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Can't Find Trees- Damn Forest. Secret of Good DM'ing?
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<blockquote data-quote="Look_a_Unicorn" data-source="post: 1799680" data-attributes="member: 11886"><p>I've had a bit of downtime from D&D lately (damn real world) & I've been thinking about what contributes to a really enjoyable campaign.</p><p></p><p>Sure, if your all already a group of friends it's easy to have fun together, and this is a hobby we all enjoy & hopefully as we roll the dice & declare our actions we're thinking a lot more heroically than (most of us) sound...</p><p></p><p>But with the increasing popularity of RPG'ing again (at least in Oz!), that means there are a lot of new DM's out there who want to try their hand- and who most likely will repeat the same new-DM mistakes that everyone else has.</p><p></p><p>So I thought to myself, if I had to choose 3 important pieces of advice to give a DM, other than Rule 0, what would they be?</p><p>(Rule 0 being Relax & have fun).</p><p></p><p>What would your 3 points be? I don't doubt others views will remind me of really obvious things I haven't thought of in a while <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Advice 1: Know- and be comfortable- with the rules as a tool.</p><p></p><p>This doesn't mean memorising DC's for climbing different gradients of slopes (that's what the DM screen is for). This means when you need to make a rule as DM, you don't have to refer to a book OR if your not sure of the EXACT rule, your comfortable enough to say "Well make it an {ability X} check followed by an attack roll." And the rules are a tool, not the game itself. Thus, you don't NEED to change the rules to change your game. </p><p></p><p>Advice 2: Match the players to the game</p><p></p><p>Most people will have a preferred type of game. Dungeon crawl, intrigue, role-play with nary a dice in sight... you can't cram dungeon-crawlers into your epic political intrigue. Just as you can't throw role-players into dungeon crawl after dungeon crawl without an NPC in sight.</p><p>Before starting a campaign have one of two quick one-offs, possibly related to your campaign story, but not necessarily. See what courses of action people prefer right off the bat. Your campaign storyline can continue as you'd planned howveer they choose to play- the only thing you'll have to change if they're a different style of gamer to what you expected is the WAY that the players uncover plot clues or identities.</p><p>Remember, there is no information on old parchment within a dungeon that couldn't, retrospectively, be changed to be in the hands of the Thieves Guild Master- or by an experimental Mage who needs Creature X Heart from nearby dungeon before he'll help them.</p><p></p><p>Advice 3: Make the world breathe as much as you can.</p><p></p><p>So important! And it's not spelled out in the DMG just how important this is! (this is the forest for trees part of the title).</p><p>True, we're not all great public speakers. We're not all incredibly fast on our feet with creative descriptions. We can all GET BETTER at it though, with practice.</p><p>What I mean is, don't say "the dragon walks out of the back of the cave & roars at you." from out of the blue.</p><p>If you know they're on their way to a dragon, one of the villagers at the tavern might be drinking heavily & crying because his flock was savaged by the beast recently. (this is the "every evil will visibly affect SOMEONE nearby" rule of thumb). Near to the cave a peasant has put up a sign "Dragn Ahed. Dangar!". And finally, the entrance to the cave has torn vegetation & heavily trampled earth. .. within the cave, the dragon doesn't walk out- two short lived nostril flames briefly illuminate a huge scaled beast. Looking up, you see the glitter of sheer malice in it's reptilian eyes & you feel dread make your limbs cold & heavy. The beast looks like it's about to bathe you all in flames as it's mouth starts to gape wide... now, roll initiative!!!</p><p></p><p>Sorry. I got a bit carried away there. You can tell I haven't played in a while, right <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p>I guess I should of thought about making the third advice "Don't love listening to yourself talk" lol</p><p></p><p>But I do think 1) DM not having to stop to look up rules regularly- or count numbers on his fingers! is NECESSARY for a fun game. Similarly, if a PC doesn't know how a spell/ability works before his turn, he can't use it that turn.</p><p>2) You can't make chicken soup with beef. Make it fun for everyone, and incorporate what the players want to do- and HOW they want to do it.</p><p>3) The game is more than dice rolling. If you want players to get involved, you have to make your game descriptive enough that they can see a world they can get involved in.</p><p></p><p>Wow, there is so much to playing this game. Just remember Rule 0- if you remember that, the rest will come with time & practice.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Look_a_Unicorn, post: 1799680, member: 11886"] I've had a bit of downtime from D&D lately (damn real world) & I've been thinking about what contributes to a really enjoyable campaign. Sure, if your all already a group of friends it's easy to have fun together, and this is a hobby we all enjoy & hopefully as we roll the dice & declare our actions we're thinking a lot more heroically than (most of us) sound... But with the increasing popularity of RPG'ing again (at least in Oz!), that means there are a lot of new DM's out there who want to try their hand- and who most likely will repeat the same new-DM mistakes that everyone else has. So I thought to myself, if I had to choose 3 important pieces of advice to give a DM, other than Rule 0, what would they be? (Rule 0 being Relax & have fun). What would your 3 points be? I don't doubt others views will remind me of really obvious things I haven't thought of in a while ;) Advice 1: Know- and be comfortable- with the rules as a tool. This doesn't mean memorising DC's for climbing different gradients of slopes (that's what the DM screen is for). This means when you need to make a rule as DM, you don't have to refer to a book OR if your not sure of the EXACT rule, your comfortable enough to say "Well make it an {ability X} check followed by an attack roll." And the rules are a tool, not the game itself. Thus, you don't NEED to change the rules to change your game. Advice 2: Match the players to the game Most people will have a preferred type of game. Dungeon crawl, intrigue, role-play with nary a dice in sight... you can't cram dungeon-crawlers into your epic political intrigue. Just as you can't throw role-players into dungeon crawl after dungeon crawl without an NPC in sight. Before starting a campaign have one of two quick one-offs, possibly related to your campaign story, but not necessarily. See what courses of action people prefer right off the bat. Your campaign storyline can continue as you'd planned howveer they choose to play- the only thing you'll have to change if they're a different style of gamer to what you expected is the WAY that the players uncover plot clues or identities. Remember, there is no information on old parchment within a dungeon that couldn't, retrospectively, be changed to be in the hands of the Thieves Guild Master- or by an experimental Mage who needs Creature X Heart from nearby dungeon before he'll help them. Advice 3: Make the world breathe as much as you can. So important! And it's not spelled out in the DMG just how important this is! (this is the forest for trees part of the title). True, we're not all great public speakers. We're not all incredibly fast on our feet with creative descriptions. We can all GET BETTER at it though, with practice. What I mean is, don't say "the dragon walks out of the back of the cave & roars at you." from out of the blue. If you know they're on their way to a dragon, one of the villagers at the tavern might be drinking heavily & crying because his flock was savaged by the beast recently. (this is the "every evil will visibly affect SOMEONE nearby" rule of thumb). Near to the cave a peasant has put up a sign "Dragn Ahed. Dangar!". And finally, the entrance to the cave has torn vegetation & heavily trampled earth. .. within the cave, the dragon doesn't walk out- two short lived nostril flames briefly illuminate a huge scaled beast. Looking up, you see the glitter of sheer malice in it's reptilian eyes & you feel dread make your limbs cold & heavy. The beast looks like it's about to bathe you all in flames as it's mouth starts to gape wide... now, roll initiative!!! Sorry. I got a bit carried away there. You can tell I haven't played in a while, right ;) I guess I should of thought about making the third advice "Don't love listening to yourself talk" lol But I do think 1) DM not having to stop to look up rules regularly- or count numbers on his fingers! is NECESSARY for a fun game. Similarly, if a PC doesn't know how a spell/ability works before his turn, he can't use it that turn. 2) You can't make chicken soup with beef. Make it fun for everyone, and incorporate what the players want to do- and HOW they want to do it. 3) The game is more than dice rolling. If you want players to get involved, you have to make your game descriptive enough that they can see a world they can get involved in. Wow, there is so much to playing this game. Just remember Rule 0- if you remember that, the rest will come with time & practice. [/QUOTE]
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