Manbearcat
Legend
Refer to themselves as “Pro DM.”
D&D 5E 9 Things "Pro" DMs Do That You shouldn't
INTIMIDAT3R
Villager
I was watching a D&D session last week for about 45 minutes.
I've been out if the game a LONG LONG time, but I know boredom and droning on when I hear it and see it.
The DM was having a discussion with one party member at the smith's shop in town about getting a certain weapon made/fixed/whatever.
To honest, I lost track of what the heck the guy wanted.
This went on and on and on the whole time I was watching.
The other 5 party members were shaking their heads and laying them on the table with the look on their faces... "Shut up already and let's play".
You CAN NOT ignore the rest of the group when playing a role and wasting more than a few minutes doing it.
Keep everyone engaged, unless of course, you have THAT ONE party member who is unconscious from injuries sustained in combat due to their own stupidity by attacking first without assessing the situation and endangering the whole party.
Then let THAT party member be engaged by a donkey that tea bags them.
I've been out if the game a LONG LONG time, but I know boredom and droning on when I hear it and see it.
The DM was having a discussion with one party member at the smith's shop in town about getting a certain weapon made/fixed/whatever.
To honest, I lost track of what the heck the guy wanted.
This went on and on and on the whole time I was watching.
The other 5 party members were shaking their heads and laying them on the table with the look on their faces... "Shut up already and let's play".
You CAN NOT ignore the rest of the group when playing a role and wasting more than a few minutes doing it.
Keep everyone engaged, unless of course, you have THAT ONE party member who is unconscious from injuries sustained in combat due to their own stupidity by attacking first without assessing the situation and endangering the whole party.
Then let THAT party member be engaged by a donkey that tea bags them.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
No one related to this thread does that, of course.
payn
He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...
I only have pro tips; totally different.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
I think 3 and 6 are the ones that annoy me the most. I was showing my wife the video just now, and had to stop where we got to the part talking about introducing characters.
Yes, waiting 3 sessions when you haven't agreed to this and were not actually down for it sucks.
So don't do stuff that affects player agency and participation without player consent.
Half of this advice would be more useful and less deleterious to the game of a narrative focused group, if it was replaced with "Use your words, and respect the agency and consent of the other people at the table."
Better advice would be, if you are going to wait to introduce a PC, give the player a way to engage with the game in the meantime, and if the player is unhappy with that idea, figure it the heck out and get them playing in a way that works for them, even if it weirds the story a bit.
Yes, waiting 3 sessions when you haven't agreed to this and were not actually down for it sucks.
So don't do stuff that affects player agency and participation without player consent.
Half of this advice would be more useful and less deleterious to the game of a narrative focused group, if it was replaced with "Use your words, and respect the agency and consent of the other people at the table."
Better advice would be, if you are going to wait to introduce a PC, give the player a way to engage with the game in the meantime, and if the player is unhappy with that idea, figure it the heck out and get them playing in a way that works for them, even if it weirds the story a bit.
Keep in mind,
6 was, very likely, in direct response to Critical Role episode 3 and Travis's initial character. Because the youtuber wanted to keep it topical. So he was probably more emphatic than necessary.
And yes, much of the video could have been replaced with "talk to your group, figure out what they like - do that. Don't do what they don't like." and "keep it moving..."
But also, new players don't necessarily know what they like and don't like, so there - you have to be careful.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Almost certainly, and I disagree strongly that what they did there would be bad in a home game.
To me, the video is too prescriptive to even be careful.
What I commented on the video (ALL THINGS SERVE THE ALGORYTHM) was basically that his advice is better for action oriented games, where the focus is on playing a game more than telling a story together. For other groups, especially those whose main goal is to tell a collaborative story with their OCs, a lot of it is downright bad advice.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
CreamCloud0
One day, I hope to actually play DnD.
Do people think there’s anything else that’s not on this list that should be? The things ‘pro DMs’ do that new DMs should avoid trying to emulate, at least during their initial games while learning the ropes?
Edit: I don’t really watch the major games so I don’t know if this is something that happens or not but: homebrewing large chunks of original mechanical content, like classes or new magic systems and suchlike.
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iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Some of the ones I've watched have the DM say what the characters are doing and that's a habit I see a lot of DMs pick up. The player will say something succinct in terms of their action and the DM will tack on a lot of description to it, going so far as to say what the character thinks, does, and says. It's like, you already control most of the game as DM, can you please leave something for the player to do?
