D&D 5E Your one best piece of GM/DM advice?

[Skyscraper]

If you want to give your spouse a +24 Godsword of Awesomeness, do it in real life

Ewwww! Please! This is a G-rated forum!

 

[Skyscraper]

There are several pieces of advice here that relate to letting the story go where it will go depending on player decisions (as opposed to a predetermined story).

Here is another that works along the lines of letting the story be told with some degree of improvisation:

- Populate your random encounter tables with relevant NPCs and monsters, including enemies and allies; and let the story be influenced by the random determination of who among those the PCs cross.

 

[iserith]

Run games for people outside your regular group. Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and other platforms allow you to put together a group pretty easily for a one-shot or short-run campaign. There's also the gaming store if you can stand the smell. You can also watch actual play videos, but it's not as helpful as actually DMing or playing in my opinion.

By DMing for a wide range of people - and maybe playing in a few of those games, too - you get to see many different personalities and approaches to play that are new to you. This sort of exposure, in my view, makes one a better DM.

 

[Lanefan]

Keep your campaign world consistent with itself. Player immersion in the campaign is a big part of the fun when it comes to playing D&D.

Seconded: internal consistency is vital! This includes houserules or on-the-fly rulings: think twice, rule once; as once it's done it's part of the game and to change it later (usually) violates internal consistency.

I might be echoing some things said earlier, but for me:

1. Be ready at any and all times to hit the curveballs thrown at you by the players. Just because you've spent all week prepping The Most Excellent Dungeon Ever(TM) doesn't mean for a second that your players will go anywhere near it; they might instead decide on a whim to go explore the south coast. And you've got to be ready.

2. Make it clear up front that bad things can (and probably will) happen to the PCs either individually or collectively as the campaign goes along; to forestall any bad feelings when those bad things inevitably do happen. (side effect: when bad things happen the good things that happen just seem that much better)

3. As long as it's in character, let 'em play. By that I mean let 'em fight each other if they want to, let 'em make love to each other if they want to, don't force them to be noble heroes if they want to be bloodthirsty marauders, and if they want to spend tonight's session arguing amongst themselves instead of getting on with the adventure, let 'em (and enjoy the break!).

3a. By the same token, however, if for whatever reason they're the sort of players who need to be led by the nose from one adventure or scenario to the next then by all means fire up the locomotive and get 'em on the rails.

3b. For all this, try if possible to have players who know each other outside the game (or who at least you know), so you have half an idea what to expect.

3c. If you're in the lucky position of being able to choose your players (as in, more people want in than you have space for) always take the entertainers over the serious ones; more fun for all.

4. Make sure your game world lives and breathes when the PCs aren't around as well as when they are. Achieving this can be as simple as having some minor background things change over time...the tavern where the adventurers first met has been closed by the city watch while the PCs were off adventuring, for example...whether these changes directly/immediately affect the PCs or not. If the party has a particular town they tend to base out of, maybe each time they return have a brief local news report ready...if the players are interested...to let them know what's been happening while they were away (and once the campaign gets nicely going the results of previous actions by the party can be embedded in these reports).

5. No special snowflakes. This includes both within the party (don't favour any one character) and within the world - just because the PCs are PCs doesn't (or usually shouldn't) make them any different from the rest of the game world...they're part of it, rather than superior to it, if that makes any sense. (exception: if your storyline specifically revolves around one or more PCs being special, go for it; with the caveat to be ready to adapt quickly as inevitably those are the PCs that will find a way to die first)

Lan-"and above all, you're never good enough that you can't be better"-efan

 

[OB1]

Instead of saying no, why not set a challenge. It's a hard or very hard INT (or whatever) ability check to place the fireball just so. If you fail the fireball hits the fighter. Spell casters have too many fire and forget spells. Adding a skill roll can make it more fun for them.

I'm trying to reinforce the idea that the battlefield is fluid. Being engaged with someone in melee to me means sharing each other's space on the battlefield.

And also because I'm trying to speed up play. It's a very easy and consistent rule that everyone understands and allows for a quick cost-benefit analysis. On a Grid, it tends to keep people from counting squares. In ToM, it makes it easy to understand why and who is getting hit.

I should note that I will use perception or int checks to determine the total number hit by AoE in ToM if I feel that the number is in question. But if I want to hit a PC who is engaged with my monster, I'm also going to hit my monster (though that doesn't count against the total number from the skill check).

 

[Bawylie]

My one best piece of advice?

The most memorable, fun, engaging games involve tension and conflict. Therefore, the one thing you must to above all other things:

Find out what the adventurers want and put an obstacle between them and it.

Everything else is bookkeeping and table management.


-Brad

 

[Shasarak]

Have a list of NPC names that you can use on the fly - and keep track of which name you used for which NPC in case the Players want to see them again later.

 

[hawkeyefan]

When it comes to rules, just remember that when it's all said and done, it's all made up. So make the rules do what you want...don't do what you think the rules say you "should" do.

 

[werecorpse]

Try to appear objective.
You should not appear to be on the side of the monsters or the players. If the players feel the world and its rules aren't being bent in their favour or against them they will get more out of theirsuccesses and failures.

 

[sunrisekid]

DMs should not drink alcohol. Players can, but the DM needs to sharp and ready for anything. Alcohol will slow things down. Obviously this advice is for home gamers, not AL.