Episode 58

D&D Tips for New Players and DM's

Warmup from Tanner to Justin:

If you could make a character for an uninterested player, what would it be?

Intro:

Welcome back, adventurer! We’re excited for another episode of How to Be a Better DM!

Together, you and I will learn how to craft better stories for yourself and your players as you DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e, no matter your level of experience. Today I’m your host Tanner Weyland, with my compatriot, Justin Lewis. 

With the references to D&D in popular shows like Stranger Things and even a Dungeons and Dragons movie coming out, the hobby has seen a large growth in new players and will likely see even more newbies join the game. This means that there will be both new DM’s and new players who need help and need to be shepherded into the world of D&D. It’s our job to make sure that happens in a way that encourages them to stay and today we’re going to talk about just that!

Before we get into today’s main topic though, let’s go through some housekeeping items! 

We’ve finally finalized the date of the next one-shot. It will be held online on Saturday, September 17th around 2 PM Mountain Time. So far we have all 5 players signed up. For those four players, we’ll be sending out a calendar invite to make sure they have the date settled. Next, just another shoutout to our show listener Robric Vanhelm. If you want to get his professionally made encounter in The League of Libraries: The Lorecroft Collection then go to betterdungeonmaster.com/robric and purchase it. All proceeds go to Robric who’s made some amazing stuff.

Well, I think that is enough jibber jabber so let’s get to the meat of today’s conversation. D&D tips for beginners.

Main Topic: D&D Tips for Beginners

Justin

  1. Talk with your players/DM

This tip goes both ways for new DM’s and new players. For the new DM: You need to ask your players lots of questions about what they would add to your game or what hasn’t really worked for them as well as tell them that they can freely talk to you and ask you questions. If you need info about a player’s backstory, ask them without delay. If you want your players offering you info about their backstory, tell them nothing would make you happier. Ironically, for such a “nerdy” game this game teaches a lot about relationships. In order to have a successful campaign, you absolutely need constant and consistent communication from all parties involved. If nothing else, you need that just to keep the game consistently scheduled.

  1. Encourage players to unlimit themselves

Sometimes new players might look to the DM and think, “What is it they want me to do here?” If that is how you play as a DM, I suggest you rethink your style. I know my wife has said that to me in the recent past during our game and I took that as a personal failure. You want your players to think outside the box and treat the scenarios as real world scenarios where there are infinite options. The mechanics of the game are there to be just that, mechanics, processes that explain how consequences come about. If they want to try something, they can. It’s my job as the DM to think about how logically difficult (or perhaps impossible) that thing is and then let them try anyway. 

So tell your players to let themselves imagine grand things and then try them out.

  1. You get out what you put in

Tanner

  1. Take ownership of the lore and content.

As a new player, it may be easy to just arrive at the sessions and “tag along.” Instead, take ownership. Get some materials, whether you download or buy them. Also, know your own character’s backstory in a deep way. Study a little bit of your class’ mechanics every week. You might even want to study some of the deeper lore–that is when you can feel like a contributor, not a sidekick.


  1. Embrace Collaboration with both the players and DM

This is in a similar vein to my other tip, but it is a practical tip for creativity: your best ideas will come when you try to create them in collaboration with the DM or other players.


Break (From Tanner to Justin)

Main Topic Continued:

Tanner

  1. Try DMing.


Justin

  1. It’s ok to stop

This is a tip to relay to your new players. You need to let them know that this is a new thing they are trying. If they don’t like it they don’t have to keep playing just to make you happy. In fact, you should go one step further and tell them how exactly you want them to pull you aside when no one else is around and simply explain that you had some fun but D&D just isn’t their vibe, or their kids need more attention, or they have different priorities or anything else. What’s not ok is for players to constantly lead everyone on or force everyone to change their schedule because they don’t have the spine to say, “No thanks.” D&D is not for everyone. We welcome everyone and invite everyone, however who stays is entirely up to them. I’ll tell you this though, we will make some amazing memories with whoever stays.

  1. Describe Your Own Combat

Mentioned in this episode:

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Level Up Guide

Transcript
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yeah take as long as you need

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uh

weyland]:

okay so this is outdated because it says four players have signed up it should

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be five

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yes

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okay

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it should

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cool

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be five so we can actually i guess change that

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yeah

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oh

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remind me just

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yeah yeah yeah

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just opening up because i want to reference

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what

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yeah yeah the this dungeon

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yeah

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is occupied

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okay perfect should i just start

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yeah

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eh do we do like welcome to the tavern or whatever

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i'll be honest like we don't really mention the tavern that much so

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i

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i'd

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know

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be interested to see if like people put it together

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oh

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maybe the next time i reach out to someone i'll ask that question but

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yeah are you

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i

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going

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wouldn't

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to

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phil

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put it in the background

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yeah

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like the tavern

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yeah like i

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ye

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always put it in the background

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cool

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another

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m

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reason is just

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yeah

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because it kind of it covers up any

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yeah

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other like random noises like for example

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m

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do you hear like my chair like squeaking at all

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slightly

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ah

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it's not enough very much though

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that's amazing

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yah

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i have to say but m yeah if there's ere'somethinglike that the tavern noise kind

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of

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yah

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covers that

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oh

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clandestinely you know

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perfect

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oh

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okay i'll get started then

lewis]:

oh

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hello and welcome back adventurer we're

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oh

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excited to have you on another

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my

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episode of how to be a better d m to get started i've got a

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warm up for you and you're ready

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all right yeah

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perfect

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let's do it

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okay let's say that you have to make a character for an uninterested

lewis]:

yeah

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player right like a friend of

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ah

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yours who isn't you know he's doing it or she

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oh

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is doing it because you know they're you know they're willing to go along with

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it but they're not all that excited what kind of character would you make for

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that uninterested player

lewis]:

that is such a good question and i actually have a specific friend in mind

lewis]:

one that i've asked hey do you want to play d n d some time

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and he's like honestly man that just seems like a long meeting and so definitely

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have him in mind now with this i would say you have to make it

lewis]:

kind of to fit the player so you do have to know the player a

lewis]:

little bit but going somewhat

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hm

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general i would make a character that is somewhat simple so not too many extra

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attacks not too many spells i would either

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oh

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go with a warlock which is nice magic user you still get to use the

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magic but it's not as complicated as a sorcerer cleric

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h m

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wizard m i think it would also be very interesting to

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oh

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do a let's see yeah i think i would do like a celestial warlock so

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someone who should be really really good but has this packet and i would probably

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make their character lust for power but kind of fight against that lust so you

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know same way someone who is pre predisposed to be an alcoholic this person is

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predisposed to seek after power yet have this celestial angelic heritage and i would probably

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in this in this world i would probably make it so they actually have you

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know in certain cases in certain world celestial actually have kind of a connection to

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an angel that guides them and tells them what to do you know some people

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you know in our modern ver vernacular you might call it like the holy spirit

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of the ghost or the holy ghost if you're a christian i would probably have

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them have something like this and give their benefactor a name and so their benefactor

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and their patrons are kind of always at odds trying to get them to do

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different things you know of the scene with emperors new grove with cronk and the

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shoulder angels

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hm

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you know that that would kind of be the epitome but again i would try

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and make it simple but also somewhat flashy so they're like wow i can do

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cool things like when i level up i can summon like a demon which has

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nuts but also

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h

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if i want to i can just

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m

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shoot an eldrich blast a couple times and be done with yeah

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that's great i love that especially i like that there was depth to the role

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playing

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yeah

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because if they're uninterested it's probably because they just are picturing a bunch of words

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being like oh hey i

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hm

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roll to hit you with my mighty sword you know instead

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yes

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it's nice because you're like hey you got a little crank like angel

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exactly

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devil like shoulder angels you know andilio

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yeah and

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i like that

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if i could add it i think one important thing about having those the patron

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oh

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and the benefactor is

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oh

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it allows me as the d m to kind of put in my two sense

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to the character to the player

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ay

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on some things that they should do or can do so that way they're not

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solely responsible for all the choices that they have to make like they don't have

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to think of everything but instead as a d m i can somewhat whisper hey

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this person needs help or hey you should steal person's knife or something like that

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and i'm interested to think like i would maybe make it so the voices for

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the benefactor and the patron are basically unlike you can't distinguish between so you don't

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always know whether you're following you know satan or the angel or the devil if

lewis]:

that makes sense

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yeah i like that too

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oh

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because it kind of keeps them on their toes which is another

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hm

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way to keep people interested

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m

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right suspense

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exactly

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or you know in decision both of those are great it's to

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hm

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do it versus someone who's just watching all the other players kind of do there

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their thing right

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exactly

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yeah great

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ah

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love that good warm up i think you crushed it

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uh

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um

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h thank you

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okay so today we're actually going to be talking

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yeah

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a lot about not uninterested players but beginner players who oftentimes can

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oh

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be uninterested but first we're going to get into some announcements

lewis]:

oh

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um so first off to introduce myself it's been a sex i'm tanner wayland and

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oh

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i'm here with my compatriot my friend justin lewis

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either

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he waved you didn't see it

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oh

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i'm so sorry

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yeah

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um so today

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ye

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like always we're going to be learning about how to craft better stories for yourself

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and your players

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ye

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as you d m sessions of dungeons and dragons five e

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yeah

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h so as you all know d and d is very popular nowadays stranger things

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obviously kind of led to rereseargence and then of course people even before then were

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starting to get into it more because being being inured wasn't wasn't a bad thing

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uh but because of that we're going

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h

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to have a lot of

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m

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new

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ah

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players um and that's why we felt like today's topic was so important

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oh

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but as it's a couple of housekeeping items before we get into that

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m

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so first

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yeah

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off we've got our one shot coming up it's saturday

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yeah

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september

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okay

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seventeenth two pm mountain top we're going to be sending

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ah

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out an email we actually have all five players signed up already so for those

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who were

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ah

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late or didn't make it definitely we'll have you on the list for

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m

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the next one we're actually hoping to collaborate with some some

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yeah

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wonderful people that we've done podcast with

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oh

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some of the guests we've had so we're going to keep that a secret though

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yeah

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who but we have some we have some

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m

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fun plans

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m oh

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um but yeah so we're going to be sending out calendar invite to each of

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those five players make sure the dates all set and then also send them all

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the other into they need next we just want to give a shout out to

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one of our to a listener roberick van helm he's awesome rob is great

lewis]:

oh

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he's actually kind of shown us this encounter that he wrote designed like professionally

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oh

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it's called the league of libraries though or croft collection now if any of you

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are

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yeah

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kind of getting into d and d or if you're you know what sometimes i

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get a little tired or burnt out of making one shots you know you're kind

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of in that place where you just want to see what other people have made

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rob's

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oh

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he knocked it out of the park so we actually are going

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yeah

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to have the the link in the show now so that you

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ah

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can go there but if you don't look at that it's at better dungeon master

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dot com

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ye

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ford slash rob rick r o b r i c go there just all

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yeah

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the proceeds go to rob and i think

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oh

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you'll really enjoy it but well first

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i

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off anything else anything else justin yeah

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um no m again rob is awesome he makes awesome stuff on dungeon master

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oh

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dam guild come and uh yeah i for one am super excited to hear the

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one shot in september and for those of you who are interested

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m

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we will be coming out probably with a link for you to act all watch

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the one shot just just in case you didn't get a chance to send up

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you'll be able to watch it and kind of participate that way so keep an

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eye out for that

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perfect so yeah let's let's get on to the meat

lewis]:

yah

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tasty meat of the conversation

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h

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which is dem tips

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m

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for beginners

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ah

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um

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oh

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now justin

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yeah

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why don't you start us out

lewis]:

yes sure so first thing i want to say is these tips are for both

lewis]:

new players and new dims helping new players and so the first one i would

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say

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yah

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is

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yah oh

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talk

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yeah

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with your players slash d m if you're a new player if you're a new

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d m you need to open up those halls of communication and you need as

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the d m the new d m you need to ask your players lots and

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lots of questions specifically about what they would add to your game or what really

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hasn't worked for them as well you know them understand that they can freely talk

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to you and ask you questions as well you know if you need player if

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you need inflow about our players back story ask them

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m

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immediately hopefully in some sort of private setting so you don't tip off other players

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but if you want your players also offering you in fo bout their back story

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tell them that nothing would make you happier help them understand that they need to

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be talking to you as much as they can want and it's kind of ironic

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actually for such a quote unquote norty game the game teaches a lot about relationships

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you know in order to have a successful campaign you absolutely need constant and consistent

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mmunication from all parties involved you know if nothing else you need that just to

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even

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m

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keep the game scheduled right

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absolutely i think that the great thing about d and d as always is

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yeah

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it's it's you

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oh

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essentially playing together with your friends you know talking is like

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m

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so central to that that's what's great about it as opposed to

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hm

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a lot of video games board games

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oh

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i mean a lot of those you can do that as well but you

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oh

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literally can't do d and d without it

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yeh

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and so you know if you're new

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hm

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h d m new player

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yes

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just embrace that just be like hey you know those conversations that we like having

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we're

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yeah

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going to have a lot of conversations and it's going to be about you know

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about the game it's going to be about other stuff you just need to

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oh

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really embrace that and kind

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oh

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of to to the point that you know

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m

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some people might you know they might be introverts but

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oh

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you know you can help them feel like it's a safe space for them to

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you know

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hm

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talk in by by including them by seeing what their opinion is you know not

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talking over them but like especially

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m

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if they're a new player you know make sure that if they start talking you

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listen and you treat it treat it trying to say treat respectfully treat them like

weyland]:

an equal yeah

lewis]:

no you're you're completely right like h and i don't have kids but i'd imagine

lewis]:

it's just like with kids if you know you're you're kids when they're younger they

lewis]:

come to you and they show you these things that are super important to them

lewis]:

but you don't really care when they're older and they have important things are they're

lewis]:

going to come to you not really it's the same thing with being a dungeon

lewis]:

master if you don't you know take even the minorist question seriously especially if someone's

lewis]:

knew than when they have bigger questions they're not really gonna you know feel comfortable

lewis]:

asking

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totally

lewis]:

you

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um and so so a tip that i'd like to talk about and this one

weyland]:

honestly is more

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

directed to players specifically

lewis]:

yeah

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like new players

lewis]:

oh

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it's you know as a new

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hm

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player it's going to be easy to arrive at a session and feel like you're

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kind of just tag tagging along you know like oh everybody else especially the d

weyland]:

m has their

lewis]:

yeah

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iss to there and there you know they know how to play the game they've

weyland]:

got these character back stories that they're super

lewis]:

yeah

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invested in and you're going to feel maybe like you're just

lewis]:

oh

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like a ride along side kick instead

lewis]:

i

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learn how to take ownership

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

and now what does that look

lewis]:

ye

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like i find that ownership means a few things one you're going to get some

weyland]:

material now

lewis]:

yeah

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i'm not saying that you have to shell out the money

lewis]:

yeah

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and buy all the books but maybe you buy one or maybe you go online

lewis]:

oh

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and read through the website

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

for example maybe like for your class for your first character you're going to be

weyland]:

studying every

lewis]:

yeah

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week just a little bit about that character and some of the law and maybe

weyland]:

some of the abilities that they can do right because if you wait for just

weyland]:

during the session

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

you're going to feel a little bit out of out of your depth ah and

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that's not what we want you know players feeling because because it should be a

weyland]:

fun environment first and one of the ways you can have real fun is taking

weyland]:

that

lewis]:

ah

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taking that step and just being like you know what i did my studying on

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my own i learned about the background of the campaign

lewis]:

m

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or i solidified some of the background of my character so i can play them

weyland]:

better right whatever it is if you take ownership

lewis]:

yeah

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and you're like learning about it

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

even in your off time so to say so to speak then you're going to

weyland]:

feel more part of the game you know

lewis]:

i agree and i think that is a really good point because you know for

lewis]:

some of these new players you know sitting at a table with experienced quote unquote

lewis]:

norty players can maybe feel intimid ting when they have these tricked out characters with

lewis]:

deep back stories you know you don't feel like you belong um as a dungeon

lewis]:

master it's your it's your opportunity to help a player and say hey maybe you

lewis]:

don't feel like you'd be long because you haven't read these things or you haven't

lewis]:

thought about your character back story and we can do that together and actually you

lewis]:

know going on that note i would say my second tip is in those conversations

lewis]:

when maybe your player is having those doubts or something try and help them unlimit

lewis]:

themselves you know sometimes new players might look to the d m and think or

lewis]:

say what is it they want me to do here and if that is how

lewis]:

you play as a d m i suggest you you know you re think your

lewis]:

style in fact

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

i know my wife has literally said that to me in the recent past during

lewis]:

our game and i took that as a personal failure because you know at no

lewis]:

point do i want her thinking that i am the game instead i'm kind of

lewis]:

just the arbiter of the game making it so they are the game you know

lewis]:

and and you want your players to think outside the box and treat the scenarios

lewis]:

as real world scenarios in my opinion where there are infinite options you know they

lewis]:

don't always have to the monster they can find another way out and and the

lewis]:

mechanics of the game are in my opinion there just to be that mechanics processes

lewis]:

that explain how consequences come about and you know it's a fine line but if

lewis]:

they want to try something they can and it's my job as a d m

lewis]:

to just think about how logically difficult are perhaps impossible that thing is and then

lewis]:

let them try anyways you know so tell your players to let themselves imagine grand

lewis]:

things and then try them out and kind of process evelimen or process of failure

lewis]:

or success learn how to do things

weyland]:

yeah and

lewis]:

in

weyland]:

we've

lewis]:

dad

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even

lewis]:

i guess

weyland]:

talked about this before right where we talked about making failure you know not such

weyland]:

a hard wall that players just are like orat well i guess the d m

weyland]:

doesn't want me

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

do that you know instead

lewis]:

oh

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it's like hey let the player truly

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uh

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live so to speak

lewis]:

h

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and do

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o

weyland]:

whatever they want to um if it's something

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

that's a little

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

you know a little

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

tasteless a little bit you know

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

they're dreaming so then it's like hey let them have consequences or let them succeed

lewis]:

right

weyland]:

and it suddenly the game gets turned on its head and that's fun too right

weyland]:

uh like if they succeed according to the rules

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and then other times if they fail according to the mechanics and the rules you

weyland]:

can you can kind of soften that failure you can be like hey obviously you

weyland]:

were kind of ord mer player with like how the story was going

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

uh therefore i'm going to take this failure

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and i'm not just going to be like hey get back on track instead i'm

weyland]:

gonna be lie you know what let's change the in up a little bit your

weyland]:

failure has

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

led to a different avenue a path that you can go different from what you

weyland]:

thought and different from what i thought but hopefully interesting right m but

lewis]:

agreed agreed

weyland]:

one thing that you know i think we talk a lot about inddndabout like deming

weyland]:

almost feels more like reacting you know to another player's choice and it is but

weyland]:

i think that

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

many times the best

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

the best content the best moments happen when there's collaboration

lewis]:

kay

weyland]:

so this applies to whether a d m or a player if you're a player

weyland]:

you can really collaborate in so many things right even though

lewis]:

ye

weyland]:

you're not creating the world around you you can collaborate in your player's back story

weyland]:

you can be like hey other player friend of mine how about

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

we you know our players are characters are related in a certain way right

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

in between sessions you could even talk and be like

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

hey

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

i think it'd be super funny or cool if both of our people were like

weyland]:

like shooting for this

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you know on the other hand you can so collaborate with

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

the d m for wonderful results right that's how most the like most players whose

weyland]:

player back stories get interwoven

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

into a

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

into a story in an effective way it's because they're talking with the dim outside

weyland]:

of it they're being like hey i wrote this scene this flash back this

lewis]:

i

weyland]:

this mintage for what i want

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

my player to go through in order to explain this mechanical change that's happening or

weyland]:

whatever right and if they do that then i think the other players get a

weyland]:

kick out of it you

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

get a kick out of it as a d m or a player because

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

you've put in the work you know you've taken time to not just do it

weyland]:

off the cuff but to actually prepare it and i think it just makes for

weyland]:

a more rich

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

story in general

lewis]:

oh yeah and i actually have two examples of this so you know in the

lewis]:

last few weeks examples of d m m is the d m kind of reaching

lewis]:

out for collaboration with the player and then me i m asking the player for

lewis]:

some collaboration so long story short in one of my sessions three of our characters

weyland]:

hm

lewis]:

were petrified right which is kind of nuts but one of those was a a

lewis]:

a female named

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

row who has been looking for her long lost brother and she's kind of a

lewis]:

shadyish character you know and she one of the petrified characters and when the player

lewis]:

was like you know i need to make my new character i was like hey

lewis]:

i have a suggestion if you're up for it and she's like shoot and i

lewis]:

said how about you play your other character s long lost brother who has actually

lewis]:

been searching for her and then the other two characters are also part of your

lewis]:

kind of criminal crew as it were on you you know you kind of encounter

lewis]:

each

weyland]:

hm

lewis]:

other and you're also share in my my wife who actually is the player she

lewis]:

she really enjoyed that and after she played it she's like wow it's really interesting

lewis]:

playing a differe character because i was rude for so long now i'm ransom and

lewis]:

i'm having to like play differently and that was just one example where i made

lewis]:

a suggestion and then she ran with it kind of on the flip side in

lewis]:

the last session we had one of our characters his name is jerry he's a

lewis]:

paladin dragon born and he was actually found in the under dark and then brought

lewis]:

with the companions to the surface and so for then he had lost his other

lewis]:

adventuring companions and for the first time in the in the campaign he sent a

lewis]:

sending you know he messaged

weyland]:

h m

lewis]:

one of them and he's like i would like to message my old

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

party and me as the d m i was like oh crab i don't know

lewis]:

what to do here so i said okay what is the name of the person

weyland]:

yet

lewis]:

you are reaching out to and he said mira and i was like that's something

lewis]:

i've never heard so i said what do you

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

say and then he said you know

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

he said his message of like hey i haven't thought about you guys i wonder

lewis]:

where you were and then i responded

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

i said wow it's been so long ah and then we kind of collaborated a

lewis]:

little bit more because he was like how is everyone

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

and i was like well what are the names of all the people

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

that were in the group and he gave that to me and

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

then i gave him a little tit bit saying hey there actually

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

in the astral cat uh and it

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

was kind of this really cool moment of this character because

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

this character was essentially

weyland]:

hm

lewis]:

a replacement for another character that died and we haven't had a chance to the

lewis]:

back story for it but in you know a small moment we have essentially without

lewis]:

even needing to build a back story for

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

this

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

character because he's lost his memory but now he knows that his old friends are

lewis]:

in trouble and so that's kind of another plot hook that we can pursue and

lewis]:

it was you know player d m collaboration and he provided the details i just

lewis]:

said this is the problem that are in and now it's percolating in his mind

lewis]:

so just a couple of examples of

weyland]:

that's

lewis]:

d

weyland]:

great

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

player collaboration

weyland]:

especially like how you know us a d m

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

it like collaboration isn't

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

always like hey let's

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

both sit down and come over with an idea a lot of times it's one

weyland]:

of

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you pitching an idea the other one

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

yes ending

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

them

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

right um

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and then taking it and not like

lewis]:

exactly

weyland]:

letting them be like not letting them have to do everything on their

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

own right so if someone's

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

like hey i have this idea it's

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

not fully fleshed out then give them a leg up

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

like hey i love where that's going

lewis]:

m oh

weyland]:

here's my ideas on top of that and you can do that in game you

weyland]:

can do

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

outside um either way i think

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

you're going to feel a lot

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

of pressure off your back and have better story if you do just kind of

weyland]:

acknowledge and try to um make collaboration a much

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

more active part of your story telling

lewis]:

oh oh yeah exactly exactly and and then the last tip i'm going to give

lewis]:

before we go to a quick break is as a d m encourage your players

lewis]:

and tell them that they're going to get what sorry they're going to get out

lewis]:

they put in and

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

this is kind of from the movies

weyland]:

ah

lewis]:

as it were

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

and we don't realize this but when we watch movies we essentially give the screen

lewis]:

or or the the story permission to bring us into the world we volunteer ourselves

lewis]:

and you can tell when it's a bad movie you don't actually give that volunteering

lewis]:

you don't you don't give that permission to kind of steel you away and you

lewis]:

reserve yourself in the real world as it were but as a d m you

lewis]:

know this you know that the more you put in

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

the more you're on get out so to your players try and encourage them and

lewis]:

say i know it's going to feel awkward i know you're going to feel weird

lewis]:

and

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

silly and you're gonna look around and you're not

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

going to think everyone else is doing the same thing you're gonna think wow everyone's

lewis]:

looking at being all weird but encourage your players

weyland]:

ah

lewis]:

and say the more you give permission to the game to embrace you and poly

lewis]:

you in the more fun you're going to have an honest that's one of the

lewis]:

biggest tips i could say for you

weyland]:

perfect

lewis]:

to pass along

weyland]:

i love

lewis]:

to your

weyland]:

it

lewis]:

new players oh

weyland]:

so before we continue do you want to you want a short break justin

lewis]:

yeah let's go back to um

weyland]:

ye

lewis]:

so if you have like a conti ation of the earlier

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

prompt for the warm up

weyland]:

perfect

lewis]:

uh let's use that as the break like take

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

that character and then something else you know oh

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

no

lewis]:

and if you need like

weyland]:

no it's

lewis]:

we

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

can pause for a second

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

and let

weyland]:

perfect

lewis]:

you think or what not

weyland]:

so before we continue

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

and get to the end of this topic that we're discussing i've got

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

a continuation of the warm up that we had before you ready justin

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

okay perfect so i really loved

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

the idea of of the celestial warlock that you created for this player

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

for this uninterested player especially with the kind

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

of shoulder angel vibe

lewis]:

my

weyland]:

going on

lewis]:

i

weyland]:

okay so as a continuation

lewis]:

uh

weyland]:

of that what would you

lewis]:

ye oh

weyland]:

what would be one what is it

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

conundrum difficult choice that

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you would pose for that player that you think would be very interesting

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

for them

lewis]:

m

lewis]:

sure uh so uh first of all i would probably name the character clos and

lewis]:

in this instance clowes would

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

probably be um

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

m let's see ah it would probably be someone

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

of power is in trouble someone who clos can actually take advantage of or like

lewis]:

their death would ben it's cloes so maybe it's a

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

uh we'll say it's a constable or something that has evidence that clos did something

lewis]:

wrong and they are in trouble

weyland]:

ah

lewis]:

they are you know classic example would be like hanging from a ledge and they

lewis]:

are there and they have the voices in their heads saying let them fall and

lewis]:

die and your your scott free or save them

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

and show that you are better than this and i think that would be a

lewis]:

really interestin then because i think if the player has understood the character then it

lewis]:

should make them think about what does this character actually want and you know what

lewis]:

they choose will i think be really telling about what the player is hoping to

lewis]:

get from the character experience so if they let the person fall then they're probably

lewis]:

going to go for you know more power and it will be a lot easier

lewis]:

to tempt them with such things and in the voice of the benefactor will get

lewis]:

less and less but on the on the flip side the patron might have some

lewis]:

issue with that and they might get if their

weyland]:

okay

lewis]:

power is taken

weyland]:

follow

lewis]:

away and they're

weyland]:

up because

lewis]:

going

weyland]:

i

lewis]:

to

weyland]:

had

lewis]:

be consequences

weyland]:

a thought so

lewis]:

in that regard you

weyland]:

i

lewis]:

know

weyland]:

think it would be very tempting for certain

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

d ms to you know let's say

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

that the c lois lets this constable with the evidence fall

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and now clos actually has a real chance to increase their

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

power would you

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

penalize the the

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

character immediately

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

or would you kind of let them ride high on their

lewis]:

a

weyland]:

power for this moment

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and then later on with a separate issue kind of let them see the karma

weyland]:

for their actions like would you defer that or immediate yeah

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

yeah h that's a good question so the like the story writer inside of me

lewis]:

wants to actually make it so the constable doesn't actually die so like they just

lewis]:

get hurt really badly they should have died but it just wasn't far enough or

lewis]:

whatever it was and so i think it would probably be later it comes back

lewis]:

to bite them in the butt and essentially show them like hey you thought you

lewis]:

were on top you actually should have just

weyland]:

m

lewis]:

killed him rather than just letting him fall or you should have helped him because

lewis]:

now he's back and he knows that it was you and and so forth the

lewis]:

other option would be to have people see in that area that you know they

lewis]:

let them fall and i see that's a really good question because i think you

lewis]:

know there are there are good ideas on both sides like on the one you

lewis]:

could show that or you know to make it even more interesting they're trying to

lewis]:

help him and as they're trying to help him he falls anyways and people see

lewis]:

and you know it becomes like they get worst of both sides you know there's

lewis]:

all sorts of things you could do as a d m and i think it

lewis]:

really depends on what your goal is next with the character i think the most

lewis]:

interesting thing to do with this would be to allow them to have that kind

lewis]:

of power and the freedom and then have it slowly kind of and close in

lewis]:

upon them

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

as

weyland]:

that's

lewis]:

they realize

weyland]:

i love that and and the

lewis]:

i don't

weyland]:

reason

lewis]:

think

weyland]:

i

lewis]:

he's

weyland]:

pitched

lewis]:

dead

weyland]:

it because

lewis]:

you know

weyland]:

i had the same

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

as you were as you were introducing the scenario

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you were presenting i had the same thought i was like honestly if

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

you let him a ride high in his power for a while

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

and then let it kind of be a slow burn

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

like

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

thing that comes back to haunt

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

him

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

that's great or if

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

it is a media and it's like oh my goodness he thought he'd get all

weyland]:

this power

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

but instead

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

like three towns folk saw him and they're all running away and he there has

weyland]:

to

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

kill them as well and kind of deep in his hole

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

or he gets caught you know like i think that that's

lewis]:

a

weyland]:

that's awesome

lewis]:

right

weyland]:

good good job m

lewis]:

yeah i think it would also be i think it would also be interesting to

lewis]:

kind of put him in the same situation again

weyland]:

ah

lewis]:

but a long time down the

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

road and see what he does again you know like does he make the same

lewis]:

decision or does he try the opposite you know maybe not exactly the same but

lewis]:

kind of like it should be visually similar so it kind of calls to memory

lewis]:

in the player's mind like oh wait i was here before but i let this

lewis]:

person die you know and i think that would be

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

really

weyland]:

i love

lewis]:

interesting

weyland]:

that i think that

lewis]:

to do as well

weyland]:

it

lewis]:

but

weyland]:

also

lewis]:

maybe

weyland]:

allows

lewis]:

a little bit more difficult

weyland]:

ou as the dam to you know voicing the shoulder angel and devil

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

to essentially like you similar lines

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

and that would really help the player kind

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

of like be like oh my goodness this is happening again right a great love

weyland]:

it

lewis]:

right

weyland]:

but anyway

lewis]:

right

weyland]:

thank you for you know that great warm up

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

let's continue to talking about tips

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

for players there players and d ms that are new to d and d how

weyland]:

about let's have you start

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

yeah so the next tip i would say is one you need to relate to

lewis]:

your new players and this is one that specific it would be better to do

lewis]:

in a private place and it's that you need to let them know that it's

lewis]:

a new thing done a new thing that they're trying and it's okay if they

lewis]:

don't like it it's okay if they want to stop uh and they don't have

lewis]:

to keep playing just to make you happy in fact what i think is you

lewis]:

should go one step further and say if this happens where you find yourself not

lewis]:

interested in the game as much or just not having as much fun as you

lewis]:

want just come to me i promise you i won't get mad pull me aside

lewis]:

when no one else is around and just simply explain that you know you had

lewis]:

some fun at dandy but it's just not your five or you know your kids

lewis]:

need your attention or you have different priorities really anything else just just explain to

lewis]:

them how you want that process to go about and say it's perfectly fine and

lewis]:

explain to them also that what's not okay is for players to constantly led

weyland]:

oh

lewis]:

everyone else on and also forced everyone to change their schedule because they don't have

lewis]:

the spine to actually say no thank you you know dad is not for everyone

lewis]:

we welcome everyone and we invite everyone however who stays is entirely up them but

lewis]:

i'll tell you this though we're going to have some amazing memories with whoever stays

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

and we will

weyland]:

exactly

lewis]:

harbor no

weyland]:

and

lewis]:

ill

weyland]:

this

lewis]:

will

weyland]:

is

lewis]:

to

weyland]:

actually

lewis]:

anyone who

weyland]:

such

lewis]:

doesn't

weyland]:

a huge

lewis]:

i'll

weyland]:

piece

lewis]:

just say

weyland]:

of

lewis]:

that

weyland]:

advice um you know for people like me i

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

kind of i enjoy having a lot of different experiences especially friends and

lewis]:

thank

weyland]:

i will inconvenience myself

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

because i'm like oh but i like this you know uh

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

despite the fact that honestly

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

being without it would probably be a load off my know weight

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

off shoulders um and so kind of getting ahead of that like you said and

weyland]:

telling them

lewis]:

sure

weyland]:

like hay if this

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

happens that's okay um and for the d m in that situe ation well first

weyland]:

off d m s you can also do this if you're getting burnt out realize

weyland]:

that

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

you can be like hey guys well well actually i have an example

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

a cousin of mine was finishing a game i think i've shared this before

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

but school was starting up again

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

he knew that it was going to get super busy in college

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

and so we got to this boss

lewis]:

okay

weyland]:

to all of us we didn't know how long he had planned on doing this

weyland]:

campaign

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

we got to this boss and we were like oh the rest

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

of us were thinking internally this must be the last

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

boss and we're fighting it and then the boss kills us all and the

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

and the

lewis]:

um

weyland]:

my cousin

lewis]:

m m

weyland]:

was like hey so

lewis]:

uh

weyland]:

this is the last

lewis]:

uh

weyland]:

session i'm going to

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

be deming because all this other stuff

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

it was just so funny because if we had had that kind of conversation like

weyland]:

you had said like being like hey it's okay to end he probably could have

weyland]:

just let us win and we like

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

did you realize that we didn't know

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

that you had this whole other stuff planned you could have just

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

had this giant tentacle like

lewis]:

u

weyland]:

a sea monster god that year

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

they

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

wiped us out we could have you could have let us win

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

even if it was hard

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

and just that could have been the end of the campaign you know

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

and he was like oh yeah i just thought it was so funny because

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

because

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

he was like the

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

only way to stop this is to kill them all because the idea of almost

weyland]:

like ending the campaign was

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

like that's not on the table apparently

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

you know unless they all die and it's a t p q

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

but yeah i just thought it was so funny

lewis]:

right

weyland]:

and so i think that having

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

steps or having that conversation about when to stop or how to let some player

weyland]:

leave it's so

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

important especially because if you if it's only one player who wants to leave

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

i think there's some d

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

ms out there and you've probably met some justin who would be who would kind

weyland]:

of pressure the player like honestly without you i don't know if we can keep

weyland]:

going

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

you know

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

and the fact is i'm going to say right now like that you can find

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

someone else you know it is a little nerve racking to reach out to other

weyland]:

you know friends

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

spouses

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

family members and ask can be like hey i've got this game want to come

weyland]:

in to some people you probably

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

maybe don't know you know i think people are a lot more willing if you

weyland]:

just ask you know we make it a huge issue when it doesn't need to

weyland]:

be so let people go if they want to go

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

and then you know realize

lewis]:

ye

weyland]:

that there's you know more fish in the sea for you

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

to ask to come in your game right

lewis]:

yes

weyland]:

yeah but great great

lewis]:

hundred

weyland]:

advice

lewis]:

percent

weyland]:

love

lewis]:

hundred

weyland]:

it

lewis]:

percent

weyland]:

now for

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

if you're on the opposite end and you're

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

not the kind of person who's getting a little burnt out

lewis]:

ye

weyland]:

or thinks you might be say you're the kind of new player who's really just

weyland]:

you know driving you've made a couple

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

of characters or maybe even

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

just one you know i think some players they have this barrier between them and

weyland]:

being a d m where they're like oh i'm just not skilled enough or the

weyland]:

game that i would come up with just isn't you know it's not going to

weyland]:

be cool enough

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

and

lewis]:

m

weyland]:

i think that's hogwash you know

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

it's just it's not true you can you can

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

any level of skill

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

you can try and be a d m right that's what this whole podcast is

weyland]:

essentially about sometimes

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

people have just been barely starting

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

to play d and d sometimes they've

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

been playing for years

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you can always get better and so if that's the case

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

then you know

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

why not start playing early as a d m and writing your own campaigns because

weyland]:

it's like hey there's other people who probably have been playing a lot longer who

weyland]:

aren't that

lewis]:

ah

weyland]:

much more skilled

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

than you because you know because

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

it all depends on how how you develop yourself

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

so yeah that's kind of my my advice there is try deming

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

do it you can ask people for help but

lewis]:

yeah oh

weyland]:

if you want to do it don't put it off just because you think it's

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

outside of your capabilities

lewis]:

i agreed and i just add that by trying deming it will make you a

lewis]:

better player and it will make it more fun for everyone else at the table

lewis]:

when you play and also your d ms will love you more because you'll understand

lewis]:

them and you'll appreciate what they do which is as a dungeon master important the

lewis]:

last tip i would give to you dungeon masters to pass on to your players

lewis]:

it encourages them to describe their own content uh it's one of the ways that

lewis]:

each person can make themselves feel cool and if they struggle with it tell them

lewis]:

no worries i will fill in the blank when you struggle and i'll help you

lewis]:

and proud you along so that we you can eventually create these awesome scenes of

lewis]:

your character doing really awesome stuff and in doing that i would help them understand

lewis]:

that it doesn't have to be you know you roll the dice and you hit

lewis]:

once it can be more narrative and say you trade blows left and right and

lewis]:

eventually you slide their sword up just a little bit so that way you can

lewis]:

their outer arm and draw a little bit of blood with two points of damage

lewis]:

or something like that but help them you know embellish on their own and this

lewis]:

will actually save you some time and enter an effort so that way you don't

lewis]:

have to describe every person's combat and it is a fine line and it does

lewis]:

take to it does take some find tuning but i think that definitely goes a

lewis]:

long way to helping each person as tanner always say you know the goal is

lewis]:

to make each person at least once during

weyland]:

yeah

lewis]:

the night feel

weyland]:

exactly

lewis]:

awesome

weyland]:

and

lewis]:

and describing

weyland]:

and

lewis]:

your

weyland]:

i

lewis]:

own combat i

weyland]:

honestly

lewis]:

think is a great

weyland]:

wouldn't

lewis]:

way

weyland]:

stop

lewis]:

to start

weyland]:

even

lewis]:

down

weyland]:

just

lewis]:

that

weyland]:

with

lewis]:

road

weyland]:

combat i would say skill checks as well because i think that that's

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

overlooked because d they're like oh

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

like i have to tell

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

them that they succeeded

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

and so i might as well just go the next step and be like okay

weyland]:

you unlock the door but instead you could say okay

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

you passed it you unlock the door what does that

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

look like

lewis]:

m yeah

weyland]:

you know and you could and then that gives them a chance to be like

weyland]:

okay i get down i look around put my you know my what other thing

weyland]:

lock picks into the door i was going to say tooth picks and i was

weyland]:

like that's not right

lewis]:

ye yeah lock pick yeah

weyland]:

of my gentis new character idea dentist

lewis]:

well depends

weyland]:

turned

lewis]:

on who

weyland]:

thief

lewis]:

you know it depends on your character i guess

weyland]:

but anyway but yeah

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

but amazing love it but

lewis]:

the tooth fairy

weyland]:

yeah i just think that if you

lewis]:

yah

weyland]:

take any opportunity and if you as

lewis]:

h

weyland]:

a d m

lewis]:

that's

weyland]:

aren't

lewis]:

great

weyland]:

very imaginative here's the great news like like i just said right there

lewis]:

m m

weyland]:

the way to kind of people in to give them the chance to explain is

weyland]:

just

lewis]:

okay

weyland]:

to be like okay you hit what does that look like um your spell was

weyland]:

successful

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

what does that look like

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

okay you check was successful was a look like it's a very

lewis]:

hm

weyland]:

simple phrase but it gives them all

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

the leeway in the world to do essentially whatever

lewis]:

a

weyland]:

they want right

lewis]:

oh

lewis]:

a hundred per cent a hundred per cent so there you have it those are

lewis]:

some of our tips on well some of our d and tips for beginners both

lewis]:

beginner

weyland]:

stop

lewis]:

players

weyland]:

it you're

lewis]:

and

weyland]:

so

lewis]:

in our

weyland]:

nice

lewis]:

dungeon masters uh thank you tanner for being such a great host today

weyland]:

thanks justin yes and so

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

our

lewis]:

you

weyland]:

dear

lewis]:

did great

weyland]:

players now just

lewis]:

do you want to finish up with the conclusion

weyland]:

joking honestly we are very grateful that

lewis]:

uh

weyland]:

you were listening today hope that if you're

lewis]:

i love

weyland]:

a new

lewis]:

it

weyland]:

player or even if you're experienced

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

player or d m

lewis]:

yeah

weyland]:

m these tips have kind of refreshed some of the simple ways that you can

weyland]:

make your your game better story telling better

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

um as we mentioned before

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

if you want to reach out to us obviously we're going

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

to have our website and email in the show notes but in the meantime we

weyland]:

hope that

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

you have a wonderful time adventuring

lewis]:

oh

weyland]:

and everybody get ready and roll initiative

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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

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About your hosts

Profile picture for Tanner Weyland

Tanner Weyland

Profile picture for Justin Lewis

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.