So I recently come back to D&D and I'm mastering my first campaign in years! although I not terrible I want to be better!
I recently found Dimension 20 and Brennan Lee Mulligan and the way he was able to elevate the whole table to role better left me speechless! and I felt so frustrated and incentivized to do things better... So here I am, asking for any tips that would help me to improve.
P:S. I know these people have years of experience in the field, and I'm trying to become then but to be able to inspire my table and create those exciting moments with them in my own style.
I think a lot of that comes down to being on the same wavelength as your players. I mean the obvious advice for getting more like Brennan Lee Mulligan is to watch what he does and copy it. But all of the tables you see on all of the streams are full of players who are pretty trusting of one another. There's no eye-rolling, no snark, so the theater kids feel safe going fairly big. I think CURATING (and I hate that buzzword, but it's actually appropriate here) the right table, full of people who'll support each others' choices, is a job that falls mainly on the DM, but for people who like playing with the friends they HAVE, you just might not get universal buy-in for heavy melodramatic RP. It might be that you have to expand your circle of players and friends.
I guess what I'm thinking is no matter how much experience you have as a DM, if the lead actress in a Netflix series isn't at your table, you're not going to be able to reproduce that energy all on your own. At least not at first. Once you guys all grind each other into a shape that fits, any table will have its inside jokes and fun stories; whether that looks like anything anyone would want to watch on Twitch, I can't say. But people pressure themselves lately to have these Critical Role tables with players who just wanted to show up and roll dice and I fear that it leads to lasting disappointment.
It's probably worth pointing out that my personal celebrity DM North Star is Spencer Crittenden who DMed on Dan Harmon's podcast. Not because there's much worthy of emulation there - the DM shows up WAYYY too high; the players are drunk and can't remember where they left off; there is a genuinely mean passive-aggressive streak between the DM and one of the players; when a woman briefly joined the group, you could actually watch the boys turn into 8 year olds yelling "Girls! Ick!" until she was driven off... It is occasionally hilarious, a genuinely terrible game of D&D and far far more like my experiences playing with adults than any of the more polished three-hour productions. I usually have him in the back of my mind when I write something that I think is awesome and my players literally scoff.
The biggest problem I've seen from DM's is being embarrassed or shy about getting too in character. It's common with a lot of things... it can be embarrassing to go all-in and have everyone around you smirk at you for going so hard. But honestly... most of the time, your players are in the same boat. They all want to have those dramatic, cool moments they see in shows or read about online. But it helps to have a DM who breaks the ice and sets the bar a little higher. Do weird voices for characters... you don't have to be great at voice acting or accents, but just going all-in with the skills you have makes the world more immersive and exciting.
You don't always have to use direct speech to bring characters to life. Zipperon Disney has a great video about using indirect and 3rd person narration to good effect.
As for other things - ie. being eloquent - it's just practice.
Read a lot. While reading, especially fantasy novels, notice how the environment is described. Which words are used. Have them at the ready, written somewhere. Sometimes there are specific keyed sequences that naturally follow and you can have few signature descriptions prepared.
Then write a lot - parts of D&D session is improv but a lot of it isn't. If you have a city the players will be entering, prepare a written description of what they see when they enter, what they smell and hear (never forget about other senses than sight!). Do it for the most important buildings as well - the first tavern, magister's palace, a shop, blacksmith etc.
It's a lot of work but it helps you even if you don't use it.
Another thing to do, that I learned to be invaluable in theatre, is to practice in front of a mirror. Get better at saying things by saying them... you know... out loud (a lot of people have trouble doing that, so don't feel bad). Speaking in a conversation is different than performing a speech (while keeping it conversational). As you get used to speaking these things out loud, start watching yourself. Say the same box text over and over until you get comfortable enough to watch yourself. Then try to vary some things. Start by sitting and just say it without expression. Now, say it again and add some emotion to the box text. What part makes it dramatic? What can build suspense? Now say it again with these intonations and stand and lean into the mirror. Now say it again and whisper part of it as you lean into the mirror...
People that come off well in these scripted boxes have more than likely practiced it (or something similar). You don't get powerful eyebrows by never using them... you have to flex them and coordinate it with your speech. Now go back and listen to Stacy Keach or some of the wildlife documentary narrators. See how they put inflection in their voice to emphasize what they are trying to point out... and timing it to the pacing of the video to enhance the feeling of movement or stillness or dramatic pause and then sudden action. Now, they also have a well paid orchestral score that helps provide power that you will be unable to match... but, soon enough with daily practice (even 15-30 minutes a day) you'll begin to broaden your voice and be able to begin casting a spell like those you've seen doing it. After the first week, you won't really even feel uncomfortable practicing.
My current approach is to practice whilst I'm riding my motorbike. I probably look like a madman, but I happily ramble away the whole way home from work, trying on different voices. My rambles often lead to plots as well - I rambled Gizmo's obsession with trapping the powers of a werewolf in a gem, and that's become part of his backstory now!
Hi Everyone,
So I recently come back to D&D and I'm mastering my first campaign in years! although I not terrible I want to be better!
I recently found Dimension 20 and Brennan Lee Mulligan and the way he was able to elevate the whole table to role better left me speechless! and I felt so frustrated and incentivized to do things better... So here I am, asking for any tips that would help me to improve.
P:S. I know these people have years of experience in the field, and I'm trying to become then but to be able to inspire my table and create those exciting moments with them in my own style.
Thanks for your help.
I think a lot of that comes down to being on the same wavelength as your players. I mean the obvious advice for getting more like Brennan Lee Mulligan is to watch what he does and copy it. But all of the tables you see on all of the streams are full of players who are pretty trusting of one another. There's no eye-rolling, no snark, so the theater kids feel safe going fairly big. I think CURATING (and I hate that buzzword, but it's actually appropriate here) the right table, full of people who'll support each others' choices, is a job that falls mainly on the DM, but for people who like playing with the friends they HAVE, you just might not get universal buy-in for heavy melodramatic RP. It might be that you have to expand your circle of players and friends.
I guess what I'm thinking is no matter how much experience you have as a DM, if the lead actress in a Netflix series isn't at your table, you're not going to be able to reproduce that energy all on your own. At least not at first. Once you guys all grind each other into a shape that fits, any table will have its inside jokes and fun stories; whether that looks like anything anyone would want to watch on Twitch, I can't say. But people pressure themselves lately to have these Critical Role tables with players who just wanted to show up and roll dice and I fear that it leads to lasting disappointment.
It's probably worth pointing out that my personal celebrity DM North Star is Spencer Crittenden who DMed on Dan Harmon's podcast. Not because there's much worthy of emulation there - the DM shows up WAYYY too high; the players are drunk and can't remember where they left off; there is a genuinely mean passive-aggressive streak between the DM and one of the players; when a woman briefly joined the group, you could actually watch the boys turn into 8 year olds yelling "Girls! Ick!" until she was driven off... It is occasionally hilarious, a genuinely terrible game of D&D and far far more like my experiences playing with adults than any of the more polished three-hour productions. I usually have him in the back of my mind when I write something that I think is awesome and my players literally scoff.
The biggest problem I've seen from DM's is being embarrassed or shy about getting too in character. It's common with a lot of things... it can be embarrassing to go all-in and have everyone around you smirk at you for going so hard. But honestly... most of the time, your players are in the same boat. They all want to have those dramatic, cool moments they see in shows or read about online. But it helps to have a DM who breaks the ice and sets the bar a little higher. Do weird voices for characters... you don't have to be great at voice acting or accents, but just going all-in with the skills you have makes the world more immersive and exciting.
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You don't always have to use direct speech to bring characters to life. Zipperon Disney has a great video about using indirect and 3rd person narration to good effect.
The 'meat' of the video starts at 3:32
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As for other things - ie. being eloquent - it's just practice.
Read a lot. While reading, especially fantasy novels, notice how the environment is described. Which words are used. Have them at the ready, written somewhere. Sometimes there are specific keyed sequences that naturally follow and you can have few signature descriptions prepared.
Then write a lot - parts of D&D session is improv but a lot of it isn't. If you have a city the players will be entering, prepare a written description of what they see when they enter, what they smell and hear (never forget about other senses than sight!). Do it for the most important buildings as well - the first tavern, magister's palace, a shop, blacksmith etc.
It's a lot of work but it helps you even if you don't use it.
Another thing to do, that I learned to be invaluable in theatre, is to practice in front of a mirror. Get better at saying things by saying them... you know... out loud (a lot of people have trouble doing that, so don't feel bad). Speaking in a conversation is different than performing a speech (while keeping it conversational). As you get used to speaking these things out loud, start watching yourself. Say the same box text over and over until you get comfortable enough to watch yourself. Then try to vary some things. Start by sitting and just say it without expression. Now, say it again and add some emotion to the box text. What part makes it dramatic? What can build suspense? Now say it again with these intonations and stand and lean into the mirror. Now say it again and whisper part of it as you lean into the mirror...
People that come off well in these scripted boxes have more than likely practiced it (or something similar). You don't get powerful eyebrows by never using them... you have to flex them and coordinate it with your speech. Now go back and listen to Stacy Keach or some of the wildlife documentary narrators. See how they put inflection in their voice to emphasize what they are trying to point out... and timing it to the pacing of the video to enhance the feeling of movement or stillness or dramatic pause and then sudden action. Now, they also have a well paid orchestral score that helps provide power that you will be unable to match... but, soon enough with daily practice (even 15-30 minutes a day) you'll begin to broaden your voice and be able to begin casting a spell like those you've seen doing it. After the first week, you won't really even feel uncomfortable practicing.
Great guys! Awesome tips!!!! That will help me a lot I can't wait for my next session this saturday to put all of that on practice! Thanks a lot!
My current approach is to practice whilst I'm riding my motorbike. I probably look like a madman, but I happily ramble away the whole way home from work, trying on different voices. My rambles often lead to plots as well - I rambled Gizmo's obsession with trapping the powers of a werewolf in a gem, and that's become part of his backstory now!
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