Matt Mercer's Amazing DM Advice!

[@AntonoirJacques]

Do you mean like a chair? In the Middle of the Room? With nothing else around it? What does the chair mean, Mercer?!

[@michaelhuerta7469]

it means some times you have to fuck with your players, especially when they are a group of maniacs who love chaos

[@hyperlink6547]

@@michaelhuerta7469my DM in a campaign gave my group a box with a button it. My character had been drilling into the other characters’ heads not to touch random shit (cause 3 of them nearly died before the end of session 5 from touching random shit) and so we were so fucking scared to hit this button we went a good 10 sessions without touching it and ended up forgetting about it until our pet pushed it for us… the box made birds. When you pushed the button, it summoned a bird. That’s it. That’s all. We freaked out for WEEKS over a literal BIRD CUBE!!! I will never live this dowb

[@phillinedenniezejulle]

I fuckin choked on my saliva on this one 😭

[@keithjohnson7893]

@@hyperlink6547bird box written in an alternate universe

[@AtlasNL]

@@hyperlink6547Don’t you mean the Bird Box?

[@Usedtohavemyrealnameonhere]

If i need my players to touch something i put a sign on it that says "do not touch." 100% success rate.

[@Triss_Joy]

10/10 fabulous advice! 🤭💕

[@devinaschenbrenner2683]

Much touch all the no touchys. My Gnome probably, at somepoint.

[@evilallensmithee]

My players heed the advice of ancients who tell them this is not a place of glory, there are no honored dead entomb here.

[@Scarletraven87]

my players planned a 1 month trip in the jungle to avoid dealing with an angry mob of paesants

[@leila13dnd]

I mean. Yeah that would do it.

[@Salinasun]

I love how happy Matt gets when he's talking about DMing

[@sircrim8694]

Yeah, it's so refreshing to see someone this passionnate about the hobby I love

[@MauseDays]

@@sircrim8694 im happy the negative dnd content from angry reddit people is not in fashion anymore. Just folk who actually like the thing they do.

[@sircrim8694]

@@MauseDays I still think the hobby could be better an many ways though, I'm not an optimist, but I know how to focus on what is good and be happy with what I can do. On that note, Matt, is my role model on everything that is RPG related because he s so driven to be happy

[@karnewarrior]

Party: ...Gem's cursed, let's get the fuck out of here. DM: Damn you Matthew Mercer!

[@Metal_Horror]

Eh, in that situation you'd be cursing your players for somehow getting it in their heads that glowing somehow signifies cursed. Also why are these adventurers walking away from a bunch of gems

[@NeedsContent]

His method only works for players who aren't cynical or jaded.

[@Imperial_Squid]

"The gem glows a little brighter" "huh, ok, anyway, about that roll for the mustiness of the room?"

[@ftblldude7778]

“Yeah! Then we can go back to the bar at the inn and get back to that crazy amazing NPC Bob the human!”

[@thatweirdgirl8466]

Can I roll a nature check to see if licking the moss on the wall will kill me?

[@Bobbytree-rt3nt]

Matt and brennan have to be possibly the best dungeon masters I have ever seen.

[@dr.amygdala6524]

They probably are currently the best living 2

[@bogiberson2558]

Then you haven’t seen many dms. They’re both pretty basic. Talented, but not exceptionally so.

[@B3n3f1t]

Im into this hobby for over 24 years now and they are good but nothing extraordinary.

[@dm_ex_machina3395]

Having played with dozens of different tables I can assure you that they are definitely not the norm. It's not unachievable for others to do, but it's silly to pretend that most tables have DMs that carry the magic with them. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many DM advice sections and DM horror stories, either. ​@@bogiberson2558

[@enbyrogue3740]

If you're into Vampire the Masquerade, you should check out some of Jason Carl's chronicles. He's elite

[@markdiplock3439]

CR did a whole series of helper videos. So much good advice in there. Matt has that natural ease about him when he does what he does.

[@caporalblack5626]

Ah so players are moths. Make things glow and they will follow xD

[@agustinvenegas5238]

Feels pretty accurate from my perspective

[@Wayazaexa42]

Essentially, yes. Video games does the same thing (if designed well), where the path to progress the story stands out, often times with the lighting.

[@astral_randomness]

Yep. Is it shiny? Yoink. Is it glowy? Yoink. Does it belong to someone else? Uh..... Yoink.

[@Canadian_Zac]

Either: make it pretty and sparkly and glowy Or Plaster it with signs saying DO NOT TOUCH Either way, they're gonna immediately touch it

[@caporalblack5626]

@@Canadian_Zac indeed

[@Matthew_Calmert]

I call them "quest marker hints"

[@SuperLifestream]

Sometimes you want them to touch the thing and other times "it's just a FUCKEN CHAIR!"

[@Yekrep]

Videogame brain rot

[@Dorvahn]

It makes sense mechanically too, strange magic items be having strange magical effects!

[@Giby86]

I think the best example of this is the "hint" Matt dropped to the party that helped them find their flying carpet. We're talking pre-streaming Vox Machina, but there's a video on youtube.

[@BigEEF]

I dm’d for the first time a few days ago(first dnd session ever), and yeah it took a little bit to get in the flow but once your going it’s awesome seeing how people interact with the story. Gotta be on your toes for improv to semi steer them with out them noticing and losing that immersion. I loved being the dm

[@MrPhukawf]

His gentle nudge sounded like a fucking neon sign to me. My group fucks with everything

[@TheSidetrackYT]

Gentle narrative nudge, blatant neon-sign-gameplay-mechanics indicator 😂

[@onetruetroy]

When railroading is replaced by the trolley problem.

[@TheJCghost]

This man is a national treasure

[@gracebellamy586]

Matthew Mercer is a BRILLIANT Dungeon Master, and player, and voice actor, and actor. He's also a great human being. Thank you, Matthew for the joy and thrills that you have brought so many of us with your storytelling. Your audience appreciates it more than you know.

[@martinpat94]

Tried the tugging sensation thing and players were like “Nope we aren’t going in that direction.”

[@KieraQ0323]

I mean, it's obviously bad news and obviously a plot point. They don't wanna mess with it because they think it's gonna unleash some unspeakable horror, so they wanna skip it.

[@andrewl9191]

That's how you advance the story, so apparently they don't want to actually play the game, they just want to live in it... or do what they want to do instead of following story. I'd talk to them if that kind of thing comes up. Let them know that these things that are highlighted are because they keep the story and interest going. Also, make sure there's actually something interesting there.

[@liamdockery8544]

Yes. Excellent. Thank you.

[@bt1080]

At our table we’d be immediately suspicious and assume it’s a trap of some kind.

[@sliimetown5387]

Fucking love all these folks they're so great at everything they work on, their effort will NEVER go unnoticed! ❤❤❤

[@jackdog06]

“As you go to leave the room, you can’t help but glance back to the chair in the middle of the room.”

[@swcsomeonewhocares8707]

THANK YOUUU!!! I was just building on a story and I needed my players to interact with an object, just in case 👍🏻

[@Gokenshiba]

I’ve learned a lot watching Matt DM and his videos on how to DM

[@LocalMaple]

Other option: Roll me a [type] check. If they roll low, narrate them completely missing something the other players notice. If they roll high, they get insight to what you want them to do. Players: how will we ever get through this door? DM: Rogue, please make an Investigation check. Rogue: 7? DM: You trip over a loose piece of rubble, and your thieves tools fall out of your pocket.

[@MorbidGuardian]

I think I slightly prefer that to Matt's method. My DM will have us do similar things from time to time - just asking for a role without explaining why, and it always does a good job at ramping up tension and investment, as well as leading to something cool we would've otherwise missed.

[@bryanprillaman1857]

When there is something I *want* the players to notice, I ask them all to roll a [whatever] check. Then, i just take the top 1-2 results and they succeeded

[@natclo9229]

That's hilarious

[@andrewl9191]

@@MorbidGuardian I don't like just having somebody roll something to see if they notice a thing. Then it's game over fiction. If you tell them about something and they go to investigate, then it's fiction first. Don't forget, this is from a panel about Candela Obscura, but still, fiction first works really well with D&D too. You WANT them to find the thing, so tell them about the thing and how it seems different or how it might catch their eye. Then the roll comes later when they're actually trying to learn about why it caught their eye.

[@LocalMaple]

@@natclo9229 For two examples, search “viva La dirt league ladder” and the end of “Scooby Doo 1969 Captain cutler underwater chase.”

[@ranisunshine]

I love how invested everyone gets when the other is speaking ❤ it is the most beautiful example of active listening ❤

[@RealTomSanborn]

You can also use their passive perception as a way to drop something right in front of them. And you can even play it off like you almost didn’t want them to find it, just to entice them further.

[@toribiogubert7729]

Or you just describe it there. If is important and cool, why hide it behind a roll or check? 😊

[@imwolfpup1421]

@@toribiogubert7729 I'm pretty sure this person isn't doing that. If you've described a room or event and you're players aren't taking interest in something you don't wanna spell out you need to find creative solutions to avoid forcing them into doing something. This comment suggested using passive perception to explain why their character noticed something even if the player didn't. By pretending you didn't want them to find it, you're making it a bigger mystery and now the players want to engage with it.

[@jacobw.6744]

@@imwolfpup1421 Matt's constant "damn your high passive perception orym!" I imagine half the time is "dammit, I can't hide anything" and the other half is "ha ha you can't even miss the thing I want you to see if you tried!"

[@andrewl9191]

It's important to note that this was for Candela Obscura, which is fiction first, so you talk and rolls are the least important things until you have something you're wanting to do that requires them.

[@jacobw.6744]

@@andrewl9191 Isn't it all fiction first? We're playing make believe in our hears with TTRPGs out there. Some might like number crunching more than others, but ultimately we're making up stories collaboratively, no?

[@thekyhguy2604]

I did the glowing stone thing(I was an artifact in a museum). The players thought it was cursed and burned the building down. I 86ed the campaign idea I had to have them hunted down by *not Indidana Jones* and a pack of ghosts that lived there lol

[@benjaminoechsli1941]

Thinking on your feet is a DM's most important skill. 👍

[@TheJokerMan2]

He IS the master

[@olliemoffat4025]

One of the best there is...OK. the best there is

[@ThatOneGuyChuy]

I'm taking notes.

[@guygooey]

Mercer is the GOAT...👍😎❤️

[@MaTTiMcCoin]

Love the advice😊

[@AntoineRivas]

Oh yes, that glowing orb beneath the mansion in Strahd's Campaign ... my poor mage was never the same

[@kasiamleczarska9078]

We're currently playing Call of the Netherdeep with my group. During the race in the Emerald Grotto, we saw a glowing gem on a pedestal but assumed it was just a light source and didn't pay much attention to it. Our DM made it so that the other party we were racing reached out to the gem and those of us who were still in the cave got the same vision that they did. Turns out we almost ignored a Vestige of Divergence 😭

[@noden1739]

The GOAT

[@Artrysa]

Glowing gem? Last time that got me in trouble with a dragon, no thank you.

[@andrewl9191]

Clearly, in that case you need to get a party member to check it out first. "Hey, so and so, I think I noticed something over there. You're so good at finding things, you should check it out." lol

[@coreyloucks4865]

Grog: aww it’s just a stupid rock let’s move on…

[@rainyatsu4588]

Or that gem that triggers a vision shows up in the next room that they explore, if they missed it in the first room. That way the adventures feel like they are stumbling upon it more organically.

[@Duarte_GB]

I trully belive my first biggest mistake as a DM was giving my players a puzzle and not directing them towards the solution more directly. There was a mimic hidden in a mansion and initially my clues were pretty slight. Like the number of objects in a room contradicting what the NPC said. Eventually I tried to make it super obvious, but in hindsight I shouldve just sprung the mimic at them after them not understanding the 3rd clue I gave them (there was someone in a room and when they returned only that persons shoes were infront of a barrel). You kinda forget how caught up players can get in their own theories.

[@dianabialaskahansen2972]

"Okay, I need to find some food. But do not open the door." Players as soon as guard is out of sight: Opens door!

[@georgespier1907]

I tried to do this with a wall that had information on it, but it was LIGHTLY covered in grime. I described this wall half a dozen times when they asked “is there anything in this room” before someone finally decided to check it out as they were all about to leave.

[@LynetteTheRogue]

I love that Matt Mercer wears colorful nail polish so often

[@Altune-]

Matt is a very strong DM in his ability to world build and improv, but this here isn't particularly good advice for the average play group. This is just railroading. What you're supposed to do is give a strong emphasis to the area or the gem while describing the scene to make sure it's strong in their mind without pushing them towards it specifically. When they finish picking through the other props in the area and have the "Is that everything" comment you can remind them that there's an element they noticed but didn't interact with, or maybe even ask for a perception check to find other hints that it might be important... But having a random dude run at it, or make them feel a "mystic pull" is just hand holding. It's okay for the players to miss your plot hook, you can make more, or better yet let them create their own. Your job is to make a world for the players to act in, not take them on a guided tour of all of your favourite set pieces. Since they're making a show it's ultimately fine for him to prioritize his set narrative, but it would not be a satisfying play-style for you all at home looking to DM for your friends.

[@bladerj]

if something is tugging me, and whispering, im leaving the room cos the gem is cursed

[@CheekyCewn]

'Little gentle nudge' I mean that is up to interpretation.

[@Officer_duh]

“Eh it’s probably nothing” -player trying to piss off the dm.

[@shadcroly]

This is why, whenever we do shopping in any tabletop game, I always tell the DM I'm looking for "something interesting". It's my way of telling the DM I'm looking for plot hooks in the form of items for sale at the store.

[@mrfox5780]

There's definitely a lot of different ideas around this problem, and my favorite is two methods that work separately, but are meant to work together. One is the gumshoe method, which is effectively saying "if it's in the room, and they need it, just fucking tell them it's there," and any roll on the player side is to give them more information on the clue/item, i.e. if the roll is successful the player learns it's infused with magic or whatever. This method is to eliminate as many failure points as possible, we've all fallen into the mystery snag where we have a clue but the player never finds it because they made a bad roll; it's a dead end narratively, and it fucking sucks. The other method is the Three Clue Rule, in effect it's a way of design that gives multiple solutions to a choke point problem, The Alexandrian has a wonder blog post about it, with different ideas of how one should convey and use information to continue a story. So this crystal we have is fun, but we need three ways for the players to either learn that it'll give you important information, or three other ways to gain the information the crystal would have given; hell, having all of those options would be the best idea. Matt's method is a very quick and dirty method, which works perfectly well for improvisational scenes.

[@elementual]

That, and I feel like a lot of players will get into the roleplay of it. "Oh, DM said I feel drawn to this thing? Guess I'm drawn to this thing!" Like, they know it's an outside influence probably, but don't know if it's good or not, but they for sure know that their character feels this and it's harder for them to resist it.

[@aznzero12]

And if all else fails, just talk to them above table that this is where the story is heading. Playing with people that you know and trust is the most important part of roleplaying! Don't settle for people who have wildly differing values from each other.

[@lucianoschroeder9777]

Matt Mercer DESPERATELY trying to get Scanlan to use Mythcarver against a dragon

[@taienchristiansen3124]

I do this all the time!

[@mathsalot8099]

I had alooking glass that you could see the past through, and they picked it up and were like, "cool, gold mirror... extra loot" and immediately put it in their bag. So at an opportune time, I had the bag radiate warmth, something was humming in their bag of holding... so they had to go through their equipment list to figure out what it was. It took them FOREVER!! 😅

[@Tesoro1996]

What I learned in my time as a DM, if you want your players to do something, slap them with it until they notice. :D If you want them to take a quest, don't wait for them to decide to take it, but give it to them through an NPC or a circumstance.

[@ellasmithton7791]

My players avoided the rest of a quest because one of them ad-libbed that there might be wraiths there and the rest went "ooooooh wraiths, lets not go there" and thus, the children of the town were NOT rescued

[@JnEricsonx]

I can't wait to meet this man next month.

[@seanmiller2644]

Where is he going to be?

[@JnEricsonx]

@@seanmiller2644 Anime NYC.

[@ThunderGodAsh]

Nah my players immediately going to look at that gem and be like nah ain’t nothing in here for us😂😂

[@paulschumacher4308]

And that's where my players shouted, "NOPE! SCREW THAT!" And they leave.

[@Fizz-Pop]

And the groups just like "naaa we going to the Inn for drinks and Wenches!" And the DM dies a little inside...

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Oh. That is very clever and sneaky. Players can be clueless and miss out on important things. So making something important more showy would help. Make that divination crystal shine like a beacon if you have to.

[@salem5871]

I have the opposite issue… my first session went completely sideways because I couldn’t stop my players from traveling across the entire world after I briefly mentioned a city there 😭

[@Volandar]

My favorite thing is to use this in a reverse psychology situation. My party loves narratives like this, but also tends to overwork in an area that doesn't have anything of particular "importance" to the story, so I occasionally give them something interesting that would otherwise seem mundane if it wasn't brought up, and their suspicion of said situation sometimes leads them to attempt to avoid it by going somewhere else. It can work as an attractant and a repellent depending on how it's used.

[@dirkstrider4820]

I do this and my players go.... Nah fuck it I need a long rest. Let's go

[@jabz1582]

The gamer DnD player, just out here for that levelling and powertripping

[@user-mu8ok5xf8d]

I’m currently using his advice on character death. One of the characters in the game I run died when a demonic creature he was dealing with spike with him in his dreams. The party carded raise dead and got the dc down to a 5, only for the death roll to be a 2. I am making a mission or event the party can do to try to revive him. If they fail he is perma dead

[@chickie171]

I put keep out signs for my nightmare of a druid to break into. She literally uses gasious form at the most unconvential times

[@jameslarimer9211]

It's the difference between asking a child if it wants some candy and forcing M&M's down their throats.

[@peterfabell154]

If you want a Master Class in DMing, watch the second season of Lost, where everything in every episode nearly always comes back to "the hatch."

[@DragonaxFilms]

Meanwhile some of my DM friends will just say "there's a glowing red exclamation point quest marker over it" xD Which is absolutely fine if you're doing a casual game, btw! D&D is beer and pizza night for my group so we don't stress over atmosphere.

[@Folder]

my players are the exact opposite, ill drop those kinds of narrative hints and theyll just go, "...nope, we gotta leave."

[@scientificviking]

the item in my game shining to let me know i can interact:

[@xeno_exe5]

Also, not writing things the player must see or do is an option! The narrative you create from their input will always be more sincere and powerful in my opinion.

[@alchemystudiosink1894]

The gem is trapped, haunted by evil spirits

[@dokusa2173]

I’ve played with tables dense to somehow miss all the blatant clues that “THE WAR IS OVER HERE. THIS WAY TO MAJOR PLOT. OOH BIG EPIC FIGHT IMPORTANT TO ARC” and skip the battle ENTIRELY. They jump started the apocalypse because of that.

[@shannononeill482]

LOL we are playing Netherdeep (set in Mercer's world) and my players spent 30 full minutes debating if they wanted to touch the spear (not absolute, but it was a trigger for something) and I was finally like for the love of the prime deities make a decision! LOL...they ended up not touching it.

[@redwarrior864]

When I describe a magic item I tend to include a slight oddity in its appearance. Like a magical scalemail might look like copper, but with a purple sheen to it like the light reflects wrong.

[@unnamedenemy9]

In my experience, most TTRPG players *want* to find and follow the story, even if they want to do other stuff as well. If you find yourself running for a group that is refusing to take all of your plot hooks and hints, you're probably in a toxic group -- or at least a group that just doesn't want to play a more narrative game but just won't say anything about it.

[@anjowestphal-mekking8275]

OR when your party wants to go back to the quest giver but the quest was the HOOK for the entire campaign so you just send over a page with their payment so they can move forward XD ( I did this with Strahd) .

[@Ygbr-wt7rt]

my favorite is the following object. whenever this happens for me i will roll to see which god or entity cares based on their beliefs or a npc entity in this world that will keep putting the object in their path, until one of them decides to hit it with a weapon to break the "following object" then it gets smacked into who its intended for. My players still haven't figured it out always remember players are dumb match it with small annoyances there's always one person who will hit it for you.

[@Ventanty]

My players would ask if they could roll an arcana check on the gem. And seeing as how like 57% of gems can inhabit magic, it's a wild gamble if they'll ever learn anything valuable from it, or even cate to learn about it.

[@koboldsage9112]

You know there is still that one door you havent unlocked...

[@KHBogWitch]

Have a barbarian tank in your party with more HP than sense and you will never have to worry about a trigger going untouched. In other news, my Goliath barbarian’s hand seems to be turned to stone and could really use a restoration right about now…

[@JGPlunder]

My character is cocky and curious, almost allowed a high level demon summon ritual to complete just to see what it was lol

[@Hasdrubhaal]

As I turn around and see the gem, I turn back and shrug - surely that incredibly important item is not intended for me... surely...

[@ldalexandrite]

I personally love, LOVE, dms who do this. Oh I see your plot hoor sir, and heck yeah I bite into that! I trust you on this let’s gooooo lets have fun!

[@PJack91400]

Which video is this? I would love to watch the whole thing!

[@larissabranovacki8164]

It’s on Critical Role’s channel, the DM round table for Candela Obscura last week! Saw someone else post on another comment about it

[@m_d1905]

As another commenter wrote, i put a do not disturb or do not touch sign on it. Someone will do what the sign says not to do. 😂 Then again I've actually said, "ok, i should have dropped that hint harder, you need the McGuffin". 😂. I was years out of practice for that game though. Also my son was a PC in it and he learned a healthy wariness of things in D&D. Perhaps I OVER emphasized caution.

[@LoneWeasel]

I don't love the "narrative that you built" thing. I don't want to shout railroad without cause but I feel like "if they're about to skip a cool thing that you wrote you can telegraph it more or again" is better advice

[@pablobarrerarossell5517]

jack coooopeerrr!!!!

[@gamergirl209]

This totally depends on your characters trusting you as a DM for storytelling. Oftentimes, a group of players will feel like they're being railroaded and don't want to do the roleplay, specifically with combat heavy characters

[@klojomon8185]

My players have literally said out loud hum this looks like a trap I guess we're going the right direction

[@fussel5000]

The "little, gentle nudge" is the equivalent of ripping out the emtire fence and pelting the player with it...

[@EriRosi]

The proud and joyful way he says "Hey, I built something cool for you. You might want to check it out." really sums up Great DM'ing. You're not there to let others play out your story. Your role is to facilitate a made-up setting through words that is fun and rewarding for your friends to engage with. Matt is such an inspiration.

[@petermay5796]

A good DM adapts to what his players to a great DM makes his players think that’s what he’s doing 😂

[@MinesCastttt]

A smart DM would learn from Matt, but just like learning writing tricks from people like Tolkien, but they don't try and imitate them but use these lessons to create your own style

[@LuckySketches]

Any object that asks to be touched is an object the players will never touch. ...Unless you describe it as sexy. You don't even have to go into what that means, just call the ominous floating orb sexy.

[@IvanSanchez-fe7bu]

@masterclass GET this man a class lol

[@Swifeaf]

I mean... You can also just move the gem to the next room they're about to enter.

[@TheTrueThomayo]

I recently had a town I wanted my players to go to that they completely ran past so I had a little girl running from that town. In order to get them to go to it I tried to convince them to leave the little girl. Reverse psychology works surprisingly well.

[@zoefarr2600]

Yeahno: I know plenty of people who walk straight past that kind of thing because they hate it from prior experience "Any boy can cycle with his eyes shut down this road: try it today!"

[@lukerowden980]

Where can I watch this whole thing

[@KyleRobinson204]

Gm roundtable for Candela Obsurca last week. On critical roles channel