DnD Dm'ing

[Sviests]

First off, I would like to mention that I wrote this through my phone, so there can be typos.

I'll try to make it short. I'm having a dnd session this sunday. I have been preparing, writing the scenario, encounters and riddles. Any ideas to make my session memorable, awesome and also fun? (I hope this is in the right place, DnD is kinda gaming)

 

[Axolotl]

How proficient are you and the players with the rules?

 

[Koeryn]

Most important thing I've found is not to try and force players to follow YOUR story. Play off of their actions, and they'll usually do the story you've planned. Of course, players never EVER do ANYTHING the way you planned for them to do, so just have fun and expect to make stuff up onj the fly. =p

 

[Nightfalke]

Read DM of the Rings [http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612].

Don't do that.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

Be an utter bastard, and the players will remember you forever.

 

[CIA]

Prepare to make lots of shit up on the spot.

Once I had an enemy zombie with a sword that had explosives runes on it. I made the players make spot checks every time he attacked. Feel free to steal that. That poor monk and his insanely high wisdom score.

 

[Batfred]

Be prepared to wing it to get your players back onto your rails. The best DMs in my experience manage to let us do what we want (the best was when we burnt, killed shit and extorted money), but made sure that we stayed on his storyline.

Best. Campiagn. Ever!

 

[Actual]

Get very drunk and stoned.

Get naked.

Play DnD.

It will be the greatest night of your life.

Get your players drunk and stoned.

Get naked.

Play with yourself.

You won't be invited back.


Seriously: just be willing to think on your feet, make rules up as you go along. Be excitable, you're telling a story not just read rules and stats out for them. And the hardest thing; try and get them to push the story a little rather than expecting you to do all the work. This is hardest with noob players.

 

[Axolotl]

Once I had an enemy zombie with a sword that had explosives runes on it. I made the players make spot checks every time he attacked. Feel free to steal that. That poor monk and his insanely high wisdom score.

Dont do that or anything like it. Your a story teller not their enemy. Good players will take you outside and give you a kicking for that kind of behaviour.

To put it another way. Never try to outsmart the players. But always challenge them with the unpredictable.

 

[Sampsa]

Traps. Loads of traps. It's more hilarious if you don't have an rougue. Last time my party lacked rougue and we used my monk to "disarm" all the traps by walking into them.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Hone your story-telling and Improvisational skills. Have plenty of dice and alcoholic beverages in case one player causes problems or annoyances and i assure you there WILL be at least one. Also plan some elaborate dungeons with traps galore.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

It's already been said, but I'll reiterate. Just be flexible and willing to improvise when the players don't follow your planned storyline to the letter. I've played with a few people who try to railroad the players and interest in a game like that quickly dies.

 

[ReverendJ]

Rapid fire:
1. Toys mean more if they're not handed out like candy on Halloween. My PCs give their +2 swords names. Monty Hauls get boring, quick.
2. Not everything has to be epic. Best game I ever ran was just about traveling down a road.
3. Monsters are people too. If they live somewhere, there's going to be evidence of it, like a bed, or personal effects. They might not want to jump to their slaughter after watching 6 of their friends die. Even the dumber critters (such as kobolds) know better than simple frontal assaults- get creative.
4. There's a fine line to be tread between success and failure. The PCs should not succeed at everything... no matter how much you may want them to. They may succeed in areas they shouldn't... no matter how much you DON'T want them to. Remember, it's a story, and failure works thematically. Be prepared to improvise when they throw you curveballs. Players should be rewarded for creativity, but penalized for abuses- BE CAREFUL.
5. YOU ARE THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL RULES. Brook no argument. D&D tends towards a certain adversarial relationship 'tween DM and players. Listen to your players if they question a ruling, but if you've made your decision, stick to your guns.
6. Screwing the players can be loads of fun, but you gotta be careful with it. Just as being too easy can get boring, being hamstrung at every turn will demoralize the players, they'll lose interest in the game.
7. Avoid 4th Ed.
8. Most importantly, relax and remember it's all about having fun. That's all of you.

 

[LordSphinx]

It all depends on what you've prepared. Make sure that you find the right dose between explaining where they are and what is going on, and leaving place for action. What is the most memorable is the environment in which you imagine you are.

 

[willard3]

One of the keys of being a good GM is paying attention to your players. If there's one guy who isn't the most outgoing person in the world and tends to sit back while the other players come up with all sorts of things to do, turn to that guy every so often and ask "So what do YOUR character do?"

It helps keep everyone feeling involved and not just along for the ride.

 

[Octorok]

7. Avoid 4th Ed.

Don't be that guy. Ignore this point of advice OP, and play either 4th Ed or 3.5.

I'm playing 3.5 at the moment but I am familiar with 4th edition and find it to be much more streamlined but there a lot of people who dislike it and view it as some kind of affront to 3.5 and before.

 

[Rakkana]

Space Ninjas! Everything is better with Space Ninjas.

 

[Sviests]

Rapid fire:
1. Toys mean more if they're not handed out like candy on Halloween. My PCs give their +2 swords names. Monty Hauls get boring, quick.
2. Not everything has to be epic. Best game I ever ran was just about traveling down a road.
3. Monsters are people too. If they live somewhere, there's going to be evidence of it, like a bed, or personal effects. They might not want to jump to their slaughter after watching 6 of their friends die. Even the dumber critters (such as kobolds) know better than simple frontal assaults- get creative.
4. There's a fine line to be tread between success and failure. The PCs should not succeed at everything... no matter how much you may want them to. They may succeed in areas they shouldn't... no matter how much you DON'T want them to. Remember, it's a story, and failure works thematically. Be prepared to improvise when they throw you curveballs. Players should be rewarded for creativity, but penalized for abuses- BE CAREFUL.
5. YOU ARE THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL RULES. Brook no argument. D&D tends towards a certain adversarial relationship 'tween DM and players. Listen to your players if they question a ruling, but if you've made your decision, stick to your guns.
6. Screwing the players can be loads of fun, but you gotta be careful with it. Just as being too easy can get boring, being hamstrung at every turn will demoralize the players, they'll lose interest in the game.
7. Avoid 4th Ed.
8. Most importantly, relax and remember it's all about having fun. That's all of you.

Ah, but I already broke your 7th step. Sadly, we play with 4th ed rules, and frankly get along very good.

 

[Jenova65]

Get very drunk and stoned.

Get naked.

Play DnD.

It will be the greatest night of your life.

How do you know, exactly???????

 

[Hiphophippo]

There is a lot of good advice in this thread but I'll just reitterate a couple things.

1-Never railroad your players into a plot or scenario you've planned. This is difficult not to do sometimes and is the main reason why I stopped planning shit in advance. Any more I just iron out a couple details and make up the rest of the shit on the fly. I improv well though and not everyone is able to.

2-Get excited. The more animated and excitable you are, the more they will be.

3-The players should win. Everyone knows this but it takes a skillful hand to keep your players from remembering this.

4-Avoid 4th edition. Ultimately, good friends will enjoy themselves playing any rpg because the story is what matters, but I just don't know how I feel about magic missiles missing.


What game do you play? 3.5? Old school AdnD? Let me take a moment to recommend Pathfinder to you at any rate. If you're a fan of 3.5 DnD pathfinder will seem like the second coming of rpgs to you. You'll wonder how you ever got by without it. Personally with my group, once I bought the pathfinder book we all just transcribed our 3.5 characters into it. It's best described as DnD 3.75 / What 4th edition should have been.