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

“I don’t like the look of this.” Sefereth whispers.You look back at the slender elven woman. She wears plate armor as if it weighed nothing, a great sword in her hand.You smile. “You are wise as you are lovely my dear.” Your hands grasp each others, a brief moment of affection between man and wife. It was only a tenday since you and your beloved were wed. Others might decide to honeymoon in large cities surrounded by luxury. For your band of adventurers, emergency necessitated other arrangements.You turn your attention back to the entrance to the dungeon. You’ve never seen anything like it. Where other caves might have moss and lichen growing on the rock face, crystal the color of pearly moonlight adorns the walls. It appears as if grown there rather than placed. It has a strange feeling of life. Your party was brought here by rumors of an elixir that can cure any disease along with huge swaths of the kingdom falling ill to an unknown disease. Rather than rendering the sick feeble and weak, it swells their muscles and drives their minds mad. They become mutated monsters, wreaking havoc on all they come in contact with. The kingdom is made up of more monsters than man now and it’s up to you and your friends to save it. As usual.A soft music drifts from the cave's entrance, almost as if to invite you in. You look at the rest of your party. Each looks at you with undying loyalty. You grip your staff harder, and place a hand around the necklace of beads left to you from your mother. She left it to you as a legacy to remember her by. You use it as a magical focus to channel your arcane energies and to bend reality to your will. “We go forth to save those who cannot save themselves,” you say and you step into the cave.Welcome back to the 6th episode of How to Be a Better DM. I’m here to help you tell better stories as you dungeon master a nice game of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.Before we get into today’s show, another quick shout out to @kahootaz on Instagram who does audio work for the show. He is awesome and if you need any audio work done, he’s the guy.Now, to the show.Today we are talking about crafting dungeons. This is a staple of playing D&D and definitely a go-to for DM’s everywhere. Whether you’re playing from a adventure book, or are crafting your own story, adding in a dungeon here and there is always a great way to break up all the quests your characters are on and give them something concrete and tangible to do. So let’s get to 5 tips for crafting dungeons.Start with the purpose of the dungeon.Said another way, figure out what your players’ purpose will be in the dungeon. In the example at the beginning of the episode, the purpose is clear: find the healing elixir. In my current campaign with my friends, they were sent to clear out a haunted mansion so the mansion could be set up as an orphanage. Basically set up the rules of engagement. Answer the questions of why are the players here and what are the general rules for how they will engage with the environment.Set a Big BossDungeons get much easier to make if you model them after most video games. For every level there is a boss. Sometimes this could be in the form of puzzles or the form of an adversary. In my current campaign (spoiler alert if you are my friend and are playing my campaign which I don’t think anyone here is), the big boss in the haunted mansion is an undead beholder who’s fooled a woman to marry him and is using her love for him to fuel the haunted mansion. I personally like it when the Boss is an adversary, but a difficult puzzle that also causes damage can be just as fun.Pick a themeOften this will come with either the purpose of the dungeon or the big boss. This makes the puzzles and the smaller enemies easier to pick. It’s not hard finding what to fill your dungeon with. It’s just hard choosing what not to fill it with. Let’s take the scenario at the beginning of the episode. The cave the group would be going into would probably have some sort of crazy archfey at the end, so most of the baddies they fight would probably be fey or dreamlike in nature. That doesn’t mean you can’t stray, it just helps you narrow down what most of the enemies will be like.Record the mapYou can either use a map someone else created, draw one yourself beforehand or draw one on the spot while you are playing (though I don’t recommend this one), but you have to have a map. Why? Because your players will get lost, and you will get lost, and the story will get lost. Seriously. Your players may want to go back to check things out, they may want to try multiple paths, and it will make the game feel way more immersive. I pulled the map for my haunted mansion off of Patreon. There’s a lot of content out there so just go find it.Pick your PuzzlesBelieve me when I say that having your players face encounter after encounter after encounter can get very tedious, both for you and for your players. In encounters, helping them get into the story is really hard. That usually comes in between combat encounters. That’s not to say it’s impossible. It’s just a lot easier for the players to actually sit and think about the story when a particular puzzle is forcing them to do just that. You don’t have to have lots of puzzles, just enough to break up the monotony of encounters after encounters. And don’t worry. I am not good at thinking up puzzles either. I just looked some up online and tweaked them to fit my campaign and voila. It’s an interesting puzzle without making me become Einstein.So remember, if you’re new to crafting dungeons, have fun with it, and you can look most things up online. Everything, just BS on the fly.Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Please follow the show so you never miss an episode and so I can give you better content. If you’re enjoying the show leave a rating and review or share with a new DM to help them along the way.Lastly, reach out to on Instagram @geronimolevis to ask questions, give suggestions, or tell how your campaign is going because I would love to know. Thanks for listening guys and until next time, let’s roll initiative.Mentioned in this episode: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.

The mechanical man cries out in pain. You and your party walk in the baron’s great hall and you see the mechanical man bound by chains. He hangs from a nearby wall. A large thug stands near the automaton with a cudgel, beating him leisurely. You and your party walk forward past the courtiers, and the sycophants to address the baron. He sits on a large chair near a great hearth tearing hunks of meat of a leg of lamb and stuffing it into his fat face. You surreptitiously glance around the room. 10 guards.You and your friends stand before the baron. He chews, swallows and then smiles.“Ah, the adventuring party from Gildhaven. We finally meet, face to face. Please sit, eat. I’m pleased that you grace my court with your presence,” he says and he gestures to tables filled with food.You glance at your party members and clear your throat. “I don’t think we have time for festivities.”The baron steeples his hands. “You’re here for the reward then. Capture of this monstrosity would not have been possible without your very capable help. I believe it was 2,000 gold?” He tosses a large sack of gold onto the ground in front of him. Some of the coins spill out on the marble floor.You eye the gold.“Baron, my friends and I have spent a great deal of time with this ‘monstrosity’ as you call him. He saved our lives. We did not mean for him to be captured. We believe you keep him here illegally. We demand you set him free.” Your voice echoes around the great hall as every pair of eyes turns towards you. Your eyes dart towards the metal man. Though inhuman, his eyes look at you, almost as if to say, “Thank you but your efforts are in vain.”You turn your attention to the baron.The baron stands up. “You dare come into my domain and make demands of me? You’ve served me well in the past. For that, I give you one chance to walk away and leave.”You stand there, gripping your sword hilt. The entire room feels the tension.What do you do?Welcome back to the 5th episode of How to Be a Better DM. I’m here to help you tell better stories for yourself and your friends as you Dungeon Master a session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.Before we get into it, another shoutout to the guy who makes this audio sound so cool. I’m talking about @kahootaz from Instagram. He’s done an excellent job and if you need any audio help, reach out to him and he’ll get you taken care of.Now, let's talk about doing something every DM has to deal with: shy or reserved players. That’s right, let’s talk about getting people out of their shells. Let’s get into it.Ask them questions.During your session, if one player generally doesn’t say much as far a role-playing goes, then the simplest way to get them to say something is to ask them. Say for example the group decides to do something, but the quiet player hasn’t given their input. Simply ask, “What does Lilyleaf Twinkle Toes do?” Obviously, the name was made up, but you get the idea.Ask them back story questions in between sessionsThese players might just be afraid of letting loose. So just help them along by getting them to think up really cool things about their characters. I’ve found when you do this, you might only get one little tidbit back, but even that can start the process of helping the player feel more comfortable to get into the game.Make a section of the game about themYou gotta be careful about this one, but if you add the tidbit your quiet player came up with into the game (either in a small or a big way) it can go a long way to help the player immerse themselves in the game. I’ve found when I do this, the player gets excited and they don’t feel so self-conscious.Understand it takes little stepsYour player isn’t going to go from reserved initiate to role-playing master in one game, maybe not even one whole campaign. Just know that it’s going to take time and that every session they may come out of their shell a little bit more.Make the table a safe spaceAt my table, no one makes fun of anyone else. No one gets to critique the playing of any other player. Everyone gets to feel safe. I don’t stand for anyone making the game less fun for anyone else.Come out of your shellAll the players look to you to set the tone of the game. If you are doing crazy things like funny voices, or interesting role-playing choices, then your players will feel more comfortable doing the same thing. Sometimes this means you also let your vulnerability show with making things up. Maybe you don’t have the whole campaign planned. Sometimes it’s nice to let them know that because the sooner everyone realizes that we’re all just making crap up, the better.Reward your playersWhen your players attempt something really cool that is kind of a stretch for them, reward them. This happened in my campaign where the party was about to fight some undead soldiers when one of my players decided to recite the ancient credo of an ancient kingdom. Because it was really cool, I decided to let the soldiers treat the players as fellow soldiers and salute rather than fight. It was one of my favorite moments in the campaign.So remember, your players look to you to help them feel comfortable. Believe me, when all the players are really into the game, the game is way more fun.Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Make sure you follow the show to never miss an episode. If you have any questions, suggestions for the show, or want to share your DMing experiences, reach out to me on Instagram @geronimolevis. We’ll see you next time. Until then, let’s roll initiative.Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

You look at the case of glass bottles. Cobwebs cover most of them. On a whim, you grab one of the bottles and look at its reflection in the fragment of the mirror you shattered in the great hall. Your whim paid off. In the reflection, the bottle is filled with an inky black substance. You remember the great hall with all the writing on the walls that could only be seen through the mirror’s reflection. This truly is a haunted place. You look at the rest of the bottles. Each one houses a liquid of a different color or shade. The room you are in is dusty and full of cobwebs. You uncork the bottle and, while looking in the mirror, poor some of it out on the floor. As the black liquid hits the floor, you feel a deep pain within yourself and feel some of your life force sucked out of your body. Your adventuring party attempts the same experiment with other colors of liquids. The same result happens. As one of your party pour one drop of a dark blue liquid, you all hear echoing laughter surrounding you. The laughter is gleeful and higher pitched.“Come find me, ha ha ha ha….” The voice trails off. You all look at each other in apprehension.“MMMMlet’s play a game ha ha ha and then haha I will tell you a tale….” You move to replace the bottles.“Tell you the tale of Anandra…. Ha ha ha ha.” The echoing voice fades just as your wizard’s driftglobe exstinguishes and the only light in the room is your rogue’s dagger giving off a faint green glow.What would you like to do?Welcome back to the 4th episode of How to Be a Better DM. This is the show that helps you tell better stories as you and your friends play 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. You’re the DM and I’m going to help prepare you to craft amazing tales to both the delight and horror of your players.A quick announcement: Special thanks goes out to @kahootaz for working on the audio for this show. He did amazing work and if you need audio help, reach out to him.Now, let’s get to DMing.As a new DM, you have so many options of things to buy, research or create that it can be somewhat difficult deciphering what you need to get started. Well this is the list of what you need.Understanding of the rules.Simply put, you need to understand the rules by which you and your players will play. In its simplest form, you all can just say whatever the DM goes and then you just make stuff up. As this is hard to do, and it is rarely consistent, this is not what I would do. Instead, you should probably get your hands on a copy of The Player’s Handbook, or at least get a good understanding of it by watching Youtube videos and such. You can buy it or borrow it, it doesn’t matter. Just know some rules and be able to explain them to your players.PlayersObviously you need players. We talked about this last week, so if you need refresh yourself with episode 3. A story.In its simplest form, DND is just a story that someone put rules to. In order to play, you can make up a story, adapt a story, or use a story someone else made. It doesn’t matter. So go buy an adventure sourcebook, or have your characters reenact The Lord of the Rings, or have your characters reenact your first day of kindergarten (hopefully with some major twists). Whatever you do, make a story and tell it well.Tools of the RulesOtherwise known as dice, the tools of the rules are the methods by which the mechanics of the game will be satisfied. In DND 5e this means a set of dice. If your rules are much more loose you may not need these tools. Since you can download an app for free with dice on it, I’d recommend at least doing that and using those for more consistency and because, well, it is free.A placeGenerally the game is played at a table (hence the name tabletop game), but you can play anywhere, even online. Just get all your players to some place together.TimePlaying the game takes time. I found that at least 3 hours is generally long enough for a good session, unless you have very few players, in which case, two hours should be good. You can choose what works for you.That’s it.Seriously.That’s it.That’s all you need to Play DND. I know I’ve oversimplified it, but that’s the point. All the add-ons are just that, add-ons. As long as you and your friends have fun it doesn’t matter. I’m saying all this specifically to help you ease your fears of not being able to craft the perfect campaign. Keep trying, but don’t get confused about what really matters. If the basics are covered, then you’re doing it right.Thanks for listening to today’s show. Reach out to me @geronimolevis on Instagram with any suggestions for future shows. We’ll see you next week. Until then, let’s roll initiative...Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

You crawl forward slowly, every inch causing you pain. The last thing you remember is investigating a cabin in the woods with your friend before he stabbed you in the back and left you for dead. After falling down a ridge you crawled yourself to this cave seeking shelter. You can feel yourself bleeding out. You look forward into the darkness of the cave. It’s hopeless. Desperate, you cry out, “Help! Please, anyone.” More blood comes out of your mouth than sound. You hear silence. Then, you see two pinpricks of light in the darkness. Small points of maroon light emanate from within the darkness. You crawl towards them only to discover a small statue, featureless except for two ruby eyes. You touch it. It is then that you hear a voice.“You…. are…. Dying…..” The voice is timeless and deep. It fills you with dread. “Please help me.” You manage to whisper. The red eyes pulse. “A…. trade…”, the voice says. “What…. Do you want?”Silence.“I… Desire… Service….”“Who… ugh...are you?”“Nameless… I...can...save...you…”You think for a moment. You remember the betrayal of your best friend. “Can… you grant ugh...me… power?”Silence.“What….do...you...desire….?”“Ugh….. REVENGE!”The red eyes pulse. “I...will...grant...you...revenge!”You come back to yourself. It was just a memory. You face the half-elf druid you just met. She repeats her question, “What’s your story?”You smile. “I’m just a simple man from a small town. Not much to tell.”Welcome back to the 3rd episode of How to Be a Better DM. We’re here to help you create better stories for you and your players while you dungeon master a nice session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.Today let’s talk about one of the first steps in playing DND: finding players. Here are a few tips to finding players for your group.Start with your familyA family that plays together stays together. If you can get your significant other to play with you, it can make for some great experiences. Nowadays, spending time with family can be so hard. A nice 4 hour session is a great way to get everyone involved in each other’s lives. Just make sure you do other things as a family too.Share your interests with other peopleWhen people ask you what you like to do, don’t be afraid of actually sharing your interests. Own it. You’ll be surprised who will tell you, “I’ve wanted to try that for some time.” Your local game shopThere are lots of comic book stores or game shops that have free games that you can join. That’s a great way to find people who also want to play and are even willing to go to public places to meet complete strangers to play. Win-win.Social mediaPay attention to the things other people post about. That should clue you into some of their interests. Just reach out and see if they’d be interested. If you really want you can just post yourself and see if anyone responds.Ask for referralsYou can ask your friends to see if they know anyone who’d want to play. If you don’t know someone, they definitely do. Be ok with few playersLet me tell you from experience, once you start with a few people adding people gets pretty easy. People just seem to come out of the woodwork. So maybe you just start with 2 players. Eventually, more players will come around. Just find a few willing participants and get to adventuring.Thanks for listening to today’s show. I hope you find it enjoyable and useful. Tell me about your DMing adventures as well as any ideas you have for the show. Reach out to me @geronimolevis on Instagram. Also make sure you follow the show so you never miss an episode. We’ll see you next week. Until then, let’s roll initiative.Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

The podcast discusses important things for DMs to remember, such as prioritizing fun and player contribution. It also provides five valuable tips for DMs, like outsourcing tasks and embracing mistakes. The podcast emphasizes the importance of having fun as a DM.

Are you interested in trying out being a dungeon master, but are not sure where to start? Maybe you’re a veteran DM and things have gotten a little stale. Regardless of where you are, one of the best ways to start D&D or spice up your current Dungeon Mastering is with a one-shot. But how do you make a one-shot lively, timely, and fun? In today’s show, I’ll give you 8 tips to make your one-shots better, more fun and easier to plan.Welcome to How to Be a Better DM. I am your host Justin Lewis and this is the show for Dungeon Masters old and new who just want every session to be better than the last. I’m here to help you plan better, and faster with less time, hassle and without spending anything (unless you want to).This is the first episode of the show and as such, I want to extend my deep gratitude to you for giving it a chance. As you listen to these episodes, you’ll hear tips and techniques that will shorten your DMing learning curve, but these tips only work if you put them into practice. I know you’re likely listening as you’re driving to work, workout out, doing dishes or walking the dogs, but when the time comes to put these tips into practice, make sure that you do. That’s how you’ll grow.Episodes will come out weekly every Thursday morning. For the most part you can expect these episodes to be presented by myself, but I will also have cohosts and guest shows as well.At the end of today’s show, I’ll give a brief introduction to myself but I don’t want to waste any more time and I want to jump into today’s topic.ONE SHOTS!For the uninitiated, a one-shot is a D&D story that takes place throughout a single session. It’s a great opportunity for Dungeon Masters to experiment with the hobby, try new settings or rules, and let the players try new characters. Overall, it’s an amazing way to spice up your gameplay and introduce something novel.When it comes to any session in D&D, you can either use a pre-written module or write your own, and the same rings true for one-shots.Now for the rest of this episode, we’ll assume that you are choosing to write your own one-shot. These are some helpful tips to get it done in an easier way and to greater effect.Tip #1: Talk with Your PlayersI’ve done quite a few one-shots and I’ve done them different ways. I think you can choose to write the story and let your players make their characters to suit it,  or you can let your players make their characters and then make the one shot to suit the players.Both have their pros and cons, but what you should do first is talk with your players. Find out what they would prefer and what sort of one-shot you think they would like. This also changes by context. Some of the one-shots I’ve done, I’ve made the one-shot specifically to work on making one-shots. It wouldn’t make sense for me to ask my players what they wanted.So before you start planning anything, talk to your players. See what they want out of the one-shot.Tip #2: Flesh out the Big BaddieEach one-shot should feature some sort of conflict, most often against some creature. You can do one-shots that aren’t necessarily against an actual creature. In those cases, you’d be fighting a force of nature (think a natural disaster) or the creation of some sort of creature (think a cursed dungeon full of traps), but most of the time you will pitt your players up against some sort of creature.In order to have a really good one-shot, you should flesh out the Big Baddie a lot. This is primarily for the narrative aspect of the game. You want your players to feel that the villain is real. So dive into their back story. Make them have true motivations. Anime does this really well where almost every NPC has some sort of history and wants and wishes. You’ll never find a minor character in an Anime series that isn’t apparently willing to be the main character if given enough screen time.When working on your villain, ask yourself the following questions:What is it this creature truly wants?Why wouldn’t they take an easier path?How have they changed over time?What would stop them from wanting to achieve their specific goal?These questions should help you formulate the baddie in a way that feels real and helps you roleplay them.Tip #3: Location Location LocationAnother tip to improve immersion is to focus on the Location. In real estate, they say Location, Location, Location. In part, they say that because you can’t normally pick up buildings and move them, but it also rings true because where you are determines a lot about your life and experiences. You will meet the people you meet and do some of the activities you do because of your proximity to them.In D&D, the setting is as much a character as the actual characters. Flesh out the location to be able to make your players feel like it is a real place. Don’t forget to involve the five sense, focusing on pleasant and unpleasant sensations. If your party is walking through the desert, they should feel the heat of the sun overhead. If it is windy, they should be able to smell the scent of deeply fresh air.Don’t forget to flesh out the history of the location as well. The village where the party stays has been around for a few hundred years, so there were naturally be history and legends within the town. Let the natural signs of life help develop the realism of your story.Also, don’t let the setting be a vanilla one. Let the setting be another character in your story and your players will enjoy it much more.Tip #4: Help Each Player Character Be SpecialEvery person wants to be the hero of their own story. One-shots are shorter so often people may make more outrageous characters. Don’t stile this creativity. If you have someone make a Kobold professor who invented the Pita Pocket, make that an advantage to that character. Wade into the craziness that your players will introduce. It gets more fun that way.It also rewards your players for being creative. You always want to incentivize things that you want to be repeated. When players are creative, you should reward them so that they keep being creative.Lastly, you want to make sure that for new players who are trying out a one-shot as their first taste of RPGs or D&D, you want to make their experience fun so they come back.Tip #5: Do a Quick Run ThroughFor most things in life, being overprepared is never a bad thing. When it comes to one-shots, you can easily just have a quick run-through before the session.This means you test out all of the technology and equipment you’ll be using so that when the time comes to use it, it works.Having a cool piece of equipment or technology can be a nice moment of surprise for your players, delighting them and captivating them. But if you attempt one of these moments, and it doesn’t pan out, it can be worse than if you never introduced the magical moment in the first place. Be careful when using new tech.Running through will also help cement the flow of things in your mind as well. It’s a better experience when you don’t need to check your notes to know the next major encounter. People want a polished experience that looks effortless and natural. The closer you can get to that, the better.Tip #6: Bring the EnergyAs the Head of the Table, the entire table is going to be keying off of you as they play. They will naturally mimic your energy if you have energy. Otherwise, if you give off a very low energy, the entire game will grind to a halt.This means that you maybe plan a break or two in the game so that you can keep y our energy up. It also means you should be excited to play. If you aren’t excited, rethink whether or not doing the one-shot is for you. Let me also say that bringing the energy isn’t just being loud, emotional, or extra. It means that you give 110% percent of everything you have to the game. Bringing the energy means investing in the game. You can invest financially, but more importantly, you need to invest emotionally, and maybe even physically.Tip #7: Remove DistractionsAlong with investing in the game, you should make sure the game can be as good as it can be. As a parent, I know how difficult it can be to give the very best to the game if you have kids around that also need your attention. Consider either getting a babysitter or shortening the game.Multitasking is a myth, especially when it comes to good storytelling. Remove all the distractions so you can have a much better game.This also means that some of your players may need to revert to pen-and-paper character sheets so that they aren’t tempted to waste time and attention on their phones.Tip#8: Invest and CommitThe last tip I want to share with you is that you have to commit and you have to invest. This is really the test of a great DM regardless of their experience and their resources.How much are you willing to put into your game?You’ll hear me say this often, but committing can make up for a lack of planning, a lack of experience and a lack of cool fancy gizmos.When I say invest, I mean the same thing. What are you willing to do for your game? How does your game take up space in your mind when you haven’t devoted hours and hours to it?When you look at the great DMs, you know they are 100% committed and that thinking of the game happens naturally throughout their day just because it’s important to them. With that much thought-time, they naturally think up cool story twists and new ways to add flavor tot he game.Investing your mind and heart into the game and fully committing yourself are the true tests of dungeon master mastery.Make the choice and invest.You might be on the precipice of your first game or you may have already DMd about five thousand. No matter who you are, these tips will help you and push you on to being a better DM.As I promised, let me tell you who I am. I have been dungeon mastering for about five years now. I’ve always been a fan of fantasy and nerd of science fiction. I love story, as most people do. This podcast is my way of digging into the magic of storytelling and helping those of you out there, who like me, want to be a better DM. We’ll learn together and you’ll teach me as much, if not more than I will teach you. More than anything, these episodes will open your eyes and mind to new ways of doing things. You won’t be stuck anymore and that will make being a DM that much more fun.I can’t wait to see how you and I grow. As I said, we’ll have episodes every Thursday morning, so my friend, thank you for listening to How to Be a Better DM. Until next time…. Let’s go ahead and roll the initiative.Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.