DM Tips

So far this year, we’ve addressed a lot of different aspects of D&D.  Now that we’ve covered monsters, I think now it’s time to address the elephant in the room: power gaming. D&D is a game of people being people in very over the top situations.  It allow us, as role players to act out amazing things.  The more you let go, the farther the story can flow.  In a lot of ways, there are no rules.  However, D&D is a GAME, a game with structure.  That structure is based on some numbers (stats, proficiencies, class abilities, etc) and as geeks we can do some pretty great stuff with numbers.  Add to that the wonder that is the internet, and the ability to share ideas with the world and you have a lot of opportunities to screw with the game’s structure.  Power gaming is using min-maxing along with feats, abilities and multiclassing in a big ball of turdness that makes a hyper specialized PC with no balance.  You might hear

 Every game ever played in the history of everything has one thing in common: you play AGAINST something.  In chess it’s a mirror of yourself, as your opponent can do all the same things you can.  In Super Mario it’s a weird giant spiked turtle thingie that kidnapped your girlfriend.  In Magic the Gathering……. OK let’s not talk about that one.  Anyhow, just like a good superhero story, it’s all about the enemies that must be defeated to save the day.  D&D has amassed the largest pantheon of baddies ever, and by the time you get thru levels 1 to 20 (every campaign starts out with that intention) the DM can and will throw all of them at you.  That can be a daunting task, but for me it’s one of the most fun.  Giving life to all the various baddies, from itty bitty goblins to vengeful evil gods, gives DMs a chance to have their fun.  Then we get to kill you!!!!  Ok, Ok. We’re not really trying to

 So you’ve got a group together, someone has stepped up as DM and you’ve run some sessions.  People have played some different things, have an idea of who they want to be in-game.  Everybody is psyched and ready to go.  So what’s next?  Well, long term games are referred to as campaigns.  They span multiple levels, in a perfect world starting at 1 and going all the way to 20.  That’s a lot of time, effort and commitment from everyone.  So how does it all come together?  Well, there are a few ways to do it.  The first, and possibly best way for a new group/DM is using a campaign module.  These are pre-made written campaigns that contain a full story, most enemy stats, locations and basically 90% of what you’ll need.  Some of these are actually very well written and the best ones have some spots where you can pause the story to allow for group specific down time or “side quests” created by you that are more personal

 If you’ve been tempted by these articles to get together and play, you’ve probably hit a point in a session where either the players or DM didn’t know how to make something “work”.  Maybe someone wants their character to do some crazy move, maybe the DM is trying to formulate the mechanics of a trap, or maybe 2 players are arguing about a rule.  This sort of thing happens, so don’t be discouraged.  D&D has a rule for just about everything, but no one memorizes every rule.  Sometimes a rule doesn’t work for the situation, or you just don’t think a rule is fair for the situation.  Not a problem!  Luckily, your group has the most powerful artifact in the game: The DM!  When a group of people sit down to play D&D, there has to be an understanding that the DM has final authority on EVERYTHING.  One of the jobs of the DM is to lay down the law.  It’s also one of the reasons it’s not a job

A lot of what you read about D&D concerns players.  How to build them, maximize your abilities and if you’re lucky tips on role playing.  I’ll get around to all of those things, but I want these articles to focus on the biggest job in the game.  As a DM, you hold everything together.  Keep the narrative together.  Provide interesting, challenging adversaries to fight.  Design and create fun, immersive locations for adventuring.  With all that to juggle, a DM needs all the tools he/she can get.  One of the most helpful, and one I find is overlooked by a lot of DM’s is the NPC. Now, any gamer knows the NPC.  How many times have you hit the “talk” button on the same generic body in town  multiple times, just to make sure you got all the info it was going to give you.  Have to find the next quest right?  No need to remember their name or anything.  Or how long their shop has been open, how many kids