D&D 5E Please suggest me some books about DM advices

[Scottius]

Here are my personal suggestions from my collection.

The Practical Guide to Becoming a Great GM by Guy Schlanders, which I see others have also suggested.

Tracy & Curtis Hickman's XDM X-treme Dungeon Mastery

How to Write Adventure Modules That Don't Suck from Goodman Games

Be Awesome at Dungeon Design from Raging Swan Press

I would also recommend the various DMGs from D&D, my personal favorite being the 1e AD&D DMG. And also the Dungeon Crawl Classics core book which has absolutely excellent advice and ideas for GMs.

 

[edosan]

Another vote for Worlds Without Number - it’s got some fantastic GM advice and tools

 

[robus]

Guy Sclander The practical guide to becoming a great DM

Thanks, I‘d forgotten this was happening.

 

[robus]

I found the Lazy DM guide quite unhelpful to a new DM, when compared to Game Angry for example.

 

[robus]

But still, no high level running advice. I don't know if I can explain what I'm looking for. It is something I can put togheter my D&D books that helps someone developing DM skills (togheter with experience, of course) good for all the 20 levels of the game.

Once things got to a high level with my group I just started winging it and gave up trying to “balance“ encounters. I threw everything I had at them (including a tarrasque at level 19) and while things were exciting I never felt that things were out of control. But I also wasn‘t ever trying to “beat” the players, I just wanted to thrill them.

 

[Alby87]

Once things got to a high level with my group I just started winging it and gave up trying to “balance“ encounters. I threw everything I had at them (including a tarrasque at level 19) and while things were exciting I never felt that things were out of control. But I also wasn‘t ever trying to “beat” the players, I just wanted to thrill them.

I know, I don't know to "beat" them. I explain: last session I tried to run a homemade adventure instead of the premade campaign I normally use. A scene I prepared was that they triggered a trap to fall in a room underneath the room they were, and start the dungeon. To me, the trap was the "hook", and the dungeon is where the adventure will run. I know, I've made that part a little "railroady", but for me was such a small part I tought it would be barely noticeable.

But what I forgot, is that the party barbarian has a Eagle Whistle, and when the Evil Guy of the scene was bragging (big mistake), the barbarian tried to fly. Really panicked, I called that room a dead magic zone. The session ended there, they were thrilled by the scene and wanting more for the next session but for me was a close call of a single PC flying straight to a boss I still hadn't mechanically fleshed out.

"If only I had checked the character sheets". This occured to me, so I tought "why this piece of advice wasn't on the DMG? Maybe it was, but I glossed over it, inadvertently". Experience for me, but then I asked myself (and then, all you) if there was a good book to have tips like this to be a better DM. Not the big streamer guys, just a little better than me. That would be enough.

I've taken from the local nerd library the 4e DMG books as suggested and I will check them when I will have some time. Checked the Monte Cook book, seems good from the sample. The Guide to Great GM, still from the sample, seems "dense", I have to check it from reviews and such (neither are cheap, understably, and neither are available physically to Italy if not using their stores, that tend to have expensive S&H and long deliver times).

Thanks for al you having replied me and all who will reply after me! Thank you

 

[kunadam]

The Practical Guide to Becoming a Great GM by Guy Schlanders is not really dense, it walks through a number of important issues in a system neutral manner. It is really about story telling, campaign/adventure/encounter design. It helps to get into the right mindset about running a game.

 

[LordEntrails]

Here's my list:
Items listed with a [FG] are Fantasy Grounds specific.

GM Blogs & Advice

• Sly Flourish - Though Mike focuses on D&D 5E, he has a lot of useful articles. Start with the section on General Dungeon Master Tips about a third of the way down the page.
• Game Mastery 101 - Jason writes what may be the most accessible and intellectual articles about gaming and GMing, you will find many hours of thought provoking reading within his site.
• The Angry GM - He cops an attitude and rambles a whole lot. But he also puts a lot of thought into the points and suggestions he makes. If you can find what interests you, it can be very interesting.
• Matt Mercer GM Tips (video) - From the popular DM of Geek & Sundry, videos from Matt to help you GM.
• How to Be a Great Game Master (video) - He holds your interest and has some interesting things to help you improve.
• Matt Colville's Running the Game (video) - Another D&D guy, but he has lots of popular videos that can help you get started if you have never DM'd before.
• DM Sage - Lots of thoughtful posts, they don't quiet resonate with me, but they might with you.
• DungeonMasterpiece (video) He has great advice on how to tie in random encounter tables, sink quest hooks into locations, develop factions, and interesting analysis on the geopolitics of various D&D settings
• How to DM for Young Players - Though he has other useful articles, this one is a must read if you are going to GM for pre-teens.
• D&D for Young Players and New Dungeon Masters - Geek Dad tells his story and observations of playing D&D with his own kids. Again, worth your time if this is your situation.
• Newbie DM - Targeted at the new DM, this blog has a selection of articles and DIY tutorials for various projects.
• Musing on Master GMs - Wonder what one experienced GM thinks it take to be a Master GM?
• Loot the Room - A website with a RPG Blog, Maps, Treasure Tables, Campaign Building Resources and more.
• Age of Ravens - A Blog with lots of Cyberpunk, L5R, Warhammer and other niche systems. Includes product reviews, game mastering advice and other topics of interest.
• Gnome Stew - A collection of blogs from numerous authors with over 3000 posts.
• Innroad Ministries - Lots of blog articles, but has a section for those to new to gaming as well.
• Your One Best Piece of GM/DM Advice - A post soliciting advice, it varies from great to not, but enough good suggestions to spend your time reading through it.
• [FG] Beginner GM org tips for running games in FG - A good write up and following discussion here on the forums.
• [FG] Session prep for running games in FG - Another good write up.

Resources

• D&D 5E Rules Answers by DM David - David has several blogs with answers and discussion on some of the most common rules questions for D&D 5E.
• [FG] Digital Dungeon Master - Dave's got a lot of stuff here; Twitch streams of his games, podcasts, downloads, and links to his favorite resources.
• DawnForged Cast (video) - Check out his playlists for Be a Better Game Master and Dungeon Master Basics
• Gnome Stew The Gaming Blog - With a handful of authors, you will get various perspectives on numerous RPG systems.
• Harbinger of Doom - Brandes has various articles on game theory and design.
• Dungeonsmaster D&D Resources - Lot's of various blogs on numerous GMing topics. It has a good selection of categories to filter on when you are just looking for something interesting to read or research.
• Heroes Wanted Online 5E Resources - A large list of resources for D&D 5E, though many can be useful with any system.
• The DM Lair (video) - a Series of 10-15 topic focused advice videos for GMs presented with humor.
• The Monsters Know What They’re Doing - This is a blog about tactics of various monsters (D&D 5E specific)
• Tools for Creating Gossip - A blog article with a good discussion of using rumors and gossip to shape a campaign, and some tools and examples.

Adventure Creation

• Node Based Scenario Design - The first post in a series that should be close to mandatory reading for anyone designing their own adventures.
• The Three Clue Rule - Another article from the Alexandrian, if you are going to make a mystery adventure, read this.
• [FG] Adventure Module Creation Best Practices - A comprehensive guide on FG module creation.
• [FG] Par5E - for creating FG content from text files
• [FG] FG 5E Parser - for creating FG content with a GUI
• [FG] Adventure-A-Week Module Creation Guide - A bit dated and mostly superseded by the AMC Best Practices above
• PC Agency - Gnomestew's take on this important topic for adventure design
• The Five Area Dungeon - This variant of the five room dungeon model is a good discourse for designing moderate length scenarios
• Matters of Fate - Running a Fate One-Shot (audio) - Specific suggestions for running a one-shot using the Fate Core system
• How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox - A 34 page in depth process for creating an open world setting for a fantasy RPG
• How to Make a Traveller Sandbox - A blog that outlines 15 steps for creating a Traveler campaign

Traps & Hazards

• Trick & Trap Agency Series - Though Hack & Slash has other good topics, this one is really good to help you spur ideas and get your creative juices flowing. (Link updated 1/3/21)
• The Right Use of Hazards - An excellent discussion on the use of hazards in a fantasy world.
• NPC Creation
  • Make Your NPC's Flawed -
  • Creating Better NPC's -
• 
  Running a Session
  
  • Division of Spoils - A discussion of how gaming groups can setup a fair and equitable method for distributing magic items
• 
  GM Tools
  
  • The Dungeon Dozen - a blog of useful random tables
  • Remove Background from Image -
• 
  Inspiration
  
  • Inspiration for Adventure - Swamp Witch - Dulux-Oz posts the lyrics for a song he finds inspirational for generating plot ideas
  • Old Radio World - American radio dramas, mysteries and adventure shows that can not only inspire adventure ideas, but also demonstrate narrative and voice skills.
• 
  
  Adventures Sources
  
  • Adventure a Week - A source for PDF and FG adventures
  • Dungeon Masters Guild - The official WotC outlet for community content for D&D 5E
  • ENsid5r - A digitial magazine for D&D 5E that has adventures, classes and rules expansions.
• 
  Maps
  
  • Cartographers Guild
  • Map Making Software - Summary
    • Campaign Cartographer 3+ - A powerful map making program with an extensive suite of add-ons.
    • Dungeon Fog - Online battlemap making for RPGs
  • Elven Tower Cartography
  • Dungeon Channel - They have other stuff too, but not much of it.
• 
  World Building
  • Medieval Demographics Made Easy
  • Make Your Own List of Kings - a creative and interesting article about creating a historical list of your kingdom's rulers.
  • World Anvil - an online world building manager for RPG campaigns
• 
  Books
  
  • Tome of Adventure Design
  • Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep
• 
  Other Useful Thoughts
  
  • [FG] A Guide to Recruiting for Fantasy Grounds
  • [FG] Virtual Scribe Reviews of products and extensions for Fantasy Grounds
  • How to Build a Successful Long-Term Gaming Group - Want to play more? Read this!
  • Massive DMs Toolkit [5E] - A reddit list of resources for D&D 5E

 

[Alby87]

Here's my list:
Items listed with a [FG] are Fantasy Grounds specific.

GM Blogs & Advice

• Sly Flourish - Though Mike focuses on D&D 5E, he has a lot of useful articles. Start with the section on General Dungeon Master Tips about a third of the way down the page.
• Game Mastery 101 - Jason writes what may be the most accessible and intellectual articles about gaming and GMing, you will find many hours of thought provoking reading within his site.
• The Angry GM - He cops an attitude and rambles a whole lot. But he also puts a lot of thought into the points and suggestions he makes. If you can find what interests you, it can be very interesting.
• Matt Mercer GM Tips (video) - From the popular DM of Geek & Sundry, videos from Matt to help you GM.
• How to Be a Great Game Master (video) - He holds your interest and has some interesting things to help you improve.
• Matt Colville's Running the Game (video) - Another D&D guy, but he has lots of popular videos that can help you get started if you have never DM'd before.
• DM Sage - Lots of thoughtful posts, they don't quiet resonate with me, but they might with you.
• DungeonMasterpiece (video) He has great advice on how to tie in random encounter tables, sink quest hooks into locations, develop factions, and interesting analysis on the geopolitics of various D&D settings
• How to DM for Young Players - Though he has other useful articles, this one is a must read if you are going to GM for pre-teens.
• D&D for Young Players and New Dungeon Masters - Geek Dad tells his story and observations of playing D&D with his own kids. Again, worth your time if this is your situation.
• Newbie DM - Targeted at the new DM, this blog has a selection of articles and DIY tutorials for various projects.
• Musing on Master GMs - Wonder what one experienced GM thinks it take to be a Master GM?
• Loot the Room - A website with a RPG Blog, Maps, Treasure Tables, Campaign Building Resources and more.
• Age of Ravens - A Blog with lots of Cyberpunk, L5R, Warhammer and other niche systems. Includes product reviews, game mastering advice and other topics of interest.
• Gnome Stew - A collection of blogs from numerous authors with over 3000 posts.
• Innroad Ministries - Lots of blog articles, but has a section for those to new to gaming as well.
• Your One Best Piece of GM/DM Advice - A post soliciting advice, it varies from great to not, but enough good suggestions to spend your time reading through it.
• [FG] Beginner GM org tips for running games in FG - A good write up and following discussion here on the forums.
• [FG] Session prep for running games in FG - Another good write up.

Resources

• D&D 5E Rules Answers by DM David - David has several blogs with answers and discussion on some of the most common rules questions for D&D 5E.
• [FG] Digital Dungeon Master - Dave's got a lot of stuff here; Twitch streams of his games, podcasts, downloads, and links to his favorite resources.
• DawnForged Cast (video) - Check out his playlists for Be a Better Game Master and Dungeon Master Basics
• Gnome Stew The Gaming Blog - With a handful of authors, you will get various perspectives on numerous RPG systems.
• Harbinger of Doom - Brandes has various articles on game theory and design.
• Dungeonsmaster D&D Resources - Lot's of various blogs on numerous GMing topics. It has a good selection of categories to filter on when you are just looking for something interesting to read or research.
• Heroes Wanted Online 5E Resources - A large list of resources for D&D 5E, though many can be useful with any system.
• The DM Lair (video) - a Series of 10-15 topic focused advice videos for GMs presented with humor.
• The Monsters Know What They’re Doing - This is a blog about tactics of various monsters (D&D 5E specific)
• Tools for Creating Gossip - A blog article with a good discussion of using rumors and gossip to shape a campaign, and some tools and examples.

Adventure Creation

• Node Based Scenario Design - The first post in a series that should be close to mandatory reading for anyone designing their own adventures.
• The Three Clue Rule - Another article from the Alexandrian, if you are going to make a mystery adventure, read this.
• [FG] Adventure Module Creation Best Practices - A comprehensive guide on FG module creation.
• [FG] Par5E - for creating FG content from text files
• [FG] FG 5E Parser - for creating FG content with a GUI
• [FG] Adventure-A-Week Module Creation Guide - A bit dated and mostly superseded by the AMC Best Practices above
• PC Agency - Gnomestew's take on this important topic for adventure design
• The Five Area Dungeon - This variant of the five room dungeon model is a good discourse for designing moderate length scenarios
• Matters of Fate - Running a Fate One-Shot (audio) - Specific suggestions for running a one-shot using the Fate Core system
• How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox - A 34 page in depth process for creating an open world setting for a fantasy RPG
• How to Make a Traveller Sandbox - A blog that outlines 15 steps for creating a Traveler campaign

Traps & Hazards

• Trick & Trap Agency Series - Though Hack & Slash has other good topics, this one is really good to help you spur ideas and get your creative juices flowing. (Link updated 1/3/21)
• The Right Use of Hazards - An excellent discussion on the use of hazards in a fantasy world.
• NPC Creation
  • Make Your NPC's Flawed -
  • Creating Better NPC's -
• 
  Running a Session
  • Division of Spoils - A discussion of how gaming groups can setup a fair and equitable method for distributing magic items
• 
  GM Tools
  • The Dungeon Dozen - a blog of useful random tables
  • Remove Background from Image -
• 
  Inspiration
  • Inspiration for Adventure - Swamp Witch - Dulux-Oz posts the lyrics for a song he finds inspirational for generating plot ideas
  • Old Radio World - American radio dramas, mysteries and adventure shows that can not only inspire adventure ideas, but also demonstrate narrative and voice skills.
• 
  
  Adventures Sources
  • Adventure a Week - A source for PDF and FG adventures
  • Dungeon Masters Guild - The official WotC outlet for community content for D&D 5E
  • ENsid5r - A digitial magazine for D&D 5E that has adventures, classes and rules expansions.
• 
  Maps
  • Cartographers Guild
  • Map Making Software - Summary
    • Campaign Cartographer 3+ - A powerful map making program with an extensive suite of add-ons.
    • Dungeon Fog - Online battlemap making for RPGs
  • Elven Tower Cartography
  • Dungeon Channel - They have other stuff too, but not much of it.
• 
  World Building
  • Medieval Demographics Made Easy
  • Make Your Own List of Kings - a creative and interesting article about creating a historical list of your kingdom's rulers.
  • World Anvil - an online world building manager for RPG campaigns
• 
  Books
  • Tome of Adventure Design
  • Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep
• 
  Other Useful Thoughts
  • [FG] A Guide to Recruiting for Fantasy Grounds
  • [FG] Virtual Scribe Reviews of products and extensions for Fantasy Grounds
  • How to Build a Successful Long-Term Gaming Group - Want to play more? Read this!
  • Massive DMs Toolkit [5E] - A reddit list of resources for D&D 5E

Wow... that's a super list!! Thank you!

 

[delericho]

The 2nd Edition "Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide" is great. And since it contains no mechanical stuff at all, it is effectively edition, and even game, neutral.

I'll also echo the recommendations for "Game Angry" and the "Lazy Dungeon Master" books.