@@OfHollowMasks Absolutely, that is the essence of role playing. Figuring out how the character would respond to things, given their traits and knowledge. That said, some folks have a tough time doing that consistently.
I think the best thing about BLeeM's "hell yeah" or "awesome" comment is that it reminds everyone that the players and DM are on the same side (that being the side of having fun/having a good game) even if the DM has set up difficult combat or are RPing as a major villain
One of my all-time favorite GM phrases to pull out is "We'll get back to that...", followed by shifting focus to another player or group. Party is split, someone's in a bad way, an enemy has them cornered, what do you do? Alright, cool, yeah. We'll get back to that ;) It keeps tension high, but gives the player who's in a pickle a couple minutes where the spotlight isn't on them to think up some solutions. My other back pocket has the phrase "I dunno - *you* tell me." As much as I love worldbuilding, I can't cover every conceivable corner of the play-space. Eventually my players are going to find the edge of the set, flick the light on, and discover they were on green-screen the whole time. When my players find one of these edges and ask me about it, I turn it back on them. People are more attached to their own ideas than they are to someone else's, and it's so simple to let your players stake their claim on some obscure corner of your lore.
One I always loved was the answer to a players "Can I do...?" I know Matt goes with "You can certainly try". Though my preference for that type of phrase was always"I'm willing to find out if you are".
@@FriskTemmieGoogle it's both/either depending on context. consider this valid english sentence: "Does your character die when you roll the die for a death saving throw and roll less than 10?"
As a GM the phrase that always sticks in my brain after the session is: "Are you sure you want to do that?". This is me throwing the players a lifeline, hinting there is something they've forgotten or trying to tell them there idea is simply not going to work in a horrible, horrible way. The weird thing is how often the players continue on anyway. I've had players jump out of airlocks in torn suits, try to swing across chasms only using a rope secured to a tree on the far side, and attack things way out of their league. In each case I gave them one warning, but then let the results of their actions stand. I've probably used almost all the phrases in the video.. but I can guarantee if I ever say "Are you sure you want to do that?" and the players says "Yes." its going to be a memorable session.
I asked my players if I havea phrase, and they instantly responded with : " Sell it " . Which I use when I want the player to try the idea they have, be it a weird use of a mechanic, or a bluff, or something and I use how they describe it after the phrase as a way to decide how much hidden + or - i'm gona give the roll.
Not mentioned in the video, but the thumbnail reminded me of a very funny moment -- when Brennan responded with only two words after he was outplayed by Zac -- "No, wait..." 😂
i love how all of his life left his body as he processed what happened, and just let his body fall to the chair lol "so, does it work?" "hey! i fucked myself"
I dont use the phrase "last time" because i have my players recap instead of me doing it because it tells me what they think was important and then i know how to adjust the campaign to better adjust with what they know and what i need to emphasize in the session to set up the future
One of my go tos for when I am on the fence about a calling, or if this ability applies here is "Talk me into it." It allows the player to describe how they are going to take the action that will allow them to use acrobatics to climb the wall. For recaps, I borrow "When we last left our crew..." (I run a Star Trek Adventures game) But now that you mention it, for the big finish, I'm going to start using "blow my special effects budget" ie, describe your action so cool that it will blow our FX budget if we were a TV show.
I'm mostly familiar with Critical Role and Matt as a DM, so I tend to use "How do you wanna do this?" But a friend of mine will usually add "...make it sexy!" as a way to break tension and get people really thinking about the description. I've started adding it myself. I've found that after a long fight, especially newer players get bogged down and don't let their imaginations run wild and celebrate the end of a fight. So adding that bit tends to kinda shock them out of their hyper-focus.
Variations of “how do you want to do this” were a game changer for me personally, it definitely lets the players be step into character and visualize the game much more, and of course it’s exciting, who doesn’t want the chance to have their moment as a hero slaying the bad guy!
I like to say “what’s the last thing he/she/they see?” HDYWTDT tends to lead the player into describing what happens to the enemy’s body(which sometimes can’t go the way they describe for DM reasons) WITLTTS puts the focus on the PLAYER and how cool THEY look… it also allows me to not risk having to stop or “correct” something they described
The way I signal the end of a fight is when things are close to being done I will say how many hp the enemy has. It lets the whole table know the stakes of a single roll and some of my biggest table pops are when players roll the exact number they need. I use it pretty sparingly but when I do its all ways fun.
I always start with two phrases 'are we ready to begin?' and I require each player to confirm they are ready to start, this gets them focus. Then I say 'We begin... And then I set the sence from where we left off last time.
One of my favorites comes from Troy Lavelle of The Glass Cannon Podcast. "A couple of things are gonna happen". Lets the players know something interesting and complex is about to go down. Usually happens with traps or enemies with special abilities like poison or grappling. Also alerts the players that they need to pay attention to the next bit of information.
One of my favorite phrases to drop on my players is "I don't know; let's find out" before I either flip a coin or roll a die. Usually I respond with that when asked certain things about the setting, like an improvised NPC's sex, race, or age, how many of a certain thing there is somewhere, and other mundane details I hadn't considered completely. It's extremely useful, because regardless of the result, it gets me thinking creatively and critically about the current moment, and it often lets me think through other details they didn't ask about while I'm determining the one they did.
A common one I use in my games is "Who wants to be cool?" or some variation, which evolved from me asking players to roll the miscellaneous random checks in the game (encounter rolls, treasure table rolls, etc.). I started it as kind of a silly variant of dimension 20s Box of Doom rolls, but to keep it from bogging down the game I limit it mostly to stuff that I add mid-game. I didn't think much about it at first, just that it would be fun for them to do while I look up stats and stuff, but now when I ask someone to make a "Cool" roll they know it's because something they did is making me add or change something in response to their actions. Kinda like "You did this. You did something Cool and now stuff is going off script. I hope it's not another Bag of Devouring."
my first time DMing with my group and they killed a big bad, i said "how do you want to do this?" and they all went "huh?" (no critters at the time), so i said "describe the killing blow" which has stuck - now usually shortened to "describe it"
My rule for PF2e as a gm regarding combat communication is: IF the phrase/statement/question is going to change the way a PC approaches the fight, it costs one of their three actions. If it’s just a “hell yeah!/oof/etc” then say as much as you want. But if it is going to matter, PCs have to choose to prioritise what they want to do and make it matter
For me when someone is about to do the finishing blow I say "Give me some flavor." Cause I used to say alright let's put some flavor/spice on this spell or attack, and describe it. I started asking my players to do this, one of them 100% equated it to our tables version of how do you want to do this, and it's become a thing now when someone runs a one shot, they will ask the same thing.
i really like the phrase "are you sure?", used when a player comes up with what is, objectively, an idea that is dangerous to their character or a massive derailing action. when a player wants to do a scam that seems perfect in their head but theyve not remembered the security system their character knows about that would obviously catch them, or reacting violently to a ne'er do well in front of the city guards who dont know the victim is an asshat, or a player decides to chuck the macguffin into a volcano rather than bringing it back to the NPC who sent them to retrieve it, these are perfect times for a "are you sure?" its a warning that the DM has seen a flaw in the action, and a savvy player (or just a nervously disposed player) will give the plan another think .
I like to say "tell me something about your character" before sessions begin. Most comments are throw away "fav color is __" but just as much you get interesting character building decisions, or something funny and it gets the players in their characters head before you even start the previous session recap
I never take back stuff i said because i build my story as the game goes on. So as a dm, i keep a good log of what happened and i use stuff i made up on the spot in later sessions as if they were canon. That way the players feel way more powerful in their playing, since their actions really matter, and it adds a mystique of "how much of this is actually prepared and how much is actually improvised?" them often thinking i prepared or improvised way more than i actually did. At the end of a fight i also always ask my players "do you want to do the honors, or should I?" because i have some players that have no creativity with words and some that absolutely love the descriptions. For the "that's where we will leave it" i always use the phrase "and this is where we will continue next week. Does someone have feedback?" it helps to gaze what my players want, wind down from the game we just played before going to bed, give the opportunity to nitpick rules so that those discussions don't start during the session and also gives the players a moment share ideas i can later integrate into the campaign if i like them.
My friends and I are not native English speakers, but we still stole Matt's "how do you want to do this?" and translated it to "Jak chcesz to zrobić?" because we think it still sounds cool, lol.
One I like is "Okay, how do you do it?" The players might ask to do something that could be difficult or near impossible, but I want to let them rule of cool it, so the "okay" makes it clear we're trying. Then they have to come up with a plausible or extra awesome way to actually pull it off, and depending on what they're describing I'll ask them to make a roll with the skilll that fits their description. Depending on that description I'll also set the DC. If it's something with an immediate outcome I'll tell them what they have to beat before the roll, which adds great tension. If it's something they wouldn't find out if they were successful in until later I'll just say "all right" and move on, and watch them sweat.
I was GMing a game of Starfinder and the party went to a planet they’d never been to before. I was describing the biome; flora and fauna, and I was listing off the animals they were hearing. I very abruptly modified my description rather than backtracking with a “are there” type of statement. “You hear various bugs chirping and chittering, there are some howls and hunting noises from predators and warning calls from the prey. You hear birds- there are no birds.” From then on, “there are no birds” has been a running joke in my group and it has tied in very well with the conspiracy theory about birds being government drones and now that conspiracy theory is canon in my Starfinder universe. 😃
“Pointless” perception or insight checks (or any check where if they fail, nothing happens immediately) has some great effects on mood and player psychology
I've been getting my players into more collective story telling and also getting away from simple failure when the dice go bad. Some of my played are also pretty sensitive about feeling bad if they "screwed up" so I've of my new favorites is "okay, what goes wrong?" When a doe roll goes poorly.
So, I did the descriptive finishing blow for years and years before Critical Role even started...because I'm old now I guess. Anyway, I used to say "How does it die?" But as Critical Role became more and more and MORE popular with new players joining my newer groups, I adopted "How do you want to do this?" Because...the player wants to hear that phrase. If I say it differently, it feels slightly emotionally unsatisfying to them, I can see it on their face. So I adapted to the times.
My "How do you want to do this." Wasn't a phrase. Instead, I would address the player directly and hold out a thumb to the side. It was up to the player to decide if that thumb was up or down. It resulted in a chant at the table we played at, while the final decision was made. Either up or down (but let's be honest, 99% were downs), the decision would be made, and the table would erupt in cheers before the player described the violent end of the encounter
I did most of these but the last *erm* was so reassuring to do so. I always thought that was a bad idea because it breaks immersion and does nothing else.
I have tried the HDYWTDT but on a curse of Strahd run I elected to change it up a bit for an added suspense attempt. If a creature fights to the death. I didn't call the combat until it got back to the creature's turn where I would recap the hits from where it died on and describe how it succumbed to its wounds. Didn't do that so much for minions but the big guy in a fight.
One of my favorite things to do as a DM is to ask my players to roll for my random table effects. i.e. "Hey roll me a d8 real quick" I am not sure if I came up with this or if I stole it from someone else but it is something I've done in every game I've ran.
I've had a DM do this if we were taking too long to make a decision.... "can everyone roll me a d8" and then we panic, roll, and then get on with what we were delaying doing for fear of having to roll again
I often say "Tell us what it looks like as __________" when a party defeats a powerful opponent, and I will often change the final blank based on what I would like to encourage them to do with that particular villain. I might say "Tell us what it looks like as the witch's life comes to a close" for one foe or "Tell us what it looks like as you completely defeat this knight" for another kind of foe. I try not to use the first kind of phrase too often as I don't want to force my players to kill if they don't want to, but I also will FOR SURE use that kind of wording if they were looking forward to ending that NPC's reign of terror and to indicate to them that they will NOT be escaping their fate. The major point of this is that I want to encourage them to take my role away from me for a moment and tell ME what's happening to the best of their abilities, to encourage them to practice narrating and creating a scene for others and to bring their personal flare to the story as much as possible.
I have two main DM phrases: "Go ahead" and "Now it's your turn." "Go ahead" started as something I was saying by accident, but I decided to weaponize it. If someone tries to do something I was completely unprepared for, or if I just want to signal that this is a lower-stakes situation, I'll say "Go ahead and give me an attack roll" or "Go ahead and roll initiative" (those are the two main ones for when combat starts unexpectedly.) It's basically just a way of telling the players "This is fairly low-stakes. As long as you don't screw around too much, you're not likely to have major consequences here." "Now it's your turn" is my "How do you wanna do this." Technically speaking, calling it one of my main phrases is a misnomer, as I'm still trying to transition to it, but currently my main phrase is "Now, it's your turn. Finish him." By the end, I want to be able to use either part of that by itself to signal to my players that they won. But for now, I use the whole two-part phrase, because "Finish him" is just such a good way of signaling that the bad guy just got killed.
I let my group have some time to have convos and just goof off before we start to help get some of it out of their system but they know the two things I do to show we're starting. 1 - I use my arms like a clapboard like they use on movie sets basically saying "quiet on set" (useful during sessions too if players go off on a tangent about something not pertaining to the game) and 2 - I quote Professor Xavier from Days of Future Past exactly how he said it. "What's the last thing you remember?" I think that line was even used in the trailer. It works so well.
One of my favorite things to do as a DM is give them a glimpse into something happening somewhere else with people they might not even know yet. I usually do it by saying something like, "and as you all drift asleep, somewhere far to the west a volcano is erupting, as something stirs under the earth." Cut to several sessions later and the players are traveling and they see mountains in the distance. Theyll remember that volcano, and head towards it. Or you can do it to show little bits with the BBEG, or to show that like a favorite NPC survived his fall from the cliff or whwtever. I dont do it often, but its a super effective way to give the players a little bit of info for future sessions.
Matt Colville's "When last we left our heroes..." is the same thing as the recap but it also prompts players to describe what happened which helps him to understand what parts they focused on and were the most important to them
My main DM phrase: "What are you trying to accomplish?" I actually got it from this channel, and the question of asking players what they're trying to do when they ask bizarre probing questions. *Option 1:* Player: "How is the room lit?" Me: "Uh... There are some candles, there's natural light streaming in from the windows." Player: "Is there a chandelier?" Me: "Yeah, I guess." Player: "Alright, I shoot down the chandelier." *Option 2:* Player: "How is the room lit?" Me: "There are some candles- What are you trying to do here?" Player: "I wanna shoot down a chandelier." Me: "Awesome. It's 20 feet in the air which is within your range, gimme an attack roll."
My go to phrase for enemy deaths is, “Describe to me how you kill this person.” I go with this especially during very important fights or boss fights, as for less significant ones I just describe a quick take down to keep the combat going. But I like giving my players narrative control for the big stuff. I’ll do it the first time they use a new attack or spell as well, or if they have a particularly good roll on a skill check or while attempting something difficult/off the wall
I did something cool with how would you do it by using the death scene with consequences. so the PC is less of a showman and he’s trying to sneak kill the mayor. He only said: I stabbed his heart. I then decide to make it a story plot point by saying: as you stab his heart, the blood spilled on your face and clothing, and now he is likely to be found out to be the murderer. He realised that even the way he kill someone in RP has consequences and he was a lot more descriptive in later final blows to prevent me the DM from using it against him.
Classic! just be careful if you play with any programmers: I've had players try to cross the line from a descriptive death blow and into trying to create a macro to control things out of their characters' control. 😅
Some fun ones.... "Player X, what's your passive perception again?" or "Player Y, what was your armor class?" or even "Player Z, can you roll me a quick Wisdom saving throw?" Accept the answer without commentary (the latter is usually for scrying). Other useful ones are "What's the marching order?" or "Who's leading the group right now?" I usually go with "Describe for us how you slay the mighty *whatever*". Possibly I'll even narrate into it: "The arrow from X strikes the dragon in the side of the head, causing it to rear back in pain. As it does so, you, player Y, see it underbelly exposed, badly damaged from your previous attacks and see an opportunity for a killing blow. Describe for us how you slay the beast."
I've discovered a new one that is absolute gold. "Elsewhere in the city, forces move, unseen." Whenever a player does something that has ramifications for later, it brings the tension up 10 fold.
When a player is delivering the final blow to an enemy, I usually use some variation of “Describe how you end him.” Sometimes along the lines of “Describe how you end the life of this man who has caused you so much anguish” or “Describe how you end this monster’s life.”
When one of my players kills a monster, I say, "call it". I do this after they know they've actually killed it, so they have a few moments to think about what how they want to describe the finishing blow.
I like how some DMs just dont tell the players the result of a role, they move on and they soon realise what that roll was. No "as far as you know" the player or dm rolls and the dm just goes "okay" and keeps the player on edge
"Interesting" is a word i use a lot in tense situations when players shoot s rule of cool scenario my way. My intention with it is to encourage them to keep approaching me with those asks, and it seems to work
One thing I picked up, is that I never use "last time". Instead, I use, "xyz how would you recap last session?". Makes sure the players are engaged by making them give the recap and also gives me an idea of how they thought the last session went after a week of reflection based on positive or negative responses to certain events as they recap them.
Go to for me when my players might have assumptions about what their characters have done during travel or when the party is split is "Tell me what you've been doing", usually precedes some kind of save if I don't hear something very specific
When players ask for information their characters wouldn’t have or what the consequences of an uncertain action would be, I like Spencer Crittenden’s “who knows, man?”
one thing i do after a recap is have everyone role a d20 and have them highlight anything from the last session give me a head start on what i need to have prepped in my head
8:07 I love/hate the Aabria version of this, which is, sometimes her players say some random stuff while doing their character voices, and she'll immediately take something they said as what the character said in-game. This is one of her most evil-DM practices, and I think it would make me throw up if it happened to me in a real game. It totally makes my stomach drop as a viewer, and basically I'm glad session 0s exist.
I will push back on one point: Table Discussions CAN be warranted, esp. for newbies, and can help players act more in accordance with their character, and can help me help my players not to metagame. I, as a GM, am facilitating these heroes being heroic and cool. I don't want them to take EVERYTHING to committee, of course, (and will quote Han Solo "We don't have time to discuss this in a committee" to move things along if needed) but there are definitely times when having SOME ability to discuss, so to come up with and say "That perfect thing" (like because my socially awkward player is the speaker and their character has a 20 cha) is warranted... Plus it's that thing where you think in the shower 2 days later what the perfect comeback would be _and it's precisely what the character WOULD have said?_ Part of a fantasy hero is that *they'd* have thought of it in the moment, right? And gaming is about having fun and The Rule of Cool Fringe benefit, I can interject into the convo to help newer players stop unconsciously metagaming. I can use phrases like "Would *your character* know that?", and "How would they know that?". The latter is esp. good for things like when another PC has succeeded on a roll, but is far away, in another room, or hasn't had a turn yet to communicate what they discovered.
@@BonusAction I have a bad habit of making good points, I've had to rework a game once b/c I, as the villain, made SUCH good points I accidentally converted the party to working for the BBEG! 🤣
For a way to start the campaign I like to do "where did we leave off" and we "remember" together but It gives my players a chance to describe last game from Their own unique perspective plus I'm not good at notes and so we kinda remember together before we get into it
To me, "Hell Yeah," and, "Awesome," always seem to be followed by a brief pause, so they also signal to my DM brain, "Okay... I want to with adjust what happens or I hadn't planned for it, so I need 3 seconds for my brain to catch up and determine that, but while doing so, I'm going to tell you I love this choice, and I'm happy to be putting my brain to work right now."
I always say "good job" when a character has used all tbeir actions and succintly made their decisions. Its also a good way to signal their turn is over bedore we move on to the next. Helps with the " oh i forgot..."!
Some of my favorites not mentioned is " What does that look like? " When they say they wanna charm/barter ,or do an attack and they seem to just be doing mechanical things instead of rping or being pulled out of immersion. Also one of my fav things to do to make players feel like their character is connected to the word more is asking a question every once in a while thats more personal. Like " Have you(character) ever been in a situation that you were feeling helpless? This situation reminds you of that since -insert reason-" These are great when you got a loosey goosey background from the player and want to fill it out during gameplay with them. Though, high improve skills required I guess haha.
I think I say something to the effect of "go on, I'm intrigued" most of the time, or "I want to see where this is going" when the players have a wacky idea.
For a PC killing an enemy, I point dramatically, look at the player dead in the eye, and say “describe your killing blow.” My players love this and often time describe something over-the-top and awesome.
My go-to phrase for letting a player end a fight is “What is your Fatality?” We all know Mortal Kombat, so it signifies that you can have a sort of cinematic kill on someone or pull off a fun combo that’ll really sound cool to describe
For my players, when they are about to end a fight, I simply say "describe your kill." For a check that is uncertain, I like to go for "you believe." For example, when they roll insight, I'll say "you believe he's telling the truth." In this way, they actually do believe what you said they believe, and you aren't lying to them if it isn't true.
I haven't DM-ed since having the idea, and I'm probably some combination of too soft and too lazy when it comes to figuring out how to actually make challenging encounters, to actually get to use this, but I had this idea from a SuperGeekMike video about how to handle death and injury in combat. I want to start using something like "That's going to leave a mark" when a character goes down. Basically, I want to give the player a reverse "How do you want to do this?" in a tough fight. I think the people I play with would be down with giving their characters scars, and I think it'll be a good way to make them extra-hate certain monsters, whether it's the boss mojster they're all going to gang up on, or the sniveling little mook who's now going to run away and become a looming threat for later in the campaign.
I really like how the "How do you want to do this?" player agency description has become more common at tables I'm at. Mine has evolved into "Describe to me how you end/ finish/ subdue/ overwhelm/ etc. this [noun]", depending on the circumstances; but I'm not into that whole 'brevity' thing. ;^)
I really love “as far as you know” and variations on it for preventing meta gaming.
REAL
I respect players who understand that their player characters might not know what the player might know, and they play along with it!
@@OfHollowMasks Absolutely, that is the essence of role playing. Figuring out how the character would respond to things, given their traits and knowledge. That said, some folks have a tough time doing that consistently.
I think the best thing about BLeeM's "hell yeah" or "awesome" comment is that it reminds everyone that the players and DM are on the same side (that being the side of having fun/having a good game) even if the DM has set up difficult combat or are RPing as a major villain
One of my all-time favorite GM phrases to pull out is "We'll get back to that...", followed by shifting focus to another player or group. Party is split, someone's in a bad way, an enemy has them cornered, what do you do? Alright, cool, yeah. We'll get back to that ;) It keeps tension high, but gives the player who's in a pickle a couple minutes where the spotlight isn't on them to think up some solutions.
My other back pocket has the phrase "I dunno - *you* tell me." As much as I love worldbuilding, I can't cover every conceivable corner of the play-space. Eventually my players are going to find the edge of the set, flick the light on, and discover they were on green-screen the whole time. When my players find one of these edges and ask me about it, I turn it back on them. People are more attached to their own ideas than they are to someone else's, and it's so simple to let your players stake their claim on some obscure corner of your lore.
One I always loved was the answer to a players "Can I do...?" I know Matt goes with "You can certainly try". Though my preference for that type of phrase was always"I'm willing to find out if you are".
My table took that further and now all of our DMs have a “you may certainly try die,” that’s an oversized d20 for those moments to roll at the table.
@@WolvzReign I thought "die" was a verb, not a noun and was confused for a while lol
@@FriskTemmieGoogle it's both/either depending on context.
consider this valid english sentence:
"Does your character die when you roll the die for a death saving throw and roll less than 10?"
As a GM the phrase that always sticks in my brain after the session is: "Are you sure you want to do that?". This is me throwing the players a lifeline, hinting there is something they've forgotten or trying to tell them there idea is simply not going to work in a horrible, horrible way.
The weird thing is how often the players continue on anyway. I've had players jump out of airlocks in torn suits, try to swing across chasms only using a rope secured to a tree on the far side, and attack things way out of their league. In each case I gave them one warning, but then let the results of their actions stand.
I've probably used almost all the phrases in the video.. but I can guarantee if I ever say "Are you sure you want to do that?" and the players says "Yes." its going to be a memorable session.
If they continue queue ominous laughter "go ahead"
I asked my players if I havea phrase, and they instantly responded with : " Sell it " . Which I use when I want the player to try the idea they have, be it a weird use of a mechanic, or a bluff, or something and I use how they describe it after the phrase as a way to decide how much hidden + or - i'm gona give the roll.
Not mentioned in the video, but the thumbnail reminded me of a very funny moment -- when Brennan responded with only two words after he was outplayed by Zac -- "No, wait..." 😂
i love how all of his life left his body as he processed what happened, and just let his body fall to the chair lol "so, does it work?" "hey! i fucked myself"
Not to mention Siobhan flipping the double birds while Emily cackles with malicious glee.
I dont use the phrase "last time" because i have my players recap instead of me doing it because it tells me what they think was important and then i know how to adjust the campaign to better adjust with what they know and what i need to emphasize in the session to set up the future
Thank you for this
@@bananadad9228Glad I can help
When one of my players kills a combatant, I say “How you wanna kill this guy?”
Word for word exactly what I say!
"As far as you know..." is diabolical and I will be using it
One of my go tos for when I am on the fence about a calling, or if this ability applies here is "Talk me into it." It allows the player to describe how they are going to take the action that will allow them to use acrobatics to climb the wall.
For recaps, I borrow "When we last left our crew..." (I run a Star Trek Adventures game)
But now that you mention it, for the big finish, I'm going to start using "blow my special effects budget" ie, describe your action so cool that it will blow our FX budget if we were a TV show.
I'm mostly familiar with Critical Role and Matt as a DM, so I tend to use "How do you wanna do this?" But a friend of mine will usually add "...make it sexy!" as a way to break tension and get people really thinking about the description. I've started adding it myself.
I've found that after a long fight, especially newer players get bogged down and don't let their imaginations run wild and celebrate the end of a fight. So adding that bit tends to kinda shock them out of their hyper-focus.
My DM’s “Who can say?” is my most hated phrase - cheeky bugger
Variations of “how do you want to do this” were a game changer for me personally, it definitely lets the players be step into character and visualize the game much more, and of course it’s exciting, who doesn’t want the chance to have their moment as a hero slaying the bad guy!
The way it makes the whole table roar and punch the sky… man. That’s dopamine for the week
@@claireful exactly!! I get so much joy from seeing it!
My recap phrase is always and without fail: "When last we met:"
I like to say “what’s the last thing he/she/they see?”
HDYWTDT tends to lead the player into describing what happens to the enemy’s body(which sometimes can’t go the way they describe for DM reasons)
WITLTTS puts the focus on the PLAYER and how cool THEY look… it also allows me to not risk having to stop or “correct” something they described
I absolutely love the timer signifying the next segment of the video wish more creators did this
The way I signal the end of a fight is when things are close to being done I will say how many hp the enemy has. It lets the whole table know the stakes of a single roll and some of my biggest table pops are when players roll the exact number they need. I use it pretty sparingly but when I do its all ways fun.
I always start with two phrases 'are we ready to begin?' and I require each player to confirm they are ready to start, this gets them focus. Then I say 'We begin... And then I set the sence from where we left off last time.
One of my favorites comes from Troy Lavelle of The Glass Cannon Podcast. "A couple of things are gonna happen". Lets the players know something interesting and complex is about to go down. Usually happens with traps or enemies with special abilities like poison or grappling. Also alerts the players that they need to pay attention to the next bit of information.
One of my favorite phrases to drop on my players is "I don't know; let's find out" before I either flip a coin or roll a die. Usually I respond with that when asked certain things about the setting, like an improvised NPC's sex, race, or age, how many of a certain thing there is somewhere, and other mundane details I hadn't considered completely. It's extremely useful, because regardless of the result, it gets me thinking creatively and critically about the current moment, and it often lets me think through other details they didn't ask about while I'm determining the one they did.
"That little bit of powerless frustration in your players eyes, that you crave so much"
Why you gotta go call me out like that
I know Matt Mercer and Brenan are the rockstars of dming. But I love a good breakdown of Murph he’s crazy good too
A common one I use in my games is "Who wants to be cool?" or some variation, which evolved from me asking players to roll the miscellaneous random checks in the game (encounter rolls, treasure table rolls, etc.). I started it as kind of a silly variant of dimension 20s Box of Doom rolls, but to keep it from bogging down the game I limit it mostly to stuff that I add mid-game. I didn't think much about it at first, just that it would be fun for them to do while I look up stats and stuff, but now when I ask someone to make a "Cool" roll they know it's because something they did is making me add or change something in response to their actions. Kinda like "You did this. You did something Cool and now stuff is going off script. I hope it's not another Bag of Devouring."
my first time DMing with my group and they killed a big bad, i said "how do you want to do this?" and they all went "huh?" (no critters at the time), so i said "describe the killing blow" which has stuck - now usually shortened to "describe it"
My rule for PF2e as a gm regarding combat communication is: IF the phrase/statement/question is going to change the way a PC approaches the fight, it costs one of their three actions. If it’s just a “hell yeah!/oof/etc” then say as much as you want. But if it is going to matter, PCs have to choose to prioritise what they want to do and make it matter
For me when someone is about to do the finishing blow I say "Give me some flavor." Cause I used to say alright let's put some flavor/spice on this spell or attack, and describe it. I started asking my players to do this, one of them 100% equated it to our tables version of how do you want to do this, and it's become a thing now when someone runs a one shot, they will ask the same thing.
i really like the phrase "are you sure?", used when a player comes up with what is, objectively, an idea that is dangerous to their character or a massive derailing action. when a player wants to do a scam that seems perfect in their head but theyve not remembered the security system their character knows about that would obviously catch them, or reacting violently to a ne'er do well in front of the city guards who dont know the victim is an asshat, or a player decides to chuck the macguffin into a volcano rather than bringing it back to the NPC who sent them to retrieve it, these are perfect times for a "are you sure?"
its a warning that the DM has seen a flaw in the action, and a savvy player (or just a nervously disposed player) will give the plan another think .
I like to say "tell me something about your character" before sessions begin. Most comments are throw away "fav color is __" but just as much you get interesting character building decisions, or something funny and it gets the players in their characters head before you even start the previous session recap
I never take back stuff i said because i build my story as the game goes on. So as a dm, i keep a good log of what happened and i use stuff i made up on the spot in later sessions as if they were canon. That way the players feel way more powerful in their playing, since their actions really matter, and it adds a mystique of "how much of this is actually prepared and how much is actually improvised?" them often thinking i prepared or improvised way more than i actually did.
At the end of a fight i also always ask my players "do you want to do the honors, or should I?" because i have some players that have no creativity with words and some that absolutely love the descriptions.
For the "that's where we will leave it" i always use the phrase "and this is where we will continue next week. Does someone have feedback?" it helps to gaze what my players want, wind down from the game we just played before going to bed, give the opportunity to nitpick rules so that those discussions don't start during the session and also gives the players a moment share ideas i can later integrate into the campaign if i like them.
My friends and I are not native English speakers, but we still stole Matt's "how do you want to do this?" and translated it to "Jak chcesz to zrobić?" because we think it still sounds cool, lol.
One I like is "Okay, how do you do it?" The players might ask to do something that could be difficult or near impossible, but I want to let them rule of cool it, so the "okay" makes it clear we're trying. Then they have to come up with a plausible or extra awesome way to actually pull it off, and depending on what they're describing I'll ask them to make a roll with the skilll that fits their description. Depending on that description I'll also set the DC. If it's something with an immediate outcome I'll tell them what they have to beat before the roll, which adds great tension. If it's something they wouldn't find out if they were successful in until later I'll just say "all right" and move on, and watch them sweat.
I was GMing a game of Starfinder and the party went to a planet they’d never been to before. I was describing the biome; flora and fauna, and I was listing off the animals they were hearing. I very abruptly modified my description rather than backtracking with a “are there” type of statement.
“You hear various bugs chirping and chittering, there are some howls and hunting noises from predators and warning calls from the prey. You hear birds- there are no birds.”
From then on, “there are no birds” has been a running joke in my group and it has tied in very well with the conspiracy theory about birds being government drones and now that conspiracy theory is canon in my Starfinder universe. 😃
“Pointless” perception or insight checks (or any check where if they fail, nothing happens immediately) has some great effects on mood and player psychology
I've been getting my players into more collective story telling and also getting away from simple failure when the dice go bad. Some of my played are also pretty sensitive about feeling bad if they "screwed up" so I've of my new favorites is "okay, what goes wrong?" When a doe roll goes poorly.
So, I did the descriptive finishing blow for years and years before Critical Role even started...because I'm old now I guess. Anyway, I used to say "How does it die?" But as Critical Role became more and more and MORE popular with new players joining my newer groups, I adopted "How do you want to do this?" Because...the player wants to hear that phrase. If I say it differently, it feels slightly emotionally unsatisfying to them, I can see it on their face. So I adapted to the times.
My "How do you want to do this." Wasn't a phrase. Instead, I would address the player directly and hold out a thumb to the side. It was up to the player to decide if that thumb was up or down. It resulted in a chant at the table we played at, while the final decision was made. Either up or down (but let's be honest, 99% were downs), the decision would be made, and the table would erupt in cheers before the player described the violent end of the encounter
I did most of these but the last *erm* was so reassuring to do so. I always thought that was a bad idea because it breaks immersion and does nothing else.
I like using: "We'll see", along side "As far as you know." It helps keep a bit more momentum.
In place of, "As far as you know," I use, "That's a fair assumption."
I have tried the HDYWTDT but on a curse of Strahd run I elected to change it up a bit for an added suspense attempt.
If a creature fights to the death. I didn't call the combat until it got back to the creature's turn where I would recap the hits from where it died on and describe how it succumbed to its wounds. Didn't do that so much for minions but the big guy in a fight.
One of my favorite things to do as a DM is to ask my players to roll for my random table effects. i.e. "Hey roll me a d8 real quick"
I am not sure if I came up with this or if I stole it from someone else but it is something I've done in every game I've ran.
I've had a DM do this if we were taking too long to make a decision.... "can everyone roll me a d8" and then we panic, roll, and then get on with what we were delaying doing for fear of having to roll again
@@DnDAddictUK ah yes the dm's favorite tool FEAR
"finish him"
I've started generally using "The floor is yours, how does *character name* end this/deceive the guard/persuade the king, etc"
I often say "Tell us what it looks like as __________" when a party defeats a powerful opponent, and I will often change the final blank based on what I would like to encourage them to do with that particular villain. I might say "Tell us what it looks like as the witch's life comes to a close" for one foe or "Tell us what it looks like as you completely defeat this knight" for another kind of foe.
I try not to use the first kind of phrase too often as I don't want to force my players to kill if they don't want to, but I also will FOR SURE use that kind of wording if they were looking forward to ending that NPC's reign of terror and to indicate to them that they will NOT be escaping their fate.
The major point of this is that I want to encourage them to take my role away from me for a moment and tell ME what's happening to the best of their abilities, to encourage them to practice narrating and creating a scene for others and to bring their personal flare to the story as much as possible.
I have two main DM phrases: "Go ahead" and "Now it's your turn."
"Go ahead" started as something I was saying by accident, but I decided to weaponize it. If someone tries to do something I was completely unprepared for, or if I just want to signal that this is a lower-stakes situation, I'll say "Go ahead and give me an attack roll" or "Go ahead and roll initiative" (those are the two main ones for when combat starts unexpectedly.) It's basically just a way of telling the players "This is fairly low-stakes. As long as you don't screw around too much, you're not likely to have major consequences here."
"Now it's your turn" is my "How do you wanna do this." Technically speaking, calling it one of my main phrases is a misnomer, as I'm still trying to transition to it, but currently my main phrase is "Now, it's your turn. Finish him." By the end, I want to be able to use either part of that by itself to signal to my players that they won. But for now, I use the whole two-part phrase, because "Finish him" is just such a good way of signaling that the bad guy just got killed.
I let my group have some time to have convos and just goof off before we start to help get some of it out of their system but they know the two things I do to show we're starting. 1 - I use my arms like a clapboard like they use on movie sets basically saying "quiet on set" (useful during sessions too if players go off on a tangent about something not pertaining to the game) and 2 - I quote Professor Xavier from Days of Future Past exactly how he said it. "What's the last thing you remember?" I think that line was even used in the trailer. It works so well.
"Set the scene, how does it happen?"
johnny from oxventure usually says describe that please or something similar.
One of my favorite things to do as a DM is give them a glimpse into something happening somewhere else with people they might not even know yet. I usually do it by saying something like, "and as you all drift asleep, somewhere far to the west a volcano is erupting, as something stirs under the earth." Cut to several sessions later and the players are traveling and they see mountains in the distance. Theyll remember that volcano, and head towards it.
Or you can do it to show little bits with the BBEG, or to show that like a favorite NPC survived his fall from the cliff or whwtever.
I dont do it often, but its a super effective way to give the players a little bit of info for future sessions.
Matt Colville's "When last we left our heroes..." is the same thing as the recap but it also prompts players to describe what happened which helps him to understand what parts they focused on and were the most important to them
My main DM phrase: "What are you trying to accomplish?"
I actually got it from this channel, and the question of asking players what they're trying to do when they ask bizarre probing questions.
*Option 1:*
Player: "How is the room lit?"
Me: "Uh... There are some candles, there's natural light streaming in from the windows."
Player: "Is there a chandelier?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess."
Player: "Alright, I shoot down the chandelier."
*Option 2:*
Player: "How is the room lit?"
Me: "There are some candles- What are you trying to do here?"
Player: "I wanna shoot down a chandelier."
Me: "Awesome. It's 20 feet in the air which is within your range, gimme an attack roll."
My go to phrase for enemy deaths is, “Describe to me how you kill this person.” I go with this especially during very important fights or boss fights, as for less significant ones I just describe a quick take down to keep the combat going. But I like giving my players narrative control for the big stuff.
I’ll do it the first time they use a new attack or spell as well, or if they have a particularly good roll on a skill check or while attempting something difficult/off the wall
I did something cool with how would you do it by using the death scene with consequences. so the PC is less of a showman and he’s trying to sneak kill the mayor. He only said: I stabbed his heart. I then decide to make it a story plot point by saying: as you stab his heart, the blood spilled on your face and clothing, and now he is likely to be found out to be the murderer. He realised that even the way he kill someone in RP has consequences and he was a lot more descriptive in later final blows to prevent me the DM from using it against him.
Classic! just be careful if you play with any programmers: I've had players try to cross the line from a descriptive death blow and into trying to create a macro to control things out of their characters' control. 😅
What a chappy thing to do, role play snob.
Some fun ones.... "Player X, what's your passive perception again?" or "Player Y, what was your armor class?" or even "Player Z, can you roll me a quick Wisdom saving throw?" Accept the answer without commentary (the latter is usually for scrying).
Other useful ones are "What's the marching order?" or "Who's leading the group right now?"
I usually go with "Describe for us how you slay the mighty *whatever*". Possibly I'll even narrate into it: "The arrow from X strikes the dragon in the side of the head, causing it to rear back in pain. As it does so, you, player Y, see it underbelly exposed, badly damaged from your previous attacks and see an opportunity for a killing blow. Describe for us how you slay the beast."
I've discovered a new one that is absolute gold.
"Elsewhere in the city, forces move, unseen." Whenever a player does something that has ramifications for later, it brings the tension up 10 fold.
When a player is delivering the final blow to an enemy, I usually use some variation of “Describe how you end him.” Sometimes along the lines of “Describe how you end the life of this man who has caused you so much anguish” or “Describe how you end this monster’s life.”
Man I needed "Finish him" SO MUCH!
I definitely stole Mercer's How do you want to do this as well as "You can certainly try"
Wow, that ending got me because it cut to a commercial and I assumed it was just an interruptive commercial, not the end lol
When one of my players kills a monster, I say, "call it". I do this after they know they've actually killed it, so they have a few moments to think about what how they want to describe the finishing blow.
should've included "you can certainly try" too, thats one of my favourites
I like how some DMs just dont tell the players the result of a role, they move on and they soon realise what that roll was. No "as far as you know" the player or dm rolls and the dm just goes "okay" and keeps the player on edge
"Interesting" is a word i use a lot in tense situations when players shoot s rule of cool scenario my way. My intention with it is to encourage them to keep approaching me with those asks, and it seems to work
most "rule of cool" moments that require rule breaking for me always feels like the rules are either too tight or too lax.
Finally using Johnny Chiodini as an example! I'm so happy!
I admit I am occasionally a bad person and say “Are you sure?” Just to raise paranoia and tension
Oh how did i miss that one!
One thing I picked up, is that I never use "last time". Instead, I use, "xyz how would you recap last session?". Makes sure the players are engaged by making them give the recap and also gives me an idea of how they thought the last session went after a week of reflection based on positive or negative responses to certain events as they recap them.
Here's a few notable phrases:
"You can try"
"Are you sure?"
"So you touch it?"
Go to for me when my players might have assumptions about what their characters have done during travel or when the party is split is "Tell me what you've been doing", usually precedes some kind of save if I don't hear something very specific
When players ask for information their characters wouldn’t have or what the consequences of an uncertain action would be, I like Spencer Crittenden’s “who knows, man?”
one thing i do after a recap is have everyone role a d20 and have them highlight anything from the last session give me a head start on what i need to have prepped in my head
8:07 I love/hate the Aabria version of this, which is, sometimes her players say some random stuff while doing their character voices, and she'll immediately take something they said as what the character said in-game. This is one of her most evil-DM practices, and I think it would make me throw up if it happened to me in a real game. It totally makes my stomach drop as a viewer, and basically I'm glad session 0s exist.
Our tables DM asks 'tell me how he/she dies' for that killing blow
My reminder, at the beginning of play, was "Previously..." Said "Lost" style...
I will push back on one point: Table Discussions CAN be warranted, esp. for newbies, and can help players act more in accordance with their character, and can help me help my players not to metagame.
I, as a GM, am facilitating these heroes being heroic and cool. I don't want them to take EVERYTHING to committee, of course, (and will quote Han Solo "We don't have time to discuss this in a committee" to move things along if needed) but there are definitely times when having SOME ability to discuss, so to come up with and say "That perfect thing" (like because my socially awkward player is the speaker and their character has a 20 cha) is warranted...
Plus it's that thing where you think in the shower 2 days later what the perfect comeback would be _and it's precisely what the character WOULD have said?_ Part of a fantasy hero is that *they'd* have thought of it in the moment, right? And gaming is about having fun and The Rule of Cool
Fringe benefit, I can interject into the convo to help newer players stop unconsciously metagaming. I can use phrases like "Would *your character* know that?", and "How would they know that?". The latter is esp. good for things like when another PC has succeeded on a roll, but is far away, in another room, or hasn't had a turn yet to communicate what they discovered.
This is a good point!
@@BonusAction I have a bad habit of making good points, I've had to rework a game once b/c I, as the villain, made SUCH good points I accidentally converted the party to working for the BBEG! 🤣
You forgot my favorite, "you can certainly try." 😂
For a way to start the campaign I like to do "where did we leave off" and we "remember" together but It gives my players a chance to describe last game from Their own unique perspective plus I'm not good at notes and so we kinda remember together before we get into it
To me, "Hell Yeah," and, "Awesome," always seem to be followed by a brief pause, so they also signal to my DM brain, "Okay... I want to with adjust what happens or I hadn't planned for it, so I need 3 seconds for my brain to catch up and determine that, but while doing so, I'm going to tell you I love this choice, and I'm happy to be putting my brain to work right now."
I always say "good job" when a character has used all tbeir actions and succintly made their decisions. Its also a good way to signal their turn is over bedore we move on to the next. Helps with the " oh i forgot..."!
Some of my favorites not mentioned is " What does that look like? " When they say they wanna charm/barter ,or do an attack and they seem to just be doing mechanical things instead of rping or being pulled out of immersion.
Also one of my fav things to do to make players feel like their character is connected to the word more is asking a question every once in a while thats more personal. Like " Have you(character) ever been in a situation that you were feeling helpless? This situation reminds you of that since -insert reason-" These are great when you got a loosey goosey background from the player and want to fill it out during gameplay with them. Though, high improve skills required I guess haha.
I think I say something to the effect of "go on, I'm intrigued" most of the time, or "I want to see where this is going" when the players have a wacky idea.
I like whenever I hear "VEEERY clever!"
I see "hell yeah", and "awesome" a lot. It really makes the players pumped
"So, how's this happen?" when they kill the things.
Digging this. Great video. Didn't expect a lecture about D&D given by Dan Bull.
For a PC killing an enemy, I point dramatically, look at the player dead in the eye, and say “describe your killing blow.” My players love this and often time describe something over-the-top and awesome.
I finish my fights with "(Character), tell us a story;" and start my games with "when we last told our story."
My go-to phrase for letting a player end a fight is “What is your Fatality?” We all know Mortal Kombat, so it signifies that you can have a sort of cinematic kill on someone or pull off a fun combo that’ll really sound cool to describe
Roll for initiative is stressful AF when you have no idea combat coming
For my players, when they are about to end a fight, I simply say "describe your kill."
For a check that is uncertain, I like to go for "you believe." For example, when they roll insight, I'll say "you believe he's telling the truth." In this way, they actually do believe what you said they believe, and you aren't lying to them if it isn't true.
I haven't DM-ed since having the idea, and I'm probably some combination of too soft and too lazy when it comes to figuring out how to actually make challenging encounters, to actually get to use this, but I had this idea from a SuperGeekMike video about how to handle death and injury in combat. I want to start using something like "That's going to leave a mark" when a character goes down. Basically, I want to give the player a reverse "How do you want to do this?" in a tough fight. I think the people I play with would be down with giving their characters scars, and I think it'll be a good way to make them extra-hate certain monsters, whether it's the boss mojster they're all going to gang up on, or the sniveling little mook who's now going to run away and become a looming threat for later in the campaign.
When a player is ready to end a fight we say: “How do YOU wanna Slay?”
And I think that’s amazing
My statement to my group, "Describe your killing blow!"
"Rocks fall. Everyone dies?"
I really like how the "How do you want to do this?" player agency description has become more common at tables I'm at.
Mine has evolved into "Describe to me how you end/ finish/ subdue/ overwhelm/ etc. this [noun]", depending on the circumstances; but I'm not into that whole 'brevity' thing. ;^)
Great video! Inspiring on many levels
With my groups, I personally use, “how do you seal their Fate?”
You missed one of my personal favorites. "Are you sure you want to do that?" its great for ratcheting up the tension.
The one "HDYWTDT" variant I use is "Okay, narrate it."
“How do they perish”
“Make sure you don’t forget that…”
“Turns on combat music”
To the quiet player “and what is your character doing”