I am new to D&D. So is my group. We’re all 8th graders that haven’t played before and I am the DM. I know the rules, but what should I add in the of campaign. When I say that I am referring to roleplay. I add a lot of combat, but not a lot a lot of time for roleplay.
You should watch live play games on youtube. Many people enjoy content DMed by Matthew Mercer, Matthew Colville, Mark Hulmes, and Brennan Lee Mulligan. There are other DMs, such as Satine Phoenix, Kelly D'Angelo, and Aabria Lyengar, but I am less familiar with their work.
Beyond that, just think about your favorite fantasy books, movies, games, and other media. Don't be afraid to copy from them heavily.
Edit: Keep in mind that celebrity D&D groups are very experienced, and sometimes professional actors, and thus set an unrealistic standard for play. Don't expect to emulate these groups, just use them for inspiration. A hack and slash dungeon crawl can be just as fun as an immersive roleplay experience.
I wouldn't worry too much about trying to manufacture roleplay immediately. Instead, try to look more at character development of potential NPC's whether they be friends or foes. Have some that are driven by their selfish motives, while others are looking at the greater good regardless of it's by the letter of the law, while others are strictly looking to follow the hierarchy.
If nothing else, i have maybe 10 NPC names, 8-10 backgrounds, and 8-10 common hooks that follow specific tales. As noted by the previous poster, taking common stories like robin hood and converting it to a character, or looking at how other DM's seem to pull different people with various backgrounds and motives out, will make it a lot easier for you to prepare yourself for the situations that occur once players start roleplaying.
At the end of the day, the goal is simply to have fun and make sure the party is having fun, so as long as you are enjoying it and they are enjoying it, just find that spot that works for the majority and run with it. You'll figure things out and get better as you all participate.
Maybe just capitalize on the opportunities that are already there during travel on the road, around the campfire, at the Inn, in the market. Prompt your players with questions about what their character is thinking or feeling regarding any relevant topic to them. Give them opportunities to interact with non-lethal encounters and lead them with questions that cause them to think from the PCs point of view.
(insert PC name), what would you be doing now if not for being on this adventure? (asked while the PC is on watch at the campsite between cities.)
You see a very pregnant woman walk past the baker's stall, take a loaf of bread and walk off without paying for it.
A pack of street urchins runs through the market, bumping into people and causing mayhem. Once they are gone, many people seem to have lost their coin purses.
An elderly woman is selling apples at a fruit stand. She calls a PC over by name. The PCs have never met her.
Anything you want to do to get the players to see the world from the PC's point of view is an opportunity for roleplay.
Combat encounters are social encounters in which diplomacy has failed. Maybe try to keep the monsters/baddies from attacking first, and allow the PCs the opportunity to talk the situation down.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Does your group want a lot of role play? If everyone is happy and having fun killing bad guys and taking their stuff, just keep at it. That describes my middle school experience with D&D. That was pretty much how everyone played in the early editions, it’s a perfectly viable choice.
Don’t get me wrong, role play is really fun, and if you all want that, the people above gave some solid suggestions. I’m just saying, maybe what you have isn’t broken, so why try to fix it?
I don't mean to be contrary to previous posters, but I would massively avoid things like Critical Role. The core reason for that is because instead of having the expectation of how you *should* play you develop your own styles and your own aesthetic. Of course, I'm in the wrong side of my 30s so have been playing TTRPGs for many, many years.
The most important thing hands down is read through the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide. I'd also recommend using one of the either Starter Kit, or Essentials Box adventures. They'll really help you get to grips with the game and find your way of playing as group.
The actor and theatre maker in me has the only suggestion I can really give - improvisation games. There's loads of resources out there, but the way I always started with a fresh group of new players was a one word story. Literally, we all took it in terms to add a word to create a basic story. Moving on from there, we did one sentence stories where the only rule was no contradicting another person's contribution. This breaks group and allows you to move on to a more open improv game like yes, and, and no, but. Where literally it's a group story that is told, but the next person must either start with yes and, or no but. I always found as DM that this helped to open the path to creativity. All of this kind of exercise can help to just warm you all up.
As DM, this is why I say go back to the books. Dragon of Icespire Peak for example has some nice descriptions and set ups. So, you ideally want to mix up the 'hook' of a session. For example, if you start with a 'find my precious stolen heirloom' hook, the party can be directed more to a social session where they're going to need to investigate and interview rather than hack and slash. Of course you might get the odd player wanting to rough up the interviewee, but that's where location can help. Have it be a merchant in a town square where there are plenty of witnesses. who maybe sold the heirloom.
It took me a long time to realise it, but sessions boil down into just a very few types (in general).
Find my/our/the ______
Protect me/my/our/the ______
Kill my/our/their/the _________
Investigate the _________
Explore _________
Gather/Aqcuire __________
Deliver/escort ________
Pursue/capture _________
A session can be a mix of any of these factors, but each will lean into a different style of play, affording different levels of roleplay depending on the location you choose. So, choose locations that discourage open combat if you're looking for more roleplay opportunities.
So glad you mentioned this guy^ He is the #1 most underappreciated DM in the entire world.
But now to actually help the original poster: Just make situations that allow for some role play, such as interacting with a quest giver or freeing an NPC some monsters took prisoner. If you want, you could also add some encounters with what D&D calls a "monster" that don't necessarily require the two groups to fight.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
I had difficulty with role playing when I started playing. It can feel a bit weird if you aren't a naturally outgoing or really confident person.
Just remember that these guys you're playing with are your friends and if you're all laughing, even if it's at the stupid npc character voice you just mangled, then you're having fun.
Aside from that if your group want to role play but seem unsure when or how you cam reward them for it. Lower prices from friendly shop keepers, a bit of useful information they wouldn't get normally when they speak to an npc, that kind of thing.
I believe the roleplay in between the PC can increase by improving the description of the area they are standing in.
You've just entered a cave and there is a long tunnel ahead; pretty much no roleplay.
Uses the 5 senses (taste might not be available)
You've just entered a cave, there is a long tunnel ahead. You can hear a breathing sound in the darkness, but you can't determine how far it is coming from. The rock is warmth, warmer than the outside and you smell sulfur in the air. Players might start asking each other's questions (have then roleplay if they aren't) about what the hell they are stepping into.
On the other hands, roleplay in between GM and PC can increase by having unique NPC with specific agenda including hidden information which PC can pick up from (can be tailored to their profession, background or others)
You have boars running around scared and angry; leads to a fight.
You have a lady asking the PC to gather her lovely boar which have just escaped the barn for no good reason; you have a quest
The lady doesn't love them at all, she wants to gut them all open for a ritual; you have a secret agenda.
There is a butcher knife on the table drippling with blood (obvious no check), she is wearing a necklace representing a god (Satan for the purpose of the example) which requires a religion check. Then an Arcana check might give ideas about why she would need that.... advantage on warlock...; Now you have some room for roleplay.
You've noticed that one of your PC had speak with animal spell which gave you this idea for this encounter; you've just tailored the encounter to give him an option to shine
I'm starting as a DM within 2 weeks.... been a player for a while. I've just read the GM book, Swordcoast guide, storm king thunder adventure, browsed the monster manual and did some recap on the players handbook for the rules... I've watched a bunch of videos on you tube what not to do as a gm, how to be better as a gm, how to tackle roleplaying npc...
I've just spent a massive ammount of hours this weekend to make sure i had my prelude done, first 2 encounters (before we start the adventure book) ... last week was tackling those who wrote their backstories and properly understand them to use those in chapter 3, and work with them to be adapted in the world of the Forgotten Realm as well as give them more to their backstories.
Anyway, i've just blurred this out, maybe it will give you a different approach...
Btw, there is a book on amazon, it doesn't cost much. Title is the game master book of 500 non-players character, blue cover. It really gives you unique characters. Each characters have a description, what they want/need and a secret/obstacle. You may want to look at it. Might give you ideas and consequently your players for some pickup for roleplay. I haven't used any yet but definitively will pick from the book.... This idea of hidden/secret while I was working my npc earlier today was really what kind of allowed me to flesh out the characters...instead of being bland...
I’m not an experienced DM, per se, but I’ve done a bit.
Id really advise checking out Viva La Dirt League DND, it’s a great series, and the players are inexperienced so you can kinda learn along with them.
Also, check out Geek and Sundry. Matt Mercer has lots of fun advice.
and advice from me: First, don’t be afraid to be goofy, and to voice act NPC’s. I like to try to be descriptive as well-I stead of just saying “Your attack hits the orc, that’s enough damage to kill him.” You can (1) describe the death, like “As the orc draws back his axe to attack you, you notice an opening, and slip the point of your sword through his guard and into his chest, piercing him through the heart. His eyes roll back and he slumps to the ground as you withdraw your blade.” Or (2) you can ask the player to describe the kill! This Can be a lot of fun, cause they’ll con’s up with things you never would have.
Also, don’t try to plan a super long campaign right off the bat. Start with short adventures, things that should take 1-3 sessions to complete, until you get the hang of it.
Yeah, I started with dungeon crawls as well. I think you should start small, do not make a whole quest revolving about intricate palace schemes.
Role play selling of treasure from the dungeon and buying new equipment. You can have a lot of fun with role-playing all sorts of merchants. Include non-hostile creatures in the dungeon that can be reasoned with and maybe bribed, flattered, or threatened by the players, to assist them finding a hidden door or healing the badly wounded warrior.
Do not be afraid to experiment and try new things. See what works for you and your group and do not be afraid to make mistakes along the way. Practice makes perfect.
and advice from me: First, don’t be afraid to be goofy, and to voice act NPC’s.
I say, don't be afraid to try, but more importantly, don't feel like you have to. It's not something everyone is able or capable of doing. There's nothing wrong with not voicing NPCs and it shouldn't be the baseline expectations of players.
That said, I have always offered this suggestion as a theatre director - pitch, speed, and intonation are the keys to 'cheating' voices. Bringing your voice to a higher or lower pitch, faster or slower speed, and placing emphasis on particular words (final or first word of a sentence) will quickly give you five 'character voices'. When you learn to mix pitch and speed you gain another four different 'voices' all before you've mastered an accent.
Again, it's important to emphasise that TTRPGs were built for generations off theatre of the mind. That can and often does include characters and NPCs. Don't feel forced into character voices. It can and often is an unfair expectation on new DMs from players who have come to the game from popular actual play video series.
I am new to D&D. So is my group. We’re all 8th graders that haven’t played before and I am the DM. I know the rules, but what should I add in the of campaign. When I say that I am referring to roleplay. I add a lot of combat, but not a lot a lot of time for roleplay.
You should watch live play games on youtube. Many people enjoy content DMed by Matthew Mercer, Matthew Colville, Mark Hulmes, and Brennan Lee Mulligan. There are other DMs, such as Satine Phoenix, Kelly D'Angelo, and Aabria Lyengar, but I am less familiar with their work.
Beyond that, just think about your favorite fantasy books, movies, games, and other media. Don't be afraid to copy from them heavily.
Edit: Keep in mind that celebrity D&D groups are very experienced, and sometimes professional actors, and thus set an unrealistic standard for play. Don't expect to emulate these groups, just use them for inspiration. A hack and slash dungeon crawl can be just as fun as an immersive roleplay experience.
I wouldn't worry too much about trying to manufacture roleplay immediately. Instead, try to look more at character development of potential NPC's whether they be friends or foes. Have some that are driven by their selfish motives, while others are looking at the greater good regardless of it's by the letter of the law, while others are strictly looking to follow the hierarchy.
If nothing else, i have maybe 10 NPC names, 8-10 backgrounds, and 8-10 common hooks that follow specific tales. As noted by the previous poster, taking common stories like robin hood and converting it to a character, or looking at how other DM's seem to pull different people with various backgrounds and motives out, will make it a lot easier for you to prepare yourself for the situations that occur once players start roleplaying.
At the end of the day, the goal is simply to have fun and make sure the party is having fun, so as long as you are enjoying it and they are enjoying it, just find that spot that works for the majority and run with it. You'll figure things out and get better as you all participate.
Maybe just capitalize on the opportunities that are already there during travel on the road, around the campfire, at the Inn, in the market. Prompt your players with questions about what their character is thinking or feeling regarding any relevant topic to them. Give them opportunities to interact with non-lethal encounters and lead them with questions that cause them to think from the PCs point of view.
Anything you want to do to get the players to see the world from the PC's point of view is an opportunity for roleplay.
Combat encounters are social encounters in which diplomacy has failed. Maybe try to keep the monsters/baddies from attacking first, and allow the PCs the opportunity to talk the situation down.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Thank you for the advice
Does your group want a lot of role play? If everyone is happy and having fun killing bad guys and taking their stuff, just keep at it. That describes my middle school experience with D&D. That was pretty much how everyone played in the early editions, it’s a perfectly viable choice.
Don’t get me wrong, role play is really fun, and if you all want that, the people above gave some solid suggestions. I’m just saying, maybe what you have isn’t broken, so why try to fix it?
I don't mean to be contrary to previous posters, but I would massively avoid things like Critical Role. The core reason for that is because instead of having the expectation of how you *should* play you develop your own styles and your own aesthetic. Of course, I'm in the wrong side of my 30s so have been playing TTRPGs for many, many years.
The most important thing hands down is read through the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide. I'd also recommend using one of the either Starter Kit, or Essentials Box adventures. They'll really help you get to grips with the game and find your way of playing as group.
The actor and theatre maker in me has the only suggestion I can really give - improvisation games. There's loads of resources out there, but the way I always started with a fresh group of new players was a one word story. Literally, we all took it in terms to add a word to create a basic story. Moving on from there, we did one sentence stories where the only rule was no contradicting another person's contribution. This breaks group and allows you to move on to a more open improv game like yes, and, and no, but. Where literally it's a group story that is told, but the next person must either start with yes and, or no but. I always found as DM that this helped to open the path to creativity. All of this kind of exercise can help to just warm you all up.
As DM, this is why I say go back to the books. Dragon of Icespire Peak for example has some nice descriptions and set ups. So, you ideally want to mix up the 'hook' of a session. For example, if you start with a 'find my precious stolen heirloom' hook, the party can be directed more to a social session where they're going to need to investigate and interview rather than hack and slash. Of course you might get the odd player wanting to rough up the interviewee, but that's where location can help. Have it be a merchant in a town square where there are plenty of witnesses. who maybe sold the heirloom.
It took me a long time to realise it, but sessions boil down into just a very few types (in general).
A session can be a mix of any of these factors, but each will lean into a different style of play, affording different levels of roleplay depending on the location you choose. So, choose locations that discourage open combat if you're looking for more roleplay opportunities.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
So glad you mentioned this guy^ He is the #1 most underappreciated DM in the entire world.
But now to actually help the original poster: Just make situations that allow for some role play, such as interacting with a quest giver or freeing an NPC some monsters took prisoner. If you want, you could also add some encounters with what D&D calls a "monster" that don't necessarily require the two groups to fight.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I had difficulty with role playing when I started playing. It can feel a bit weird if you aren't a naturally outgoing or really confident person.
Just remember that these guys you're playing with are your friends and if you're all laughing, even if it's at the stupid npc character voice you just mangled, then you're having fun.
Aside from that if your group want to role play but seem unsure when or how you cam reward them for it. Lower prices from friendly shop keepers, a bit of useful information they wouldn't get normally when they speak to an npc, that kind of thing.
I believe the roleplay in between the PC can increase by improving the description of the area they are standing in.
You've just entered a cave and there is a long tunnel ahead; pretty much no roleplay.
Uses the 5 senses (taste might not be available)
You've just entered a cave, there is a long tunnel ahead. You can hear a breathing sound in the darkness, but you can't determine how far it is coming from. The rock is warmth, warmer than the outside and you smell sulfur in the air. Players might start asking each other's questions (have then roleplay if they aren't) about what the hell they are stepping into.
On the other hands, roleplay in between GM and PC can increase by having unique NPC with specific agenda including hidden information which PC can pick up from (can be tailored to their profession, background or others)
You have boars running around scared and angry; leads to a fight.
You have a lady asking the PC to gather her lovely boar which have just escaped the barn for no good reason; you have a quest
The lady doesn't love them at all, she wants to gut them all open for a ritual; you have a secret agenda.
There is a butcher knife on the table drippling with blood (obvious no check), she is wearing a necklace representing a god (Satan for the purpose of the example) which requires a religion check. Then an Arcana check might give ideas about why she would need that.... advantage on warlock...; Now you have some room for roleplay.
You've noticed that one of your PC had speak with animal spell which gave you this idea for this encounter; you've just tailored the encounter to give him an option to shine
I'm starting as a DM within 2 weeks.... been a player for a while. I've just read the GM book, Swordcoast guide, storm king thunder adventure, browsed the monster manual and did some recap on the players handbook for the rules... I've watched a bunch of videos on you tube what not to do as a gm, how to be better as a gm, how to tackle roleplaying npc...
I've just spent a massive ammount of hours this weekend to make sure i had my prelude done, first 2 encounters (before we start the adventure book) ... last week was tackling those who wrote their backstories and properly understand them to use those in chapter 3, and work with them to be adapted in the world of the Forgotten Realm as well as give them more to their backstories.
Anyway, i've just blurred this out, maybe it will give you a different approach...
Btw, there is a book on amazon, it doesn't cost much. Title is the game master book of 500 non-players character, blue cover. It really gives you unique characters. Each characters have a description, what they want/need and a secret/obstacle. You may want to look at it. Might give you ideas and consequently your players for some pickup for roleplay. I haven't used any yet but definitively will pick from the book.... This idea of hidden/secret while I was working my npc earlier today was really what kind of allowed me to flesh out the characters...instead of being bland...
I’m not an experienced DM, per se, but I’ve done a bit.
Id really advise checking out Viva La Dirt League DND, it’s a great series, and the players are inexperienced so you can kinda learn along with them.
Also, check out Geek and Sundry. Matt Mercer has lots of fun advice.
and advice from me: First, don’t be afraid to be goofy, and to voice act NPC’s. I like to try to be descriptive as well-I stead of just saying “Your attack hits the orc, that’s enough damage to kill him.” You can (1) describe the death, like “As the orc draws back his axe to attack you, you notice an opening, and slip the point of your sword through his guard and into his chest, piercing him through the heart. His eyes roll back and he slumps to the ground as you withdraw your blade.” Or (2) you can ask the player to describe the kill! This Can be a lot of fun, cause they’ll con’s up with things you never would have.
Also, don’t try to plan a super long campaign right off the bat. Start with short adventures, things that should take 1-3 sessions to complete, until you get the hang of it.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
Yeah, I started with dungeon crawls as well. I think you should start small, do not make a whole quest revolving about intricate palace schemes.
Role play selling of treasure from the dungeon and buying new equipment. You can have a lot of fun with role-playing all sorts of merchants. Include non-hostile creatures in the dungeon that can be reasoned with and maybe bribed, flattered, or threatened by the players, to assist them finding a hidden door or healing the badly wounded warrior.
Do not be afraid to experiment and try new things. See what works for you and your group and do not be afraid to make mistakes along the way. Practice makes perfect.
I say, don't be afraid to try, but more importantly, don't feel like you have to. It's not something everyone is able or capable of doing. There's nothing wrong with not voicing NPCs and it shouldn't be the baseline expectations of players.
That said, I have always offered this suggestion as a theatre director - pitch, speed, and intonation are the keys to 'cheating' voices. Bringing your voice to a higher or lower pitch, faster or slower speed, and placing emphasis on particular words (final or first word of a sentence) will quickly give you five 'character voices'. When you learn to mix pitch and speed you gain another four different 'voices' all before you've mastered an accent.
Again, it's important to emphasise that TTRPGs were built for generations off theatre of the mind. That can and often does include characters and NPCs. Don't feel forced into character voices. It can and often is an unfair expectation on new DMs from players who have come to the game from popular actual play video series.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.