How to Be a Better DM

Weekly Tips and Tricks on Thursdays

Listen as we talk about how to craft amazing stories for yourselves and your players. Join hosts Justin Lewis, Tanner Weyland, and Cayden Ottley every Thursday morning.

All Episodes

October 3, 2026

Episode 1 – Well… We’re in Hell. || The Pact & Boon

Welcome to the World of Calignos.This is the first episode of The Pact and Boon, and we find our heroes in the

October 1, 2026

Don’t Balance Encounters: The DICE Framework for Effective Encounter Design

Stop balancing D&D encounters and start engineering them. This episode gives Dungeon Masters a simple four-part framework, DICE, for building unique encounters

September 17, 2026

Session 0 Isn’t Step 1: How to Prepare Your D&D Players Before Session Zero

Most DMs treat session zero as step one. It's not — it's where prep pays off. Professional DM Justin Lewis breaks down

September 3, 2026

Stop Blaming Your Players. Start Coaching Your Table

In this episode, I’m breaking down the three levers every DM has to fix frustrating table behavior without turning into the bad

August 27, 2026

How to Quickly Build an Interesting Combat Encounter

Is it possible to build a combat encounter quickly while also making it interesting? After all, most quickly-planned encounters end up just

August 25, 2026

Stuck? How to Keep the Cogs of the World in Motion – C.C. S2E12

Welcome to the Season Finale of Creative Contraband! Today Danny Barrett helps us deal with slow sessions or stuck campaigns.With these 4

August 18, 2026

Mimics and Networking with DM Neal – C.C. S2E11

In the third and last interview of the season, we join the very productive DM Neal, and talk about everything from Mimics

August 13, 2026

The Insecure DM Trope (And How Not to Become It)

You know the trope: the DM who builds an unwinnable encounter, or a puzzle so clever it’s basically unsolvable — not because

August 10, 2026

Therapy: Your Last Day on Earth – C.C. S2E10

Welcome back to Creative Contraband, dear Dungeon Masters! Today Danny Barrett tells us about Your Last Day on Earth, a free contemplative

August 6, 2026

Is it Better if it’s Homebrewed?

Do you ALSO feel the crushing need to homebrew if you want to be a good DM? Well you're not alone! While

August 4, 2026

TTRPGs, Performance Art and Ephemeral Artforms – C.C. S2E9

Welcome back, Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today Danny Barrett talks about the importance of being present and focusing on our players.We

July 27, 2026

Neurocinema and the Kuleshov Effect – C.C. S2E8

Welcome back, dear Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today Danny Barrett tells us how the order of the information influences the conclusions