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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Trevalon Moonleirion" data-source="post: 255473" data-attributes="member: 492">This is really only my first year as a good and effective DM, but let's see if I can think of anything particularly special that I do to make my games memorable or more fun.I think music does a lot of good at the game table in terms of setting the mood at the table, so finding something that suits your adventures is pretty important.  (And I just realized that Umbran said this as well...pays to read posts!)I also like having handouts to give to the players, though I don't spend an inordinate amount of time working on them--really I don't spend a whole lot of time planning like I should at all.  Letters are probably the most commonly used handouts at my table.  Pictures and maps are a good idea that I think I'm going to have to steal, however.I really don't like having to send NPCs with the group to save their asses.I'm trying to start up a little something to reward good playing at my table too:  Save Your Ass Cards.  If you roleplay very well, buy the entire group dinner (or something equally nifty), or if it's your birthday, you get one free.  They basically can help you out in a few minor ways.  I'm not sure exactly what though, since I just wrote up the rules not that long ago.My final suggestion is just what fits my campaign and may or may not work with everyone:  While I do have a main plotline for my campaign, it's not the focus of every game session.  The focus of every game session is the players, and sometimes they interact with the storyline.  Listening to what the players want in terms of adventures is key.Just to sort of support my last line of thought, I'll give you a brief story--one of my players is really a total munchkin and has never roleplayed a bit in his life.  Nothing too terribly wrong with it as long as we all have fun, but by making a story focus on him and his backstory--which reminds me of something else I like to do...but more on that in a moment--I actually got him to roleplay for nearly five solid minutes.  I was amazed.Character Backstories--FORCE your players to make these up.  These are so vitally important if you want to cater to your players tastes a lot.  Maybe they all like dungeon-crawling, but wouldn't they like to raid the dungeon of the fiend who slew their entire family?I think that's all I've got to say for the moment though!</blockquote>

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