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Protip - remember these are actors in these online videos, not everyday friends and family. Don't expect performances or instant brilliant creativity - even from you, the GM. Your home game is for fun, not for show.
Very true. While all 4 DMs r brilliant, the credit for making these games so interesting to watch also must go to the players, who r actors or improv artists. I don't think Brennan (love him, btw) would be able to make Exandria Unlimited: Calamity as awesome if he was playing with ur or my friends.
Yeah that's a HUGE part of this. Aabria's "What you DON'T see" is awesome, unless your players can't/don't/won't separate player knowledge and character knowledge. Matt's thing doesn't really work if your people don't roleplay much/at all. It's going to depend on the players, how engaged they are, if they like roleplay, how mature they are etc.
Very true, but the basic building blocks that they use as DMs are good at most tables, we are not all Matt Mercer but we can hope to channel some of that creativity in our own descriptions. DMs don't level up like players but we can build our own XP by stepping up our efforts to build more depth and intrigue for our players to enjoy. The better our build up is the more vested in that world our players get
For me, Brennan's biggest quality ("trick") is his "Yes, and..." attitude towards whatever the players ask of him. Whatever they come up with, he'll interact with it.
@@JacopoSkydweller plus, it assumes your players aren’t going to consistently try stupid stuff. If I went with “yes, and…” all the time, my players would have defeated the BBEG and conquered the entire nation by level 3.
the ability to "Yes, and..." should not be underestimated in your dm's toolbox, like there are limits but I find myself often going with what my players want because it seems like a fun time and I'm curious what will happen! A perfect example being my first session in a star wars game I'm running, where the party who are in a speeder on a forest world are being chased by very fast alien raptors. The driver who has force powers, swaps with another character and asks if they can use a variant of force lightning to set the trail behind them on fire. It doesn't say it can in the ability as it's specifically an attack, but I let it happen anyways and I even roll a wisdom save for the remaining raptors chasing to see if any get frightened off! Plenty other times where my ability or my other friends' abilities as dm's to "Yes, and..." has lead to really fun moments in multiple campaigns
Yo I legit got my players to just start chatting in character. The veteran at the table looked up at me after 30 minutes and gave me a look of sudden realisation that was just amazing to behold. That session was one of the most fun he’d ever had in game and I barely lifted a finger lol
@@JacopoSkydweller lol honestly I was the one that started doing the roleplaying at first. And holy crap did I blush a LOT in those first few sessions. When someone wanted a discount, I asked "how do you persuade them?" then we roleplayed that out. I did voices for some of the characters lol. I was trying to put them all into a world that was sort of alive... Though the way I DM has always been Player Fun > Story > Rules (within reason.. So no intimidating the wood to be a mast lol) Once I saw that everyone was comfortable being in character, I put in a rule that you had to remain in character (again, within reason). I do know that everyone is different, though. But this is what worked for me.
@@Un_Popular_Opinions Nice. Asking questions on how they get X or Y to happen is smart. I've been doing impressions (95% goofy) for probably 20 odd years so it's actually really easy for me to RP with some voice or other. I generally go for a funny character, or super serious low intelligence character who might try and intimidate a piece of wood to become a mast, helps others ease into it since they're laughing. I'll give this a shot next time I DM.
@@JacopoSkydweller I regluarly have moments like this and love it as a dm and its quite easy to achieve if you got players that are willing to Roleplay. I just commuicated with them before session 1 that I will only be there senses and other npcs meaning that if im quite its their stage to take. It takes a little bit to get used to but within the first session they got the grip of it and I got plenty of time to react to their stuff, think about the current pacing and be in awe of their fun rp.
@@mrosskne That the players were so deep in roleplaying that I was doing nothing but taking notes lol. He looked up at me with that realisation and all I did was smile in return.
@@hardrocker8101 I never said to ban metagaming at the table. I wanted to clarify to the DMs that there's a caveat you don't expect so use this technique sparingly. At the end of the day do what works for you. Each table game and campaign is different.
Please no, it's such a bad habit to get into. It's *only* halfway reasonable when Aabria does it because she's playing games for the sake of an outside audience. Be a better DM and don't rely on a successful perception check to push the game forward.
Another thing Murph does so well in Naddpod as a theatre of the mind podcast to have incredibly dymanic battles is that there's frequently lots of movement involved, like encounters that take place while falling down a mountain, or jumping between cablecars. For boss battles, he also makes great use of mid-battle flashabcks. It makes for some incredibly cinematic encounters and is definitely a different experience.
The DM silence bit is definitely real. I have many times when I fall silent after exposition or setting up a scene, and players look at me waiting for me to essentially tell them what to do. What I have learned to circumvent that is to either outright ask "what do you do?" or simply end with an expression on my face that beckons them to provide a response. It's a simple physical trick, but it does wonders.
@@mrosskne Of course they're there to play, sometimes you just need to jumpstart your players and switch them from listening to interacting. It's great to be able to set a scene and have attention while describing, then have a predictable and leading way of getting the table to take over where you left off.
@@mrosskne I've found that my players tend to all be extremely introverted, or not experienced with acting/roleplay. I started doing similar things to this, and it gives a small push to the introverts to speak up, and gives a slight prompt to the players who are less experienced and lets them start from somewhere. I'm also DM'ing for mostly young adults (17-19) so attention spans aren't super, and while at tables with other groups I've seen and been part of in-character roleplay that lasts for 10+ minutes, that's at a table full of ex-theater kids.
@mrosskne nah, you're missing the point. It's dramatic irony. If you're unable to separate what you know and what your character knows, then that's on you.
I personally see it as more of a trick for live plays than a session with friends. What the player characters don't see is what the audience does see. I wouldn't use it in my own game. Then again everyone runs their table their own way!
Another that I love about Matt is that he creates spicy NPCs that keep things exciting for everyone. For instance, Travis hates shopping, so Matt creates a kooky shopkeeper or a hidden nugget that brings energy to it that would make everyone surprised and excited for what strange thing comes next.
i notice this how brennan won’t interrupt the playera to move along the story. if they’re laughing and having a good time he’ll let them run out of steam before continuing. so amazing
Interesting video. I like Murph's way of just leaving things in the room for players to interact with. You're right, it's something to keep you engaged and trying to figure out if/how that might turn the tide of an otherwise potentially drawn-out combat. Just noticed your wee countdown timer in the upper left corner - that's such a great idea!
An extremely important part of this is to truly make it optional in 95% of the cases. I spent so much of my time as DM trying to give every fight a gimmick but made them mandatory to interact with. And sometimes it works, but if the players don't understand why they don't do damage, and even worse, don't feel particularly inquisitive about it, the encounter is basically over unless you spell out "yeah no, you're supposed to pour the potion into the living cauldron to remove its invulnerability." I often tried emulating Murph's style but completely left out the optional part, instead creating raid bosses for players that don't even play that many video games. Didn't go great, don't make the same mistake, everyone.
I tend to do most of these as a DM (I tend to get inspiration from actual play shows more often than I’d like to admit,) and if I had to choose one of these tips to prioritize it would definitely be Murph’s dynamic combats. Before combat in an area starts I take a moment to set the scene to my players, letting them observe or interact with the environment for a moment before the combat starts. I am continuously surprised how much my players utilize mundane items, from trapping a quasit in a bakery’s oven, to pouring alcohol to help burn some giant insects in a tavern storage room. Adding a time limit as a DM also makes more easy encounters a little more tense, causing players to take risks they normally wouldn’t.
I think what makes people like Matthew and Brennan so good at what they do is they let DnD be what everyone imagines it to be when theyre told about it. They arent telling a story, theyre propping the world and letting the players tell it. Matt sets up his plots in a way where without the people he does his campaigns with it wouldnt be as good, his campaigns are always done with such imaginative creative people and its fantastic. Brennan on the other hand (and what makes him easily, my favorite DM) doesnt have his players tell stories, he has them tell adventures and creates this wonderful dymanic relationship between DM and Player where he doesnt restrict them to the linear story because he wants to tell stories in a living world and lets his players go off track constantly for the dumbest stuff.
I love the way anthony birch plays, when you listen to dndads it sounds like he himself is a player, and the way he will make something small cannon and completely play around it on a whim (payden, well actually) is awsome
Had multiple sessions where the players discussed the situation for an hour or more at a time. Not running in circles, but combining the information they each separately had and trying to figure out the story. Also had a session where they just talked with some NPCs for the entire session, no combat, not even any rolling. Just 4 hours of roleplay.
I'd have loved an example or more explanation for Aabria's section because I don't know what the difference between a book description and movie description is, since both are spoken by the DM.. Otherwise, solid solid video
i think one thing i noticed from watching aabria dm is that with her style of description, you can imagine it like a portrayal of where the camera in a scene would be pointing at different times. for a character introduction, she might describe a panning shot of a character's home, then zoom in through the window to focus on the character's face through the glass. or she'll pause to describe a scene in detail in a similar way to how an establishing shot in a film would, focusing on key sensory details that a camera might linger on. another thing is that she'll often use the phrase "what you don't see..." before describing something happening out of sight of the characters when players fail a perception check-like how in a film, the camera might cut away to a different location to show a consequence or effect that only the audience gets to know about (as opposed to a novel, where we would often be seeing through a character's limited eyes in that moment, and wouldn't jump to something the character wouldn't know). i hope that helps!
I'm very pleased to see that a lot of these tips are things I've already been doing, and recommending to my newer DM friends. I think my biggest one is knowing when to start/stop narrating. I have a newish DM friend that often finds himself monologuing for way too long, or leaving pauses for player interaction when there is no desire for it. Finding the pulse of when your party needs freedom vs when they need guidance and narration is tricky, but incredibly rewarding to master
I use the just shutting up method alot, the game is a story driven by the players, all I'm there to do is to guide the world around them. I provide a world they set the scene! I love it when player interact with each other without needing my input it means "I got them!" They are in that world in that moment and I don't need to spoil that. I pay rapt attention to what happens and adjust my plans accordingly.
One of the best DM advice I got was from the director of John Wick - which is that the film works because the camera sticks with John - he is the story. I see the DMs role as giving just enough information to the players as the PCs discover it, so that their characters can move the story forward. This is what makes a TTRPG different to a movie or book. One of my first times DMing our ForeverDM said their very paranoid PC 'doesn't look at walls, because walls aways lie'. This set me a challange as each room I'd have to mentally map and skip over any information the PC didn't want to know. I described the roof, the floor and if there was a door along with any obvious items and the detail of anything they often asked about/where interested in but anything 'wall related' was skipped as per the players request. I had made it clear that players just need to ask if they wanted to know more. So when their PC opened a door and were immediatly hit with a lightning bolt that dropped them to 0 it came out of nowhere! It was only when another PC heard the blast and came to save them that their player was told that the door had a big sign stuck to it saying: WARNING: THIS DOOR IS A TRAP!!! It took me a while to figure out why a player would intentionally make the game harder but DMing them taught me that not every player wants to 'win' DND. What I didn't expect was how much FUN it was to let the PCs fail and dictate how events played out. By the end of the game the entire table of players were giggling over the repeated fails of their characters...and it's now changed how I and the rest of the table approch the game. Now it's often the players setting out to make their characters lives difficult and working together to enable chaos.
Great video, however I could have used some examples for some of them like you did with Murph’s. Even just a small clip of Aabryia’s stle would helped me understand what “cinematic” means
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn as a DM was when to shut the F**K up. Knowing when to chime in with lore, and when to let the players talk. You have a top down view from everything and having that knowledge when players are coming up with plans or ideas, it can be hard not to instruct them. Me shutting up has brought on some really great character interactions and some goofy plans that ended up working that the party may not have tried if I kept "um actually"-ing them.
My current group, that's my favorite strategy. Just sit back and let them engage with each other. Works wonderfully. Gives me time to check notes on what's coming, leads to some of the better character development, lotta benefits.
Brennan, Aabria, Lou Wilson and Erika Ishii have a podcast called Worlds Beyond Number and I believe the DM will rotate between the 4 each campaign. It starts with Brennan.
I think you skipped the actual tip in the Aabria section. What does it mean to "describe like a movie instead of like a novel"? The rest are good tips though, sitting back and letting the players take the scene sometimes is definitely a good way to go.
since it still doesn't seem to be answered, I would say it's maybe about dynamic scene setting that goes beyond even just what the players see. for example, her "here's what you DON'T see" trick is always more for the players than for the characters, and makes the threats and stakes feel more real and scary, especially when you can't necessarily act on it in character. she also uses descriptive movie language like "we pan over to" or "we cut to," so the players can imagine the important bit of scenes and settings as though watching it through a camera lens, instead of having to remember every little detail of a room or building the way matt mercer's descriptions might require.
for me, it's thinking in shots rather than paragraphs. If you were describing a npc like a book, you might be inclined to introduce them physical features first, and with the aspect of going top to bottom and pointing out notable features. sometimes, this works! sometimes, it's more effective to describe it like you would see it in a film: dialogue first, then sprinkling in features as if the camera was focusing on/panning to them, describing boots as the scrape of rubber against the ground, eyes that are darting nervously and narrowing. does that makes sense? (obviously some movies do a slow pan and let you take in the whole outfit first, or novels do something like what's above, but it's just a generalization)
Please check out Monster Hour if you're looking for more examples; Quinn's a master DM in terms of taking throwaway comments and tentative ideas put forward by his players and making them feel very integral and important to the campaign. The first campaign ends with several of the players voluntarily nerfing themselves because they know Quinn will do something cool with it, and then for the second campaign Quinn went out of his way to make a new system and setting that actively seeks out those motes of inspiration.
Can't stress how good of a practice it is to be silent at times, did a one shot where the dm talked a lot! (granted its a one shot so he probably wanted to finish it at a decent time) and my god did it really make me feel out of control and I enjoyed the session a lot less because of it. When I do my one shots I pretty much describe the room and go "what do you wanna do?" and just leave the party to cook until I need to speak again, its nice to let the players pace the game (obviously to a degree) plus it means I do a lil less work 😂
I've always been a mix of Aabria and Matt but watching the two of them still made me improve because it's become their job and they managed to hone it in ways I can't just yet
An utterly AMAZING example of Murph's DM ability is Snot's Yacht from the cutthroat chronicles. The players spent so much time interacting with the environment and ship, that they almost lost the, admittedly, incredibly easy encounter.
Not a DnD dungeon master here but a Fallout Overseer, and this tricks are really useful for any game! I will use more than one next time. Thanks! Personally I like to make things the most realistic possible, I mean, if a player rolls a critical shooting on the eyes of an enemy, there is no way that enemy survives, same backwards. And most of all, we always had to be specific about what's happening, I mean, I always make some little act, and I don't let my players simply say, "I shoot" or "I attack", they have to describe the situation, and this makes my players even more involve in what is happening. Things can turn very gross too ( the post-apocalypse is bloody and gross). Once I had a player that used a deathclaw, it was her first time playing an tabletop rpg, but she was really creative! Her character had the habit to rip enemies hearts with her claws. In fact, I don't know if there's something about my way of leading the game, or maybe fallout is a world where you can do whatever you want, but I love to see how even the "first-timers" let their imagination run wild, and they all feel so free! I love to see how they mess things up and then manage to get away with any situation. Seeing how I get all emotional sharing this I realize that that's the thing I love more of being an Overseer. That and the fact that I really LOVE improvisation. I have so many funny moments to share that I could write a book!
one thing that i like to do to make my players more engaged and to have them connect to their character more (especially if they are newbies) is "how does that make you feel" and "what did you do?" questions. blame it on my background in psychology, but it's fun to open the scene with "you wake up in a pile of hay in an unknown barn, surrounded by livestock. what could you have done last night to end up here?" and have the player backtrack by themselves. or say something like "-when your gazes meet, why do you feel an instantaneous connection with the beast before you?" only to have that creature killed moments later, or ask "why haven't you sent them a single letter in these past few years?" when a character meets someone they've had a falling out with. players love it when they are prompted to explain those things. especially fun in sessions 0 and 1
Some things I like to do as a DM is that I describe the environment and what potential dangers there are and when my player enter a fight maybe something that's happening before the fight could have a huge affect on it as well. For example let's say a city is under attack and the players are fighting an enemy, but thanks to catapults in the distance it causes some stones or boulders to fall. That way the player could possibly avoid the falling rock so they don't take damage or possibly use it for their advantage. Like to crush an enemy or for shelter and I do this stuff while in combat at random times just to see how things go.
I’ve been a DM for 22 years. My biggest tip for new DMs would be plan as much as you can, know your adventure and beats, know your players…BUT - expect the unexpected! When your players decide to do something off path, ROLL with it! Use voices! Use gestures, stand up, use your arms! Ask lots of questions as your NPCs in those moments. Aside note, humor and fun always wins. ❤
When I was a new DM I did the mistake of talking too much. Since then I've learned to shut up, and work on my notes while my players are talking in character.
Oh man! Once I had two groups in the same campaign going without them knowing what the other group experienced so far. THere was this magical session when those two groups finally encountered each other. I as the GM shut up for like 45 minutes watching every player fully immersed in character sharing information and making plans how to carry in while I just sat there enjoying all of it!
I really enjoy starting each session with a mini session zero. As a player, I remember going into sessions thinking about what I want to try for the entire week. I like letting the players express something they want to do, whether it be focus more on RP or maybe try out a spell they've thought a lot about. I have a lot of social anxiety, so I prefer to make sure players are getting what they want out of the experience.
That's a cool idea, I don't exactly do that, but I often talk with my players outside of the game to get a perspective on how things are going and question them about how their character took certain event and what they are planning to do. I usually encourage player to have, to think about their character personal goals, short and longterm, whether conflicting with the party or not. And encourage them to pursue them when they can during downtime if possible. I also usually suggest mentioning and foreshadowing their new skills/ability they are going to select upon their next level up. They are choosing a new multi-class well, maybe you started training or researching a trainer who could be your mentor and teach you the basic of your future Class.
I noticed the Matt thing too once I started DMing. I noticed how much I would talk or comment on things the players were doing and realized how little Matt did this. Made me realize sometimes shutting up is the best thing
I really tried silence, lIke I'm Matt's method at heart, but with my online group it just doesn't work. They just don't give me much to work with, and when I try the silence, the silence just goes on for too long... Even when I generally just ask what are you doing? Or would like to do something now? I only get results when I ask a specific player concerning a specific task.
One of my favorite things about Murph is how he takes whatever silly nonsense his players come up with and incorporates it into the lore like it was already part of it. Really feels like a great way to keep players invested in the long haul.
There is ONE tip I would give to DMs is this: "Make sure *everyone* has fun. - get to know your table. What do your players want from the session ? What are their personalities ? How do they handle pressure ? - be willing to wrap your story around THEIRS. You all came together for some storytelling - let THEM tell some of the story if they want to. - have a goal and push when you have to. When nothing gets done or the discussion gets into territory you know to be uncomfortable - be there to push the narrative along with an npc or event. It's *never* you vs the players. Its *always* a group of friends enjoying time together.
I used the 'talk less' strategy with my table this weekend and for as much as I try to learn everything I can from Matt by watching CR, I never thought I'd learn from the things he DOESN'T say. Thanks for this!
I adore Matt Mercer's style. A previous dm i played with really ran the game. Player choice was minimized while he played god, it wasn't fun for anyone but him.
Genuinely just sitting back and shutting up is one of the best things to do for a heavy RP table. And if you want the pace to quicken you can just have something happen to entice or spur your players. Once my players decided to start RPing with a bunch of screaming frogs for like 1hr. I moved it forwards by playing skyrim combat music and a shitload of frogs started appearing. They gtfo'ed right quick after that.
I figured out the talk less one by accident. I improvise a lot and don’t plan much, and didn’t have anything to add… then my player just started to fill the silence and talk to each other in game. Was a total lightbulb moment.
I use the slience moments more then people expect, I also give them a 5ish second window when they seem to have gone silence, the reason is pretty simple, sometimes people aren't done talking and the silence is them thinking. When I think flow might need to continue, I describe what other things are doing in the area, they are in a tavern? "the local drunk has just fallen of there stool and they is a round of laughter", they are at an abandoned windmill during a rain storm? "You can hear the creaking of the axis as the rain attempts to force the long forgotten blades to turn". There is setting the scene, then there is making the scene immersive
Very good video. I'm starting a new campaign soon with players I've only ever played alongside with or DM'd one-shots for. Trying to figure out how to keep them engaged is stressful and we haven't even started yet.
I think also, that box of doom would help you if playing with more sensitive family members as it reframes the pressure of the win/lose scenario back towards 'it's a game'. I just absolutely love the idea. Dice being dicey.
I wish you included some examples of both Aabria's narration, and big moments from Brennan's big dice rolls! You describing them with your own words were nice, but it would've been easier to get if we could see it in action.
Something I like about Brennan Lee Mulligan that heavily contributes to his skill as a dm, and just sorta a skill dms should have or at least attempt to have is just his improv. Like a lot of Brennan's beloved NPCs, Arthur Aguefort, Plug Strutt, Gilear Faeth, Chungledown Bim (I'msure theres more but ive only watched Fantasy High S1&2, and am partway through Starstuck Oddessy) they're beloved because they regularly outcrazy the party. It both helps the players that there are NPCs who can keep up with the craziness, and are so crazy that they make the feel normal, since regularly in DnD, (at least imo), adventuring partys just feel out of place, due to being at the whims of a higher power. Those NPCs show them, no, you're not crazy, the world is crazy, you're just one part of it
These are really great advices, but let's not forget, that we are talking here about show/entertainment Dungeon Masters. Recorded series for streaming-audience and general dnd sessions in your local town are different in many ways.
On the first tip. One of my favorite battle encounters I ever ran was when my players had a brawl in a fake cafe hiding the secret base they had to get to. The area itself was pretty simple, (I pulled the map online and moved some stuff around lol) but what made the encounter so fun was the place was loaded with secret weapons. Pull out a plant? Frag grenade. Look under a cushion? Full on Assault Rifle. It allowed me to throw a large amount of enemies at the PC's, teach them to use their surroundings, (and how all the homebrew items worked) and all while keeping combat fun and engaging. The best fights will have miniature games inside of the encounter. Think about the teleporting Sheriff in Starstruck, or the portal from ACoF&F. DnD has been optimized to hell in back, the best DM's make encounters less a problem of statblocks and DPS, and more into the strategy which makes tabletop so fun.
A little tip I found is to make death saves secret between you and the player. That way other players cant just think "oh he succeeeded this round no need to worry about him" because thats metagame-y and there's no way their character would just...not care about an ally being downed.
It would be nice to mention that all examples given have players that know and agree to be on for-profit stream. They are actors, they have to be entertaining, it is great if they don't have to think about it, but you wont allow someone that is just not sure if he is willing to show how entertained he is on your for-profit stream, especially if they get slice of the pie. Those people are motivated to be entertained in a very different way than your average play-for-play's-sake-table is. Also ... most of them are actors or have a career in performing, they will know how to perform / communicate fun and you are likely to believe them xD Nice video, just wanted to point it out :)
I'm a teacher by trade and I've found that my approach to teaching has 1:1 parallels to my approach to being a DM. In the teaching world, there's a thing called "wait time" where you allow silence to let students process the information or question you've posed. I've found this crucial to being a DM as well. Players need time to process.
3:50 When you said "if they don't work out for you, throw them out the window", for a second i thought you were talking about the players 😅 How violent.
I tried this and all my players do is argue out of character, talk over each other, and then look at me for not moving the game forward, while they fail to have a single coherent plan or communicate anything that any one player actually wants to do.
Man your videos are really well done. Thank you for presenting and breaking down these strategies! I feel much more equipped going into my next session with this new group :)
I have a guilty securet from the times that my home game could not meet on line. I knew I could seed a conversation and do as I had in person and just listen, but I have wireless headphones. I sometime had to use the bathroom. I was always listening.
great video man! if you do a part 2 id suggest anthony burch from dungeons and daddies (not a bdsm podcast) he does a really great job and writes like a video game bc he wrote for borderlands
I find it interesting that Aabria is described as cinematic in her scene descriptions, as film scripts are typically very bare-boned. It's rare in final drafts to have highly descriptive settings, as those will often change with the shooting draft due to limitations of budget, changes in location, or other factors. So it behooves script writers to be very non-descript in their writing. I would actually call Brennan's way of describing settings as more cinematic with reference to the writing style. He breezes past settings unless something is important, spending very little time telling everyone what they see and pushing towards whatever the players need to do, which is very screenplay-esque. All screenplays are written in present/active tense, meaning people who tend to think like screenwriters are very engaged in what is happening right now. Aabria uses a more prose or poetic style of description, immersing her players, but moreover the audience, in the space. She doesn't push the players towards what they do, but rather where they are. And, I would say that all these DMs use all of these tricks at times. Brennan DMing the Calamity was way more descriptive in things that happened than he normally is. S2 of CR starts with Matt painting a picture of the dawn and where all the players are. Just as examples.
With Mercer, i noticed he does the same thing that Graham Norton does as a talk show host. Let the guests/players be the "action". All you need is to just lead them along.
What I personaly like to do and that my players say they love, is I force them to be separated sometimes. Not thier characters, themselves. From times to times I will take one of them appart and describe them something, good or bad. Then its thier choice if others know it. Rightnow, in my current campaign there is only 1 perso who knows that a certain character is to be watched, but others do not as the player never told them. It adds a little sense of dread when they see me stand up and say "[player name] please, stand up and follow me"
ive ALWAYS been a huge proponent of taking the attention off yourself as a dm. my guiding principle is that my job as a gm is to facilitate the story of the player characters, its their story and i'm just living in it. so my favorite gm trick, which i learned from running monster of the week and then going back to running dnd, is to have a timeline of what the different factions/actors in a certain plotline intend to do without the players' influence, and then adjust it as needed based on what the players do. my plots tend to have a lot of moving parts, so using what npcs INTEND to do as a jumping off point makes it easier to sort out in the moment what happens when things dont go according to plan, and makes it easier to turn on a dime if i have to throw out 90% of my plans because a player made a chaotic decision. my whole thing is that i dont railroad not because its a bad thing to do but because i dont have rails in the first place, its more like a dirt road--- theres a suggested path, but really, whats stopping you from going off it?
I had two of my characters argue about their deities. One was a barbarian worshipping dragons as gods, the other an academic cleric believing in the pantheon of gods as they regularly interact with the mortal plane and the party even met a few. However both being very stubborn characters they couldnt stop fighting. In short moment of silence I just asked the other two player for a perception check if they could find out what way they have to go from here, and then what they want to do while the others were argueing. They found out the way and simply picked the other two up. They didnt resist as the players themselves realized that they were holding up the party but both couldn't let rhe argument slide. This way I didn't need to push anyone, all players were involved and we had a good laugh while picturing the half orc carrying the two on each shoulder while they are still arguing about gods and dragons.
I had one DM that didn't let talk. We would like pause to just barely process what they said for them to almost immediately start talking again. We had a lot of beginners so we might, when we rarely did speak to each other, struggle to process what to do next and end up taking too long discussing what to do. But... we'd never get to otherwise speak? So it was very very weird.
My largest strategy as a dm is to give the players a conflict where they can choose what solution they want, not just how to get to a solution that I decide.
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Protip - remember these are actors in these online videos, not everyday friends and family. Don't expect performances or instant brilliant creativity - even from you, the GM. Your home game is for fun, not for show.
This!
Very true. While all 4 DMs r brilliant, the credit for making these games so interesting to watch also must go to the players, who r actors or improv artists. I don't think Brennan (love him, btw) would be able to make Exandria Unlimited: Calamity as awesome if he was playing with ur or my friends.
Yeah that's a HUGE part of this. Aabria's "What you DON'T see" is awesome, unless your players can't/don't/won't separate player knowledge and character knowledge.
Matt's thing doesn't really work if your people don't roleplay much/at all.
It's going to depend on the players, how engaged they are, if they like roleplay, how mature they are etc.
Very true, but the basic building blocks that they use as DMs are good at most tables, we are not all Matt Mercer but we can hope to channel some of that creativity in our own descriptions. DMs don't level up like players but we can build our own XP by stepping up our efforts to build more depth and intrigue for our players to enjoy. The better our build up is the more vested in that world our players get
How to keep your players engaged? Pay them 😂
For me, Brennan's biggest quality ("trick") is his "Yes, and..." attitude towards whatever the players ask of him. Whatever they come up with, he'll interact with it.
That's definitely cool, but also a highly cultivated skill. Improv goes SO well with games like this.
@@JacopoSkydweller plus, it assumes your players aren’t going to consistently try stupid stuff. If I went with “yes, and…” all the time, my players would have defeated the BBEG and conquered the entire nation by level 3.
And the almonds
So many instances of "Can I do X?" "That's really not how that spell works, but I'm going to let you because that sounds great."
the ability to "Yes, and..." should not be underestimated in your dm's toolbox, like there are limits but I find myself often going with what my players want because it seems like a fun time and I'm curious what will happen!
A perfect example being my first session in a star wars game I'm running, where the party who are in a speeder on a forest world are being chased by very fast alien raptors. The driver who has force powers, swaps with another character and asks if they can use a variant of force lightning to set the trail behind them on fire. It doesn't say it can in the ability as it's specifically an attack, but I let it happen anyways and I even roll a wisdom save for the remaining raptors chasing to see if any get frightened off!
Plenty other times where my ability or my other friends' abilities as dm's to "Yes, and..." has lead to really fun moments in multiple campaigns
Ah yes, my personal tricks:
- Talk less
- Smile more
- Don't let them know what you're against or what you're for
You can't be serious
You want to get ahead?
well, folks who run their mouths off wind up dead
@@damianiscringe1082Shirley
@@damianiscringe1082 You wanna get ahead?
@@dwucla Yes!
Yo I legit got my players to just start chatting in character. The veteran at the table looked up at me after 30 minutes and gave me a look of sudden realisation that was just amazing to behold. That session was one of the most fun he’d ever had in game and I barely lifted a finger lol
How did you go about this? Just say "yo, talk from your characters perspective." ?
@@JacopoSkydweller lol honestly I was the one that started doing the roleplaying at first. And holy crap did I blush a LOT in those first few sessions. When someone wanted a discount, I asked "how do you persuade them?" then we roleplayed that out.
I did voices for some of the characters lol. I was trying to put them all into a world that was sort of alive... Though the way I DM has always been Player Fun > Story > Rules (within reason.. So no intimidating the wood to be a mast lol)
Once I saw that everyone was comfortable being in character, I put in a rule that you had to remain in character (again, within reason). I do know that everyone is different, though. But this is what worked for me.
@@Un_Popular_Opinions Nice. Asking questions on how they get X or Y to happen is smart. I've been doing impressions (95% goofy) for probably 20 odd years so it's actually really easy for me to RP with some voice or other. I generally go for a funny character, or super serious low intelligence character who might try and intimidate a piece of wood to become a mast, helps others ease into it since they're laughing. I'll give this a shot next time I DM.
@@JacopoSkydweller I regluarly have moments like this and love it as a dm and its quite easy to achieve if you got players that are willing to Roleplay. I just commuicated with them before session 1 that I will only be there senses and other npcs meaning that if im quite its their stage to take. It takes a little bit to get used to but within the first session they got the grip of it and I got plenty of time to react to their stuff, think about the current pacing and be in awe of their fun rp.
@@mrosskne That the players were so deep in roleplaying that I was doing nothing but taking notes lol. He looked up at me with that realisation and all I did was smile in return.
Abria: Roll a perception check.
Player: 3
Abria: What you don't see...
I stole this immediately.
Doesn't work that great with new players who have a hard time not metagaming. Take it with a pinch of salt
@hauz thing is sometimes with new players you have to allow them some metagaming. Or they won't know what to do.
@@hardrocker8101 I never said to ban metagaming at the table. I wanted to clarify to the DMs that there's a caveat you don't expect so use this technique sparingly. At the end of the day do what works for you. Each table game and campaign is different.
Please no, it's such a bad habit to get into. It's *only* halfway reasonable when Aabria does it because she's playing games for the sake of an outside audience. Be a better DM and don't rely on a successful perception check to push the game forward.
@@Scott-ql2kx wait but she’s literally not relying on the roll bc of that technique
Another thing Murph does so well in Naddpod as a theatre of the mind podcast to have incredibly dymanic battles is that there's frequently lots of movement involved, like encounters that take place while falling down a mountain, or jumping between cablecars. For boss battles, he also makes great use of mid-battle flashabcks. It makes for some incredibly cinematic encounters and is definitely a different experience.
Definitely! Murph really leans into the strengths of theater of the mind to pull off things that would be difficult or even impossible on a battlemap!
I think Murph is the best combat dm.
Oh wow 😳😳😳 why the hell haven't I thought of falling battle and the like.... Damn it I need to see this guy's show now.
The fight in the Gnoll cave with the purple worm wrecking havoc of the cave and everyone else involved was such a great sequence and fight.
The DM silence bit is definitely real. I have many times when I fall silent after exposition or setting up a scene, and players look at me waiting for me to essentially tell them what to do. What I have learned to circumvent that is to either outright ask "what do you do?" or simply end with an expression on my face that beckons them to provide a response. It's a simple physical trick, but it does wonders.
@@mrosskne Of course they're there to play, sometimes you just need to jumpstart your players and switch them from listening to interacting. It's great to be able to set a scene and have attention while describing, then have a predictable and leading way of getting the table to take over where you left off.
@@mrosskne I've found that my players tend to all be extremely introverted, or not experienced with acting/roleplay. I started doing similar things to this, and it gives a small push to the introverts to speak up, and gives a slight prompt to the players who are less experienced and lets them start from somewhere. I'm also DM'ing for mostly young adults (17-19) so attention spans aren't super, and while at tables with other groups I've seen and been part of in-character roleplay that lasts for 10+ minutes, that's at a table full of ex-theater kids.
@@mrosskne i don't think you're a real person
@@mrosskne Imagine gatekeeping how people have fun at their own games.
@@mrosskne What makes you civilized society or the authority to say someone’s fun is wrong?
That final tip about "draw attention to the game, not yourself. your players are there to play, not to be entertained by you" hit actually
Out of the millions of ‘Tips’ and ‘you’re not DMing right’ videos infecting TH-cam, this was actually, genuinely helpful to me. Thanks!
Thankyou!
I love Aabrias "... and here is what you don't see"
"...I DON'T see that?!"
@@mrosskne for dramatic irony, I expect
@@mrosskne well, in my defence, points are pretty small
@mrosskne nah, you're missing the point. It's dramatic irony. If you're unable to separate what you know and what your character knows, then that's on you.
I personally see it as more of a trick for live plays than a session with friends. What the player characters don't see is what the audience does see. I wouldn't use it in my own game. Then again everyone runs their table their own way!
Hey man I appreciate how you don't beat around the bush and go straight into the tips. Its awesome! Great video
nothing breaks me out of immersion more than a DM saying "The camera pans down"
what fucking camera
i am a barbarian with a big stick
Another that I love about Matt is that he creates spicy NPCs that keep things exciting for everyone. For instance, Travis hates shopping, so Matt creates a kooky shopkeeper or a hidden nugget that brings energy to it that would make everyone surprised and excited for what strange thing comes next.
i notice this how brennan won’t interrupt the playera to move along the story. if they’re laughing and having a good time he’ll let them run out of steam before continuing. so amazing
Honorable mention: Monty from Dungeon Dudes is good with storytelling and flawless with the voices of multiple NPCs in a single conversation.
I do a lot of Mercer's strategy. I'll let my players talk and sometimes they indirectly give me ideas to throw their way (not always bad).
Interesting video. I like Murph's way of just leaving things in the room for players to interact with. You're right, it's something to keep you engaged and trying to figure out if/how that might turn the tide of an otherwise potentially drawn-out combat.
Just noticed your wee countdown timer in the upper left corner - that's such a great idea!
Thankyou!
An extremely important part of this is to truly make it optional in 95% of the cases. I spent so much of my time as DM trying to give every fight a gimmick but made them mandatory to interact with. And sometimes it works, but if the players don't understand why they don't do damage, and even worse, don't feel particularly inquisitive about it, the encounter is basically over unless you spell out "yeah no, you're supposed to pour the potion into the living cauldron to remove its invulnerability."
I often tried emulating Murph's style but completely left out the optional part, instead creating raid bosses for players that don't even play that many video games. Didn't go great, don't make the same mistake, everyone.
@@TheThoerlChannel Good thoughts. Gimmicks but not mandatory ones.
Trfgtd
😊
I tend to do most of these as a DM (I tend to get inspiration from actual play shows more often than I’d like to admit,) and if I had to choose one of these tips to prioritize it would definitely be Murph’s dynamic combats.
Before combat in an area starts I take a moment to set the scene to my players, letting them observe or interact with the environment for a moment before the combat starts. I am continuously surprised how much my players utilize mundane items, from trapping a quasit in a bakery’s oven, to pouring alcohol to help burn some giant insects in a tavern storage room.
Adding a time limit as a DM also makes more easy encounters a little more tense, causing players to take risks they normally wouldn’t.
I think what makes people like Matthew and Brennan so good at what they do is they let DnD be what everyone imagines it to be when theyre told about it.
They arent telling a story, theyre propping the world and letting the players tell it.
Matt sets up his plots in a way where without the people he does his campaigns with it wouldnt be as good, his campaigns are always done with such imaginative creative people and its fantastic.
Brennan on the other hand (and what makes him easily, my favorite DM) doesnt have his players tell stories, he has them tell adventures and creates this wonderful dymanic relationship between DM and Player where he doesnt restrict them to the linear story because he wants to tell stories in a living world and lets his players go off track constantly for the dumbest stuff.
I love the way anthony birch plays, when you listen to dndads it sounds like he himself is a player, and the way he will make something small cannon and completely play around it on a whim (payden, well actually) is awsome
Had multiple sessions where the players discussed the situation for an hour or more at a time. Not running in circles, but combining the information they each separately had and trying to figure out the story.
Also had a session where they just talked with some NPCs for the entire session, no combat, not even any rolling. Just 4 hours of roleplay.
I'd have loved an example or more explanation for Aabria's section because I don't know what the difference between a book description and movie description is, since both are spoken by the DM.. Otherwise, solid solid video
i think one thing i noticed from watching aabria dm is that with her style of description, you can imagine it like a portrayal of where the camera in a scene would be pointing at different times. for a character introduction, she might describe a panning shot of a character's home, then zoom in through the window to focus on the character's face through the glass. or she'll pause to describe a scene in detail in a similar way to how an establishing shot in a film would, focusing on key sensory details that a camera might linger on. another thing is that she'll often use the phrase "what you don't see..." before describing something happening out of sight of the characters when players fail a perception check-like how in a film, the camera might cut away to a different location to show a consequence or effect that only the audience gets to know about (as opposed to a novel, where we would often be seeing through a character's limited eyes in that moment, and wouldn't jump to something the character wouldn't know). i hope that helps!
I'm very pleased to see that a lot of these tips are things I've already been doing, and recommending to my newer DM friends. I think my biggest one is knowing when to start/stop narrating. I have a newish DM friend that often finds himself monologuing for way too long, or leaving pauses for player interaction when there is no desire for it. Finding the pulse of when your party needs freedom vs when they need guidance and narration is tricky, but incredibly rewarding to master
I use the just shutting up method alot, the game is a story driven by the players, all I'm there to do is to guide the world around them. I provide a world they set the scene!
I love it when player interact with each other without needing my input it means "I got them!" They are in that world in that moment and I don't need to spoil that. I pay rapt attention to what happens and adjust my plans accordingly.
One of the best DM advice I got was from the director of John Wick - which is that the film works because the camera sticks with John - he is the story. I see the DMs role as giving just enough information to the players as the PCs discover it, so that their characters can move the story forward. This is what makes a TTRPG different to a movie or book. One of my first times DMing our ForeverDM said their very paranoid PC 'doesn't look at walls, because walls aways lie'. This set me a challange as each room I'd have to mentally map and skip over any information the PC didn't want to know. I described the roof, the floor and if there was a door along with any obvious items and the detail of anything they often asked about/where interested in but anything 'wall related' was skipped as per the players request. I had made it clear that players just need to ask if they wanted to know more. So when their PC opened a door and were immediatly hit with a lightning bolt that dropped them to 0 it came out of nowhere! It was only when another PC heard the blast and came to save them that their player was told that the door had a big sign stuck to it saying: WARNING: THIS DOOR IS A TRAP!!! It took me a while to figure out why a player would intentionally make the game harder but DMing them taught me that not every player wants to 'win' DND. What I didn't expect was how much FUN it was to let the PCs fail and dictate how events played out. By the end of the game the entire table of players were giggling over the repeated fails of their characters...and it's now changed how I and the rest of the table approch the game. Now it's often the players setting out to make their characters lives difficult and working together to enable chaos.
Great video, however I could have used some examples for some of them like you did with Murph’s. Even just a small clip of Aabryia’s stle would helped me understand what “cinematic” means
It means she isn't good and there are no examples to show what makes her popular.
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn as a DM was when to shut the F**K up. Knowing when to chime in with lore, and when to let the players talk. You have a top down view from everything and having that knowledge when players are coming up with plans or ideas, it can be hard not to instruct them. Me shutting up has brought on some really great character interactions and some goofy plans that ended up working that the party may not have tried if I kept "um actually"-ing them.
My current group, that's my favorite strategy. Just sit back and let them engage with each other. Works wonderfully. Gives me time to check notes on what's coming, leads to some of the better character development, lotta benefits.
Imagine Murphy,Aabria,Brennan and Mercer do a Campaign as DM together, each of them telling and acting together making an epic campaign xD
Aabria, Brennan, and Matt have a campaign called the Ravening War, Matthew is the dm. It's on dropout.
Brennan, Aabria, Lou Wilson and Erika Ishii have a podcast called Worlds Beyond Number and I believe the DM will rotate between the 4 each campaign. It starts with Brennan.
I think you skipped the actual tip in the Aabria section. What does it mean to "describe like a movie instead of like a novel"? The rest are good tips though, sitting back and letting the players take the scene sometimes is definitely a good way to go.
I know. I feel like I have to now watch of Aabria DMing to figure out. :D
This is true, i should have gone in to this more! Thankyou for the feedback!
since it still doesn't seem to be answered, I would say it's maybe about dynamic scene setting that goes beyond even just what the players see. for example, her "here's what you DON'T see" trick is always more for the players than for the characters, and makes the threats and stakes feel more real and scary, especially when you can't necessarily act on it in character. she also uses descriptive movie language like "we pan over to" or "we cut to," so the players can imagine the important bit of scenes and settings as though watching it through a camera lens, instead of having to remember every little detail of a room or building the way matt mercer's descriptions might require.
@@tabaxi hey thanks! this is helpful.
for me, it's thinking in shots rather than paragraphs. If you were describing a npc like a book, you might be inclined to introduce them physical features first, and with the aspect of going top to bottom and pointing out notable features. sometimes, this works! sometimes, it's more effective to describe it like you would see it in a film: dialogue first, then sprinkling in features as if the camera was focusing on/panning to them, describing boots as the scrape of rubber against the ground, eyes that are darting nervously and narrowing. does that makes sense? (obviously some movies do a slow pan and let you take in the whole outfit first, or novels do something like what's above, but it's just a generalization)
Please check out Monster Hour if you're looking for more examples; Quinn's a master DM in terms of taking throwaway comments and tentative ideas put forward by his players and making them feel very integral and important to the campaign.
The first campaign ends with several of the players voluntarily nerfing themselves because they know Quinn will do something cool with it, and then for the second campaign Quinn went out of his way to make a new system and setting that actively seeks out those motes of inspiration.
Can't stress how good of a practice it is to be silent at times, did a one shot where the dm talked a lot! (granted its a one shot so he probably wanted to finish it at a decent time) and my god did it really make me feel out of control and I enjoyed the session a lot less because of it.
When I do my one shots I pretty much describe the room and go "what do you wanna do?" and just leave the party to cook until I need to speak again, its nice to let the players pace the game (obviously to a degree) plus it means I do a lil less work 😂
I've always been a mix of Aabria and Matt but watching the two of them still made me improve because it's become their job and they managed to hone it in ways I can't just yet
An utterly AMAZING example of Murph's DM ability is Snot's Yacht from the cutthroat chronicles. The players spent so much time interacting with the environment and ship, that they almost lost the, admittedly, incredibly easy encounter.
Super underrated channel. These were all awesome tips
Not a DnD dungeon master here but a Fallout Overseer, and this tricks are really useful for any game! I will use more than one next time. Thanks!
Personally I like to make things the most realistic possible, I mean, if a player rolls a critical shooting on the eyes of an enemy, there is no way that enemy survives, same backwards. And most of all, we always had to be specific about what's happening, I mean, I always make some little act, and I don't let my players simply say, "I shoot" or "I attack", they have to describe the situation, and this makes my players even more involve in what is happening.
Things can turn very gross too ( the post-apocalypse is bloody and gross). Once I had a player that used a deathclaw, it was her first time playing an tabletop rpg, but she was really creative! Her character had the habit to rip enemies hearts with her claws. In fact, I don't know if there's something about my way of leading the game, or maybe fallout is a world where you can do whatever you want, but I love to see how even the "first-timers" let their imagination run wild, and they all feel so free! I love to see how they mess things up and then manage to get away with any situation. Seeing how I get all emotional sharing this I realize that that's the thing I love more of being an Overseer. That and the fact that I really LOVE improvisation.
I have so many funny moments to share that I could write a book!
one thing that i like to do to make my players more engaged and to have them connect to their character more (especially if they are newbies) is "how does that make you feel" and "what did you do?" questions.
blame it on my background in psychology, but it's fun to open the scene with "you wake up in a pile of hay in an unknown barn, surrounded by livestock. what could you have done last night to end up here?" and have the player backtrack by themselves. or say something like "-when your gazes meet, why do you feel an instantaneous connection with the beast before you?" only to have that creature killed moments later, or ask "why haven't you sent them a single letter in these past few years?" when a character meets someone they've had a falling out with. players love it when they are prompted to explain those things. especially fun in sessions 0 and 1
I loved the video! Gentle critique, during the Aabria section, I don't think there was any more actionable advice than "describe stuff like a movie"
Some things I like to do as a DM is that I describe the environment and what potential dangers there are and when my player enter a fight maybe something that's happening before the fight could have a huge affect on it as well. For example let's say a city is under attack and the players are fighting an enemy, but thanks to catapults in the distance it causes some stones or boulders to fall. That way the player could possibly avoid the falling rock so they don't take damage or possibly use it for their advantage. Like to crush an enemy or for shelter and I do this stuff while in combat at random times just to see how things go.
I’ve been a DM for 22 years. My biggest tip for new DMs would be plan as much as you can, know your adventure and beats, know your players…BUT - expect the unexpected! When your players decide to do something off path, ROLL with it! Use voices! Use gestures, stand up, use your arms! Ask lots of questions as your NPCs in those moments. Aside note, humor and fun always wins. ❤
Those moments where I go quite and let the players talk together are my favourite part of DMing. It's like good, I've done my job so they can play.
This Video is made for people with adhd. Thanks for the Timer for each segment of the Video
I really love your use of the timer, as someone who has a tough time paying attention, it kept me in the zone!
When I was a new DM I did the mistake of talking too much. Since then I've learned to shut up, and work on my notes while my players are talking in character.
Oh man! Once I had two groups in the same campaign going without them knowing what the other group experienced so far. THere was this magical session when those two groups finally encountered each other. I as the GM shut up for like 45 minutes watching every player fully immersed in character sharing information and making plans how to carry in while I just sat there enjoying all of it!
I love using silences. Unbearably awkward silences sometimes and it just works. Using Yes and... is a good shout too
Alternative Title:
"Irish Harry Potter teaches you useful DM tips"
Yeah, if I was Irish.
@@BonusAction the red beard makes it work
"You're a dungeon master, 'Arry" @@BonusAction
So good: "Draw attention to your players, to the scene, to the rolls, not to you"
Good video. This is the 1st time I've seen this channel and dude makes some great points.
Great video. It would be nice to see some examples of Aabria's technique... I'm not sure I understand what she's specifically doing.
I shall work on this for a new video, probably talking about the different narration techniques of D&D. Thanks!
I really enjoy starting each session with a mini session zero. As a player, I remember going into sessions thinking about what I want to try for the entire week. I like letting the players express something they want to do, whether it be focus more on RP or maybe try out a spell they've thought a lot about. I have a lot of social anxiety, so I prefer to make sure players are getting what they want out of the experience.
That's a cool idea, I don't exactly do that, but I often talk with my players outside of the game to get a perspective on how things are going and question them about how their character took certain event and what they are planning to do. I usually encourage player to have, to think about their character personal goals, short and longterm, whether conflicting with the party or not. And encourage them to pursue them when they can during downtime if possible. I also usually suggest mentioning and foreshadowing their new skills/ability they are going to select upon their next level up. They are choosing a new multi-class well, maybe you started training or researching a trainer who could be your mentor and teach you the basic of your future Class.
I noticed the Matt thing too once I started DMing. I noticed how much I would talk or comment on things the players were doing and realized how little Matt did this. Made me realize sometimes shutting up is the best thing
I really tried silence, lIke I'm Matt's method at heart, but with my online group it just doesn't work. They just don't give me much to work with, and when I try the silence, the silence just goes on for too long... Even when I generally just ask what are you doing? Or would like to do something now? I only get results when I ask a specific player concerning a specific task.
One of my favorite things about Murph is how he takes whatever silly nonsense his players come up with and incorporates it into the lore like it was already part of it. Really feels like a great way to keep players invested in the long haul.
There is ONE tip I would give to DMs is this:
"Make sure *everyone* has fun.
- get to know your table. What do your players want from the session ? What are their personalities ? How do they handle pressure ?
- be willing to wrap your story around THEIRS. You all came together for some storytelling - let THEM tell some of the story if they want to.
- have a goal and push when you have to. When nothing gets done or the discussion gets into territory you know to be uncomfortable - be there to push the narrative along with an npc or event.
It's *never* you vs the players. Its *always* a group of friends enjoying time together.
I used the 'talk less' strategy with my table this weekend and for as much as I try to learn everything I can from Matt by watching CR, I never thought I'd learn from the things he DOESN'T say. Thanks for this!
I adore Matt Mercer's style. A previous dm i played with really ran the game. Player choice was minimized while he played god, it wasn't fun for anyone but him.
First time I hear cinematic descriptions being used was by the sounds like crowes gang and god damn, such a great idea.
Genuinely just sitting back and shutting up is one of the best things to do for a heavy RP table. And if you want the pace to quicken you can just have something happen to entice or spur your players.
Once my players decided to start RPing with a bunch of screaming frogs for like 1hr. I moved it forwards by playing skyrim combat music and a shitload of frogs started appearing. They gtfo'ed right quick after that.
I figured out the talk less one by accident. I improvise a lot and don’t plan much, and didn’t have anything to add… then my player just started to fill the silence and talk to each other in game. Was a total lightbulb moment.
I use the slience moments more then people expect, I also give them a 5ish second window when they seem to have gone silence, the reason is pretty simple, sometimes people aren't done talking and the silence is them thinking.
When I think flow might need to continue, I describe what other things are doing in the area, they are in a tavern? "the local drunk has just fallen of there stool and they is a round of laughter", they are at an abandoned windmill during a rain storm? "You can hear the creaking of the axis as the rain attempts to force the long forgotten blades to turn".
There is setting the scene, then there is making the scene immersive
Very good video. I'm starting a new campaign soon with players I've only ever played alongside with or DM'd one-shots for. Trying to figure out how to keep them engaged is stressful and we haven't even started yet.
I think also, that box of doom would help you if playing with more sensitive family members as it reframes the pressure of the win/lose scenario back towards 'it's a game'. I just absolutely love the idea. Dice being dicey.
I wish you included some examples of both Aabria's narration, and big moments from Brennan's big dice rolls! You describing them with your own words were nice, but it would've been easier to get if we could see it in action.
great video, but it would be really helpful to see examples of the kinds of things you're talking about from these DMs!
Something I like about Brennan Lee Mulligan that heavily contributes to his skill as a dm, and just sorta a skill dms should have or at least attempt to have is just his improv. Like a lot of Brennan's beloved NPCs, Arthur Aguefort, Plug Strutt, Gilear Faeth, Chungledown Bim (I'msure theres more but ive only watched Fantasy High S1&2, and am partway through Starstuck Oddessy) they're beloved because they regularly outcrazy the party. It both helps the players that there are NPCs who can keep up with the craziness, and are so crazy that they make the feel normal, since regularly in DnD, (at least imo), adventuring partys just feel out of place, due to being at the whims of a higher power. Those NPCs show them, no, you're not crazy, the world is crazy, you're just one part of it
These are really great advices, but let's not forget, that we are talking here about show/entertainment Dungeon Masters. Recorded series for streaming-audience and general dnd sessions in your local town are different in many ways.
On the first tip.
One of my favorite battle encounters I ever ran was when my players had a brawl in a fake cafe hiding the secret base they had to get to. The area itself was pretty simple, (I pulled the map online and moved some stuff around lol) but what made the encounter so fun was the place was loaded with secret weapons. Pull out a plant? Frag grenade. Look under a cushion? Full on Assault Rifle. It allowed me to throw a large amount of enemies at the PC's, teach them to use their surroundings, (and how all the homebrew items worked) and all while keeping combat fun and engaging. The best fights will have miniature games inside of the encounter. Think about the teleporting Sheriff in Starstruck, or the portal from ACoF&F. DnD has been optimized to hell in back, the best DM's make encounters less a problem of statblocks and DPS, and more into the strategy which makes tabletop so fun.
A little tip I found is to make death saves secret between you and the player. That way other players cant just think "oh he succeeeded this round no need to worry about him" because thats metagame-y and there's no way their character would just...not care about an ally being downed.
It would be nice to mention that all examples given have players that know and agree to be on for-profit stream. They are actors, they have to be entertaining, it is great if they don't have to think about it, but you wont allow someone that is just not sure if he is willing to show how entertained he is on your for-profit stream, especially if they get slice of the pie. Those people are motivated to be entertained in a very different way than your average play-for-play's-sake-table is. Also ... most of them are actors or have a career in performing, they will know how to perform / communicate fun and you are likely to believe them xD
Nice video, just wanted to point it out :)
I'm a teacher by trade and I've found that my approach to teaching has 1:1 parallels to my approach to being a DM. In the teaching world, there's a thing called "wait time" where you allow silence to let students process the information or question you've posed. I've found this crucial to being a DM as well. Players need time to process.
How to make sure your players are engaged and having fun:
1) Fill your table with professional entertainers.
2) Pay them to have fun.
That sounds expensive though.
Bro picking that shot of Brennan for the thumbnail is so outta pocket (💀 or whatever)
3:50 When you said "if they don't work out for you, throw them out the window", for a second i thought you were talking about the players 😅
How violent.
I tried this and all my players do is argue out of character, talk over each other, and then look at me for not moving the game forward, while they fail to have a single coherent plan or communicate anything that any one player actually wants to do.
This is very insightful, and great advice for all DMs.
Bro you have some of the most high quality DnD content out there.
The outtro / sum-up was great.
For my players I describe specific items in scenes for either jokes or to push the story. But it's up to players what to interact with and how.
Man your videos are really well done. Thank you for presenting and breaking down these strategies! I feel much more equipped going into my next session with this new group :)
Very focused and helpful video. You convey your points clearly and without wasting any words.
"What do i look like? A wizard?"
-the wizard
I absolutely love when I stop talking during a game and the players take over. I often watch the clock to see how long that phenomenon can go.
I have a guilty securet from the times that my home game could not meet on line. I knew I could seed a conversation and do as I had in person and just listen, but I have wireless headphones. I sometime had to use the bathroom. I was always listening.
Murph's encounter designed is the best in the world
great video man! if you do a part 2 id suggest anthony burch from dungeons and daddies (not a bdsm podcast) he does a really great job and writes like a video game bc he wrote for borderlands
I find it interesting that Aabria is described as cinematic in her scene descriptions, as film scripts are typically very bare-boned. It's rare in final drafts to have highly descriptive settings, as those will often change with the shooting draft due to limitations of budget, changes in location, or other factors. So it behooves script writers to be very non-descript in their writing.
I would actually call Brennan's way of describing settings as more cinematic with reference to the writing style. He breezes past settings unless something is important, spending very little time telling everyone what they see and pushing towards whatever the players need to do, which is very screenplay-esque. All screenplays are written in present/active tense, meaning people who tend to think like screenwriters are very engaged in what is happening right now. Aabria uses a more prose or poetic style of description, immersing her players, but moreover the audience, in the space. She doesn't push the players towards what they do, but rather where they are.
And, I would say that all these DMs use all of these tricks at times. Brennan DMing the Calamity was way more descriptive in things that happened than he normally is. S2 of CR starts with Matt painting a picture of the dawn and where all the players are. Just as examples.
With Mercer, i noticed he does the same thing that Graham Norton does as a talk show host. Let the guests/players be the "action". All you need is to just lead them along.
you're good af at this
What I personaly like to do and that my players say they love, is I force them to be separated sometimes. Not thier characters, themselves.
From times to times I will take one of them appart and describe them something, good or bad. Then its thier choice if others know it.
Rightnow, in my current campaign there is only 1 perso who knows that a certain character is to be watched, but others do not as the player never told them.
It adds a little sense of dread when they see me stand up and say "[player name] please, stand up and follow me"
I'm sorry, I don't know what's funnier - the picture you chose for Brennan, or the fact that the tape doesn't even BEGIN to cover his mouth 😭
“Talk less…. Smile more… don’t let them know who you’re against and who you’re for.“ -Aaron Burr
ive ALWAYS been a huge proponent of taking the attention off yourself as a dm. my guiding principle is that my job as a gm is to facilitate the story of the player characters, its their story and i'm just living in it. so my favorite gm trick, which i learned from running monster of the week and then going back to running dnd, is to have a timeline of what the different factions/actors in a certain plotline intend to do without the players' influence, and then adjust it as needed based on what the players do. my plots tend to have a lot of moving parts, so using what npcs INTEND to do as a jumping off point makes it easier to sort out in the moment what happens when things dont go according to plan, and makes it easier to turn on a dime if i have to throw out 90% of my plans because a player made a chaotic decision. my whole thing is that i dont railroad not because its a bad thing to do but because i dont have rails in the first place, its more like a dirt road--- theres a suggested path, but really, whats stopping you from going off it?
Gonna integrate this into my Cyber 2020 campaign.
I subscribed as soon as the video ended. Gonna check out your other stuff too!
I had two of my characters argue about their deities. One was a barbarian worshipping dragons as gods, the other an academic cleric believing in the pantheon of gods as they regularly interact with the mortal plane and the party even met a few. However both being very stubborn characters they couldnt stop fighting. In short moment of silence I just asked the other two player for a perception check if they could find out what way they have to go from here, and then what they want to do while the others were argueing. They found out the way and simply picked the other two up. They didnt resist as the players themselves realized that they were holding up the party but both couldn't let rhe argument slide. This way I didn't need to push anyone, all players were involved and we had a good laugh while picturing the half orc carrying the two on each shoulder while they are still arguing about gods and dragons.
I had one DM that didn't let talk. We would like pause to just barely process what they said for them to almost immediately start talking again. We had a lot of beginners so we might, when we rarely did speak to each other, struggle to process what to do next and end up taking too long discussing what to do. But... we'd never get to otherwise speak? So it was very very weird.
My largest strategy as a dm is to give the players a conflict where they can choose what solution they want, not just how to get to a solution that I decide.
This analysis of DMs is awesome!