5 Principles That Made My TTRPGs Better

[@johandejong2292]

Downtime... I once had my players in a D&D Dragonstar campaign take their starship and spend an entire session 'on holiday'. They flew to a warm water planet with a couple of tropical island chains, settled down there, and did - well, not nothing - holiday stuff. They even used their space suits to go down deep scubadiving. It was such a change of pace after several combat heavy sessions agains drow operatives and their lackeys. An entire session spent in-character go go on a tropica holiday. And we all had a blast, including me (the DM).

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I think this video has more useful GM tips than the last 6 months of my videos. Outstanding.

[@MeMyselfandDieRPG]

You’re too kind, sir :)

[@frague1981]

I see a new video by Trevor, I press like. Simple!

[@JonasSusara]

Same 😅

[@DJMicroNaught]

Always.

[@salty-nick]

A big thing for me was something you and i think Professor DM talked about, which is that the GM isn't there to tell a story. The GM prepares the setting/NPCs/conflict and what the players do with that conflict is how the story is told.

[@The8bitbeard]

Ensuring that there's conflict is something I've been learning the hard way. I tend to get so wrapped up in the world building, that I forget to give my characters a motivation. Then end up wandering around waiting for something to happen. Now, I ensure every character in my games want something. Every character is the hero in their own story, including the villains. ESPECIALLY the villains, actually. My antagonists believe they are the protagonist, and that the hero is the villain. As a solo player, giving otherwise small role characters a motivation can lead to some interesting surprises too. What does that innkeeper want? What does that beggar who you rolled as simple window dressing want? What does that blacksmith you ordered armor from want? There are plenty of tables of character motivations out there you can roll on if you can't think of something. Is their motivation in conflict with the player characters? Maybe they find they have a common goal instead? This can lead to interesting events, new quests, or even entire branches of the story you never planned for nor expected.

[@simontemplar3359]

This is awesome! I hope that you write as well because the amount of creativity and understanding you have for story telling is remarkable!

[@antoyal]

8:16 One tool that has worked well for me for downtime is the idea of an occasional hiatus, where the campaign world skips forward in time a few months or years. It gives a great opportunity for roleplaying and allows time for far-flung areas of the world to "push back." Great recommendations!

[@svenk5221]

I do what I like to call push/pull: Sometimes I put pressure on them and another time I lure them in with some promises, rewards, etc. Also pacing your voice and use your language always with the goal to provoke different emotions in your players.

[@Turglayfopa]

Making monsters related to a pc on the fly is simple but gooood advice

[@sodrac]

Great stuff Trevor. All those things were part of the best campaigns I had. When running a Burning Wheel - I love the Beliefs, Instincts, Traits part of this game - having players with a clear goal, written as a Belief made the prep a whole lotta easier. I just had to think - who of the NPCs would not like them to achieve what they want. I did so for every belief, and had a bag of encounters that I could use next session or following.

[@erveaimaro356]

These Principles work nicely with playing Solo as well. Thx for this video

[@lkriticos7619]

After seeing how helpful it was having one of my players make detailed notes I started being the note-taking player in the games I play in.

[@karlheilmann9172]

Great to see you passing on your experience and knowledge! You are great at strengthening this community (and likely others)! I'm always glad to see whatever you have put out.

[@NoMercy8008]

Really great points here in the video! 💛 I especially agree with the idea of "pushing against the world makes the world push back". For me as a solo player (who is heavily inspired by your videos, by the way, huge huge thank you!), it is a ton of fun thinking about how my world reacts to the actions of my "player characters"/main characters. I really love the art & science of world-building in general, and making your world dynamically react to whatever is happening in your campaign is, in my opinion, a hugely important part of that. And I'd like to somewhat extend your point by mentioning that the world can push back against your characters' actions on all scales. if the main characters overthrow some monarch, for example, then there might be a new successor to the throne, with new philosophies and ideals. How does that impact the world? Will the new ruler be benevolent and enact reforms that help the people? Or have the player characters just opened up the opportunity for a new, even worse tyrant to arise? Or maybe other factions use that brief power-vacuum to make their own plays? Also, how does the general population react? Do they cheer the main characters for ridding them of a tyrant? Or was the monarch beloved by the people, so the people now hate the main characters? But, as i said, the world also reacts in much smaller scales. If the main characters deal with a ghost haunting some village, maybe that means that travelers who were avoiding that village due to the haunting now return and the local inn suddenly gets much more business. Will the innkeep be grateful and reward the main characters once they return months later? Or will the innkeep now be totally stressed out and massively overworked due to all the new people coming through? Or maybe, if the main characters clear out some tomb in the middle of the forest, will it just stay empty and forgotten forever? Or will some new possible inhabitants arrive and make it their own? Will it, for example, be a ring of bandits and smugglers now making the roads even less safe than before? Or will it be a circle of druids tending to the forest, fighting of the last remaining undead? Or maybe more Adventurers arrive there and find some hidden passages in the tomb, leading them to discover an ancient powerful artifact? there's so many interesting and fun and surprising and unexpected ways how the world might react to the actions of the characters. i really really enjoy exploring all these possibilities, making the world feel more alive and dynamic. Yada, yada, yada. I'm sorry for the massive novella, I'm sure you notice that I am very excited and passionate when i'm thinking about how the world might push back against my characters, both in small and large scales :D Anyway, thank you so much for your videos, i hugely enjoy and appreciate them! 💛 ALL the best :)

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

I could not agree more. We are of like minds Trevor.

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

The logistics of the world, table, story, players, organization. All key. No movement, no fluidity to that movement, no motion forward it does not create much of a space. Logistics ensure measure for success/fail, memorable moments, measure of balance and impact in the world, responsive story contexts, flow of design, and comfort and confidence levels by providing a comprehensive and organized space of consistency. Adventure builds more adventures. Progress forward provides more points of interest for more progress forward. The gears of creating imaginative worlds. I talk about this often, teach this often, and do this often.

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

Rest and pause are never eventless. Progress forward remains as measure of impact and events pan out to measurable character development and exploration of the worldspace outside of just conflict. Great ways to have less slash and cash, and more "conversation" and "relations" that players tend to miss out on at some tables.

[@CONTINGENCY_sys]

All those delicious layers of creative development and seeds planted precisely and purposefully to connect players to the worlds they character in.

[@notearz76]

Solid advice for keeping things in perspective when running a game.

[@allluckyseven]

In regards to NPCs, one thing that I still didn't do but certainly _want_ to do in a future game is to have a table of, let's call it, good relationships with the PCs. That's somewhat inspired by The Sims. So you would make up a table with the NPCs cross-referenced with the PCs, and you will mark down how did that one PC (or the group) deal, how did they behave with that NPC. Were they friendly? Were they confrontational? Did they want to exploit them? You could basically just mark "likes" and "dislikes" until you get to a threshold and once you cross that then the NPC becomes an ally or, rather, an adversary! That's something that I want to do also because I have a terrible memory so it gets really difficult to remember how did they treat that NPC the last time they crossed paths with them.

[@Katwind]

There are some games with rules for that. The D20 Star Wars game categorizes levels of relationship for the purpose of stablishing difficulty on persuassion rolls that put numbers on the npcs. Also the Blades in the Dark has a very similar system for relationship among the criminal bands in the city. In both games it's just putting a number next to the name of the npc on your notes. 0 is neutral, they don't have any particular opinion of you. +1/-1 means they think you're cool/annoying but just slightly. They're not close at all, but they already have a disposition to help/harm you. +2 They like you, and will help as long as the risk is not great. -2 They hate you but won't go out of their way to harm you. +3 family (said in Toretto's voice), they will sacrifice for you. -3 Enemy, they hate you so much!

[@allluckyseven]

@@Katwind Cool, I did not know that. Thanks for the heads up, I'll check those games out.

[@gegegebebebe5087]

Totally agree on all these points.

[@PhilipDudley3]

For some players who don't know what kind of goal they think they would want or something that fits in the game world, the GM should provide some stock goals to help guide those players and then later those players should make their own.

[@animatorFan74]

That's a great idea.... I have some new players gonna start playing soon so that would be helpful to make for them.

Great stuff, as usual! I started using NPC cards, it works for me; an image on one side, and a description, motivation, stats, etc. on the other side.

[@mistry6292]

i have never, NEVER, clicked on a video faster than i havee for this upload

[@m8trxspydr4rl75]

WOD storyteller here. Played different iteration but yes, “Push and pull,” is exactly my style. I strangely do little prep besides having various story plots, goals, and possibly larger stories in the background (like the rise of ancient evil) and then build off of whatever character’s hand me as backstory but usually keep that in the background for follow-up games. Of course, be prepped with a bunch of names and places especially if playing historical or rl setting. I love doing runs built off previous runs as if, the characters believing they solved a problem, only realize the nature of that situation changed, usually of something far worse as they’ve only grown in power themselves. WOD definitely takes a bit more prep at times especially if you mix the systems to mesh proper but there are ways to string the story along as you do this, by building out the narrative, letting character delve into long back and forth roleplaying of their own, and get the players involved in their various backstories. Usually, I hold back stories at bay for a time, but with WOD (vampire/werewolf/whatever) backstories are great. The only two things I would really add is to know your players. Most of mine where from hacknSlash DND (calling it roleplaying all they wanted, fine, not true) so run the game accordingly. And rip out the rules you hate. Never cared for decision turns for everybody then actions. Just say and do it. So much quicker and way more fun. Same when actually roleplaying, don’t say that you want to say something, just say it as if you are the character. Act it out and have fun.

[@EpicSolo]

Awesome advice. Great video. Thanks Trevor!

[@ChrisChapmanIAm]

Solid advice, esp. on keeping organized. I've found that when I get caught-out on something I should have prepared, I feel pressured to just wing it to keep the players' attention and in some cases that leads to inconsistency errors on my part...

[@keithulhu]

I loved those 3.5 Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics modules.

[@Drudenfusz]

All five points I simply replace with theme, conflicts arise from the theme, the push an pull of the world is based on theme, I do out have to just use conflict to present theme, and since I talk with my players before play about the theme of the campaign they are the ones who make it personal by building their characters with that theme in mind. It makes most things also very easy to organise, since when everything is based on the theme than I just have to remember how the aspects key into the theme and make it easy for the players as well to remember things when they recognise how the theme is interwoven.

[@Bryon1187]

Handy! I do "try" to involve character conflict where I can and remember to do so. 😆 It does help the world feel alive.

[@elindifferente4544]

Stumbled by accident over ths one. Started pen&paper games 1985, with quite some time away from it but you have a really nice way of doing this. Lots of my own ideas, I can see in this one mentioned. Good work, thank you!

[@asaskald]

This is a terrific consolidation of principles to keep in mind in both creating and running a game. It's important to keep these in mind during all stages of running a game.

[@TheBigDanois]

Index cards. I use them for npcs, items, weapons, spells, status, clues/handouts, vehicules etc. Mainly saves time transcribing stats on one's character sheet.

[@harringtonmartin]

I'll be in MN. Otherwise, I'd come see ya. It would be great to shake your hand and thank you for all you do.

[@andysimmons2648]

Thank you for the tips. I think that I pretty much follow them, although I probably don’t have the world pushing back. One issue I find it is that it’s easy to make things personal for the player that comes up with a concept or backstory but I have a few that produce the bare stats and skills and aren’t concerned about their character’s history or motivation. They take a little bit more work. I’m looking forward to the next part. Have fun at Gen Con and I hope that you get to join a few games.

[@klaxgindo]

Wow. Just wow!

[@samchafin4623]

Good points! I think there is a lot to be sad about finding the rhythm of the game, when to push the action, and when to pull back. A lot of that is just learning to read your players (I still struggle with this, but I'm workin on it). Staying organized with resources quickly available is clutch. I also think a resource that allows you to generate random names for NPCs, businesses, ect. (like Maze Rats or Shadowdark) is very useful.

[@TheWoodlandFellowship]

Trevor, you are such an engaging presenter and performer! Love your stuff! To build on your point re:active conflicts for players to solve, one of the ways that I have found to help with that is to give your villains clear, active goals that will clash with the heroes' goals. A lot of players (especially new players) can be timid with actively pursuing character goals, so a Villain's actions (or those of his cohorts) can give just the right push to keep active conflicts present in game sessions.

[@Gopher86]

This channel definitely needs to grow. I love the attitude, the excitement and enthusiasm you get across in all of your videos!

[@artistpoet5253]

I'm a big fan of pregenerated NPCs. Especially in my solo games. I don't often determine if they're allies, neutral or hostile just yet. That I leave to context and have been happily surprised to see a character I felt would be a major foe turn out to be the one to save the party's plans.

[@capitulation600]

This is such a concise and useful video. Thank you, Trevor!

[@DerpyNate]

Excellent video as usual!

[@Emanemoston]

Thanks for the video.

[@Kidarcana]

Thank you for affirming my thoughts on running sessions and games.

[@elnovato-8165]

If you have time i think you would like to read, in case you didn't already, " The hero with a thousand faces " by joseph campbell. The conflict and the change of the world around, made me remember the book. I should do a reread if i find it, don't know where i put it.

[@TheWaywardGameMaster]

It'll be my first GenCon this year as well! I'll be running Vast Grimm all weekend, but hopefully I'll get a chance to swing by. Great advice btw. Keep making awesome videos!

[@larryg.6118]

As a relatively inexperienced GM, this is very useful to me. I'm looking forward to that second part!

[@diariodadebs]

I use google sheets to organize my NPCs and random encounters + I name and add the role of all of them on Foundry/Roll20, to avoid making mistakes or missing something

[@liamtaylor4955]

Awesome!

[@MelRiffe]

Excellent advice, Trevor. Thanks for sharing. I would also add be careful of too many individual PC objectives that cause the game to grind to a halt. Been there, done that, would not recommend.

[@thebowedacious]

I always worry about not making combat plot relevant. Any tips for preventing it from feeling contrived?

[@iPivo]

There is a part 2 coming? I guess I’d better subscribe!

[@brads2041]

Damn, I started writing these on a stone tablet 😢

[@knightwatchgames]

Approaching many situations with "What SHOULD (morally) the characters do vs what CAN (abilities) the characters do?" sidesteps the "superhero creep" that makes many RPG conflicts underwhelming. This ties into realistic consequences of actions taken, which could make even more moral dilemmas.

[@luyandolove]

As GM, both with players and solo, when should I introduce downtime? I feel like I get so caught up in the action I forget that people need room to breath.

[@chrisragner3882]

Also a decades old game master, over extending myself is a no no. I did it all the time because we were having fun. Know when to stop at a strong moment.

[@APaganPerspective]

another good video

[@Azgoth2]

I'm a big fan of "let the players drive". A lot of my players love the opportunity to take the reigns and sit in the storyteller chair for a bit, so I try to give them opportunities to do that. Sometimes it's just "tell me about this tavern you go into/NPC you talk to," but sometimes it's as broad as "I have no plans, so you tell me what we're doing/you suggest a way this could work out." It keeps them actively engaged and invested, gives me a chance to kick back and relax for a bit, throws a lot of wild creativity into scenes, and gives me as GM lots of stuff to get excited about because I didn't see it coming. Obviously this only works well with players who are comfortable taking that kind of proactive, co-author role, and is almost definitely going to work better for narrative things rather than crunchier tactical ones. But I do love letting my players take over for a bit. (I can always step back in if they're about to break anything, after all).

[@shaneintheuk2026]

I trust you will be playing Harn at Gen Con then 😀

[@kevinrineer5356]

One of my favorite things at any table is when the players get shared say of the story. E.g. "I want to see if that person is lying!" "Sure roll for it. Wow, nice roll. What do you see?"

[@mistercomment1622]

He's obviously not playing today.🤣

[@brunovalencia408]

Primero en llegar!😸🎲🎲

[@THEFabianValenzuela]

Bump

[@svenk5221]

I would go soo far that all the action, conflict, drama etc are just the ingriedens to create a downtime where the players reflect and play their charakters in a way that will stick with them for a long time.

[@ArcaneCowboy]

The more I hear about DCC, the less I want to play it.

[@andynonimuss6298]

D&D is a prime example of a game system that just teaches DMs to run combat conflict most of the time. It's sad, because the D&D rules aren't good for much of anything else other than hack-n-slash combat. In almost every D&D or Pathfinder tournament I've been in, it's always about playing 4-5 hours with three to four scenes of combat. I think constant combat scenes are also a big turn-off for female gamers who would prefer more of a balance in roleplaying.

[@ThePixelPear]

Algorithm comment, at least untill i have more time and can finish the video!

[@MGP2210]

The start - for 40 years?!? I guess you started as a preteen?

[@MeMyselfandDieRPG]

I played my first game at 7 years old.

[@MGP2210]

@@MeMyselfandDieRPG A great childhood 👍😊👍

[@Rannos22]

I find the insistence that there is no right way to play RPGs extremely unhelpful for people A TTRPG is a game with rules, you can win at it and there is a right way to play it

[@Mind_of_MATT]

Free Kriegsspiel Revolution. Free yourself from rulebooks.

[@needmorecowbell6895]

Nah. I feel like this is a community theater exercise. If I, as a player, came to the game to kick down doors, roll dice, and kill monsters I'm not an actor asking what my motivation is. The character's motivation plays no part in it. I don't really care much what the factions are or what's going on in the world or what my character is doing during down time. There's this myth of an a character arc that doesn't really exist. There's only up, not down and that's not how lifecycles work. Real people end up with scars, illness, old age, mental scars, etc. and you're pretty much unfit for duty pretty quickly. Real people have real jobs and real families. Real people suffer loss. Fifty years old Tiger Woods isn't 25 years old Tiger Woods. But where's the downside of the adventuring career? Where's the downside of the character arc when your character is covered with scars, his bones ache, and he's missing a bunch of teeth? This is a power fantasy, not a character arc, because that's what the mechanics support.

[@mistry6292]

also, perhaps a gencon vlog ???? ;)

[@MGP2210]

The start - for 40 years?!? I guess you started as a preteen?