Hi! ive been a DM since early 2025 but since then i have tried to be the best DM i can be. but lately ive been feeling like im just simply not cut out for it despite really wanting to do it. i love storytelling! but i just feel like im not doing as good now.. does anyone have any tips?
One, get feed back from the players (do 1 on 1 questions to ensure that it i more honest) to determine if your lack of confidence is justified.
If the players see no issues and are having fun, then keep it up and work on your confidence and self doubt.
Everyone gets some self doubt and loses some confidence. Hopefully their answers can minimize your self doubt, if not work on that issue. I just don't know how short of a shot of courage.
I agree, having a meeting with your players or just texting is a must. If your players are having fun, then you are good. A good place to start is talk about what things they feel are successful about your sessions. Then ask about what areas they think could be improved or what they like to see more of. This will help you get a feel for your players. I wish I had been given that advice as a DM when I started.
An example, I was running a group 5 years ago, and they were just not into combat and exploring places like a forest, town, ect they did not care much. They were role-playing and fully engaged in social encounters, but as soon as that was over, it felt like the air left the room, and it was just boring. I had tried everything, letting them verbalize their kill shots, describing how their spells dramatically affected the environment, just to name a few. Nothing I did worked. One day, some of my players were running late, so I was talking to the ones there, and they talked about how they wanted to see what foods were in the tavern, like pizza. I replied, "What's Pizza?" in character. I explained that it did not exist in the world yet,
When the others showed up, they immediately started making plans to find a way to make pizza. They asked about the material and tried to make it with not much success. This led to a string of encounters and quests where they hunted things to use to make better pizzas and other foods. It culminated with them fighting the big bad to lay claim to a magic item so they could create, I kid you not, a magical teleporting Cat Cafe. After that, I had no issues with engagement, and their cafe and characters are still among my games today.
One conversation, and that is all it took to get my players engaged. Now every year I sit down with my players, and we talk about what goals they have and what they could do to reach those goals.
There is no "best" dm. There is the "best" dm for a party. So, the thing to check is whether youre challenging your players the way they want to be challenged.
Some players are all about combat. Some are about social stuff. Some are about building their characters more than they are about playing them. Some just like to show up to be social.
The only way to find out is throw different things at them and see what they get interested in.
One of my friends runs a campaign every two weeks, and every time, he asks us what he could do better afterwards. If you're worried that your players are not engaged or that you're not do good enough of a job, I would recommend doing the same thing. If you're keeping your players engaged, then you're doing a great job.
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DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches Road
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
One of the best tricks I have for engagement is to describe character A's actions to character B.
So rather than "Dwrmun, you swing your hammer and bring the beast down before cracking its skull", you say "Flynd, as you are running toward the beast, dagger in hand, you see Dwrmun take its legs out from under it with his hammer, before finishing it off with a great blow to the head!".
The Dwrmun player is already engaged (they're the one rolling dice) so giving other people's perspectives helps engage the others and prevents it from feeling like the characters are stopping to pick bugs from their noses whilst only one person moves at a time!
alright i have a general idea on what i can do to improve myself, thankyou all for the helpful tips! it was my first time using the fourums and im glad it worked out for me :)
The Best Dm is the one that brings out the players Characters and makes them all feel like they are vital to the story. If you are all having fun then i would say you are the Best DM for the players.
Don't forget that YouTube is full of advice vides on becoming a better DM. It sounds like a lot of your problem is confidence rather than anything but getting some solid tips can help with that. I'd suggest Matt Colville who did a great series called Running The Game that talks you through every aspect of creating an entertaining session and keeping players invested, or I really like Mystic Arts who has been building up a similar channel the last year
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Hi! ive been a DM since early 2025 but since then i have tried to be the best DM i can be. but lately ive been feeling like im just simply not cut out for it despite really wanting to do it. i love storytelling! but i just feel like im not doing as good now.. does anyone have any tips?
One, get feed back from the players (do 1 on 1 questions to ensure that it i more honest) to determine if your lack of confidence is justified.
If the players see no issues and are having fun, then keep it up and work on your confidence and self doubt.
Everyone gets some self doubt and loses some confidence. Hopefully their answers can minimize your self doubt, if not work on that issue. I just don't know how short of a shot of courage.
I agree, having a meeting with your players or just texting is a must. If your players are having fun, then you are good. A good place to start is talk about what things they feel are successful about your sessions. Then ask about what areas they think could be improved or what they like to see more of. This will help you get a feel for your players. I wish I had been given that advice as a DM when I started.
An example, I was running a group 5 years ago, and they were just not into combat and exploring places like a forest, town, ect they did not care much. They were role-playing and fully engaged in social encounters, but as soon as that was over, it felt like the air left the room, and it was just boring. I had tried everything, letting them verbalize their kill shots, describing how their spells dramatically affected the environment, just to name a few. Nothing I did worked. One day, some of my players were running late, so I was talking to the ones there, and they talked about how they wanted to see what foods were in the tavern, like pizza. I replied, "What's Pizza?" in character. I explained that it did not exist in the world yet,
When the others showed up, they immediately started making plans to find a way to make pizza. They asked about the material and tried to make it with not much success. This led to a string of encounters and quests where they hunted things to use to make better pizzas and other foods. It culminated with them fighting the big bad to lay claim to a magic item so they could create, I kid you not, a magical teleporting Cat Cafe. After that, I had no issues with engagement, and their cafe and characters are still among my games today.
One conversation, and that is all it took to get my players engaged. Now every year I sit down with my players, and we talk about what goals they have and what they could do to reach those goals.
There is no "best" dm. There is the "best" dm for a party. So, the thing to check is whether youre challenging your players the way they want to be challenged.
Some players are all about combat. Some are about social stuff. Some are about building their characters more than they are about playing them. Some just like to show up to be social.
The only way to find out is throw different things at them and see what they get interested in.
One of my friends runs a campaign every two weeks, and every time, he asks us what he could do better afterwards. If you're worried that your players are not engaged or that you're not do good enough of a job, I would recommend doing the same thing. If you're keeping your players engaged, then you're doing a great job.
DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Down, down, down the road, down the Witches Road
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
"When are we gonna take a snack break?"
One of the best tricks I have for engagement is to describe character A's actions to character B.
So rather than "Dwrmun, you swing your hammer and bring the beast down before cracking its skull", you say "Flynd, as you are running toward the beast, dagger in hand, you see Dwrmun take its legs out from under it with his hammer, before finishing it off with a great blow to the head!".
The Dwrmun player is already engaged (they're the one rolling dice) so giving other people's perspectives helps engage the others and prevents it from feeling like the characters are stopping to pick bugs from their noses whilst only one person moves at a time!
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alright i have a general idea on what i can do to improve myself, thankyou all for the helpful tips! it was my first time using the fourums and im glad it worked out for me :)
The Best Dm is the one that brings out the players Characters and makes them all feel like they are vital to the story. If you are all having fun then i would say you are the Best DM for the players.
Don't forget that YouTube is full of advice vides on becoming a better DM. It sounds like a lot of your problem is confidence rather than anything but getting some solid tips can help with that. I'd suggest Matt Colville who did a great series called Running The Game that talks you through every aspect of creating an entertaining session and keeping players invested, or I really like Mystic Arts who has been building up a similar channel the last year