DM Tips to other DMs

[Lost One]

Well, basically, as the title suggests, I started this thread for DMs to give other DMs tips of their own for successful adventures - elements that players have enjoyed receiving from you (if you are a player, you may also contribute, if you wish).
Well, here goes my contribution anyway of what I think helps a game to be successful (perhaps not what you'd expect):
1. Always have the munchies ready, starving players end up not thinking straight and do stupid things (like freeing demons )
2. Never keep the players up for too long playing, unless every single one of them are keen - as soon as you get one player sleeping at 2 am - the excitement tends to break down.
3. No hack 'n slash. (I always tell my players to go play Diablo if they want that kind of thing).
4. Add optional mini quests (actually, this is an idea I should've used before, but I'm gonna try this weekend - instead of leading the players one-way all the time, offer 'em mini quests so they don't feel they're being dragged along one particular adventure).
5. Award individual XP for good role-playing, wise-cracking....
6. Punch the players hard on their fragile noses if they speak OOC too much.
7. Kick 'em in the nuts if they start becoming too annoying.
8. Ignore 6 & 7 if you're a pacifist DM (I'm not)

Well, anyone got any extra tips (be more specific if you want).
I particularly wanted to know how to DM high-level characters, because that situation is fast approaching & things become extra complicated (lotta magic, ugh )

[Craig]

9.Meet OOC(Campaign, not character) to see what they want out of the game.
10.High level character have lots of magic.

[Obike Fixx]

Wonderfull tread! I am quite new at being a DM, but the players tend to like my games. I haven't got any tips, but I certainly will use your tips.



Good tread!

[Xyx]

Make it clear beyond all doubt that you're not The Enemy(TM) but there to provide fun.

Be fair. And very strict.

Be prepared. Read stuff through in advance and think about it.

[Aramant]

11. Should a player become too powerful, and they start getting abusive towards other characters, feel free to have an ancient dragon spontaneously die of old age while flying directly above said character.

[Craig]

12. Think before you say anything.
13.Go over newbies powers, instead of hinting in game...

[Trefor]

I usually go into a session with a map, a vague idea about encounters and a couple of set pieces.

After that I generally wing it. My main tips in this are.

The dice and the rule books are nice guidelines for the DM, don't be too stuck on them. I always roll the dice out of sight, and I will allow things to happen out of dramatic licence or even just because they sound fun.

If the players get off the beaten track, there are ways to move them back to the story whether subtle (omens are good for religeous characters) or less so, sometimes I just hold up a piece of paper with the words 'PLOT DEVICE' printed on it in large friendly letters.

In a fight you should be aiming to frighten them, not kill them, this can easily be achieved by massaging the dice roll (OK lying), if you've got the right kind of numbers or level of monsters this can be done fairly subtly (although as our group have been together for nearly twenty years, they understand what's going on behind my screens.

Make stuff up, new spells, new items, new monsters; mix it up keep it interesting. The most dangerous foes that your party can meet is a group of NPC adventurers on an opposing mission.

Don't be the only DM in the group, variety is after all the spice of life, and eventually, they'll get fed up with the sound of your voice.


That works for us oldies (we're all in our 30s and 40s). Frankly there's nothing we like better than a hackfest dungeon crawl with loads of monsters and outrageous amouts of treasure.

[HighLordDave]

Originally posted by Lost One
1. Always have the munchies ready, starving players end up not thinking straight and do stupid things (like freeing demons )

When I DM a game, I never provide food; that's the players's responsibility. I run the game, but they have to bring the refreshments. On the flip side, when I'm playing, I always bring the DM's favourite beverage plus enough snacks to last for the session.

Other miscellaneous advice:

• If you are bored with one section of the adventure, chances are that your players are, too.
• The DM should be basically invisible in the story of the game. It's not a contest of you versus the players. The DM facilitates the adventure, he doesn't run it. If your players succeed in a quest, share in their glory. If they fail, it's not your place to gloat.
  
  The DM helps the PCs tell a story. Although you control everything that happens in the game, it's not about you; it's about the characters and their story. As the DM, I want my players to overcome all of the obstacles that I put in front of them and I want them to feel pride in their accomplishments. Most of all, I want everyone to have RPG stories we can tell over and over years later because we all shared a common adventure, no matter which seat we were sitting in.
• Always provide the players with an out. If they get themselves in over their heads, teach them a lesson by having the PCs get captured or beaten down, don't kill them.
• Characters should only die three ways: Through really bad die rolls, sheer stupidity or self-sacrifice. DM's don't kill characters; dice and players kill characters.
• Having said that, in a balanced campaign, half of the party should either die or be brought to the brink of death. The DM's job is to challenge the players and make them solve problems creatively. Players should ultimately succeed, but you don't have to make it easy for them. Think of the good boss characters in BG2 or the IWD series. How many times did you have to reload before beating them? There are no reloads in a PNP game, but that doesn't mean that the players will succeed at sneaking into a castle jail or dragon's lair on the first try or without injury.
  
  PCs are a cut above the average peasant so they should walk all over goblins and flunkie guards. However, every now and then they need to meet their matches and pay a sometimes hefty price for their success. As a player, there is nothing I hate more than getting anything and everything without effort. I love to be made to think on the fly and come up with new, unorthodox solutions to problems and challenges. Make your party earn that rune sword and they'll appreciate it that much more. Often, it's not the destination, but the journey.
• Use recurring villains who are just as creative and powerful as your party. What would Charles Xavier be without Magneto to oppose him? Or Superman without Lex Luthor? For every hero there must be a nemesis. Let the players kill the flunkies, but have the villains escape. As the players increase in power, sho should the bad guys. Make your campaign a series of story arcs, not a bunch of sword-bashing bloodfests.
• As our friend Xyx said earlier, be fair. This is perhaps the most important aspect to being a good DM. Not only does it mean not favouring one player over another, but it means listening to the players's interpretations of the rules, hearing them out and sometimes going with what they say. Without players, a DM is useless. The DM has the final say in all matters, but all of the good DMs I know are judicious and equitable.
  
  
• Have fun.

[Ned Flanders]

Most good measures to running a solid and fun campaign have already been pointed out. I have a couple of things to add although it's been almost ten years since I've DM'ed or played any PnP DnD.

I ran campaigns for about five years in the world of the Forgotten Realms and before that for about four years in the world of krynn. One element that always got players really into things was to introduce specific characters and locales they may have encountered in reading novels of the various realms in which we played. Given something the players could relate to allowed them to really touch base with the adventures we were creating.

Second, I'd recommend at all points during a campaign, preferably each session, to find the opportunities for long breaks which serve a dual purpose:

1. Give the players a break to munch, go to the can, chat about things, whatever, it's healthy and
2. During this time, take the opportunity to do some DMing one on one. A lot of times, if something happens you only intend for one player to hear, it comes in the form of passed notes. Use these long breaks to expound on some of this 'secret info' intended for one character by playing one on one. I've often found it allows the player to get more into his character and perhaps even find a little identity for the character. This often assisted in group play as well as with the entire group around sometimes it becomes difficult to develop individuality with each PC.

Alas, I sure miss running campaigns.

[fable]

Be flexible. Use the rules, don't let them use you. If your players' party has had miserable luck with die rolls throughout an entire session, spontaneously invent bits of good luck they encounter, or replace the negligible contents of one chest with an item that will perk them up (without letting them know what you're doing, of course).

Be thorough. Don't just drop a party of gnolls in front of your players. Give the gnolls a reason for being there. If they just marched there, where did they march from? What did they encounter along the way? Did they leave any clues of their presence behind? Are they staying, or where are they going; and while they're around, what kind of encampment did they create? How many gnolls are guarding, and are they just standing there, or patrolling?

Be inventive. That next lich your party meets--does he really have to howl at them, cast spells and summon further evil? Couldn't he be a former scholar pitifully happy about getting a bit of company? Does every dark sorceror have to be out to kill, rather than make deals (and even keep 'em)? "Good" and "evil" are more entertaining when players are forced to make decisions that aren't easy, choosing among options that aren't clear cut.

[Craig]

Plan shops out.

Simple?

[Awaken]

muh

muh!
Give your dungeon a 90 percent kill chance...you will only be DM for two sessions

Always make up a good story, and never make rude mistakes, like letting appear people that died one hour ago (unless they are raised )

Never feel sorry for a player. Faults they make are their mistake, and you only react appropriately

DEMAND a good background for the PC´s that makes playing lots more fun, and easier for you to DM

Never ever handle out to much XP, it´s the most costly thing in the D&D game...

Make sure every player can use it´s ability, so don´t create a non magical world, were magic is uneffective, if you have a party of four wizards

Read lots of fantasy books..if you haven´t read the Lord of the rings and the Silmarillion, you shouldn´t be a DM!!

Include humor in your dungeons.. the more fun the better..!!

God bless you and happy playing (Bob Ross saying)

[fable]

Evaluate constantly, and be prepared to alter the gameplan at a moment's notice if whatever you created is has run into a snag, or is not entertaining the players. Of course, don't let them know that you're changing things on-the-fly. A good DM keeps their cards held closely to their chest. But if your party seems extremely interested in a series of red herrings that look like they're going to stretch out forever instead of the main quest, throw in a hint leading to the main quest, or (if necessary) an event that forces them towards the quest.

[Sucineri]

I am new to the PNP game, but I have played with 3 entirely different DMs.

First DM seems to have things relatively planned out and if someone wants to wander away from the party he tries his best to work 2 stories and tries to turn the wanderer back to the group somehow. And with him it is a lot about strategizing and actually playing the game with certain boundries, like a halfling rogue can't jump from one wall to another wall to 50 feet down the hallway and back in one round, it isn't physically possible unless it is hasted, has spider climb, and possible fly.

Second DM doesn't really give a crap what anyone does and it is all about talking to eachother and maybe one in ten games there is a fight, but a very easy one and everyone is pissed off for not actually doing anything in the game, but it is only fun because he awards xps mainly for RP.

Third DM blatantly tells players they are wrong if they don't do everything his way, like he is controlling both the players and being the DM at the same time.

The point of all this is to say..have things planned out with a bit of flexibility incase they don't want to just go into a dungeon hackfest so they can talk to eachother, make fun of eachother.
If you kill something you should get XPs, if you make people laugh for something you did IC you should get XPs.

NEVER tell a player they are flat out wrong if they don't play how you want them to play. (ex. 18 INT and WIS does not mean you can't have a personality and fool around and be generally stupid if you feel like it..you know better, but you don't have to follow those feelings.) Let me tell you the story about why I gave that example...
I played a dwarven cleric that had high int/wis/cha and he was in a bar and entered a drinking contest since he could hold his alchohol and he wanted the money to go to his temple, so one mysterious stranger entered the contest and offered to do shots with fey wine or something like that and the result of that was my cleric got very drunk, and lost the taste of all mortal alchohol. Well that was all fine but then after awhile the cleric was sober again (a long while after so I could do stuff I wouldn't normally do being a level headed cleric of a goodly aligned deity) and he went back to the bar to get a beer and he hated it, then he had something else and hated it, then something else and so on. Then after awhile he was crying like a baby because he couldn't drink anymore and enjoy it. Well, the DM got pissed off that my cleric was crying because he didn't think that one with high int/wis/cha would ever do such a thing. He didn't take into account that when people even in real life get depressed they do stupid things no matter how smart they are when they aren't depressed. And it ruined the game for me when playing with him as a DM or a player. Now whenever I play with him he calls me stupid because I am not playing exactly to his standards.

I will say it again..NEVER call someone stupid for them not doing what YOU would have done.

[Qurath]

The biggest bit of advice I can offer is that the Players should be the major protagonists and the story should revolve around them and their deeds. The most frustrating thing as a player is to have to sit back and watch NPC's thrash the bad guys again.


Also be prepared to change even the most prepared plot if the characters do something you hadn't anticipated. (like roling a 1 when trying to disable a portal )

I like making the players have a background for their characters it gets them more attached to them.

[Rudar Dimble]

The DM has to find a balance between planning and improvising (don't know whether this is proper english ).

If you plan too much and players are doing something unexpected (remember they are humans, no machines) your campaign could be ruined.

If you don't plan at all, the story becomes confusing and not credible.

This balance can only be found by practise, practise and some more practise.

And remember, the goal of playing is:
HAVING FUN!!!! Give the players what they want. (high-level vs. low-level, rpg vs. lots of fights, etc)

[golem]

I have been a DM for seven years, a busy one, and I have seen many different kinds of players.

The main rule when DMing a game is this: Do not forget that your players are sentient human beings who reflect their personalities in their characters. I know a player who never played anything but a warrior for five years. This has several important effects in a session.

Also players are inclined to deter from the main plot continuosly. So my advice is 'never plan every part of your game'. This requires deep knowledge of the setting in which you play. (Somethings are not easy ) Only then you can handle every instant action the players take.

Core rules are just guidelines. Never stuck to them, 'cos they can not handle every situation you encounter.

Remember to behave TRUE NEUTRAL to your players. Do not be so harsh, also not so merciful. Punish them if they deserve. Mighty heroes are not found so often anyway

In short players are naughty people who keep on destroying your plans It just takes a little time to get used to handle them well.

One last thing: Experience is everything

[Tael_nightwolf]

I really think these tips will help out in my DMing perfetion since I am just beginning DMing

[Craig]

When planning you adventures calculate the levels of you players, whether or not they go up.

[Kevka]

Try to involve everyone who's playing. I had quiet players in the past who won't do anything unless instruted. It gets really irritating.

I also get lots of Munchkin players, who's sole purpose is to be the most powerful player. I don't tolorate that. First I warn them, then I send my "specail Wraith". Munckin players are not afraid of death, but level draining. They will cak there pants just thinking of being a level behind every one else.