You find yourself walking through a forest. Your arms and hands are cold. It’s then that you notice the terrible blizzard obscuring most of what you see. You try and wade your way forward, looking for a clear path to shelter. That’s when you see the bear. This is one of the biggest bears you’ve ever seen. It stands there facing you on the path amidst a raging blizzard. It then turns and walks away. You stand frozen, watching it go. It waits, and looks at you as if to beckon that you follow. You do. It leads you through the blizzard to a cabin, hidden behind rocks and trees. As you move toward it, you feel a hand on your arm. You turn and see your father. He’s been dead for years. He smiles and then jerks your arm pulling you to the side. It’s at that moment that you awake from the mysterious dream only to find yourself facing a black clad assassin who’s blade has sliced deep into the bed on which you sleep in the same spot your head had been occupying moments before. What do you do?
Welcome back to the 2nd episode of How to Be a Better DM. I’m happy to have you here with me as we talk about different ways to create a present a better story to your players as you Dungeon Master a beautiful session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.
That excerpt was from the session I had in my campaign just this last week. That’s just to show you that I do this too. I try every week to make better stories and to write better tales. So let’s get right into the meat of today’s show.
Let’s talk about 5 things every DM should remember. These are things that have helped me to remember and I know they should make your game easier too.
It should be fun
You’re playing a game. It should be fun. If you as the Dungeon Master aren’t having fun, then you should switch some things up. Don’t be afraid to experiment. If it’s easier use stuff that other people have made. Look for simple improvements and focus on what you and your players find the most fun. If you guys like doing campaigns that are wacky and fun and rarely serious, then do that. If you like dark campaigns then do that. If you find that planning sessions is too stressful, maybe try spacing them out more so it’s less of a burden. If you can’t think of anything then ask your players or outside parties to give you suggestions. It’s supposed to be fun, so if it’s not, then you need to figure out why and change that.
Your players can improvise too
You’re not the only one at the table who’s responsible for making the game fun. You have a large responsibility because you theoretically occupy 99.999% of the mythical world you and your players play in, but your players can definitely play a big part in making stuff up. Sometimes it’s nice to ask your players the name of NPC’s they meet or towns they visit or Inn’s they sleep in. You don’t have to come up with everything. Outsourcing is a great idea for things that you really don’t care about.
You don’t need to know the ending of every story
Sometimes the funnest things happen when introduce a plot hook that you haven’t really thought through yet. I did this in my campaign where I introduced four groves of power that the druid in our group must save from some evil cultists. Did I know where these groves were? No. Did I know how she’d find them? No. Did I think it was still a cool idea? Heck yeah. So now, the druid and the rest of the party are looking for an ancient underground library that will have an ancient tome describing how to find the powerful groves. Boom.
You won’t know every rule
The player’s handbook is a big book. I’d be astounded if you had it memorized. You don’t need to know every rule so just cool it. You’ll learn as you go and probably do somethings wrong. It won’t dramatically change the outcome and if it does, that’s fine too.
Make the story your own
This is specifically for DM’s who are using sourcebooks for adventures. Make sure to add things in there that are 100% yours. That way your players and you will all feel that you are getting a unique adventure that will be unforgettable.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you are having fun with your games. If you liked today’s show or have ideas for future shows reach out to me on instagram @geronimolevis.
Until next time. Go ahead and roll initiative…
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