Episode 175

Dan Wells: What are You Good at As a GM?

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM!

Today is a special episode with our guest, author, and professional Dungeon Master Dan Wells!

Check out information about Dan Wells here: https://www.thedanwells.com/

Dan is partnered with Dungeon Master Direct which has some great events coming up: https://dungeonmasterdirect.com/

On today's show, we talk about:

  • Professional Dungeon Mastering
  • How it's ok to use pre-written modules for professional dungeon master campaigns
  • As a dungeon master, you need to figure out your strengths and your weaknesses and lean heavily into those.
  • You also need to lean into the collaborative nature of RPGs

This episode was facilitated and recorded in the space at We Geek Together in Provo. You can shop at their store in Provo or online at https://www.wegeektogether.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

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Start Leveling Up As a DM

Wouldn’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

Listen to Our New Podcast

As a listener of this show, you obviously love story. Now that you’ve learned how to craft your own story on this show, wouldn’t it be nice to have some inspiration? Or maybe just a moment of immersion and escape? Then come join us in our new Actual Play D&D 5e show, Pact and Boon. Enter the World of Calignos where our characters, Jolly, Wolfgang and Alon will meet each other in Hell. Enjoy our troublemaking and near-death experiences wherever great podcasts are heard. Just go to session0studios.com/pactnboon and start listening today.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM
How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM
Make Better Stories Playing DnD

About your hosts

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Tanner Weyland

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Justin Lewis

Justin has been playing D&D for about 5 years and has been DMing for the last 2. He is a student of the game and genuinely loves the art of storytelling. In his day-job he performs SEO at an agency called NPDigital, but at night, he furthers the hobby of cooperative storytelling that is Dungeons and Dragons.