What No One Tells You About DMing D&D

Summary

Dieses Skript bietet umfassende Tipps und Tricks für Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Spielleiter und Spieler, um eine erfolgreiche und lang anhaltende Kampagne zu gewährleisten. Es deckt Themen wie Erwartungen setzen, die richtige Spielerauswahl, die Verringerung von Spielleitersbelastung, Konfliktsvermeidung, Zeitplanung und die Bedeutung von Feedback ab. Der Sprecher, Antonio Deo von Pointy Hat, betont die sozialen Aspekte des Spiels und wie sie das Scheitern einer Kampagne beeinflussen können. Zudem wird ein bevorstehender Kickstarter für 'Monsters of Drenim' vorgestellt, ein Sammelsurium an Kreatur-Designs und Spielmechaniken, das die Herausforderungen und Strategien im Spiel erweitert.

Takeaways

• 🎲 Ein DND-Spiel erfordert eine große Menge an Vorbereitung, einschließlich Welt-Building, Handlungsentwicklung, Charakterprüfung, Karten und Miniaturen vorbereiten und Statistiken überprüfen.
• 📉 Eine der Hauptgründe für das Scheitern von Kampagnen ist, dass Spieler nicht regelmäßig erscheinen oder Pausen länger werden, bis die Kampagne schließlich zusammenbricht.
• 🧙 Antonio Deo, der Sprecher, betont die Bedeutung der sozialen Aspekte in DND, die oft vernachlässigt werden, und bietet in seinem Video Tipps, wie man eine erfolgreiche Kampagne führen kann.
• 🤝 DND ist eine soziale Aktivität, die emotionale Reife und soziale Fähigkeiten erfordert, da fünf oder mehr Menschen zusammenarbeiten müssen, während sie eine herausfordernde improvisierte Leistung abgeben.
• 📚 Es wird empfohlen, die Grundarbeit zu erledigen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Kampagne nicht scheitert, und dies beginnt mit der Kommunikation von Erwartungen zwischen Spielleiter und Spielern.
• 🤔 Es ist wichtig, spezifische Erwartungen für die Kampagne zu formulieren, einschließlich des Schwerpunkts auf Rollenspiel oder Kampf und der Häufigkeit von Kampfbegegnungen.
• 💀 Es ist entscheidend, die Haltung zur Toleranz von Todesfällen in der Kampagne zu klären, einschließlich der Möglichkeit von Wiederbelebung und der Notwendigkeit, einen Ersatzcharakter mitzuführen.
• 📋 Die Wahl der Spieler für die Kampagne ist entscheidend, und es kann erforderlich sein, die Spieler sorgfältig auszuwählen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Erwartungen und Vorlieben der Spieler mit der geplanten Kampagne übereinstimmen.
• 👥 Es wird empfohlen, kleinere Gruppen zu bilden oder kürzere Kampagnen durchzuführen, um sicherzustellen, dass alle Spieler zufrieden sind und die Kampagne erfolgreich ist.
• 🚫 Um Burnout des Spielleiters zu vermeiden, sollte es klar sein, welche Aufgaben für die Vorbereitung der Kampagne erforderlich sind und welche überflüssig sind, um die Erschöpfung zu vermeiden.
• 🕒 Die Zeitplanung ist ein entscheidender Faktor für die erfolgreiche Durchführung einer Kampagne, und es wird empfohlen, feste Zeiten für die Treffen zu vereinbaren und diese nicht zu ändern.
• 🗣 Feedback ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Lernprozesses und der Verbesserung beim Spielen von DND, unabhängig davon, ob man Spielleiter oder Spieler ist.

Q & A

Was ist das Hauptthema des D&D-Spiels, das im Skript diskutiert wird?

Das Hauptthema des Skripts ist, wie man eine D&D-Kampagne erfolgreich führen kann, ohne dass sie aufgrund von Schwierigkeiten im Zusammenspiel der Spieler oder mangelnder Organisation im Eingang der Spielleiter scheitert.

Was ist 'Pointy Hat' und wer ist Antonio Deo?

Pointy Hat ist die Show, die im Skript erwähnt wird, und Antonio Deo ist der Host der Show. Er gibt in diesem Video Tipps für Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Kampagnen.

Welche Art von Tipps werden in diesem Video nicht behandelt?

Dieses Video konzentriert sich nicht auf Tipps wie das Bestimmen der besten Stufe zum Spielen von Kampagnen oder ob Tränke eine Bonusaktion sein sollten. Stattdessen fokussiert es auf soziale Aspekte, die oft vernachlässigt werden.

Was ist der Schwerpunkt des Videos auf D&D-Kampagnen?

Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der sozialen Komponente einer D&D-Kampagne, einschließlich der emotionalen Reife und sozialen Fähigkeiten, die für die erfolgreiche Durchführung einer Kampagne erforderlich sind.

Was ist der 'Monsters of Drenim' Kickstarter, auf den sich das Skript bezieht?

'Monsters of Drenim' ist ein Kickstarter-Projekt, das ein 300-seitiges Buch mit über 150 neuen Kreaturen für D&D enthält, bereitgestellte Abenteuer und neue Mechaniken wie das 'Deadly'-Zustands-System.

Was sind die Schritte, die ein Spielleiter unternehmen sollte, um eine D&D-Kampagne erfolgreich zu führen?

Die Schritte umfassen die Festlegung von Erwartungen, die Auswahl geeigneter Spieler, das Erleichtern des Spiels für sich selbst, das Vermeiden von Drama und das Bewältigen des 'Zeitplan-Monsters'.

Was bedeutet 'Setting expectations' im Kontext des Videos?

Unter 'Setting expectations' versteht der Sprecher das Festlegen und Kommunizieren klarer Vorstellungen und Ziele für die Kampagne, einschließlich des Schwerpunkts auf Rollenspiel oder Kampf und der Häufigkeit von Kampfereignissen.

Wie kann man sicherstellen, dass die Spieler, die man für eine Kampagne auswählt, gut zusammenpassen?

Indem man die Spieler sorgfältig auswählt, die die gleichen Vorlieben und Erwartungen an die Kampagne haben, und sicherstellen, dass sie die gleiche Art von Spielerlebnis bevorzugen.

Was sind einige Wege, um dem Spielleiter die Vorbereitung zu erleichtern?

Einige Möglichkeiten um die Vorbereitung zu erleichtern beinhalten das Verwenden von fertigen Monster-Statistiken, das Finden von Karten online oder das Zeichnen auf Rasterpapier, sowie das Akzeptieren von weniger spektakulären Elementen im Spiel.

Was sind 'Safety Tools' und wie helfen sie beim Vermeiden von Drama in einer D&D-Gruppe?

Safety Tools sind Mechanismen, die jedem Gruppenmitglied die Möglichkeit geben, ihre persönlichen 'Lines' (nicht akzeptable Handlungen) und 'Veils' (Referenzen, die nicht ausführlich beschrieben werden sollten) zu kommunizieren, um unangenehme oder unerwünschte Situationen zu vermeiden.

Wie kann man eine regelmäßige Spielplanung für eine D&D-Kampagne sicherstellen?

Durch das Festlegen eines festen Zeitplans für die Kampagne während einer 'Session Zero', bei der alle verfügbaren Zeiten der Spieler erfasst und ein gemeinsamer Spielzeitpunkt bestimmt wird, an dem keine Änderungen vorgenommen werden.

Was ist der Grundgedanke hinter dem 'Feedback' in Bezug auf die Verbesserung von D&D-Spielen?

Der Grundgedanke hinter dem Feedback ist, dass es ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Lernprozesses ist und dass sowohl Spielleiter als auch Spieler konstruktives Feedback annehmen und umsetzen müssen, um ihre Fähigkeiten zu verbessern und ein besseres Spielerlebnis zu bieten.

Outlines

00:00

🎲 Start einer DND-Kampagne

Der Abschnitt beschreibt die Herausforderungen, die ein Dungeon Master (DM) bei der Vorbereitung und Durchführung einer Dungeons & Dragons (DND) Kampagne bewältigen muss. Es werden die sozialen Aspekte hervorgehoben, die oft vernachlässigt werden, und die Bedeutung von emotionaler Reife und sozialen Fähigkeiten für den Erfolg einer Kampagne. Der Sprecher, Antonio Deo, kündigt an, in diesem Video weniger bekannte Tipps zu teilen, die den Fokus auf die sozialen Aspekte legen, die für den Erfolg einer Kampagne entscheidend sind.

05:00

🤝 Einstellung von Erwartungen

Dieser Abschnitt konzentriert sich auf die Wichtigkeit, klare Erwartungen für die Kampagne zu setzen und diese den Spielern zu kommunizieren. Es wird betont, dass sowohl die Art der Kampagne (z.B. rollenspiel- oder kampforientiert) als auch die Hintergrundgeschichte und die Spielweise genau definiert werden sollten. Es wird auch erwähnt, dass die Spielweise der Kampagne (linear, nichtlinear, Sandbox) eine entscheidende Rolle dabei spielt, ob die Spieler die Kampagne mögen und erfolgreich durchführen können.

10:03

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Auswahl der Spieler

Hier wird die Aussage getroffen, dass nicht alle Freunde automatisch auch DND-Freunde sind. Es wird betont, dass es wichtig ist, die richtigen Spieler für die Kampagne auszuwählen, die die von DM und Spielern gewünschten Erfahrungen und Spielstile teilen. Es werden auch Strategien diskutiert, wie man mit verschiedenen Spielerpräferenzen umgeht, etwa durch das Durchführen kürzerer Kampagnen oder das Abhalten von Einzelspielern, um verschiedene Spielergruppen zufriedenzustellen.

15:03

🕵️‍♂️ Erleichterung der Vorbereitung

In diesem Teil des Skripts wird der Fokus auf die Bedeutung der Erleichterung der Vorbereitungsarbeit für den DM gelegt. Es wird empfohlen, nicht jedes Detail selbst zu erschaffen, sondern stattdessen vorhandene Ressourcen zu nutzen, um Burnout zu vermeiden und die Langzeitnachhaltigkeit der Kampagne zu gewährleisten. Es werden auch Beispiele für übermäßige Vorbereitung gegeben, die zu Erschöpfung führen können.

20:04

🤝 Vermeidung von Konflikten

Der Abschnitt behandelt das Problem des Aufkommens von Konflikten oder 'Drama' innerhalb einer DND-Gruppe und wie man dies verhindern kann. Es wird betont, dass klare Kommunikation und die Festlegung von 'Lines and Veils' (Grenzen und Verhüllungen) helfen, unerwünschte soziale Konflikte zu vermeiden. Es wird auch darauf hingewiesen, dass trotz aller Vorsicht Drama auftreten kann und es wichtig ist, darauf zu reagieren.

25:05

📅 Planung von Spielsitzungen

Dieser Abschnitt beschäftigt sich mit der Herausforderung der Planung von Spielsitzungen für eine DND-Kampagne. Der Sprecher teilt seine Erfahrungen und empfiehlt, eine feste Spielzeit für die Dauer der gesamten Kampagne zu vereinbaren, anstatt ständig nach den Verfügbarkeiten der Spieler zu justieren. Es wird betont, dass eine feste Zeit die Regelmäßigkeit und den Fortbestand der Kampagne erhöht.

🗣️ Wichtigkeit von Feedback

Der letzte Abschnitt legt den Fokus auf die Bedeutung von Feedback für die Verbesserung der Fähigkeiten des DM und der Spieler. Es wird erläutert, wie man konstruktives Feedback sinnvoll einholt und verarbeitet, um die Kampagne zu verbessern. Es werden auch Tipps gegeben, wie man mit negativem Feedback umgeht und wie man es als Möglichkeit zur Selbstverbesserung nutzt.

Keywords

💡World Building

World Building bezeichnet den Prozess der Schaffung einer fiktiven Welt, die detailliert und glaubwürdig ist. In diesem Video wird die Bedeutung der World Building für die Vorbereitung einer D&D-Kampagne hervorgehoben, da eine gut konstruierte Welt die Grundlage für die Handlung und die Spielerinteraktion bildet.

💡D&D-Kampagne

Eine D&D-Kampagne ist eine fortlaufende Rollenspielgeschichte, die über mehrere Spielsitzungen hinweg gespielt wird. Das Video thematisiert die Herausforderungen, eine D&D-Kampagne erfolgreich zu starten und zu erhalten, einschließlich der Notwendigkeit, Erwartungen zu setzen und Konflikte zu vermeiden.

💡Erwartungen setzen

Erwartungen setzen bezieht sich auf das Klären und Kommunizieren von Vorstellungen und Regeln zu Beginn einer Kampagne. Das Video betont, wie wichtig es ist, die Erwartungen klar zu definieren, damit alle Spieler dieselbe Vorstellung davon haben, was sie im Spiel erleben werden, und um Missverständnisse zu vermeiden.

💡Spieler auswählen

Die Auswahl der richtigen Spieler ist entscheidend für den Erfolg einer D&D-Kampagne. Das Video argumentiert, dass nicht alle Freunde auch geeignete D&D-Partner sind und dass es wichtig ist, Spieler zu wählen, die ähnliche Erwartungen und Spielstile haben, um Konflikte zu minimieren.

💡Spielercharaktere

Spielercharaktere sind die vom Spieler geschaffenen Figuren, die in der Kampagne agieren. Das Video erwähnt die Wichtigkeit, diese Charaktere gründlich zu überprüfen, um sicherzustellen, dass sie zur Handlung passen und keine übermäßigen Probleme verursachen.

💡Soziale Fähigkeiten

Soziale Fähigkeiten sind entscheidend für das erfolgreiche Durchführen einer D&D-Kampagne, da das Spiel stark auf Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation beruht. Das Video hebt hervor, dass mangelnde soziale Fähigkeiten oft zu den Hauptgründen gehören, warum Kampagnen scheitern.

💡Drama vermeiden

Drama vermeiden bedeutet, Konflikte und Spannungen innerhalb der Spielergruppe zu verhindern. Das Video diskutiert verschiedene Strategien, um Drama zu vermeiden, wie z.B. klare Kommunikation, das Setzen von Grenzen und die Verwendung von Sicherheitswerkzeugen.

💡Sicherheitswerkzeuge

Sicherheitswerkzeuge sind Methoden, um sicherzustellen, dass sich alle Spieler während des Spiels wohl und sicher fühlen. Das Video schlägt vor, Linien und Schleier zu definieren, um Themen zu identifizieren, die Spieler vermeiden möchten, und so potenzielles Drama zu verhindern.

💡Burnout

Burnout bezeichnet den Zustand der Erschöpfung und Frustration, der durch anhaltende Überlastung entsteht. Im Kontext des Videos bezieht sich Burnout auf die Gefahr, dass DMs aufgrund übermäßiger Vorbereitung und Druck aufgeben. Es wird empfohlen, die Vorbereitungen zu rationalisieren, um Burnout zu vermeiden.

💡Terminplanung

Terminplanung ist die Organisation und Festlegung regelmäßiger Spielzeiten für die Kampagne. Das Video schlägt vor, feste wöchentliche Spielzeiten festzulegen und die Spieler zu verpflichten, diese Zeiten zu priorisieren, um die Kontinuität der Kampagne zu gewährleisten.

Highlights

World building, plot development, player character vetting, and other tasks are crucial for a successful DND campaign.

Campaigns can fail due to drama, irregular attendance, and lack of social skills among players.

The importance of recognizing DND as a social activity requiring emotional maturity and good social skills.

Antonio Deo introduces 'Pointy Hat' and aims to provide rare advice for DND campaigns.

A new Kickstarter for 'Monsters of Drenim' offers a comprehensive resource for DND Dungeon Masters.

The 'Monsters of Drenim' includes over 150 new creatures and innovative game mechanics.

Advice on not over-preparing to avoid burnout and keep the campaign sustainable.

Setting clear expectations for the campaign's style and frequency of events is essential.

Choosing the right players who align with the campaign's goals is crucial for success.

Smaller groups or shorter campaigns can help manage player preferences and availability.

Honesty with players about campaign fit and preferences prevents dissatisfaction.

The importance of avoiding drama by setting social safeguards and respecting player boundaries.

Scheduling consistency is key to a successful campaign and requires commitment from all players.

Feedback is vital for improvement, and players should be open to receiving and giving constructive criticism.

Suggestions on how to ask for and implement feedback to improve gameplay.

The necessity to not take feedback personally and to view it as a tool for self-improvement.

Transcripts

after countless hours World building

coming up with a plot vetting your

players characters Gathering battle maps

making minis checking stat blocks and

like 5,000 other tasks you are finally

playing your DND D campaign and then it

dies drama happens people don't show up

to the game you start taking longer and

longer breaks and before you know it

that campaign is dead in the water what

do well I'm Antonio Deo this is pointy

hat and we're about to make sure this

never happens on this episode of tip of

the

hat there's approximately

700,000 videos that go seven tips your

mom didn't tell you about when playing D

and D so why make another one well I

think that the advice here is not to toe

my own toe kind of rare in these D and D

streets I'm not going to focus on stuff

like I don't know the best level to play

campaigns at or if potions should or

shouldn't be a bonus action I'll leave

those questions to the philosophers I

want to concentrate on stuff that is

seldom given shine to so that people get

some actual value out of this video I

think many people are not aware of what

an insane social tight RPP a D and D

campaign truly is and I think a lot of D

and advice out there doesn't focus on

this which is wild to me because in my

experience these are the reasons why

campaigns fail yes it's hard to get it

all together at the same time at the

same place consistently but it's also a

deeply personal activity that requires a

lot of emotional maturity and the bane

of all nerd spaces social skills it's

five people sometimes more all needing

to Jael and work together while they

perform as sometimes downright

emotionally taxing extended improv

exercise where people tend to put a lot

of their personal hangups into it's it's

basically the social equivalent of a

mindfield wait this reads like I'm

discouraging you from playing a campaign

and that's not my goal my point is is

that it can be done very much so I've

DMD and played in multiple year-long

campaigns that were happening every

single week and that ended but I think

you're setting yourself up for failure

if you don't do the ground workor so put

on your hard hat don't look too hard at

all the OSHA violations and come with me

as we make sure your D and campaign

doesn't combust into flames before any

DM tries to run anything though they're

going to need one thing and that is

monsters conjurers the world over have

tried to summon monsters from every

plane of existence and although any

second raid megas can send for a quasit

it takes a true Arch conjurer to call

forth the good stuff or at least the

arch conjurer's writings a summoning

grimoire that can invite any Beast fiend

or Beyond from the finds of the

Multiverse but where would one acquire

such an artifact well there's a

Kickstarter for it about to go live the

monsters of drenim from their dungeon

dudes and ghostfire yes those guys they

were my buddies we hang out at Denon

Monsters of drenim is a 300 plus page

massive Tob filled to the brim with

Incredible creatures 150 plus of them in

fact but not only that it also comes

with ready to run lir encounters and

completely brand new mechanics like the

new deadly condition to bring a new

level of strategy to the game and

extremely excited about this crafting

and harvesting mechanics Minecraft hours

Monster Hunter hours well let's talk

about the stars of this the monsters

they go from cr1 to cr30 for those of

you that are into putting your players

through it and look at these guys look

at this one look at this cool

bloodbending witch look at this fun guy

look at this oh maybe don't look at that

one too much I'm scared and there are

many many more the kickstarter is about

to launch which means you can join the

VIP Discord right now and get a

completely free set of resin moner dies

when you pledge and a bunch of exclusive

behind the scenes content right before

the campaign and you know this campaign

is going to go off because the dudes

have had like two widely successful

kickstarters before so if all of this

sounds well and good go ahead and check

all this out in the very first link in

the

description and now that we got

ourselves some monsters let's get back

into actually running this thing yes

this is kind of meant for DMS but also

for players I resent this implication

that DM has to come up to the table with

basically everything figured out if

you're a player you can very much point

to your DM in the direction of tools

like this to help them out so this is

very much useful to you because you're

the one playing in this you want it to

go well so listen up because this will

all be on the test too little boy also

this guide is not going to touch on

stuff like the World building or

narrative side of things I've made a

whole video on that before this video is

going to touch on the social aspect of

campaign the things that nerds tend to

completely forgo when they're planning

to start a campaign and you don't often

see these tips and videos I mean I have

not so listen up in my experience people

will come up with like 70 kinds of magic

radishes and the economics of demon

Valley until the cows come home but will

neglect to ensure that the most

indispensable aspect of playing a

campaign the people that play it are set

up for Success so we're going to do that

today and we're going to do it through a

numbered list because y all love them

for some reason who am I kidding I love

them too let's go number one setting

expectations this step is the first step

because it's crucial in setting everyone

up for Success literally all other steps

rely on this one happening first and

happening well I think there are many

DMS out there that never sit down to

actually think of this at all and then

there are other DMS that have an idea of

their expectations and just never

communicate them I guess those are

relying on the players's mystical

magical power of telepathy to do the

work for them stop relying on that body

I'm just curious how did that work out

last time badly oh wow who would have

thought setting expectations involves

two steps on its own coming up with the

expectations for your campaign and

successfully communicating these

expectations to your players so what do

I mean by expectations well I'm glad you

ask disembodied voice that sets up my

scripts for me is this campaign roleplay

heavy combat heavy you were going to say

a mix of both right I knew it this is a

very bad way to come up with

expectations for you and your players be

specific because roleplay heavy or

combat heavy mean completely different

things to completely different people

dungeon delvers might think a campaign

is roleplay heavy if it evolves B

basically any role playing at all

whereas theater kits might consider a

campaign combat heavy if it has like a

dungeon every 10 sessions to break up

the angsty crying please I'm a St when I

DM I tell my players there will be

plenty of time for role play but I also

aim to have at least one combat

encounter per session not always but I

never go two sessions without combat and

combat will happen way more often when

they enter a dungeon there see I set

specific expectations not just for my

players but also for myself people now

know exactly how often combat will

happen and in what circumstances so is

that it are we done setting

expectations no how deadly is your

campaign is death possible at all if it

is how possible is death will players

have to bring up a backup character with

them at all times is resurrection a

thing how much of a thing is it is it

easy to do or is it hard dealing with

death is a whole thing in and of itself

we'll do a video on it at one point this

game seems like it never runs out of

topics to make videos about but it's

important to set this expectation

because death can make or break a game

and it can make or break a campaign

setting expectations early is basically

obligatory to have your campaign

actually survive survive death I guess

weird phrasing moving on is your

campaign a linear narrative a nonlinear

narrative a Sandbox game this one will

be more or less important to your

players for me this will literally

decide if I want to play in your game at

all I made an entire video on what these

three styles of narratives are and why I

like linear the most I'll link it at the

end of this video but the short answer

here is linear does not mean railroading

a linear Adventure is an adventure where

there is causality between the order of

events X happens then y happens because

X happened and after y happens Z happens

balers Gate 3 is a linear Adventure all

linear Adventures have nonlinear bits to

them the main plot of bers Gate 3 is

very linear don't recite the old magic

at me I was there when it was written

nonlinear Adventure is an adventure

where X Y and Z can happen in any order

breath of the wild is a nonlinear

Adventure as sandbox Adventure is one

where there no predetermined events

there's no X or Y or Z the story

basically happens whenever the players

make a choice to go to a place there's

no overarching plot people are extremely

particular about stuff like this even if

they don't know they are and they don't

know these terms if you ever take a trip

to DND Reddit or I don't know the turbo

hell that is D and D Twitter you'll find

plenty of people saying we played for 10

sessions and never found the plot or it

felt like we were just going through the

plot the DM had laid out for us instead

of Our Own Adventure this is the result

of people coming into a campaign with

their own expectations but if players

have their own preferences how are you

going to make it so that everyone likes

it well disembodied boys again I'm so

glad you asked let's talk about that two

choose your players so I'm going to go

ahead and say something controversial

yet Brave and something that people

don't want to hear but here it goes not

all your friends are D and D

friends have you heard that old wisdom

of not every friend can be a roommate I

believe the exact same thing happens in

D and D you you can appeal to your

players all you want at the end of the

day there are things that you are either

not interested in running and they want

to play or things you very much want to

run but they don't want to play one of

my best friends hates linear and

nonlinear Adventures preferring sandbox

above all I am literally the exact

opposite we don't play together we can't

because what we are looking for in this

game are wildly different experiences

another one of my friends is a dungeon

delving Maniac that loves a dungeon with

a number of floors in the trip full

digits and another one will start to

lose interest if a dungeon is longer

than two sessions those two will just

not be happy playing in the same game

and forcing them to will make it so at

least one of them is unhappy you as a DM

bending over backwards to accommodate

both will result in a campaign that

appeals to them some of the time and a

campaign that they can't stand to play

in for the remainder of the time as

harsh as that is that campaign is either

doomed to fail or doomed to have a

player that resiliently endures a game

they don't like to hang out with friends

either way not great what is the

solution to this choose your players yes

I know D andd is already hard to play

because of how many people you need in

order to play but I assure you having a

game that ends when it's supposed to end

where people are happy to play in is

just better than having a game that

Peters out because half the people there

are miserable during it but there are

very much ways to mitigate this let me

list them oh I'm already the number list

uh number a make smaller groups did you

know that the D andd council is not

allowed to send assassins snipers to

your house if you play a game with less

than five people it's true since 1952

they changed it I have played a campaign

where it was just the DM and two players

and I was one of them so if I didn't

manage to sink it to the ground you can

too plenty of fantastic games can be run

with less than the suggested number of

players just like a game can run with

more than the suggested number of

players I don't know I can think of a

few number B make smaller campaigns this

is something that I'm working on for

myself I don't have tips for this yet

I'm trying my best if you want to play

with your friends but your friends

wanton different games and you want to

run both of the types of games your

friends like important point there you

the DM also need to have fun you can

accomplish this much easier by running

shorter campaigns yes campaigns that

last 4 years are impressive but I happen

to think it's also much easier to run

them running a campaign that is short

I'm talking four sessions six sessions I

find that really really hard to do and

still give the same emotional

significance than a longer campaign has

this is my personal D and D goal for

2024 to run a d andd campaign that caps

out at 6 to8 sessions at most Dimension

20 style my favorite example of this and

the thing I sent to people that are D

andd curious is critical roles exandria

unlimited Calamity Chronicles of the

revelations memories and Knuckles I

think that's Testament to how impactful

and emotionally fulfilling as short

campaign can be which also frees you up

to play more campaigns with different

combinations of players I've run year

plus campaigns for well years and

towards the end I get massive burnout I

am tired

[Music]

I suspect this wouldn't be much of an

issue if this campaigns took me 2 to 4

months to run instead of you know 17 and

finally number c I got to say the

obvious because sometimes it's not that

obvious be honest with your players

saying I really want to run a dungeon

Delvin game and I know you won't enjoy

that so instead of forcing yourself to

join something you won't like I think

it's better if we wait for the next

campaign for you to play and in the

meantime let's make sure we run some one

shot so we get to play together that

will go a long way here contrary to

popular belief I do not believe that bad

D and D is better than no DND D we're

all very busy adults with very busy

lives stop mom I told you to not being

honest and open with the reasons why you

think a player won't be a good fit is

important okay enough of this emotional

maturity stuff back to tips for play

pretend we've set expectations we've

chosen our players now it's time to

three make it easy on yourself it's

important to know that a lot of times

Cains and because of d m's it's kind of

the elephant in the room here for the

entirety of this video we've been

addressing how to manage players so it's

now time for the control freaks at the

table the end burnout is very real

believe me I know and while I've

personally never ended a campaign

because of burnout I've definitely seen

some end because of just that real talk

for a second in my last year plus

campaign I spent the last five or so

sessions actively fighting against

myself because I just didn't want to run

it at all I was very much burnt out the

prep I used to love doing now felt like

this massive chore onire with a

full-time job the 4 to 5 hours of play

that used to fly by were now just a

reminder of just how much time this was

taking away from my already limited free

time see I stopped seeing it as free

time running the game was a job and not

a job I enjoyed actually I pushed

through because I knew we were so close

to the end but it was rough and now I'm

still recovering from it I'm about to

play in a campaign but I don't know when

I'll be back to running not long know

what I mean whenever an idea pops out

from The Tall Grass it be a matter of

minutes before I start prepping again

and yes a Sher campaign would have

definitely helped but you know what else

would have helped not doing the literal

most every single time for every single

session everyone does the most

differently but if you're a prepper like

me this can be very much an issue once

again I actively enjoy prepping but a

campaign is a marathon and once you've

run a marathon for more than a year you

might get just like a tsy bit tired in

this last campaign I decided that every

important NPC was going to have a fully

drawn fully colored illustration for

absolutely no reason I also made every

single Monster they fought custom like

nothing from a book I added like five

different unique rule sets from potion

creation to a companion system all

combat had its own unique battle map and

these were all battle maps done by me

now you might look at that and say well

of course you burn out that's crazy but

here's the thing in my many many talks

with many DMs I found out that spefic

specifically DMS that enjoy prep like I

do all have versions of these tasks that

yes can be very cool and add a lot to

your campaign but can also be extremely

tiring maybe not all boss monsters need

custom art maybe you can take some

existing monsters from the books you buy

instead of constantly making your own

maybe it's a good idea to just look for

maps online or Draw them on grid paper

maybe not every MPC needs a specific

song to play when they arrive maybe not

every enemy needs a mini maybe you don't

need terrain pieces for every combat yes

all of these might seem doable now but

will they still be doable 5 months in 8

months in 12 months in it's time to take

a step back especially if your instinct

is I want to blow my players away with

spectacle and look at what's feasible in

the long run for your own sanity okay so

you've set expectations with you and

your players you've chosen those players

and you have made sure to make things

doable for yourself in the long run it's

now time to tackle one of the two Final

Bosses of D and D four avoid drama avoid

it easy okay we're done with that please

like comment and subscribe leave at

least a 45% tip or whatever Americans

have decided is the acceptable amount

instead of paying their waiters and okay

fine I'll do the thing drama is as many

wise philosophers have pointed out he's

a killer in this industry drama ends

campaigns I have been in one that ended

like that it was not fun and while the

reasons why drama happens or doesn't are

as varied as the drama itself and I

hardly encourage you to share them in

the comments because I'm messy and nosy

and and I want people to learn of course

but also I want to know the one through

line that connects all possible drama

sources at the table is that the reasons

behind it are always social in nature

drama is a social conflict now it's

important to say that stuff like setting

expectations for your campaign and

ensuring that the players that will

enjoy this game are the ones playing it

will actually do a lot to avoid drama in

general but it's also important to say

that you can do all of this and still

have drama happen what we can do to

minimize the chance of drama arising in

a d andd group is to put social

safeguards up since as we have

established drama is just a catchy messy

word for a social problem that's right

people in my comments that get mad at

pronouns or whatever yall get mad at

these days I'm going to talk about

safety tools safety tools are good to

avoid drama if everyone in the group

shares things that they are not cool

with at all and things that they are

okay with them being referred to but not

described at length this automatically

eliminates a ton of sources of drama

this is commonly referred to as liines

and veils lines being things that you're

not cool with them happening and veils

being things that you're cool with them

being referenced but not described at

length or otherwise giving the spotlight

as an example I always put oh God you

know I'm not doing good with YouTube

right now let's call it unclothe

wrestling competitions as a veil for me

I'm very much cool with the DM going and

then you do that and that's it I would

rather eat a bowl of thumbtacks that

have my friends I can't even say it the

image of it is so cringey to me I would

rather die than have my friends sit

there describing it to me describe it no

I guess I shouldn't yuck someone's yum

but God would I not be okay with that no

thank you if there was no space to

clearly stay that anywhere a player

could very much innocently cross that

and they wouldn't be in the wrong for

doing so per se because I never said I

wasn't cool with that but it would for

sure make me like uncomfortable can you

see how stuff like this leads to drama

honestly having people ride down their

lines and veils takes too minutes tops

and is a net positive all around the

only people that get mad at this are the

ones that still think attack helicopter

is like remotely funny 2024 current year

but if taking this step that takes no

time and saves you a headache and the

potential death of your campaign is to

soyed or whatever for you go off King

stay triggered or whatever okay now that

we've tackled the drama thing let's move

on to the real final boss of D and D

campaigns five the scheduling monster

I'm not sure you've noticed by The

Impossible number of unfunny scheduling

memes floating around but scheduling

seems to be a problem for D andd players

hard to believe that angling together a

group of five people with jobs and or

school to play at once sometimes in the

same space for something along the lines

of 5 hours is hard who would have th not

me now there's surprisingly little

advice on how to schedule and what I'm

about to suggest is apparently not

common advice but here's what has worked

for me my credentials are I've dm'd many

very very long campaigns with all

players that were all working adults

with busy lives and fdm them to

completion but no no no no not like that

stop stop it my

veil okay here's a piece of advice be a

hard ass I know right off the wheels of

kindness and understanding and

communication this seems like a weird

piece of advice to give I straight up

don't think that week to week scheduling

as in scheduling the next session at a

different time each week depending on

the availability of people works

straight up I don't think that's

conducive to actually playing regularly

what I do when I start a campaign is

during session zero we all fill out a

sheet with our available times we look

at where it does intersect and that will

be D and D time for every single week no

changes then I tell my players I take

this pretend dragon game very seriously

and I put a lot of work in it so if

they're not ready to schedule around

this game they're not welcome to play

yes it sounds harsh but I don't know man

my campaigns have never had scheduling

issues like ever I ask my players to

make D and D a priority in the week just

like I make going to the gym a priority

and many people make things like walking

their dog or their War coffee run at

priority in my last Campaign which we

played weekly in we took two breaks one

two week break for Christmas and one

week break for convention stuff none of

the players were absent for more than

two sessions in total outside of those

breaks we played for close to 18 months

weekly out of five people we played

across five different time zones we had

people waking up at 8:00 a.m. on a

Saturday to play D and D that's what

making a commitment is of course if a

major life event happens like changes in

jobs leading to changes of schedule it's

time to work out a new schedule for DND

once again this is what works for me you

can think this is mean or whatever I

think it's commitment to a timec

consuming hobby we all love and my

players agree if being extremely lenient

with people being late or not showing up

at all didn't work if changing the time

you play D and D weekly at the whims of

schedules of five people didn't work

maybe consider this and please don't go

mad with power with this weirdo and

speaking of going mad with power number

six feedback okay so this one is extra

spicy see I went to a little hell space

called

arts and in this health space I have

received a lot of a little type of

torture called

feedback this actually was really really

good for me because feedback means

nothing to me anymore if I feel like

it's constructive I take it if I feel

like it isn't I ignore it if I feel like

it can help me make whatever I'm working

on better I apply it and if not I don't

having your peers and your teachers tell

you exactly what they think of artwork

you poured Blood Sweat and Tears into

receiving that feedback every single day

having that work graded having those

grades decide if you pass the final year

exam where 80% of students fail and are

required to take the first year again

that will make you not internalize

feedback really fast fortunately most

people don't go to our school and thank

God for that but unfortunately this

means most people are not good at all at

receiving feedback and I regret to

inform you that the only way I know to

get better at receiving feedback is

receiving feedback but if you're scared

of it and let's be honest most people

are you're going to try to avoid

receiving it at all costs I'm here to

tell you this you can watch every single

one of my videos you can watch every

possible video on D and D on YouTube you

can spend hours on Reddit reading horror

stories and on funny memes and you will

not be better at playing or running this

game unless you do it critically you

will learn from experience of course but

you will learn much faster if you

receive feedback while you do this the

key to receiving feedback is not to take

it personally which is easier said than

done a lot of people talk about how they

like constructive criticism and in my

experience this is not true most people

don't like constructive criticism most

people don't like criticism period

because they see it as a personal attack

a value judgment a critique against

themselves and not whatever is being

critiqued because they feel whatever is

being critiqued is personal to them so

they take it personally so someone

criticizing it feels personal how to get

over this exposure therapy baby get that

feedback but how well if you're the DM

you are in an advantageous position here

I have The High Ground you already do a

ton more work than your players so it's

time to ask them for some work back at

the end of a session message your

players not during the session I repeat

not during the session after you're done

message them and ask them for their

thoughts and feelings be specific but

don't ask too many questions and insist

on getting these answers be annoying

remind them a day before the next game

they hav't been giving you their answers

back if you have to spend time picking

music making stat blocks choosing Maps

painting minis of whichever task of the

1,000 other tasks that can be involved

in dming they can do this one thing for

you but what if you're a player well you

got to ask nicely I would actually not

bother your DM maybe just run this by

them and if they can fit it in their

schedule they'll do it but don't harp on

it instead turn to other players they're

just not as busy as you are with d and d

prep tell them it's important for you

that you want to get better and ask them

short and few questions now is negative

critique going to hurt yeah it will and

you need to sit with those feelings let

them pass and with time they will hurt a

little bit less every day until you just

hear them for what they are suggestions

and opinions that you should most likely

listen to since you are most likely

playing with people that love you and

want you to be better at what you

yourself want to be better all this

self-improvement thing is very nice and

all but it's easier said than done what

questions are you even asking when

looking to receive feedback I keep

saying you should ask for short

questions and you should ask few

questions so what are they well guess

what I ask them for you in the

description of this very video you're

watching you will find a set of feedback

questions very simple ones that you can

send to your friends after a session if

you want to improve they are separated

in two categories if you're a DM and if

you're a player look everyone homework

isn't that fun but what if homework is

somehow unthinkably not fun for you well

what about a silly goofy monster have

this video on mimics it has a brand new

alternative to mimics and if

self-improvement is what you're after

here's a whole video on tips for the

narrative side of D and D have fun with

your homework children it will be

graded