D&D DM Tips?

[weemadando]

That's obviously going wrong. Its a fucking DnD campaign - there should be so many enemies coming at them that they have no chance whatsoever to even contemplate killing each other.

[haas mark]

That's obviously going wrong. Its a fucking DnD campaign - there should be so many enemies coming at them that they have no chance whatsoever to even contemplate killing each other.

It's while they're FIGHTING the enemies. I should videotape how often the people rolls 2s and 3s. -_-

[weemadando]

Dear god. New advice.

Stop the campaign. Run a few games of old-school Paranoia or Amber Diceless to get all the "fuck each other so hard that the babies are born with a concussion" vibe out of the group, then re-start the DnD campaign.

[haas mark]

Not that I have a clue what either of those are. But put it this way. The group damn near killed each other fighting a horde of MONKEYS. WHO FLUNG POO.

[Eleas]

Not that I have a clue what either of those are. But put it this way. The group damn near killed each other fighting a horde of MONKEYS. WHO FLUNG POO.

Sounds like Paranoia is the game you'd want, then. And remember, the computer is your friend, citizen.

[haas mark]

Not that I have a clue what either of those are. But put it this way. The group damn near killed each other fighting a horde of MONKEYS. WHO FLUNG POO.

Sounds like Paranoia is the game you'd want, then. And remember, the computer is your friend, citizen.

Well, I am invorporating one of the characters' fear of large dragons, too. >.>

[Eleas]

Not that I have a clue what either of those are. But put it this way. The group damn near killed each other fighting a horde of MONKEYS. WHO FLUNG POO.

Sounds like Paranoia is the game you'd want, then. And remember, the computer is your friend, citizen.

Well, I am invorporating one of the characters' fear of large dragons, too. >.>

You are in error, citizen. There are no "dragons" in the Alpha Complex. The Computer has said so. Do you doubt the Computer?

[haas mark]

You are in error, citizen. There are no "dragons" in the Alpha Complex. The Computer has said so. Do you doubt the Computer?

And you're talking about....?

[fnord]

Paranoia, probably. Lotsa fun when you don't take it too seriously.

[Eleas]

You are in error, citizen. There are no "dragons" in the Alpha Complex. The Computer has said so. Do you doubt the Computer?

And you're talking about....?

Paranoia, a game that most accurately could be described as a humorous Orwellian nightmare. It's a game where you play a factory drone who has managed to report the existence of Commie Mutant Traitors in the midst of the Alpha Complex, and has therefore been promoted to Troubleshooter and rewarded with a reduction in medication.

PARANOIA is a dark future comedy set in the high-tech post-apocalyptic fascist world of Alpha Complex, a massive underground community ruled over by a well-meaning but strict and slightly insane AI known as The Computer. You are a Troubleshooter, a low-clearance operative who, with laser gun in hand, must help purge the Complex of mutants, secret societies, and Commie traitors. You, of course, are also a mutant and a member of a secret society. So is everyone else on your team. You can't prove it- yet. If you could, though, you'd be rewarded for exposing their treason, possibly gaining a higher security clearance (denoted by color- the ROY-G-BIV scale of visible light applies here, with Infrareds at the bottom and Ultraviolets (High Programmers) at the top.) More importantly, it will prevent them from being able to expose you. And they do want to expose you.

This is the game where each character gets five extra "clones" of himself, because the mortality rate is that high. The GM is encouraged to ignore the rules, and ruleslawyering- or even demonstrating knowledge of rules that only the Gamemaster should know- is treason. Missions are wild goose chases, their goals quickly subsumed by the agendas of the players (even (especially) if those agendas consist of little more than "reduce your teammates to vapor.") There's a lot more to it than this, but you're basically up to speed.

So, that's basically it in a nutshell. The Computer is your friend. The Computer is crazy. The Computer wants you to be happy. This will drive you crazy.

[haas mark]

Dude, that game sounds sweet. Probably couldn't convince friends to play it, however.

[White Haven]

Getting flashback's to Nepthys's Paranoia game...she actually threw Len-I-NNN at us. Paranoia's awesome...not something you can play every day, but hilariously fun. Course Friend Computer incinerated us all in the end, but such is life.

[haas mark]

Regardless, though, can we get back to DM tips for D&D please?

[Eleas]

Regardless, though, can we get back to DM tips for D&D please?

Yes. My next tip is to have fun. If you're not, then something is wrong somethere.

[Rogue 9]

As for dice rolls, well, right now we play at a fuckin' Denny's so yeah, screens are out of the question. Luckily, I'm not ending up DMing for a dozen players anymore. O.o (Don't ask how THAT happened.)

Been there. Done that. Have the 'Nam-esque flashbacks.

Same. *Shudder.*

Yes. Railroading is bad. I don't even come up with more than a basic plot anymore. Good players will steer the story along themselves, and you can either go with the flow, planning only one or two sessions in advance, or you can constantly battle with them, trying to force them along your pre-determined path. If you choose option #1, they will think you're a genius for incorporating their ideas so integrally into the story, and you won't have to work nearly as hard.

What I do is simply build the adventure site and let the players come to it if they want. If they don't, I grab one out of my folder o' previously created scenarios and have them run into it. I also establish what's where in the campaign world; if a 5th level party decides to skip out on what they're supposed to be doing to invade Larloch's Crypt, they all die. They knew what was in there going in, and if they didn't they should have. They all know that's how I run things, and they always get a chance to back out, but if they plow ahead, I play it by the dice.

[White Haven]

From my own experiences on both sides of the DM screen (Albeit not D&D), the number one thing I'd tell you is to have contingency plans set up. If the players turn left instead of right, know what's down that path. If, rather than running from the Orc horde, they lay an ambush and cut them apart with bowfire from an elevated position, know what it would mean that that Orc patrol never reported back. It's a hell of a lot of work, but I've broken expectations in odd ways before, and it's always clear who's ready with alternatives, and who's not.

[Kuja]

Time for Kuja to reach into the depths of his brain and drag out some ramble that's moderately on-topic, offers a few kernals of decent advice, provides lots of useless examples, and bolds the important stuff.

Kuja's Guide to Being God.

Don't Railroad. Notice how I bolded that? I can't stress it enough. Don't try to clamp down on your players. I guarantee that the more you try to get them to dance to your tune, the more they'll try to buck your authority.

Along the same lines is, if you make a bad decision, roll with it. I had a DM once grant a +7 tower shield to a character who died later in the game session. When I picked it up and strapped it to my back with the intent of selling it off, he decided it would grant the party way more gold than he was prepared to let us have. So, giving me a spot check to see what's going on, he had a spirit suddenly appear, yank the tower shield, and vanish with it. Cue 15 minutes of annoyed people playing D&D as sullenly as they can. And we never played that game again.

See, it wasn't so much the fact that he did it as A. it was his decision to let the guy have the shield in the first place and B. he didn't give anyone a realistic chance of stopping it. As a result, we all felt cheated.

Never let anyone see your dice rolls. Ever. DMs are the only people who, upon rolling something horrendously bad, can decide to fudge it and make it something more able to be dealt with. Say your rolling for enemies in a dungeon, with an uber-boss at the end. Then one of your rolls turns up as a creature more powerful than the boss. You can just say 'screw it' and make it something more mundane.

It is ok to announce the results of your rolls if you want to. It can be amusing to watch the relief cross a player's face when you tell him that the red dragon's claw missed. On the other hand, if your enemies are landing a lot of blows, feel free to announce hit after hit after hit and watch the tension rise. But never, ever let anyone watch you roll. Get a DM screen, or barring that, roll behind an upright book.

Beware of Leeroy Jenkins. It's happened more times than I care to remember. A group is planning their next move when somebody gets tired of waiting, kicks down a door, and initiates combat when nobody's ready. Although it doesn't affect you much, this can easily set off a civil war in the party. If it happens repeatedly, set up more vicious traps. Remember, recklessness is not a good thing, and neither is a party ready to tear itself apart.

People who make the same character over and over. I once had a friend who played a half-orc barbarian. When that character died, he came back as a half-orc barbarian. When that one died, he came back as a half-orc fighter/barbarian. You get the idea. Try to limit this by encouraging players to change their race or class, if not both, when they die. This at least changes the makeup of the party and encourages a greater depth of role-playing.

Don't play favorites. Ever. Players can sense when you're doing it and can turn on your buddy like a pack of wolves. I had a DM whose brother played a gnome bard. He consistantly found the best treasure, got in the least amount of trouble, made the most friends, and picked the right solutions to dungeon puzzles. This went on until two of the players in the game approached the DM and threatened to quit his games permenantly unless he stopped favoring his brother. He stopped.

Don't make characters feel left out. There is no quicker way to make a player feel disgruntled than by making him feel his chracter doesn't matter. Say you have a lawful character in a party full of chaotic ones. The chaotic folks work out some city rule-breaking plan that will solve a puzzle they're facing. The lawful character warns them of the consequences and offers his own. They decide to go with theirs. It works perfectly. This happens over and over. Pretty soon the lawful character isn't too happy with things. Why? Not only is the party going against his instincts, there's no reason for him to BE lawful. Why should he be? Being chaotic always works. You've essentially allowed the rug to be swept out from under him. So switch things up. Have a scenario where the chaotic characters end up getting arrested for their scheme and the lawful character bail them out. Balance things.

It's OK to powergame. You let your PCs get their hands on some uber equipment or a lot of cash. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it happened. Well, let 'em use it. Let them enjoy the feeling of power they'll no doubt get from it. Just be sure to adjust your monsters accordingly. Making players fight for scraps for weeks straight with not a reward in sight was a good way to end a game prematurely.

You are the DM. You are God. You decide what gets into the game and what doesn't. If you want to be expansionist and allow races, classes, and equipment from all the different D&D books, go ahead. If you want to section all of the extras off and only stick with the basics, do that too. I had a DM who only used three books: the DM Guide, the Player's Manual, and the Monster Manual, allowing nothing else. We still enjoyed his campaigns. Just remember that the more books you allow, the more you'll need to know and remember to keep players from pulling a fast one on you.

Along these lines are alignment and race restrictions. Although allowing PCs to be any alignment they choose can lead to some interesting characters, it can also make for a major headache as the Lawful Goods and Neutral Evils begin to butt heads hard and repeatedly. If your games are being consumed by good vs evil in PVP, you might want to consider barring players from starting with an evil alignment. After all, there's no core class that requires it. As for race, be very careful about sectioning off the basic races. I had a DM to once decided to bar half-orcs and half-elves. The result was a train wreck of an argument between him and one of the players.

PVP. True PVP should be avoided if you can. Although there's nothing wrong with some ruffled feathers or an occasional argument, constant fighting between the players can lead to a major headache for you and anyone who wants to stay out of it. If there's a high turnover rate from characters killing characters, it can also lead to chaos as nonviolent party members try to keep things together. So tell players to try and make characters who'll get along. This can tie in with the idea of switching up races and classes.

Don't let rule whores push you around. 'It's in the book' can be a damn annoying line. Remember, this is YOUR world, with YOUR rules. But at the same time, if your way of thinking is hampering someone, you might want to consider going with the written word. Always try to think in terms of what's good for the game.

Make appropriate challenges. Say a character decided to take all mounted combat and spend her money on a warhorse. Try to make scenarios that will challenge her, yet let her play to her strengths. Don't suddenly send the party into a narrow cavern deep below ground where her horse can't follow. And don't follow up that quest with a battle in a castle dungeon. At the same time, you need to consider the strong points of all the different characters and try to play to the strengths of at least one. Campaigns so more quickly and become a lot more fun for everyone when players feel confidant about their characters as opposed to a feeling of 'this is out of our league'.

Tweak your monsters. This is something you can use to really shock old hands. They're been around awhile. They've seen the monsters. They know what to expect, even if their characters don't. So switch things up. I will never forget the looks on my player's faces when they discovered that the wise and beloved scholar they'd been searching for turned out to be an orc. By the same token, nobody expects a psychotic, rampaging bronze dragon to be opposed by a noble Mindflayer. Remember, it's your world. Shake things up. 'Always' and 'never' should not be in your vocabulary.

When all else fails, Keep it Simple, Stupid. Although D&D encourages creativity, sometimes things can go to far. If you find yourself speanding a half hour figuring out the result of one bad dice roll, it's too much. Try to keep things moving. Don't let players get bored, because bored players have no focus.

Unlike what WeeMadAndo said, your goal is not to kill your players. If a DM sets out with the intention of killing the PCs, he will succeed and nobody will go home happy. You goal is to challenge your players. Throw obstacles at them, twist them, surprise them. But never make players feel impotent. Then you're railroading them and that never goes anywhere good.


Well, that's largely all I can think of at the moment, so this long-ass ramble is over. Happy trails!

[haas mark]

Holy shit, Kuj, that's a lot of good info there. Thank you very much.

By the way, just in case anyone else would want to keep this kind of information, any chance of stickifying or something? Or linked in the resource thread?

[Imperial Overlord]

Lots of good stuff here. I will add one addendum of my own.

Sometimes you need to prod your players forward by introducing a new element or having something happening. This isn't railroading and you should feel free to do it.