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Do you have D &/Or D questions for our resident Dungeon Masters? (Patreon)

Published:
2018-05-23 01:30:11
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Edge Benson and Jerry Hokins will be recording the inaugural brainstorming/Ask a DM podcast tomorrow! If you have tabletop RPG related questions for the duo, add a comment and it will be inscribed upon an appropriate scroll.

Comments

Ryan King

Do you have any advice on how to help encourage your players to roleplay more?

Matthew Watson

Do you have any advice for a relatively new player whose dming for the first time with a group of players who have been playing the game for literally decades across multiple Editions? Will be using Hoarde of the Dragon Queen as a basis.

Brian

1. How do you keep up the pace in your game, especially with newer players that don't know the systems inside and out? Pacing is so hard to nail right and seems to be the biggest cause of burnout among the groups I've played in or run.

Brian

2. I'm going to be running a game of Paranoia for some newbies. I'd love tips about running that game and any memorable scenarios you could recommend.

Zack Rhodes

Do you guys have any advice for someone who hasn’t played much D&D before but would like to give it a try?

Kirk Schmidt

Are there any rules that you specifically tend to ignore (ex. encumbrances) unless absolutely necessary or are there homebrew variations on rules you prefer to use?

Anonymous

What’s your process for creating arcs for your players based on backstories? Do you start from some idea of an “end” and work backwards or ? I’m having fun building some stories for my players, but good to hear some other approaches.

Joshua Quinlin

How do you prioritize things like player backstory hooks and campaign arc when planning a session?

Kuzco's Poison

Jerry, between Omin and Star Wars Space Omin your PCs always seem to be a party leader in a position of authority. Will you / do you ever play some one who isn’t calling the shots? How would you compare the two experiences , leader vs lackey for you personally?

Anonymous

What are the top 3 survival items you bring behind the screen (besides handbooks) to keep your game running smoothly?

Anonymous

What is one magic item that if introduced will definitely bring my game to a screeching halt?

Anonymous

What are your basic philosophies behind creating interesting and memorable NPCs/Villains?

Anonymous
>>12521025

I’m particularly impressed by pacing and timing of C-Team games. It’s really hard to plan a game so you can end at an interesting juncture at the session level. And hard to keep constantly interesting at the campaign level as you say. Be interested to hear tips and tricks here from C-Team planning.

Peter

How do you prepare in a hurry?

IncreaseBlue

When beginning a game, do you let the players go nuts with character creation even though it isn't optimized for later play (i.e. races/roles that don't play well) or do you make some "helpful suggestions" to guide them a bit?

8bitAttorney

Do you ever worry that adding Ultimate abilities to the C-team has hurt the balance or flow of the game?

Josh Robinson

In getting a homebrew campaign off the ground, how long is it acceptable to keep the game "on the rails" before opening it up wider? I've had mixed results with this as a DM; with some players enjoying the building up of the world up front while others complaining that it's too narrow, even knowing it'll open up. Thanks!

Anonymous

Do you balance combat mid encounter because you want your players to succeed?

Jack ?

How many notes do you bring with you to the game? How much of a full Arc do you prepare in advance in case your players break intended arc lengths? (I once had a DM who forgot my character could heal all diseases while we were playing Exalted, and his main hook was a dying chieftain's wife that we needed to retrieve ancient medicine for. I laid hands on her and rolled too well for him to be mad, collapsing a whole arc in a single swoop)

Stephen Wells

I don't have a game to play in but I keep designing D&D characters! Is this a symptom of something?

Snow Dogs

Do you have any standard table rules or spell/ability modifications you make in every game. For example, my group always allows cleric healing to be cast at a range of 30 feet instead of as a touch spell to help with the flow of combat.

Anonymous

In retrospect: Your favorite "I did not see that coming, and it made me lose all my shit" moment as DMs? #wheredoeslostshitactuallygo

Bryan Schick

DMing with an audience seems like a completely different beast than a typical table. How do you balance entertaining the audience with keeping your players satisfied? It seems like the audience prefers exciting moments that cause the players distress, but I imagine that would burn the players out over time.

Stephanie Bloss

How has your DM prep changed as you learned the dynamics of the table? Do you prep things specifically knowing how any specific player tends to react? Has that ever blown up on you when you actually got to the table?

VikingGoat

What does your creative process generally look like? Do you adhere to any sort of formality? How do you prepare for each session and running/writing of a campaign arc. How much of the planning/writing survives contact with they players? Unrelated to the whole DMing thing, any plans to have a "help me with my character backstory" type thing? I just recently (the last year or two) started trying to build backstory of some sort into my characters.

Anonymous

Have you considered releasing your notes? I know I’m most interested in alternate outcomes/scenarios but your group lead you down other unexpected paths.

Anonymous

What are your thoughts about using a battle mat and figures for encounters vs not? Are there extra considerations you take into account when planning encounters because of that?

Flotster

How would someone who has never even played D&D approach becoming a DM?

Anonymous

since when did the term "murder hobo" become deragatory?