How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM

Here are today's sponsors:Worldsmith - Easy D&D Prep - Start a Free 7 Day Trial: https://session0studios.com/worldsmith-podcastRoll and Play Press - Easier D&D: https://session0studios.com/rollandplayStudio Fantasms: https://session0studios.com/fantasmsOur Patreon: https://session0studios.com/patreonThis is How To Be A Better DM. Today we will discussing the Why and What of campaign first sessions.Thanks for listening to today’s show! My name is Tanner Weyland, and I am excited to talk about how we can all prepare to be the best DMs we possible. We really appreciate all the support you guys give us. If you’d like to hang out with us once a month, you can. All you gotta do is sign up for our monthly one-shot D&D sessions which are DM’d by one of us. It’s first come first serve so sign up quick. This month I am running the session, and I am very excited for it! The sign up link is: https://how-to-be-a-better-dm.captivate.fm/one-shotNext, make sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter. You’ll get even more content, behind-the-scenes looks, homebrew creations made by us and more. It’s free and it comes out once a month so it won’t be a bother to you. Sign up at: https://how-to-be-a-better-dm.captivate.fm/subscribeSpecial thanks to:Benj Weyland for Graphic Design (https://www.instagram.com/benjweydesign/)TJ Max, Juka, and TechSenpai for being amazing moderatorsKyle Wilson, Nick Ammann and Professor Nobody for being our patrons.Mentioned in this episode:Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Start Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up GuideWhy Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonBrought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

Here are today's sponsors:Worldsmith - Easy D&D Prep - Start a Free 7 Day Trial: https://session0studios.com/worldsmith-podcastRoll and Play Press - Easier D&D: https://session0studios.com/rollandplayStudio Fantasms: https://session0studios.com/fantasmsOur Patreon: https://session0studios.com/patreonWarmup: From JustinIntroWelcomeThanks for the One-Shot with Dan, Jordan and Anna. We really appreciate your support. We will be having our next one-shot at the end of this month.Make sure to sign up for the newsletter as well.As well if you’re interested in us livestreaming this particular segment of our show, then let us know, reach out to us on our Instagram or email. We can even do an ask me anything. If that’s something you’re interested in, let us know.Topic: Preparing for your First D&D SessionJustinRun ThroughBefore I do my session, I find it’s incredibly helpful just to quickly run through the session or at least what I’ve written about it and my timeline. More than anything this just help refresh in my mind the basic timeline of things. I feel it makes a difference to my players when I know that C happens after B and D happens after C and A is how it all starts.Prepare the SpaceGM SetupPlayer Character SheetsMinisSnacksSpecific Text Write UpsBeginning of the GameVery Specific Parts of the game that will give maximum impactLook Up or Create Helpful TablesHelpful loot tablesRandom encounter tablesRead the LoreYou want to make sure you know at least a brief idea of some things that happen next.TannerBe Simple: plan something straightforward and simple. Exploring, simple dungeon or house exploration can be a wonderful way to start an adventure since it is low on mechanics, has the excitement of discovery, and does not require intense role playing by you.Have a Dry Run (for online): if it is your first time running D&D, have one of your players come early to run through technical difficulties (if they are friends, this should not be too hard).Plan One NPC as a warm-up: role-playing well on your first session is very nerve-wracking, and it can make you shy away from doing serious role-playing, like voices and the whole shebang. So, I would suggest planning a throwaway NPC to help you transition into it. And make them exaggerated: super old, or super gruff, or super British-orphan, or whatever! Just something you can be silly with, but also something you have to put yourself out there for.ClosingBackground noise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCSJwAHKV4QSpecial thanks to:Benj Weyland for Graphic Design (https://www.instagram.com/benjweydesign/)TJ Max, Juka, and TechSenpai for being amazing moderatorsKyle Wilson, Nick Ammann and Professor Nobody for being our patrons.Mentioned in this episode:Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Why Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonStart Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up Guide

You walk into the tavern. Your sword and shield clinking together as you walk makes everyone in the tavern turn and look at you. Being somewhat new to this you try and act tough and scowl at everyone. It doesn’t come off well and you look sort of foolish. You walk over to the bar and wait patiently for the bartender to come talk to you and ask you what you want to drink. He doesn’t. Instead he serves all the other patrons who keep shouting at him. “It seems the squeaky wheel does get the grease,” you mutter under your breath. You raise your hand and shout at the bartender and finally he comes over. He’s a large half-orc fellow who looks like he’s no stranger to a brawl.“Heyo, what’ll it be?” He asks with a quizzical eye at your armor and clothing.You brush it off and say, “A simple ale please, and I was wondering if you could give me some direction?” The bartender stops and gives you more of his full attention. “Yeah? What did you need?”“Well, I’m looking for sort of a group of companions. Do you know any mercenary groups that are open to a new member?”The half-orc smiles and says, “you must be new to this whole adventuring thing. Well these groups don’t just accept complete strangers in. You’ll have to prove yourself and they don’t really go about looking for new compatriots.  Now, with that in mind,” and he turns you to look at the rest of the tavern, “over in that corner, yeah those dark elves, they are the Right Harvesters. They’re a group of crow come up from the Underdark seeking the quell those who follow any demon or devil. Bunch of rightoues pricks you ask me. Over there with the ogre, they’re the Blade Speakers. Mostly just ruffians and vagabonda really. Lastly, the group to your left here are the Whisper Wraiths. They’re tied up with the Zhentarim pretty tight. So adventurer, here’s your drink and I’m mighty curious what you’re going to do.”So what would you like to do?Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host, Justin Lewis and I’m here to help you create better stories as you DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.Today, let’s talk about one of the first things that you’ll do as a DM- finding your D&D group.This is going to be my hypothetical list for what I’d do if I wanted to find players for my D&D campaign. You might try different things, but this is what I would do first.Ask friends and familyThe first thing I do when starting a D&D campaign is ask my friends and family. For me personally, I try to start with my family just to build that relationship better but that’s just me. I also don’t just ask friends who I know would be interested. I ask any friend because D&D is a great way to build friendships. I’ve also been highly surprised at the people who’ve said yes and have even been extremely excited to try D&D. You just gotta ask. I think this is the best place to start because D&D can turn an acquaintance into a friend and a good relationship into a great one. Often D&D sessions turn into much more. Ask Friends and Family for ReferralsEvery single one of your friends has friends who are not your friends. What better way to meet someone who might like the same types of things you like than by asking someone who likes the same types of things that you like? “But I don’t really want to meet new people…”I get it. We’re all introverts and we’re all extroverts and we all like staying home and binging Netflix and we all like going out and partying. Sometimes you don’t want to meet new people, but sometimes you don’t want to be lonely. The fact of the matter is that you do have to put yourself out there, especially as a DM. You have to give so many invitations and most of them will naturally be no’s. That’s ok. Just ask your friends and family who say no who they might know who would say yes or even be interested in hearing what D&D is all about.Trawl the SocialsThe next thing I do is head over to the social media Lords and bow down before them begging for the gift of friendship. Just kidding, but seriously, the social media palaces are great places to find new adventurers. There are basically two methods of approach.The Craigslist MethodThis method isn’t as productive as the next method I think. Virtually, you go online and you post essentially a want-ad. In fact here’s a quick template that you can use:Hi, I’m looking for anyone interested in trying something new.There’s a game that I’ve been wanting to play for a while (called Dungeons and Dragons). I’d love to try it out with you. If you’re interested, send me a quick DM.The parentheses are optional but you just put out your desires to the universe and let the universe get back to you. I’ve done this and it’s worked pretty well, but not as well as I would have hoped.The Spy MethodInstead of sending out an advertisement on a feed that most people won’t see or will disregard, there’s a better way. Naturally, this way will take a lot more work and intelligence, but you’ll get better results.Start with the list of people you follow or who follow you on the social media platform of your choice. Now go down the list one by one. Look through their photos and posts and look for something that would indicate that they’d be open to playing D&D with you. Next, send them a simple direct message about what you noticed on their profile and then ask if they’d be interested in playing. You’re looking for signals that they’d be receptive to the invitation.Hit Up Local Comic Book StoresNext, you can try frequenting places where the type of person you’re looking for frequents. Go to your local game store or comic book store. I know here in Utah county we have Dragon’s Keep, the Game Grid, the Gamer’s Inn, and a few more. Go there and hang around for a while. You can try sparking up a conversation with anyone perusing the D&D section of the store. If you’re too afraid of doing that you can ask the person at the front counter if they know of anyone looking for a D&D group. They’ll likely have some sort of resource available or just know someone who’s asked them the same question. They’ll be able to put you in touch. Browse OnlineNext, you can look through sites like Roll20 for a group. You can also put yourself up on sites like startplaying.games where you can list games that you’d like to host as a DM. This option really works the best when you have a lot of experience and lots of compelling images that catch people’s attention and draw them in. The other way is to play as a player in one of these settings and then ask the other players if they’d be up for playing again but with you in the DM seat. Make sure not to steal the group away from the original DM or there may be bad blood.Craigslist AdWhen everything else fails you can just post a free ad on Craigslist or wherever there are classifieds and hope for a response. To be honest, I would not even try this method because you will likely get responses from a lot of creepy people. Instead, reach out to us on Instagram @howtobeabetterdm and we’d be happy to try and set you up in a group with anyone we know. We don’t have a huge community of friends and peers but we’d be happy to open it up to you so you don’t have to keep looking through Craigslist.Thanks for listening to today’s show. Stay tuned after to hear some announcements but until next time my friend, let’s roll initiative.Music from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgLjYsVP4H0&t=36sMentioned in this episode:Start Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up GuideWhy Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonGive Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

Welcome back to another episode of How to Be a Better DM.Today Tanner and Justin talk about their favorite enemies!Today's music was provided by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roABNwbjZf4Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Why Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonStart Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up GuideGive Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m one of your hosts, Tanner Weyland, and together you and I will learn how to tell better stories as we DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.Today I share my thoughts on how to communicate with "that one player." Difficult interpersonal issues are often solved with open and constructive communication.If you like the podcast today, or if you have suggestions for future podcasts, connect with us on our new instagram @howtobeabetterdm and let us know!Would you like to play D&D with us? If so, then sign up for the newsletter and get access to monthly sign ups for a session with me or one of the other hosts. Sign up at https://how-to-be-a-better-dm.captivate.fm/subscribeMentioned in this episode:Why Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonGive Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Get The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree For FreeTake a trip down to the bayou in The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree. We teamed up with Studio Fantasms to bring you a raucous one-shot adventure full of gatorfolk, catfishing, and a whole lotta moonshine. We wrote the adventure, they designed the minis—it’s a sweet little bundle, and it’s totally free for the month of May. Just head to https://session0studios.com/fantasms and sign up to grab it. Don’t wait—May’s free, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

It's another duo-show with Justin and Tanner.Listen afterward for a note from our sponsor.Mentioned in this episode:Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Why Listen to Ads?Ugh, another ad break. Let’s be real—ads are the worst. If you’re anything like my wife, you’d rather quit a show entirely than sit through another ad. So why suffer? Just skip them. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and enjoy ad-free episodes with exclusive patron-only content—all for just $5 a month. Look at you, all fancy with your uninterrupted listening experience. So stop wasting time on ads (like this one). Go to patreon.com/betterdungeonmaster and upgrade your listening today!PatreonGet The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree For FreeTake a trip down to the bayou in The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree. We teamed up with Studio Fantasms to bring you a raucous one-shot adventure full of gatorfolk, catfishing, and a whole lotta moonshine. We wrote the adventure, they designed the minis—it’s a sweet little bundle, and it’s totally free for the month of May. Just head to https://session0studios.com/fantasms and sign up to grab it. Don’t wait—May’s free, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

You fall to one knee. The large orc in front of you grips his battle ax firmly in his hands and lets out a mocking grunt. Blood drips down the blade and onto the ground. Your blood.You look around at your companions. They are all lying on the ground bloody and unconscious. Julian might be dead. Things could not look worse. “Puny wizard. Drinking your blood will be a great pleasure.” The orc says through his tusked maw.You slowly raise yourself to your feet and point at the orc with a shaking finger. “Blood for blood. This death was brought to pass by your actions feral one.” The orc begins to laugh. Then he charges you. You reach inside your tunic and pull out a simple wand of cherry wood. You point it at the orc and whisper, “Infiern”. Immediately a brilliant ball of fire is launched from the wands’ tip expanding to engulfing the entire orc. Unfortunately, you are also a bit to close to the fire and find yourself flung off your feet as the ball of flames explodes on impact with the goblinoid.You open your eyes to see everything on fire, even you, but you can’t seem to move.What would you like to do?Welcome back to How to be a Better DM. I’m your host Justin Lewis and together, you and I will learn how to craft better stories as we DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.As always, I’m very grateful that you’ve allowed me to dig into the hobby for 8 months now and we don’t plan on stopping. You guys have been stellar in showing us what you like and what you don’t like and we will do everything we can to gratify your desires.If there’s one thing that a lot of people struggle with, it’s describing combat. Honestly, it can be hard for any DM to make round after round after round of combat interesting. There’s a spectrum. It goes from very boring combat to perhaps too graphic and violent. So how do you describe D&D combat in the best way? This is how.HighlightsD&D is not a movie. As much as we treat it like a movie, even going to the point of using Screen Wipes as happens in tabletop games like Star Wars, it’s not a movie. In movies, you can show every single moment of action, because in reality it only takes a couple seconds. When you use words to describe every single action in combat it takes much longer. That’s because two things can happen simultaneously in real life but you can only say one word at a time. So with your combat, describe the highlights. Briefly describe the effect of an attack that does damage. Don’t go deep into, “You swing and miss and they swing and miss and back and forth and finally someone scores a hit.” That’s too much. You can even just give the damage and save the juicy descriptions for large amounts of damage or the end.Realistic combatIf you’re fighting someone who is proficient with a weapon and you don’t kill them in the first hit, then that means that most of your hits do not sever limbs or slash deep gouges. Sometimes you need to be realistic in the way that you describe things. Just because you do damage mechanically doesn’t mean that you have to necessarily do damage in your narrative. Say a barbarian does 12 points of slashing damage with their battle ax. You could describe that as the ax cutting deep into the enemy’s armor, slowly deteriorating its integrity, allowing for an opening that becomes pivotal when a crucial opportunity presents itself. You don’t have to be lopping off people’s arms with every swing.Describe the Bigger BaddiesOften in D&D, your villains will have minions. If in the same combat encounter you have a multitude of minions, then don’t waste too much extra breath on the mini baddies when you can describe the big baddies in much better detail. You don’t have to explain that the skeleton chopped when you can spend much more time describing what the Lich did. No one cares about the skeletons (for the most part). Follow the Flow of CombatCombat is a story just like any other part of D&D. It has crescendos and decrescendos. The more combat seems to be difficult, the more you should indulge in describing the combat to enhance the tension. If a player is sustaining many serious wounds, then you should describe that. If the characters are decimating foes left and right, you don’t need to go into too much detail.Narrate evenly for everyoneThough it might be more fun to describe how the wizard pulls out his wand of fireball and unleashes hell than it is to say that the rogue takes a shot on their crossbow, you should look for ways to spice it up evenly between both players.  Give everyone a chance to feel awesome.Learn specific verbs, adverbs and adjectivesVerbs are what someone does, adverbs is how they do it and adjectives describe the effect on the subject of their verb. Here’s a small table with some words every DM should be able to useVerbAdverbAdjectiveslashnoiselesslybloodysmashquicklybruisedsliceloudlycoldparrypainfullytiredstabwearilyexhaustedcutstronglyshakingbludgeonconfidentlysweatycharweaklytousledblackendeathlydisheveledimpalehopefullygrimIt’s not a full list of words to use but it should get your brain thinking.The Simple FormulaIt’s ok to use a one sentence formula as well. Try thisYou [adverb] [verb] your [enemy] with your [adjective] [weapon].This could look like:You weakly char your orcish foe with your fiery Wand of Fireballs.Simple.Now that’s not an exhaustive course on describing D&D combat. I don’t have an english degree by the way, but that should get you far enough to be able to help you players feel more immersed and really make a big difference in your narration.Make sure to stick around after to hear some announcements and the show’s sponsors, but until next time, let’s roll initiative.Mentioned in this episode:Get The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree For FreeTake a trip down to the bayou in The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree. We teamed up with Studio Fantasms to bring you a raucous one-shot adventure full of gatorfolk, catfishing, and a whole lotta moonshine. We wrote the adventure, they designed the minis—it’s a sweet little bundle, and it’s totally free for the month of May. Just head to https://session0studios.com/fantasms and sign up to grab it. Don’t wait—May’s free, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.Save time with Roll and Play PressSave yourself some precious time with Roll and Play Press. Go to https://session0studios.com/rollandplay and use code BETTERDM10 at checkout.Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

We had some technical difficulties today so if you'd like to help us have less technical difficulties become a patron.Patreon Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Save time with Roll and Play PressSave yourself some precious time with Roll and Play Press. Go to https://session0studios.com/rollandplay and use code BETTERDM10 at checkout.Get The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree For FreeTake a trip down to the bayou in The Swampberry Moonshine Jamboree. We teamed up with Studio Fantasms to bring you a raucous one-shot adventure full of gatorfolk, catfishing, and a whole lotta moonshine. We wrote the adventure, they designed the minis—it’s a sweet little bundle, and it’s totally free for the month of May. Just head to https://session0studios.com/fantasms and sign up to grab it. Don’t wait—May’s free, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

What is a Session 0Suddenly, you hear a muffled grunt. You risk a glance away from your dark elf opponent and see Geriman go down. Enraged you yell, “Nooooooo!” and you rush the dark elf in front of you, he feints left but you don’t fall for it, choosing to rush him and lift him up, smashing him to the ground. You take advantage of the brief moment he lies stunned on the ground by sending a quick 1-2 punch to his head with your spiked gauntlets. After a moment he lies still. You get up to run towards Geriman. You have a healing potion so you should be able to save him. As you turn to look at your fallen companion so stop in your tracks, the battle raging around you. Standing above Geriman’s unconscious form is the drow elf who downed him. He looks at you and smiles, and then rams a sword into Geriman’s chest. Geriman’s eyes open briefly and a sharp grunt escapes his lips, followed by a slow sigh that slowly fades into nothing. You don’t remember what happened next. Instead you come back to consciousness with a dead drow at your feet, torn into two parts. Next to the elf is the body of your slain friend, a slight trickle of blood escape his unmoving mouth and his eyes staring up into nothing.What would you like to do?Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host Justin Lewis and together you and I will learn how to tell great stories as we DM sessions of D&D 5e.When getting a campaign started, you might have heard the benefits of starting with a session 0. But what is a session 0?Well, I’ll tell what you it is not.A session 0 is definitely not the session where you and all your friends get together to create your characters. Some people define session 0 as the character creation session, but it specifically is not because you haven’t played your characters yet. If you haven’t played your characters yet then you haven’t played D&D yet, you’ve just had fun making characters. That’s totally fine, but it’s not a session. It might be just semantics but I stand with my definition.A Session 0 is essentially play-testing those characters that you made. You can choose to include the entire party or just a few people here and there. Generally the story isn’t heavy or at least it’s introductory to the heavy. Some people combine the session 0 with their character creation. They’ll take an hour or so getting their characters set up and then dive right into a scenario with their characters to see if they life what they chose. Often, session 0 can be playing out a part of the backstory of one or more of the characters. A session 0 is also a nice way for the DM to playtest their players. Maybe one of the players isn’t gonna mesh well with the table. Session 0 is a nice way to identify that and then nip it in the bud early on.A session 0 can really be seen as a warm-up for the entire campaign. It’s a wonderful option for people who aren’t sure about what they want for their character. I suppose you could even play the level 15 or 20 version of your character so that each player knows what they’re getting into rather than just picking a class they think would be fun and hoping for the best. After I would then dumb each character down to the level that you’re starting the campaign at and then go from there.A couple things you’ll want to keep in mind for you session 0:You don’t want to overcomplicate things. Your players are just getting used to their characters and really seeing if this is the character they want to be with for the next 6 months to 22 years (overexaggeration). They don’t want to have to worry about extremely difficult plots right at first.Be patientAs I already said, your players are just learning their new characters. Some players will have an easier time than others. Your job is to help all of them.Help the characters meet each other or get into their relationship rolesOne of the hardest parts of starting a new campaign is having your characters know or already trust each other or helping them build that trust. Every adventuring party has to trust each other. If they don’t then there’s no reason for their characters to travel together. So I suggest having the characters know at least one other character in the group. That way there is inherent trust between a few of the characters and the rest can be worked on later.Emphasize the funThe session 0 is also your players’ way of testing you. They want to see what kind of DM you will be. Go all out. A session 0 may be your most important session because if it’s not fun enough to make your players come back, they won’t.I hope these few suggestions helped you start to understand how to set up your session 0 and also what it is.If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about the show send us a message at @howtobeabetterdm on Instagram and we’d love to have a conversation with you.Lastly, if you want to play D&D with me or one of the other podcast hosts as your DM then sign up for our monthly one-shot at this link. Spots are limited and it’s first come first serve. For this month, I’m your DM. Here’s a Sneak peak into what you’ll be playing:The grand city of Tornlock boasts a population of 100,000 citizens. From the port district to the affluent Crown district, many call this city their home. In a city like this though, many find themselves in less than fortunate circumstances.You and your companions find yourselves in an Inn, sleeping when a loud knocking on your doors awakens you. It’s a member of the guard. He informs you that Lawmaster Sotan requires your immediate presence. After you and your companions prepare yourselves for the day, you follow the guard out the inn and into a slightly overcast day. The guard leads you down main streets, side roads, and eventually leads you to an alleyway in a darker part of town. He leads you toward a small huddle of guardsmen in the center of the alley way. As you approach, a head raises from the group and signals to you all a basic, if not taciturn greeting. It’s Lawmaster Sotan. You and your companions had worked with the Aasimar on a few occasions and your dealings had always been cordial and productive.“Good morning adventurers. I apologize for the inconvenience at having to wake you at such an early hour, but it could not be helped. Please inspect the grisly scene before us and tell me what insights you can glean. We will talk more after you’ve had a chance to examine the corpse,” Sotan says as he beckons you and your companions forward.The group of guards part and you encounter one of the most grisly scenes of your life. A pastel purple tiefling lies on the ground, eyes wide open starting silently into the gray sky. The body lies with arms and legs akimbo, tied to four posts stuck in the ground. A look of deep fear and consternation adorns the face, frozen in time forever. You also notice the tieflings chest andbelly are flayed open revealing the internal organs of the once living tiefling. Blood has splattered all over the alley way and footprints of blood leave down the opposite side of the alley.You turn to talk to Lawmaster Sotan, but not before he says, “This is the third victim exactly like this in 15 days. We need your help.”If you want to sign up, hurry before spots run out.Thanks for listening to today’s show. Until next time, let’s roll initiative.Mentioned in this episode:Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Save time with Roll and Play PressSave yourself some precious time with Roll and Play Press. Go to https://session0studios.com/rollandplay and use code BETTERDM10 at checkout.Join Our DiscordSo a little bit of a spoiler alert. We’re building an army. That’s right, we’re building an army of amazing dungeon masters who want to make the world of D&D a better place. If you want to join our army and fight by our side against the evil forces of boredom and bad dming, join our Discord and lend your voice to the cause. Go to Session0studios.com/discord and join for free today. Discord

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. One of the hosts, Tanner Weyland, shares how D&D can help prospective authors improve their storytelling.You may have noticed that the intro changed to a "what if" scenario. If you would like to weigh in on how you would respond to that situation, connect with us on our new instagram and let us know!Would you like to play D&D with us? If so, then sign up for the newsletter and get access to monthly sign ups for a session with me or one of the other hosts. Sign up at https://how-to-be-a-better-dm.captivate.fm/subscribeRoll initiative!Mentioned in this episode:Save time with Roll and Play PressSave yourself some precious time with Roll and Play Press. Go to https://session0studios.com/rollandplay and use code BETTERDM10 at checkout.Join Our DiscordSo a little bit of a spoiler alert. We’re building an army. That’s right, we’re building an army of amazing dungeon masters who want to make the world of D&D a better place. If you want to join our army and fight by our side against the evil forces of boredom and bad dming, join our Discord and lend your voice to the cause. Go to Session0studios.com/discord and join for free today. DiscordBrought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.