Managing DM Anxiety
How to manage anxiety as a Dungeon Master (DM) in Dungeons and Dragons has got to be the most common question I see right after, “first time DM, any advice”. Naturally this makes sense, as being a DM sits at an intersection of a number of high anxiety pursuits. That is, it combines the difficulties of managing social groups, event planning, writing, as well as improvisation and performance. Additionally, you represent every enemy, obstacle, and challenge to a group of people who themselves may be feeling similar anxiety. Given this, it’s no wonder DMs ask for advice and find anxiety to be one of the major roadblocks to running a game.
Progressive Failures and Rising Tension in 5th Edition
5th edition Dungeons and Dragons has a bit of a rough patch with its skill checks model. Given the variability of a d20, all or nothing skill checks can be a fairly harsh mechanic. Indeed, there’s some evidence all or nothing checks is not the designers intent. The DMG Chapter 8 provides some alternative methods to consider with skill resolution under Resolution and Consequences which all hinge on a single die roll mechanic. In cases, there may be some utility using a progressive success or failure system instead of a single checks. Particularly in non-combat encounters, it is best to build skill checks in a way to build tension from failure rather than a collapse. DMDavid sparked a thought after a specific example posted on twitter, how to handle falling with failed climbing checks. Progressive failure and rising tension meshes well with the Thrilling Heroics Rules I posted awhile back. In fact, it compliments it enough that I thought it useful to post some examples here.
Thrilling Heroics Rules for D&D 5e
Thrilling heroics have always been an important part of adventuring in table-top roleplaying games. The rules of 5th edition are great for covering most basic action but occasionally players want something more exciting to happen. The swashbuckler may want to distract opponents by kicking the table at them, or the cavalier leaps from their charging horse to make a more devastating attack, this is all part of thrilling heroic action at the heart of adventure based roleplaying games.
Gritty DnD Injuries - Expanding Exhaustion
In Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, the introduction of lasting injuries and effects promises to revitalize the way players approach the game. By infusing combat with the possibility of enduring consequences, this elevates the significance of each skirmish beyond the individual encounter. Health is no longer just hit points to be replenished with the wave of a hand or a nap; it becomes a strategic element of play managed through clever player choices. This shift introduces a layer of tactical depth missing in the vanilla game, requiring players to think critically about their characters actions and their potential long-term impacts on how the adventure plays out.
Pitch Perfect - Using a Pitch Deck for Your D&D Campaign
Launching a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign is no small feat. It requires not only the arduous task of finding players, but also identifying those who are the perfect fit for your envisioned adventure. Even before delving into character backgrounds, safety tools, or other vital session zero elements, a Dungeon Master’s first hurdle is convincing potential players to invest their precious time and energy into the unfolding saga. This initial step bears striking similarity to pitching a fresh product or service. Just as entrepreneurs entice investors with the promise of innovation and value, DMs need to captivate potential players with a compelling campaign concept. Enter the Pitch Deck - a tool commonly used in the business world, but equally potent in setting the stage for a thrilling D&D campaign.
Perilous Journeys in 5e Part 1
Perilous journeys are a mainstay of fantasy literature and adventure, yet 5e provides little game play in the way of travel and discovery. This is primarily because the system focuses on encounters per day, which limits long form narrative game elements. First, the long rest reset means encounters or delays seem little more than annoying distractions. Second, characters have little in the way of meaningful game play to engage them in travel. or interact with one another. These rules present a few simple modifications to add some game play spice back into your journeys to help make the exploration pillar exciting again.
Perilous Journeys in 5e Part 2
Exciting journeys in 5th edition engage the party and give them meaningful actions as part of the adventure. Last week I posted Perilous Journey’s Part 1, which turns travel into a series of encounters like any other dungeon. This week, I’ll look at defining some ways that party members can take meaningful actions during journeys. These Journey Actions provide gameplay for the travel experience, as well as create dependencies between members of the party.
Gritty Healing & Survival in 5e
The heroic playstyle of 5e D&D is a lot of fun, but it’s focused on the encounter for resource management and pacing. Sometimes players want to break things up with more of a gritty or survivalist style. This means adding gameplay elements that focus on attrition, strategic resource management, mitigation, and lean into the fragile nature of health. In other words, it extends gameplay into longer term campaign elements, rather than containing it to individual encounters. As a result of Matt Colville’s recent twitch hangout, I was inspired to write down my own thoughts on gritty rules for 5e.
Gritty Healing in 5e Part 2: Spells
Earlier in the week I posted some rules for Gritty Healing & Survival in 5e. These work for group looking for that kind of long-term resource management and play. However, it leaves a bit of a gap when it comes to healing spells and magic. In fact, most gritty mechanics suffer from the problem of setting up a system for persistent injuries, then introduce magic that lets you skip past it. Also, it suffers from the problem of turning the cleric into the heal-bot for a party, making sit out of the action during encounters to heal everyone later. So having some way to align the leaning mechanic with the core idea of recovery as a central design principle is important. Without it, you end up with the same effect as healing overnight but force the healing PC to burn all their resources and sit most encounters out.
Character Voices Reference
Doing in-character voices is a hit or miss prospect for some games, and by no means required in a table-top RPG. As a DM that enjoys doing voices for various NPCs in my world I find this table helpful to develop different inspiration for voice types I might use, and having a reference like this lets me make a quick note so I can be sure to use the same voice next time. I compiled this list from a few descriptions for theater actors around the web and hope you’ll find it useful for your game as well.