D&D General I'm a new dungeon master!! Helpppppp

[antcangas]

Hey all!

I am excited to say that in a few weeks, I am hosting my first one off adventure! I have played before, but never DMed. I am hoping some vets on here can give me some tips and tricks about a few things. Thanks in advance!

So this is the main concern I have... I want to see if anyone has any advice for the social interactions between the players and the world. Specifically, has anyone found a format that allows the group to communicate with NPCs, explore, and do basically anything besides combat while still including the whole group. I have found that often times when the group is just 'let loose' on the world, there is often one person who takes the lead and the other players don't chime in as much as they'd like. I feel like if there was more of a structured approach to the social aspect of dnd, then the group would enjoy themselves more. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Celebrim]

So, yes. What you describe is a big problem and there is not an easy solution. One of the reasons that combat encounters remain the main focus of most RPGs is that combat (and simulations of combat, such as sports) have an almost unique aspect of requiring teamwork in which each member of the team is making important and meaningful decisions. Just about nothing else has that attribute. There are challenges that require a single person to make important and meaningful decisions, and there are challenges that require teamwork but where most members of the team aren't making a meaningful or skillful decision. Combat is different and that's the real reason it remains a focus of play.

So, yeah, this is a problem. What you'll find though is that frameworks that try to make social encounters more combat like have the problem of making social encounters more abstract than simply role-playing out scenarios resulting in a less satisfying transcript of play and less immersion. They also tend to not solve the problem as most social problems don't have the same time pressure as combat, so you can fight them as a series of duels just fine.

What I do is a buffet approach to adventure design where I try to create a mix of challenges such that even when they aren't working together, they are at least dependent on each other and sharing spotlight. Each character hopefully has things that they do out of combat, whether break things, investigate things, talk to things, or navigate so that each character gets a chance to step forward and help the party and contribute to success.

There are things you can do to force everyone to do social interaction, but it requires more complex setups to the social challenge than I'm comfortable advising a novice DM to implement and run. I've seen moderately experienced DMs struggle to run that sort of complex challenge, and also you run the problem that not everyone is into it and to keep the whole team entertained the players themselves have to be good role-playing entertainers. So yeah, it can be done with some hard work and the payoffs can be real, but I think that would be learning to run before learning to walk.

This is a huge topic and we could spend a lot of time talking about how to do it well.

 

[Andvari]

You can construct scenarios where some classes’ skill set is more obviously useful than others.

Locked doors or chests in a situation where noise is a bad idea, is an obvious scenario for a rogue to shine.

A hidden library with esoteric books providing clues to the villain’s identity is an occasion for the wizard.

A meeting with a group of creatures wearing religious symbols. The group’s cleric recognises the symbol and has familiarity with the religion’s tenets and customs. You could feed the cleric’s player with such information in advance, so it is naturally brought up by the player when they recognize the symbol.

 

[BookTenTiger]

When the group is interacting with an NPC I will prompt different characters into responding, just as if it were a group conversation.

Bard: Tavernkeeper, have you heard of a local group of bandits called the Fox Eye Gang?

DM: The tavernkeeper nods, but says, "Could be, but I don't give out drinks or information for free." Barbarian, you are holding the group's gold. Are you willing to pay him?

Barbarian: Gormak grunts and stands tall, staring down at the tavernkeeper.

DM: Oo, that sounds like an Intimidation check...

Barbarian: 15

DM: The tavernkeeper gulps. "Um, it looks like you've had a long journey. I can give you a little info for free. I've heard the Fox Eye Gang has a hideout in the Hagwood."

Ranger, you've traveled the region. You know the Hagwood is a dangerous forest full of goblins, spiders, and witches. How do you respond to hearing about this?

Ranger: "How do the bandits survive in such a dangerous area?"

DM: The tavernkeeper shakes his head. "I heard they made a deal with a Nighthag... But if I tell you any more they'll burn down my bar."

Bard, he looks honestly scared. This is your chance to play into that, or calm him.

Bard: Oh, I bet I can inspire him! "You can't run a rowdy tavern like this and be a coward! Pull yourself together, strike one against the bandits, and tell us what you know about this Nighthag!"

DM: Make a Persuasion check.

Bard: 18!

DM: The tavernkeeper nods. "You're right, I can't let these creeps scare me into silence... Sit down, have a drink, and I'll tell you all about it..."



...


It takes some practice, but I've found it's really engaged the whole group rather than just leaving it up to someone with high Charisma.

 

[aco175]

@antcangas welcome to the boards, hope you stay a while. Everyone here likes to help, but tiptoe around gnomes, bards, and gnome bards.

To answer your question, one thing I try to do is know what checks the PCs are good and ask for those in situations that let that PC shine for a bit. Maybe someone has animal something or another has Athletics. Ask for a check or even give them advantage if trained in it.

 

[toucanbuzz]

...format that allows the group to communicate with NPCs, explore, and do basically anything besides combat while still including the whole group...

I do something similar to what @BookTenTiger suggests. Everyone should have a chance to be in the spotlight. Not everyone takes the reins of the conversation, however, and some expect the DM to move the spotlight.

So, spotlight the character for a feature they have and use that as an excuse to get a particular player to talk.

If the Human Bard with 18 Charisma says "I'll talk to the Orcs, I have a great persuasion" (and by the way, no one should talk like that in game because people don't talk like that!), and you know the Bard has been in the spotlight a lot today, have the Orc shake his head no. "We will only speak to your Mok Nar. Only his kind has earned that right." You're making up everything as you go, so the Mok Nar happens to be [insert PC feature from player who hasn't been in the spotlight lately.]

This might be the dwarf because the orcs remember a great battle where dwarves were so fierce even the orcs were impressed, or a Druid because they respect the land, or a Wizard because the shaman commands great power in their culture.

You can apply this to mundane encounters. The little street urchin runs up to the warrior. "Is that a real axe? You use it in battle? I can shine it for you!" And, maybe this street urchin has a hook or a tip, or perhaps its just something to bring your game world more color and more to life.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

The more open you are to improvising—meaning the details of a prepped encounter or the entire adventure—the less you need to worry about a scripted, super-planned-out approach to spotlighting each and every PC. That and trying to make sure that every situation isn't inevitably leading to a fight. Combat can be a means to an end (fighting through a crowd to get somewhere in a hurry, rather than just fighting the crowd till they're all dead) or a fail condition, or even extremely dangerous, not overly, painstakingly balanced like 5e leans toward. Basically the more freewheeling and combat-optional (or even combat-averse) the situations you prep, with high stakes wherever possible, not neutral/no-stakes scene after scene, the less need there is to worry about keeping players engaged and their PCs sharing the spotlight.

 

[J-H]

Congrats!
1) Most mistakes you make will never be noticed by the players. Forgot a monster ability? Didn't add up HP right? Forgot to insert an NPC you had prepped? They won't know.

2) They're happy to be there and playing and probably aren't trying to derail things on purpose.

As far as non-combat interactions go, just keep general track of who's talking. Pick out the silent ones and encourage them with a "What does your character think/do/say" as appropriate. Note some people aren't as comfortable with this and may stay quiet on purpose... you'll figure it out if they repeatedly don't run with the prompts. New players may also need a reminder like ("Your character has the sage background. What is he interested in seeing in the wizard's tower?").

 

[Celebrim]

When the group is interacting with an NPC I will prompt different characters into responding, just as if it were a group conversation.

Bard: Tavernkeeper, have you heard of a local group of bandits called the Fox Eye Gang?...

The good part of this is that it's always a good idea to try to coax players out of their shells and encourage them to RP in character. That's definitely worth doing.

But I think your example is going to require players that consent to this play style both in the short and long term. In the short term, if you have experienced players they may rebel against railroading techniques like you are using where you are giving them 'choose your own adventure' type prompts. Very often you are going to get evasive behavior from players where they are going to refuse 'yes/no' type solutions. Players are frequently going to be suspicious of anything that takes away their agency even the tiniest bit.

In the long run, even if the players initially have buy in to this technique, I can see that they may start rebelling against it if one of these interactions goes badly wrong because of dice rolls. You've done the happy path on this where everyone has rolled well, but if you have enough of these sessions where things go badly as a result of leaning into your prompts then you will have incentivized the players to try to evade this behavior. Afterall, there is nothing really preventing Gormok from deferring to the Bard right from the start, and I'd be surprised if a group didn't object in principle to Gormok's player deciding either to intimidate an NPC (something that can go spectacularly bad) or spend party gold without consensus. If Gormok is trusted enough to hold the party gold, it's probably because he's trusted enough not to spend it without a party vote. If I'm Gormok, I spend my own gold to buy a drink, and I evade your suggestions:

"Me: Gormok pulls one of his own coins out of his pocket and says, "Gormok just thirsty. Ale for my coin, and keep it coming. Playing with words make Gormok more thirsty." I point a meaty thumb at the Bard and says, "Pretty boy likes words. Not me."

I'm involved, but as a player I'm not going to accept that I have role in this challenge. The party has a face; he does the talking on the party's behalf. It's possible the party even has a leader or defacto leader. I'm not going to try to intimidate anyone until the face or leader in the group suggests that as a strategy.

 

[Rune]

As long as you know what your NPCs’ agendas, motives, and methods are, you’ve got most of the tools you’ve got most of the tools you’re going to need to navigate through any social scene unscripted.

You don’t really need to worry too much about guiding the players through it. Let the conversations play out naturally unless they stall. You can prompt players along the way, either with out-of-character questions, or directly from the NPCs. Maybe the NPC thinks they can take advantage of a less vocal PC. Or maybe they just take a liking to one of them. Motives and methods.

If you’re worried about getting players involved in non-interactive scenes like mission-planning, you still can subtly influence things by pointing out potential logistical challenges that might need to be overcome or just outright ask questions along the way. The goal here is to provide room for the more passive players to add input to the process. Of course, all that assumes the players are even willing to discuss such things in front of you. Some players are paranoid about that.

Which reminds me of another thing: your job will be easier if they don’t have good reason to be paranoid about strategizing in front of you. You can build your tension through NPC machinations and escalating situations. Don’t abuse information that the NPCs wouldn’t have.

Finally, establish clear stakes early and build on them. Many times, when players seem to be aimless and the game stalls out it’s because stakes aren’t clear or compelling enough. If they are clear and compelling (and if your NPCs act on their agendas), you should be able to manage the pace of the session without much interference at all.

Above all, don’t worry about being perfect. Trial and error is an important part of finding your voice as a DM. If something you try doesn’t work for this particular group, just take note of it and move on.