Dungeon Master Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started

Many new players pick on a game they heard from friends or online but never played before. While many know about roleplaying games, only a few tend to dive in to play successfully.

Typically, there are tons of games like Dungeons and Dragons in which the player decides whose hero’s role to take and explore many adventures. It’s impressive and fun, but being a DM is not as easy as you think. The player acts as the hero’s eyes, ears, at the same time their opponent, representing the threats of the world they sightsee.

Besides being a challenging game, playing DM is incredibly satisfying. The player is the god in the worlds they create, where they see and know everything. Plus, they act as a selfless saint who sacrifices their lives to enhance the game’s continuity for other players. In short, every player is noble and a great hero in the end.

Looking to start playing as a DM or want to hone your game skills? Well, you’re surfing into the right site. This article will discuss some of the dungeon master tips that will help any player get on the right hobby path.

1. Be Aware of your Inner DM

Just like in a war, there are critical things every player must always know to be the winner. In other words, the player needs to understand what kind of dungeons and dragons game they’re playing and everything else they deal with. To determine your DMing style, get to know if you are cruel or merciful, obedient to the rules or not, and if you are willing to tolerate or not.

Moreover, try to figure your strengths and weaknesses. Besides, it will be beneficial to understand how your game campaigns will be like. Informing other players how you run things will enable them to understand if that’s the kind of game they want or not. Players can be aware of their skills, limits, and a chance for growth and falling.

Therefore, they can find the best ways to tackle their challenges and uncover many ways to better themselves as they play. If you become aware of your players, the bottom line is it can be easier to cooperate with other characters and make the game run flawlessly.

2. Get to Know Your Players

The DM players don’t have to be only the enemies; they can be the ones challenging you. If you have a team of players who don’t network well with you, your game plan, or one another, then it’ll be pretty hard to enjoy DMing. When you decide to start playing any dungeon and dragons game, be sure that the players are the best fit for the task.

Similarly, if you already have an existing group of players, make sure the campaign fits them. Avoid selecting players that won’t match your DMing style and those who can’t get along with the campaigns to success. Have a maximum of 4 to 5 players for your game, though there are exceptions.

If you avoid such mistakes, you can rest assured to play peacefully and smoothly in the long run. That said, knowing who your players allow you to network and team up better for a beneficial arrangement.

3. Understand Your Game Style and Adore It

Unarguably, the DM and the players are essential, and so is the campaign itself. Without it, the two will be useless. The DM is often seen as the supreme master of the dnd gaming world. Thus, they must have excellent knowledge to support that.

In short, the DM needs to understand in-depth the mechanics and wisdom to use. The two are your noble tools. Without them, it’s like having a blind lead another blind, and this won’t be a good thing for you.

You can be pretty good at coming up with improvisations, but without a robust foundation, you’ll ruin the entire game. Players are easily susceptible to going the beaten way, and it’s your duty to inform them what they should find and perhaps give a reason why their tactic doesn’t work. By doing so, you can determine the best way to advise your players when they have to make choices that supplement the setting.

Once you the mechanics and setting of the game, there’s one critical thing you’re left with – adoring it. If you don’t care about the game, don’t expect the players to do so. Every dnd game come with their game system, campaigns, and worlds.

If you’re so passionate and ambitious, nothing will limit you from making your own. If you don’t like the one you chose, be sure to make changes like replacing or altering the NPCs, rules, places, and much more just the way you desire to enrich your world for the players. In the long run, the game will have rich players who create remarkable roleplaying experiences since the interactions tend to feel more natural for your players.

4. Clarify the Rules

It is quite common to see debates about the rules continue during the game. In other words, it’s either a player doesn’t like how specific things run or one is actively abusing a verbal gap, or the rules in play are contradicting. Being a dungeon master, you make the final say in such situations.

Whether you intend to listen to the player’s arguments and change the rules or give out a verdict on how a specific thing works, no matter how strong the player disagrees; however, such players tend to waste precious time diverts from playing the actual game.

Therefore, as the DM, make sure you sort them out and eliminate them as they pop out – you are the boss. More importantly, clarify what is good or bad and the fundamental rules to suit your game plan and let every player abide by them.

5. Call for a Session Zero

Essentially, a session zero is a scheduled session before starting a campaign to allow the players to bond together. Other than that, the players get a better chance to interact, discover dynamics and synergies together. Regardless of where a player comes from, the characters and players will work together in unison.

Moreover, the DM can observe, clarify or give hints and any helpful suggestions dedicated to preparing for the game. It is a vital session for any new DM and can ultimately help you avoid early major setbacks. Every new DM wants to play their game smoothly with all the players in a matching model.

6. Keep the Rulebook Closer to you

As a new or intermediate DM, it is obvious not to have all the game’s rules and mechanics at your fingertips. And if you do, keeping the rulebook near you pays off as you and the players can easily make references to ensure everything is in line. If you’re playing online, open and keep a tab with the guide ready. For an in-person situation, have several copies of the rulebook in your hand or on a table.

The players should not keep on asking you for everything, and as a DM, you possibly don’t have to recall every bit of special rules or edge cases. With this bit of tip, you can save a lot of time throughout the playing process and makes it faster to solve debates on rules. Mark the frequent things for easy retrieval of the rules whenever needed.

7. Add Flavor To Your Scenes

Since many dungeons and dragons games deal with narrative stories, adding narrative flavors can boost the game’s tone and feel. Try using things like a dramatic reveal, a well-paced voice accent, or providing a spontaneous description of a scene. These will help to engage the players in many ways that raw dice rolls can never do.

Interestingly, there are plenty of ways to do so which you don’t to be an actor. For instance, find some good music to play in the background and make use of different tokens. Additionally, craft physical objects or letters like handouts motivate the players to gather specific mechanical bonuses for roleplaying.

8. Be Ready for Derail

The exceptional flexibility to customize the game on the go regarding the interaction the players have with the world makes most dnd games pretty unique. And if you become foolish enough to improvise everything and come up with a decent story or progression, you’ll end up regretting it.

What it means is that all the wonderfully and thoughtfully planned material you create can disappear in seconds if the other party decides so. Therefore, have emergency plans for handling such risks by bucking up the game data and equip yourself with improvisation skills.

9. Accept Criticisms

Every game comes with its own set of criticisms from other players. As a DM, don’t get offended seeing the players raising eyebrows or behaving negatively after defeating you. It’s part of the game, and you need to know how to manage such situations and keep your head in the game.

Bonus Tips

• Be ready to spend a lot of time and focus
• Monitor your player’s status
• Don’t fear losing adventures
• Make short notes as you play