Become a Zen Dungeon Master to defeat D&D anxiety and stress

Do you suffer from D&D anxiety? Here's the cure! The Zen Dungeon Master is a DM who is free from stress and manages their overhead. A couple changes can make running Dungeons & Dragons less stressful.
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[@heyitsMattyP]

What are your best tips for reducing DM stress and overhead? Please share! This video was edited by Anto from Icarus Games kzbin.info This topic was suggested by AndoTheFantabulous from Patreon! -------------- ❤ Support the Channel ❤ -------------- 💚 Patreon: matthewperkins.net/patreon 💚 Donate: matthewperkins.net/donate 💚 Store: matthewperkins.net/store 💚 DM Guild: matthewperkins.net/dmsguild 💜 Twitch: matthewperkins.net/twitch 💜 TikTok: matthewperkins.net/tiktok 🧡 Discord: matthewperkins.net/discord 🧡 Facebook: matthewperkins.net/facebook 🧡 Twitter: matthewperkins.net/twitter 🧡 Instagram: matthewperkins.net/instagram 🧡 Reddit: matthewperkins.net/reddit ✏ Blog: matthewperkins.net/blog 📧 For marketing/business/sponsorship inquiries, email: [e-mail]

[@danielfbrb]

I used to write down all my important NPCs dialogue lines and REALLY stress about it when the players went "off my script", my NPCs all ended up sounding characters from a video game, no Mater what you ask, the anwers are the same. I then decided to just make a note of all topics that NPC may know something about and run with it. Embracing this kind of improv really helped make better NPCs, improve communication with the players and reduce stress. Great video!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Daniel! I sometimes write all my exposition down on a list, then decide who knows what as I go. It's like a shopping list and I just cross stuff off throughout the session.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Sharing information with the players is my ultimate tip. Yeah, verisimilitude and all that, but most of the time people just want to roll dice and everything is smoother when they know the DCs, etc. awesome video Matt!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Bob! I tell my players almost everything, including when I don't know the answer. Sometimes I say, "I don't know, what do you think?" Usually works a charm.

[@alexcothren5103]

This video was very helpful. Thank you Matt, and Bob, your videos have been super helpful. As a brand new DM, I really appreciate the advice.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Alex!

[@damianmaddox4334]

You, my dear friend, are a D&D prophet. Quick tip: I use one initiative for all enemies and my players deeply appreciate it. Combat is streamlined and we are able to get further in the content each session compare to the old way of each monster having their own.

[@heyitsMattyP]

:O Thank you! I didn't realise that doing anything *but* combining initiatives was an option until I encountered it in a one-shot at Adventurer's League. It confused me so much, slowed down combat. Combining initiative has got to be the best bang-for-buck combat fix, least effort, most effect.

[@damianmaddox4334]

@@heyitsMattyP please share with us all the secrets to being the best DMs

[@mookieblaelocker6504]

If you want initiative to be even faster, don’t roll. Have the players decide where they wanna be in initative and go clockwise around the table starting/ending with the DM. Wanna keep rolling or are playing online? Just roll initiative once at the top of the game and use this order all session.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hey, that's a really good question. I've struggled with it before as well, because I don't want any of my friends to feel targeted. BUT for optimal strategy, if I was trying my hardest to win, I would focus-fire and drop everyone one-by-one. I'm going to do some thinking on this and see if I can make a video about it.

[@damianmaddox4334]

@@Chefrabbitfoot i focus for when possible and if not I attack closest to pc. I play enemies like people play their characters. I've used actions to kick dirt in eyes, attempted rear naked chokes, etc. My players love it and I find the originality refreshing

[@ZipperonDisney]

I wonder how often my Zen DMing vid gets suggested after this one...Can't be that many of them... edit: just tried to re-watch mine, but this one is sooooo much snappier

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh no! Did I rob you?? I'm sorry! I'm a no-good copier :(

[@decofmanythings]

Okay but seriously I watched your video on Zen in D&D @zipperondisney and then Dael Kingsmill's DM Anxiety video and now Matty P's video on it and you all come at the topic with such different lenses and focuses (foci? focusees?) that it's really interesting and useful to have all three videos as reference. I've just taken some time off running a game just last week and am working a lot of these cool down and stress-less measures into my planning for the eventual next session.

[@heyitsMattyP]

@@decofmanythings Oh nice! I haven't seen Dael's. On a long enough timeline I guess we'll all end up making videos about the same thing. Very postmodern :)

[@Caesarr7]

Great tips! For the third category, I like to get my players input for random encounters. They might have cool ideas for what sort of monsters they might face in the wilderness, or it can even be as simple as getting them to decide what the terrain looks like. As an aside, it might be worth saying "friends" instead of "mates", for any lady GM's watching. I can see how that might not fit your style as easily though, so up to you! Great content as always.

[@mookieblaelocker6504]

This is great advice, I do similar things at session zero. Once the campaign/setting is decided upon I take player requests for things hey would like to see/fight/do during this adventure.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Sam! That's a good idea. I sometimes outsource that kind of thing for deciding things like, what's in this room, or what's in this box etc etc. As par as I know in Australian parlance, "mates" is gender neutral - for example, my sister calls her girl friends her mates.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Rewatching this video because it's the most important one on KZbin. Just great stuff, Matt!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Aw shucks man, thankee

[@WeShallLoveOn]

Tip: Don't write down dialogue for npcs. Just write down a catchphrase, some sort of vocal or visual tick and a couple of words they like to use. You'll be surprised how much you can improvise with just this small amount of info and how much it can communicate to your players what kind of person this npc is. Also helpful if you are like me and don't do voices or accents, there's other ways to make your npcs different so don't stress about it.

[@decofmanythings]

I've been doing this for the last few months, writing down 'opening lines'. They even help with accents because I practice them and they help me get the 'voice' of the npc

[@heyitsMattyP]

A+ yes to key phrases! I sometimes find that having just a key phrase prepared for each NPC helps me find their accent again whenever I drift from OK-French to the vaguely-European-accent-zone.

[@BeyondTheScreenRPG]

Love the topic. I need more Zen in my GMing. Also - Anto, you're editing power is over 9000

[@heyitsMattyP]

Anto slayed it :)

[@Luboffin]

Some great tips here! I definitely try and keep my prep time to a minimum as I find the more I do the more stressed I get 😂 I really enjoyed the book Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and try and keep those things in mind when prepping.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for watching Luna! I haven't read it, but I like hanging out in Sly Flourish's Twitch streams and Discord. Did I accidentally steal any of his ideas?

[@MatthiasMeys]

I've been struggling with players cancelling game night at a day's notice, ruining my prep. However I think I finally found a solution that really works. I split my player base into "core" players and "flex" players. "Core" player characters are tightly connected to the story, which I always prep for. These players make a sincere commitment to attending every session. "Flex" players can skip any RPG night, however I also do not prep for their characters - at the start of the session they just magically show up and tag along with the "core" party. Core players and myself determine the schedule for the next session. Flex players are only informed about the next date. We've all been very happy with this change - wish I had thought of it sooner!

[@heyitsMattyP]

That's so frustrating! But a great solution :)

[@spencermagleby9336]

This was very helpful! The hardest thing for me is making stuff up on the fly which I then have to weave into the story line and future sessions... Sometimes I say something to my players and instantly regret it haha.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad it helps Spencer! I've gotten myself in trouble a few times too, but it was always because I was panicking. Thankfully, even when I make mistakes with improv, usually the repercussions don't show up till the next session, so I have plenty of time to course-correct between sessions.

[@mookieblaelocker6504]

My advice is to take light notes either during the session or immediately afterwards

[@darklink2475]

Need this one for sure.

[@stargel6867]

my group split up in the first goblin cave ...a young elf bard was dragged through the waters along with 3 goblins....only with her flute did she play in hopes of reaching the souls of the goblins and calming them down.. And she got... As she watched the goblin kneel in tears remembering his dead parents and the days that were once good Where they looted and killed for fun and not because klarg..It was just surviving and living.. Don't just survive and fail. An arrow leaves the cave and passes through the back of the goblin's neck. That falls from the water never to rise again...........I can't give them information about the lore, they kill everything All the time

[@ElraththeAdventurer]

These have been so useful! thank you so much! and Enjoying the LMoP videos, have helped so much

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh thanks Elrath! We'll be back to Lost Mines videos soon enough :)

[@EtzEchad]

I am starting my first D&D session as a DM tonight. The module starts with an ambush. I played around with trying to hide the fact that it was an ambush, but I know how smart players are and I thought that I just wouldn't be able to keep it secret. So, I've decided to not try to hide it. This opens up things I can do that I couldn't otherwise. I'm going to start the session with: "Suddenly a cloud of arrows erupts out of the woods and you are off on the greatest adventure of your life! But first, lets find out a little bit about you..." and I'm going to flash-back to five days earlier where they are all sitting in a tavern. :) Obviously, when they get to the spot of the ambush, they are going to know what is about to happen, but who cares? They would've figured it out anyway.

[@LutesDice]

Really interesting points! Something to think about.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Drink till you fall off a cart and forget about it Folkard - it's the key to becoming a calm Dungeon Master :)

[@mattalford3862]

Great ideas. Thank you

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Matt!

[@blackhillsbirder881]

Very calming content with good advice. You are part of the rank of dnd legends named matt!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for watching!

[@KabuMontasaurios]

Thanks a lot for the advice, not only for the tip about letting thepayers track and hp, but also for using a whtiteboard to do so, it seems sooo much easier and faster that way

[@TheSpinbeast]

It took me forever to realise that it was an eyebrow piercing not a green screen artifact

[@heyitsMattyP]

I added the piercing in post production.