Please post you or your groups general philosophy when you play D&D. One that I'm happy to post and be laughed at is:
"The best D&D games are played like a game of hide and seek amongst children. if you hide too well you'll never experience the thrill of being found, if you seek to quickly or earnestly, the game will end too quickly, if you do not hide or not seek at all then you're not even playing.
Envaris, A Possible Sage on the Matter"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
The best D&D games have boundless choices for the players. Their actions impact the outcome, and their choices impact their success or failure. The DM can never plan in much detail more than one session ahead.
"Plan everything you can in as much detail as you can, and be ready to throw the plan out the window the moment the game starts."
"Either roll the dice, or don't, but don't fudge them. If you're rolling dice that don't matter, ask everyone to roll bouncy balls instead and just tell them what their numbers were in line with your predetermined story."
"Plan everything you can in as much detail as you can, and be ready to throw the plan out the window the moment the game starts."
"Either roll the dice, or don't, but don't fudge them. If you're rolling dice that don't matter, ask everyone to roll bouncy balls instead and just tell them what their numbers were in line with your predetermined story."
I'm going to disagree with that second one. Part of the fun for players is not knowing how something will come out. You may have already determined that their current course of action will fail for whatever reason but they don't know that.
Part of the DM's job is entertainment. Many times part of entertainment is deception.
"There are two wrong ways to play: One, when players aren't having fun. Two, when someone insists on telling other tables how they should be playing." "By saying that, aren't you telling people how to play?" "Shut up."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
"Plan everything you can in as much detail as you can, and be ready to throw the plan out the window the moment the game starts."
"Either roll the dice, or don't, but don't fudge them. If you're rolling dice that don't matter, ask everyone to roll bouncy balls instead and just tell them what their numbers were in line with your predetermined story."
I'm going to disagree with that second one. Part of the fun for players is not knowing how something will come out. You may have already determined that their current course of action will fail for whatever reason but they don't know that.
Part of the DM's job is entertainment. Many times part of entertainment is deception.
People should play the game any way that they want, but for me, the value of rolling dice and having an unpredictable outcome is fun because once that die leaves my hand, I've agreed along with the players to abide by the roll of the die. If that means an unfortunate critical hit that outright kills a character, so be it. The first time you change the outcome of a roll because it's not what you wanted, that agreement is broken and if a player's character dies then why didn't you just change the roll so that they didn't? For me the role of the DM is to set up the world and the story and then interpret what happens for the players. The best fun I ever have in D&D is when the players do something totally unexpected and I have to make the world work in response, so I never determine that a course of action is bound for failure unless the player's intention is inconceivable (e.g. "I want to lift that galleon out of the water").
I don't think everyone should play the same way. If I was running a table for ten year olds, I'd probably fudge things all the time, as they'd be upset if their characters died, and if I was playing a super RP heavy campaign with adults then I'd probably abandon dice altogether and play a different system. As I said, roll dice or don't - a halfway house where the DM sometimes just ignores the dice doesn't work for me. These philosophies work for my current table, and they will be how I run them in the future, but I don't expect anyone to do it my way.
Stolen from Matt Colville, possibly the best DM advice I've ever received:
'If the Player's had fun, you did your job'.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
If it's worth doing it's worth doing well, but if it can't be done well your best effort is always better than doing nothing at all. Don't half-ass it, but commit if you can.
"Every player is wielding a hammer - the trick is to know whether they will shape your game like a stonemason, uncover your plots like an archaeologist, or smash through them like a demolitionist."
- Thoruk, much to the bemusement of other members of the party.
"Plan everything you can in as much detail as you can, and be ready to throw the plan out the window the moment the game starts."
"Either roll the dice, or don't, but don't fudge them. If you're rolling dice that don't matter, ask everyone to roll bouncy balls instead and just tell them what their numbers were in line with your predetermined story."
I'm going to disagree with that second one. Part of the fun for players is not knowing how something will come out. You may have already determined that their current course of action will fail for whatever reason but they don't know that.
Part of the DM's job is entertainment. Many times part of entertainment is deception.
People should play the game any way that they want, but for me, the value of rolling dice and having an unpredictable outcome is fun because once that die leaves my hand, I've agreed along with the players to abide by the roll of the die. If that means an unfortunate critical hit that outright kills a character, so be it. The first time you change the outcome of a roll because it's not what you wanted, that agreement is broken and if a player's character dies then why didn't you just change the roll so that they didn't? For me the role of the DM is to set up the world and the story and then interpret what happens for the players. The best fun I ever have in D&D is when the players do something totally unexpected and I have to make the world work in response, so I never determine that a course of action is bound for failure unless the player's intention is inconceivable (e.g. "I want to lift that galleon out of the water").
I don't think everyone should play the same way. If I was running a table for ten year olds, I'd probably fudge things all the time, as they'd be upset if their characters died, and if I was playing a super RP heavy campaign with adults then I'd probably abandon dice altogether and play a different system. As I said, roll dice or don't - a halfway house where the DM sometimes just ignores the dice doesn't work for me. These philosophies work for my current table, and they will be how I run them in the future, but I don't expect anyone to do it my way.
Yes and no. You don't want a railroad, but you can have guardrails. You want an unpredictable outcome, but you don't necessarily want a key PC or your BBEG to get killed with a crit. Some DMs can handle that level of chaos, some cannot or prefer not to.
Please post you or your groups general philosophy when you play D&D. One that I'm happy to post and be laughed at is:
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
The best D&D games have boundless choices for the players. Their actions impact the outcome, and their choices impact their success or failure. The DM can never plan in much detail more than one session ahead.
- pavilionaire, a dilettante
D&D should play out in the players mind the same way a child sees their toys when they mash them together, with just as much zeal.
- Just some smith
"If everyone laughs, it was a good time"
- Someone cool (probably)
"Plan everything you can in as much detail as you can, and be ready to throw the plan out the window the moment the game starts."
"Either roll the dice, or don't, but don't fudge them. If you're rolling dice that don't matter, ask everyone to roll bouncy balls instead and just tell them what their numbers were in line with your predetermined story."
I'm going to disagree with that second one. Part of the fun for players is not knowing how something will come out. You may have already determined that their current course of action will fail for whatever reason but they don't know that.
Part of the DM's job is entertainment. Many times part of entertainment is deception.
"There are two wrong ways to play: One, when players aren't having fun. Two, when someone insists on telling other tables how they should be playing."
"By saying that, aren't you telling people how to play?"
"Shut up."
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
“The game is funny, it’s tense, it’s exciting. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of a natural 1.” - Mike Mearls
People should play the game any way that they want, but for me, the value of rolling dice and having an unpredictable outcome is fun because once that die leaves my hand, I've agreed along with the players to abide by the roll of the die. If that means an unfortunate critical hit that outright kills a character, so be it. The first time you change the outcome of a roll because it's not what you wanted, that agreement is broken and if a player's character dies then why didn't you just change the roll so that they didn't? For me the role of the DM is to set up the world and the story and then interpret what happens for the players. The best fun I ever have in D&D is when the players do something totally unexpected and I have to make the world work in response, so I never determine that a course of action is bound for failure unless the player's intention is inconceivable (e.g. "I want to lift that galleon out of the water").
I don't think everyone should play the same way. If I was running a table for ten year olds, I'd probably fudge things all the time, as they'd be upset if their characters died, and if I was playing a super RP heavy campaign with adults then I'd probably abandon dice altogether and play a different system. As I said, roll dice or don't - a halfway house where the DM sometimes just ignores the dice doesn't work for me. These philosophies work for my current table, and they will be how I run them in the future, but I don't expect anyone to do it my way.
Stolen from Matt Colville, possibly the best DM advice I've ever received:
'If the Player's had fun, you did your job'.
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
If it's worth doing it's worth doing well, but if it can't be done well your best effort is always better than doing nothing at all. Don't half-ass it, but commit if you can.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
"Every player is wielding a hammer - the trick is to know whether they will shape your game like a stonemason, uncover your plots like an archaeologist, or smash through them like a demolitionist."
- Thoruk, much to the bemusement of other members of the party.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
There are more things in the playing of Dungeons and Dragons, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -Hamlet, total Gamer
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yes and no. You don't want a railroad, but you can have guardrails. You want an unpredictable outcome, but you don't necessarily want a key PC or your BBEG to get killed with a crit. Some DMs can handle that level of chaos, some cannot or prefer not to.
Our group's philosophy is basically: as long as no one died, and we set something on fire, then nothing else matters.
It's only railroading if the players notice.
It is not a great session until one of my players looks me in the eye and utters "You sick, twisted, sadistic, evil (insert favorite epithet here)."
--- Damian Magecraft