This channel has probably the wholesomest RPG content on KZfaq. This elder Millennial and seasoned GM thanks you ❤️

Serious request: Please make a video addressed to players about being better players in the group (to maximize fun for everybody like note taking, rule of cool etc) and also how they can support their DM. Please please please, I would love this advice video link to be part of my session 0's going forward.

As a new DM (one session so far), I must admit that I love the timing of your recent DM-focused content!

The point about DM not taking responsibility for drama between players is so helpful. When I was DMing I just straight up ignored the drama and it always worked itself out. I don’t think stepping in would have helped at all

I love you guys! I’ve been playing dnd for 10 years now and have been watching your channel for 9 of those 10. At first, watching your videos was purely for gaining knowledge of the game of dnd. Now, I admit that I truly admire you both as people and love seeing you guys here on my phone (lol), and even more so I appreciate your overall composure and genuine kindness/support for people & the dnd community. Much love to you both!

Fun & Farts & Lollipops sounds like an indie TTRPG system or a really bizarre homebrew setting/campaign. Either way, I want to play.

One other thing, be forgiving to yourself. Starting out as a new DM is gonna be a big experience, there are things you will get wrong, misunderstand, and forget but don't worry about it. You'll learn from it and much of the game aspects will become background noise and allow you to focus more on story stuff. Also, know that whether you are a new DM or one with years and years under your belt, you're gonna have bad days. The story took a surprising turn you had difficulty adapting to, the tone never set correctly, the pacing was off and people were bored, or the players have their own personal stuff to deal with and are distracted and distracting at the table. It's fine, you aren't a bad DM, these thing happen occasionally, move on and learn from anything that you have control over.

I am two sessions short of finishing my first campaign, it’s been running for the past two and a half years. There have been a lot of ups and downs and lessons learned as a GM. I’ve had to ask players to respectfully leave the table and have made players out of people I never thought would enjoy the hobby. Learning to run the game is one of the biggest and most unexpected life lessons I have under taken as a young adult. 10/10 go run that one shot and get your feet wet behind the screen 👾

Great points guys, showing this to my DM. Thanks dungeon dudes!

Hi guys, your 'Monsters of Drakkenheim' ad came up on KZfaq last night. What a great ad! Great music, action packed images. Love your work, been watching for years now. Thanks for your help in my gaming.

I will say that I put in tons of work and tons of prep into my game. I used to struggle but eventually found a rhythm, and, most importantly, I found passion in working on what I was working on. Previously, I was running modules and struggling. Then, I found a different way to play and prep that works better for me. My recommendation regarding the workload of being a DM is to do something you are passionate about. The prepping will happen naturally, and it won't feel like 'work'.

DMs can't control everything, however taking full responsibility is simply a better mindset. This means, you are also (partially) responsible for player's bad behaviors, because 1) YOU invited them in the first place and 2) It's up to you guide them in the right direction. It's not taking charge of everything. It's LEADING everything (and leading is done in cooperation). Ultimately, to make things work is exactly the role of the DM.

The best way my players thank me is by highlighting how cool another player's character moment was! It feels great to know everyone enjoyed a spot where I helped someone shine 😊

Hate to go off topic, but there is an anime based on D&D on Netflix called Delicious in Dungeon. About adventurers out to save a fellow adventurer, but because their resources are crippling low, they are forced to eat monsters they kill. So it's like a D&D cooking show. I have any of you ever had an idea of a Class like an arcane cook who can cook monsters for special potion like effects and other unique effects?

Good stuff! This is my advice for new DMs. 1) Have a session 0. Find out what kind of game you and your players want to play. Then make it happen. 2) Don't expect the players to care about your Lore. If they ask questions, then elaborate on it, but don't monolog. 3) Plan 1 session at a time, let the players dictate the story. You can have an over arcing story laid out, but be prepared to change your plans. Nothing will stop your players from coming back faster than taking away their agency and limiting their choices. 4) Keep encounters fresh. Use different monsters, add environmental effects, throw in a timer or a puzzle. Some players don't care about a story, they want to play a Game. Making good encounters will keep them coming back. 5) This isn't critical role. What I mean by this is don't expect too much from your players and temper their expectations of you. DnD is a board game to play with your friends. Laugh, make jokes, eat snacks, your not on a TV show, this is real Life. You don't need to do voices, you don't have to have actor level performances or production quality mintures and battle maps. Do what's fun for you and your friends. The second it starts feeling like work or too much pressure, take a break. No DnD is better than bad DnD.

Just started a new CoS campaign with a bunch of new players. I introduced a throw-away exposition NPC to give the PCs a mission, and send them on their way. This minor character was created on the spot, and I had no back story or intent prepared. But because of PC's interactions with each other, questions and observations of the environment(s), and their "unique" interpretations of what I described, my throw-away NPC might actually become the big bad.

Unbreakable table rule with our group ... whoever is the DM will have dinner, snacks, drinks provided. DM might be expected to kick down money if we do take out. But DM is 100% off the hook for dealing with any of food/drink logistics. Over the last 5 years, our group has developed to have 3 DMs running separate campaigns. It is one of the best things that could have happened to our group. It gives the "forever DM" a break, and now that a couple others have gotten a good look at what goes on behind the DM screen for game prep -- they are way better players in terms of have characters updated, campaign notes, knowing their powers, and helping to organize other logistics of the game. Great Channel!

My friends/players will tell you, I have never prepared anything for a session. It’s entirely off the cuff improve based on what logically should be in an area. This is mainly due to our schedules not aligning well, so sessions are not planned regularly but occur when we are hanging out and someone says “let’s play D&D”

Awesome video. I've been a forever DM for almost 10 years and last year 2 of my newest players (whom I introduced to D&D in 2020) started DMing in our table. It's being a great experience and they both realized all the effort that I put as a DM in a campaign.

18:45 I love trying to take as much off of the DM as possible, bringing snacks, scheduling, note taking , encouraging roleplay, cleaning up afterwards.

There is a time for countering abilities, and that time is when they've used those abilities against minions of the BBEG, and one finally survived to tell the boss about them. And then, you only counter the ones that they used while that minion was in the battle. (And also, don't counter them in the final battle. Counter them in the battle against the third to last boss, the mastermind type minion. And when that fails, the battlefield commander/general/bodyguard laughs, calls him useless, and opts for a more direct approach. It's a classic setup that genre savvy players might catch onto... but it also works. You get them using their other class features that they don't touch that often, and then the fights where they get to go all out.

The biggest misconception that I've seen is other DMs telling me "That's not the CORRECT way to play D&D" or "You're doing it wrong!". Remember that every table is different and as long as your players are having fun (they are at my table), then that's all that matters. 🙂

Never played D&D before but found myself DMing a few months ago-and for work no less! Don't stress out about the task, don't think you need a fully fleshed world. Build it as you go and take notes about the random NPCs you generate on the fly. Then populate the world with them, or beings with ties to them.

I am that DM that is responsible for everyone's stuff. Currently they are new, this is their first campaign, and I've actively volunteered to do this. After this first campaign, though, they're on their own lol

You guys are so kind and welcoming. I've been watching your content since before I was actually able to play in a campaign, and I truly appreciate you and your content.

So I play virtually only. In one of my games it’s really nice because 1 person does the weekly recaps, I do the party loot inventory. We all participate and engage with each other. We share our knowledge and know how - and it’s really fantastic. Such a great group.

I dmed like three times in my dnd career. First time I was nervous as heck I even got a little frustrated with my characters at one point and yelled a little. Second time I dmed I got through the entire campaign with a few hiccups. Third time I dmed I killed one of my players with a magic missle death room, and another two with a book of fireballs trap. They got revenge by Shoving an immovable rod into a dragon's mouth, pinning it place while it was stuck in a walkway and another killed Vecna with a double wish spell. Dming is not easy but after three times I feel confident in saying it can be a lot of fun.

If you have a rules lawyer at your table, check they are right - if so, use them, they are a resource who can mean you don't have to know all the rules ... If there are 3 PC's and a DM at the table there are 4 players, all should be enjoying the game, and it's everyone's job to make sure everyone does

I am eternal, I am all knowing, sleep means nothing to me, only the gratification of my players gives me sustenance

I really love how you are making videos that encourage dungeon masters to ask for help from their players. There are a lot of excellent videos that help you become a better DM, but altogether it can also add some mental pressure on how great you have to be all the time. I find this video and previous ones a very healthy counterpart that helps rebalance the dynamic between DM and players. In our group luckily one player does most of the notetaking and planning sessions and one often bring snacks. My group isn't perfect, but I have found that when you ask and have reasonable players you can lower the pressure for yourself. I also love the acknowledgement of how sometimes DM can feel thankless. I have gathered all my courage and gave as feedback to my players that it was hard to see if they were having fun, because after a session they kind of packed their stuff and went without saying anything about the session. Now they make the conscious effort to thank me more. I think it is good practice in groups to thank your dungeon master for hosting the game and the host for hosting.

One thing i think a lot of DMs forget is that theyre there to have fun too and they end up not doing because of the amount of pressure theyre putting on themselves, ive definitely been guilty of it

When I DM and host, I give out inspiration tokens for who brings snacks, helps set up, and does clean up. After a few sessions, you have all your players helping with everything, wanting to get a token for the game. They'd probably help anyway, but it makes it more fun.

As someone who is DMing there first session tomorrow this was a great video to show up in my subscription feed today. Thank you guys for the amazing videos!

Hey dungeon dudes, As a person that has been playing dungeons & dragons for a very long time (much longer than either of you) I have to say that it is an absolute joy to listen to your takes on being a player and dungeon master and just good ttrpg gaming in general. I have made many of the mistakes That you have mentioned here and many more. I have gone through phases of being a toxic player and toxic dungeon master When I was new to the game, and my experiences have been many and varied over the years. Many of your tips and ways of building a good game I have learned on my own over the years, yet, I still always find new and insightful thoughts about gaming in your videos. Your advice is always so genuine and always from a good place. Please continue your wonderful videos. Cheers!!

Dudes! We did The Thing too! It was so much fun.

As a relatively new DM running a party of veteran DMs through the adventures in Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel this was helpful advice, thanks guys!

An elder GenX player and DM, I took a couple decade break from D&D, and came back to 5e a couple years ago. I had an idea for an adventure and developed it and proposed running it for our group. The DM was probably the happiest, because he got a chance to play for a change. We now alternate months running, my adventure turned into a campaign (half by design). Giving your DM a break and a chance to play, especially if they've been the forever DM, is probably one of the best things you can do for them. Love this video, keep on keepin' on, 'Dudes!

I've never had a lot prepared. Improvisation is the name of the game.

As a DM who has generally very positive player feedback I have never read very much of the PHB. Ive dabbled, but what I did more is listen to Dungeon Dudes class/how to play guides and actual play games. This does much more in my opinion to tell you how the game ACTUALLY plays out at the table and has the side benefit of not being boring as watching paint dry. I have a very good grasp of the overall rules simply by listening to D&D channels in the background and looking up rulings as I need them

Our party got to do The Thing also! Intellect Devourers were taking over key people in a town, and we didn’t know who was compromised, including our friends and us!

For me one of the larger misconceptions I have experienced as a DM is that I am supposed to know all of the PCs abilities and spells to be a reference sheet for my players. If players are brand new to d&d or learning a class they have never played before, I walk them through the sheet and help them make necessary notes. But I have had to make a point that “this is your character and therefore is your responsibility” because a player refused to learn how their character worked or take notes on what their abilities do.

Some very useful & timely advice guys - well done! And imo the Players should bring snacks!! :)

I enjoy DMing for my kids (7 and 9), but some of the most fun I've had has been our new weekly(ish) sessions where we take turns DMing. Each week, one of us DMs, and the others play PCs, as part of an ongoing adventure. It's been a lot of fun, but also gets the kids to work together at all being involved in the overall story arc that develops with each week. It also lets us all practise our DMing skills together, and build a cohesive style of gameplay that is enjoyable for all of us. I could go on and on about what a good idea it is, and I think every gaming group should give it a go, but this comment is long enough already.

As a player I always try and thank my Dungeon Master for the session! As the guy behind the screen I have trouble remembering that it's not my fault if everyone doesn't have a good time...

I'm in the thick of my first campaign ever as a DM (played 6 sessions as a player ever prior to that) for a party of 5 all new players. Your content is so excellent to help the whole process. The only thing I'd add is to try and be specific on your likes and dislikes about your DM. My party is so awesome about being very thankful and supportive to me taking on the mantle of DM it's hard to wade through their intentional positivity and support to figure out what I'm doing well and where to improve. I'm running Phandelver into a homebrew that I built out in the Forgotten Realms setting attached to Phandelver. Currently Droop idolizes a water genasi in the party who saved him by covering himself with blue body paint and keeps finding magic items in old graves in the Neverwinter Wood and calls himself Droop, King of Jungle. He keeps finding relic-level items and my party only vaguely understands how strong they are and that although they adore him he still has the possibility of accidentally becoming the BBEG in the end.

I often feel that the use of terms like "my players" can unconsciously play into some of these issues because it can feels a little proprietary. It sounds similar to "my workers" or "my customers". I'm not sure what the better replacement is but I'm trying out "the player characters at our table". Because even saying "at my table" does (imo) sort of imply a lot of the responsibility and power that was mentioned.

As a forever DM who loves it, whenever I get the chance to play I am the most thankful and assistive player. I'll track initiative, I'll move the minis, I can be the rules lawyer when clarification is asked for. Players should be more responsible at the table it can really help game flow.

Thank you guys for what you do, I feel so close to the way you play and speak about DnD, it's like you read my soul and find the right words to explain how I feel about every aspect of the game. Thank you, because you've ignited back these old ashes of a DM who has played since 1984 and was loosing part of his passion. I am now back at the table, loving the game more than ever! ❤

This video is fantastic for managing expectations, which people definitely need.

Good advice dudes. I particularly like the part about the DM not being responsible to manage any social issues the players may have. Too often people expect the DM to be, as you said, a therapist and deal with social anxiety and other possibly serious issues among the players. That's simply not realistic, nor should it be the responsibility of a friend or acquaintance who already has quite a bit on their plate managing the game.

Thank y'all for this, I am a DM trying to get more to do it from time to time so I can play characters and this should help encourage them to.

I am in my first D&D campaign, and this video highlights many points and makes me appreciate how good our group is.

I’m one of the note takers in our Avernus game. Started with writing them as small stories then just went bullet points because of time and ease of reading. First time taking on that job as a player. We as a group thank our DM before we all disconnect from the voice call along with just wholesome messages afterwards too. Just lucky to have a online group run for two years. Nerds all over the world.

Just began my second campaign, and this really hit home in so many ways. One huge one, was a player posting a thank you on Facebook to acknowledge all the things I was doing. I almost got a bit weepy, because I had been second guessing myself for no reason.

The only thing that changes this a little bit is when you have a DM for Hire. Then, many of these things are literally their job. :) We have one, who is also a friend, and it's an amazing experience.

I have a relationship with my group where I host (my wife and I love hospitality), and I do this since our DM is a lifetime friend and puts his all into the campaign. We also make a bit more money than the other players, so we provide the main course and condiments for a meal, ask others to bring sides, make a meal of it and slowly segue into the adventure after talking about our workday and BS a bit while a bad/good 80s fantasy flick plays in the background. It’s been fantastic and the assumption made up front is that you can trust the DM to be fair, so when we get new players we “audition” them for a session and if some of these issues come up we don’t invite them back. We’ve only had to do this once for a “lone wolf/Batman type” that went as far as refusing to tell the DM his AC and stats, just telling him repeatedly “ don’t worry about, just roll and I’ll tell you if you hit so you can’t use this against me”.

Some very interesting points. Thank you for bringing that up.

For anyone that has never DMd before, every singly thing Monty and Kelly say is spot on.

To borrow a phrase, I like to do 'semi-homemade' adventures most of the time: taking one or more published modules, tweaking various aspects to better suit the players or a connecting narrative I'm working on stringing them together with, then reacting and adjusting to the 'finishing touches' the players add or change the story with. In the end, we generally end up with something decidedly unique, even if one might be able to see the scaffolding of the original modules/adventures underneath.

Great advice. Thanks!

I enjoy being DM more than I do being a player, though that is fun as well. I like the preparation for a game, building the world and designing encounters. I also love collecting and painting the minis and terrain. Though I have, over time, become much better at preparing only what I need to, there is no doubt in my mind, having experienced both sides of the DM screen, that the work the DM puts into the game is many times the work the players put in.

As a new player being thrust into the DM Role I've been finding your videos very valuable. Until I did more research and chatted up some previous DMs my experience in media with DMs ranged from Dexter being a petty control freak to Abed doing some extreme role playing...and while I love those episodes it made DMing look like a thing for people with either a God Complex or an inflexibility to work within the world they made. It was oddly Richard Watterson in Gumball that made me realize that being a DM could be a more...narrator style role as he kind of just let them hash out their stuff until he dropped them in front of the Tarrasque.

Im sure there are many comments like this already but your guys videos are super helpful and your campaigns are TOP NOTCH the acting and storytelling are absolutely superb! And the best part is you all seem like good people too.

Very great points!

I was also reluctant to become a DM because it seemed to be this monstrous challenge that only a few could handle. I gave it a try, and I don't regret it. As a DM, there's nothing more satisfying than receiving gratitude and praise from my players at the end of the session, and knowing how much fun they had and that they're hungry for more. To me, that's priceless.

"Folly Farts and Lolli pops" LOVE nit, will use myself

You guys are the best- I’ve shared your playlist for new DMs to several people for just how thorough and nuanced your advice is. Much love ✊ ~_~

Several years ago I saw your campaign and it inspired me to take up DMing with my daughter and friends after 30 year absence. We are still going 3 years on.

when it comes to DMing... i always remember that scene from matrix 3.... you guys remember when captain mifune tells the "kid" " you need to open the door" and the kid says "but sir, i never finished the training program" and mifune answer "neither did i" as a DM, i see myself in that situation XD i go to someone and say "you're reay to start DMing" and they say "but i never read the dungeon's master handbook" and i answer "neither did i"

A DM provides the canvas, the players provide the art. A good DM works success and failure equally to the enjoyment of all. A recent campaign I was in resulted in a TPK with all of us laughing all the way to our last stand

Thanks guys! Im a 50 year old DM/ GM that still struggles with the idea that if they players didnt have fun, then it must be my fault! I loved hearing you all talk about it!

Monty's shirt is fireee

I appreciate the focus on this ideally being a game played by friends (old and new). In a perfect world, the DM is getting just much from the time together as anyone else at the table. I have been playing since the 1st edition and have DMed as well and in my experience, most folks are really forgiving of hiccups or snags and everyone can dial things in as it goes. The rule of cool is a decent option if rules are unclear. D&D has become a lot more inclusive over time and a great deal less finicky, allowing for more open improv and friendly banter. The DM is effectively an indispensable player and storycrafter in the guise of a referee. Glad you took some of the responsibility off the DM’s shoulders and spread it to the group. The DM facilitates, but there are so many roles that anyone in the group can take on. Well said. As always gents, good stuff. Now, if only you’d loosen up a bit and stop dressing like undertakers. 😂

The advice of it being okay to take inspiration from a series or video game really helped me fill in my homebrew world where I decided to use the warhammer fantasy style lizardfolk

good vid guys. preciate this message.

Well done once again. I’ve been a DM on and off since ADnD, (missed 4e completely) and even stuff like this, which obviously addresses new DMs is helpful. I’m looking forward to using your Drakkenheim content in my next campaign. If my players ever finish our current one. 🤦‍♂️

13:41 I would say if your players are having fun, you are doing a good job. If the players are not having fun, it does not mean you are doing a bad job.

i needed this, you have no idea. thank you so much.

My players LOVE when I lift stuff from other stuff they may recognize or like. It's like they're living out the fantasy themselves.

DMing, my first few levels of my first game was a ton of work because I was doing a ton of story set up for stuff for later levels and I loved doing it. It was so much less work later, which was cool, too, because everything was coming together and they were making decisions based on that work that I had done. You don't need to do as much work as I did, but if you're like me and love that writing and NPC creation and history aspect, it can be rewarding. If you don't want to run your game that way, that's totally fine. Some of the most fun sessions I've had have been players doing thing that I wasn't prepared for. I'm thinking of going with very light prep next time I DM for more of that experience.

This is such a brilliant contribution to the world of gaming right now - excellent work, guys. Collaboration's results outperforms Competition's, every time.

Good stuff! The "creating everything from scratch" is a big one. For your first campaign you are probably best off running an adventure module. You wouldn't try writing a book before ever reading any. This is similar. Running a written adventure will make your fist campaign much easier to run and probably a lot more fun.

I’m a new DM and I’m having an awful time with scaling and power balances. At level 1 I literally just made enemies leave mid combat cause it was too much. I over corrected cause at level 3 they are walking through my encounters. But everyone is smiling ear to ear and wants to know when the next sesh is. This video was the affirmation I needed

Love the shirt, Monty. I saw that online a while ago and considered getting it, but never did haha

I DM'ed alot and The Second Point is pretty much stress free. I can't remember all the rules so I improvise, even simplify scenarios to make the story go forward

Gonna be DMing for the first sometime in the near future, with a session 0/character creation session happening tomorrow. These were really helpful and got some of my nervousness to go away. 😅

This is why I love running games for forever dms because 1 they understand the amount of work goes into it and 2 they never get to play so they’re extra keen

Listening to these videos has taught me that i have the best players, I'm a new DM who made the mistake of doing her first campaign as a high stakes high level spell jammer campaign (whoops lol). My group (online only) have been patient, personable, appreciative and just all around amazing players. I'm having a blast each month as we only meet once a month usually. They RP with each other with hardly any prompts, care about my NPCs (i play nearly the whole crew), care about the world I've put together... And when I tell them thank you they turn right back around and thank me right back. It's made this very difficult adventure worth it and i love prepping each session for them. I'm very lucky and just want to gush about how good they are and how good they treat me as a DM.

Aww "the greatest DM". They're so cute man, just the best vibes in this channel.

I was super nervous to DM when I started in January of this year, but starting with a small group of 3 friends and running the Dragon of Icespire Peak module allowed me to build up a lot of confidence to the point that I've recently started running my own one-shots rather to further expand my horizons.

I learned everything I needed to know about being a DM from Tom Hanks's seminal classic "Mazes and Monsters".

As a dm I always recommend asking this at the end of a session:was anything that session not fun or a huge no? You don’t need to remove the stuff that thing the player didn’t find fun you need to however find a compromise you both can come to if that’s important. Say oh I don’t know it’s all about cults and they had a dark cult experience of some kind. You then work together and formulate a compromise with that person. To me that’s not asking two much of a dm that’s just doing what’s right.

Love these guys. They seem so sound.

About rules. I usually played different system, but I do DM DnD every so often for my brother and friends. My brother is seasoned veteran DM of DnD and so I usually ask him about a rules I do not know or remember. Nobody has problem with that. It does not have to be DM who knows all the rules.

This may touch on the 4th point, but one misconception that's always bugged me as a DM is: "It's the DM's responsibility to give the player characters reasons to engage with the story/keep participating in the adventure". No. It is the DM's job to present the campaign's premise. It is the players' job to create characters that will/want to explore that premise. When a player says "My character has no reason to care/engage with this plot hook", a reasonable question to ask in response is "Why did you create a character that isn't interested in being a part of the campaign?".

"Fun and farts and lollipops" is 100% my new metric for success.

Great video. I'd like to cast my vote for more Pathfinder 2e content!

I'm currently Doing a game set in Toronto, doing battle of the bands. It's completely Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and the players know it. But I am ALSO using plot elements from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (A master is retiring and gifts her mandolin to a friend, which then gets stolen). And we're still having heaps of fun!

"Fun and farts and lollipops" is immediately entering my vernacular

I'm loving the advice centric content! It's really relevant to me, as opposed to class related stuff. Which don't get me wrong, is cool, but this stuff feels really empowering and enriching. Remings me of the golden days of Matt Colville's running the game series. Rock on, Dudes