I recently ran an impromptu Cairn game, where I asked my players to jot down 2 words or phrases at random (I heard about this from @BanditsKeep), then I took 20-30 minutes to create an adventure scenario from the prompts. The content was a little gonzo, (A giant soda-obsessed insectoid monster), but I was excited to play and sat down at the table expecting fun. Fun was had, but not because of the content or my GM'ing skills. We had fun because we all showed up, brought that fun energy and fully leaned into the nonsense.
This is great advice. Thank you. I'm an overprepper, but now after DMing multiple campaigns for almost 6 years straight, I've gotten much more comfortable with my improv skills. I find myself prepping less now, but that largely happens once I'm a few months into the campaign and I have a really good idea about what's happening and what all the NPCs want. I still tend to prep a lot at the beginning of a new campaign to make sure I understand it's purpose and everyone's motivations.
Sly flourish you are a gem there are so many other creators making baity titles with lists of this and that but you are so easy to watch and your info delivery is easy to follow and aborb. - tips hat
I've DMed long enough where I've gotten pretty good at improvising. If its a new set of characters for my players and its a fresh campaign I usually just ask the players what kind of adventure they want to go on. A rule of thumb I have is that it's not a bad idea to let the players decide what they wanna do, and the less things you can decide for them the better. I'm very keen on letting the players decide as much stuff as possible so they don't feel railroaded when I'm the DM. If none of them know what they wanna do, I can still come up with loads of ideas for exposition to get them to go on an adventure on the fly. I like to let the story develop naturally based off the player's decisions that they make. My DMing is very minimalistic, I believe less is more and focus on the story telling. I dont really rely on maps or too many things that are physical like miniatures, I usually will either show the players pictures either from google or if its a monster the picture from the monster manual, or just simply give them descriptions of whats going on. If necessary, I will draw on graph paper on the fly to show a room or a dungeon, so the players can visualize eveything that the characters can see that's in plain sight. To me my job as the DM is to accurately paint a picture of whats going on and the outcomes of the players decisions, but not to decide what they do for them, and to also make the world feel grounded and realistic based off the decisons they would make. I also know a lot of the monsters in the monster manual, so coming up with something random for the players to fight is pretty easy for me. Like if we are in the woods, numerous things can jump out at them, like a Giant Spider, a pack of wolves, a Goblin, or maybe even a Werewolf if its at night on a full moon. An example for an encounter from one of my sessions, which was like most things, on the fly, was that my players decided to explore an evil sorcerer's castle. At the entrance to the castle was a water fountain, and one of the players decided to do a perception check on it. They found that gold pieces were at the bottom of the fountain so of course they decided to loot them. When they attempted to loot the gold they were attacked by a water wierd, which they didnt notice in their perception check because it was well hidden and was indistinguishable from the water in the fountain. Again this whole encounter was completely improvised but still excited the players. In DnD your imagination is the limit, which I believe to be true wether you are a player or DM.
I’m a pretty new DM still, but I have this challenge for myself of not prepping *anything* for my next session and just see how it goes. I’m really scared of wasting my friends evening if it crashes completely though
I prepare just a little bit, picturing how to start and some situations I'd like to hit if the characters do some things. And then improvise around that because the players almost always surprise me but they don't know I haven't prepared what they are going through right now, and they don't notice at all.
I find it pretty ridiculous when players attempt to utilize physics in a world of high magic. Sure if you want to use high mass inertia and vacuum pressure against your enemies then you cannot use magic spells or items. If physics works like in our world then magic certainly does not
That's kinda a sad take... Just because physics work doesn't mean magic shouldn't. Most things that could be considered magic are physics based in the first place.
I recently ran an impromptu Cairn game, where I asked my players to jot down 2 words or phrases at random (I heard about this from @BanditsKeep), then I took 20-30 minutes to create an adventure scenario from the prompts. The content was a little gonzo, (A giant soda-obsessed insectoid monster), but I was excited to play and sat down at the table expecting fun. Fun was had, but not because of the content or my GM'ing skills. We had fun because we all showed up, brought that fun energy and fully leaned into the nonsense.
This is great advice. Thank you. I'm an overprepper, but now after DMing multiple campaigns for almost 6 years straight, I've gotten much more comfortable with my improv skills. I find myself prepping less now, but that largely happens once I'm a few months into the campaign and I have a really good idea about what's happening and what all the NPCs want. I still tend to prep a lot at the beginning of a new campaign to make sure I understand it's purpose and everyone's motivations.
Giving yourself a set 30 minutes to prep is a good exercise.
oh good, a video just for me (every session!)
Sly flourish you are a gem there are so many other creators making baity titles with lists of this and that but you are so easy to watch and your info delivery is easy to follow and aborb. - tips hat
I've DMed long enough where I've gotten pretty good at improvising. If its a new set of characters for my players and its a fresh campaign I usually just ask the players what kind of adventure they want to go on. A rule of thumb I have is that it's not a bad idea to let the players decide what they wanna do, and the less things you can decide for them the better. I'm very keen on letting the players decide as much stuff as possible so they don't feel railroaded when I'm the DM. If none of them know what they wanna do, I can still come up with loads of ideas for exposition to get them to go on an adventure on the fly. I like to let the story develop naturally based off the player's decisions that they make. My DMing is very minimalistic, I believe less is more and focus on the story telling. I dont really rely on maps or too many things that are physical like miniatures, I usually will either show the players pictures either from google or if its a monster the picture from the monster manual, or just simply give them descriptions of whats going on. If necessary, I will draw on graph paper on the fly to show a room or a dungeon, so the players can visualize eveything that the characters can see that's in plain sight. To me my job as the DM is to accurately paint a picture of whats going on and the outcomes of the players decisions, but not to decide what they do for them, and to also make the world feel grounded and realistic based off the decisons they would make. I also know a lot of the monsters in the monster manual, so coming up with something random for the players to fight is pretty easy for me. Like if we are in the woods, numerous things can jump out at them, like a Giant Spider, a pack of wolves, a Goblin, or maybe even a Werewolf if its at night on a full moon. An example for an encounter from one of my sessions, which was like most things, on the fly, was that my players decided to explore an evil sorcerer's castle. At the entrance to the castle was a water fountain, and one of the players decided to do a perception check on it. They found that gold pieces were at the bottom of the fountain so of course they decided to loot them. When they attempted to loot the gold they were attacked by a water wierd, which they didnt notice in their perception check because it was well hidden and was indistinguishable from the water in the fountain. Again this whole encounter was completely improvised but still excited the players. In DnD your imagination is the limit, which I believe to be true wether you are a player or DM.
MVP - minimum viable prep
i feel really bad when i don't have maps, tokens, and art ready for online games. which is weird since i'd just draw on a grid if we played in person.
I’m a pretty new DM still, but I have this challenge for myself of not prepping *anything* for my next session and just see how it goes. I’m really scared of wasting my friends evening if it crashes completely though
I prepare just a little bit, picturing how to start and some situations I'd like to hit if the characters do some things. And then improvise around that because the players almost always surprise me but they don't know I haven't prepared what they are going through right now, and they don't notice at all.
Nice
I find it pretty ridiculous when players attempt to utilize physics in a world of high magic. Sure if you want to use high mass inertia and vacuum pressure against your enemies then you cannot use magic spells or items. If physics works like in our world then magic certainly does not
That's kinda a sad take...
Just because physics work doesn't mean magic shouldn't. Most things that could be considered magic are physics based in the first place.