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Oh, Man, Do I Need Some DM Tips. . .
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7037283" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>People overthink this type of thing. </p><p></p><p>Have fun and your players will have fun. A few more specific suggestions: </p><p></p><p>1.) Be confident in your NPCs. A confident delivery of a cheesy line works where a timid delivery of a masterful line won't. </p><p>2.) Don't sweat the small stuff. If the math gets in the way, if you forget advantage, if you allowed a spell to target too many enemies - don't worry about it. Just push ahead and keep the stoy moving. Most games won't fall apart if the DM fudges some numbers to avoid delays in the game for accounting breaks or got a rule a little wrong.</p><p>3.) Remember that the PCs are the star of the game. The campaign is the story of their characters. All enemies, NPCs, and featurwes of the setting are there to give them a place to experience their story.Look at the backgrounds, traits, flaws, bonds, etc... of the PCs to seed the game with things that will capitalize on their building blocks. If you play an out of the box adventure, you are best served to read ahead and alter it to incorporate things directly related to the PCs.</p><p>4.)Make sure the PCs have some over the top victories over enemies that underestimate them. DMs often think every battle needs to be a challenge for survival. This isn't true. Each battle needs to have a purpose, but sometimes that purpose is just to make the PCs feel powerful. Other times the success or failure of the battle might not be based upon the survivial of the PCs, but might be based upon stopping n enemy from doing something - get the raiders before they kill the people on the caravan, stop the kobold from tripping the alarm, hold the line for 10 rounds to give the refugees time to escape, etc... The PCs do not have to be in jeopardy for their lives in any of these battles to have a fun battle - and if they're not struggling to survive, they feel like heroes rather than zeroes.</p><p>5.) Have a good ending moment ready to go. Either end on a victory or a cliffhanger. I usually have a few ready to go cliffhangers I can throw into the game whereever the PCs are. For example, if they have a rival group of adventurers in their community, be prepared to have them burst in on the PCs, whereever they are, at the end of the session. Or perhaps the final strike by the paladin's sword activates the curse, or they realize that the hairy gnoll that scratched them that they were fighting might have lycanthropy, or if the rogue failed to find the trap in th chest before opening it - you can end it with, "And just as the chest begins to open there is a sudden crack that permeates the silence, followed by a hiss that ... will be continued."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7037283, member: 2629"] People overthink this type of thing. Have fun and your players will have fun. A few more specific suggestions: 1.) Be confident in your NPCs. A confident delivery of a cheesy line works where a timid delivery of a masterful line won't. 2.) Don't sweat the small stuff. If the math gets in the way, if you forget advantage, if you allowed a spell to target too many enemies - don't worry about it. Just push ahead and keep the stoy moving. Most games won't fall apart if the DM fudges some numbers to avoid delays in the game for accounting breaks or got a rule a little wrong. 3.) Remember that the PCs are the star of the game. The campaign is the story of their characters. All enemies, NPCs, and featurwes of the setting are there to give them a place to experience their story.Look at the backgrounds, traits, flaws, bonds, etc... of the PCs to seed the game with things that will capitalize on their building blocks. If you play an out of the box adventure, you are best served to read ahead and alter it to incorporate things directly related to the PCs. 4.)Make sure the PCs have some over the top victories over enemies that underestimate them. DMs often think every battle needs to be a challenge for survival. This isn't true. Each battle needs to have a purpose, but sometimes that purpose is just to make the PCs feel powerful. Other times the success or failure of the battle might not be based upon the survivial of the PCs, but might be based upon stopping n enemy from doing something - get the raiders before they kill the people on the caravan, stop the kobold from tripping the alarm, hold the line for 10 rounds to give the refugees time to escape, etc... The PCs do not have to be in jeopardy for their lives in any of these battles to have a fun battle - and if they're not struggling to survive, they feel like heroes rather than zeroes. 5.) Have a good ending moment ready to go. Either end on a victory or a cliffhanger. I usually have a few ready to go cliffhangers I can throw into the game whereever the PCs are. For example, if they have a rival group of adventurers in their community, be prepared to have them burst in on the PCs, whereever they are, at the end of the session. Or perhaps the final strike by the paladin's sword activates the curse, or they realize that the hairy gnoll that scratched them that they were fighting might have lycanthropy, or if the rogue failed to find the trap in th chest before opening it - you can end it with, "And just as the chest begins to open there is a sudden crack that permeates the silence, followed by a hiss that ... will be continued." [/QUOTE]
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