Keep your D&D players ENGAGED with these 5 tips 

You might be a DM if your Google search history is chock full of research on how specifically to successfully create and run criminal organizations.

Misdirection is the key to holding surprise information back without leaving the players in the dark. The players should always know what they’re doing, but be surprised to learn what they *should* be doing. For example, I ran a GURPS campaign where the heroes were Americans sent on a secret mission to investigate an Iraqi official suspected of being a terrorist mastermind. After spying on him a while, they discovered he wasn’t a terrorist - but he *was* smuggling antiquities on a grand scale. Ordered to find proof of his smuggling and try to recover some of the cultural treasures he was looting, they found he had hold of a tablet with the key to the lost language of ancient Crete on it. And so many factions wanted that (including rogue elements within their own leadership) that they were plunged into deadly danger just for knowing about it. And as they found, bit by bit, the terrible power hidden in that ancient language, they began to understand why so many people suddenly wanted them dead. It was going great - and then the campaign fell apart because of out-of-game inter-player conflict. Sometimes I can't win for losing.

One thing I've added to a couple campaigns are a rival group of adventurers. I make a few of them attached to a couple player's backstories, either the player(s) know them personally or they're affiliated with a group from the player's backstory. The rivals show up occasionally to mock the players and inspire some great roleplaying. You can have a king/lord ask both groups to complete separate tasks, and make the rivals challenge the players to a race. First to complete their task wins a prize. You can have the rivals be good or evil. Depending on the group of players they can either work towards mending the tension between them or they will want to kill these rivals once they see them out of the city limits.

Man, I really wish I could be in groups like yours. My entire life with dnd all the campaigns would last roughly 3-5 sessions, I would love to have a campaign with 20+ sessions.

For new dms, if you want a good approximate milestone pacing: each level takes that many sessions to achieve. Ex: 2 sessions to get to level 2, 3 sessions to get to level 4. Once you get to lèvel 5 you’ll have enough sessions with your group to decide how to pace the next tiers.

7:30 Make sure you cover another side to this. Sometimes, having months between levels is needed since you're planning on going for years and years. In my instance, you ensure you have other systems that give growth. Like Feat Points with Dungeon Coach's Feat Point Buy system, or a homemade Renown system I made, etc.

Just want to say I love your channel and think you really deserve more views. Your advise is fantastic and I hope this channel grows into what it deserves to be. Great video :))

The advice about reputation is something I'm implementing ASAP!

Definitely needed to hear some of this, I started off with a mystery and haven't leveled up from 3 to 4 in about 8 sessions Luckily I threw them an encounter right at the end of the last session so they'll get a level up ASAP and the story will be a little more revealing soon

Tales Arcane video? Pog

I found your channel about a month ago. Became a Patron immediately. What you offer at such a great price is absolutely amazing. I'm in a long campaign at a magic college and your Academia module and maps is amazing. I didn't have maps, and as soon as I introduced yours the players go so excited. Thank you for putting your heart and soul into your products. I tell everyone about you and this channel.

Great video! I'm dm-ing my first campaign, and my two main players are veterans; however, I recently had a player brand new to TTRPGs join my game. After having some struggles getting my new player involved in roleplay and everything I realized how much having veteran players has allowed me to get away with a few things. This video and your advice is invaluable for getting my new player as enthralled as the others. Keep up the excellent work!

I need to rewatch and take notes! Love your content.

Pure gold. Thank you!

I love letting my party make a big impact on the world. And letting either fame or notoriety follow their deeds. Generally starting around level 5 and very much by level 10. I love doing XP, but rewarding it for all sorts of things. Slaying monsters, finding treasure, confirming rumors, discovering new areas, dungeons, secrets, advancing in standing with various factions, pursuing personal goals, etc. easy enough to do with a spreadsheet. Just sum the amount of XP needed for the party to get to the next level, assign a percentage to each category, and mark how many instances occur in a session and reward xp accordingly. It’s a little more effort, but not by too much and has avoided both the “just kill monsters for xp” and the “we have to figure out the next milestone/the dm forgot to level us” situation. This keeps me from the pitfall of forgetting to do a milestone and makes my players feel like they’re being rewarded for all the things they’re interested in.

Keep up the great work, all your videos are filled with excellent tips - your vids are filling the hole I've been feeling since I finished with the Adventuring Academy series with Brennan Lee Mulligan, you give really insightful and practical advice - love seeing your vid pop up in my feed.

Keep the content going! You really do a good job and I'm excited to see this channel blow up.

Awesome tips as always mate!

Thank you! This is Great advice I've been recently guilty of some of these exact things haha.

Congratulations on the second sponsor! The long format are still great. Due to the OGL I've converted my campaign to Pathfinder so the system agnostic advice (or at least transferrable) is still good to hear. What I find sets you apart is the broad advice mixed with examples you give that help me the most. i.e. Regularly level players combined with you level around ever 5 sessions. As DMs we get disconnected from the pull of mechanical progression I feel and lose sight of just what the players may see.

My players are also facing a Devil invasion. Luckily they seem to be interested in that 😂

Great advice as always. I roughly follow this method anyway, but you've still given me a fair bit to consider. So thank you.

Loving these videos dude haven't had a chance to DM yet but I'm up next when the current campaign ends. These videos of yours are making me feel like I have a chance to be ready 😅 many thanks

This video came just at the right time. I have been pondering how to structure my groups campaign for a week now. I don't want the adventure to fissel out before it even get's of the ground. On that point about leveling up: that's exactly one of the reasons I don't play dnd. I do not like systems that level pcs in chunks. I much prefere systems like the World of Darkness that give you a few points every session to spend as you please and let you organically develop your character. That point about not holding back your ideas from your players, is something I have heard so many times now. But I still don't quite know what to do with it. I agree that giving out to little information will only frustrate your players. And there were many a plot hook I didn't take in the past because I had to little information to realize they were plot hooks. But on the other hand, if I reveal my BBEG right the moment I decide who it is, I rob my players of the opportunity to go investigate themselves. I could use a whole videos worth of advice on how to find a balance. How do I give my players enough information so they know what's going on, without robbing them of the chance to gather information, explore the world and discover new things? Where is the line (or more likely the grey area) between well informed and totally spoiled?

I swear, I will have a question in my head; and then the next day, Malcolm uploads an eerily accurate answer to my specific question. This isn't the first time, and it's really creepy.

Gelatinous Cubicles, awesome 👌

About to dive into Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Gonna need these tips, so thank you for your expertise insight(dnd-joke) :D

Doing a retrospective after each level up works. Gone well, could gone better, keep doing and stop doing.

A lot of this was useful. I presume most of your audience is 5e. Milestones and leveling up characters to keep them interested is the cheap seats in a grand opera in my opinion. Session 35 for my group and they just hit 5th level. They swagger like Charles Bronson. Their reputation precedes them. Some of them even have +1 weapons.

1.) Mysteries. Ive had so many problems with "Mysteries" that were boring and left the players fumbeling around in the dark just annoyed and pressing buttons looking for the "Move the plot foreward button." The pay off is never worth it. Clearing it up makes things so much simpler. One DM I dont play with anymore has been on a 2 year tangent from his compaign's plot. One of his playuers doesnt even know what it is, because they have been off solving a "mystery" for over a year. 2.) Status: Yuuuup. At level 5-6 players are potent enough that meeting Kings and things is something they can expect. They can deal with a good majority of the Monster manual and are juggernauts on the battlefield. Level 10-11 you are as strong as most kings and things. They are supposed to lsoe the wnadering adventurer as they make their fortunes. 3.) Reputation: Yeah thts nice. I think its important for adventuring parties to have "Brand". "The Knights of The Fey Valley!" people know them, they are excited to meet them, etc. Oh look the things we spent time doing and risked our lives for had value. 4.) yup yup. 5.) Dear god.... why is it so hard to find a DM that wants to play the game and not just exposit at me for 4 hours a week? What bugs the hell out of me, is that this is how I run my games, not perfectly but still. And my players LOVE it, but then in their games they turn around and throw novels at us. And the rest of the players just eat it up. And it leaves me sitting there going ".... you guys are lying about liking my game aren't you?" I throw everything I love about the game at them, and then they throw something very different at me in their games.

I think your audio is messed up, it ain't soundin

There is no sound sadly.