Episode 54
Dungeon Master Essentials: 7 Tools Every DM Should have in their Dungeon
Warmup:
Tanner: What would be the simple premise of a one-hour session you would plan for friends who hadn’t played D&D?
Intro:
Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host Tanner Weyland, here with my counterpart Justin Lewis. Together we are going to learn how to weave better stories for you and your players while you dungeon master sections of D&D 5e. We will walk you through the steps from someone who’s never played D&D to High-Level Dungeon Master.
Before we get to today’s main topic, we have a couple of housekeeping items to go over.
First of all we want to send a huge thank you out into the digital waves of the internet to Anna Craven. Anna has played in our one-shots a couple of times and she has also sent Justin and myself an amazing gift! She’s hand-crafted notebook covers with the design of a dungeon on the front and back and created a very awesome Dungeon Journal. So far, Justin and I love these notebooks and want to say thank you so very very much! We’ll be posting a picture of them on our Instagram at how to be a better DM so you can see the fine craftsmanship. Thanks again Anna, we really appreciate it!
Next, another reminder that we are moving to a once-a-quarter schedule for our One-shots. The next one-shot will be held in September by myself. If you want to get in on it, sign up now. So far we have 2 slots with a tentative yes that will be confirmed soon. It’s first come first serve so make sure you come first.
Main Topic: Dungeon Master Essentials
Justin
- Water
Sitting at the DM table can get very tiring especially if you aren’t properly hydrated. You spend the entire session talking so naturally, you’ll need some water. I’ve found that water is the best choice. While other beverages can have better taste, water allows you to keep your head and not get too antsy.
- The DM Screen
When I first started playing D&D, I saw the screens of the dungeon master and thought that it was unnecessary. Indeed, when I started DMing, I didn’t use a DM screen. Then I started and I found that it made a huge difference. I saw two primary differences:
- My players regarded me more as the DM. I had more authority. Whether this was perceived or not, it doesn’t matter. I like to think of the DM Screen as almost a part of the uniform of the Dungeon Master.
- I didn’t have to worry about hiding my notes from my players. When you sit next to your wife while you play as I do, you have to guard the secrets you put on paper. A DM screen takes the temptation away from her.
- Music
Now, I’m generally not a heavy-handed person. Having music is a nice way to both set the mood and also remind your players that it’s Dungeons and Dragons time. It’s really nice to be able to turn the music up when players get distracted or start having side conversations. Rather than cutting the immersion when you ask your players to stop, you simply amplify the music volume and they get the hint. It’s also great for just setting the mood in general. A must-have.
- Tabletop Minis
I like D&D because it transitions from hyper-regulated combat to very fluid roleplaying. Having minis takes a lot of the guesswork out of combat and can make it a lot more visual. That said, it can be used as a crutch and should be used judiciously. You should also explore options for trying it in other ways.
Tanner
- A Great Seat/Proper Height Table:
- You will be at the table for a while. You will want to enjoy the whole time. Nothing can ruin your experience like a bad seat that does not have a back, or one that does not encourage proper posture. Further, if you like to stand up and walk around the table, you don’t want a table that is so low that you are bending below the waste to reach it (picture coffee table).
- Dice, and Extra Dice
- You are supposed to be the fastest of all the people there. While dice rolling software is nice, you need one that is either user-friendly (read: tablet) or you need a lot of actual dice that are organized and close at hand.
Bonus:
Close:
Thanks again for being with us on this awesome journey. Justin and I have learned so much and we are continually learning. We’re going to put out ever better content and help you tell the greatest stories the world has ever known. We’ll be back next week to help you do just that, but until then, let’s go ahead and roll the initiative.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
welcome back to how to be a better d m let's jump in with our
lewis]:warm up today and tanner is actually going to give me a warm up so
lewis]:let's let's go ahead and jump in
weyland]:let's do it okay mine is it's pretty simple pretty open decided to go with
weyland]:a broader warm up here so let's say that you only had an our prepare
weyland]:a session for some friends who hadn't played d and d let's say they're over
weyland]:at your house and you're talking about d and d you're talking about this podcast
weyland]:and they're like we've never played and you know
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:that you don't have all that much time if you were in that position what
weyland]:would the simple premise of that one hour session be
lewis]:that is a really good question so i've actually kind of been thinking about i've
lewis]:started making something kind of along these lines of like the perfect intro ucxtury uh
lewis]:one shot for new dams new players this isn't my answer my answer would just
lewis]:be like a tavern brawl simple
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:effective but this more interesting answer i would call it a dungeon and a dragon
lewis]:and the premises you and your group walk into a town and you're looking for
lewis]:work and you're told to meet a mysterious stranger in these woods next to this
lewis]:large landmark and you get there and you hear a loud voice and you turn
lewis]:around and behind the landmark pops out a large copper dragon and obviously you and
lewis]:your companions are like who we we can't fight a dragon in her and dragon
lewis]:says hold on i need you to do something for me i need you to
lewis]:go in to this cave and clear out some monsters go into my dungeon and
lewis]:clear out some monsters on want you to do it because frankly i'm lazy i
lewis]:have gotten used to a life of luxury and you can see the dragon is
lewis]:actually somewhat portly
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:and then you go into the dungeon and you simply fight maybe one or two
lewis]:levels down and then you go out and the dragon gives you some gold and
lewis]:it's kind of a nice fun almost cheeky way introducing you to dungeons and dragons
lewis]:with a dungeon and a dragon
weyland]:i love it i love it yeah it's great too
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:because it jumps
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:right into the fantasy aspect gives them a quest
lewis]:oh
weyland]:right from the beginning you
lewis]:oh
weyland]:know because i feel like a lot of people who don't know their way and
weyland]:d n d don't know about you know tabletop role playing that much they might
weyland]:not understand the whole the freedom of it and so it's nice to kind
lewis]:hm
weyland]:of in a way be like hey don't worry about the freedom right at the
weyland]:start i'm going to give you the quest with this dragon flying and being like
weyland]:sup here's what i want you
lewis]:right
weyland]:to do you know
lewis]:you almost need to railroad them into the maze and then once they're in the
lewis]:maze you let them have free rein because
weyland]:exactly
lewis]:they can't get out of the maze without solving it
weyland]:exactly great love it are you feeling warmed up feeling good
lewis]:feeling loose feeling good i'm ready
weyland]:perfect well honestly it's going to be a great episode today and so for you
weyland]:listeners welcome back to how to be a better dam my name is tanner land
weyland]:and i'm here with justin lewis my good friend
lewis]:hi
weyland]:he's waiving you can't see it
lewis]:yah
weyland]:sorry
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:so
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:anyway together we learn how to weave better stories for your players so that everybody
weyland]:can have a wonderful time and that starts
lewis]:oh
weyland]:with you as the dungeon master we're specifically focusing on d and d fifth edition
weyland]:and we're excited
lewis]:m
weyland]:to take that next step on that
lewis]:yah
weyland]:on that road to being a high level dungeon master today so before
lewis]:h
weyland]:we get to the main topic we have a couple housekeeping items slash things that
weyland]:we're psyche
lewis]:ah
weyland]:about to talk about
lewis]:hm
weyland]:first off a huge thank you to our good friend anna craven she actually was
weyland]:in a couple of our one shots and then she sent out of the blue
weyland]:really from the kindness of her heart sent to justin and i an amazing gift
weyland]:it's these handcrafted notebook covers with the design of a dungeon on the front kind
weyland]:of like a grid in all these different rooms it looks amazing it's going to
weyland]:be the perfect dungeon journal honestly we love them we're going to use the crap
weyland]:out of them
lewis]:m h
weyland]:but
lewis]:m
weyland]:thank
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:you so much anna we're gonna be posting pictures of them instagram in fact but
weyland]:yeah we really appreciate that otherwise the next reminder is that we're going to be
weyland]:doing our once a quarter one shots now as you know in the past we
weyland]:tried to do him every month we felt like our we could produce better one
weyland]:shot adventures if they were once
lewis]:ah
weyland]:a quarter so if you haven't had a chant sign up for them as you
weyland]:know we send out a news letter and there's actually a link on that to
weyland]:sign up for the one shot so definitely sign up for that anything else justin
lewis]:um i would say we haven't scheduled the date for the one shot quite yet
lewis]:we're going to nail that down and probably let you know on the next podcast
lewis]:episode but we had someone sign up today for that one shot so seriously if
lewis]:you you know if you don't get a chance to do it then i can't
lewis]:help you so it's first come for serve so try and be the first people
lewis]:there you know
weyland]:yeah and and the good news is if we can't get you in on this
weyland]:one we always try and get you in on a on a future one so
weyland]:get excited but anyway let's
lewis]:m
weyland]:move on to the main topic today we're talking about dungeon master essentials and this
weyland]:this just to kind of set the framework here everything that that we're going to
weyland]:be talking about is like what is absolutely necessary um specifically we're not talking about
weyland]:nice to have you know not talking about table tops where the screen is inlaid
weyland]:and also it's a halo gram or anything like that
lewis]:oh
weyland]:right we're going to be talking
lewis]:ah yeah
weyland]:specifically about about things that for us we feel like is necessary for dem to
weyland]:have so that they and their players have specifically them mostly because you got to
weyland]:think about yourself sometimes so that you feel like
lewis]:m
weyland]:you're
lewis]:ah
weyland]:going to have a great session let's start with you
lewis]:exactly
weyland]:justin
lewis]:yeah so for me the very most essential thing for a high grade dungeon master
lewis]:is water sitting at the dungeon master well the d m table can be very
lewis]:tiring especially if you aren't properly hydrated and for me if you spend you know
lewis]:you spend the entire session talking and naturally you're goin to need water you're going
lewis]:to be parched personally i found that water does the best because you know other
lewis]:beverages let sugar or flavor get in the way and sometimes i can kind of
lewis]:be distracting obviously you can splurge here and there i found that water is just
lewis]:the best thing to kind of keep your head straight and not get too anse
lewis]:just help you stay focused on the game so that's my take on water
weyland]:agreed one hundred percent water is technically my favorite drink in the world
lewis]:uh
weyland]:and i'm not even
lewis]:oh
weyland]:lying my wife thinks i thinks i'm crazy that's fine let them laugh but
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:anyway i think that
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:water is just
lewis]:oh
weyland]:if you don't have it you're just going to get parched and you talk so
weyland]:much as a dam like what are you doing if you don't have enough water
weyland]:at the table um
lewis]:h m
weyland]:you kind of something else that feels very basic but for me it means all
weyland]:the world like about how session goes especially when it comes to like a good
weyland]:you know three or four hours session even a two hours session or one you
weyland]:know uh having a good seat and our tea it's just so important now what
weyland]:do i mean by that i mean if you're going to be sitting there you
weyland]:don't want to be hunched you don't want to feel like you can't lean back
weyland]:so i'm going to say that having a stool might not be the best option
weyland]:if you're the kind of
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:and who gets a lot of tension in your back and
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:you don't want to lean you know and if you're having a set on a
weyland]:stool you don't have the option to kind of relax during times when maybe maybe
weyland]:the players are talking or you know when gathering your thoughts um and conversely let's
weyland]:say you're the kind of person who doesn't sit a whole ot you know there's
weyland]:a lot of dams who like the kind of vacillate between sitting and walking around
weyland]:the table
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:kind of like using their hands a whole lot right so with them
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:with the people standing i don't think that a coffee table would be a great
weyland]:option for you to be frank right and i've played around a coffee table it's
weyland]:you know you sit on the
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:floor sat on the couch
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:you know sit up when you need to move your your many but but i
weyland]:think that for d m s that's like okay if you're bending below the waist
weyland]:to move things around that puts a lost strain on your back you're not comfortable
weyland]:um i think that as far as essential s it's one that gets overlooked
lewis]:i agree and just to hammer in the point of this is really based on
lewis]:your damning style i've played with people that absolutely refuse to use mines and things
lewis]:like that in those cases clip boards and couch was perfect because you know they
lewis]:had a coffee table where we could stand and grab the ice and throw but
lewis]:we were all really comfortable and things like that but for me you know i
lewis]:need a chair that i can stand up and sit down in it's comfortable both
lewis]:ways so i couldn't agree more this one is not so basic it's kind of
lewis]:i guess like a step above basic is music for me and and generally i'm
lewis]:not a heavy handed person but one way that i like to use music is
lewis]:both to set the mood but also to remind the players that it's dungeons and
lewis]:dragons time
weyland]:yep
lewis]:and what i mean by that is you know it's really nice to be able
lewis]:to slowly turn the music up to annoying levels when certain players get distracted and
lewis]:start having conversations on the side once they can't really talk to each other because
lewis]:the music is so loud you can turn that back down and they're focused on
lewis]:you rather than cutting through the immersion and saying hey we're playing dandy can you
lewis]:guys stop you know it's nice to just turn up the music slowly until you
lewis]:get to the point where they do stop but again it's it's also really im
lewis]:and to set the mood but i like it that other way as well
weyland]:yeah and even just to show that it works outside of d and d as
weyland]:well i've bent a few different you know training seminars just you know motivations of
weyland]:like various different kinds of things and they'll do that often right if they do
weyland]:a break they'll turn on music
lewis]:hm
weyland]:or if
lewis]:oh
weyland]:they're trying to like you know some of the cheesier ones sorry maybe it's not
weyland]:cheesy maybe i'm just
lewis]:oh
weyland]:bitter uh
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:like some of them will do it like this rising soaring music in the bay
weyland]:ground when they're really making their point right uh
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:but oftentimes like they will do intermissions with music so that people know like hey
weyland]:it's good and then when the music stops then that's like hey something is going
weyland]:on for you know you can do it in reverse too if you want like
weyland]:let's say that you're trying to get ready for a thing your players are just
weyland]:kind lucy goose and you're like him going to be introducing a major villain or
weyland]:a major plot point you know or n p c there hasn't been music and
weyland]:then suddenly you just turn the music up slowly and then that's like okay of
weyland]:course they're going to be listening you know
lewis]:yeah i especially like it when like the music accidentally like creates this awesome epic
lewis]:moment where you're like and that's when they come and then there's this crash and
lewis]:everyone's like whoa
weyland]:yep
lewis]:it's just kind of super serendipitous but it happens all the time it's great
weyland]:yeah exactly okay so mine and this is again something that i feel like is
weyland]:very basic but you got to think about is dice
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:you know i've mentioned
lewis]:oh
weyland]:it before and i'll keep saying if you're not ready with enough dice uh yeah
weyland]:you can try and blame the players but you're the d m i mean you're
weyland]:you're supposed to be the one who's bringing the most of the table you signed
weyland]:up for it and i think having extra dice
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:the few friends that i've
lewis]:m
weyland]:had to have
lewis]:okay
weyland]:you know been courageous enough to d m they all have extra dice and and
weyland]:it's for a good reason it's because players
lewis]:oh
weyland]:need it and it's also because to be frank i don't know if justin you
weyland]:probably used a few online dice rolling software programs
lewis]:hm
weyland]:right
lewis]:yep
weyland]:some of them can be kind of lucky you know
lewis]:oh
weyland]:like
lewis]:h
weyland]:it takes forever to do it and especially when you i mean is the d
weyland]:m you're supposed to be the fastest one at the table you know as
lewis]:hm
weyland]:much as we want players to be snappy with their decisions
lewis]:oh
weyland]:d m has no excuse
lewis]:oh
weyland]:so it's it's one of those things where it's like hey
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:if you can't find software like on abet or some kind of way where you
weyland]:can quickly roll dies like that just have so many dikes and have them organized
weyland]:so that you can just you know whip out rolls very quickly without honestly having
weyland]:to stall the game
lewis]:for sure in fact in my last one shot i had to stop using the
lewis]:digital dice roller because it was giving me a lot of advantages not not like
lewis]:advantage in the game but i was just rolling really really high and it was
lewis]:uncharacteristic so i had
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:to i had to switch
weyland]:you had to get your own diet tape a penny
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:to one side just to make sure it was
lewis]:exactly
weyland]:uneven on purpose
lewis]:exactly exactly but the next one i have and actually have two more is the
lewis]:d m screen now when i first started playing d and d as a player
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:i saw the screens that the dungeon star or dungeon masters were using and i
lewis]:thought you know that's kind of unnecessary ended up playing with another group where he
lewis]:didn't use a screen and i think it might have been just because the table
lewis]:was too small or something but then when i started damming i thought the same
lewis]:thing i thought it was not useful so i didn't and actually didn't have one
lewis]:that was probably why didn't think it was useful but then i got one and
lewis]:i started using it and i found two major differences improvements in how i played
lewis]:number one is my players kind of regarded me a little bit more as the
lewis]:d m i had i seem to have more authority you know whether the was
lewis]:perceived or not doesn't matter in fact i like to think of the dungeon master
lewis]:screen is almost kind of like a part of the dungeon master uniform that helps
lewis]:you get into to roll and the second thing that improved is obviously i didn't
lewis]:have to worry about hiding my notes from my players i sit next to my
lewis]:wife
lewis]:and i love her naturally but she's also very curious and her eyes wander and
lewis]:having a d m screen takes that temptation away from her and it doesn't doesn't
lewis]:allow me to get mad at for seeing things that i wrote down that were
lewis]:supposed to be secret so if you if you haven't thought about getting a dungeon
lewis]:master screen i would highly recommend you know just trying it out
weyland]:yeah absolutely i think i think some people know if you're the type that has
weyland]:like two lap tops in front of you you know maybe that actually is
lewis]:m
weyland]:your dungeon master screen either way you need some
lewis]:hm
weyland]:you need some space whether that's
lewis]:ah
weyland]:you know being
lewis]:oh
weyland]:further away like everybody
lewis]:ah
weyland]:scrunched to the other side of the table or whatever but the dungeon master screen
weyland]:is probably one of the most space efficient ways to do it and it's functional
weyland]:because it's got like rules
lewis]:oh
weyland]:and different tables and stuff it so get it
lewis]:sure for sure uh then my next one is tabletop minnies and i know this
lewis]:is kind of an incendiary topic like i said there are people out there who
lewis]:only prefer theater of the mind you people are much more cerebrally gifted than i
lewis]:am i am not smart enough to know how to describe things in such a
lewis]:way that my players understand spacially exactly where they stand d but i actually like
lewis]:d and d because it transitions between you know hyper regulated combat to very fluid
lewis]:role playing of theater of the mind you know and having mines for me takes
lewis]:a lot of the guess work out of combat and makes it a little bit
lewis]:more visual and because combat is so um touch and go it matters who goes
lewis]:when and how far away you are and those things can make big differences in
lewis]:combat i find it is important to have mines or visual representations at scale so
lewis]:that way they can see and they can understand the stakes and you can make
lewis]:things a little bit more um i guess closer the encounters don't have to be
lewis]:so obviously won or lost but that said i do recognize that having mines can
lewis]:be a crutch and should be used judiciously you should also explore options for trying
lewis]:you know other opt other ways of doing combat you know theater of their mind
lewis]:or using less isticated visual representations but for me having that there is a must
weyland]:yeah yeah absolutely and it kind of speaks to a bigger a bigger need which
weyland]:is to make your games more visual right let's say you are someone that
lewis]:h
weyland]:doesn't
lewis]:m
weyland]:use mines i would still recommend that you find some like pictures you know like
weyland]:maybe you've got your lap or or whatever connect to screen then it's like t
weyland]:v screen and you could like put up a picture of this of the the
weyland]:m p c that they're running into or like you
lewis]:hm
weyland]:know there's so many beautiful fantasy backgrounds or just kind of like uh scene scapes
weyland]:and it's a great way to paint a picture so so minnies are kind of
weyland]:heart and soul
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:of that ere it's like hey make it as visual as you can and your
weyland]:players will be more into it
lewis]:for sure and actually one bonus that just came to my mind is light control
lewis]:being able to control the amount of light that enters your game space as well
lewis]:as if possible the color and brightness where we play there's too many windows and
lewis]:not enough curtains so if we're playing in the middle of the day it's it
lewis]:feels like it's middle of the day but if you could try and play in
lewis]:a basement with very few windows or close them up and then be able to
lewis]:dim lights and things like that that goes back to setting the mood i think
lewis]:that is essential to creating the perfect gaming situation so just a little bonus went
lewis]:there
weyland]:agreed agreed i love it yeah so those are some i'm sure you can think
lewis]:yah
weyland]:of other essentials but as far as it goes i think that those are great
lewis]:h
weyland]:for
lewis]:oh
weyland]:buddy who's you know
lewis]:ye
weyland]:and here's one thing worth noting the things we just mentioned aren't crazy hard to
weyland]:get you know uh and yet they can change the game in fundamental ways and
weyland]:so if you're trying to get more serious you know buying some extra dice that
weyland]:d m screen uh finding like you know grabbing your little i don't know alexa
weyland]:or some other kind of thing
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:and learning how to
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:play some music are all things that probably only take not too long you know
weyland]:half an hour online at most to get all of those or look up how
weyland]:to do it right and it can change everything
lewis]:m
weyland]:uh so
lewis]:m
weyland]:let's go last thoughts from you justin go
lewis]:my last thoughts are a dungeon master is simple it's not easy but it's simple
lewis]:in reality there were story tellers eons ago who were passing along story just with
lewis]:their mind and their voice that's essentially what being a dungeon master is except we've
lewis]:added rules to it and made kind of a two part system in essence to
lewis]:have a good dungeon master session or a session of d and you only need
lewis]:friends something to write down or record what's happening and rules that everyone agrees to
lewis]:you those are the like bare minimum not even a skeleton just like the idea
lewis]:of a game that's all you need but everything else just adds layers of greatness
lewis]:on to your game and these these are excellent tools and in my opinion essential
lewis]:to having not just a great game but a superb game at least in my
lewis]:opinion
weyland]:yeah yeah and that even
lewis]:oh
weyland]:you were mentioning how back in the day you know storytellers would do that and
weyland]:the great thing about d and d that makes it such an awesome you know
weyland]:adventure and journey for players and dim is the fact that it's i mean i'm
weyland]:kind of blinking on other examples but it might be one of the first collaborative
weyland]:story telling experiences you know in the modern age and possibly for older ones
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:like i frankly don't know but
lewis]:uh
weyland]:it's it's amazing and
lewis]:m
weyland]:we really just
lewis]:oh
weyland]:want to thank all your listeners for being on this journey with us to be
weyland]:better dmsuh so justin and i have learned so much and we're continually learning and
weyland]:we look forward to putting out even better content to help you and ourselves to
weyland]:even better stories we'll be here next week so until then let's go ahead and