Zen and the Art of Dungeon Mastering || improve your improv 

The key to being a gamemaster is to not depend on the players doing what you want them to do.

I have DM'd for a few decades now. I can say that The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly all apply to my ability to DM a group of friends. You are 100% correct, "Just Do it" is the real "How To" for improve. Recall playing with others during recess at school - "I shot you, you are dead now" "No, I am invulnerable to bullets" - we do improve naturally. We just need to be open to our inner child mind. I have over prepared, under prepared and started games with nothing prepared. Having a few seed ideas, a map and players at the table is often enough to get started. My best games tend to be a complete surprise to everyone including me, the DM.

What you're trying to explain, I think, is something called Shrodinger's Gun. A mix between Chekov's Gun and Shrodinguer's Cat. Yes. I do not know how to write Shrodingger's name. XP

This mirrors my own experience pretty closely. My mantra for a while has been “Prepare Situations, Not Stories.” If you have a Story with a specific beginning middle and end, you will be frustrated 9 times out of 10 by the players. Additionally, I try to predict the 3 most likely outcomes of that situation and have a rough idea of what consequences will be. So far it hasn’t steered me wrong.

Hey, ZD, another great video! I really like your approach, that the best prep is a kind of minimal prep or “zen” prep that gives you maximum flexibility. I especially like what you said about using NPCs. Let me pass on my approach for running games that give players their full agency, yet still allows me to know pretty much everything that’s going to happen. I use a simple three step process: 1) Motivate the PCs 2) Put a clock on it 3) Put the villain in motion Those three steps can be simplified for a one-shot, or layered and complex for an epic campaign. 1) Motivate the PCs. For a one-shot this can be as simple and straightforward as asking the players, “tell me why your character hates the bad guy/loves the king/wants to protect the town,” etc. For a campaign you can have an opening prologue encounter where you set the problem in motion - make it as personal for your PCs as you can. Really make them invested in the problem. Have fun being evil! 2) Put a clock on it. This is one of the best ways to create drama - the PCs are running out of time to stop the Big Bad or it’s a race to the temple to get the MacGuffin. My favorite thing to do is to give the PCs a handful of problems but not enough time to solve all of them. I call it “Task Saturation.” This amps up the tension in a fun and dramatic way as the PCs end up agonizing over which problem they are going to leave unsolved. 3) Put the villain in motion. This right here is the key to everything. The PCs can do whatever they want, but if they want to stop the villain from doing his evil deeds, they have to go where the villain is. And since *you* decide where he is, you always know where the PCs are going to be. Are the PCs ignoring the villain? Great! Now you get to show them the terrible consequences of their inaction. The town is sacked, their friend is killed, the king is assassinated... and they could have stopped it all. Have fun with it! A good villain never sits around in his stronghold waiting for the heroes to show up and kill him. A good villain has motivations, a plan, and an agenda. A good villain is constantly doing villainous deeds. And by “villain” I mean the Big Bad and all their minions. I have used this template countless times - it’s my tried and true method.

I like to mess with my DM's when they have an NPC for us to interact with, by asking "What's their name?" I'm guilty of this too, but 90% of the time, that new NPC doesn't have one. One DM kind of gets nervous. Another one names almost all NPC's Joe the Profession. So we've met Joe the Cleric, Joe the Pirate, Joe the Mountain Guide, Joe the Kobold...

Excellent advice and I could not agree with you more. What exemplifies a great DM is that he is fully aware of the world he has created, and the NPCs that inhabit it. Its complexities and the many strands of variant tale options are the route choices that will define the hero's journey. Each place and every NPC provides a subtext to the over arcing narrative that is the whole of the theme. A wise DM knows it's not about the story he wants to collaborate with his players on, but it's about their individual stories that will encompass the entirety of the journey. Let their choices flush out that tale that begs to be told about their heroism, or fall from grace. When a DM knows every aspect of the world he has created it makes preparation much more easier. A great memorable session is incumbent on a well prepared DM. If he is lax in his preparation then the fruits of his labor will be self evident in his players immersive experience within the game, or lack there of. A great DM knows that his world is in constant evolution as his players explore it. He knows the abundant opportunities of side quests that exist at any given time during the game, because he knows every trait and personal goal of his NPC's. As the Players move through the world the NPC's are existing in it and their choices are fluid. Preparation is a key element to a successful campaign. Some choose to put in little effort and play D&D like a video game. That is fine if it is acceptable to his players. There are so many ways to play D&D and the rules are malleable. With that being said there are those that strive for a more immersive and profoundly visceral game experience. This is achieved by the great DM's who have put in the time to know the entirety of their world. Because it is a world built for the enjoyment of his players and it is their journey through it that gives it life. And in the end it's all about the journey and the lessons learned.

This is brilliant, so often it seems like a gm will have a plan and the players are supposed to stick to it.

That 5th and 6th point reminds me so much of Drakenheim... "your players won't know if that wizard was supposed to be good or mad" reminds me of how Monty came out saying the Ratling Prince from Dungeons was supposed to be a throwaway character. Or after a session against the hoard of fish people in Shadows, he expressed relief that Jill took out the Fire Elemental, as he thought they wandered into a TPK.... It really puts everything into perspective as it was entertaining for so many, but actually did rely heavily on improv and the dynamic between players and DM.

Your videos have consistently helped me zero in on what’s working and what isn’t, at least in the games I DM.

More incredible insight, great video. This was me today, and the past week. Carpenter at work up on a ladder with your video playing on my ear buds, "Exactly! Yeah no doubt! Finally someone on YT said it!" These are things my co-workers hear, 😆

I’m so conflicted with leaving a comment as there are already 69 comments on this video and mine would f**k that sweet sweet number all up. Please let the record reflect that 69 is the funniest, greatest and grossest number. That said… as a professional improviser, a long time D&D player and soon-to-be first time DM, I find your style of D&DMing right up my f**kin alley man. Some excellent rule and guides to follow. I now feel so so much more confident about running my first campaign. I’m definitely gonna “get it wrong” and whatever buuuuht I also know that it’ll be alright and that the name of the game is FUN ENGAGEMENT. I’m stoked. So thanks for the excellent content brother. Keep up the good work. Or don’t. Like.. live your life man. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to create balance in the universe by commenting on all of your newer videos until they’re all at 69 comments each.

Hey ZD, I know this video is really old, but I hope you still will read it. As a Jazz educator I've been working on developing Improvisational Skills in a systematic and educational manner. It makes me think of your statement, that only doing it will develope those skills. While I am agreeing with you that this is the most important tool and that a DnD game is not comparable to a Jazz tune, I still do believe there are some details that people could put their focus on to become more comfortable in the DM seat while facing unexpected events. Notice that this is not a really methods that I have tried out so far. One thing that comes immediatly to my mind is the study of great improvisers. While a Jazz student would listen and transcribe to solos in theory I could imagine listening to great DMs on Stream and Podcast can help. Important would be some kind of active listening and imagining themselves in the DM seat with takes on decision and understanding why a DM decides on a specific thing. Another idea I had with beginners is to push them to create first and later think about it to get the confidence in their DM-language. People often expect the perfect ability to improvise from the get go from themselves and i think that makes some troubles. Another one is an idea of practicing slowly. It should also encouraged for the DM to take their time and a break to think about a players proposal, how to implement their ideas.

Wow, brilliant video as always! Awesome, awesome awesome. I've been binging your videos for the past few days, but only now has the algorithm deigned to show me this one, and... So excellent! I love how you go into the _other_ rules of improv past the first! I wish more "art of GMing" channels talked about this! By the way, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was one of the most formative books I read growing up and I gotta tell you, you really nailed the title for this one. Kudos!

This is *exactly* the type of content I’ve been looking for. Incredibly impressed, thank you so much! Liked / commented / sub / dingle-belled fo life yo!

I've been using Sly Flourish's lazy DM template for a good few years now and it's fantastic for creating a scaffolding for improv. One thing I struggle to improvise though is content. I can improv a character, I can make up a location, I can throw out some relevant enemies but coming up with something interesting for each room of said location is where I stumble. My location ends up feeling like a facade and I can never think up anything interesting between point A and B. Just to be clear - this is only when I'm running purely by the seat of my pants. I suppose where I struggle is the bridge between coming up with those puzzle pieces and tying them all together with a compelling goal and interesting gameplay.

Brilliant video! The one take Just Do It bit was very cool

Great vid mang! I esp agree with the last piece of advice. I have players say to me “I’m not a a good dm”. I always tell them that practice makes perfect.

This is only barely related, but a formative book for me was The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. It's short and very dense. Honestly, half of it went over my head, but I kept rereading sections until some concepts stuck. One helpful idea was how all ideas are rooted in spontaneity. It helped me dispel the need to be motivated or prepared years and years before I tried D&D. I still think of it when I need to stay comfortable in uncomfortable situations,. However, I did become a flippant prick after internalizing this book.

Ha! I like that you let us know your friend's resolution. Good ideas

Wonderful advice and pretty much what I try to do. I do ask my players at the end of the session what they PLAN on doing the next session.... they don't always follow it, but at least I'll know where in my world they'll be starting lol... But I've had more than one session where I roll for random encounter, and instead of hunting the villains hideout, they find a barn fire and spend the whole session helping the family build a new barn. But hey! It was fun :)

Great advice! Really excited to continue learning the art of improv DMing. I’ll be looking for more videos from you!

Hey man, I don't think I've ever commented on a RU-vid video in my life because usually I just don't care that much. However, your videos are honestly some of the most interesting and thought provoking conversations on DMing out there. Keep up the stellar work and thanks.

This is just so awesome! I was looking for some advanced Dm tips (already exhausted Great GM and DM Tips) and I did not expect anything but this had really influenced me. I see how mindfulness meets Dnd now! Thank you, sir!

I ABSOLUTELY do this! I’ve been looking for this type of video so that I can share my personal DM style with others!

I really appreciate your lack of cutting and editing your videos! Really quality work. Keep up the good work, Thanks.

I really like your videos. Your perspective is refreshing and really useful!

Ace as always

You are like the Plato of D&D

Really enjoyed your pacing video! A lot of what you discuss in this one makes sense, but I had a recent game involving an (optional) puzzle that I deliberately under-prepared for and...it was a bit choppy and flow seemed to drag...I think because I wasn't giving the players the information they needed when they needed. A couple minutes of deliberation would go by before I'd think up or add detail. This made a scene take twice as long as it would have (if I'd prepped more) and, I think, led to players metagaming more. Whereas I've never had that experience when I did more detailed DM prep. I was wondering if anyone has noticed a similar difference in their group? I'd like to experiment with more under-preparation to spark improvisation, but after that slightly unpleasant choppy session, the prospect of another choppy session isn't appealing.

Good advice.

So in short know your setting and the people in it well and practice being adaptable, both in your planning and in your response to player responses

As a DM I've learned that improv is the BEST skill I can have in a game.

And read a lot of scenarios, books, etc

I agree completely with you. There more I used to plan and prepare the more not only the players seemed less interested but also myself as everything "according to plan" and if not... >>PANIC

Hey is the title based off of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

good job. D&D is an imorov game imho.

Just watching again. Maybe do a live stream like this where you can flex some improv on us that would be cool to see

Yo...me too

Geezer here. Great video here, thanks. Just have to say. Gaming is a strange thing, like adventurers we are weirdos to be kind. I like to think I am nermal, close only 1 letter off. Getting closer to normal makes me queasy. Anyway I find many new players and every new GM overlooks the terrible truth. GMs are not story tellers as in authors of the story. We create a setting to support the players telling their characters story. Keep up the vids and maintain the motorcycle.

Doesn’t the quantum ogre also take away player agency? The players’ actions’ is the story but morphing the world to fit their actions is going too far in the other direction. Why explore if the story is going to unfold around you no matter what you do? It should be more of a balance between the two extremes. Which takes a lot of improv to accomplish well. Great video.

The difference between a new DM and a good DM is 2 years. The difference between a good DM and a great DM is willingness to study the craft of storytelling. The difference between a great DM and a Dungeon Mastery is what happens when that great DM has been doing this bullshit for decades and oh dear God what have I done with my life!

#GoodNewsPlayersKnowDick

I am loving your videos, but find it kind of hard to apply some of your advice when playing published adventures, particularly in plot heavy ones. On other topic, there's a concept from psychoanalisis called "free-floating attention" or "availability" , it's an unfocused attention, difused, there is nothing it can or cannot do. It also appears in confucian philosophy.