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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6702384" data-attributes="member: 6801286">DM is hostile to the players    I think perhaps one of the most important aspects of a good DM, is that  the DM feels fair, and not out "to get" the players. I often refer to  this as "soft-DM-ing". What I mean, is that the DM allows the players to  succeed, and best his npc's and foes, and doesn't throw unfair  obstructions when ever they derail his intentions. This also applies to  skill checks, where a fumble doesn't immediately result in a broken or  dropped weapon, and a failed climb check doesn't immediately result in  falling to your death. A good DM also makes sure there is a decent  balance of trustworthy characters in his story, to balance out the bad  guys. If it seems that no one can be trusted, then the players will be  highly paranoid of anyone they meet. In my campaign, the players feel  comfortable with trusting certain characters they've met. Someone who  seems good at first, probably is, although you can never be 100% sure.  The players also feel confident with climbing a rope, knowing that the  skill checks will not be unfairly high, and will not result in an  instant death.    Soft-DM-ing however, doesn't mean that the fights are easy, or that you  cannot die. But it means that the DM doesn't seem hostile to the  players, or their actions. And I have been in campaigns where the DM did  feel hostile. Where any attempt to step off the beaten path, instantly  resulted in all sorts of unforeseen complications, and law enforcement  instantly arresting the players.The uber npc problem[ATTACH]70325[/ATTACH](Epically poking the boss with needles, while the npc does all the heroic stuff. Thanks for that LOTR The Third Age.)I've also been in DnD groups where the DM introduced invincible super  npc's, that did all of the cool stuff, while the players tagged along. I  hate that. It's like the super npc is Gandalf, and the players are  following him around as he defeats the Balrog for them. So boring. Or  alternatively, the DM introduced a big villain, who always gets away,  despite all logic. This sort of rail roading just utterly destroys the  fun, and the immersion.  For example, we did a Star Wars rpg session, and the DM introduced an  old jedi who followed us around, who couldn't die (unless part of the  plot), and saved the day whenever things went south (no matter how bad  the players screwed it up). This is bad DM'ing.  When it comes to important npc's, I expose them to death ALL THE  TIME. Many npc's that I intended to die, have survived so far, due to  actions from the players. In fact, during one campaign I had an npc that  was supposed to die during the very first session, and he survived the  entire campaign (and even became an important character to the plot  later on). And recently in my pirate campaign, an npc pirate captain  became trapped in the realm of the dead, and sure to die due to the  bitter cold. Only he didn't, because the players intervened.  What's also interesting, is not just exposing the players to  dangerous monsters, but putting them in a situation where they have to  defend other people. The players know that they can handle most  monsters, but what if there is an innocent unarmed npc in the same room  with them? Encounters such as these allow the players to feel all  powerful, which is important, since they are the heroes after all.     Unavoidable failure    Another frustration of mine, is related to the uber npc problem, and  that is the situation from which no escape is possible. I hate it when a  chain of events is entirely rail roaded. For example, a burglary that  always goes wrong, because an npc always rings the alarm, and everyone  gets arrested. What you should do instead, is offer the players choices  to save their butts. Instead of having that npc instantly activate the  alarm, allow the player to tackle him before he reaches it. When the  player succeeds, it is very exciting and fun. It turns it into an epic  action scene.    I do this in regular DnD sessions: A player fails a balance check and  tumbles into a hole. So I offer his party members a reflex check to  quickly grab his hand. Then I let both of them roll strength checks to  pull the unlucky player out of the pit. This doesn't mean that I never  let players get hurt by traps. But in the case of imminent death, I try  to include some back up solutions to survive by the skin of your teeth.     More on unavoidable failure    An example of unavoidable failure, would be for example that the  players fail a stealth check, and the entire enemy camp is instantly  aware of them, and captures them. A good DM allows the players to  intervene in some way, by for example taking out the one guard that was  alerted, before he can alert his buddies.    I also remember a mechwarrior campaign, where me and another player  were trying to escape the cops. And there literally was no way to escape  them. We raced through the streets, but the driving checks were  unfairly high, so the motorcycle crashed. The other player flipped an  entire police car, but the police were not intimidated or scared. We ran  through dozens of streets, and found a house in an alley to take  shelter in, but the police found the house anyway. We fled out through  the back door, but the police had the place surrounded, and they had a  helicopter. This is awful, because the players literally get no lucky  breaks from the DM.    Here is how I would have handled that: The players race through the  streets, and then suddenly a stranger waves to them, and opens an old  garage door. They head inside, and meet with a group of resistance  fighters. They make new allies, and it takes the story into a new  interesting situation. The players now have a crime record, but they've  also gained new allies, and access to different missions.    The player wants the story to progress obviously, but he also wants to  feel that he has the freedom to make meaningful decisions. Not  everything in the world should be against the players. The same can be  said about situations where the player visits a tavern, and every drink  is spiked, and every npc is a thug out to kill the player. This sort of  thing makes the player feel so paranoid, that it seems anything outside  the regular story line is strictly forbidden. It feels as if there is  giant hand of the DM hovering over the players at all times, and that  shouldn't be the case.Unfair surprises    I think it is also important to be very clear to your players what they  are getting into. For example, the players head into the shady part of  town. Do they know that this is the shady part of town? If not, it might  be important to make that clear. Are all of the npc's there armed  thugs? Then maybe the DM should tell the players that they suspect many  of the people around them might be carrying concealed weapons, or be up  to no good.    Before the players get mugged by bandits in an alley, why not let them  roll a spot check? Then tell them a couple of shady characters have been  following them through town, and are consistently looking away when  ever the players look their way.    The players are about to enter the lair of a dragon. Maybe tell them of  the countless corpses outside the den, or the giant footprints on the  ground. Do not just drop a bad situation on them. Give them enough  information to deal with what is about to come. Maybe with enough  information, the players might vote against entering that lair.    Another example, one of the players heads into a jungle on his own,  which is infested with cannibals. The last thing you want the players to  say after being overwhelmed by cannibals is "Well if I had known that  there would be cannibals, I wouldn't have done that". And obviously the  PC's aren't psychic. But as a DM you are first and fore most a  storyteller. If the players are about to make a crucial error that could  get them killed, tell them that they have a feeling of dread. Tell them  that it is unnaturally quiet, and that they feel like they are being  watched. This actually builds atmosphere and suspense, but it is also a  way of keeping the game fair.Everything is dangerous    This point also ties into the unavoidable failure thing. Not everything  in the game should be super deadly, or the players will get incredibly  paranoid. I try to encourage the players not to be afraid of going for a  swim, for example. Not every pool is filled with deadly piranhas or  sharks. Not every cave contains a monster. Not every tomb is infested  with undead. A lot of DM's go completely overboard. They think that  every encounter should result in the obvious. But you don't need a  monster to make exploring a cave exciting. In fact, just the  anticipation of a monster is enough. And my players have crossed many  jungles without running into armies of cannibals, or hungry tigers.  Sometimes they make wonderful discoveries, like a new landmark, or an  unoccupied watchtower.    In fact, I used the watchtower as a way of informing the players that  they were in cannibal-occupied territory. And I told them that it looked  as if the watchtower simply wasn't being used during the day, but it  might be occupied at night. This builds suspense. The players now have  the choice to either wait till nightfall and surprise the cannibals, or  to use the watchtower now and scout the surrounding area, or to get as  far away from it as possible before night falls.    The party used the watchtower to scout the area, and then chose to get  as far away from it as they could before nightfall. When the party  returned to the watchtower the next day, they noticed that it had been  marked with charms to warn them not to return. It seemed the cannibals  had noticed that someone had visited their watchtower. The charms were  not magical, but were simply intended to scare the players. They  obviously weren't scared, but this gave them some insight into the  tribal beliefs of their enemies.    Not everything should be a trap. There are other ways to make  encounters exciting, and it all comes down to storytelling. The DM  should mix moments of quiet, with moments of peril. Because if there is  no distinction between the two, then the excitement falls flat.    This reminds me of a throne room in the campaign of a close friend of  mine. The rogue in the party wanted to check the door to the throne room  for traps. The rest of the party joked about how silly that would be,  and how that would have to be one paranoid king. He wouldn't even be  able to call for a servant, without the servant falling dead into the  throne room due to springing the trap. Sometimes a room should be just a  room (and in this case, there was no trap, it was just a throne room).  Splitting the party     It's always annoying when this happens, but it is also often  unavoidable. You can't always force the players to stick together. You  can only encourage them to do so in subtle ways. The worst thing a DM  can do when the party splits, is to either force them not to split  (which tends to anger the players), or to leave the other players out of  the game for a prolonged duration. When the party does split, I often  allow the players that are not present at the event, to participate in  some other way. For example, you can let the players that are not  present, take control of the monsters, or of npc's. In a recent example,  almost the entire party except one decided to take part in a dream-like  test. So all of the party fell asleep, and experienced this test. I  allowed the missing party member to be present as a sort of helpful  spirit. He wasn't really there, and his character would not remember  anything that happened in the dream, but he would be there to assist in  solving some of the puzzles. This allowed him to still take part in the  fun, rather than having to wait for all this to play out.     Another way to handle party splits, is to simply take turns in  managing the different players. But this only works as long as no combat  is involved. As soon as you start getting into big battles, you are  leaving the other players out of the game for a very long time, and I  highly encourage any DM to then find a creative way to involve those  players, even if their characters are not there.The unforgiving DM     This happens a lot, and it can be quite frustrating to the players.  The DM should always assume that the player characters are not  completely stupid, and provide them with the necessary information to  make reasonable decisions. It is extremely unfair to instantly punish  the players for taking a simple action. For example:  a player decides  to swim to the other side of a canal, but the player is immediately  attacked by sharks. Obviously the DM should have informed the player  that there are sharks swimming around. After all, wouldn't you be able  to see some movement in the water? It's quite annoying if the players  have to argue with the DM that they want to take back their action, due  to sudden new information that puts their life at risk. Rather than  immediately having the sharks attack, the DM should simply tell the  player that they see a shape of a large marine creature underwater, and  ask them if they want to reconsider their action.     Another example: The party discovers a pit, and one of the players  decides to drop down to explore it. It turns out the pit was filled with  deadly spikes, and the DM rolls for damage. Don't do that! Instead,  tell the player that just as he is about to drop down, his eyes spot  what seems like razor shark spikes at the bottom of the pit. The player  can now reconsider, and the DM doesn't annoy his players.     The undescriptive DM     Don't tell the players that they are entering just "a town", with "a  town square". Be descriptive! What color are the houses and roofs? Are  the houses made of stone or wood? What does the town smell like? What  kind of characters do they see, and how do people in town respond to the  players? And if the players meet a new npc, describe what he/she looks  like! The players need to be immersed in the atmosphere of your world,  so as a DM you have to make them feel something. When the players enter a  harbor, it's never just "a harbor". There are merchants selling exotic  goods, sailors rolling barrels to a nearby warehouse, prostitutes trying  to make a few coins, and a man selling apples that don't look all that  good. The air is thick with the smell of fish and shrimp, and there are  small vessels hauling their nets into the harbor, full of freshly caught  fish. There are a few city guard about, inspecting the goods of new  arrivals, and they have distinctive armor and cloaks. There are so many  details to describe, and the more descriptive the DM is, the more the  players have to work with.     Characters have no names!     I've met my share of dungeon masters that could not come up with  names for their npc's. Often the players would run into a random  merchant, and suddenly they ask him for his name, and the DM panics. As a  DM, be prepared! Make a list of possible random names, or simply have a  list ready of every npc in town. What is the local tavern called, and  who work there? What are their stories? Not every npc needs a  complicated back story, but it sure helps if they have some story to  them. When the players are hunting for clues to a mystery, they may chat  up with a common vagrant. But what is his name, and how did he end up  so down on his luck? Its not difficult to prepare these sorts of things  before running a campaign. In my pirate campaign, every ship has a name,  with a captain who also has a name and a backstory. And that captain  also has a crew, and they all have names too. Make sure you are  prepared.Oh dear, that is terrible. Yes, fortunately my groups have always agreed  that a certain amount of OC banter is perfectly fine. It can be pretty  dreadful if a DM insists on such extreme rules.That  is a great example. I remember a friend of mine, who did a session that  lasted several days, where he made his players fight an army of undead.  He literally had them fight each and every undead, one by one. That  must have been terrible to sit through.     One of the ways to encourage the players to explore other options, is  to also give full exp for any enemy that surrenders, or flees. Often  players will feel like they are missing out on exp, simply because an  enemy is running away, but that should not be the case. Enemies can be  defeated in many ways, and not only by having their hitpoints reach  zero.     In my pirate campaign, we've had a few instances where multiple  pirate ships were involved in a fight. Obviously we would play out what  ever fight the ship of the players was involved in. But I would take  care of the other battles off-screen. So by the time the players  finished fighting, the other ships finished fighting as well, or they  would join them halfway into their battle as reinforcements. Soon we  might be coming up to a crucial part of the campaign, where the players  want to rid a particular island of cannibals. Obviously I'm not going to  have them march through every inch of the island, to take out each and  every cannibal. Instead, I'll allow them to hire mercenaries, that would  each comb a particular part of the island (during down time). And I'll  allow them to send out scouts, that would try and find the main village  of the cannibals. These groups of npc's would then later report back  with their findings, and report their casualties (which I could roll  for).     The final battle would then be just the party and their allies,  against that one village (instead of every single cannibal on the  island). And all they really need to do, is take out the tribe elder  that is leading them all. Once his/her head rolls, the cannibals are  done for. I think thats a good way to handle these massive battles. In  the future there wil possibly be far larger battles, and I'll have to  come up with some way to simplify the battle. It would be more about  strategic movements of the ships, rather than rolling dice for each and  every ship.I  agree entirely. Even when I run my Cthulhu campaign, and things are  supposed to be super suspenseful, humor is a great way to break up the  tension. The party will be into the suspense if you introduce it to them  the right way, and establish the mood. But you can't force them to  always be super serious. I also try to make sure that my npc's are a lot  of fun too. You need to mix the laughter with the darker stuff.     For example, in my pirate campaign we have an npc crew member who is a  notorious drunk, and has the nick name "Rummy". During our last  session, the players put some rotting fish in his rum bottle, to teach  him a lesson (he had hazed one of the new crew members by putting  rotting fish in his bed, so this seemed appropriate). I stretched out  the punchline of the joke for a while, to make sure that Rummy would  drink from the bottle at THE WORST moment, for maximum comic relief.  Which was during an opera for the rich upper class, while he was out  with his girlfriend, while wearing a ghastly outfit, and sitting on an  exclusive balcony seat. And there was much laughter and "Nooooooo" from  the party.Bad dungeons     One topic we haven't addressed yet, is the topic of designing  dungeons. I love creating dungeons. But I have seen quite my share of  dungeons that were just terrible. Here's a few points that dungeon  masters should perhaps pay attention to when designing a dungeon:     * The dungeon is way too big. Dungeons that are endless mazes, filled  with nothing but empty corridors and crossroads. Dungeons where the  only choices for the players are, do we go left, or do we go right, or  straight ahead, Instead, I encourage dungeon masters to limit their  dungeons to just a selection of functional, and purposeful rooms.     * Dungeons are invulnerable. Walls have hardness and should break,  given enough force. As should doors, by the way. A bad DM makes his  dungeon absolutely inpenetrable, with invulnerable walls and doors.  Don't be afraid to allow your players to improvise, and find other ways  around your carefully constructed obstacles. This leads into our next  point by the way.     * The dungeon is linear. If the dungeon is basically just a long  corridor with a couple of rooms, thats not very compelling. Add some  alternate routes. Make sure the players can at least take 2 different  roads to reach the same end goal.     * The dungeon forces the players to visit each and every room. It is  okay if the players miss something really cool that you thought of. It's  okay, just let it go. You can reuse the idea some other time in a  different dungeon. You don't have to force the players to visit that one  room that they've skipped.     * The dungeon contains nothing but monsters and treasures, for no  real reason. This may have worked for first edition, but I really  consider it a no-no. Nowadays we ask our selves logical questions. Why  are there monsters in this underground labyrinth? Don't they have other  things to do with their life? And who built it? Why is this dungeon  here, and what is its purpose? Give your dungeon a backstory. Maybe its  an ancient ruin of some sort of city, and maybe the place is haunted by  its former residents. Or maybe it is crawling with giant vermin that  have made it their home. Maybe its a tomb for some ancient civilisation,  and the players are really just robbing their graves. Any building  could be turned into a dungeon. In fact, buildings probably make the  best dungeons.     * Everything is trapped! If the dungeon happens to be a building that  sees a lot of visitors, would it make sense for there to be a trap? Why  would the king trap his own throneroom? Don't go nuts with the traps,  or the players will be yelling "I check for traps" at every room.     * How does the trap work? This is one of the reasons why I rarely  have magical traps in my campaigns, they are not very compelling. I  think players deserve an explanation what a trap looks like, and how it  works. Don't just tell them that they disable the trap because they  succeeded at their skillcheck. Tell them HOW they disable it. What was  the trap supposed to do? And maybe there are multiple ways to disarm it,  and it is up to the players to choose how they want to approach it.  Also, not all traps are deadly. Some traps simply serve to alarm enemies  for example.     * The dungeon is flat. This isn't always a bad thing, but not every  dungeon needs to be a one-story 2D labyrinth. Dungeons can contain  multiple levels. Apart from stairs and ladders, there can also be moats,  balconies, bridges, and multiple floors.     * Every room is a blank slate, lacking any details. Many dungeon  masters make the mistake of thinking that a dungeon is just a bunch of  rooms and corridors, with monsters and treasure. But rooms can differ  wildly in shape, and height. A small corridor can force the players to  pass through single file. A collapsed tunnel might even force them to  shimmy their way through sideways, or crawl on hands and knees. If a  room has a function, then it should probably contain fitting furniture.  It could contain furniture that the players can search for valuables,  rather than it containing a treasure chest, as if it were some video  game. Another reason to include details, is to immerse the players, and  to allow them to improvise. Because if there is furniture, then they can  use it to block a door, and make a barricade. Clever construction of  rooms can also encourage a lot of strategy. Enemies can be positioned at  vantage points, and encourage the players to do more than just charge  them blindly.     * Include secret doors. Sometimes players play an elf, purely to  detect hidden doors. And why not? Because detecting secret doors is  fun... if there are any that is. So don't forget to include some  occasionally, if it makes sense.     * This dungeon will self destruct in 5 seconds. This is a bit of an  Indiana Jones cliche, but don't always destroy the dungeon right after  the boss has been defeated. Perhaps the dungeon can serve some purpose  in the story later on? Maybe the players can make it their new home? But  do make sure that you don't include any features that the players might  turn against you. If the dungeon contains a giant statue leaking liquid  gold.... ehhhh... you might want to reconsider that, unless you want  the players to destroy the local economy.     * Treasure! Not all treasure is gold and gems. The players can find  valuable information from just the dungeon alone. Maybe it contains  ancient wall carvings, and drawings that depict events from hundreds of  years ago. Dungeons are a great moment for exposition, and to explain  some of the lore. And even if the players do stumble upon some riches,  try and think of how it fits into the setting. Do the players find a  treasure chest filled with golden coins? That is maybe a bit too  convenient. Or do they find a tomb with a golden idol, with an omnious  warning written on the stone lid?     * Just nothing but walking! Dungeons can contain swimming sections,  climbing sections, and obstacles that require skill checks. Maybe a  tunnel is partially flooded, and players wil have to hold their breath?  Maybe a floor has collapsed, and they have to find a safe way down to  the floor below? Maybe the floor is extremely slippery, or the dungeon  is unstable. Maybe the players can't make too much noise, or the ceiling  might cave in. Maybe the players need to use a bit of stealth while  moving through the dungeon. Or maybe there are minecarts they can use.</blockquote>

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