a) With apologies to DMThac0 ( whose opinions I respect and am only slightly teasing here), and b) recognition that this is advice about a particular DM style, which may not, but may, fit your campaign and DM'ing practice.
You can design your adventures as the interplay of motives and tactics, around a central conflict, and not at a set of story beats, plotlines, and set pieces - keeping the plot dynamic and flexible, and being every bit a surprise and entertainment for the DM as it is for the Players.
If you define you adventures in terms of a central conflicting motives ( The thieves guild wants one of their members rescued from a prison transfer, a rival guild wants them assassinated, a secret cabal of wizards wants the transport to succeed - and all have approached the Party for aid ), then you don't need to create much - if any - plotline. Every step in the story becomes evaluating what each involved agency in the conflict will try to do next ( based on their motives, immediate goals, knowledge/beliefs, resources, and personality ), evaluate where those attempted actions will collide, resolve them ( with, or without the Party involved), and repeat until the conflict is resolved or abandoned. This means that you can put all you effort into designing well constructed NPCs and Setting, rather than trying to anticipate what the Players are going to do, and write out a plot stuffed full of contingencies and branch points.
This approach - while requiring that you become comfortable, and practiced, at improvisation - means that the Players can never "derail" the plotline and story beats you'd planned, because you are building them, and adapting, "in real time". It also pays dividends in DM entertainment! The story that is unfolding is as much a surprise to you, as it is to your players.
A few caveats though:
Preplanned encounters tend to be more polished than improvised. If you can extrapolate out events, and be pretty sure that certain events are going to happen, don't hesitate to create them and polish them - just be aware it might need to be mutated on-the-fly, or never used.
Putting in design time on NPCs - both individuals and organizations - is a must if you're going to make this style of DM'ing work.
This is style that doesn't appeal to everyone. It may not work for you. But it can be a whole lot of fun if it works for you.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Standing gives you a little more authority with the players at the table. It allows you to see over the GM screen better. It opens your diaphram and gives your voice more projection. It makes you more animated, which will flow through to your descriptions of scenes.
Have some names ready
On a card or piece of paper, have a number of random names. When the PCs meet a merchant or public servant, grab the first name on the list. Quick, easy, doesn't break the flow of the game while you struggle to think of a name. Also, you get names that are consistent with the lore of the world.
the simplest advice I can give any prospective DM is:
Start small
You should not spend 3-6 months carefully plotting out your homebrewed world's esoterica. Your Players could honestly care less. Just plan for what they need. If you have Cleric in the party or a suitably religious sort, flesh out some of the relevant pantheon. You can create the rest of the world as the Players and their Characters become interested in your world and interact with it.
The Internet is rife with DMs dispensing advice, but no one else will ever be an expert on your table, or your Players.
Use the ideas, advice, and experience of other if it is of use to you; hammer, shape, and weld it all into a form that suits your table - if that helps.
But ultimately, the responsibility for your game, and the right to decide what goes into it, are yours alone.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Listen to your players. They can say and do things that can spark ideas for quests and even whole adventures. I have been going on about this in a few threads over the last 2 days. But it works.
a) With apologies to DMThac0 ( whose opinions I respect and am only slightly teasing here), and b) recognition that this is advice about a particular DM style, which may not, but may, fit your campaign and DM'ing practice.
You can design your adventures as the interplay of motives and tactics, around a central conflict, and not at a set of story beats, plotlines, and set pieces - keeping the plot dynamic and flexible, and being every bit a surprise and entertainment for the DM as it is for the Players.
If you define you adventures in terms of a central conflicting motives ( The thieves guild wants one of their members rescued from a prison transfer, a rival guild wants them assassinated, a secret cabal of wizards wants the transport to succeed - and all have approached the Party for aid ), then you don't need to create much - if any - plotline. Every step in the story becomes evaluating what each involved agency in the conflict will try to do next ( based on their motives, immediate goals, knowledge/beliefs, resources, and personality ), evaluate where those attempted actions will collide, resolve them ( with, or without the Party involved), and repeat until the conflict is resolved or abandoned. This means that you can put all you effort into designing well constructed NPCs and Setting, rather than trying to anticipate what the Players are going to do, and write out a plot stuffed full of contingencies and branch points.
This approach - while requiring that you become comfortable, and practiced, at improvisation - means that the Players can never "derail" the plotline and story beats you'd planned, because you are building them, and adapting, "in real time". It also pays dividends in DM entertainment! The story that is unfolding is as much a surprise to you, as it is to your players.
A few caveats though:
Preplanned encounters tend to be more polished than improvised. If you can extrapolate out events, and be pretty sure that certain events are going to happen, don't hesitate to create them and polish them - just be aware it might need to be mutated on-the-fly, or never used.
Putting in design time on NPCs - both individuals and organizations - is a must if you're going to make this style of DM'ing work.
This is style that doesn't appeal to everyone. It may not work for you. But it can be a whole lot of fun if it works for you.
To put it another way (or possibly on a related note):
NPCs should have plots. You shouldn't.
If the plot is the villain's plot, not your plot, you'll be a lot less tempted to try to force it to happen.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Give your players opportunities to work together to accomplish difficult tasks outside of combat.
When they hold someone else's fate in their hands, it gives them more of a reason to care about their actions and it keeps everyone engaged. Plus, when they succeed, it gives everyone a feeling of accomplishment and comaraderie.
We want to make our friends happy and we don't like saying no to cool ideas, but sometimes those cool new races/classes/items end up being more a problem than a solution. Always remember D&D is a social game where players work as a team to complete challenges. The beauty of the game is in the diversity of the characters yet ever class is typically needed to successfully traverse an adventure. Problems always occur when one character begins to become overpowered. Be very mindful of this because, it might be great for that player, but it starts to create resentment in the rest of the group. The best groups work when they all feel equally important and all have their moments to shine. If you can engineer this, then you everyone is having fun and that's what its all about in the end - everyone having fun! So just be careful when allowing players the opportunity to try out new races or classes or awarding powerful magical items. Team balance is the key
Just as you hope your players enjoy a session. You should too. This is not a job (for most of us) so we don't have time to map every detail etc. Work towards the bare minimum and then let your NPCs motivations take over and help drive the story. This should save a lot of prep time.
Relax
Unexpected things will happen. Understand your NPCs motivations and don't try to outhink the party. This is collaborative, not adversarial.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Build the various adventure ideas you have into the fabric of your world and it's history/politics. And try and have a mix of long narrative arcs and shorter modular adventures, as you can never be sure which way a party is going to feel like travelling. My world presents the party with various large narrative arcs (legendary stories, political event/stories, d&d storylines) presented in a manner that the party can choose which they want to investigate. Because they are a part of the background of the world, I'm able to introduce plot and narrative elements as they investigate things.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Don't make plot points; make NPC motives.
a) With apologies to DMThac0 ( whose opinions I respect and am only slightly teasing here), and b) recognition that this is advice about a particular DM style, which may not, but may, fit your campaign and DM'ing practice.
You can design your adventures as the interplay of motives and tactics, around a central conflict, and not at a set of story beats, plotlines, and set pieces - keeping the plot dynamic and flexible, and being every bit a surprise and entertainment for the DM as it is for the Players.
If you define you adventures in terms of a central conflicting motives ( The thieves guild wants one of their members rescued from a prison transfer, a rival guild wants them assassinated, a secret cabal of wizards wants the transport to succeed - and all have approached the Party for aid ), then you don't need to create much - if any - plotline. Every step in the story becomes evaluating what each involved agency in the conflict will try to do next ( based on their motives, immediate goals, knowledge/beliefs, resources, and personality ), evaluate where those attempted actions will collide, resolve them ( with, or without the Party involved), and repeat until the conflict is resolved or abandoned. This means that you can put all you effort into designing well constructed NPCs and Setting, rather than trying to anticipate what the Players are going to do, and write out a plot stuffed full of contingencies and branch points.
This approach - while requiring that you become comfortable, and practiced, at improvisation - means that the Players can never "derail" the plotline and story beats you'd planned, because you are building them, and adapting, "in real time". It also pays dividends in DM entertainment! The story that is unfolding is as much a surprise to you, as it is to your players.
A few caveats though:
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
If you can, Stand Up
Standing gives you a little more authority with the players at the table. It allows you to see over the GM screen better. It opens your diaphram and gives your voice more projection. It makes you more animated, which will flow through to your descriptions of scenes.
Have some names ready
On a card or piece of paper, have a number of random names. When the PCs meet a merchant or public servant, grab the first name on the list. Quick, easy, doesn't break the flow of the game while you struggle to think of a name. Also, you get names that are consistent with the lore of the world.
the simplest advice I can give any prospective DM is:
Start small
You should not spend 3-6 months carefully plotting out your homebrewed world's esoterica. Your Players could honestly care less. Just plan for what they need. If you have Cleric in the party or a suitably religious sort, flesh out some of the relevant pantheon. You can create the rest of the world as the Players and their Characters become interested in your world and interact with it.
-Hawk
Ultimately, make up your own mind.
The Internet is rife with DMs dispensing advice, but no one else will ever be an expert on your table, or your Players.
Use the ideas, advice, and experience of other if it is of use to you; hammer, shape, and weld it all into a form that suits your table - if that helps.
But ultimately, the responsibility for your game, and the right to decide what goes into it, are yours alone.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Listen to your players. They can say and do things that can spark ideas for quests and even whole adventures. I have been going on about this in a few threads over the last 2 days. But it works.
To put it another way (or possibly on a related note):
NPCs should have plots. You shouldn't.
If the plot is the villain's plot, not your plot, you'll be a lot less tempted to try to force it to happen.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Give your players opportunities to work together to accomplish difficult tasks outside of combat.
When they hold someone else's fate in their hands, it gives them more of a reason to care about their actions and it keeps everyone engaged. Plus, when they succeed, it gives everyone a feeling of accomplishment and comaraderie.
Balance the party
We want to make our friends happy and we don't like saying no to cool ideas, but sometimes those cool new races/classes/items end up being more a problem than a solution. Always remember D&D is a social game where players work as a team to complete challenges. The beauty of the game is in the diversity of the characters yet ever class is typically needed to successfully traverse an adventure. Problems always occur when one character begins to become overpowered. Be very mindful of this because, it might be great for that player, but it starts to create resentment in the rest of the group. The best groups work when they all feel equally important and all have their moments to shine. If you can engineer this, then you everyone is having fun and that's what its all about in the end - everyone having fun! So just be careful when allowing players the opportunity to try out new races or classes or awarding powerful magical items. Team balance is the key
Have fun
Just as you hope your players enjoy a session. You should too. This is not a job (for most of us) so we don't have time to map every detail etc. Work towards the bare minimum and then let your NPCs motivations take over and help drive the story. This should save a lot of prep time.
Relax
Unexpected things will happen. Understand your NPCs motivations and don't try to outhink the party. This is collaborative, not adversarial.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Build the various adventure ideas you have into the fabric of your world and it's history/politics. And try and have a mix of long narrative arcs and shorter modular adventures, as you can never be sure which way a party is going to feel like travelling. My world presents the party with various large narrative arcs (legendary stories, political event/stories, d&d storylines) presented in a manner that the party can choose which they want to investigate. Because they are a part of the background of the world, I'm able to introduce plot and narrative elements as they investigate things.