Hello all! I'm finally getting into D&D after years of curiosity and a desire to learn, and less than two weeks into getting to understand the game, our current DM asked me if I would want to DM. So now we're kinda running two different campaigns, alternating weeks for whose story we run.
I definitely feel like I'm lacking in experience (improv is not a strong suit, and I just can't seem to nail character voices) but I still want to keep the game interesting both for the other players, who are new and learned the same day as me, as well as the other DM, who's a PC in my game.
Any suggestions / tips that you'd like to share for me to keep in mind when planning future sessions? I'm trying to make things dynamic without being complicated, but also don't want to run combat non-stop; I'm more of a story-driven person, personally.
First thing: you absolutely don't have to do voices.
If you're having trouble improvising, put the players in a constrained setting. It doesn't need to be a fully-prepped dungeon or a railroaded story, but a limited space to make it possible for you to prepare in advance. (They're still going to do things you don't expect. Sorry, that's just players.) Also, talk to your players about it out-of-game. If you get their explicit buy-in on staying in the box, they won't try to get out before you're ready for it.
Also as a follow-up to jl8e, you can have a dungeon created for the players to run - without combat. Who's to say that the ruined underground fortress has combative monsters? Maybe there's a clan of deep gnomes that are having trouble with their kobold neighbors and they need someone to help resolve their differences. All you'll need to do is prep a few key npc's on each side (1 leader, 1 commoner, 1 special figure in the hierarchy?) and then figure out what the problem is.
As a forever DM, I'll say this. It's always hard to improv at first, but it's a skill that you'll get better and better at with practice and time. If the other DM asked you to run a game, it's because they liked the way you were playing which seems like a big compliment to me. As for keeping things interesting: try to plan for a 'minigame' of sorts occasionally. Two that I had a lot of fun with (as DM & player);
1 was the dinosaur races from the Tomb of Annihilation/Chult book. I set it up that the players could elect one of their ranks to take part in the race, then gave each of the others control over a different dinosaur racer so they could all still participate. THAT was a fun session.
2 was as a player - the DM had us find an underwater shipwreck. It contained a lot of plot stuff that we needed to get (plus treasure). It became sort of a timed skill challenge, where we could use spells/abilities to do better and hold our breath longer and had to choose what to take with us and what to leave behind. Note that this one really only works with low level characters (where nobody has access to Water Breathing) and non-Tritons.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Thanks for the advice! I've definitely already experienced them doing things I had absolutely no counter to, and going by memes and other comments from players and DMs alike, that seems like a pretty typical thing to happen. I'll have to have some closed-off places planned ahead of time for them to get stuck in, just in case they completely derail my plans haha
On the voices thing, I think it helps a bit with immersion. One of my players doesn't seem to really get into the game unless he's in combat (and gets bored immediately if he's not 'doing something cool'), but he keeps coming back and gets excited when we mention a session regardless; the other two are more interested in story, and have also been practicing voices for their PCs. I just think it'd help streamline the whole thing if I can manage to reciprocate for them.
Edit: Not sure how replies work on here just yet, this post was meant as a response to jl8e LOL
VanZoeren, thanks for the response as well! I do want to run less combat, more story / interesting things, but they can be violent PCs at random. It can definitely be amusing, but also prevents me from getting to the actual story. I like the idea of having fun random minigames and optional things to do that have nothing to do with the main plot line. I'll have to get more creative and squeeze things in here and there, which I've been trying to do, but mostly in the form of a new city between main areas. I also want to make traveling more interesting, so I've been working on a chart to roll for a variety of factors that play into a single encounter. We'll see how that goes lol. I'll definitely keep your tips in mind (I think I need to do less NPC planning, I tend to go overboard with those)
On the voices thing, I think it helps a bit with immersion. One of my players doesn't seem to really get into the game unless he's in combat (and gets bored immediately if he's not 'doing something cool'), but he keeps coming back and gets excited when we mention a session regardless; the other two are more interested in story, and have also been practicing voices for their PCs. I just think it'd help streamline the whole thing if I can manage to reciprocate for them.
Voices are a matter of taste (and a skill of their own), but you can make memorable, easily identifiable, NPCs even without them. A strong, easy-to-play personality does a lot of the work, and varying their dialogue style also helps. I had a supercilious, extremely full of himself elven wizard (47th in line for the throne, and don't you forget it), and, even though they haven't seen him since like third level and weren't even really in conflict with him, they still hate him so much.
On the voices thing, I think it helps a bit with immersion. One of my players doesn't seem to really get into the game unless he's in combat (and gets bored immediately if he's not 'doing something cool'), but he keeps coming back and gets excited when we mention a session regardless; the other two are more interested in story, and have also been practicing voices for their PCs. I just think it'd help streamline the whole thing if I can manage to reciprocate for them.
Voices are a matter of taste (and a skill of their own), but you can make memorable, easily identifiable, NPCs even without them. A strong, easy-to-play personality does a lot of the work, and varying their dialogue style also helps. I had a supercilious, extremely full of himself elven wizard (47th in line for the throne, and don't you forget it), and, even though they haven't seen him since like third level and weren't even really in conflict with him, they still hate him so much.
I love that, memorable NPCs that did nothing but irritate you are my favorite LOL. Our DM for the other campaign always has the best NPCs, I adore them and the rest of the party is just "can we kill them?"
I'll keep it in mind, thanks again for all your input :) I hope I can make the game interesting enough for my players. I have a lot of fun plot points, moral dilemmas, and betrayal planned... It's all the in-between that tangles me up.
Voices are fun but not necessary. That said, it is a game. Fun is paramount. Don't forget to have fun. Ohhh yeah, have fun.
I totally agree with most of the feedback here. Usually, a DM tagging new players to start DMing is a sign they enjoy your creativity, and it is also a great hook to grab your interest in the game. I would add in that you as the story teller can creatively guide your group where you want them to go. They may want to go fraternize and act the fool at the local bar, but on their way they could meet (fill the blank) which is the new shiny bauble that captures their attention. Don't be shy about improvising a stick or a carrot to move your story along. (The group sees 3 paths, one is marked death to all, do not enter. Suddenly the party all wants to go down that path, even though you didn't make a scenario for it. They take 2 steps and an avalanche seals the path.)
Remember to have fun with your story, you may be tempted to follow the lore to the "nth" degree, but realize most of it is open ended and allows for your artistic flair and creative ideas. Combat helps fill time quite nicely, but sometimes the intrigue and mystery holds interest a lot more with the right groups. It takes a few adventures to get a feel of what motivates your players, and you can craft your game around how the group likes to play. Everyone is a murder hobo in one way or another. lol
Everyone is a murder hobo in one way or another. lol
Thanks for all your feedback (and yes, we certainly are lol)! I have a tendency to get stuck when my players do something unexpected, much "uhhh..." going on as I try to get the improv flowing. Thanks for pointing out that everything doesn't have to be complicated, and that I can indeed just slap down a "no means no" if they genuinely weren't meant to go somewhere and it has no purpose.
I haven't been actively sticking to the lore too much (partly because I enjoy reading a lot more than the rest of the group, and they'll have no idea what I'm referencing anyway) but it's a fantastic base and great at helping me when I get stuck / am unsure of what to use somewhere. I'm trying not to get too hung up on getting them to find the lore, but they do enjoy skipping right over something that's meant to be a vital part of the whole puzzle, so I have to figure out how else I can have them discover it LOL
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Hello all! I'm finally getting into D&D after years of curiosity and a desire to learn, and less than two weeks into getting to understand the game, our current DM asked me if I would want to DM. So now we're kinda running two different campaigns, alternating weeks for whose story we run.
I definitely feel like I'm lacking in experience (improv is not a strong suit, and I just can't seem to nail character voices) but I still want to keep the game interesting both for the other players, who are new and learned the same day as me, as well as the other DM, who's a PC in my game.
Any suggestions / tips that you'd like to share for me to keep in mind when planning future sessions? I'm trying to make things dynamic without being complicated, but also don't want to run combat non-stop; I'm more of a story-driven person, personally.
First thing: you absolutely don't have to do voices.
If you're having trouble improvising, put the players in a constrained setting. It doesn't need to be a fully-prepped dungeon or a railroaded story, but a limited space to make it possible for you to prepare in advance. (They're still going to do things you don't expect. Sorry, that's just players.) Also, talk to your players about it out-of-game. If you get their explicit buy-in on staying in the box, they won't try to get out before you're ready for it.
Also as a follow-up to jl8e, you can have a dungeon created for the players to run - without combat. Who's to say that the ruined underground fortress has combative monsters? Maybe there's a clan of deep gnomes that are having trouble with their kobold neighbors and they need someone to help resolve their differences. All you'll need to do is prep a few key npc's on each side (1 leader, 1 commoner, 1 special figure in the hierarchy?) and then figure out what the problem is.
As a forever DM, I'll say this. It's always hard to improv at first, but it's a skill that you'll get better and better at with practice and time. If the other DM asked you to run a game, it's because they liked the way you were playing which seems like a big compliment to me. As for keeping things interesting: try to plan for a 'minigame' of sorts occasionally. Two that I had a lot of fun with (as DM & player);
1 was the dinosaur races from the Tomb of Annihilation/Chult book. I set it up that the players could elect one of their ranks to take part in the race, then gave each of the others control over a different dinosaur racer so they could all still participate. THAT was a fun session.
2 was as a player - the DM had us find an underwater shipwreck. It contained a lot of plot stuff that we needed to get (plus treasure). It became sort of a timed skill challenge, where we could use spells/abilities to do better and hold our breath longer and had to choose what to take with us and what to leave behind. Note that this one really only works with low level characters (where nobody has access to Water Breathing) and non-Tritons.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Thanks for the advice! I've definitely already experienced them doing things I had absolutely no counter to, and going by memes and other comments from players and DMs alike, that seems like a pretty typical thing to happen. I'll have to have some closed-off places planned ahead of time for them to get stuck in, just in case they completely derail my plans haha
On the voices thing, I think it helps a bit with immersion. One of my players doesn't seem to really get into the game unless he's in combat (and gets bored immediately if he's not 'doing something cool'), but he keeps coming back and gets excited when we mention a session regardless; the other two are more interested in story, and have also been practicing voices for their PCs. I just think it'd help streamline the whole thing if I can manage to reciprocate for them.
Edit:
Not sure how replies work on here just yet, this post was meant as a response to jl8e LOL
VanZoeren, thanks for the response as well! I do want to run less combat, more story / interesting things, but they can be violent PCs at random. It can definitely be amusing, but also prevents me from getting to the actual story. I like the idea of having fun random minigames and optional things to do that have nothing to do with the main plot line. I'll have to get more creative and squeeze things in here and there, which I've been trying to do, but mostly in the form of a new city between main areas. I also want to make traveling more interesting, so I've been working on a chart to roll for a variety of factors that play into a single encounter. We'll see how that goes lol. I'll definitely keep your tips in mind (I think I need to do less NPC planning, I tend to go overboard with those)
Voices are a matter of taste (and a skill of their own), but you can make memorable, easily identifiable, NPCs even without them. A strong, easy-to-play personality does a lot of the work, and varying their dialogue style also helps. I had a supercilious, extremely full of himself elven wizard (47th in line for the throne, and don't you forget it), and, even though they haven't seen him since like third level and weren't even really in conflict with him, they still hate him so much.
I love that, memorable NPCs that did nothing but irritate you are my favorite LOL. Our DM for the other campaign always has the best NPCs, I adore them and the rest of the party is just "can we kill them?"
I'll keep it in mind, thanks again for all your input :) I hope I can make the game interesting enough for my players. I have a lot of fun plot points, moral dilemmas, and betrayal planned... It's all the in-between that tangles me up.
Voices are fun but not necessary. That said, it is a game. Fun is paramount. Don't forget to have fun. Ohhh yeah, have fun.
I totally agree with most of the feedback here. Usually, a DM tagging new players to start DMing is a sign they enjoy your creativity, and it is also a great hook to grab your interest in the game. I would add in that you as the story teller can creatively guide your group where you want them to go. They may want to go fraternize and act the fool at the local bar, but on their way they could meet (fill the blank) which is the new shiny bauble that captures their attention. Don't be shy about improvising a stick or a carrot to move your story along. (The group sees 3 paths, one is marked death to all, do not enter. Suddenly the party all wants to go down that path, even though you didn't make a scenario for it. They take 2 steps and an avalanche seals the path.)
Remember to have fun with your story, you may be tempted to follow the lore to the "nth" degree, but realize most of it is open ended and allows for your artistic flair and creative ideas. Combat helps fill time quite nicely, but sometimes the intrigue and mystery holds interest a lot more with the right groups. It takes a few adventures to get a feel of what motivates your players, and you can craft your game around how the group likes to play. Everyone is a murder hobo in one way or another. lol
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
Thanks for all your feedback (and yes, we certainly are lol)! I have a tendency to get stuck when my players do something unexpected, much "uhhh..." going on as I try to get the improv flowing. Thanks for pointing out that everything doesn't have to be complicated, and that I can indeed just slap down a "no means no" if they genuinely weren't meant to go somewhere and it has no purpose.
I haven't been actively sticking to the lore too much (partly because I enjoy reading a lot more than the rest of the group, and they'll have no idea what I'm referencing anyway) but it's a fantastic base and great at helping me when I get stuck / am unsure of what to use somewhere. I'm trying not to get too hung up on getting them to find the lore, but they do enjoy skipping right over something that's meant to be a vital part of the whole puzzle, so I have to figure out how else I can have them discover it LOL