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There was a shocking number of people who wanted their DMs to provide food during a session. That’s ghastly. The DM is providing the whole ass world you play in for hours on end, players should feed each other AND the DM. C’mon, guys, some care & etiquette please.

When it comes to railroading/allowing to flounder fruitlessly, remember, only you as the DM knows where that clue was hidden. If the party is lost, you can absolutely make it look like the ever-important clue was in this one place the whole time and you didn't just change things in order to help them out.

I missed saying this on Twitter, but....session zero. That's kinda like the first point, but (just speaking for me) when you're a person that hasn't played in a fair few years or are just starting with a new group, session zeros for both group and player could be really good to have.

Me leaving letters on the study table for the players to find. Me mentioning the letters multiple times during investigations of the area. ... The players literally setting the building on fire and walking away without reading the letters.

Long before "safety tools" was a common thing (we're talking 90's ish) I had "....aaand Fade to Black." In Session Zero, I informed players that if ever they were uncomfortable with a scene they could end it immediately with "aaand Fade to Black." At that point everyone stopped immediately, no questions, and took a 15 minute break. If it wasn't obvious, I pulled them aside and we discussed, in as far as they were comfortable, what aspect upset them. Where initially I did this to better understand what to avoid in the future, it inadvertently worked as a check system as well (I had three a-hole players try to abuse this by "fading" RP cause they were bored and the attention wasn't on them.) Over the years my Session 0s and tools evolved (questionnaires and such) but I always kept "...aaand Fade to Black". And for those wondering why I keep writing it like that instead of just abbreviating FtB, I've tried it without the "...aaand". There's something about that sound that overpowers all dialog, breaks verisimilitude, draws everyone's attention to the player's distress, and sometimes adds just the right amount of levity to break the tension of a scene gracefully for everyone. It's been used many times over the years (fewer as I've gotten better at DMing) but I can't tell you how valuable having a simple, quick "Stop" button has been for my players.

Great video! Personal note on the “rule of three.” It’s also a perfectly valid strategy to pose your party with a problem that you haven’t worked out solutions for yourself. Don’t make it an impossible problem, but allow them to come up with ideas, plan, investigate, ask questions, and see how their plan comes to fruition. Discovering TOGETHER what will happen is one of my favorite things about d&d.

Clicked on this on accident, 22 seconds after release, but this is EXACTLY what I need rn, I’m doing my first game this week!

"Surprise! It's general data!" As a Data Reporting Analyst, I will definitely be using this. 😂

I think it's important to note that common requests are theming and guidance. There's so much rhetoric out there against railroading, which I get, but at the end of the day (at least for me), I'd much rather go through a slightly more linear adventure than an adventure that I feel like I'm floundering in.

A really cool things I've seen for inspiration is having the players nominate others for inspiration! So when someone at the table does something really creative or funny or inspiring, someone else can say "Hey DM, I think maybe they should have inspiration?" It allows players to celebrate each other and is still ultimately the DMs call, but saves them having to remember it all the time!

With regard to the "Guide us" feedback: I use NPCs as the gamekeepers in an Escape Room. No one WANTS to ask the person running the escape room for a hint, but if you're not having fun anymore you've got to. NPCs should be prepared to give obvious hints. I mostly get this from a brilliant player of mine who will frequently grab an NPC, point at the party's plan and ask "Is there anything obvious we're missing here?" 9 times out of 10 they get an "I don't know, seems good to me." but that one time was super useful. Another player does the even more helpful NPC interaction. "Hey, is this a good idea? Are we biting off more than we can chew? Should we NOT fight this guy?" I know a lot of people will call it metagaming, but I can always have the NPC be unhelpful if I think they don't need to ask.

On the note of missing players, what we're doing with my current group is that when a player is unable to attend I plan a oneshot in the same universe as the campaign itself in place of that week's session. This way we still get the week's worth of dnd and nobody misses out on the actual plot, a win-win! We still continue with the main campaign at certain times even if we're not full party, but the oneshots always remain a popular option. The party is small and very close knit so they understandably don't want to proceed with missing players.

:) A great way to combat the did-they-get-the-hint confusion is to let the players do a recap at the beginning, because then it's pretty obvious what they deemed important, what they understood and remembered to the next session. If the recap just flat leaves out the bread crumb you placed in a NPC interaction, chances are they didn't get it.

Regarding the rule of three. Being a world open to creativity it's very possible that players don't find any of the three solutions. This is why I let them succeed after the third or fourth idea that seems doable. Remember: game design doesn't end when when the session starts.

As a "career player", I always appreciate when my DM isn't stingy with plot info/secrets. On the point, I like a DM who is aware that the nuances they've thought up are not necessarily equally obvious to the players, so they don't mind reminding them of certain past details and encounters that help "crack the case". In other words, I prefer a DM who isn't overly mysterious and vague when communicating through their NPCs.

For anyone that is a manager at their job (or wants to be): translating these tips to what you do at work as well also helps. Of course you aren't going to be entering combat at work (usually) but managers can help make their employees' work matter to increase engagement and care. So many things a good DM does translates well to management competencies. Side note: Love the Neopets Paintbrush shirt.

One of the best campaigns my DM did was tell us before the game started that we were imprisoned. We could be criminals or wrongly accused, just had to be a prisoner. Then he started the campaign and we were shipwrecked from a prison ship, banding together out of necessity to survive in a strange new land. We all bonded pretty fast over our mutual desire to get back to where we came from.

That silence part i find interesting. as a DM, i feel best when i'm not speaking at all, or if anything, just saying what the reaction is to what the characters are doing. when you get your characters talking amongst each other for like 20 min straight with little to no input from you... to me that means you're doing it right.

Let characters earn up to 2 points of inspiration. They won’t feel like they’re “wasting” it if they have a back up. Worked for me at least.

If a clue is critical for the story to continue, just provide it. Make sure there are other clues that aren't important for the adventure to continue available but will help the players succeed. Example, the thieves' guild meets at the old warehouse as a given, but they have to learn that the guildmaster is a trap-o-holic, or that they have an ogre guard

Combat can easily matter more if you make the enemies feel more than just stat sticks to beat down. Assign bonus actions that happens on specific turn numbers. (on turn 3 after the archer has attacked, it cuts a rope and triggers a snare trap on one of the players reducing their movement to 0.) Make enemies with adaptive AC(see skeleton with armor, where it's AC goes down if the armor is destroyed ( armor hp based on numbers of attacks rather than a HP value.) Give enemies or allies that has benefit or detriment depending on where they stand in the map. (the sand golem with a slow speed of 20 turns to mud and starts to harden and loses 5 ft of movement each turn if it gets too close to the bonfires lit around the room)

an example for #4: one of the games I am watching on twitch, one of the Players has some real world conflicts that came up and can't make it to the table for a few weeks. The DM and her got together and worked out that they will have the party go forward in the campaign, but in the game world, her Character is being taken to court by her Grandfather in an attempt to take the Family Business back from her, which is why she is missing for the sessions.

Suggestion 1 is such a great rule. Its sounds like such a small thing, but the difference is night and day when your players have a built in reason to be together and a theme to work on. Gets buy in from everyone and gets everyone on the same page of what it is we are doing.

The "exist, lol" got me so hard that i started crying

On scheduling: The greatest gift I can get from a player is when they show everyone else their enthusiasm for the next game. 😁 Some book I read said the GM is in charge of scheduling the next game, against which I push back heavily. I think Ginny and I are in agreement on this that checking with your GM to ask if you can help scheduling (set up the Doodle, message people, get that group email going, etc) is a huge burden lifted off the GM’s shoulders. (I did have a player that would beeline for the door at the game’s conclusion, so I learned quickly to do housekeeping first before starting: “Before we start, get our your phones; when can I see y’all again?”…) Kinda like snacks. And hosting. Don’t make your GM obligated to do it all if they don’t necessarily want to. Maybe I’ll award an inspiration to the next player who nudges the scheduling thread or posts excitement about our next game. By the way, I can attest that Ginny’s inspiration video is 🔥. As for pacing, I do allow ten to twenty minutes for folks to kibitz, but use an index card intro with music, read by another player. Imagine a captain’s log, opening crawl, or journal entry to start the game and set the mood, awarding inspiration to someone volunteering to read and get us going.

That last one hit a little too close to home. That's a mantra I need to keep repeating when I'm dm-ing. Excellent video Ginny!

Carefully balancing player agency with driven story (sandbox and railroading) is definitely one of the best things a DM can work towards. You don't want the players to have no idea what they're supposed to do but you want them to feel like their choices actually matter. It's tricky at times, but well worth the effort

As a near forever DM I always look forward to these vids. I either learn something new to improve my skills and games or I get validation for the things I already do as a DM

Absolutely living for the general data moment, I fully cackled

My DM has been giving a lot of combat because some of our party just want to yada yada the social and exploration side. In lieu of story, I've been dropping my character's development through her actions in battle. She stated off as a feisty Tempest Cleric and after realizing the consequences of battle, she's matured and is seeking a more peaceful option where she can support others and deescalate confrontations. I talked to DM about switching to the Peace Domain and he had backstory stuff planned and it would totally make sense.

RE: unused Inspiration - our table uses "Card-ic Inspiration" (apologies if this is a well-known mechanic, I'm not sure where the DM got it!) that allows players to draw a card from a deck (ideally, a physical deck that does not get shuffled) and add that to any roll, once per session. It's a neat balance of limiting (by time - if I don't use this session's card, I don't get two uses next time or w/e) and unlimiting (I'll get another card next session whether I use this chance or not) that really encourages use. Prior to enacting Cardic Inspiration, our DM was really good about awarding inspiration, and suggesting the use of inspiration if players were dissatisfied with a roll - but even then the urge to just hang onto it tended to win over, and our inspiration would just sit unused. Cardic Inspiration means that basically all players end up using their cards, or at least considering using them, every session.

My last campaign I ran was called 'Adventure Circus' and they were part of a circus traveling Exandria. When that campaign finished the main feedback for the next one was they really enjoyed being part of something. So for our new campaign, even though I'm running a module, I created a drow archmage who recruited the PCs into a secret society to investigate and stop a wild magic storm they foresee is coming that's essentially the module's 'bad ending'. They get to have that feeling again of being part of something and have a bigger reason to engage in module events aside from 'because it's happening'.

0:37 I didn't know Data had made General. I would have thought he'd go for Admiral. Anyway, congrats to him!

A terrific list. But I think the last point -- LOTS of communication with your players, setting rules, expectations, and an open pipeline for further discussion before, during, and after game as needed -- is the most crucial one.

#9 i totally agree that self confidence is one of the most important things as a DM, i felt that i lack that recently and besides personal growth what really helped me is put our campaign aside and just play random One-shots together where i prepared nothing and we just talked what we wanna play today, they made characters while i thought about a basic story concept and then we played. This way i felt like nothing is at stake and i can just do what fells right at the moment :) In the end it was a super random story about some weird cult, nothing too special but it gave me a big part of my confidence back ;)

Aww man #1 made me cry a little. Honestly seeing how much fun my party has brings me so much joy and that makes everything worth it.

Amazing video, gonna send it to my players as a starting point for feedback! Interestingly, in the Exandria GM round table last night, the point of using session zero to get a direction for the campaign with the players came up. Brennan basically said that if you need to add rails, let the players build them, and that blew my mind! Tied in super well to the first point you made, I love it!

Your video's help me so much to stay motivated as a DM! Once in a while I ask all the players what their favorite moments are in either my campaign or in other campaigns as well, it really helps paint a picture of the exact things my players like to do!! That helps me personally to make the world around them a bit based on what they have liked so far!

I like to have 5-10 minute feedback times after each session, just to get over any comments, critics or concerns. I find it really helps improve my D&D sessions, and lets the players work through any complaints they might have. (Note, my whole group is a bunch of forever DM's, so we all really know what were doing when it comes to roleplay and combat, which is both good and bad, like when two of them soloed a CR13 monster at level 6

Makes me happy that my DM basically checks all these boxes I really appreciate him!

So many great reminders for us DMs! And thank you for the shout out, Ginny Di. You rock! :) - Paddy, Penny Dragon Games.

That first point is what should be done in a session zero. Be open about the campaign...the baddy, the theme, the reasons that the pcs are together and are doing the thing. This is a huge part of how people start a Burning Wheel game.

My rule with combat in D&D is the same rule as songs in musical theatre - it has to be there to move forward either the plot or a character, not slamming on the brakes to have everyone stop to do a thing.

It sounds like, for the most part, players wish their DMs watched Ginny! That said, I'm so proud of this community for making "be kind to yourself" #1

I have a pre-session 0 meetup where I give details about the setting (as non-spoilery as possible) and have the players work out a common backstory or reason to be together. The result is I can drop them into a more captivating intro sequence without the "meet in a tavern" trope.

#7- Use terrain to add elements to aid both PC and villian, height or hazards. Add odd things to the terrain, to see what or if the PCs use them. Be prepared to wing it.

On the inspiration/guide stuff. I gave coins for inspiration to my players to re roll any die roll as well as have a table coin that could be used once per game for anyone to use and could make Me(dm) reroll a d20. Out on the table with a provided die. For birthdays I would give my players a 1d4 Motes of Intuition/Wish. Where they could at any ask me a question about their quest or ask to do or have something that they may have not been possible. And depending on what was asked I would provide info they would need if it was being forgotten, misunderstood or ignored. As well as gage if what they wanted would be to much/powerful for them to have. To keep it a little balanced

Yes to safety tools! I've listened to enough Crispy's Tavern and my own personal experience to know this is essential. Nothing more uncomfortable than a really icky situation that alters the mood.

I start a new campaign this week for a group where we've been playing together for 2+ years, but my first time DMing for them (I've been DMing with other groups for over a year). I'm glad to say most of this is stuff I've learned through getting feedback in previous DM experience, but still, a good reminder. I think the toughest part is balancing between giving enough guidance to move the story vs. railroading. I think the best advice I've learned (from running Princes of the Apocalypse, which... oof, yeah, PCs need help in that sandbox), is don't be afraid to give players enough breadcrumbs to give players guidance, but always leave them options. And even if they choose something that was wasn't according to the module or your DM plan, do your best to allow it, so you don't take away player agency. Sometimes that means, "Hey, you can go there, but I haven't prepped that so there's not really a map or it may go slower because I'll be catching up on the module as we're running it. As long as we're good with that, let's go." (In my experience most of the time players still want to go, but they at least know what to expect and they are very forgiving of things we beat ourselves up for as DMs.) There will be times you have to say no. "No, it hasn't been 24 hours and you're in the middle of an enemy dungeon. You can't benefit from a long rest and if you stay idle for 8 hours, expect heavy resistance when you open the door." "No, you can't persuade the merchant to give their inventory away for free, even with a Nat 20 persuasion." "No, we can't f*** off from this module and play something else because you, Person A is bored with your character build. Let's just rework your character or find an epic way for them to die and roll up a new one." But most of the time you can say, "Okay, so you know the Ogre has the noble's family in the hills, there's an adult dragon who has been attacking settlements a week away at a rate of one settlement per every 3 days, and in town there have been a series of unsolved murders... what do you want to do?" While you may expect your PCs to choose the immediate and close options, if they say, "DRAGON!" let them go after that darn dragon.

Ah man that last one hit a bit too close to home. I started DMing for what was one group that eventually changed to another group due to scheduling issues. After that I started running a campaign I was extremely excited for, Storm King's Thunder. I was excited to run my very first "real" and grand campaign (I ran LMoP before this). However I put a lot of stress on myself to basically create a ton of content for my players in the ten-towns that I needed to also be in line with the official forgotten realms content(Of which there was none at this time). This made every hour of session prep a big chore and I burned myself out. With some very minor exceptions (as in I ran two one shots over the course of like 2 years and an attempt at a campaign that lasted 1 session) I never really got back into it. For the DMs, be kind to yourself. Don't be afraid to stray away from the "written plot" if using a book or some elaborate planning you did yourself. Recently I've started prepping again, now for what is supposed to a short arc in a campaign that I will be able to pick up at a later date. Take it easy, not every session needs to be your magnum opus. The player's are there to have fun and so are you, take it easy and relax a bit.

I had some players leave back in March/April due to scheduling changes in their lives and it got really hard to keep going as a dm. The burnout was real. Decided to take June off to rest my head and work on some larger world building things. I cannot recommend enough, scheduling yourself a break period if you need it. I’m actually chomping at the bit to get back to the table in a couple weeks (we play every other Friday).

Number 1 is huge! It is admittedly something I struggle with as well, but I've had a couple players go out of their way to express gratitude for the work I've put in to the game. And it helped me realize that even when unspoken, it's still true. So I can promise, if you're putting in a real good faith effort into the game, the vast majority of players will be grateful

On themes, one of the campaigns I'm in started with all the player characters as prisoners where we became a sort of suicide squad. The guide us section did remind me of a session in our previous campaign where us players spent several minutes trying to find a way to reach the second story balcony using magic or something until our DM reminded us that we have rope. 😂

Thank you so much for this Ginny! That #1 tip really hits home for me. I am both a player and a DM and I can definitely be self critical in both aspects. It’s hard for me to just enjoy the big heist or persuading an NPC sometimes because I get so caught up in my head. This makes me realize that I’m not the only one who is negatively affected by this. It is everyone. This was a great video :) keep it up

A nice safety tool is the ability to ask for lines and veils mid gane. I.e. a hand signal... or other clear sign when a scene needs a veil.

A device I learnt from Heart: the City Beneath - form with each player a list of story beats they want to weave into the campaign that together establish a personal story ark (Thief: steal a valuable item; silence a witness; return the stolen item; etc), then have them mark for the next session 1-2 out of the list. Splendid way to have something to bite from when you need to prepare a plot for the upcoming session.

Point 3: I tried something and work really well: At the begining, all party members met because they were part of the same adventurer's guild. They take misions pre-generated by me so they had some visible paths to follow, 2 or 3 options usually so they can choose, and they were short adventures of 2 or 3 sessions with his own little story. When they got integrated in the world, when they know more about the setting, i gave them some excuses to leave and let them take his own path and follow their own objetives away from the guild.

Let's talk about feedback for a sec. I personally love 'Stars and Wishes' and end up doing it after every session for a new game and then settling into once every two or three sessions after things get acclimated. It is a great way to give and receive feedback and doing it regularly de-stigmatizes the 'feedback is always bad' anxiety a lot of people have.

The thing about railroading is that a lot of players are there to figure out the grand quest laid before them by the dm. what the dm prepares is the challenge, what the dm has to pull out of his butt for chaotic players is fun and a huge part of the game, but railroading isn't implicitly bad as long as the players have the agency to get off the tracks if they want to

Things I wish my DM did: ask for feedback And I mean ask specific fucking questions when pulling feedback, in a one on one setting at a convenient time. Make it via text or email if you have to. Asking the whole table 'anybody have some feedback?' at 10pm at the end of a session when everyone wants to go home and sleep isn't going to get you anything useful. So why did you bother asking? Ask specific questions: "do you have any thoughts about that big combat we ran?" "Do you have any future multiclassing plans?" "What character options or spells are you planning to pick up on your next level up?" "Was there anything you thought was lacking about that shop you visited?" "Do you think Jeff talks too much?" That sort of thing.

Just a note about number two- dms, please remember that not all players want their back stories to be engaged with, or not all parts to come up in the game. It's a pain to get asked for the fifth time to have *More* backstory when I'm just like "dude I just wanna be a war vet and I don't want literally anything else to matter to the story at all". Or worse when a throwaway line about a friendly baker is now the campaign villain and I'm wondering why out of all the stuff I put into the backstory, the one I didn't care about is now super important

Good tips Sometimes it’s hard to do all these things but you have to try. Remember have fun too!

This is such a Great companion/complement video to the "game masters of exandria” on Cirtial Role. talking about all things DM… Matt Mercer Aabria Iyengar and Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan makes some great point about the conflict with what players want in meta sense and what characters want … he says breaks down what some people really mean when they say they don’t want to be railroading… he also reframes the idea of “railroading” in a great way (to make it necessary and good in that context but I leave it to him… Ps love your Jester CR cameo … hope to see you play with them in the future!

How I do it? Session zero: Lay out expectations for: combat, role play, how much backstory is to be used, topic content/rating etc. Then I ask what they expect: topics to avoid, combat difficulty, hints when stuck, plot direction, etc. Then after every session I ask each player individually what did you like; what did you not like; what do you wish was happening instead? This goes a long way for determining what a player wants to have happen because the experience is fresh and now I can plan next session with this information in mind. It requires open and honest communication from everyone involved. It’s my number 1 priority: making my players feel welcome. Another huge tip is to allow some meta gaming as DM provided information. e.g. A player wants to know if they could get down a 70 foot cliff with 50 feet of rope. Just tell them that it would take 10 feet of rope to secure it and then 30 feet of fall damage. Roll damage to show the player what would happen if they did that before they commit to doing it. Especially for new players, expose some of the gears of the game so they understand and can find more enjoyment.

Excellent, as always. We just started my first campaign in my own world. I've been thinking that spending two sessions setting up the theme and events, so then my players can decide what they want to do about it, was maybe too much, but I think maybe it will be ok. From your comments, I think spending two sessions (with some meaningful combat that furthered the story) laying out the guidelines for what's happening in the world, and giving them a reason to be where they are, will help them have a better foundation for making decisions going forward. Thanks for helping me feel more confident in my approach as a first-time DM.

Might show this to my DM, he definitely needs to hear that last one! (The be kind to yourself bit, not the take a shower bit) Nice shirt, btw.

The last note about communicating with your players because every table is different is exactly why I have my players take a survey every so often. That way I can make sure I'm providing a game that not only balances what their character is looking for in game, but also what the player is wanting out of the game. Between that and a clear session zero, I think it's helped.

Been playing for five years and my DM has never given us inspiration. Someday, I hope. I want to see it. However, I did learn that my DM actually changed a roll once behind the screen because he thought it would lead to a lot of pain for me, or between me and another player. The other player told me, but thought that this was shameful. I was actually incredibly relieved to hear it. It was something I had spoken to my therapist about, how I wasn't sure if I could ask for this in the game. I'm glad it naturally happened.

Just a perfect video to get before I run tonight, thanks Ginny!

The schedule and self-confidence ones got to me as a person with ADD. My excuse is... It's hard... But, I'll try. Also, I need to tell on myself, I find Ginny so adorable that hearing her curse makes me giggle internally every time and it always sticks out to me. Trying not to say this in a bad way (like"she should not curse" or something stupid like it), it only makes me giggle.

Oh my God It took me a while but only recently where I started playing with a new DM that I see how AAAAWESOME it is to play with a DM who plans things with me the player, I can truly feel that I am part of the world building and that our choices in the game matter a lot. Best of all things, the DM seems to be having as much fun as we are!!!!

Ginny, I’m always blown away by how helpful, insightful, and digestible your videos are! Thank you so much for creating this content!

Instead of inspiration, I use Good Boy/Bad Boy cards. The Good Boy cards are given on Nat 20s or when a player does something in character that is really good, or does something creative that makes me laugh. They can be used at any time, and let them re-roll, automatically pass saves or get something from the Gods. While the Bad Boy cards are given to me when the role Nat 1s or I've done something that they've enjoyed and let me do stuff like have their weapons or spells not hit or have them fumble at something

Rule of 3 is a great bookmark for DMs to bear in mind as it is easy to make the collaborative storytelling experience too linear ❤

I have a game coming up in a couple days, after two months away from the table. Thanks for this. It was really helpful.

Roleplay doesn't have to stop at the table. Back in the day we used what was then called 'blue booking' (I think originally from Champions RPG). But with things like Discord servers, consider a "Campfire" channel (or emails) where, between sessions, players can chat in character during between session long rests or between adventure downtime. Also, the GM can set a scene with two PCs which might normally not have much in common to share a table and chat between session before the rest of the party arrives...maybe in a private Discord channel. It's like living in the Future!

Oh...if only my group would do more roleplay. Give them lots of opportunities, hints, bringing in backstories, triggers to multiple characters' personalities/loved ones/deities/back stories, had multiple "breakout sessions" where we discussed the topic and game as a whole. Still sooo hard to get any PC-to-PC RP and PC-NPC RP is minimal at best. I think most suffer from having DMs before me that did more rollplay than roleplay. So, we go on anyway. I try to make things as interesting as possible...mix up the things going on - dungeon crawls, wilderness exploration, road trips, bounty/treasure hunting, mysteries (didn't go over well), horror (totally lost on all but one player), puzzles & riddles (uh...won't do that again with these folks), urban-centric factions/guilds, wars, staged big bads, rescuing the "princess", cult activities, running from law, kidnappings, explore ancient artifacts left over from pre-history of the world, and more. I even set it up so that the party had 10 adventure hook opportunities to choose from in one city - and they knew they were there. But, they chose option 11 - let's hire onto another caravan and guard it as it goes to different cities and we'll see what happens. Almost makes me want to just can the group sometimes. But, I know I can figure them out...they keep saying they are having a good time. I don't know how, but it goes on.

My girlfriend is great about communicating with me, and I'm always open to plot details, and focusing a session more on roleplay, or on mechanical combat. Your point about collaborating is right on; I've actually been DMing *and* playing a character in one campaign, which is difficult, but investing.

Thanks Ginny! The way you are presenting these videos is clear and concise. When you refer to your other work is really helpful to me, it feels like a book refering to chapters. You've really helped me and my games across many systems.

Only thing I can add is if your players do start telling you things, please actually listen and remember what they are saying

Combat balancing is definitely a tightrope walk. And with tons of party compositions, with all kinds of strengths and weaknesses, it's something that one gains over time with a particular party. Plus it is important to not counter strengths too well; nothing feels worse as a player than a monster that is just anti-your character and makes you useless. And to point number three, one thing I try and bear in mind is the character often has better perspective on clues than players. If they're pursuing a mystery, for example, and find clue one in session five and clue two in session six, just by virtue of real world time passing players may not know how to connect them. But the character, who found them an hour apart, has all that fresh in their mind. In this sort of case I prompt the player by asking if they want to make an intelligence/whatever skill is relevant check. They're free to decline, but it is an opportunity to give just that one nudge in a way that can feel diegetic.

In an ideal world everyone would have hair as cool as yours. Seriously, what a great shade and it is so vibrant. If you did a video on how you get your hair such vibrant shades my daughter would be SO happy! I am on the wrong side of time, and have to shave my head, but I still appreciate a great shade of green.

Great video! I really like how the advice given here ties back to multiple other topics you've covered - allowing people to drill down and find more specific information on the things they might struggle with/be most interested in.

Something I think would be fun and if I ever DM I would try to eventually put this into my campaign if I was in this situation. If 2 characters don’t get along I would set up some scenario where they have to work together maybe the rest of the party is taking away by the enemy or something. Of course the ppl who were taken away would still have their own things to try to get out of the situation. Maybe have the characters who don’t get along both be taken away and they gotta work together to get out of there. Maybe they are in a weird part of the world where somehow the party gets split up. Either that or I would try to find something that I could have the characters relate to. For example in one campaign one character could talk to ghost and I was hoping the DM would eventually have that character get a message from my character’s dead family or something. That would help them bond. Those two weren’t getting along

Another superb video. You’re the best! So concise, considerate, and insightful. And the shower comment 🤣

I love that last point about DMs trusting themselves. I'm going to send this video to mine and tell him to especially pay attention to that point

She said she got us general data, but data is a lieutenant

Your number 3 is actually 2 separate issues. Being "sandboxed" where the players "make the fun" might be fine for some players, but many want a structured scenario where things happen in a somewhat linear fashion. That is not railroading. Railroading in when the players are forced to play the adventure the GMs way, and have no other options. If they come across a group of monsters, they have to fight them, for instance. There is no attempting to parley or sneak past them because the GM doesn't want or can't deal with that happening. A module where the players have to solve a mystery before moving on to the next element of the story is not railroading. They can solve that mystery however they want, though violence, social encounters, or investigation.

The rule of three is especially good if it's some sort of important lore clue, maybe even more than three. If the same mysterious rune that none of them can read appears three or more times in the abandoned shack that they can see, they're going to note the importance of the rune and look for things relevant to it rather than think it's just a decoration.

#2 was super validating. I really needed that. I'm often afraid that I leave too much space for RP and don't push the group into "gameplay" (i.e. skill checks and combat) enough. I've never gotten any negative feedback about the pace of the particular game in question where this has been bugging me, but I'm happy to know that there's a chance they genuinely appreciate it.

Rule of 3: my players were supposed to go to a Marquis’ castle to pretend to be legal council for an NPC they needed items and information from (and was a long lost, god blood related sister of one of the characters). They did not use the front gate…nor climb over the walls…they dove beneath the waves to look for a secret underwater door. I had to give it to them. Funny enough, they did not have half the information they needed for the dungeon they stumbled into, but it led to some great RP, some puzzle solving, and one totally badass move by the Monk to end combat in one round (since the Bardbarian had taken down a Black Dragon almost single handed a few sessions earlier). I can definitely see how I can use some of these

Oh a good thing to look up for safety tool is RPG consent forms and have your players fill one out before hand to get an idea of what they are/aren't comfortable with before you plan your campaign which makes avoiding that discomfort that much easier. The other trick I always plan for players getting stuck let's say on a puzzle and the hints aren't obvious enough then doing simple skill checks is a way to disguise more obvious clues. If they don't think to, tell your players to make a history check and go EG "You just remembered that was famous for riding a griffon." It can be easy to forget that our characters have knowledge and skills we might not know they know and the skill checks can be an easy way to access that.

Great tips as always! Especially the rule of 3. I used a tip from a previous video to solve the "when should we start playing" problem in scheduling. I let everyone settle in, then give 1 in-character question for them to think on and one "lore-bomb" or local rumour. Then they can think it over while setting up and chatting before diving in. Thanks Ginny!

To this day, years after thr campaign ended my most cherished example of a dm using backstory was for my Ifrit Occultist in pathfinder 1e. He used almost every aspect of my backstory from majorly featuring my elven rival to making a dungeon full of constructs knowing my caster had a crippling fear of them. Its so rewarding when a dm leans into the character you present them.

What I sometimes do, is once in a while I let my players fill in a feedback survey, which only has 3 questions: What did you like? What did you dislike? What would you want to see more of? It gives GREAT insights!

As a new player, I want feedback in case I’m meta gaming too much or not playing well with what the DM planned for the story. And of course session zero, I have ideas on character personalities so I’ll want pointers from the DM on that

This speaks to my group on a truly deep level. We recently had this whole discussion ourselves at the table after alot of problems with our DM. Now our table is much happier. Amazing video Ginny, thanks.

Not only do I love your discussions and videos, but your sponsor plug-ins are the absolute best, I never skip them. Just something that needs to be appreciated and I felt you should know

Please just set up movie moments pleeeease Give me the cowboy with magic missile stand-off with my sorcerer Give me opportunities to make moments like General Iroh's "Did I ever tell you why they call me the Dragon of the West?" Monolog And dont just "pepper it in" there. Lay it on thick like mayo on a turkey sandwich. I am okay with being a little predictable or cheesy if its has a really cool payoff