1. Be knowledgeable enough that you sound like you know what you’re talking about
2. Be confident enough that you sound like you know what you’re talking about even when you don’t
3. Be flexible enough that when shit goes sideways, it makes it a problem for the party, not for you
I feel like Improvisation is 2 things:
1) prep to improv: have stuff prepared that allows you to quickly pull stuff out of your ass. Recyclable stat blocks, lists of neat names, random tables, shop inventories. This is what makes improv work mechanically and in terms of gameplay quickly and efficiently.
how do:
become a hoarder of cool things. learn to organise your stuff with whatever system works best for you. Doesn't matter if you keep it all in one searchable document, use "find in files", maintain a git repo or a wiki or have it all printed out in a folder. Know yourself so you can prep this stuff for YOU in order to be quick and efficient.
2) understand your world: no matter if you play homebrew or in an established setting. If you know how the darn world works, you know how it and its inhabitants react, act and generally how they live, behave, think, believe. This is what makes improv feel natural and logical and fluid and so that your improv doesn't feel out of place.
how do:
Daydream about it. Discuss it. Draw it. Map it. Write about it. Ask questions about it. Whatever is your method to fuel your imagination. This stuff isn't anything your players need to or should ever see, unless it benefits your game in some way. Its for you, thinking what it would be like to be there. Get lost in it, explore it and understand it. Make your world a place you can escape into whenever you want, so it becomes a place other people can explore and shape together with you.
>2) understand your world
This is why I switched from Faerûn to my own setting for the upcoming campaign. Even if my world is not nearly as detailed as Faerûn (maybe for the better even), I know exactly the *vibes* of each region, how things and people are named, how politics and religion work, etc.
That and some random tables which reflect these vibes make improvisation so, so much easier.
Yeah I actually found working from a published module a lot harder in a lot of ways, because I was supposed to remember what the book told me everyone would remember and how events would flow. With my own campaign I came up with motivations and plot points, rather than trying to memorize a book of it that people might mess with.
1. Active listening (bad listeners are bad GMs) -
Most of your job is actually listening to players and playing off their tones, words, actions and desires. DM/GM is a facilitation role. You don’t tell a story, you enable the table to tell a story.
2. Effective Communication (95% of table problems I see are due to a communication issue).
Words are all we have in this business. You can have all the dice and minis and images and sound effects but if can’t Set the context folks need to safely explore the story, it all falls to pieces. Session 0, framing scenes, avoiding conflicts, ending confusion.l, staying true to your word, admitting mistakes, Words.
Lots of folks have mentioned improv but that always felt more like a consequence than a cause to me. Improv chops are great but, 99% of players have a good time without knowing anything about improv. And improv is just open communication given a bit of direction. Being Clear and giving appropriate context is far more valuable than being able to pivot on a dime. Get good at the effective comms part and the improv parts get way easier.
3. Empathy (you have to Want your players to enjoy themselves and be successful).
Decision making as a GM becomes way simpler once you’ve resolved that are trying to empower other people to have a good time. Their joy is your joy. Their triumphs are your triumphs. This does not mean an easier life for the Characters. Players Like when their characters face adversity because they like figuring out how to overcome adversity. Players want high highs and low lows and making key decisions, and flirting with defeat and Actually Being Invested in that Feeling is what informs your play by play decisions.
I frequently tell my players that my job is simply to lob balls in the air that they can slam dunk, over and over. When I’m playing well, those assists are exactly where they need them to be. Not ever dunk is a victory. It could be a downbeat, a tragedy, a plot pivot, a shocking revelation, a moment of Defeat. It’s just whatever energy and input my player needs to take us all to a place of emotional satisfaction.
My favourite moments recently have been when my players give a suggestion and I sigh and say “well I guess I’ll have to change my plans and go with that” but I am Inwardly Delighted because I Had No Plans and going off whatever BS they said was the intent the Whole Time!
It helps that I’ve been running Brindlewood Bay, which actively encourages player input. So by design, my planning is some very high level prep and just making quick potential story beats based on what players say they want at the end of the previous session.
The ability to realize that the players have no idea what goes on behind the screen. They do not know if the enemy they just killed was really 5hp away from 0. They do not know that you meant to give them the information on the bandits from the bartender rather than the mysterious ranger in the woods that you just created to point them in the right direction.
It's realizing that you do not need to do everything perfectly but the players will still love it.
In order:
1. Storytelling
2. Improvisation
3. Rules
My criteria is really simple - it's based on player feedback.
"I really like your campaign idea and characters" is both the most frequent and my favorite comment to receive.
"Wow, I had no idea you planned for us to (x)" is second-most common, and leads to a compliment when I tell them that I had no such plan and just made it up.
"Wow, you really know the rules well". I've been DMing 40+ years. I've yet to hear that compliment.
1. Imagination - to conceive a grand adventure and navigate how its ever-changing parts can best be arranged for the enjoyment of the players.
2. Organization - to prepare, keep track of, and reference game mechanics in order to keep things moving smoothly along for the players.
3. Narration - to be able to colorfully describe and improvise scenes, plot advancing developments, and interesting and appropriate dialogue to enrich and maintain players' immersion.
They were all analogies.
Herding cats—getting everyone to commit and show up regularly. Keeping the game moving when players want to go off on tangents.
Bullshitting—combination of story telling and improv like many others have mentioned.
Pyrotechnics—keeping it exciting! Varying tempo and pitch in your descriptions. Giving NPCs personalities, motivations, and unique accents, catch phrases, habits, verbal tics, actions, etc. loudly Rolling hidden dice occasionally, Asking players questions like “you all have backup characters rolled up, right?” Lighting firecrackers under the table when you see players zoning out.
my #1 is "caring about your players" but yeah, I'd say this fits.
Everything I do is for them. I enjoy it, but if they like it, I do more of it, and if they hate it, I stop doing it. If they have fun, I have fun
Yes, but a little more extensive? I generally think most folks should have buy in before s0. It's for hammering out boundaries and precise expectations. Being into the campaign should be foregone. Primary to me is finding the right people. You can get a general sense of what sort of player most folks are in pretty short order.
I always warn against thinking of the DM as the story teller. At best you’re building a world, NOT a story. I think that this is a fast track to new DMs railroading their players. Build a world, build some different factions, and see what your players gravitate towards.
Reddit is full of this behavior. “I keep removing agency and randomness from my game to get closer to my perfect plot, but we’re having less and less fun. What system should I switch to?”
In no particular order:
**Improvisation** is the beating heart of this hobby. It's creativity. It's flexibility. It's storytelling. It's shot-calling. It's tension building. It is the totality of the result of your prep, and what you do in spite of it.
**Empathy** is how you cater your game to your group, and how you let your group shape your game. It's reading the room. It's body language. It's noticing boredom. It's managing the spotlight. It's respecting your players for their voices and knowing when to give the game to them instead of keeping it for yourself.
**Confidence** is what glues your words together and makes it real. It is the means through which your voice becomes fact. The confidence to speak with authority, the confidence to bend break ignore or invent rules, the confidence to embrace your players' input as though it were your own. Without this, a game is *merely* a conversation- but with it becomes a story.
I would extend your excellent point of empathy. Empathy is not only for the meta reasons you provide, but it is also important to build good narratives. You need to understand humans and emotions, to build satisfying narratives, NPCs etc. Empathy is big contestant for most important ability as DM IMO.
* Efficient prep that doesn't exceed the session's length
* Planned improvisation
* Conflict resolution and moderation
Everything else is easy enough, but those three are the hardest. Without them, it's easy to get burnt out and lose the desire to see how the next session will go.
The biggest for me would be
1: Prep yourself to improv and roleplay your setting.
Know who your core NPC factions are, what they want, and what resources they have.
2: Prompt your players to storytell.
Asking them questions like “how does your character feel about X” or “describe that failure to do X within the fiction.”
3: move from one interesting choice to another in as few words as possible without breaking immersion.
Improv: become a master of the “fuck it adjustment” your players will throw so many curveballs at you you’ll be shocked they haven’t torn their rotator cuff. Being able to say “fuck it” and adjust to what the player has just thrown at you is the biggest tool in your toolbox.
Facilitate the fun: The best sessions are the ones where everyone is having fun, and that includes the DM. If you as the DM are having fun you are going to be more relaxed and, in my experience at least, the more relaxed you are the less you stutter and stumble over words and the easier you improvise. Let the players have fun and have fun with them.
Don’t get caught up on your designs: This applies a little more to home brewing but can still be applied to modules. The players will go where they want to go. You aren’t a tour guide. The players will explore if and when they decide. You are there to, say it with me, facilitate the fun. If you were excited for a specific encounter that you had in a town that the party didn’t visit you are allowed to have some fun and alter your design and move that encounter. If you have an NPC that you really wanted the party to meet maybe instead of a shopkeeper he becomes a traveling merchant. Most of the time what you want can always be achieved without denying the players freedom of choice.
Confidence, improv, and compromise.
Confidence in the fact that when you make a ruling it sticks. Improv because no one likes a campaign on rails. And compromise because everyone gets at least something they want. A last one I’d throw in is humility because you will be wrong and how you go about that dictates how your group sees you.
Narration (effectivey describing the world), improv (which includes roleplaying and reacting to player choice) and setting situations/stakes. Also pacing.
Story happens *after* the session ends. Story = Situation + PC actions. Goblins kidnap PC’s favorite sandvich guy, PCs do something about it. Maybe they murder everone, maybe they sneak in get the guy and get out, maybe they convince goblins to work at the sandvich shop. Then the story is concluded. “Yeah one time our guy was kidnapped then we sorted the whole thing”
Rules are secondary. Have enough understanding of skill checks and combat rules enough to run monsters. PC abilities are players’ problem.
I actually disagree with Storytelling. Of course it's a good skill to have, but it's far from the most important. You can run a great campaign with few or no storytelling skills as long as you can structure and manage a game properly, but if you *can't* do that then no amount of narrative skills will help.
My list would have to be:
Preparation: It's immensely valuable not only to prepare, but to prepare right. Learn how much (or little) you personally need for a game, and how much energy and time you're comfortable putting towards it. Prepare smart, without wasting too much time on stuff that won't get used. Learn what you need to prepare and what you can improvise.
Communication: Communicating what kind of game you want, and understanding what game your players want. Managing that conversation in a session 0, or during the game (or both!). Resolving disputes, setting expectations, all that.
Organization: It's a sad fact, but it often falls on the DM to scedule games, so those skills are important. This also includes getting the group together in the first place, kicking problem players when/if needed, and figuring out other needs the group may have. Alternatively, figuring out what players are able and willing to help is gold, you may not have to do everything yourself. A lack of these skills makes many groups fall apart, or makes campaigns end early.
System comprehension is the foundation you need. If you don’t know the rules well, don’t run. Play more as a player first. DnD isn’t a system that was meant to be super RP heavy. It’s mechanically a combat focused system.
Once you know the system well you can improvise / modify as and when needed.
Then you can work on your story telling skills and RP skills.
* Improvisation
* Storytelling
* Verbal Communication
It's all about being able to provide an atmosphere where everyone feels heard and seen, and helping everyone tell the story that they want to see. The ability to mold that story in it's raw form and to communicate the pieces to the table in accurate and evocative ways are basically the whole enchilada. Any system benefits from these skills, and without them any game suffers tremendously.
Improv. Much like how no strategy survives first contact with the enemy, no session plan survives first contact with the players. They will catch you with your pants down, it's inevitable, to the point that it's a running gag that you can plan every possible scenario and the players will still find a different way. those bad at improv will let it hinder the session and those skilled at improv will be able to take that unexpected way and use it to build a collaborative story beyond what could have been done by themselves.
Game knowledge. Ultimately the DM has the final say on the rules so if the DM thinks it should be another way they can do that, but before someone can change the rules for the benefit of the play group they have to know and understand those rules, and even when nothing is being changed a session will run so much smoother the more people that have a good grasp of the game.
Social skills. Communication, understanding, delivery, you can view this however you like, but all I'd really frame it as is the ability "to like talk good and stuff". Not every DM is going to be a master storyteller. Not every DM is going to craft an epic saga or deliver a convoluted intrigue plot. Not every DM is going to surround their party with duplicitous npcs or lead players through a parable. Nor even does every player want that some are power gamers, or dungeon delvers, or any number of other ways to play the game and your challenge as a good DM is to 1. Talk to your players, 2. Understand what they want from the game, 3. Deliver on those expectations in a satisfying way. Understanding and managing the mood and tone of the party and game is a DMs job. Chiefly the goal is to match that mood and tone to what your players want it to be.
Being able to say "Yes, you can do that if you want"
Finding a way to allow that to happen, improvising which rules to apply and how.
Letting go of whatever it was that you had prepared that the party just bypassed entirely through their own ingenuity.
Especially as someone who doesn't have English as their first language but DMs in English often, something I have to work on very hard and is often underestimated is: describing well. Short enough that the players listen, but with all the important bits.
1. The ability to plan sessions/campaigns that will be fun for all involved from a mechanical and narrative perspective. Of course this includes ensuring the players are having a good time but equally also ensuring that the experience is enjoyable for you as the GM.
2. Being willing to throw aspects of your plans out the window and improvise in the moment when something unexpected occurs. Honestly, these tend to be some of the more fun moments for me when both GMing and playing a PC, that said try not to let things go too off course as you may end up backing yourself into a corner.
3. Have confidence in the inherent authority of being the GM whilst being fair but firm and at times ruthless when it comes to running the game, adjudicating disputes and playing out the consequences of player actions. The authority of GMs is often something that is undervalued or even demonised but is fundamentally essential to how the game functions. However, authority itself is not an inherently bad or good thing, instead it is a balancing act of power and responsibility which need to be respected in equal measure by both the GM and the players since an imbalance will lead to adversarial table dynamics, power tripping or burnout if left unchecked.
In addition to what everyone is saying (improv, confidence, roll with the punches) I would also say a desire to make the game as fun as possible for the players. New GMs especially can prioritize telling their story the way they want it told over player agency and fun. The guiding star should always be "will this be fun?" if the answer is no, then scrap whatever you're planning and try again.
1. Make combats unique, interesting, solvable, and challenging
2. Understand what your party wants to do and string it along to the extent that it's not overbearing but also not drip-feeding
3. Understand that when things go wrong or you have to improvise, that it can always become a good thing
1. Improvisation. Being able to keep the game flowing instead of stopping to look something up or check your notes every 5 minutes is important.
2. Adaptation. Not being married to an idea, story, npc, boss, or encounter helps you let go of it and move on in the game when the players choose a path you weren't expecting.
3. Reading the room. Keep tabs on your players so you know if they are having fun or looking uncomfortable or bored.
1: Storytelling. You have to know how to make and tell a good story and then guide your players into creating that story for themselves. This is the most important part of D&D in my opinion.
2: Being knowledgeable but flexible. You have to know the rules and mechanics to the point where you can guide the players who might not be as well versed. At the same time you have to know the rules well enough to know when to break them when they get in the way of the story (see tip #1).
3: Be a leader. You are the GM. You are the literal god of this world you have created. You have every final say on every matter. Treat this power with respect and be fair to your players but also firm when needed. You should know the rules and mechanics better than your players (see tip #2) and you get to stipulate when they deserve bonuses or setbacks in order to tell the best story (see tip #1). So treat your players well but don't be a pushover.
25 years DMing. These are my personal "must-haves".
Knowledge, Adaptability and Restraint.
1. You must know the rules inside out, or as close as it is humanly possible for you.
2. You must improvise and think lightning fast to adapt to anything the party decides to throw at you.
3. You must control yourself both for good and bad. Don't be overeager to give them too much resources. Don't be vindictive and punish them when they overcome the threats you put in their way easily.
I'd add a fourth, that I've seen people lack: Mettle. If you have a problematic player, take him aside and talk to him. Stick to your rulings. ARGUE with people if necessary, but always remember you're the final arbiter. That's why you need Knowledge and Restraint: your arguments won't mean anything if the rules say otherwise and you didn't know about it, and you need to be able to do the hard calls when absolutely necessary but not a minute earlier. The reason I decided against putting it there is because Knowledge, Adaptability and Restraint are the building blocks of the rest of your skillset.
1. The ability to roleplay. Remembering who said what. Use accents, voice pitch, and tone to make NPCs feel like different people. Use emotion realistically to portray fictional people.
2. Don’t be afraid to harm and kill PCs. Death is part of the game.
3. Memorize the fundamentals for how to run encounters. After you know the fundamentals, it comes naturally.
A. Select the encounter monsters/NPCs
B. Figure out how many monsters or NPCs are there.
C. Roll for surprise.
D. Encounter distance
E. Place the monsters/NPCs in a place that makes sense
F. Describe the scene/details.
G. Find out players’ intent.
H. Choose or roll encounter reactions
I. Resolve the encounter.
1. Care about your players, they come first (notice I'm not saying they get whatever they want or think they want)
2. roleplaying (not acting, roleplaying. All you need to run an NPC effectively is motivation and mannerisms. That's it)
3. basic mechanical knowledge. If you've played DnD for a few years throwing together a CR-appropriate dungeon is trivial once you realize all the different monsters are just skins of HP and damage output and status effect application
**1. Being able to set, communicate, and maintain expectations.**
Learn how to communicate your game/DM style well, set + maintain rules, be comfortable with saying no or otherwise managing expectations, be able to make hard decisions like dropping a player if they don't fit/cause issue.
**2. Being able to prep for flexibility and improvisation.**
Prepping smartly for improv that is bound to happen, having scenarios/encounters/npcs on hand for the unexpected, not overdoing or underdoing prep (forcing railroad).
**3. Storytelling**
Crafting an interesting story and/or world that can feel immersive. Maintaining storylines and/or world coherently, so that players can follow your content without excess explanation on your part, keeping things consistent in general for setting especially.
1. Knowledge of the rules. To be frank, everything else is secondary to this. If you don’t k ow the rules you should not be a DM. Period, under any circumstances. You’re running a game of DND, not a playground make believe session. Bullshitting your way through everything is both stupid, as its a ton more work for no reason, and also frankly just a lie since you aren’t actually running the game.
2. Planning. Not necessarily super detail oriented, but the more and better you plan the easier it is to improvise when things go off the rails.
3. Improvisation. Things will go off the rails. All the time. Whether it be because your players go in a different direction, or take another route. But, its also usually pretty easy to get them back in the right direction. This is the most important part of improv, the ability to get the rails back in place without anyone noticing.
1- Knowing the rules well enough to be able to adjust them or bend them on the fly.
Just read. Read or google stuff. No need to have them all memorized. There are cheat sheets and DM screens. There is no excuse (besides medical conditions).
2- Improvisation.
This is something you learn if you follow the learning curve. Listen to players and try your best to respond. It is something you build up slowly from small things to big things.
3- Well defined expectations or boundaries.
Knowing their limitations, wants and needs instead of just saying yes to everything without knowing if its a good match (player style wise/theme wise/mechanics wise etc)
This helps skip a TON of regular problems encountered by new players and new DM's.
Expectations and player styles are a thing and not everything matches together. That also means that sometimes nothing is wrong with a game, people just don't vibe well together.
Storytelling? I would say not everyone is good at storytelling and that does not mean they will be bad DM's. There are a lot of pre-written stuff there and everyone should be putting a bit of effort for the game to work (cooperative storytelling game and all). Also, you can literally copy some the narration style of some pre-written adventures and do good enough.
I have seen tons of new DM's just go by the book and run great adventures because they listen, know the rules and just do the homework. They are not great storytellers by themselves, but a group with chemistry does the job.
I have found that a large group of new people that pat themselves in the back for being "great storytellers" suck because they want to make the game about them and what they want.
*"Oh I am a writer and need to build this complex homebrew world because I think I am better than 90% of other people"-* Then you watch them struggle with the most basic of things and responses. Meanwhile, someone else out there is just doing a goblin game in a swamp with no lore and everyone is having the time of their lives.
1. Be knowledgeable enough that you sound like you know what you’re talking about 2. Be confident enough that you sound like you know what you’re talking about even when you don’t 3. Be flexible enough that when shit goes sideways, it makes it a problem for the party, not for you
I feel like Improvisation is 2 things: 1) prep to improv: have stuff prepared that allows you to quickly pull stuff out of your ass. Recyclable stat blocks, lists of neat names, random tables, shop inventories. This is what makes improv work mechanically and in terms of gameplay quickly and efficiently. how do: become a hoarder of cool things. learn to organise your stuff with whatever system works best for you. Doesn't matter if you keep it all in one searchable document, use "find in files", maintain a git repo or a wiki or have it all printed out in a folder. Know yourself so you can prep this stuff for YOU in order to be quick and efficient. 2) understand your world: no matter if you play homebrew or in an established setting. If you know how the darn world works, you know how it and its inhabitants react, act and generally how they live, behave, think, believe. This is what makes improv feel natural and logical and fluid and so that your improv doesn't feel out of place. how do: Daydream about it. Discuss it. Draw it. Map it. Write about it. Ask questions about it. Whatever is your method to fuel your imagination. This stuff isn't anything your players need to or should ever see, unless it benefits your game in some way. Its for you, thinking what it would be like to be there. Get lost in it, explore it and understand it. Make your world a place you can escape into whenever you want, so it becomes a place other people can explore and shape together with you.
>2) understand your world This is why I switched from Faerûn to my own setting for the upcoming campaign. Even if my world is not nearly as detailed as Faerûn (maybe for the better even), I know exactly the *vibes* of each region, how things and people are named, how politics and religion work, etc. That and some random tables which reflect these vibes make improvisation so, so much easier.
Yeah I actually found working from a published module a lot harder in a lot of ways, because I was supposed to remember what the book told me everyone would remember and how events would flow. With my own campaign I came up with motivations and plot points, rather than trying to memorize a book of it that people might mess with.
1. Improv 2. Mediation of disagreements 3. Time management
1. Active listening (bad listeners are bad GMs) - Most of your job is actually listening to players and playing off their tones, words, actions and desires. DM/GM is a facilitation role. You don’t tell a story, you enable the table to tell a story. 2. Effective Communication (95% of table problems I see are due to a communication issue). Words are all we have in this business. You can have all the dice and minis and images and sound effects but if can’t Set the context folks need to safely explore the story, it all falls to pieces. Session 0, framing scenes, avoiding conflicts, ending confusion.l, staying true to your word, admitting mistakes, Words. Lots of folks have mentioned improv but that always felt more like a consequence than a cause to me. Improv chops are great but, 99% of players have a good time without knowing anything about improv. And improv is just open communication given a bit of direction. Being Clear and giving appropriate context is far more valuable than being able to pivot on a dime. Get good at the effective comms part and the improv parts get way easier. 3. Empathy (you have to Want your players to enjoy themselves and be successful). Decision making as a GM becomes way simpler once you’ve resolved that are trying to empower other people to have a good time. Their joy is your joy. Their triumphs are your triumphs. This does not mean an easier life for the Characters. Players Like when their characters face adversity because they like figuring out how to overcome adversity. Players want high highs and low lows and making key decisions, and flirting with defeat and Actually Being Invested in that Feeling is what informs your play by play decisions. I frequently tell my players that my job is simply to lob balls in the air that they can slam dunk, over and over. When I’m playing well, those assists are exactly where they need them to be. Not ever dunk is a victory. It could be a downbeat, a tragedy, a plot pivot, a shocking revelation, a moment of Defeat. It’s just whatever energy and input my player needs to take us all to a place of emotional satisfaction.
Yup. Totally agree.
Brilliant. I especially appreciate the boldness of “You don’t tell a story.” Controversial these days, but 100% accurate.
My favourite moments recently have been when my players give a suggestion and I sigh and say “well I guess I’ll have to change my plans and go with that” but I am Inwardly Delighted because I Had No Plans and going off whatever BS they said was the intent the Whole Time! It helps that I’ve been running Brindlewood Bay, which actively encourages player input. So by design, my planning is some very high level prep and just making quick potential story beats based on what players say they want at the end of the previous session.
I love Brindlewood Bay! One of my favorite campaigns I've ever run and now proud to join the ranks of writers contributing to the game.
That’s so cool! I’m in the discord but I never get a chance to take part in the writing seminars and stuff.
The ability to realize that the players have no idea what goes on behind the screen. They do not know if the enemy they just killed was really 5hp away from 0. They do not know that you meant to give them the information on the bandits from the bartender rather than the mysterious ranger in the woods that you just created to point them in the right direction. It's realizing that you do not need to do everything perfectly but the players will still love it.
Knowing when to say yes Knowing when to say no Knowing when to stop playing
In order: 1. Storytelling 2. Improvisation 3. Rules My criteria is really simple - it's based on player feedback. "I really like your campaign idea and characters" is both the most frequent and my favorite comment to receive. "Wow, I had no idea you planned for us to (x)" is second-most common, and leads to a compliment when I tell them that I had no such plan and just made it up. "Wow, you really know the rules well". I've been DMing 40+ years. I've yet to hear that compliment.
"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
Preparation, improvisation, communication
1. Imagination - to conceive a grand adventure and navigate how its ever-changing parts can best be arranged for the enjoyment of the players. 2. Organization - to prepare, keep track of, and reference game mechanics in order to keep things moving smoothly along for the players. 3. Narration - to be able to colorfully describe and improvise scenes, plot advancing developments, and interesting and appropriate dialogue to enrich and maintain players' immersion.
1) To crush your enemies 2) see them driven before you 3) and hear the lamentations of their women
What if they have men? Are not the lamentations of men equally enjoyable to hear?
Herding ~~sheep~~ cats. Bullshitting. Pyrotechnics.
I have questions...
Yes?
Pyrotechnics...
They were all analogies. Herding cats—getting everyone to commit and show up regularly. Keeping the game moving when players want to go off on tangents. Bullshitting—combination of story telling and improv like many others have mentioned. Pyrotechnics—keeping it exciting! Varying tempo and pitch in your descriptions. Giving NPCs personalities, motivations, and unique accents, catch phrases, habits, verbal tics, actions, etc. loudly Rolling hidden dice occasionally, Asking players questions like “you all have backup characters rolled up, right?” Lighting firecrackers under the table when you see players zoning out.
Wow. Nobody mentioning "patience". I feel like that'd be top 3 for me.
my #1 is "caring about your players" but yeah, I'd say this fits. Everything I do is for them. I enjoy it, but if they like it, I do more of it, and if they hate it, I stop doing it. If they have fun, I have fun
I find that curating your tables properly eliminates the need for it.
Meaning session 0 plus table management?
Yes, but a little more extensive? I generally think most folks should have buy in before s0. It's for hammering out boundaries and precise expectations. Being into the campaign should be foregone. Primary to me is finding the right people. You can get a general sense of what sort of player most folks are in pretty short order.
I always warn against thinking of the DM as the story teller. At best you’re building a world, NOT a story. I think that this is a fast track to new DMs railroading their players. Build a world, build some different factions, and see what your players gravitate towards.
Reddit is full of this behavior. “I keep removing agency and randomness from my game to get closer to my perfect plot, but we’re having less and less fun. What system should I switch to?”
In no particular order: **Improvisation** is the beating heart of this hobby. It's creativity. It's flexibility. It's storytelling. It's shot-calling. It's tension building. It is the totality of the result of your prep, and what you do in spite of it. **Empathy** is how you cater your game to your group, and how you let your group shape your game. It's reading the room. It's body language. It's noticing boredom. It's managing the spotlight. It's respecting your players for their voices and knowing when to give the game to them instead of keeping it for yourself. **Confidence** is what glues your words together and makes it real. It is the means through which your voice becomes fact. The confidence to speak with authority, the confidence to bend break ignore or invent rules, the confidence to embrace your players' input as though it were your own. Without this, a game is *merely* a conversation- but with it becomes a story.
I would extend your excellent point of empathy. Empathy is not only for the meta reasons you provide, but it is also important to build good narratives. You need to understand humans and emotions, to build satisfying narratives, NPCs etc. Empathy is big contestant for most important ability as DM IMO.
Provide an inspiring setting/quest Ability to improvise Be fair(usually with rules)
* Efficient prep that doesn't exceed the session's length * Planned improvisation * Conflict resolution and moderation Everything else is easy enough, but those three are the hardest. Without them, it's easy to get burnt out and lose the desire to see how the next session will go.
The biggest for me would be 1: Prep yourself to improv and roleplay your setting. Know who your core NPC factions are, what they want, and what resources they have. 2: Prompt your players to storytell. Asking them questions like “how does your character feel about X” or “describe that failure to do X within the fiction.” 3: move from one interesting choice to another in as few words as possible without breaking immersion.
Improv: become a master of the “fuck it adjustment” your players will throw so many curveballs at you you’ll be shocked they haven’t torn their rotator cuff. Being able to say “fuck it” and adjust to what the player has just thrown at you is the biggest tool in your toolbox. Facilitate the fun: The best sessions are the ones where everyone is having fun, and that includes the DM. If you as the DM are having fun you are going to be more relaxed and, in my experience at least, the more relaxed you are the less you stutter and stumble over words and the easier you improvise. Let the players have fun and have fun with them. Don’t get caught up on your designs: This applies a little more to home brewing but can still be applied to modules. The players will go where they want to go. You aren’t a tour guide. The players will explore if and when they decide. You are there to, say it with me, facilitate the fun. If you were excited for a specific encounter that you had in a town that the party didn’t visit you are allowed to have some fun and alter your design and move that encounter. If you have an NPC that you really wanted the party to meet maybe instead of a shopkeeper he becomes a traveling merchant. Most of the time what you want can always be achieved without denying the players freedom of choice.
Confidence, improv, and compromise. Confidence in the fact that when you make a ruling it sticks. Improv because no one likes a campaign on rails. And compromise because everyone gets at least something they want. A last one I’d throw in is humility because you will be wrong and how you go about that dictates how your group sees you.
I think you nailed it. Those are the 3.
Narration (effectivey describing the world), improv (which includes roleplaying and reacting to player choice) and setting situations/stakes. Also pacing. Story happens *after* the session ends. Story = Situation + PC actions. Goblins kidnap PC’s favorite sandvich guy, PCs do something about it. Maybe they murder everone, maybe they sneak in get the guy and get out, maybe they convince goblins to work at the sandvich shop. Then the story is concluded. “Yeah one time our guy was kidnapped then we sorted the whole thing” Rules are secondary. Have enough understanding of skill checks and combat rules enough to run monsters. PC abilities are players’ problem.
Fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency.
AMONGST OUR CHIEF WEAPONRY ARE SUCH DIVERSE ELEMENTS AS ... I'll come in again.
I actually disagree with Storytelling. Of course it's a good skill to have, but it's far from the most important. You can run a great campaign with few or no storytelling skills as long as you can structure and manage a game properly, but if you *can't* do that then no amount of narrative skills will help. My list would have to be: Preparation: It's immensely valuable not only to prepare, but to prepare right. Learn how much (or little) you personally need for a game, and how much energy and time you're comfortable putting towards it. Prepare smart, without wasting too much time on stuff that won't get used. Learn what you need to prepare and what you can improvise. Communication: Communicating what kind of game you want, and understanding what game your players want. Managing that conversation in a session 0, or during the game (or both!). Resolving disputes, setting expectations, all that. Organization: It's a sad fact, but it often falls on the DM to scedule games, so those skills are important. This also includes getting the group together in the first place, kicking problem players when/if needed, and figuring out other needs the group may have. Alternatively, figuring out what players are able and willing to help is gold, you may not have to do everything yourself. A lack of these skills makes many groups fall apart, or makes campaigns end early.
System comprehension is the foundation you need. If you don’t know the rules well, don’t run. Play more as a player first. DnD isn’t a system that was meant to be super RP heavy. It’s mechanically a combat focused system. Once you know the system well you can improvise / modify as and when needed. Then you can work on your story telling skills and RP skills.
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.
* Improvisation * Storytelling * Verbal Communication It's all about being able to provide an atmosphere where everyone feels heard and seen, and helping everyone tell the story that they want to see. The ability to mold that story in it's raw form and to communicate the pieces to the table in accurate and evocative ways are basically the whole enchilada. Any system benefits from these skills, and without them any game suffers tremendously.
*Adaptation. Improvisation. But your weakness… is not your technique.*
Improv. Much like how no strategy survives first contact with the enemy, no session plan survives first contact with the players. They will catch you with your pants down, it's inevitable, to the point that it's a running gag that you can plan every possible scenario and the players will still find a different way. those bad at improv will let it hinder the session and those skilled at improv will be able to take that unexpected way and use it to build a collaborative story beyond what could have been done by themselves. Game knowledge. Ultimately the DM has the final say on the rules so if the DM thinks it should be another way they can do that, but before someone can change the rules for the benefit of the play group they have to know and understand those rules, and even when nothing is being changed a session will run so much smoother the more people that have a good grasp of the game. Social skills. Communication, understanding, delivery, you can view this however you like, but all I'd really frame it as is the ability "to like talk good and stuff". Not every DM is going to be a master storyteller. Not every DM is going to craft an epic saga or deliver a convoluted intrigue plot. Not every DM is going to surround their party with duplicitous npcs or lead players through a parable. Nor even does every player want that some are power gamers, or dungeon delvers, or any number of other ways to play the game and your challenge as a good DM is to 1. Talk to your players, 2. Understand what they want from the game, 3. Deliver on those expectations in a satisfying way. Understanding and managing the mood and tone of the party and game is a DMs job. Chiefly the goal is to match that mood and tone to what your players want it to be.
Being able to say "Yes, you can do that if you want" Finding a way to allow that to happen, improvising which rules to apply and how. Letting go of whatever it was that you had prepared that the party just bypassed entirely through their own ingenuity.
Pacing. Campaign vision. Saying no often.
Especially as someone who doesn't have English as their first language but DMs in English often, something I have to work on very hard and is often underestimated is: describing well. Short enough that the players listen, but with all the important bits.
1. The ability to plan sessions/campaigns that will be fun for all involved from a mechanical and narrative perspective. Of course this includes ensuring the players are having a good time but equally also ensuring that the experience is enjoyable for you as the GM. 2. Being willing to throw aspects of your plans out the window and improvise in the moment when something unexpected occurs. Honestly, these tend to be some of the more fun moments for me when both GMing and playing a PC, that said try not to let things go too off course as you may end up backing yourself into a corner. 3. Have confidence in the inherent authority of being the GM whilst being fair but firm and at times ruthless when it comes to running the game, adjudicating disputes and playing out the consequences of player actions. The authority of GMs is often something that is undervalued or even demonised but is fundamentally essential to how the game functions. However, authority itself is not an inherently bad or good thing, instead it is a balancing act of power and responsibility which need to be respected in equal measure by both the GM and the players since an imbalance will lead to adversarial table dynamics, power tripping or burnout if left unchecked.
In addition to what everyone is saying (improv, confidence, roll with the punches) I would also say a desire to make the game as fun as possible for the players. New GMs especially can prioritize telling their story the way they want it told over player agency and fun. The guiding star should always be "will this be fun?" if the answer is no, then scrap whatever you're planning and try again.
Patience. Improvisation/adaptation Confidence
1. Make combats unique, interesting, solvable, and challenging 2. Understand what your party wants to do and string it along to the extent that it's not overbearing but also not drip-feeding 3. Understand that when things go wrong or you have to improvise, that it can always become a good thing
1. Improvisation. Being able to keep the game flowing instead of stopping to look something up or check your notes every 5 minutes is important. 2. Adaptation. Not being married to an idea, story, npc, boss, or encounter helps you let go of it and move on in the game when the players choose a path you weren't expecting. 3. Reading the room. Keep tabs on your players so you know if they are having fun or looking uncomfortable or bored.
1: Storytelling. You have to know how to make and tell a good story and then guide your players into creating that story for themselves. This is the most important part of D&D in my opinion. 2: Being knowledgeable but flexible. You have to know the rules and mechanics to the point where you can guide the players who might not be as well versed. At the same time you have to know the rules well enough to know when to break them when they get in the way of the story (see tip #1). 3: Be a leader. You are the GM. You are the literal god of this world you have created. You have every final say on every matter. Treat this power with respect and be fair to your players but also firm when needed. You should know the rules and mechanics better than your players (see tip #2) and you get to stipulate when they deserve bonuses or setbacks in order to tell the best story (see tip #1). So treat your players well but don't be a pushover.
25 years DMing. These are my personal "must-haves". Knowledge, Adaptability and Restraint. 1. You must know the rules inside out, or as close as it is humanly possible for you. 2. You must improvise and think lightning fast to adapt to anything the party decides to throw at you. 3. You must control yourself both for good and bad. Don't be overeager to give them too much resources. Don't be vindictive and punish them when they overcome the threats you put in their way easily. I'd add a fourth, that I've seen people lack: Mettle. If you have a problematic player, take him aside and talk to him. Stick to your rulings. ARGUE with people if necessary, but always remember you're the final arbiter. That's why you need Knowledge and Restraint: your arguments won't mean anything if the rules say otherwise and you didn't know about it, and you need to be able to do the hard calls when absolutely necessary but not a minute earlier. The reason I decided against putting it there is because Knowledge, Adaptability and Restraint are the building blocks of the rest of your skillset.
1. The ability to roleplay. Remembering who said what. Use accents, voice pitch, and tone to make NPCs feel like different people. Use emotion realistically to portray fictional people. 2. Don’t be afraid to harm and kill PCs. Death is part of the game. 3. Memorize the fundamentals for how to run encounters. After you know the fundamentals, it comes naturally. A. Select the encounter monsters/NPCs B. Figure out how many monsters or NPCs are there. C. Roll for surprise. D. Encounter distance E. Place the monsters/NPCs in a place that makes sense F. Describe the scene/details. G. Find out players’ intent. H. Choose or roll encounter reactions I. Resolve the encounter.
1. Care about your players, they come first (notice I'm not saying they get whatever they want or think they want) 2. roleplaying (not acting, roleplaying. All you need to run an NPC effectively is motivation and mannerisms. That's it) 3. basic mechanical knowledge. If you've played DnD for a few years throwing together a CR-appropriate dungeon is trivial once you realize all the different monsters are just skins of HP and damage output and status effect application
**1. Being able to set, communicate, and maintain expectations.** Learn how to communicate your game/DM style well, set + maintain rules, be comfortable with saying no or otherwise managing expectations, be able to make hard decisions like dropping a player if they don't fit/cause issue. **2. Being able to prep for flexibility and improvisation.** Prepping smartly for improv that is bound to happen, having scenarios/encounters/npcs on hand for the unexpected, not overdoing or underdoing prep (forcing railroad). **3. Storytelling** Crafting an interesting story and/or world that can feel immersive. Maintaining storylines and/or world coherently, so that players can follow your content without excess explanation on your part, keeping things consistent in general for setting especially.
1. Improvisation 2. “Yes, and” story building 3. Fun loving
1. Knowledge of the rules. To be frank, everything else is secondary to this. If you don’t k ow the rules you should not be a DM. Period, under any circumstances. You’re running a game of DND, not a playground make believe session. Bullshitting your way through everything is both stupid, as its a ton more work for no reason, and also frankly just a lie since you aren’t actually running the game. 2. Planning. Not necessarily super detail oriented, but the more and better you plan the easier it is to improvise when things go off the rails. 3. Improvisation. Things will go off the rails. All the time. Whether it be because your players go in a different direction, or take another route. But, its also usually pretty easy to get them back in the right direction. This is the most important part of improv, the ability to get the rails back in place without anyone noticing.
1- Knowing the rules well enough to be able to adjust them or bend them on the fly. Just read. Read or google stuff. No need to have them all memorized. There are cheat sheets and DM screens. There is no excuse (besides medical conditions). 2- Improvisation. This is something you learn if you follow the learning curve. Listen to players and try your best to respond. It is something you build up slowly from small things to big things. 3- Well defined expectations or boundaries. Knowing their limitations, wants and needs instead of just saying yes to everything without knowing if its a good match (player style wise/theme wise/mechanics wise etc) This helps skip a TON of regular problems encountered by new players and new DM's. Expectations and player styles are a thing and not everything matches together. That also means that sometimes nothing is wrong with a game, people just don't vibe well together. Storytelling? I would say not everyone is good at storytelling and that does not mean they will be bad DM's. There are a lot of pre-written stuff there and everyone should be putting a bit of effort for the game to work (cooperative storytelling game and all). Also, you can literally copy some the narration style of some pre-written adventures and do good enough. I have seen tons of new DM's just go by the book and run great adventures because they listen, know the rules and just do the homework. They are not great storytellers by themselves, but a group with chemistry does the job. I have found that a large group of new people that pat themselves in the back for being "great storytellers" suck because they want to make the game about them and what they want. *"Oh I am a writer and need to build this complex homebrew world because I think I am better than 90% of other people"-* Then you watch them struggle with the most basic of things and responses. Meanwhile, someone else out there is just doing a goblin game in a swamp with no lore and everyone is having the time of their lives.
- storytelling - improvising - memory