How to DM a table top game

[Zanniej]

That, and we'll probably be playing in Dutch

But, if we won't, I'll think about livestreaming specially for you

Reminds me when I first heard Dutch in real life, it was a pair of old ladies, I thought they were spitting with throat sounds. The way we stared at each other, and they were just speaking Dutch!

Ah yes, Dutch is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, closely followed by the sound of microphone feedback, nails scratching on a chalkboard or me playing the violin.

The all-time favorite is the pronunciation of the city name Scheveningen, which has the beautiful sound of ch (which is pronounced the same as a g), which sounds like scraping your throat, accompanied by the letters ng, which are quite unknown in most other languages.

Truly, the most beautiful language in the world.

[Sokolsky]

The all-time favorite is the pronunciation of the city name Scheveningen, which has the beautiful sound of ch (which is pronounced the same as a g), which sounds like scraping your throat, accompanied by the letters ng, which are quite unknown in most other languages.

We're so proud of the horrible sounds we call our language

[Zanniej]

We're so proud of the horrible sounds we call our language

Absolutely. We always try to teach foreigners completely useless, but hard to pronounce sentences... I'd give an example, but they're mostly vulgar, so I guess I'd better not

[Invoker]

Hagelslag, mate.

Hagelslag...

[Zanniej]

Alright, we'll do the podcast in English, but will use random (or not completely random) Dutch words for names.

And then, as Hagelslag opens the door to let Stroopwafels in, they get intercepted by Scheveningen.

"Stop! Can't you see that will kill us all!? We're no match for Keuken, who's in there!"

Hagelslag and Stroopwafels look at Scheveningen dumbfounded, then look inside, and back to Scheveningen.

"... Are you serious?! Keuken is a friggin' BUNNY. No way it'll kill us all!"

And they all walk in.

"DM: Keuken uses his special power of Gevelsierlijst ... everybody's dead!"

Einde

[Infernal Dave]

I would recommend running your first campaign in what I call sandbox mode. Very loose, bare-bones campaign - basically "You start out in [town] and hear word of [plot hook]", but from there essentially just sit as a reactive force to player direction. Let them decide what they want to do and sort of figure out the world around them, completely ignore every carrot you dangle in front of them if they choose. Just play loose and casual with it and basically ad-lib the whole thing as opposed to the more assertive DMing style typical to very heavy story-driven campaigns. I've found that this style is best for newer players / less experienced DMs, and also great fun over beer because things tend to get pretty silly and the DM doesn't get butthurt when the players ruin his meticulously crafted storyline .

[Fury_US]

The single most important thing to remember is that everything you plan to account for any possible variation and choice, your players will find the one thing you are totally unprepared for. It's like.... The Law of DMing, apparently.

[Zanniej]

The single most important thing to remember is that everything you plan to account for any possible variation and choice, your players will find the one thing you are totally unprepared for. It's like.... The Law of DMing, apparently.

It's hard to plan for the one thing they'll find that I'd be totally unprepared for, I imagine

[Okan]

The single most important thing to remember is that everything you plan to account for any possible variation and choice, your players will find the one thing you are totally unprepared for. It's like.... The Law of DMing, apparently.

It's hard to plan for the one thing they'll find that I'd be totally unprepared for, I imagine

Don't prepare content too much, chances your players will not go through every puzzle room or encounter, every exotic NPC merchant you have prepared in the next room. So, always keep some of your preparations to make sense for your current plot and environment but not exclusive for it, just store them into your vault if they go unnoticed. That way those uncovered encounters and events will provide you a really useful arsenal when you need to come up with content spontaneously.

The trick is not to prepare for all outcomes but to "trick" your players into thinking that you have for the immersion in your world.

If you are playing in a homebrew setting, chances are that that world is not fully fleshed out with details. We are human and that's a never-ending task. And no matter how much detail you put into your setting, players will ask about the lore that you have not yet. So what I do improve upon that, I ask favors from other people that I play RPGs with to help my improv. They ask trivial questions and without thinking more than a couple seconds I answer. This is not to flesh out your world, most of these you will forget anyways but it helps a lot to be able to quickly answer.

Being able to provide minute details on the fly when your players inquire is gonna make them go "Whoa, he even detailed that information!?" and to see that in your players is a really rewarding experience as a game master, in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xpnCiF ... 3h033m010s

This moment encapsulates that feeling, and I know it's been said already that Critical Role should not represent a standart for people which I agree upon on many aspects, this is something anyone can achieve with little practice.


Oh also, Matthew Colville has a great youtube series for DMing a campaign. It doesn't have too many groundbreaking discoveries or anything, but the series has very detailed and nicely structured information that most veterans take for granted, and would be incredibly valuable for newer people.

[blowuup]

The single most important thing to remember is that everything you plan to account for any possible variation and choice, your players will find the one thing you are totally unprepared for. It's like.... The Law of DMing, apparently.

It's hard to plan for the one thing they'll find that I'd be totally unprepared for, I imagine

Don't prepare content too much, chances your players will not go through every puzzle room or encounter, every exotic NPC merchant you have prepared in the next room. So, always keep some of your preparations to make sense for your current plot and environment but not exclusive for it, just store them into your vault if they go unnoticed. That way those uncovered encounters and events will provide you a really useful arsenal when you need to come up with content spontaneously.

The trick is not to prepare for all outcomes but to "trick" your players into thinking that you have for the immersion in your world.

If you are playing in a homebrew setting, chances are that that world is not fully fleshed out with details. We are human and that's a never-ending task. And no matter how much detail you put into your setting, players will ask about the lore that you have not yet. So what I do improve upon that, I ask favors from other people that I play RPGs with to help my improv. They ask trivial questions and without thinking more than a couple seconds I answer. This is not to flesh out your world, most of these you will forget anyways but it helps a lot to be able to quickly answer.

Being able to provide minute details on the fly when your players inquire is gonna make them go "Whoa, he even detailed that information!?" and to see that in your players is a really rewarding experience as a game master, in my opinion.

I've been DMing for six years, this is exactly how I do it. The players will even come together and start speaking about the details you included and how they fit together with your world. My world has never been planned out from the start, but it lives and breathes organically, the players have a lot of input into the world that they don't even know about. It comes together like a puzzle piece.

[Zanniej]

That's great advice guys! Thanks! I might actually get the hang of this sometime!