1y ago

Good advice for DMs old and new alike

Edit: Spleling

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If you think they'll be too simple then it should only take your players about 20-30 minutes to solve.
Wow. If those PCs could read, they'd be very upset.
- If you think they’ll be too simple then it should only take your players about 20-30 minutes to solve.
  That being 15 minutes to tell stupid jokes, and 15 more to burn down the building and leave.
  
  Almost happened in the last Warhammer session I was in. DM made a door that had three locks depending on knowing alchemical symbols, formulae, and the geocentric model. Because the GM forgot that Warhammer doesn't have a flat "magic knowledge" roll like Arcana in D&D 5e, the party mage doesn't know anything, the rest of the party was illiterate, and everyone got so frustrated that everyone except my character tried either breaking the door or entering through the window while the wizard was still home and foiling their attempts. To our credit, we were able to figure out the first two locks with trial and error, with the first being a very simple balancing of the four elemental triangles around a plus sign in a plus shape, and the other being three symbols in a vertical line, the problem was seven symbols to be arranged in a circle. After my party face character shook herself from her puzzle frustration and realized that the wizard is actually home, she just asked him for what we came here for, he was cordial about it, and we left when we got it. During that time, the GM gave the solution (because Wizards are assholes that love to brag about their genius to the stupids) which taught us that in geocentricity, neither Venus nor Mars are closer to Earth than Mercury is, and the sun is between Venus and Mars because of course it is.
- What's funny is that no one's mentioned Ironsworn's slew of random tables that are completely free online, much less the wealth of similar on Perchance. 🤓

I don't understand how cereal box puzzles would translate over to DnD.
I also don't know about ripping off movie and TV characters and just swapping out the names. I suppose it depends on the character, but I feel like this is the easiest one to tell that it was "stolen".
Using Pokémon descriptions for monsters is aces though, even if you use the older mons. I think Monster Hunter monsters would also translate over pretty well.
- During a game of Star Wars d6 rpg i ran a group through basically the train job episode of firefly (that was in solo 12 years later) and they did not realize it until we were watching firefly together. I also ran them through the cloud city plot from ESB while they were on cloud city.
  
  That's what I mean though. If they are even somewhat aware of the characters you are borrowing from, they'll know the NPCs are rip-offs, regardless of a name swap. I feel like you would have to do more than just change their name. Perhaps combining characters to make 1, or modifying character traits so they're not 1:1.
  I suppose it also depends on whether or not your players care about that sort of thing though, and if you as the DM don't come clean about your shenanigans when caught.
- Mazes, riddles, color coordinated pictures, I think the cereal boxes point is actually a good idea for a kernel of a puzzle.
  This post just made it very real to me how I could DM a game.
  Cool cool cool
  
  As a forever DM, it's pretty fun to DM and I think everyone should give it a shot
  Especially if you enjoy the roleplay aspect, you get to roleplay so much
- I also don’t know about ripping off movie and TV characters and just swapping out the names. I suppose it depends on the character, but I feel like this is the easiest one to tell that it was “stolen”.
  You wouldn't put them wholesale into a game. For example, you'd mentally label an NPC as a 'Spock' and play him as intellectual and logical. Another as a 'McCoy' and play him as compassionate, emotional, and a bit of a catastrophiser. Obviously, you wouldn't use them together as the crew of a ship (along with a 'Kirk' and a 'Scotty'), that would be a bit on the nose. And you wouldn't steal characters' history or catch-phrases, you would just use the core of the character as a shorthand for personality, as a guide for how they might present themselves, think, and interact with others.
  There's no reason, say, a fantasy city council couldn't be run by:
  a 'Hannibal Lecter' (brilliant, urbane, lover of the finer things)
  a 'Lesley Knope' (energetic, rules follower)
  a 'Sarah Connor' (determined, uncompromising)
  a 'Stringer Bell' (confident ambitious, maybe with a secret past)
  a 'Dr. Gregory House' (cantankerous, confrontational, cynical)
  
  Ah, now I get it! Thanks for spelling it out for me.
  
  That being said, I straight-up stole Dr. T'Ana from Lower Decks as a ship surgeon.
  
  While reading this comment I had the thought of a stoic warrior type that was very much an outsider to the society he was mostly operating in but very open to learning about the things that are new to him. Occasionally he would really embrace some part of that culture and make his own references to it.
  I'd probably call him Jaxson and get away with it until he said indeed.
- Did you memorize all the Dora the Explorer plotlines? Should they switch to Go, Diego, Go?
  
  I never mentioned anything about the Dora the Explorer plotlines. That one actually sounds like a pretty good idea. And yes, they should get some from Go, Diego, Go while they're at it lol.
- I'll make it all even simpler.
  Go to tvtropes! Copy and paste.
- Yeah the puzzle one might be tough but the rest are pretty good
  The TV characters thing is also one that's kinda meh
  
  See I think the tv characters idea is great. You’re not going to literally imitate them. But you also don’t need to build every single NPC from scratch and method act lol. Sometimes I’ll go “alright this dude is basically Barney Stinson” or whatever in my mind and then just let it roll.

This is good advice except for the bit about Dora the Explorer. That would require watching Dora the Explorer.
Sub in any genre movie or TV show you know well. If you players catch on and recognize it, that's even better, because then they think they know what to expect, and that's when you zag on 'em.
- There's plenty of episode synapses available everywhere for every show. You don't have to watch them, just have to read them
  I've stolen places from different shows and plot beats from other shows quite a bit since I started DMing about a decade ago
  Only recently did someone catch on that the location (the dungeon they delved into) was stolen from a show (well, more "heavily influenced" by a show (think someone gave a elevator pitch for a location and I built from that)) though no one has caught on yet that they've been exploring Idaho now for 2 years. I've even laid maps down on the table for people to look over and no one's caught on yet.
- Farscape is my go-to. It's niche sci fi that I've watched, but none of my players has...
  
  Farscape is so good, I loved watching it back in the day
  I should really give it a watch again
  
  Hearing Farscape be called niche hurts me deep
  
  I should rewatch that. And actually finish it this time.
  First I watched it on TV and you know how that is for continuity.
  Then I watched it downloaded and got distracted.
- That would require watching Dora the Explorer.
  what if you smoke the weed
  
  Can you say MOTA?
- Dora the Explorer is awesome. Try watching it. Its better than most television. I watch it daily.
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0951624/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl

And this is why as a paladin artificer, my character Ambrose Dayne is explicitly Batman.
Nobody has figured it out yet. 🤣
- Paladin artificer? I never thought of that combo, does it work well?
  
  It's not awful. My friend playing just a pure ranger is carrying combat encounters. Here soon though, I should start taking off. I'm gonna give up being Batman who doesn't kill and pick up a longsword.
- Brilliant character concept. I can only assume you have gadget belt, and every device is branded with the holy symbol of your oath.
  Bonus points if your oath is based around overcoming fear by adopting the aspects of the most feared one, who takes the form of a great bat.
  
  My spell focus is a gem which I embedded in my belt along with batteries for electrical supply to augment my attacks! I have a grappling gun attached to my arm Monster Hunter World style! I wear all black and have arachnophobia! My alias is 'webs'!
  Those bonus I'll be claiming soon. I'm gonna be doing it spider themed though.
- A friend I play with in a different campaign has an artificer named "Tony Spark" and he slowly built him an Ironman suit. Dm knew what was going on, rest of his ground didn't.

be me
enter dungeon
consult magic talking map
run strait to hot lava pit
band tee shirts and leather with studs everywhere
electric rabbits appear
yell Trix are for kids

Need names? Whip out a map and start using placenames.
Example; I zoomed in on a random spot in London
undefined

Allen Brown Bury Leanenhall Billter Fenchurch Creechurch Mitre Asperior Sino Kentro Aioi Ardent Weightman
- This works for players, too. I know cause Big Chunky Bubbles from Comedy Bang Bang has been a valued sorcerer on our campaign for over a year. Soups and stews.

Dang thinking back, Dora quest would be so dope. I want to save the Ice princess!!

If you don't identify at least 10 pop culture references every session in my games, you're either not paying attention to the game or have no culture.

I had a pair of DMPCs for the party to fight in a tournament arc: Saul Carolina Jack and Sir David Pent. The first is a Barbarogue build, the other a ranged Monk that is also speced towards close-combat grappling.

The dungeon layouts from malls and subways is just stupid. Just placing rooms is not a meaningful portion of the work in designing a dungeon. If you want to steal one, there are so, so many already designed for TTRPGs already and available freely.
- Personally I find the room layout the hardest part so stealing a layout helps me jump off
  Laying out traps, secrets, monsters, etc is the easy part
  Now area maps are a whole other ball game though, my players have been exploring Idaho now for 2 years and no one has caught on yet.
- You've clearly ridden safer subways than I have.

I feel that with the puzzles.
I'm not very good at them, but every time I design one players spend so long on it!

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