Aabria Iyengar Makes Her Players Shine

Aabria Iyengar has run D&D games for Critical Role, Dimension 20, and The Adventure Zone, and she never disappoints. Her Dungeon Master style is pretty different from my own, so let's take a look at what we can learn from her!
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[@MoonMaidMokona]

Aabria really blew me away in ACOFAF, for all the reasons in this video but also because of her absolute control of mood. How she can summon SO much quiet gravitas as Grandfather or Wuvvy, even when she has to deal with charismatic powerhouses like Emily, Lou and Brennan pushing the mood in funny/friendly directions... it's just insane. Maybe it's a sort of "less is more" kind of scary? Also, everything she says feels so genuine, and like it's coming from her soul, especially when describing small, beautiful things. To your point about wonder, she doesn't just go the normal dnd route of big = wondrous, anyone can make giant statues or towers or mountains cool, but she imbues the smallest of things with beauty and magic. The letters and letter delivering servants, along with the tokens, stand out. Also, there's something so tactile about her gestures?? Idk man, even if I still think she can be a bit too generous with tokens/reputation/magic points (or whatever those were in Misfits and magic), since she's dealing with experienced storytellers who love failures as much as successes, this show really converted me and now I, most ardently, stan.

[@BALTHAZAAR58]

Speaking to her gestures, my husband said it looks like she's plucking bits of story out of the air with her hands and I love that.

[@samminicksm]

I found that the extreme generosity with bits and bobbles that have use in game is common for black women DMs in my experience. I say this as one who has gotten a similar comment, and having played for several personally. There’s this desire to see the eyes of your players light up like it’s Christmas. We can balance around it, but the story is what we care about, and the beauty of the dice choosing success or tragedy no matter what we give is what makes it satisfying for us and our players. There’s a sense of fatedness because the players have everything they could possibly need, so it’s now or never.

[@MoonMaidMokona]

@@samminicksm that's such a cool take! As a Swedish woman I'm not really familiar with american (?) cultural identities beyond what I see online/in media, so that's really interesting to me. Personally, I've only DMed about ten v short games, and I tend to gravitate toward giving players challenges/consequences, since my favorite thing is when they feel ✨entangled✨ with the world... so, in one way I feel like picking up what the players are putting down and turning it into conflict/stakes is very Aabriya-like, but in another it does make some things more brutal rather than generous haha.

[@bitterbaldguy]

Aabria is one of the best storytellers I have ever experienced, her narrative flow is insane

[@DoctorPhanan]

Aabria is also a great player. Her understanding of character and drama really enables her to help spotlight fellow players while simultaneously driving her own character arc as seen in The Seven.

[@Sashakawaiicat]

Aabrias Dm style was made for people like me. I just wanna watch the players have fun, focus on their characters, do a bunch of role play and maybe do some theatre of the mind fights once in a while, it’s perfect. I feel bad but I am that type of person that feels myself becoming less interested when they start bringing out maps and stuff, I don’t know why but the theatre of the mind stuff just works better for me. Also bless Aabria for describing cool shit that the players might not see, I understand why Dms probably don’t think to do it but it’s amazing if you do it right. I also just love how she just roles with whatever insane thing her players throw at her, like in acofaf the green Hunter becoming a genuine part of the plot was the best. I think she’s probably the best Dm for new players in particular as well.

[@gametheus1306]

I love theater of the mind stuff too, but the first combat episode of Burrow's End just gave me a whole new appreciation for battle maps :)

[@aprible1129]

I personally really loved the letter writing in acofaf because while the campaign itself wasnt usually very structured, it encouraged the players to come up with their own drama and roleplay opportunities.

[@yoshilover765]

Aabria was the first GM I ever watched, and has been my favourite ever since. It's hard to put my finger on why, because there's so many different aspects of her style that I enjoy. Her tone, her flexible pacing, the way she introduces and speaks as NPCs, the banter between her and the players, it all hits a home run for me. I love this video, it highlights even more of her GM strengths that I hadn't picked up on yet.

[@castlecaster]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@vertigelt]

Aabria is married to a former coworker (whom I really respect as one of the smartest people I've ever met). I ran into her in the airport in Seattle when my wife and I were returning to LA from our honeymoon. So it tickles me to see how successful she's become in this medium. I remember when Ryan (her husband) first introduced her to D&D. It's a real trip. My wife watches all the content she GMs, but I haven't found the time. I was really hoping that you would spend time revealing through clips of Aabria's games all the things that make her at the top of her craft, not just your description thereof. I appreciated your earnest commentary, but I felt this video could have contained more Aabria herself. Thanks nonetheless for your content and astute observations found therein.

[@cyranojohnson8771]

DMs like Aabria, Brennan and Matt blow me away. I don't know that I would *do* what any of them do at my table, because so much of it is about hitting marks for a viewing audience. But I'm very impressed by that specific art and the varied ways they approach it. The pieces that I think are useful for the everyday weekly table are: - Use all five senses when setting or interacting with a scene. At least as many of them as you can work in. - Let your players *drive* the story. I'm fortunate in that I have a group that typically comes to the table with *lots* of backstory and plot-hooks. I can drive a game for up to a full twenty levels on that fuel. - Let scenes play themselves out within that context. *This* is the one I struggle with: I'm often tempted to butt in to move the narrative along or prevent conflict, b/c anything PvP related is a big question-mark. This is the one I'm personally working on.

[@greedygremlin7471]

Aabria is my favourite GM for so many reasons and hers is a style I very much attempt to emulate. She facilitates the story in a way where every PC feels important and awesome which is what every player wants.

[@jays.4552]

Aabria RULES! I think its really incredible how she is keeps everything so fluid, yet when she steps in and grabs the story to pull the PCs to something specific or in a direction, she does so in a way that communicates "trust me, this is where this should go." Its like she can connect the dots between what the players are putting out and weave those connections into her plans *in the moment* of play seamlessly and it that pushes them to commit to their characters and role play choices even further. I think this was especially true and amazing in Fey and Flowers with how she helped Oscar push Ru's character role play and game play wise - he was new to the game, but clearly had incredible instinct for that kind of campaign and it was obvious to me as the viewer how she took that into account and, like, pushed even more energy into those moments, amplifying what he was doing, allowing him and Ru to shine (if that makes sense, its hard to describe!).

[@taogopogo3758]

Lovely video, and a very thoughtful analysis! If I were to leave one suggestion just based off this video, it would be to include some examples supporting your thoughts as well! For example, when going over how Aabria narrates her campaigns like a movie, leave a snippet or two of her in her element doing so! If you’re worried about spoilers, narrow your search to the first episode or two of a campaign, and find the best example from there (narrowing it to the first episode or two would also keep the increase in workload for making these videos as small as possible). tl;dr, a little more “show, don’t tell” would really increase the impact of your well-constructed thoughts. Great video! Hope to see more like this in the future :)

[@baconmoop]

I know I’m a little late to the party, but one thing I will say is that Aabria is heavily influenced by Griffin Mcelroy, and particularly TAZ balance. She (and a lot of other DMs I love) have mentioned before it’s how they got into dnd in the first place, and you can definitely see that in Aabria. They both put their players first and the story itself second, making sure everyone gets their time in the spotlight, and has a blast doing it. Aabria has a magic to her where everything she says is so enthralling and you can’t help but get invested, but she also knows when to take a step back and let the players do their thing. If you have like 100 hours and you haven’t already, I highly recommend giving TAZ balance a listen, or watching the post canon mini series imbalance, DMed by Aabria herself.

[@castlecaster]

I've listened to TAZ Balance twice! The Suffering Game and Story and Song are some top tier storytelling

[@Amozon28]

the way Aabria engages with her players as her npcs feels like shes another player at the table. which feels dumb to say because, well, she is another player at the table. but idk how to say it, ive watched other amazing dms, and they always feel seperate from the players, which makes sense afterall they are the dm. but idk what she does but when shes inhabiting a npc she feels like shes just another player at the tabel roleplaying a scene and it feels so engaging

[@carlosalcaraz2995]

Great video and awesome notes and suggestions! Just wished you had put some Aabria clips as examples of what you're saying, as I haven't ever seen her DM. Would really help! Keep up the good work! :D

[@officiallytrist1360]

I personally love watching Aabria's games, especially in games where she's a player, because she so obviously cares for the story. One of my favourite parts for the latest seasons of Kollok is how much Aabria loves playing Laura, she shows all these emotions and she interacts so gorgeously with the other players, she makes stories with them and makes inside jokes with them and to it makes it amazing to watch her, because even in a non fantasy setting like Kollok or the Unleashed, she can still make it feel like something from a movie

[@PanicSatanic]

I kept waiting for the clips that illustrate Aabria doing the described things.

[@MarmadukeRupe]

I really enjoyed the level of self reflection in this video and I wholeheartedly agree with you on all points. Looking forward to the next video!

[@Shinigami13133]

I think Aabria brings a level of earnestness to all her npc characters that brennan doesn't (can't say anything about Matt, don't watch critical roll). Her characters can be wacky like brennan, but they're always able to push past that into other roles as the situation calls for it

[@JadeyChi]

I know this was a year ago but oh my goodness Burrows end. The culmination of all of this. She's gotten so good at her craft I can't wait until the next time d20 asks her to lead a campaign. The things she was able to do with the minis, The way she was able to evoke feeling... Just exquisite

[@narosett]

THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO!!!! ❤

[@lawrencesaylol]

She is tapped in, directs her story softly even with violence but that doesn’t minimize it, it’s almost like moon energy.

[@anthonynorman7545]

That difference in genius is a great point. I think it's why I like her so much. I'm always stunned at how she can control the game so well and make everything feel special.

[@dawnmarionette]

i really appreciated this because i adore & admire aabria - it’s interesting, because to me she is the most similar to my own gm style but of course much better. the ordinary genius, as opposed to the magician. & the way you highlighted & broke down the things that she does & how she does them so effectively, really helped me conceptualize what makes her so good & the dm style choices i’ve been unconsciously emulating. really good job! thanks for making this video!

[@flightlessagbsls]

I like this style of content

[@anthonynorman7545]

My absolute favorite DM!

[@baphnie]

CF&F is a masterclass campaign.

[@JasonVDM]

This video is really great analysis and I think it will help me try and decode how she does what she does. Thanks for making this video 👍 Im an improviser and Im very comfortable behind the screen, I push myself constantlyto grow and really constantly try new techniques and store's. But I really agree that her style is harder to decode. Ive struggled to copy her techniques. Sometimes having to abandon attempts or go move much more subtly towards her techniques.

[@Readera]

❤❤❤

[@hoogalaga]

Love the Red Letter Media reference at 4:00 XD

[@odiogoponto]

Do you have anyting on Monty Martin?

[@EvilArtifact]

I think Aabria’s other talent is an ability to inject real emotions into a scene, and then to very quickly change or even undermine that tone in order to keep players and viewers on their toes. However, the one critique I would add is that she overrode open rolls a couple times to impose results that she preferred. I wouldn’t do this at a private table because it undermines the risk and randomness that are an accepted part of the game.

[@shanghigh20]

It's not hard to understand she is just really really really really good at what she does

[@Em-uw5te]

the very first part like matt and brendon are way harder for me to follow, aabria and i have a very similar style which is part of why i love dming i think

[@Jelboo]

lol

[@Firegen1]

Aabria is one of my creative goddesses. I love her from a depth of place, of shared experiences, shared humour and some beliefs in reshaping the way her industry works. I have no love for the Harry Potter franchise or things that utilise it's themimg. I loved how she truly took its criticism to reshape the world and ask bigger questions. All while letting her table go crazy as they wanted to. Of campaigns, she's in and has been a part of. I'm stunned by her work in VtM, ACOFAF and M&M. I want the Roll 20 madness games to end because they are repetitive and she is undersupported by the crew. The recent one just made me kinda mad by the end of it. Her water bending was blocked by others playing to the camera. I wish she'd been the one to run the Spelljammer campaign. Brennan did an incredible job but it lacked for just sitting in wonder. What I am learning is specific DMs make different features so real for their players they can touch them in their minds.

[@Damianweibler]

I've only ever seen Aabria once, in Crit Role EXU, and frankly I couldn't force myself to listen to the whole thing. I loved her in EXU C, but as a DM...she must bring her A-game to the other games she's run

[@saskiascott8181]

I think straight DnD just isn't her style. All the other ones she's done that people love are at least partly different systems - narrative focussed ones. That's where she seems most comfortable, when she doesn't have to deal with crunch

[@Damianweibler]

@@saskiascott8181 Makes sense, she was an amazing player

[@officiallytrist1360]

If you want to see more of her Gming, I highly recommend The Unleashed. It's a modern superhero based game, although I also suggest Kollok if you want to see her as a player

[@Sashakawaiicat]

@@saskiascott8181 I’ve heard people say this, and I don’t think it’s really true. If you go back and watch exu she’s perfectly fine as a Dm, her styles just isn’t for everyone. Some episodes are better than others, but Aabria did her thing. I’ve seen her Dm on a bunch of different shows and her style is pretty consistent. For me some aspects of her style reminds me of how Anthony Burch from dungeons and daddies dms, one of the players on dungeons and daddies doesn’t even really like games like d&d, but he manages to make it fun for her by not putting too much pressure on the players, and I feel like that’s what Aabria does very well. She always makes sure that her players are having fun first, that’s probably why they got her to Dm for Robbie and Aimee in the first place. If you’re someone whose into all the rules, it’s not gonna be your cup of tea. There’s some stuff I didn’t like about exu but for me none of it had to do with Aabria, I walked away from exu wanting to see more of her work. I think having a season with a bunch of characters that were going to be in campaign 3 was the worst idea ever, but that’s just how I feel personally. (Also no one gives Aabria her props for effortlessly playing one of the most popular and beloved characters on critical role, IN FRONT OF MATT! and absolutely killing it.)

[@saskiascott8181]

@@Sashakawaiicat she's fine as a DM but she doesn't play with a dnd type style is what I'm saying. Her style is more influenced by other narrative driven systems and she brings a lot of that to her dnd dming and I think as you said people who really care about the rules of DnD get frustrated

[@terryray6037]

Although I agree about Aabria, I think you missed that Mercer and Brennan do the same thing

[@castlecaster]

Well this video isn't about them for one. And two, I don't think they do any of the things I mentioned to the same extent as Aabria.

[@JasonVDM]

She is very different in style. Her social management of players and the way she invites chaos (Opal, remember Opal!) are quite different.

[@odiogoponto]

I want to look further. Not really a fan of Abria style.

[@MFewwy]

Don't like her style at all, not my cup of tea. If you enjoy it - good for you