Questions tagged [gm-techniques]
For questions about the practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering (GMing).
1,819
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Preparing a murder mystery for player consumption
At this stage in my homebrew sandbox game, the PCs are Lv14, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard and Fighter. They are also filthy rich by the usual standards of D&D, having been sailing around the world in a ...
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How do you all make travel interesting for players? [duplicate]
I'm curious on how you all make travel more interesting for your players. I want to honor the geography of the world (aka you don't just teleport anywhere) and I've tried some things that have been ok,...
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As a DM, what should I do if a person decides to play a rogue? [closed]
I am planning to start a D&D group next year and last year I got a teacher who would do it. This would be the first time, and I'll most likely have to be the DM. @enkryptor (at Intelligence vs ...
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How to make D&D easier for kids?
I have a 12-year-old brother who I noticed wanting to play RPG with his friends. I told him I would be okay to be the master and help them create the characters. I asked them for the weapon they ...
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How to properly foreshadow NPCs
I am new to DMing. I have done two sessions as of now (two one-shots).
The world is a homebrew of mine.
The idea is to make a one-shot and see if the players (3 friends) are interested in it, and ...
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Conjure Animals Control Range
I've got a question on the Conjure Animals spell. I was DM'ing a game, and a player used it. They summoned their creatures within 60' of themselves, and then directed them to attack the bad guys.
The ...
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My players think they found a loophole that gives them infinite poison and XP. How can I add the proper challenges to slow them down?
(I'm the game master.) The party (lvl. 4) reached a Kobold village. It has several dozen Kobolds, many of them pretty powerful. The players aren't supposed to kill everyone in it, but to solve the ...
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How to remind myself of important matters in the heat of running the game?
I want to improve my Game Master skills - so I analyze what went well during session, synthesize findings, formulate advice and even put reminders on my GM screen. Then when doing next session review ...
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How do you keep the horror spooky when your players are a bunch of goofballs?
I've been out of the Call of Cthulhu game for a while, because when I run games, my players are just constantly cracking jokes and derailing the game with references and wisecracks. We have fun, of ...
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How do I manage the Deck of Many Things?
I'm considering adding a Deck of Many Things to my campaign.
How would I balance this? Is there a way to stop it from upending my entire campaign? How do I keep the story on track?
How do I manage the ...
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How to provide opportunities for role playing in a single player campaign focused on travelling and wilderness survival?
I am preparing to run a single person campaign for a friend and I'm not quite sure how to provide them enough roleplaying opportunities, especially since a big part of the campaign will involve ...
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How to introduce a dangerous looking character to the rest of the party?
So, I am running a DnD campaign, and we have another player joining. Not really in the middle of the campaign, but the party already played a few sessions without him.
Now the problem is, that the new ...
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How to make a session that doesn't have combat, NPC's or dialog? [closed]
My group will be heading into a strange, alien wilderness that will have no NPC's, no dialog and no combat.
Without the back and forth or dialogue, meeting new characters, etc. I'm having trouble ...
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How do you physically handle aspects at a table to avoid slowing down play?
When running FATE at a physical table, I've run into the following problems:
PC aspects are on the players' character sheets, and therefore not visible to me (the GM) at a glance, so I don't remember ...
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How can I help my players resume mid-battle with the same energy?
We had an unexpected interruption mid-battle. I did a quick scramble to save our place, then I put everything away. It will be days until we can pick up again.
Usually, battles start in a way that ...
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