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Thread: 1001 DM Tips
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2010-10-14, 01:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
154. Reimburse your players for used consumable items. Try to be subtle, and never give them exactly what they lost. If they used a 1st-level potion on the adventure, give them a 2nd-level potion as treasure; If they used 10 flasks of acid, give them a box of alchemist's fire, etc, or they may never use anything you give them, saving it for a rainier day.
Edit. Top of the page again!Last edited by Notreallyhere77; 2010-10-14 at 01:54 PM.
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2010-10-14, 02:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
155: On the other hand, if the players aren't sandbox-game types, don't expect on them to provide you all (or even any of) your plot hooks.
Which brings us probably one of the single most important rules:
156: Make sure your players are prepared to play the sort of game you're prepared to run. If you run something they don't want to play or you let them talk you running a game you don't like, the game will be no fun for anyone. This applies equally to play style, rules and genera.
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2010-10-14, 05:43 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- The depths of my insanity
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
Tell that to every insane gnome wizard I have ever met...
157. One insane spellcaster is enough for any world, try not to rehash the same mental problems in important NPCs. The players tend to remember being turned into a tea cup and will attack the instant the NPC starts to talk to himself.
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2010-10-15, 12:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2010
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- Australia mate
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
158. insane gnomes are FUN! remember to include at least 1 race of them with their own steampunk-esque magi-tech
Last edited by DragonOfUndeath; 2010-10-15 at 02:47 AM.
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2010-10-15, 01:38 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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2010-10-15, 02:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2010
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- Australia mate
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
@ryu: i said 158 didnt i?
call me Dragon
I have left this site for a while. I probablt wont be coming back.
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2010-10-15, 07:59 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: 1001 DM Tips
159. A nice, easy sort of adventure is to create a problem/monster/guarded location that is almost impossible for the players to beat straight up, give them lots of advance warning, and sit back while they create ingenuity.
160. No traps in any chests are boring. A trap in every chest is boring. A trap in every fifth chest is paranoia fuel.
161. If the players avoid a wonderous set-piece you carefully created and are emotionally invested in, congradulations! You've got a backup set-piece to use for later on if needs be when the players confuse you again.
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2010-10-15, 08:16 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2009
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
160a. Also, randomly rolling to see if there are traps in chests when you generate the dungeon. If there's a pattern, somebody will find it and exploit it.
Also:
162. Always keep a good stock of random dungeons on hand, in case the elaborate plot you created get solved in the first 10 minutes of the session. This way, you don't have to spend the rest of the session 'in town.'Originally Posted by The Doctor
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2010-10-15, 08:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
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2010-10-15, 11:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2010
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- Gridania, Eorzea
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
163. Don't be afraid to throw "impossible" monsters at the players. Odds are it isn't and you will be greatly suprised and/or amused by how they try to over come it.
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2010-10-15, 11:10 AM (ISO 8601)
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2010-10-15, 11:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
Last edited by Kaww; 2010-10-15 at 11:29 AM.
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2010-10-15, 05:04 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2009
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
I feel slightly underqualified to be posting here, but I think this one deserves adding to the list:
165. Don't explain to players how they should have solved the puzzle. Just let them believe you meant it that way all along.Out of paper on drive D:
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2010-10-15, 10:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2010
Re: 1001 DM Tips
166. If the players answer a riddle, and it is not the answer you expected, before you punish them for getting it wrong, think if it IS a correct answer.
166.a. Unless the source of the riddle is evil nonlawful, insane, or the PCs were meant to get it wrong. In this third instance, make sure there are always more possible correct answers than the PCs have guesses for.
167. If you map it, they will sandbox.
167.a. Where your map ends, expect that the PCs will want to travel there, either use this to your advantage to lure them, or give them a large mystical bubble-dome sort of world, or a literal drop off of the map, or "everything just appears to stop existing beyond a wall." Whatever you do, don't punish their curiosity by making them just start making fort saves versus exploding for going outside of the prison of the map, or it'll actually feel like a prison, unless it's known that anything beyond the line will explode, then you have an element of atmosphere, paranoia, and potential epic level magical mysteries about what's beyond the line
168. Governments/religions should never be obviously evil, unless it's a necessary evil. It baits the PCs into trying to overthrow them just because they can.
169. Not every region is going to have the same pantheon. Make sure that if you pregenerate the campaign, you have many different deities to fall back on. The world becomes a lot less interesting if every town has the same greyhawk/eberron/faerun deities (unless it is specifically in that campaign setting)
170. An optional rule of thumb to use on your PCs is instead of Fort or Die spells, which no true BBEG should be without and not afraid to spam if he's truly threatened, is reduce a PC to -1-1d6 HP for failing fort or die spells. Just remember to exercise consistency.
171. Replace plot armor with alignment penalties for killing someone without a reason, and make evil characters unplayable.
172. Do not be afraid to make people roll up level 1 characters (or wherever the starting ECL was at, or to a lesser extent, 1 ECL below their deceased character.) Even though they will be behind in levels, it'll make players less reckless with their characters.
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2010-10-16, 07:16 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2009
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
Originally Posted by The Doctor
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2010-10-16, 09:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2006
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- Dinosaur Museum aw yisss.
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
Heh...
Mine has a literal "end of the world", Discworld style. BUT. If the party could ever get over there, there's a whole other world on the other side of the world-layercake.The Iron Avatarist Hall of Fame!
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2010-10-16, 09:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- England
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2010-10-16, 09:20 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2006
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- Dinosaur Museum aw yisss.
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
Ta-da!
'tis a fine stickThe Iron Avatarist Hall of Fame!
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2010-10-16, 09:22 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- England
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2010-10-17, 12:02 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- The depths of my insanity
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2010-10-17, 01:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
174. If the players decide to do an action which you let them know has bad connotations and do so regardless, roll with it -- you may be surprised to see how they pull themselves out of the fire.
175. It's always good to have some backup surprises in an encounter, just in case the party manages to faceroll what supposed to be the boss.Last edited by DeathsHands; 2010-10-17 at 01:13 AM.
[14:30] [RSO] DeathsHands (deathshands5): I'm good as is. Moral anchor for the party.
[14:30] [RSO] DeathsHands (deathshands5): Sure, he could be insightful, but I was distracted by the demon ass and forgot the rest of my sentence.
[14:31] [RSO] Arkalark (arkanepriest): Our moral anchor got caught in the demonic depths, if you know what I mean.
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2010-10-17, 12:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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2010-10-17, 09:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2006
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- Dinosaur Museum aw yisss.
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
The Iron Avatarist Hall of Fame!
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2010-10-18, 09:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- City of Stormreach
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
177. Print your monsters out ahead of time and remove their names from the paper. That way The players cant guess what you're using based on the region of the books you're in.
178. Practice your accents. Accents while speaking make NPCs more memorable, or at least more entertaining. Dont be afraid to sound funny, especially when roleplaying kobolds.
179. Cell phones off during the game. Nothing ruins your slow, dramatic buildup [through the creepy-as-hell ancient, haunted giant castle to the finale, where the titan ghast, desperate and screaming, attacks for the first food its seen since it was trapped here] like having a cheesy version of wagner's Ride of the Valkyries suddenly start playing out of nowhere. (I actually shouted in rage over this.)Last edited by Jarrick; 2010-10-18 at 10:41 PM.
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2010-10-18, 09:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
Re: 1001 DM Tips
180. When designing an adventure, encounter, or scene get a clear picture of it in your head then ask, "how can I make this even more exciting?"
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2010-10-19, 04:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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2010-10-19, 04:42 AM (ISO 8601)
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2010-10-19, 08:12 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
UGH, phones, the bane of immersion! One of the games I play in, I swear the DM gets more calls than everyone else I know combined. Some days it is every 15 minutes on the minute...
On that note, some other issues when playing with him...:
183: If there are other people in the house that do not play D&D with your group, make sure they are WELL AWARE that you are to be considered as if you were gone, barring some real emergency. If they don't get the point, it's time to change locales.
184: If a friend or family member calls you to do phone tech support for them in the middle of the game, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD tell them you are currently busy, don't stop the game for half an hour+Been there, fought that, died horribly.
Something fun and flavorful to get your DM throwing books at you: Katana Chucker
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2010-10-19, 08:17 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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2010-10-19, 08:38 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Harmondale
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Re: 1001 DM Tips
185a: Ignore 185 if the pet in question is also the speaking object...
186: Use weird speaking objects. Like handcuffs, dogs (medium or big - Golden retriever and larger) or pets that are hard to catch, especially when slightly drunk.
186a: Don't give your players keys to handcuffs...