How Brennan Lee Mulligan can make you a better DM 

I see a lot of advice that can be interpreted as “as a DM, do everything you can to please your players”. It’s important to remember that the DM also plays the game to have fun. Brendan is a great DM, but he’s also obviously having fun with his group and their play style. DMs need to find groups that also allow the DM to have fun. It’s important to state, because 5E is bleeding DMs these days due to unrealistic expectations of self-sacrifice in pursuit of “good DMing”

congratulations on the first sponsor. im glad to see youre getting some recognition

The LOTR reference at the beginning 😂

Still really enjoying your videos as they come out. Thank you for not trying to monetize as much as possible by stretching these videos out to 15-20 minutes. Your videos are engaging, smart and fun to watch and I appreciate it

This kind of advice of having an open story for your players is honestly great. I’ve been doing this for a long running Star Wars campaign, and the story has been great evolving the world around their actions. As for listening to player actions I’ve actually just finished writing out a new session scene for this: one of my players for D&D got suspicious of a servant and I decided to run with it to encourage them all to be a bit more “hey, I wanna see if this person’s lying” and use more social skills rather than fighting or intimidation so this is solid advice

Something people forget to mention, and need to realise, is that in actual-play content both the DM AND the players are very good. Brennan and Matt are great DMs, but if the players around the table are not receptive or invested in the game then nobody can salvage that. Don't try and force a pro-level experience from your players, and don't kick yourself if you aren't getting the same reception that you see on actual-play. Just have fun.

First time on this channel, and I have to say: That's an amazing moustache!

Nice a sponsor. Your channel is worth watching

Words of wisdom.

Thanks for sharing these insights! It's nice to reflect on people who have great skills to learn from, including yourself, Kelly!

Oh my god I have never felt so accidentally called out as I have at the "panic and start making up unfair rules to stop the PCs doing what they're doing"; can definitely say as someone who has done this it's definitely an insecurity thing so I encourage anyone who has found themselves doing this and being embarrassed in hindsight to try to have faith in your dming and generally try to improve your confidence as a person.

First of all, love this channel! I understand that this video is focused on lessons we can learn from Brennan Lee Mulligan; however, most of the time, the advice in your videos can be considered "system-neutral", but this video seems to be more D&D 5e-centric than most. Here are my thoughts on the Tips presented in this video: #1. "Listen to your players. Allow their decisions to guide the story and shape the world" - This is great advice that can be leveraged by any GM for any RPG and the example from Brennan's campaign was a good illustration too. #2. "Reward creativity by using an additional check to let players bend the rules." - I agree that RPG rule sets provide players "a framework to play in" but the idea that the rules are designed to "bring balance to the game" is definitely a 5e construct. Early additions of D&D placed a heavy focus on the concept of "rulings, not rules" allowing for the GM to use there own judgement when reacting to player actions, rather than strict adherence to the letter of the rules or any lack thereof. I'm not clear on what is meant by requiring "an additional check" to allow a player to execute a fun idea. The players should be able to try just about anything and depending on what the action is, it may require a roll (but not always) to see if they succeed. So I'm not clear on what the purpose of the "additional check" would be. #3. "Don't panic if things don't go the way you planned, you can always find a solution." - Death should be a real threat in most RPGs. It provides meaningful stakes and adds weight to player decisions/actions. Seeing character death as a problem that needs a solution, i.e. resurrection, cheapens death and weakens player agency. #4. "Don't be afraid to railroad your players, if that's the kind of campaign they want to play." - I suppose this depends on the definition of "railroading". I do think there should always be a degree of discovery during play for both the players and the GM. If everything is "on the rails", then you're not playing a game at all, you're forcing players to be actors in a play. This is where Tip #1 comes into play - the GM may have ideas of where the players may be led, but the GM should also be reacting to the players and allow their decision to take them down unknown paths. My preference is constrained choice, meaning the GM provides the players with a list of options to choose from, e.g. - "you can travel to any of these locations" or "you can choose to pursue any one of these rumors you have heard", and then the players make their choice from the limited options provided by the GM. It is an on-the-rails sandbox, that is to say, there are many directions to go and choices to make but from a limited list and once the choice is made, the players are on-the-rails of that chosen path to its natural conclusion. #5. "Don't forget that your players are the heroes of the story, so make them feel cool." - This is a specific type of play style (and then default style of play in D&D 5e), but having the PCs be the heroes of the story can be problematic because it often results in PCs having plot-armor, which leads to PC death being viewed as a problem, rather than a natural consequence of actions (also see comments to Tip #3).

great video.