be an accent specific to a region of the real world anyways. The hooks the players can inadvertently throw into this are great. If a villain speaks in one type of accent, and then another NPC they meet speaks in that same accent, there is an instant distrust there, and they are wary of the NPC without much reason other than the way he speaks.
I also use Google Translate to translate different texts into various languages. For example, maybe halfling is greek, and elvan is spanish. It doesn't matter if you botch this either. In fact, it's probably better you botch it so it sounds more alien.
Pbartender
First Post
On a similar note, I've found that, instead of generic accents, I associate each of my important NPCs with an actor or a character from the movies. For example,
I've got a creepy, but not exactly evil necromancer that PCs buy all their magic stuff from, because he got the widest variety and the best prices... I always think of Peter Lorre, when he makes an appearance.
I've got a scrawny, crotchety old man who's a wandering back woods prospector type named Crazy Zeke that the PCs often use as a guide for getting around in the wilderness. He's played by Burgess Meredith.
And then there's the gypsy fortune teller, who I once described as, "Ernest Borgnine, if Ernest Borgnine was a woman and spoke with the voice of Natasha Fatale."
It really helps me naturally fall into the mannerisms of the character, and makes them truly memorable to the players.
What I would like to get better at is NPC and villain characterizations. We just got through a long running 3.5 campaign that ended in January of this year, and while many of the villains were very challenging in combat encounters (I became very good at creating very challenging encounters over 2.5 years), I was never good at making them really come alive at the table:
Reality:
Captured PC: "You expect me to talk?"
NewJeffCT: He grunts & swings his spiked chain at you...
What I would like to be as DM:
Captured PC: "You expect me to talk?"
NewJeffCT: "No, Serevin, I expect you to die!" He then motions to the two large men flanking him, and then proceed to swing spiked chains at your restrained body.
And, not just for villains, I think having some colorful NPCs really helps to bring a gaming world alive - the fast talking barkeep or the sweaty & shifty merchant, or the precocious daughter of then stern cleric. Imagine Star Wars without Han Solo & Chewbacca and the droids?
Reality:
Captured PC: "You expect me to talk?"
NewJeffCT: He grunts & swings his spiked chain at you...
What I would like to be as DM:
Captured PC: "You expect me to talk?"
NewJeffCT: "No, Serevin, I expect you to die!" He then motions to the two large men flanking him, and then proceed to swing spiked chains at your restrained body.
And, not just for villains, I think having some colorful NPCs really helps to bring a gaming world alive - the fast talking barkeep or the sweaty & shifty merchant, or the precocious daughter of then stern cleric. Imagine Star Wars without Han Solo & Chewbacca and the droids?
cmrscorpio
Explorer
Really great stuff here!
I'm fairly new to DMing, but one thing I find works well, and has been sort of mentioned above, is accents. Take an hour, go onto YouTube, and learn how to speak in a French, Russian, Czech, Italian, or any other accent. It will help with characterization, and even if you completely botch the accent, it's not suppose to actually be an accent specific to a region of the real world anyways. The hooks the players can inadvertently throw into this are great. If a villain speaks in one type of accent, and then another NPC they meet speaks in that same accent, there is an instant distrust there, and they are wary of the NPC without much reason other than the way he speaks.
I also use Google Translate to translate different texts into various languages. For example, maybe halfling is greek, and elvan is spanish. It doesn't matter if you botch this either. In fact, it's probably better you botch it so it sounds more alien.
Speech Accent Archive is a great resource for this.
My one piece of advice:
When possible, whenever the players are talking out of character about what they think is going on, take notes and implement something that they say into the plot. The players feel really good when they are able to "figure out" part of what is going on.
Pbartender
First Post
Another tip for accents and funny voices...
Don't do them all the time. Unless you do impressions for a living, it can get really hard to keep up an accent for any length of time. After a while, the accent drifts, it gets tiresome to listen to, and it loses it's impact with the players.
Instead, save it for those times when you want to emphasize a point or for when you really want to drive home the personality of the NPC you're portraying.
It's for a nice middle ground for those people who aren't entirely comfortable or confident with thick role playing, but want to get into it just a little more.
Don't do them all the time. Unless you do impressions for a living, it can get really hard to keep up an accent for any length of time. After a while, the accent drifts, it gets tiresome to listen to, and it loses it's impact with the players.
Instead, save it for those times when you want to emphasize a point or for when you really want to drive home the personality of the NPC you're portraying.
It's for a nice middle ground for those people who aren't entirely comfortable or confident with thick role playing, but want to get into it just a little more.
TarionzCousin
Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far: Props.
Glass gems are available at craft stores for $3-$5 right now. Use them for special magic items or plot items, like a Gem of Seeing. It's cool when the player pulls out the gem at the table and holds it to his eye to examine something.
Letter openers make good daggers, or even weird swords--I recommend not using real swords at the gaming table.
Hats can be very helpful. When one character put on his hat of disguise, so did the player--and everyone at the table knew he was in disguise.
Costume Jewelry can be rings, necklaces, a tiara--believe me, it was totally worth the $10 I spent on the fake tiara to see a 300 pound man wear it as his magic circlet.
Glass gems are available at craft stores for $3-$5 right now. Use them for special magic items or plot items, like a Gem of Seeing. It's cool when the player pulls out the gem at the table and holds it to his eye to examine something.
Letter openers make good daggers, or even weird swords--I recommend not using real swords at the gaming table.
Hats can be very helpful. When one character put on his hat of disguise, so did the player--and everyone at the table knew he was in disguise.
Costume Jewelry can be rings, necklaces, a tiara--believe me, it was totally worth the $10 I spent on the fake tiara to see a 300 pound man wear it as his magic circlet.
KidSnide
Adventurer
Well, there are many "one things" you can do to become a better GM, but my favorite is something I call "Pants".
The general idea is that players should be able to focus on what's going on and not have to detail everything their characters do. To let that happen, GMs should give players credit for things their characters would do as a matter of course, even if the player didn't mention it at the table.
The canonical example of this is putting on pants in the morning. You wouldn't run a game where NPCs pointed and laughed at a PC because the player failed to say "My character starts the day by putting on pants." Similarly, you shouldn't declare that a loyal and disciplined character didn't file a regular report to his superiors just because the PCs left town without the loyal and disciplined character's player mentioning that he told his boss where the PCs were going. Likewise, characters get should credit for filling canteens, purchasing adequate provisions and acquiring gear and protective clothing appropriate for reasonably anticipated environments.
It's just one aspect of "don't sweat the irrelevant details," but it's a practice my players mention as particularly welcome.
-KS
The general idea is that players should be able to focus on what's going on and not have to detail everything their characters do. To let that happen, GMs should give players credit for things their characters would do as a matter of course, even if the player didn't mention it at the table.
The canonical example of this is putting on pants in the morning. You wouldn't run a game where NPCs pointed and laughed at a PC because the player failed to say "My character starts the day by putting on pants." Similarly, you shouldn't declare that a loyal and disciplined character didn't file a regular report to his superiors just because the PCs left town without the loyal and disciplined character's player mentioning that he told his boss where the PCs were going. Likewise, characters get should credit for filling canteens, purchasing adequate provisions and acquiring gear and protective clothing appropriate for reasonably anticipated environments.
It's just one aspect of "don't sweat the irrelevant details," but it's a practice my players mention as particularly welcome.
-KS
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