10 Tips to Being a Better Dungeon Master – A Dungeons and Dragons Guide

SomthinClever · May 16, 2019

Hey, aco! It's nice to see you again. Hope things are well. I like your idea. I wouldn't mind trying that in 5e. Anywho, always feel free to message me if you have any feedback or story ideas you would like to send my way. Have a good one!

Shiroiken · May 16, 2019

Critical effects should be balanced against each other. If there's a critical hit, there should be a critical miss. Critical Hits are easy, both mechanically and how to describe them. However, designing a universal penalty that applies to every form of attack (from melee to thrown, to ammunition or even spells) is nigh impossible if it's to be realistic. The best one that I've found is that a Critical Miss causes the next attack made against you before the start of your next turn to have advantage. It's not great, but it balances things out, and it represents your over-commitment to the failed attack, leaving you open.

Oddly, it would be easier to create a Minimal Hit to be the opposite of a Critical Hit, where you exactly hit the needed AC. The attack deals half the damage from the dice, but the modifier remains the same (basically the opposite of a critical hit).

pogre · May 16, 2019

Solid work here are my critiques:

1. I always flinch a bit when D.M.'s "tell their story" in a game. The phrasing suggests a railroad plot as opposed to structured challenges that the players create the narrative through. It is a nitpik, but as a guy who works with a lot of young DMs I will tell you writing a novel and inserting the PCs is a tendency I have to work against for these young folks.

2. Hate critical fumbles. Robs the PCs of agency.

3 - 5. Good suggestions - perhaps use the term "session zero".

6. Lots of opinions on how to do recaps, but overall I think they are a good idea.

7. Not a fan of pre-rolls - that's definitely a personal preference and not a real critique.

8. My default would be make a ruling and move on - with rules issues looked up outside the game.

9. Good suggestions.

10. Good resources.

SomthinClever · May 16, 2019

avensis said:
Hi, I find your guide interesting thank you for sharing your work

Hey, avensis! Awh, thank you! I'm glad you find them worth your time. I'll definitely be back once I've come up with a new guide topic to cook up. Always feel free to message me if you ever have any feedback or guide ideas you would like to see made.

Thank you again for your support and have a great day.

SomthinClever · May 16, 2019

pogre said:
Solid work here are my critiques:

1. I always flinch a bit when D.M.'s "tell their story" in a game. The phrasing suggests a railroad plot as opposed to structured challenges that the players create the narrative through. It is a nitpik, but as a guy who works with a lot of young DMs I will tell you writing a novel and inserting the PCs is a tendency I have to work against for these young folks.

2. Hate critical fumbles. Robs the PCs of agency.

3 - 5. Good suggestions - perhaps use the term "session zero".

6. Lots of opinions on how to do recaps, but overall I think they are a good idea.

7. Not a fan of pre-rolls - that's definitely a personal preference and not a real critique.

8. My default would be make a ruling and move on - with rules issues looked up outside the game.

9. Good suggestions.

10. Good resources.

Hey, Pogre! Thank you so much for taking the time to shoot me some feedback. It means a lot to me. And, you make some great points.

I'll keep these in mind as I keep making articles. Have a nice day!

jasper · May 16, 2019

1. But don’t fall in love with your story. You are playing a game not writing a novel.
2. BEEP BEEP BEEP on this. Maybe just maybe if you confirm the Nat 1 and another Nat 1 comes up.
3. My group generally adds 1 to number of members for the kitty. Kitty was used for various things helping pay for a raise dead, general bribes, and I forget.
4. And write those house rules down. And give notice when you drop them due them not working. It is better to just drop a house rule than keep trying to fix it. See * for my old 3.5 rules
5. Talk is good. Honest feedback is better.
6. Good.
7. Not a fan but if helps you out. See 7 A. Below.
8. Truth.
9. What you talking about Willis. Organized Notes. Is this a fantasy?
10. Add your players as a resource.

**
House rules 3.5
0. Core rule books only.
1. On a fail saving throw of 1 all items make a save and all can be lost.
2. Squeeze is removed.
3. Polearms under 8 feet in length can be used in close quarters without penalty.
4. Two minute time limit looking up rules. A judgment will then be made and it stands for rest of night. Major errors will be corrected.
5. Sometimes the monsters will break the rules.

Table rules
1. Once a Standard Operating Procedure is established; the players will follow it, even if means stepping on the landmine.
2. The treasure keeper’s pc does not necessary carry the loot.
3. Death comes easy so do raising.

***
7A. What I have done for weather, and wandering monsters; is have the players roll ahead of time. So this wandering monster of 4 Apes and Bard is brought to you by Pogre.

SomthinClever · May 17, 2019

jasper said:
1. But don’t fall in love with your story. You are playing a game not writing a novel.
2. BEEP BEEP BEEP on this. Maybe just maybe if you confirm the Nat 1 and another Nat 1 comes up.
3. My group generally adds 1 to number of members for the kitty. Kitty was used for various things helping pay for a raise dead, general bribes, and I forget.
4. And write those house rules down. And give notice when you drop them due them not working. It is better to just drop a house rule than keep trying to fix it. See * for my old 3.5 rules
5. Talk is good. Honest feedback is better.
6. Good.
7. Not a fan but if helps you out. See 7 A. Below.
8. Truth.
9. What you talking about Willis. Organized Notes. Is this a fantasy?
10. Add your players as a resource.

**
House rules 3.5
0. Core rule books only.
1. On a fail saving throw of 1 all items make a save and all can be lost.
2. Squeeze is removed.
3. Polearms under 8 feet in length can be used in close quarters without penalty.
4. Two minute time limit looking up rules. A judgment will then be made and it stands for rest of night. Major errors will be corrected.
5. Sometimes the monsters will break the rules.

Table rules
1. Once a Standard Operating Procedure is established; the players will follow it, even if means stepping on the landmine.
2. The treasure keeper’s pc does not necessary carry the loot.
3. Death comes easy so do raising.

***
7A. What I have done for weather, and wandering monsters; is have the players roll ahead of time. So this wandering monster of 4 Apes and Bard is brought to you by Pogre.

Hey, Jasper! Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! I honestly agree with pretty much everything you said, lol. I'll keep these comments close as I continue to write more guides.

Thank you again for your thoughts and feel free to shoot me a message if you have any D&D guide ideas you would like to see made in the future. I'm always open to ideas.

Have a great day!

Arvok · May 17, 2019

I LOVE playing with critical misses. Most players seem to enjoy the benefits of a critical hit when they roll well, so what's the justification for not having an ill effect when they roll poorly? This is a two-way street, by the way. I've had players get lucky when the bad guy rolls a fumble at a critical point in the battle that turns the tide in their favor.

As for spell casters, any spell requiring an attack roll opens them up to fumbles. Also, I usually play it so that anyone rolling a natural 1 on a saving throw suffers more than if he had just rolled a normal miss. This can be a big benefit too spellcasters.

IMO, if the rolling of dice is one of the exciting aspects of combat and you expect special results at one end of the spectrum, you need to have special results at the other end.

Lanefan · May 17, 2019

Combine 9 and 6 into this: keep a game log, preferably online or somewhere where players can access it during the week. Tell them that one of their duties as a player is to read the log between sessions. (obviously you keep your own notes as DM as well for thigns that aren't (yet) public knowledge).

As for fumbles - love 'em. But not on every natural 1, nor should crits happen on every natural 20 - far too frequent in both cases. Instead, use some kind of confirm roll (we use 1/d6 for a fumble, for example) to reduce the frequency.

For 3-4-5 you might want to tweak your wording a bit - talking about "the party" implies things happening with the PCs, where your advice involves talking to the players. Bi-ig difference.

Also, the idea of a "party contract" doesn't work well if the campaign intends to have player turnover, unless the group wants to revisit the discussion (which IME can quickly become a roaring argument) every time a new player joins. Without this, a new player always feels a bit second-class in that they didn't get the same input into the rules as did the originals.

Easier just to say this: "In-character, anything goes. As soon as it becomes an out-of-character problem between real players as opposed to imaginary characters, however, it'll get smacked down and players will be asked to leave. Treasury division is up to you, as long as the end result is more or less fair to all."

Harzel · May 17, 2019

Arvok said:
I LOVE playing with critical misses. Most players seem to enjoy the benefits of a critical hit when they roll well, so what's the justification for not having an ill effect when they roll poorly?

One doesn't need any more justification for not having crit fails than for having them. This is a matter of taste/aesthetics, not logic, law, or morality.