DnD DM Secrets I Wish I Knew Earlier 

This is very true!

I like to employ the term “mind’s eye” when describing something no player sees

A DM I used to play with had the term “we shift our focus” and I really like that.

Camera movement descriptions immediately break immersion for me. It makes the game feel like my character is an actor in a movie, and not directly experiencing the story. I understand it’s descriptive value, but RPGs are not movies. Players don’t want to play actors in a movie. They want to be the characters IN the movie.

Absolutely! "Our focus shifts to..." "Our attention is pulled to.." there are many ways to do it, find what works for you and your table.

Yeh dude, it's nice when you notice the difference in your style and how it evolves but nothing better then players saying it to you

Absolutely true. You might not be the actually best DM in the world, but players praising you for how you DM the game surely feels like it (well at least from what I can see lol I didn't DM'd a game yet but I can imagine the feeling)

The GMs of Exandria.

It’s honestly *so fun* watching them work together and borrow from each other!

thank you for the comment!

If Bonus Action had a nickel for every time someone in this comment chain was DMing their 2nd game, he'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's strange that it's happened twice.

They have video guides for running the Drakkenheim campaign too. Amazing. (I just started season 3)

(Oh, you did! :) Mind you, I feel I found a different skill of his. :) )

I feel like Murph frequently gets overlooked when it comes the DM pantheon and he really should be up there!!! Naddpod is the perfect balance between goofs and emotional devastation and it deserves all the love.

This is how most DM's ran their games for decades. Its only recently that being shoehorned in to an adventure path has become the norm.

thanks!

Practice does make perfect, but I do understand where you're coming from. That said, the two biggest things that helped me become better (yet still improving) are: If you have time, write the description down, and read it. If you are happy on how it sounds, that's your description. If you aren't, edit it and repeat untill you are. You don't have to memorize it, but having reharsed it a couple of times, and reading it before the session will help you remember the important details while retelling it at the table. On the other time, if you have not time, take your time and close your eyes, picture what it needs to be describe and ad-lib it. And as a final note, remember to go through all the senses, describe not only what they see, but also what they hear, smell and feel on their skin. Maybe even propose what a character might feel or remember (eg. "The smell of apple pie in the air is so similar to the one you, [CHARACTER NAME], was so accostumated growing in your village, you even might even feel a little bit of nostalgia"). Careful though with this one, remember to always give your characters the final say in it. And yeah, sorry about the wall of text. I really got into it.

Take notes the next time you play of what areas of description you feel need work; mine is that I often forget to set up the setting and atmosphere when I’m improvising, while I can narrate combat and character actions without any issues. Something I’ve seen recommended a lot is to practice outside of game time by narrating your life. If you’re driving down the road and the lights hit the wet pavement in a way that feels magical, try describing it out loud. Stuck in a waiting room? What elements can you focus on to make the room feel cozy, or creepy and suspenseful? How would you describe your coworker as an npc? Find or make lists of adjectives and adverbs by mood (horror and fantasy use different words). Read novels or poetry out loud so you can hear the language tricks (e.g. fight scenes use shorter sentences and words to keep the pace quick and elevate the reader’s breathing/heart rate, while horror writers lean into visceral words and analogies and sounds that make you *feel* and shudder). Read a transcript of a liveplay out loud - writers do this (by typing out pages) if we want to learn how to mimic, say, Jane Austin’s style of description or Lee Child’s fight scenes. Spending time speaking like Brennan will help you to sound like him when you want to in-game faster than just listening to him.

🤣I rolled poorly on the stealth check.

@@BonusAction Let's call it a cood performance roll :D

Deception yet again being forgotten by everyone 😢

@@nicholainissen Deception would apply if he tried to actually deceive, he was obvious intentionally which I'd say is performance. Because performance is the skill that's usually more forgotten anyway :)

Thankyou!

I hear you. But I bet you're also pretty good at certain aspects of DMing! Maybe the key is to lean in on what you are good at

I thought that too, hes one of my favorite dms

👏

Johnny's pronouns are they/them, but I agree completely

@@MurderTurtle you are correct. I have updated my comment. Thank you.

Try out stuff like Misfits & Magic or A Court of Fey & Flowers for more Aabria. Her EXU is good, but it's not my favorite of hers

@@XS_Overlord Hi! Thanks for the recommendation. I started ACOFAF last year but didn't watch past the 1st EP as the story and setting didn't interest me much. I'd have to try again this year but be more willing to let the story start before deciding to drop the season. I haven't seen Misfits and Magic but if it's better than ExU it's a good start xD

Kek

Thank you, I feel so bad but I just can't get into the stuff she d.ms

Woh a bit harsh there, 'only because she is on the CR payroll'. She was known before CR and had done the Live Play Rounds before CR. Granted I agree she isn't as nice to listen to as an audience member as the other two, she is a great GM to her players. She has great understanding of the basic that let her players have fun. It's kinda like watching an artist draw a basic landscape. The end results are mediocre but the line work and the steady hand are a great skill to showcase.

@@ruga-ventoj it’s not harsh. She is boring and not one of the best DMs. She’s mid.

How so?