Questions tagged [gm-techniques]

For questions about the practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering (GMing).

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27 votes
4 answers
11k views

As a DM, how can I use Power Word: Kill without ruining my players' fun?

I'm currently designing an encounter with a lich for my 13th-level party. They've cruised through more level-appropriate combat encounters, and they like to come up with creative ways around difficult ...
1 vote
1 answer
177 views

The Install of TTRPGs: Triggered 8+, a new way to play Mutants and Masterminds?

Was wondering how grammatically correct/RAW this interpretation of Triggered is (disregarding rule 0), since this take on it is certainly not RAI but given how dynamic action economy becomes by using ...
18 votes
5 answers
783 views

How can you convey that the majority of the world isn't supernatural?

In games that exist within a supernatural/urban fantasy/modern horror setting, usually only a very small percentage of the population is actually supernatural. Using World of Darkness as an example, ...
15 votes
4 answers
2k views

How can I help my players resume mid-battle with the same energy?

We had an unexpected interruption mid-battle. I did a quick scramble to save our place, then I put everything away. It will be days until we can pick up again. Usually, battles start in a way that ...
28 votes
13 answers
6k views

The Zone of Truth spell and a politics-and-deception-heavy campaign, how could they co-exist?

Some context: I'm a newbie DM running a campaign which is a remix of the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure. It's a campaign full of politics, alliances, betrayals and deception. All the major powers ...
21 votes
8 answers
5k views

Is Gaseous Form + Invisibility + Nondetection such a powerful combo for scouting and infiltration? How can I make it more challenging for my players?

Some context: I'm a newbie DM running a campaign which requires the party to do a lot of scouting and infiltration missions. Especially in buildings. It's a city campaign happening in Waterdeep so I ...
32 votes
4 answers
5k views

What's a clock and how do I use one?

I've heard of using a 'clock' to help manage encounters and create tension, but how do you create and use one within a campaign/session/encounter? I have seen it used in other games, like Scum and ...
24 votes
6 answers
5k views

How can you deal with players asking the wrong questions?

I feel like my players ask the wrong questions. For example, they went to the strip club, they're trying to hunt a vampire who they "know" came south from Chicago. Their questions aren't ...
12 votes
2 answers
388 views

How to help engage an ADHD player over Zoom

My wife and I have always played D&D together. It’s my first time DMing a large group of 6, her included. We have newer players who struggle to engage, and tons of new player questions. I’ve seen ...
68 votes
17 answers
79k views

I dislike how players accurately place fireballs. Is there an alternative?

I'm running 5e on a grid with minis. The one thing that I hate is when sorcerers or wizards cast a fireball that perfectly hits enemies in the AOE. The player counts the squares on the grid to ...
31 votes
5 answers
5k views

When should I tell my players that they have forgotten something?

My players have been operating out of a certain small town for my whole campaign. They've adventured around the area nearby quite a bit already (just finished Session 23). Recently, my intended ...
8 votes
3 answers
579 views

How to handle a plot twist for a character arc?

One of the characters of our roleplay is an elf with amnesia. His background is that he lost his memory and is looking for someone but doesn't remember who he was. I asked the player for more details ...
13 votes
1 answer
713 views

How to role-play monsters with Diplomacy ranks?

I see a lot of monsters have diplomacy ranks on their sheet, and some of them even have a pretty high rank of it. I assume that means those monsters should be able to (and would likely tend to) use ...
14 votes
6 answers
10k views

What goes into creating NPCs?

When I play as DM, I'm never sure how to create my NPCs. Do I have a whole page on them, with all their languages, proficiencies, weapons, ability scores and etc? Or do I keep it simple, like just ...
11 votes
3 answers
836 views

How to model collateral damage in Cortex Prime

I'm running a superhero campaign in Cortex Prime. During a bank robbery scenario, one of my players decided to get into the bank by shattering the front window. In addition to looking cool, he hoped ...
24 votes
2 answers
9k views

For a single party, how can I make Dead in Thay a "fast-paced assault" and not a drawn-out series of skirmishes?

I having been running adventure modules from Tales from the Yawning Portal for a single group of 3-6 players (i.e. I have 6 players, but sometimes as few as 3 can attend a session). Part of the reason ...
62 votes
21 answers
17k views

How to handle a rules-lawyer player?

As a game master, what strategy/strategies seem to work well for handling players that have spent more time reading through the rule books than you have? While it's helpful at times to have the ...
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

How can I make online combat more interesting?

I'm a fairly new GM, this coming Saturday is going to be about my 4th session, I think, and I'm playing a 5e reskin of a video game with a good group online via Discord and the Owlbear Rodeo VTT. So ...
9 votes
2 answers
3k views

Keeping track of things during battles

I'm having quite a bit of trouble understanding how things work during combat and how to keep track of the health and status of everyone in combat. My questions are: When rolling initiative, does the ...
31 votes
8 answers
7k views

How do I avoid micromanaging character creation?

What aspects of character generation should the DM limit? I'm a new DM starting a new campaign with 6 players that have no previous Dungeons and Dragons experience. I've played before; they haven't. ...
60 votes
10 answers
20k views

How do I learn to become a good GM? [closed]

I have played and tried to GM games since I was in elementary school, beginning with games like Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and Champions. Recently, I've gotten back into gaming with a variety of other ...
18 votes
11 answers
14k views

How to get the players to care and RP more?

About two month ago I got interested in D&D and I decided to start playing it. I read the rules, found an adventure and got four of my friends to play with me. They always show up to play and we ...
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

How to design a level 1 encounter with 7 level 1 characters

Me and my friends decided to play some D&D 5th edition. The issue is, though I am a long term DM I am only well-versed in the rules for 3.5e and Pathfinder 1st, same as Open Legend but it uses a ...
1 vote
0 answers
129 views

Homebrewing tips for multi-table campaigns? [closed]

To be clear, I am not looking for homebrew. I am only looking for tips for running games, with the current requirements I have set. Anyway, I am going to be running a campaign for some new players. ...
1 vote
0 answers
122 views

How do I put my own twist on prewritten adventures [closed]

I am a new DM, and I am quite good at running encounters, making interesting environments to explore and creating compelling NPCs. I struggle with the storytelling aspects of the game. I know the ...
23 votes
7 answers
4k views

What's your best practice as a DM to "protect" your awesome campaign's mystery "against" the Divination spell?

Some context: I'm a newbie DM running the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign for my party. What's so special about this campaign is that it's full of intrigue / politics / betrayal and mystery. Also it'...
2 votes
5 answers
641 views

How do I run stealth and perception? Passive perception vs active perception

I'm a new dm and I want to introduce some ambush style encounters in my game. I told my players recently that I will not ask them if they want to be steathly when moving around a dungeon because I ...
9 votes
4 answers
1k views

How can we streamline a game with seven players in DnD 5e?

The question is: how do I balance gameplay when it comes to initiative? The game is in person, every other week or so. My party is comprised of 7 players, two of whom are noobs. I, myself, and also ...
18 votes
9 answers
3k views

How to make "becoming lost" interesting?

Multiple wilderness adventures, ranging from the venerable B2 - Keep on the Borderlands to the more contemporary Tomb of Annihilation use rules for getting lost, as does the DMG under "Becoming ...
20 votes
7 answers
3k views

Keeping the story moving after failed interrogation rolls

When GMing D&D 5e (and similar games), I occasionally run into a situation like this: The party has captured a member of a hostile scouting party. They have them cornered, and want to get some ...
25 votes
4 answers
6k views

How to handle when PCs taste a potion that is actually poison?

I will soon be DM for the first time. As preparation, I have been reading the DMG and I found this rule on identifying a magic item page 136: Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to ...
34 votes
3 answers
2k views

How can I balance slightly erotic roleplay and story based roleplay?

With the epidemic, me and my girlfriend ended up unable to have much contact (not even calls since her roommates are always in the house and it would be really awkward with them.) As a result we have ...
5 votes
1 answer
251 views

How to integrate roleplay, foci, paradigm into casting magick

I was away from RPGs and story telling for some time. I used to run Mage: The Ascension scenarios before, but I had to take a break, and now I want to get back on my feet. I struggled with some ...
17 votes
8 answers
5k views

Player has a great character Idea, But it seems difficult to balance

I have recently started a small scenario with a couple friends which have all come up with interesting character ideas. But one player in particular has something really... exotic. Basically he plays ...
63 votes
13 answers
10k views

What to do when players bypass plot hooks

I am going to just start out by acknowledging that this is the best possible 'problem' a GM can ever have. My players are awesome, I just didn't know how awesome. They solved months of combat, ...
13 votes
3 answers
3k views

Do players/characters know when a monster uses its Legendary Resistance?

Assuming that players are causing a monster with the Legendary Resistance ability to make enough saving throws that it will use them all up, should the players be aware when that point has come? (As a ...
62 votes
10 answers
33k views

How to not let the Identify spell spoil everything?

I am currently DMing a campaign where there is a wizard with the Identify spell, the bane of my existence. Identify allows him to learn the properties of literally every single item the party ...
24 votes
10 answers
4k views

How do I rein in a character's backstory without discouraging the player?

I'm planning to start a game of Rogue Trader with a number of new players that are new to RPGs. I've helped the players generate their characters and have given them a very very basic backstory to ...
42 votes
13 answers
8k views

How do I deal with instant-solution spells like Comprehend Languages?

I'm DM-ing an upcoming campaign and am considering banning or nerfing spells like Comprehend Languages because they can be used to instantly solve potentially interesting problems like reading an ...
43 votes
7 answers
22k views

Is it stated in the rules to be standard practice to hide rolls in 3.5e?

I haven't been playing D&D for too long, maybe a year, but the DM of the main campaign I'm in always hides his dice rolls. I don't have an issue with it, but when I play with another group the DM ...
28 votes
3 answers
10k views

What rolls should players get to see?

I'm a new DM and over the last few weeks I've been slowly learning the game and how it runs. My party consists of 5 PCs. One thing I have been wondering after our last two sessions is: What rolls ...
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to make physical character's combat become more tactical and interesting?

My situation: The fighter-type PCs (fighter, ranger, monk) feels the combats are boring for them. They have nothing to do rather than attack. Their maneuvers (trip, disarm, etc.) usually fail because ...
13 votes
2 answers
827 views

How can I GM for more tactically-minded players?

I've been GMing a Dungeon World campaign for about a year now, and consider myself an intermediate at understanding the system. My group has recently told me that they miss D&D's tactical combat. ...
3 votes
2 answers
261 views

Gracefully roleplaying the end of the world without implying mass extinction [closed]

I am currently running a campaign that I have set in a world that is fading slowly. The idea is that, while the players cannot stop the end of the world (it's kinda similar to the heat death of the ...
2 votes
3 answers
228 views

Magic Items and their allocation [closed]

I have a predicament I've come across in a campaign I'm running. Here it is. In a past session my DM (a friend of mine) challenged me to complete the entire trial with strict restrictions. The ...
37 votes
14 answers
11k views

My players have a habit of always torturing enemies they capture for information, how can I make our adventure less macabre? [closed]

So I'm running the lost mines of Phandelver as a new DM and we're about 5 sessions in. I've noticed a pattern that seems to repeat itself: the players defeat and capture an evil NPC character that ...
16 votes
5 answers
3k views

How do I motivate players to do character sheet updates outside of session?

I run a weekly campaign with one session every Sunday. My core group (4-5 people) always show up, with the occasional person who joins from time to time (either playing a new character they wanted to ...
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How do I deal with long travels?

My group has faced a lot of just traveling; so sometimes I just say it's been 3 days since you started traveling, because I don't really have anything big planned on that particular road. However in ...
6 votes
2 answers
700 views

How should I as a game master motivate my players to pursue their mysteries?

I recently started running the Nights of Payne Town campaign with my TTRPG group. We play with custom-created characters, not pre-builds. All of us are long-time TTRPG players but are completely new ...
29 votes
6 answers
3k views

As a GM, how do I keep Dungeons & Dragons more interesting for young players?

Currently, my group of players is my children, ages 7+ through 14+ (and several in between). They all are really excited about playing, but I am having great difficulty keeping them all interested ...

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