Tumgik
#DM tips
Text
Tumblr media
DM Tip: Creating a Campaign Skeleton
Learning to be a better dungeonmaster was a protracted process. A younger me was often so stressed out by the desire to be a better artist that I'd have legitimately mauled a person if it would've revealed to me the wisdom I sought (with my hands or even an actual maul given the chance).
One of my biggest hurdles was the idea of a universal framework for d&d adventures, a guideline that would tell me if the things I was creating were on the right track. It was sorely needed, I loved the process of being creative but without an understanding of how my creative energy was best used I ended up sinking days, weeks, or even months worth of energy into projects that went nowhere. Worse yet, when I DID get a chance to put my ideas into practice at the table they'd frequently spiral out of control and crash, resulting in even more stress.
Over time I learned from these mistakes, I got better, and then I got good. I moved from conscious incompetence to competence, and I ended up having a run of absolutely stellar campaigns that were everything my younger self could have dreamed of: stable, enjoyable, meaningful, and most importantly an absolute delight to my players. Routinely I'd have people, including folks that'd only played with me a few times, mention that getting together to roll dice and listen to me babel on in silly voices was a highlight of their week.
It was as one of these campaigns began to wind down (three years! a satisfying conclusion on the horizon!) and I started looking for a followup scenario that I decided to study all my really successful campaigns and figure out what connected them. The end result was something I'd been looking for for nearly a decade, a reliable format that I could build campaigns around.
I want to preface this section with the understanding that while this information is laid out in a vaguely chronological fashion there's no guarantee that these ideas will occur to you in any particular order. Inspiration is a funny thing, and each idea flows into the others to make a cohesive whole. Due to foreshadowing and setup reasons you're also going to need a pretty solid idea about all of these when starting a campaign, though exact details will likely change/ can be vague up until the moment they're needed.
The Reason: Who are we and what are we doing?
Gives your players a solid background to build their characters around and give them a reason to travel together, rather than having to ad lib one on the spot. Likewise sets expectations of what the campaign is "about" that you can build on or subvert in time. The reason doesn't need to hold true for the entire game, just long enough to serve as a framing device. EG: The Witcher starts out as a "monster of the week" setup and then uses that framework to pivot into politics and prophecy once we've seen the premise play out.
The Pilot/Crashtest Adventure: What's first?
I’ve already written about these, but the general concept is to give your party a mostly contained first outing that doesn’t have any larger bearing on the plot so they can focus on learning how their characters play/building the party dynamic.  By the time the party's finished this first adventure they'll have already started putting down roots in the world: they'll have in jokes, npcs they've started to care about, an understanding of what's on the horizon, and an idea of where they want to go next.
The Central Gameplay Pillar: How does this all work?
It's important to have an idea what your campaign is going to be about in a mechanical sense in addition to its plot and themes. There is a difference between an adventure that has the party delve a dungeon, and a dungeoncrawling focused campaign. I like to lead with these outright during the campaign pitch so that players can know what they're getting into. Your playgroup will likely have strong opinions about what they like and dislike, even if they don't have the words to describe it, so you might need to explain the ideas for them.
The Hub: Where are we?
I think every good campaign has a hub, some kind of settlement that the party returns to between adventures to offload loot, pick up supplies, and sift through the latest gossip to look for the next questhook. Letting the party return to the same place lets them build up a relationship with it, clarifying the picture in their mind as new details are added and they grow more and more attached. It's possible to have multiple hubs over the course of a campaign, but I'd advise really only having one per arc to best concentrate your efforts. Fill up your hub with distractions and side adventures, shorter stories that the party can get tangled up in while the larger adventure slowly reveals itself. Returning to the same hub also means returning to a familiar and expanding cast of NPCs, which helps your party become more and more invested in the setting
The Main Event: What's going to happen?
Here we get to the meat of the issue, the big story you want to be telling using this campaign. To pull off the sick narrative kickflip you wish to perform, you're going to need to lay a lot of groundwork, seeding in details left and right as well as giving the party a chance to stumble across evidence of your schemes without ever realizing the whole thing. To do this, you're going to work in the building blocks of your big reveal/twist/pending disaster into the setting along with those side adventures from the hub. This will give your party an idea that something is going on, but with more pressing matters to take care of they're going to be distracted up until the moment you decide to pull the trigger.
The Setting: What's over there?
While things like genre and tone are definitely things you should have a handle on from the outset, I personally feel like the details of a setting are best constructed on an ad hoc basis, either in a direct response to something required by part of the narrative (be it side story or main event), or pencilled in at the margins as the party explores the world.. That said, creation of the hub and setting often go hand in hand because it's important to match the settlement to the environment and then shape the environment to the quests inside the settlement. As for what's beyond your hub, I happen to have just written something about building out settings.
Now, this next option is one that I recommend you start thinking about only once your campaign is fully underway, so it doesn't clog up your creative process by focusing on something that you might not even get to
The Change: What the fuck?
A little while after the main event has kicked off and your party is off on the quest that will turn them from mere adventurers into heroes, they start to hear rumours of strange happenings. It's certainly not related to the present scenario, it may even be an unexpected windfall, but it's not something they have time to look into. Time ticks on, the land is saved, and the party is able to enjoy their victory lap as well as some dearly needed time off. Before they can get comfortable however they're slammed by some strange occurrence that they could have never predicted that changes the state of the world. A neighbouring kingdom invades, an important ally is murdered and they're blamed for it, a dragon starts rampaging through the realm. Its important that this event is outside the party's skillset, not necessarily diametrically opposed, but counter to what they were planning
artsource
213 notes · View notes
sschmendrick · 2 months
Text
Every time I look at how to create a world for a campaign or just plan a campaign on the internet you usually get : start small with the town and maybe the few places around, you don't need to know everything about the world to start the campaign.
However what if your players want to create characters that come from beyond that place. You'll need to tell them what the world is like, what others kingdoms and lands there are and what is happening in there for them to be able to put their character in there and know what is going on so they have some guidelines about the world's alliances etc ?
How do you do ? (Also if I'm looking at it wrong please tell me I am but an aspiring DM)
377 notes · View notes
quantumblog · 8 months
Text
Brennan Lee Mulligan on TPKs
"The easiest feeling of dread I feel as a dungeon master is in a difficult combat when players start changing their mind turn to turn about what the overall strategy is. That has presaged every TPK I've ever seen. The only times that all the players get wiped out is when someone's like 'We gotta run' and they spend their turn runninng, and the next person is like 'I'm gonna follow them' and the third person says 'Shit, the artifact! I'm gonna swing twice and get the artifact' and then person number four goes 'Are we staying or are we running? I'm gonna cast a spell to try to pull the artifact, OK they saved, shit umm, I'm gonna move into this hedge for better cover for next round' and the first person is like 'Next round?! Well I'm gonna run back then!' and now you're blowing your action economy, and the damage is piling up, and that's when people die."
Worlds Beyond Number Fireside Chat for WWW ep11 "Promises Promises"
933 notes · View notes
cantmoveheaven · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
made these for my players! half of them are brand new and I'm trying to make the barrier to entry as low as possible for them
feel free to use, these can be sent digitally or printed (designed to be approx business card sized)
205 notes · View notes
geekghoulsmash · 1 year
Text
Just a friendly reminder for DMs: Many brands of wrapping paper has a 1x1in grid on the back, the perfect size for d&d maps, and all the holiday paper is currently on sale
947 notes · View notes
swordshapedleaves · 2 years
Text
This is I think, my best prep tip as a DM:
When the players are about to visit a new town, pre-generate several NPCs who fit the demographics of the town, but don't give them jobs. Your town is Mostly human, with a number of halflings and gnomes? Make a list that's mostly humans with some halflings and gnomes mixed in, with names that match the vibe you're going for and maybe the barest description + a quirk of some sort.
So the list would look something like this:
Ophelia Bracegurdle, older Halfling woman who laughs a lot
Norabecka Johnson, a young human woman who seems tired
Geraldofinio Babblecock Nimsy, gnome gentleman who takes pains to maintain a fabulous mustache
Etc.
Then, when the players are like, "Can I go to the blacksmith?" You look at your list of NPCs and the one at the top is Ophelia Bracegurdle. She's your blacksmith now. Then they want to go to the tavern, where Norabecka is the innkeeper and Geraldofinio is a patron having a drink at the bar. He's using a straw so he doesn't mess up his mustache.
If they had gone to the inn first, Ophelia would have been the innkeeper with Norabecka as the patron, and then Geraldofinio should have been a blacksmith with some sort of mustache guard to keep the sparks off.
Making the list ahead of time doesn't take much time, and you can often re-use the people you never got to at the next town.
Your world will seem vibrant and interesting and like you have everything planned out.
Have fun!
3K notes · View notes
oldschoolfrp · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media
Roleplaying tip: Use props to get into character and keep players excited and engaged (The Bot Abusers Manual, supplement for Paranoia, West End Games, 1992; interior art credited to Rob Caswell with Michael Vilardi)
203 notes · View notes
jillybeanjoy · 2 years
Text
Guys! I cracked the code! I wish I had any followers to share this magic revelation I had!
In D&D I love being a DM. I really do. With one exception.
Money.
Knowing how much a character should buy or sell something for is just way out of my grasp. For a rare item the price can be anywhere between five hundred and five THOUSAND. That’s a big difference! How am I supposed to know in between those two numbers what it should be?
I googled. And googled. And googled. Thinking *there must be a better way* and couldn’t find a single thing that made sense. Well me and two other DM friends got together and we figured it out. The magic system of pricing.
So first you take the pricing by magic item rarity in the DMG
Tumblr media
Then you go to Xanathars and look at the Magic Item Tables to determine if the item is major or minor
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Divide the prices in the rarity into major and minor. Major the higher half and minor the lower.
So that makes
Rare Minor - 500 - 2,500
Rare Major - 2,501 - 5,000
Very Rare Minor - 5,001 - 30,000
Very Rare Major - 30,001 - 50,000
Legendary Minor - 50,000 - 300,000
Legendary Major - 300,000 - 500,000
Then
THEN
It’s all up to a persuasion roll. Because let’s face it, what’s a fantasy shopping adventure of magic items without bartering and haggling?
So you divide the amounts into roll milestones. So a persuasion roll of 0-10 you pay the highest and 20+ you pay the lowest.
Like so:
Common Items: 1d6 x 10
Uncommon Items 1d6 x 100
Rare Minor:
0-9: 2,500
10-11: 2,100
12-14: 1,700
15-17: 1,300
18-19: 900
20+ : 500
Rare Major
0-9: 5,000
10-11: 4,600
12-14: 4,200
15-17: 3,800
18-19: 3,200
20+: 2,500
Very Rare Minor
0-9: 30,000
10-11: 25,000
12-14: 20,000
15-17: 15,000
18-19: 10,000
20+ : 5,000
Very Rare Major
0-9: 50,000
10-11: 45,000
12-14: 40,000
15-17: 35,000
18-19: 30,000
20+ : 25,000
Legendary
0-9: 250,000
10-11: 200,000
12-14: 150,000
15-17: 100,000
18+ : 50,000
Legendary Major
0-9: 500,000
10-11: 450,000
12-14: 400,000
15-17: 350,000
18-19: 300,000
20+ : 250,000
Seriously someone who is followed by a lot of D&D people find this shit and spread it! It’s so much easier and makes a million times more sense then anything I ever heard of before and i wish someone else would have thought of it sooner (or if someone else did that I had found it sooner)
1K notes · View notes
sheepintheastralsea · 11 months
Text
if you are a dungeon master (or even a fantasy author/worldbuilder of any kind) and you don’t know about donjon let me make your life a million times easier
want to make a fantasy calendar with your own year-lengths, weeks, months, and lunar cycles? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/calendar/
need to come up with some medieval town demographics? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/demographics/
want to make a map and layout of a city/town? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/town/
want a fleshed-out tavern complete with menu, innkeeper, patrons, rumors, and secrets? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/inn/
leading your players through a dungeon and want to customize the size, treasure, layout, theme, etc? https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/dungeon/
tired of creating lists of magic items for different shops to sell, or hoards to be looted? https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/magic/shop.html and https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/treasure/
even a customizable initiative tracker! https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/initiative/
and that’s only scratching the surface! I really recommend all dms check this out. oh, and it’s completely free!
371 notes · View notes
fun dm tip
if your players roll a perception check and ask "is there a [insert specific thing that I definitely didn't design but go off queen] nearby"
say
yes
always
134 notes · View notes
dingodoodles · 11 months
Video
youtube
AAAWWW DANNNGGG Another Felix tips video animated by our talented friend Vitamin Ditter This ones to help improv your way out of things as a DM (I personally needed this advice ;u;)
193 notes · View notes
tigers1o1 · 9 days
Text
If you had say in the creation of a dnd podcast campaign, what type of representation would be important to you? In terms of NPCs specifically. Like- races or disabilities or lgbt characters. But like SPECIFICALLY what would you add in.
Like for me- Characters with lazy eyes. Bc i have one, and there is almost more rep, and the rep there is, is a fucking joke.
37 notes · View notes
quinnyyyleft · 6 months
Text
DM Pro tip - the "Recap" at the beginning of your session is your excuse to be EXTREMELY passive aggressive to your players and what they DIDN'T do.
87 notes · View notes
craigofinspiration · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
what do you think?
pointsofinspiration.com
90 notes · View notes
cloaksandcapes · 9 months
Text
DM\GM Tip on Roleplaying Stuff
🎲 GMs, there’s always a way to say yes to what the player wants to do.
🎭 Roleplay isn’t always about getting what you want but being given the chance to try and it doesn’t mean success is always possible. 💪 I once had a Barbarian whose whole purpose was to fight the biggest things he could find.
🌋 The first time he saw a Volcano, he wanted to fight it. Both me and the player knew that wasn't possible. But I gave him the chance to play this out.
He attempted to scale the side while his party looked on, dumbfounded. He eventually fell...multiple times. Until he swore, he would return when he was stronger to exact revenge. Sometimes players will want to do things and not understand that it's not possible yet -- could be due to power levels, influence, ect.
🧙‍♀️ Don't just deny them the opportunity. Talk, communicate expectations and give them chances to work towards those goals.
111 notes · View notes
dungeons-and-dictions · 7 months
Text
DM Tip to help a shy party:
Have your characters send you 2 truths and a lie. Then spread them via NPCs and/or give them to other players as rumors.
This has worked at my table to jumpstart roleplaying, especially as players try to prove or disprove rumors about themselves.
60 notes · View notes