User:Average/DM tricks

This documents is for Dungeon Masters of D&D, so they can share tricks for being the best DM.

Learn and discern PLEM, both of yourself and players. If your players are higher than you, best to suggest they find another or muscle up on some adventures out in the real world.

1. Hold the space of your session by removing all external distractions.
2. Godrolls: use to develop foreshadowing, like a good film director.
3. If players are prone to cast-and-slash style of play just to get XP, try one of these:
   1. Their luck should go down.
   2. As they persist in pushing forward without higher purpose, they fall down a hole into the Underdark where they learn a lesson in reserve.
   3. Encourage a færy to join the game where s/he has to learn ways to avoid conflict to gain levels.
   4. Add proficiency modifiers -2 attached to the proficiency of their weapon. Epic warriors aren't naive slashers, so for such players they are simply unproficient and have a -2 DAM modifier to their primary weapon.
4. If players are going after XP instead of wisdom and PLEM, utilize jesters or higher-level nobel characters to pound out some XP from the players to regain karmic balance and teach a lesson about consideration.
5. Utilize the richness of existing campaigns so they can all be integrated into a vast world that characters can explore.
6. tough NPCs might reach through the imaginary realms into their character sheet (like stealing their player-name), scaring the marbles out of them.
7. Remember that smart or wise NPCs may be more valuable alive than crude killing. Find an alternate way to get what you want.
8. Unruly players:
   1. consume mana. Keep a tally of all banter that is disruptive and deduct 100 mana for each: "Character suddenly collapses, faint." is a good start for them to wonder what's going on.
   2. penalize them with -2 "distraction" modifiers in combat, warning them about it.
   3. if players are taking too long to makes moves during combat (inattentive), simply declare a MISS for one (or two) of their time-slots or their opponent gets a critical hit on them.
   4. Put them in dire straits, and then pop in with a jester NPC to sell HP at the cost of their XP. 5000 XP for 1 HP is fair -- but get whatever you can and pull your weight as the DM. You can then trade this in for DM gold.
   5. If they're being dumb or sassy and go the opposite direction you're trying to get them to go, put some impossible ogre on their path where they have hardly ANY chance of survival and the only way forward will be BACK.
   6. Take one of their death saving throws (they lose it permanently).
   7. Award bonus modifiers if they play appropriately to their race at tier boundaries (only). Tell them at game start so they can be forewarned and foretold.
9. Suggest or (force) a multiclass for players who either aren't playing true or to their class or would seem inclined to play another (spellbook caught the warrior's interest?). They lose both their XP and LVL.
10. Keep player XP unknown to the players, revealing only LEVEL. Your DM panel should have a docket to track each players history: monster types, XP gained, ??? and so forth. Rather than reveal XP, give them feedback like "You feel more powerful" when it goes towards their goals and gods, granting positive XP, or "You feel sad and drained. A haunting feeling affects your soul.", when a player kills a character that is the same alignment. This is how to deal with chaotic characters -- eventually the gods who make their world come down on them. In this way, you should steer more chaotic characters to dungeons and such where they can "get it out".
11. DM can utilize what's called "aceing": for each die that hits its maximum, you re-roll and stack the values, continuing to re-roll if the maximum is reached. This is an alternative to critical hits.
12. In multi-group play, players can be sent to raid other groups loot. Good loot should be limited in number. One group could steal the sun sword, for example, that was claimed by another group.
13. If the sum of levels of a party is equal to an NPC, they have a 50/50 chance of succeeding. That means that at least one party member will probably die.
14. Spice up battle by adding minions: these are mini versions of the bad guy that have regular stats except only have one hit point, meaning you only have to hit them once and you've killed them. SO it's not as hard for the DM (because you're not tracking 20 different NPCs), and the players get to wade through a herd of baddies (credit to Matthew Colville, of youtube.com, "Using 4e to make 5e Combat More Fun").
15. If a PC strikes an NPC with an enchanted weapon and that NPC is aligned with the gods who enchanted the weapon, the weapon loses major enchantment mana. But more importantly as the DM, you should describe that the NPC makes a shocking face upon attack, so the player can start to question what is happening. If that mana store goes into the negative it can start to fall apart from misuse.
16. developing play: If play takes place in the context of afterschool extra-curricular activity on the school stage, let them pick one item that they wear to get into character: it could be a cloak, a ring, a hat, etc. You can also use the sound system (respectfully) to create ambience. Other students can come in and sit in the theatre to watch.
17. character creation and death karma: watch what the player does with the last die during character creation. If they accept the lower die because they feel it's more natural, give them saving throws to resurrect them at time of death (equal to the number of sacrificed points if they're under 18, otherwise no more than 3).

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• Aceing: Credit to DM James Keller of Savage Worlds.