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Speaker 1: Every table has rules, but the best stories usually begin

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when someone ignores them. A risky move, a broken alliance,

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a perfect role at the worst possible moment, and suddenly

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it's not just a game anymore. It's the victory nobody expected,

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the argument everyone remembers, and the story your friends will

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still be telling years from now. I'm Scott Ralph and

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this is table tales where board games, card games, and

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role playing adventures become stories worth retelling. So pull up

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a chair. The next tale is already on the table.

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Speaker 2: In this episode, we will be discussing some initial tips, thoughts,

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and pointers which we hope will help those looking to become,

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or those who have recently become a dungeon.

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Speaker 3: Master or dem or games master.

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Speaker 2: We will be laying out some guidance and advice to

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help you make that leap.

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Speaker 3: Hopefully these tips.

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Speaker 2: Will help in any DMING or GMing system, but as

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with most of our experience, these thoughts will be focused

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mostly around Dungeons and Dragons fifth Edition. And as I've

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said before, D and D is an amazing, diverse and

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fun hobby. And if you don't agree with what we're discussing,

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that's absolutely fine. You run the game however you want.

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This is just from our experience and as I'm sure

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we'll discuss, every DM is different. So with that said,

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let's get into it.

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Speaker 4: Let's go dungeon delving.

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Speaker 3: Let's go dungeon delving.

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Speaker 2: So I've got a few things, and i know Simon's

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got a few things on his list. We've tried to

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narrate it to five each. I actually found it fairly

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difficult to narrate it to five, so I've called it five.

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But some of them are kind of like point one.

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Speaker 4: I've definitely got five and a half. And what I'm

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going to try and do is keep it to as

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we say, things that will help the beginner most, not

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things will make you the best DM out there. I'm

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fairly new to it, certainly compared to yourself. I am

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very new to dming. I've only been doing possibly run

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ten games at the very most, probably less than that.

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So these are the ideas and tips that have helped

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me along the way to.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair to say. I've absolutely done the same

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as you. We've we had a quick discovery beforehand about

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what the direction should be, and we're absolutely going to

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keep it to the beginner DM and for me, I've

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kept it very general, some more general guidance for DMING.

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We could always come back and go into more detail

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on some of these points if it comes so slightly more,

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say intermediate level DMING, I mean even yeah, even then,

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I loath to be considered any sort of.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a lot to explore, and you I could

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quite literally talk forever. What we are looking to do

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is just kind of pick up and highlight the things

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that you either may not have considered or you might

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want a different kind of outlook or perspective on. Suddenly

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make you think, actually, yeah, that would be the thing

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that will help me do my next session or even

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my first session.

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Speaker 3: That makes sense to me.

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Speaker 2: So let's start with your first one. Then, Sion, we'll

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see if you've got any crossover like we did in

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episode one, I'll just let you know and we'll talk about.

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Speaker 3: That at length.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm piquking your notes, and I'm seeing that we've

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written literally the same thing. Start small, Start small in

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every way.

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Speaker 2: That's literally the first thing on my list is start small.

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So tell me what you mean by start small.

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Speaker 4: So what I'm saying is is not to not be ambitious,

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just to not try it all at once, And that's

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the main thing I was thinking of here. There's a

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vast world created by Wizards of the Coast. Again, I'm

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going to reference D and D a lot here. That's

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my entire experience for role playing games of this type.

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They've created a huge amount of world and law and

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background already for you, and you can use as much

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or as little of it as you need, and there's

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no expectation that you indeed use any of it. The

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world that you're creating and running is yours to do

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with what you want, and the more you try and do,

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the more overwhelming it's likely to be. So keep things

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simple and straightforward for your first few sessions.

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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, The big plans can always come later.

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Speaker 3: I think.

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Speaker 2: If you're starting with your own world building, or even

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if you're doing a setting that's already published, regardless of

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the system, start with like one small location, dot it

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with a few interesting things that your players can go

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and investigate, and don't worry.

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Speaker 3: About the rest. The players will fill in the gaps

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for you.

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Speaker 4: They will, and they will spend a vast amount of

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time doing almost nothing if you give them free rein.

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Speaker 2: Quite right, So if you can give them a good framework.

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It's important to think about when you're starting small. Give

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them a good basic framework with which to play in,

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and they will actually point you towards the things you

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need to prepare. Start with one adventure, maybe one quest.

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A great example, and this is going to come kind

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of later for me, but if you can arrange it

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where they already have some sort of experience in maybe

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monster hunting a nice and nice cliche, but a good

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starting one is they're members of a monster hunting troupe

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and they've gone to the local sort of bounty hunting board,

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and here's the first three things that they need to

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go and that are up for up for bounties. Which

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one do they want to go and do? Prepare those

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things and they can discuss it, and there's your first adventure,

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probably your first two adventures.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely. The most players in my experience want to

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go out and hit hit stuff, So test out all

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those cool abilities. Have a bit of that going on,

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as I'm sure o ressents're already. I'm a big critical

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role fan, and that guy has a vast amount of

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world building already done for himself, but he is supremely experienced.

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I also play under another DM who has written and

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created a vastly deep world. But we're never going to

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find all of that, probably ever, much less in an

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episode a game. So focus on that game. Focus on

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the game ahead of you, by all means. Have grand

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plans and schemes if you want to think about that

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kind of style, and have them bubbling away in the

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background of your head, But focus on the game ahead

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of you, and make sure that that is clean and focused,

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so that you don't have to worry about, oh, well,

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what if this didn't happen. It didn't happen, so it

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didn't happen.

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Speaker 2: The players don't know what you've got planned, yep, And

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they don't know what you don't have planned.

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Speaker 3: And I'll let you into a little secret.

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Speaker 2: The grand trick of dming is the illusion that everything

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is planned, when really it's just flying by the seat

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of your pants and reacting to how the players move

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and what they do, because trust me, trying to account

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for everything the players might do will drive you insane.

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Speaker 3: And we'll talk about that a little later on.

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Speaker 2: I think for me, yeah, but yeah, the big plans,

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even if you've got a couple of seeds in the

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back of your head. Just keep them with seeds and

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keep them flexible, because who knows, you may based on

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how the players play, you may want to change them.

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And if you try and create something too big too early,

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you may end up possibly railroading the players or possibly

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writing yourself into a corner that you don't that you

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might find hard to write out of.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, you definitely want to avoid over promising. So

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as Wayne says, keep those little seeds, perhaps hint at

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the little ideas, but don't have the little ideas become

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the focus in front of them something that they will

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want to do.

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Speaker 3: And people will.

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Speaker 4: Want to do the thing you put in front of

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them almost always, So have that been the focus and

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enjoy it.

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Speaker 3: I think one more.

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Speaker 2: Thing I'm going to say on start small for me is,

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in a literal sense with your play account, start with

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four or five at tops. I mean, I went crazy

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when I went back into d ming after a sort

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of a fifteen year break. I went straight into seven players.

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Speaker 3: And it, as funny as it was, it was hard.

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So it was really hard.

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Speaker 2: So I would and now I genuinely generally don't like

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to do more than five.

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Speaker 3: At the very most. Six is an absolute push.

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Speaker 2: But if you're just starting, want to take that leap,

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go for four, and if you've got loads of enthusiastic friends,

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cap it at five.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's great advice. I'm generally running six. Essentially,

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I inherited the group that Wayne started. We've got a

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bit of a weird set up with a rolling dmship.

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I'm currently number four in that roster, so we've had

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an interesting journey in the last year and a half.

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But it definitely if I was starting out and without

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knowing the background of these players, six would terrify me. So, yeah,

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you want to be able to manage the group size,

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to be able to manage their expectations easier, and to

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make your life a lot easier. The more players there

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are is not a case of one more is a

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bit more complicated air player double the difficulty kind of deal.

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Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, it's exponentially more challenging. Games take much longer,

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decisions take longer. Combat is immeasurably longer.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, turns in combat take longer. The group decision on

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shall we go this way all that way? It will

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go on for longer. It becomes a political debate, and.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it can depending on the group, it can do. Yeah,

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so I think generally start small in all aspect, both

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in the literal and the figurative sense.

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Speaker 4: Yep, Okay, what's your next point in I space.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'll flavor it into or segue into one of

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the things we mentioned in start small, which is for

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me is react to your players. And I want to

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go into a little bit more detail there because, Okay,

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I think for beginning dms, it's tempting to want to

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plan and write out like a plot thread, and arguably

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one of the key sins of DMING is to force

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your players down a route that they may not necessarily

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wish to go down.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Some dms love a linear storyline and they want and

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some players love to go Well, you tell me, DM,

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where are we going next and what's the story doing.

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I prefer something way more open. I like to give choice,

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and I like to have consequences for choices.

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Speaker 3: That's how I like to run games.

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Speaker 2: But if you react to your players, you minimize the

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amount of planning you have to do. You can't predict

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what the players are going to do, and you certainly

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can't account for all of it. You'll drive yourself crazy.

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Trying to do that. So as your players go through

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the game, make notes on what they're doing, make notes

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on the things that they're interested in, make notes on

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the things they're talking about and the things they're grasping towards.

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Even if you didn't expect it, if you mentioned a

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particular shop one time just out of interest and said, oh,

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the shopkeeper there has an unusual history.

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Speaker 3: Maybe you said it.

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Speaker 2: Offhand and they've suddenly grasped onto that and found that

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super interesting. Well, guess what you can make something out

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of that. And as far as the players are concerned,

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you've had that planned all along.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, it's going to be a recurring theme. I've

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had it further down in my list. The players don't

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know what was ever going to be coming up. Correct,

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So as you say, if that little idea is a

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bit of flavor in the background suddenly becomes the next episode,

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it was always going to be the next episode. So

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bit they don't have the plot because there isn't necessarily

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a plot there, You've paid attention as the players should

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be to you, and we touched on that in our

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previous D and D discussion of respecting the players and

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the DM. So in the same way the DM should

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be listening to his players. He's not waiting for his

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next line to deliver. Yeah, seeing what they are interested in,

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and then going all right, then there's an option there

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if they choose to. Of course, it might by the

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end of that session have steered wildly away from it,

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but if they don't, if they're still there and you think,

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all right, well, I'll nudge them that way and see

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if they really want to grasp it, and then have

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that idea fleshed out, then yeah, it's definitely an option

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for you.

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Speaker 2: And if what your players latch onto isn't what you

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thought they would, don't be afraid of that. Embrace it,

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run with it, see what it.

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Speaker 3: Can turn into.

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Speaker 2: And if you have some other encounters that didn't happen

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that you'd planned, they can always be reflavored and reskinned and.

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Speaker 3: Put in later on.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely. Yeah, that was going to be my last point.

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And we've already touched on being flexible and in a

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computer gaming called radiant missions, So that's the idea that

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there's not necessarily set number of but there's a number

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of missions if you will, and there's a number of

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NPC's non player characters. There's a number of monsters, but

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they don't necessarily all have to be that. This person

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gives you this one, and this person gives you this one.

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If you've come up with a really cool idea and

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you haven't quite got to the point in the story

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where you thought it would happen, change where it happened,

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be flexible with it. If you really want to get

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that rock flying down from out of nowhere, but they're

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in the middle of town, have it happened where they

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are anyway?

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Speaker 3: Guess what rock attack on the town?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you can describe the layout of the town unless

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you've gone to the effort, which I wouldn't advise. Remember

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keeping things small to start with. Unless they've got a

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map of the town. Well, yeah, there's a really big

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square in the middle of it. It's five hundred yards across,

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plenty of space for a giant bird to come and

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float it. Just have your stuff flexible. Or they didn't

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meet Gary the Bartender because they didn't want to drink

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that night, Well Gary the Bartender is now Alf the

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anvil Worker.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, met him there.

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Speaker 4: They needs a new weapons. He still has the same information.

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He's still going to point them towards the abandoned barrow.

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Speaker 2: That's a great tip with regard to NBC's and like

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they're being flexible and reskinning encounters that's not necessarily just

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battle encounters, that's social encounters. And with regard to that reaction.

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Just my last point on there and that flexibility is

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when you're dming, don't be scared to ask at the

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end of your session of your players, what do you

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want to do next time?

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Speaker 4: Yes? Yeah, If there's no immediately obvious next thing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, don't be afraid to ask it. They'll tell you

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just oh, we want to go and fight this thing

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and save the town from the young green dragon that's

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been harassing it.

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Speaker 3: Great, Well, that.

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Speaker 2: Gives you all of the material you need to arm

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your next session or two.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and even if it's not a direct question, listen

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to the post game chat same as you were listening

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for their reactions in the game.

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Speaker 3: What have you got something for your next one that

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you want to discuss?

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Speaker 4: My next one is my next three? Really they're a

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bit of a group, and I'm going to start with

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who who who? And that is to say, unless you're

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on a pure monster hunt where the who doesn't really

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come into it, and it is just a bulletin board says,

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go kill the thing. Then have a little list of

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key NPCs, so they're the ones, as we've been discussing,

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that will provide the goals and the directions when you

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need to, and you can place them anywhere you need

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even if the group is out traveling in the wilderness.

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They're not the only six people or four people, or

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however many players you've got. They're not the only ones

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traveling from said town to next said town. So if

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you need to put in a lonely traveler or a

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small group of travelers or bandits or whoever else. If

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you find that the players are getting off track and

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they are just bumbling around, have that encounter just happen

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and it can be a social encounter out anyway you like,

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and just say, oh, you come across or so and so,

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and then you can give them that little bit of

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pointer and direction again when you need it.

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Speaker 2: That's some great practical advice. Actually having the who a

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few NPCs prepped and what they might know is absolutely

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great great advice and a little bonus step associated with that,

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I guess.

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Speaker 3: Just have a big old random list of names.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's my point five, that's my half.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, throw that in then.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. So essentially making a list of names and some

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descriptors of the NPCs just.

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Speaker 3: Like twenty your handful.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, either specific NPCs you know, make those as details

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as you want to, or even just some random one.

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Give yourself the benefit of having quick and easy notes.

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You can make up names in whatever fashion you like.

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There's random name generators out there. There's one of my

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friends who only ever plays with a randomly names character.

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I find it quite hilarious because he comes out with

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some ridiculous stuff. My other little sneaky tip for this one,

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and I found it to work quite well, is to

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use names from film credits. Nice go I mean not

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obviously the cast, don't start introducing Tom Hanks. But wait,

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wait till you're about halfway down. Then you're into the

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electricians and the lights of the lighting guy, and you

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know you've got your grips and your best boys and

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whatever they are down in the bottom half of the credits.

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You'll generally find that there's some interestingly named people in there,

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especially if you watch foreign movies. Depending on your setting

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and a sci fi setting, you won't want the oldie

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worldie gotten realms type names. But I've found some fantastic

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names in the bottom of film, either that or Scandinavian music.

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Speaker 3: That is.

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Speaker 4: I listened to a lot of metal and there's a

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lot of awesomely named guitarists from Norway. But people don't

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tend to know what those people are called. So yes,

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take their first name, take their surname. That's fantastic and

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shove it in.

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Speaker 3: Make out a character, good shout.

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Speaker 2: So having your names prepared for sure.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, So have your names and have a few key people,

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and as I said with that, have some descriptors as well. Yeah,

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if you can. It'll be as detailed as you want

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to make it. I find the more details to make it,

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the more convincing it will sound. And again, slightly more

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prepared it will be. But it doesn't have to be

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fully prepared. To give yourself a list of things that

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will combine. So as an example, you see a man

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waiting for you, All right, yep, that's information, but combine together,

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tall and slender, with the steely gaze, his ashen face

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turns to you, and his unexpectedly reddened eyes stare through you.

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My name is malvinas you must be the group I've

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been sent to collect. Really, all that is is a

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collection of descriptors. Tall, slender, steely, gay's, ashen face, reddened eyes.

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He then has a name, He's not just an anonymous NPC,

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and he has a connection to the group, which I

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think really invests the group in a specific NPC if

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you want them to attach to it.

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Speaker 3: For sure.

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Speaker 2: It immediately gives a level of intrigue that players will

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want to discover what this guy wants and what he's about.

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Speaker 4: So, yeah, that's my who.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I'll go on to one of my ones, which

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is it seems to be a favorite topic of mine

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is know your stuff, which we also talked about in

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our top things that we like about awesome role players.

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We certainly did, but we also like it about excellent dms.

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And this is going to be slightly more sympathetic in

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that respect because the DM has a tough task. There

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is a lot to think about, as lot to think about.

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But what will give you more confidence in dealing with

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that is having a solid grasp of the basics.

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Speaker 4: Yes, and I think this is where I really got

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lucky because I didn't come into dming until after a

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solid year of playing, and by solid year, I mean

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once a week. So I'd played fifty plus games before

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I even thought about running one. So I had that

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really solid base in knowledge of the game and how.

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Speaker 3: It might work.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think if you've not even played but you

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want to DM, finely, everyone has to do it.

400
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Speaker 3: I mean, I think I would recommend everyone doing some

401
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DMING at.

402
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Speaker 2: Some point, But if you're in any way anxious about it,

403
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do some playing first. Get yourself comfortable with how the

404
00:20:45,839 --> 00:20:50,160
game is structured, how it flows, what a turn looks like,

405
00:20:50,839 --> 00:20:57,359
what the action economy is, the EBB and flow of encounters,

406
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the three pillars of D and D, the exploration, social,

407
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and fighting. It's knowing your stuff in terms of battle mechanics, movement,

408
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,799
the types of actions that players might or could be

409
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able to do. Doesn't mean knowing every role in the

410
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PHB and every spell.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I genuinely don't think it's possible.

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Speaker 3: It's not that way.

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Speaker 4: The best possible DM will not know every single possible

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thing in every single possible situation. There are too many variables, correct,

415
00:21:29,279 --> 00:21:31,680
But it's having that base idea, as you say, yeah,

416
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just having.

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Speaker 2: The basics of what your players might do a little

418
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bit of movement stuff the battle mechanics, for sure. How

419
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do you roll an attack? What does what do skill

420
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checks do? What do the different skills mean