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

December 25, 2025

Session Prep with No Time: 5 Tips to Maximize Your Time

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM.Today we talk about 5 tips for session prep with no time.​Adjust your expectations​Get

December 18, 2025

Cliffhangers: 3 DM Tips for using them like a—

It almost feels like cliffhangers are a requirement for some DMs, or at least the professional ones! But are cliffhangers always necessary?

December 11, 2025

Tips for Improv: Reacting and Responding to Players’ Unexpected Choices Part 3

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM.Today we continue talking about improv. We finish our tips for responding to player

December 4, 2025

Lessons in Collaborative Storytelling

Do you give your players much of a chance to collaborate on the storytelling? No? Well, you wouldn't be alone! In this

November 20, 2025

5 D&D Game Mechanics to Get Excited About

Today's episode is all about taking a normal or underutilized D&D game mechanic and using it to its fullest to add some

November 13, 2025

Tips for Better DM Improv Part 2

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DMtoday we continue talking about better Improv Tips for DMsHere’s what we cover:​The Rule

November 6, 2025

What to do with an NPC Companion…

The problem of the NPC companion... the poor shmuck that your party drags along with them that YOU suddenly have to play

October 30, 2025

Better Improv For Dungeon Masters: The Rule of Intent and Yes AND

Welcome to How to Be a Better DMToday we talk about improving improvisation when your players do something out of the blue.Tip

October 23, 2025

Embracing External Inspiration in D&D Without Shame

Oh, so you'd like to create EVERY story arc, enemy, NPC, and element of your D&D adventure out of thin air, without

October 16, 2025

The Secret Inner Work of Exceptional Dungeon Masters

Thanks for listening. Today we talk about the secret inner work required to be a great dungeon master. Here are some notes:People

October 9, 2025

Do Your Words Have Weight As A DM?

Do you ever wish that players would just STOP and take things seriously for one minute?! After all, you want the next

October 2, 2025

4 Tools for Dungeon Master Improvement

Every DM wants to get better, but “improvement” can feel vague. In this episode, we break it down into four concrete tools