20 Tips For Becoming A Better DM - Lessons Learned at The Table - Trichotome Design

12/1/2019 20 Tips for Becoming a Better DM: Lessons Learned at the Table — Trichotome Design
TRICHOTOME DESIGN
The Works of Justin Loranger-Ahluwalia, Video Game and Multimedia Designer
GAMES MISC BLOG ABOUT
20 Tips For Becoming A Better

DM: Lessons Learned At The
Table
April 29, 2017
Tabletop Roleplaying is something many people know

about, but only a few have truly dived into. Today there are
thousands of games like Dungeons and Dragons where
players take on the roles of heroes and go forth on
adventures with the help of dice and stat sheets, all the
November 2018
while being guided by the all-powerful DM, or Dungeon
Getting Hired: My Best Tips Master. And yet, only recently has this type of game
Nov 13, 2018 started growing into the mainstream consciousness.
As of my writing this, I have been playing Pathfinder for a

little under 3 years. It’s not my first experience with
November 2017
tabletop roleplaying (I played Dark Heresy in University),
An Update Long Overdue but it is my deepest one. Admittedly on a relative scale 3

Nov 26, 2017 years of gaming is not very long, but my formation has
been dense and accelerated. I’ve played in many games
and even finished a few of them. But most significantly, I’ve
April 2017 been running a campaign myself (Hell’s Rebels, a Paizo
adventure path) since September of 2015.
20 Tips for Becoming a Better
DM: Lessons Learned at the Even before that campaign, I had wanted to try my hand at
Table DMing. I am, after all, a game designer, and what’s a DM if
Apr 29, 2017 not the embodiment of a live action game designer? Hell’s
Rebels was the first pre-made campaign that really caught
my eye, as it featured themes and mechanics that seemed
November 2016 very much in line with my own style. And so, with wide
eyes full of excitement I invited a bunch of my friends to
join and set forth on my first adventure in DMing.
www.trichotome-design.com/blog/2017/4/29/20-tips-for-becoming-a-better-dm-lessons-learned-at-the-table 1/25
Reflection 2: Looking Back, With modesty, I consider myself to be a fairly decent game
then Forward designer, though I will wholeheartedly admit I still have a
Nov 9, 2016 great deal to learn. I am, to be sure, still a junior. But my
game has proven to be an intense crash course. My trial
by fire was rough to start with, and I made many blunders
September 2016
that looking back on I should have seen coming. I’ve now
just concluded the third book (of 6 in the entire adventure)
My Journey / Ma Piste
Sep 10, 2016 and I’m still learning things with each session. The
experience has had its ups and downs, with plenty of fun
Fall Life Update and fights. But this time as a DM has helped me immensely
Sep 9, 2016 in learning to become a better designer.
It is for this reason that I’m writing this, a compilation of the

May 2016 key lessons I’ve learned on my adventure. I find that
writing gives me a chance to reflect and properly
A Little Life Update formulate my lessons. At the same time, it is my hope that
May 7, 2016 anyone reading this might learn from my experience. So,
without further ado, let’s get right into it.
April 2016
Homestuck's Conclusion and

Or8Weaver's Evolution Tip 1: Know Your Inner DM
Apr 18, 2016
Sun Tzu has some solid wisdom, so I'll paraphrase from
him: in war (as in all things), there are three things you
March 2016 need to know to win every time: yourself, your enemy, and
the battlefield. My first three tips correspond to these three
DMing A Tabletop Game: First things.
Book Post-Mortem
Mar 1, 2016 You as a DM are a crucial part of the game. You need to
know what kind of DM you are and by extension what the
players will be dealing with. Are you merciful or cruel? Are
February 2016 you by the book or off the cuff? Do you focus on theatrics
or mechanics? What are you willing to put up with and
Winter Update what a no go? Take some time to soul search and answer
Feb 26, 2016 these questions to define your DMing style. Figure out
your strengths and weaknesses. It will help you figure out
what your campaigns will look like. Telling your players
November 2015 how you're going to run things allows them to figure out if
you're running the kind of game they want to play, and
MIGS15 And Future Plans
what mindset they should be approaching the game with.
Nov 19, 2015
If the players know their DM, it means they can cooperate
My Design Strengths and with them to make the game go smoothly.
Weaknesses
Nov 9, 2015
October 2015 I’ve done an inventory of my own DMing style. My strength

is organisation. I'm really good at setting up documents
My Formative Video Game and tools for my players. I like to focus on intrigue and
Collection narratives over combat. I like making NPCs that I voice act
Oct 19, 2015 and give distinctive personalities. I like using music and
other tools to set dramatic tones. I don't tend to kill
Raj Ahluwalia, My Grandmother
players, but I'll definitely have consequences for poor
Oct 6, 2015
choices. I prefer interesting but suboptimal characters to
optimised stat blocks. I'm generous with items and flexible
September 2015 with game rules of it can make for a more interesting story.
I use a lot of DM fudge (DM fudge just means rules
Pins and Personal Logo improvisation or result altering; I really like the term), but
Sep 10, 2015 will generally try to stay within a loose script. My theming
usually bounces between comical or psychological
Montreal: A One Month horror/tragedy. I could go on, but I think I've made my
Impression point.
Sep 10, 2015
This advice isn’t just applicable in tabletop either. The Art
of War has been used in business classes for decades, if
August 2015 not centuries. This quote in particular strikes me as the
kind that is truly universal. There are very few times when
All Moved In
it is not valuable to know yourself. In knowing your skills,
Aug 16, 2015
limits, room for growth, and failing points, you can not only
better navigate the various challenges, but you can also
uncover ways to better yourself as you go. It doesn’t
June 2015
matter if you’re a DM, a game designer, or anything else.
A New Home
Jun 22, 2015
Tip 2: Know Your Players
Starting Content Complete
Not that your players are enemies (nor should you treat
Jun 16, 2015
them like ones; I'll get back to that), but they are the ones
New Beginnings you're challenging. Having a group of players that doesn't
Jun 12, 2015 mesh well with you, your campaign, or each other will
almost always break a game, or at least make it pretty
lame. When you set up a game, make sure the players well
be well suited to it. Or if you're making a campaign for an
existing group, make the campaign fit them. Don't take on
players that won't mesh with your DMing style. Make sure
you know the optimal number of players for your game (in
CATEGORIES most cases it's 4-5, but there are exceptions), and stay
within those bounds. Make sure you don't select players
Life Thoughts
that won't get along. Avoid all these mistakes, and it will
Admin save you a lot of headaches in the long run.
TAGS I made several of these mistakes with my first campaign. I

invited people from my various social groups, and it's
obvious not all of them get along. I also have 6 players,
Design Games
Personal
which means everything takes much longer. I've managed
to mitigate these problems with time, but it's obvious that
Website these choices have made for a much tougher campaign
for me to run and rougher for the players. By comparison, I
play in a small group with two others and we all work well
Search together. Our synergy is incredible, and the game is much
smoother as a result.
Considering user-experience is not unique to tabletop

RPGs. Video Games and most product-based industries
hail the almighty user, and with good reason. As the target
audience of what you’re making, it is imperative that what
you make is tailored to their needs and/or wants. This is
imperative for designers. That said, it is true of any
interaction. The more you know about who you’re
communicating with, the better you can respond to them
to come to a beneficial arrangement. This is fundamental
logic in theory, but it is all too often forgotten in practice.
Tip 3: Know Your Game, And Be

Passionate About It
The DM and the players are important, but equally
important is the campaign itself. It is the third leg of the
stool; without one, the other two fall apart. You as a DM
are the supreme master of the game world, and you
should have the knowledge to back that up. It's important
that you have a deep understanding of both the
mechanics and lore you'll be using. These are your tools,
and without them it's the blind leading the blind, and that
doesn't end well. Even if you’re really good at
improvisation, if you don’t have a solid foundation you risk
going all over the place. The moment a player steps off the
beaten path, and trust me they will, you're going to have to
tell them what they find, or at least provide a good reason
for why that doesn't work. It will also help you determine
how to best advise your players when it comes to making
choices that complement the setting.
Related to this, if you're interested in running a campaign

that is in the process of being written/released I also
suggest waiting until it is fully released before doing so.

This saves you the risk of accidental contradictions. I made
the mistake of starting the campaign before all the books
came out, and so I lacked knowledge about some world
aspects that would have helped greatly. One specific
example comes with my friend having picked a character
race that played a role later in the campaign (and had a
settlement nearby), but because the race and their
settlement weren't outlined, I couldn't propose ways in
which the player might integrate them into his own story.
As a result, his character lacks in the way of tangible
motivations that could have really helped with immersion.
But it's a lesson I retain for the future.
Now, knowing the setting and mechanics is all fine and

good, but that's not enough. You need to be passionate
about it. After all if you don't care, why should your
players? There are hundreds if not thousands of game
systems, worlds, and campaigns out there, and if you're
ambitious you can make your own. There's no excuse for
you to run something you aren't fascinated by. And if the
one you picked has bits you don't like, remember that
you're the DM. You can change them. Replace or alter
NPCs, places, rules… You are allowed to do all these things
and more to make something you're as eager to have your
players explore as they should be to explore it.
I specifically picked my campaign because I was very

interested in its basic premise and setting. When I started
my lore knowledge was okay but as we continued I did a
lot of research. Now when it comes to the city of Kintargo
and its surrounding areas I could tell you just about
anything. I also threw in many new characters and flavour
for existing ones to give it more life, and it meant players
cared much more about them than they might have
otherwise. It was important that the players feel invested in
the world, so I made a point to invest in it myself. I think
that is my one biggest success with my campaign.
Tip 4: Leave No Rules

Ambiguous
It's a fairly common for rules to be debated during a game.
Either someone doesn't like the way a certain thing works,
or someone's actively abusing a linguistic loophole, or the

rules are ambiguous or contradictory. As the DM it's your
job to be the final word on these things. Whether you want
to listen to a player's argument and bend the rules or
decree that that is not how that thing works no matter how
much the player might want to empty the ocean by putting
it in their bag of holding, the choice is up to you. But you
do need to make sure you set that rule and set it definitely
so that players know what goes and what doesn't. Players
squabbling over mechanics take precious time away from
playing the actual game. Of course some of these only
come up circumstantially and can't be predicted, but for
those ones just use your absolute authority as DM to sort
them out as they appear.
I've seen this quite a few times, both in my game and

others, and no example is more prevalent as the alignment
system. Would torturing a cultist to get crucial information
about an imminent plot cause a good-aligned inquisitor to
fall from grace? Is violent murder evil, neutral, or good if
the ones getting murdered were tyrants and bigots? What
do lawful, neutral, and chaotic even mean? This debate
can get quite heated, and since my game in particular was
oriented towards CG freedom fighters combating a
tyrannical authority, I knew I had to plug that hole before it
came up. After all, one man’s freedom fighter is another
man’s terrorist, and I didn’t want my group falling into the
trap of thinking that any actions would be justified as
“good” just because the villains were evil.
In my case, I laid out Good vs Evil as pertaining to the

wellbeing of the local citizens, and Lawful vs Chaotic as
being a focus on the written law (Lawful), the spirit of the
law (Neutral), and the results (Chaotic) when defining Good
and Evil. I also decreed that my judgements on any
alignment shifts were allowed one appeal, but only one,
and that my decisions were final. All things considered it
has worked reasonably well. Admittedly my party does
have plenty of moments of dubious morality (the quote
“does all this blood count as difficult terrain” comes to
mind), but I think through the NPCs and the party itself
getting more comfortable with the setting, alignment in
particular has gone from being a problem to a narrative
factor. It was nonetheless a rough patch in my game that
I’ll be more careful with in the future.
Tip 5: Set Boundaries For Your

Game
Where my last tip was about boundaries in the rules, here
I’m referring to boundaries in the sense of scope of the
setting. Too often it can be easy to think “I'll just give my
players a rich world and let them find their adventure”. It's
a nice thought, and if you're really prepared for it a
sandbox can work fairly well. But most campaigns have a
storyline or plot of some kind, and the moment there's a
trail you need to make sure your players stay on it (with
reasonable room for deviation, of course). A lot of this is
done at the start of the campaign. Players need to know
what type of game they're in, both in and out of the meta.
Their characters should relate to the story, and the player
should be in the right frame of mind. Otherwise you end
up with absurdities where characters have no reason to
follow your story's rules and suddenly you're left with all
your key NPCs murdered by the “heroes” or players
cracking jokes and refusing to take your horror scenario
seriously. Certainly you don't want to railroad your players
entirely, but they should be aware of what are and aren't
good ways of approaching your game.
My players generally struggled with their roles in my

campaign at first. I didn't have a full picture of the setting (I
naively started once the first book of the adventure came
out, not knowing what would come further down the line),
and so understanding of the plot was somewhat rough. It
meant that my players didn't go for the “fight for the good
of the city” aspect the game narrative eventually tried to
push, instead taking the “fight to kill the bad guy”
approach. It meant the party of would be freedom fighters
for justice and liberty were more akin to morally dubious
assassins. The campaign assumed players would try using
nonlethal tactics, but I hadn't given them much of a reason
to even consider them.
I managed to pull this back a bit as time went on through

NPC interactions and not so subtle hints that they might
want to stop murdering everyone and start being a bit
more “heroic” in temperament. Some of that did also
involve me privately taking players aside to clear it up,
which fortunately worked reasonably well. Next time
though, I would definitely be very upfront about what your

true objective and motivations are. For instance, the next
game I'm planning is a horror game. As such, I'll definitely
have to be adamant about not having the comical tangents
common to the prior campaign.
Tip 6: Have A Session Zero

So much of what I've noted so far, and a lot of what will
come for that matter, can be handled by simply having a
session zero. A session zero is essentially a scheduled
session in which the players build their characters
together. It gives the players a chance to interact and
come up with synergies and dynamics together. It's not
called a “party” for nothing, after all. Even if they come
from different backgrounds, the characters and players
should be able to work with each other. It also gives you a
chance to observe, clarify, and offer hints and suggestions
at how to prepare for your game. Too many DMs will skip
this step, and it's a pity. You can avoid so many major early
pitfalls with it.
I had a session 0 for my game, but most of it was actually

spent explaining basic rules of character creation to my
players who didn't know the system well. Some players
simply weren't there for it and I helped them with their
characters separately. It meant that the rag tag bunch of
freedom fighters were very rag tag. Character concepts
clashed, and not in the good “this adds flavour to the party
dynamic” sort of way. Characters had wildly different
motivations that at times conflicted and lead to characters
leaving the party to go on their own. A lot of the issues I
had to work out over the course of the first dozen sessions
or so could have probably been avoided had it been for a
session 0.
Tip 7: Keep A Rulebook Handy

In the event that you don't know your game’s rules and
mechanics by heart (and even if you do), it pays immensely
to have an easy to pick up reference for yourself and your
players. If you're in person, keep at least one copy (but
preferably multiple) of the rulebook on hand. If online,
keep a tab or window with them at the ready. This little
thing can save you a lot of time. Players don't have to ask
you for everything, you don't have to remember all those
edge cases and special rules, and rule debates can be
solved quickly.
That said, sometimes the rules can be a little much, and in

those events I wholeheartedly support making your rules
up on the fly. Personally, I like to balance both quite
precariously. Since my game is conducted online, I always
have a link open to the online Pathfinder guide so that I
can quickly look up rules and details when I need it.
However I keep an unwritten rule in mind: if looking up the
rule is taking long enough that the pace starts feeling like
it will be broken, then I’ll give up on looking it up and make
up something that makes reasonable sense. Usually my
biggest hint regarding the pace is that player’s will start
talking about subjects outside of what is currently going
on in the game. One other thing that can help is to have
certain pertinent rule pages bookmarked or open already
when they become relevant. I like to keep links to them
attached to relevant tokens or notes so that I can quickly
access them as needed.
Tip 8: Keep Notes For Yourself

If the rulebook covers you for mechanics, your notes
should cover the roleplay. Even if the campaign comes
from a premade book, it's always good write things out
yourself. Your notes should be naturally easier for you to
read, and you can include details the source might not
have. I keep dialogue scripts, scene descriptions,
instructions on what songs and actions to do certain
moments, and other details in here, and I have to say since
I started using them I've found it immensely helpful. It’s
very similar to a design document for a game or a
screenplay for a film: these will allow you to prepare
scenes in advance so that you can play them out faster
and easier while in the game.
Needless to say these ones are just for you, so no player

peeking. But of course you can always provide a codex of
sorts for their benefit that you fill with info as they go. I
started making these after a game where I played as the
knowledge bot and had trouble remembering all the NPC
names. Fortunately once my DM added a journal it made

my life (and the DM's) much easier.
Tip 9: Use Secret Modifiers

Often times, there are situations where the dice just don't
what you want them to do, and it messes up the game. Say
you keep getting critical hits on one party member, and
end up killing them early on without giving them a chance
to fight back. Say the party keeps failing the check to open
a door that's necessary to continue to the next area, with
no real alternative path. Here's the thing, you're the DM.
You hold absolute power, and therefore bend the dice to
your whims. Don't show your players your dice, and it you
must, wait until after you've decided they have a result you
deem acceptable. Consider adding modifiers based on the
situation, even if the rules don't strictly call for it. If
someone contests you, remind them that you have the
right invoke DM fudge (or fiat, or whatever term you want
to use for making stuff up; you're the DM after all).
I am a big supporter of DM fudge, in case it wasn't

obvious. I use it often. Not so often that I completely take
away the chance of the game, but particularly for
situations where one result is significantly more interesting
than the other. If the players are trying to get past a door
and simply can't get a decent role, I decrease the difficulty
so that they do. If an enemy can't for the life of them pose
any threat to the players because of poor roles, I change
them. If a player really should be able to pass a certain
check but the mechanical likelihood of it working is
minute, I give them a bonus that accounts for their
background.
In many tabletop systems fudge is the simplest way to

balance a situation. No system is perfect, and DM fudge is
what allows the DM to carry out their job of converting the
theoretical rules of the game into practical enjoyment for
the players. If that means twisting the rules to suit your
needs, so be it. In fact this sort of emergent design is
perhaps one of the greatest strengths of tabletop RPGs
compared to other types of games, because these things
can be done both easily and discretely. In truth I don't
always tell them that this is what I'm doing, but in many
cases they don't need to know.
Tip 10: Give Your Scenes Flavour

This one is perhaps a bit more subjective, since it applies
more to narrative focused games, but nonetheless the
application of narrative flavour can do wonders for a
game's tone and feel. A well placed voice accent, dramatic
reveal, or impromptu description of a scene will help to
immerse your players in a way that raw dice rolls never
will. You don't have to be an actor either; there are loads of
ways to do it. Get some background music, use different
tokens, make physical letters or objects as handouts, and
encourage your players to get certain mechanical boons
for roleplaying. Some systems have the last part baked in
already.
Personally, I use several of these techniques. Bosses get

special boss music, and I try to decorate my scenes when I
can. Anytime a critical roll or particularly special event
occurs, I try to narrate it (usually to comical effect). I write
session summaries that include pertinent gifs and quips. I
give every NPC a unique voice and accent. I write scripts
for much of my dialogue. The last one is a bit tricky since
players rarely follow your dialogue expectations perfectly,
but I solve that but keeping it vague and including
branching responses. I can tell you from experience that
these things make my campaigns so much better. My
players have come to know these characters and will even
joke about them outside of the game. Some group
favorites are Neddus, THE MOST HEROIC, BRAVE, AND
LOUD PALADIN IN ALL THE LAND, AND ALSO NOT THE
SMARTEST, Setrona, the sassiest and crudest little Irish
tavern owner you ever did see, and the stern Octavio, who
in Setrona's words “has that polearm o’ his shoved so far
up his arse I figure his sharp tongue's just the blade stickin’
out his mouth”. I was pretty proud of myself for that line.
Tip 11: Have A Plan, And Be

Prepared For It To Derail
One of the big advantages tabletop RPGs have that other

games often don't is the flexibility to alter the game on the
fly based on how the players interact with the world. A DM
is a person, and this means they can be more interactive
than any other game system. That said, foolish is the DM
that thinks they can improvise the whole thing and actually
produce a decent story and progression. I'm not saying it
can't be done, but let's be honest: it's never going to be as
good as a well-planned scenario.
However, the only thing as certain as the value of a plan of

that your players are going to break it. That's just a reality
of design: users will always find ways to subvert your
expectations. So, don't make a plan with the assumption
that your players will follow every little step you give them.
They'll jump to conclusions, they'll try things you didn't
account for, and they’ll ignore hints. Sometimes it's not
even the players, but the dice or some other factor you
didn't prepare for. Say your players just really can't hit one
particular enemy or don't have a key item they were
supposed to get. At one point or another, it will happen,
and in those moments, you need to be able to handle it.
There are a couple ways to do that, and realistically you
should use both of them.
The first is to make sure your plan has contingencies.

When I'm writing my session plans, I always include little
notes for “what if” situations. I try to include simple details
like how the buildings are constructed, basic personality
traits for minor NPCs, and the like. I also have standardised
values for dice roll difficulties. For example, players must
pass 15 on their check to do a basic thing, 20 for a
challenging thing, 30 for a very difficult thing (these should
be adjusted to match what your players can get on
average). Conventions like that are useful for when I
quickly need to come up with a check, which leads me to
my second solution.
Improvisation skills are your friend. When the plan and

backup fail, you need to know how to respond. Knowing
your lore is a big part of that (see Tip 3), but some of it is
purely on you. I tend to practice a lot on my own scenarios.
I'll think about how NPCs would respond to an event and
kind of blather it to myself. I’ll consider their comments of
shock and confusion, how they'd give advice, and other
considerations. I use the same technique on the

mechanics side. I think of the feasibility of more outlandish
ways to act, and how I'd run them. Some of is intuitive, but
thinking on your feet is a skill that can be learned. Take up
improv if you can. Or barring that play in games and
practice your logic from the other side (how would you
deal with your party). And if you don't know whether to let
something slide or not, you can always use your dice.
Sometimes when a player asks me if something would
work and I'm not entirely sure, I'll to a dice or flip a coin to
see if I'll allow it. This works pretty decently more often
than not.
Tip 12: Check Up On Your

Players (And Their Sheets)
As a DM, checking up on your players is crucial for two
reasons. The first is for feedback, the second is to make
sure your players are actually up to speed.
There's a general lack of appreciation for feedback in the

design world. That's a mistake you as a DM must not
make. Talk to your players regularly. Observe them
constantly. Find out what they like and don't like about
your game. What would they like to see? What are their
goals with their character? Do they understand what
you're trying to do with the campaign? Get as much
feedback as you can, and use it to make your game better.
And a quick note: don't just go by the stuff your players tell
you either. Actions can tell a great deal more. You need to
be observant. Notice when players repeatedly make the
same mistakes or regularly avoid or pursue certain aspects
of your game. These behaviours can be telltale signs of
how to adjust your game to make it more enjoyable.
Then there's the matter of sheet checking. While players

should be keeping their sheets up to date, I can tell you
from experience they often won't, or they will but not give
them to you. While in some cases it's fine to leave it be, in
doing so you leave yourself open to some problems. Sad
as it is, some players will exploit your lack of oversight to
do things which can ultimately be a detriment to the game
and their fellow players. Other times they'll make mistakes
or forget things. I had one player give themselves a
powerful ability they shouldn't have for another four levels

because they didn't notice the prerequisite, while another
hadn't given himself feats or skill points for the last three
levels because he was still learning the system and didn't
know what to add on his sheet. It's these kinds of things
that can easily be fixed by having your players give you
regular sheet updates.
I make sure to demand sheets before any major

encounters. Not only does it let me check for these sorts
of issues, but it also gives me data on their strengths and
weaknesses that I can use to enhance encounters. One
rule I plan on using in the future to ensure compliance for
games where these details are important is this: “As far as
I'm concerned, the last sheet you gave me is the one you
have. If you have an item or ability but it's not on that
sheet, you don't have it.”
Tip 13: A DM’s Words Are

Powerful; Use Them Wisely
There is a reason you are called the Dungeon MASTER.
You hold the keys to the game. You know everything there
is to know about the game (or have the power to make it
up). You are effectively the god of this realm. Don't let that
get to your head, but appreciate it. Like they say, with
great power comes great responsibility.
Your words can make or break a situation, so you need to

act like it. Be prepared to offer advice of a player needs it,
and to stay quiet if they need a lesson. The players should
care about what you have to say, but at the same time they
cannot rely on it alone. Definitely don't tell them what to do
(except for very special situations), but instead give them
choices (“you could do X or Y”, “do you want to do this
thing”, etc.), and occasionally mention likely consequences
(“you could do X, but NPC might not be happy”). In drastic
situations where a “total party kill” action is about to be
undertaken, you also have access to perhaps the most
powerful phrase a DM can utter: “Are you sure you want to
do that?” Use that one carefully, because it should bring a
party to an immediate halt.
It can be pretty intimidating too, I understand, to hold all

that influence. There's a trick I use for that. Often times, I'll
give NPCs a great deal of wisdom. They'll have plenty of
advice on how to deal with various situations. But they will
only offer this advice if the players ask for it, or are
evidently stuck. As such, I can restrict my advice to “you
have people you can ask”. It takes some of the pressure
off of me and means I can even toss in the occasional
misdirection (after all, an NPC might not know what the DM
knows). NPCs are almost universally better guides than the
DM, but the DM’s voice is a tool like any other, to be used
when you want your players to take what you say as an
absolute.
Tip 14: Player Agency Is An

Essential Thing; Handle With
Caution
By player agency, I mean a player’s ability to control the
actions and choices of their character. In any game,
agency is critical, but especially so in an RPG. Those
characters represent the players. They are yours to
manipulate, attack, support, influence… But not control.
The moment you take away the player’s control, they
aren't playing the game. At best they're listening to your
story. There are few things less fun in a tabletop RPG than
not being able to do anything in a given situation, be it
because you took over or they are in a situation where
none of their actions work.
That said, taking away agency from the player isn't

completely “verboten”. In fact, it can be an excellent way to
instill fear or very threatening situations. Players naturally
won't want to lose agency, and when it happens it can be
devastating. I think the tensest situation I've ever been in
involved one of our party members getting hit with a magic
jar spell and getting possessed by a powerful creature. It
was scary as hell, but quite fun.
And there's more ways to take advantage of agency as

well beyond simply taking it away. Making it work in ways
they don't expect (think of how you might adapt something
like the Psycho Mantis fight from Metal Gear Solid into
tabletop format), mismatching what the player knows and

what is happening (a cursed item that does the opposite of
what the player thinks it should, for example), giving
players different information, messing with basic
mechanics… There are some creative things you can do by
playing with player agency. To toss an example in, I have
one encounter that involves an enemy disguising itself as
another player to cause confusion. In Roll20, I do this by
making a second character token for that person. The
player in question doesn't know which one of the tokens is
actually his, and I don't tell the other players either. In fact I
don't even tell them the impostor's there. That's for them to
notice, hopefully before it's too late.
Tip 15: Give Meaning To

Character Deaths
Some systems, campaigns, and even DMs boast about
being player killers. I am of the opinion that that is
generally dumb, at least in the context of a roleplaying
game. Systems that work around the concept of frequent
death can work (the game Paranoia uses this to good
effect), but what's important to recognise in most RPGs is
that players will usually put a fair bit of personal
investment in creating and developing their characters.
There are exceptions of course, but I'm talking about in
general. Death in a system like D&D or Pathfinder doesn't
come with an easy respawn until fairly high levels. You
need to come up with a new character idea, build that
character from the ground up, and even then they might
lack the investment of the previous character. It can also
be a pretty huge bummer for some people who have long
term plans for their character.
Now, having said all that, I'm not against PC deaths

outright. What I'm saying is that it's a big deal. It can be an
extremely potent narrative tool if you want it to be. But in
order for you to make it so, you have to make the death
significant, both in cause and effect. There are few things I
hate in a game as much as a “save or die”. For those that
aren’t familiar, this is the concept of a situation where the
player must roll a dice and the life of their character is
decided almost entirely on the outcome, with very little the
player can do about it. Make sure your players stand a
fighting chance, and that if they're dying, it's because of

their own poor tactical choices or dangerous risks. You
may be the cause of death, but the player must first enable
you to do it.
And furthermore, when a PC death does happen, be sure

to give them a suitably dramatic send-off. Tip 10 is
particularly relevant in these sorts of situations. Let the
player have their character go out a blaze of glory. Make it
like one of those scenes where a main character gets
offed in spectacular fashion. Make a show of it. The more
weight you as a DM put on the death, the more
importance you are placing on the character's life. It's a
good way to further your player's investment in the game
universe. The party should feel like they just lost a
comrade in arms in a fierce battle, not like Jimmy rolled a 1
so now he has to make a new sheet.
Tip 16: Know What Your Players

Are Comfortable Dealing With
You know what I said about knowing your players? I know
it was 14 tips ago, but hopefully the lesson stuck. That
lesson goes doubly so for sensitive subjects. Players play
games to have fun and enjoy themselves. Things that pull
them out of the game by making them uncomfortable just
aren't cool. Take note of phobias, touchy subjects, and the
like. As abused as they might be in some cases, there's
nothing wrong with content warnings either.
Really, this rule just boils down to “don't be an

inconsiderate jerk”. If one of your players recently put
down their dog and is feeling depressed about it, maybe
don't send a pack of zombie dogs after them. If your party
isn't into ultra-dark humour, try keeping it to a minimum (or
better yet don’t have it at all). Like most things that tread
along the edges of depravity, consent, be it explicitly
stated or implicit, is important. When it comes to
questionable content, some people won't mind if you
shove it down their throats, and that's great. But don't do it
without getting permission first. Really, not shoving things
down people’s throats without their consent is just good
practice in general.
Tip 17: Yes It's Their Story, But

You're Still The One Telling It
At times, the job of a DM might seem selfless, but if that's
the case then you probably aren't doing it right. The DM,
while they aren't a player character, is still a player in the
grand scheme of things. To borrow a term from business,
they're a stakeholder, just like the ones “playing” the
game. As such, it's critical that the DM also enjoys
themselves while running the game.
Well known game writer and DM Matthew Colville once

said that the way to determine whether or not a DM has
fun depends on whether or not their players have fun. I'd
go a bit further than that. Yes, a DM’s enjoyment of the
game should be predicated on the enjoyment of their
players, but likewise the players’ enjoyment will rely
heavily on the enjoyment of the DM. That might sound
convoluted so I'll try to simplify: player and DM enjoyment
are and should be a symbiotic relationship. One cannot
exist without the other, and if either is missing then the
game will inevitably fall apart. This is why while many
guides about being a good DM talk about improving the
experience for players, it's important not to neglect the
DM's experience.
This ties in quite heavily with Tip 3. After all, if you aren't
passionate about the game, crafting the story within it will
seem tedious, and that will rub off on your players. Quite
simply put, you won't be a good DM if you aren't enjoying
the story you're telling.
Fortunately as of yet I haven't found a situation in my game

where I've lost interest in the story. I'd like to think that's a
big reason for why my game has continued successfully
for as long as it has. However I've certainly seen it with
others. There are many times that I've seen a DM lose
sight of their campaign's vision, and as a result the game
rapidly withered and died. Playing in games where the DM
seems to view it as a core just isn't fun, and as a player I
wouldn't want to stay in such a game.
Tip 18: Steal Good Ideas From

Others
To steal an often misattributed quote, “Good artists copy;
great artists steal”. It's an idea that any artist or designer
should keep close to heart. After all, it is also said that
everything has already been done. So, by extension,
anything new is just a really cleverly crafted combination
of previously had ideas melded together.
This is particularly true for storytellers. The human

experience only has so many divergent paths, including in
fantasy. After all even if it is fantasy it should be relatable
to your real life human players. There is a great deal of
material in the human database, and many great ideas that
haven't been fully exploited. Taking these good ideas and
making them your own is just being efficient.
That being said, note the wording of my last sentence.

“Making them your own” is important. This is the
difference between “borrowing” and “stealing” (and by
extension the difference between a good artist and a great
one, if you follow the opening quote). While taking
something cool from somewhere else and transposing it
into your adventure is fine, it's even better if you can
identify what about that thing made it cool, and rebuild it
as a part of your game.
Allow me to offer an example. Though be advised, this is

the part where I spoil a rather significant part of the Hell's
Rebels adventure path, so if your intention is to play in it I
strongly recommend skipping the rest of this section.
Recently, my players attended a masquerade ball being

hosted by the villain of the campaign. The players knew
this event would be a trap, but didn't know what sort of
trap it would be. The trap in question, as laid out in the
book, is that at the end of the night the villain locks the
doors and has his minions slaughter everyone in
attendance while disguised as good-aligned creatures so
that he can blame it on the heroes.
However, this plan has some plot holes. If the villain

doesn't intend to have anyone survive, why bother with
the disguises? If that's a fallback in case anyone survives,
then why would he make a long winded speech to the

crowd just before the massacre begins calling them
“necessary sacrifices”? His attempt at plausible deniability
is notably flawed in this regard. Additionally, the villain was
supposed to have a bodyguard who would appear only if
the party didn't kill them earlier. My party did, so the villain
was down a minion, and my group is strong enough that
losing that powerful foe would make the fight much too
easy.
Fortunately, while going through a forum for DMs of this

adventure, I came across a few ideas. For the minion,
someone had proposed an alternative that I ultimately
used in my game. By this point, the players had thwarted
the villain multiple times. The idea was that his bodyguard
at the masquerade was his former bodyguard that had
failed him in the first book, and was subsequently tortured
and upgraded to be threatening to the now much stronger
players. Since that one was dead in my game she could
not reappear. However, this other DM had pointed out that
there was nothing stopping the villain from doing the same
thing to any of his other minions that had failed him, and it
just so happened there was a foe my players had
deceived, rather than fought. For her failure she was
turned into the new tortured bodyguard, and served the
role very well.
The events leading to the massacre was another proposed

alternative I took from that forum. Since the players had
done so well to thwart the villain before, it was unlikely that
he could kill all 300 people at the masquerade without
anyone escaping. Since the villain was in fact a clever
strategist, this other DM suggested that the villain conduct
a final ceremony that would get interrupted by someone
disguised as a player or ally character, so that the lure of
the players being the ones responsible seemed more
plausible.
I took this idea, but I also fashioned it to suit my group

even better. Up until this point, my players had developed
a reputation for foiling the villain, but also for using fairly
violent means to do so. Many of the villain's subordinates
were killed quite brutally. One character in particular, a
former slave turned assassin, was known for his violence
against those that had wronged him. And so my solution
was this: during the final ceremony, certain members of

the audience would be brought on stage as winners of the
masquerade’s “best mask competition”. Among them was
the leader of the noble house most loyal to the villain, who
incidentally was the former owner of the slave character,
and someone disguised as that same character. During the
ceremony, the one disguised as a player leapt at and killed
the noble, and was subsequently put down by the villain,
but not before claiming his kill in the name of the player
characters’ organisation. This served as the panicked
pretext under which the massacre began.
The beauty of this solution was twofold. On the one hand,

it used the party's own reputation against them. Because
they were known for brutally assassinating those loyal to
the villain, it seemed perfectly plausible that such an attack
would take place, so even if people did escape the
massacre (which was likely given the sheer numbers), they
might still believe the players to be responsible. On the
other hand, because the players were not all together at
the time of the ceremony, some of them also believed,
briefly at least, that their ally and fellow player had just
committed the act, leading to confusion among the party
that rendered the whole event that much more chaotic (I
made sure with the player beforehand of course that he
would be okay with the temporary ire until things were
cleared up). The end result was that a scene that
otherwise would have made the villain seem foolish now
appeared as a much more devious plan that played to the
party's faults to give them a greater challenge and a more
visceral experience.
Tip 19: Play In Games

Technically speaking, there is no rule that a DM has to
have ever been a player of the game they’re running. All
they really need is a decent understanding of the rules
and a campaign to run. That said, it should come as no
surprise that playing in games can be immensely useful for
any DM. It is by playing in other games that you can see
how the game feels from the player’s perspective, but also
how other DMs run their games. These offer excellent
opportunities to learn by observing others. Countless
times I’ve taken good ideas from other DMs I’ve played
under, or learned from mistakes they’ve made in their

games. By seeing experiences I as a player enjoyed, it
gave me a better idea of what to offer my own players.
Being on the other side of the DM wall can offer a great
deal of perspective, which leads me to my last piece of
advice…
Tip 20: Have A Life

Tabletop games are immensely fun, and offer a massive
array of experiences and opportunities to learn and
engage with others. That said, it is only one of many
mediums through which you can experience the world.
Vast as it might be, it can become possible to get too
wrapped up in it, and for it to suffocate your creativity. To
refer a little to Tip 18, many of the greatest artists,
particularly in the realms of fantasy and science fiction,
drew inspiration from other mediums. Isaac Asimov uses
his knowledge as a scientist to enhance his stories. Frank
Herbert drew heavily from Arabic culture and religion in
Dune. George R.R. Martin has an affinity for the history of
the European Middle Ages. There’s an entire Wikipedia
page covering J. R. R. Tolkien’s influences.
What’s important to recognise is that all of these renowned

writers that so often have influenced the domain of
tabletop RPGs took inspiration from other sources. To be a
good DM, you must be a good storyteller. To be a good
storyteller, you must know good stories. And to know good
stories, you must look to the world and all it has to offer.
Better yet is to live out stories of your own. Go outside,
meet different people, and see interesting things. By
cultivating experiences first hand, you can draw from them
something much more personal than anything you could
conceive through pure imagination alone. In fact, I would
dare to say that raw imagination is unusable. It can morph
and bend things into wonderful shapes, but it needs raw
materials to work. These materials come from the outside
world.
It would be all too easy for me to shut myself in my room

and spend my entire time doing tabletop games. Perhaps
if I had, I would have much more experience under my belt
than just one game. But I know with absolute certainty that
if I were to have sacrificed my life to make and run games,

they would be nowhere near as good as what I can
produce now. Taking experience from all over the place is
what allows me to craft the best work I can, and continuing
to have experiences that push my boundaries will only
make me a better DM and designer with time. That, quite
possibly, is the single most important piece of advice I can
offer.
Conclusion
And with that, I’ve reached the end of my lessons so far. As
you might have noticed, some are much more practical,
others more abstract. But one thing I hope you’ve
observed is that all of them, in one way or another, apply
not only to tabletop roleplaying games. In truth, any piece
of advice I’ve offered here can be just as valid in just about
any other domain, be it video games, business,
relationships, or anything else. You may need to tweak the
terminology a bit of course, but it’s all there. That is
something I’ve taken great pleasure in observing in my life:
that everything is connected. There are through-lines,
universal truths. Systems will often remain consistent from
one place to another, and there are a great many
transferrable skills that aren’t always known by the same
names. To truly recognise this fact, I think, is a key step in
being a more complete individual. I won’t be so grandiose
as to say it’s the path to enlightenment or anything like
that, but I wouldn’t discount the notion.
In conclusion, allow me to offer one final piece of parting

wisdom from someone who no doubt has a great deal yet
to learn: to be a great DM is to truly understand people. A
great DM can touch the hearts and minds of their players
and open them to a world of experiences they could only
dream of. There is great potential in this role, far more than
what might be recognised. I think anyone who has truly
been a DM can recognise that. I ask that you hold onto
that, and cherish it. Being able to touch others in such a
way is an incredible thing, and I really do believe it can
bring us together and better us as people. I know that
might seem rather lofty for a game, but sometimes the
greatest things do come in the strangest of packages. This
is, after all, why I chose to pursue the path of a game

designer.
In Thoughts Tags Design, Personal, Games
Share 23 Likes
← An Update Long Overdue Reflection 2: Looking Back,

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Comments (4) Newest First Subscribe via e-mail
Preview POST COMMENT…
Doug James Page

2 months ago · 0 Likes
So Hell's Rebels huh? :)
I like it a lot so far as a DM and picked the AP to

suit my players. I really liked your advice in the
article. Excellent suggestions which both new and
veteran DMs such as myself can benefit from.
Thank you!
Justin Loranger-
Ahluwalia
Indeed. Hell's Rebels remains among my

favourite pre-written adventures out there,
second now only to War for the Crown.
Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you

liked it! It's certainly motivated me to write
more!
Jerry 2 months ago · 0 Likes
Wow this was really helpful thanks!
Justin Loranger-
Ahluwalia
I'm really glad you thought so!
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12/1/2019 20 Tips for Becoming a Better DM: Lessons Learned at the Table — Trichotome Design

GAMES MISC BLOG ABOUT

20 Tips For Becoming A Better

Tabletop Roleplaying is something many people know

As of my writing this, I have been playing Pathfinder for a

An Update Long Overdue but it is my deepest one. Admittedly on a relative scale 3

It is for this reason that I’m writing this, a compilation of the

Homestuck's Conclusion and

October 2015 I’ve done an inventory of my own DMing style. My strength

TAGS I made several of these mistakes with my first campaign. I

Considering user-experience is not unique to tabletop

Tip 3: Know Your Game, And Be

Related to this, if you're interested in running a campaign

suggest waiting until it is fully released before doing so.

Now, knowing the setting and mechanics is all fine and

I specifically picked my campaign because I was very

Tip 4: Leave No Rules

or someone's actively abusing a linguistic loophole, or the

I've seen this quite a few times, both in my game and

In my case, I laid out Good vs Evil as pertaining to the

Tip 5: Set Boundaries For Your

My players generally struggled with their roles in my

I managed to pull this back a bit as time went on through

though, I would definitely be very upfront about what your

Tip 6: Have A Session Zero

I had a session 0 for my game, but most of it was actually

Tip 7: Keep A Rulebook Handy

That said, sometimes the rules can be a little much, and in

Tip 8: Keep Notes For Yourself

Needless to say these ones are just for you, so no player

names. Fortunately once my DM added a journal it made

Tip 9: Use Secret Modifiers

I am a big supporter of DM fudge, in case it wasn't

In many tabletop systems fudge is the simplest way to

Tip 10: Give Your Scenes Flavour

Personally, I use several of these techniques. Bosses get

Tip 11: Have A Plan, And Be

One of the big advantages tabletop RPGs have that other

However, the only thing as certain as the value of a plan of

The first is to make sure your plan has contingencies.

Improvisation skills are your friend. When the plan and

considerations. I use the same technique on the

Tip 12: Check Up On Your

There's a general lack of appreciation for feedback in the

Then there's the matter of sheet checking. While players

powerful ability they shouldn't have for another four levels

I make sure to demand sheets before any major

Tip 13: A DM’s Words Are

Your words can make or break a situation, so you need to

It can be pretty intimidating too, I understand, to hold all

Tip 14: Player Agency Is An

That said, taking away agency from the player isn't

And there's more ways to take advantage of agency as

tabletop format), mismatching what the player knows and

Tip 15: Give Meaning To

Now, having said all that, I'm not against PC deaths

fighting chance, and that if they're dying, it's because of

And furthermore, when a PC death does happen, be sure

Tip 16: Know What Your Players

Really, this rule just boils down to “don't be an

Tip 17: Yes It's Their Story, But

Well known game writer and DM Matthew Colville once

Fortunately as of yet I haven't found a situation in my game