My FAVORITE DM tools to keep your players engaged!

[@Knigobi]

Take a shot of milk every time I say “Game Changer” 😭 Hope you guys enjoy this one! Let me know what you’d like to see next as I’m recording and editing away :) Much love, Gobi 🩵

[@kcbondurant7959]

What I would really love to see is D&D campaign ideas, especially mysteries. While there are content creators who touch on some ideas, briefly, I could really use more fleshed out homebrew ideas that have worked for you. (I am terrible at running modules so I often don't try). Just a thought. Most of these D&D KZbinrs don't go into detail about their story plots and the mystery ideas are so vague, I can't say it's been useful. I've been running games for almost 40 years now, coming up with stories that have entertained a lot of players, but sometimes, it would be nice to reference other people's ideas for a change.

[@Knigobi]

@@kcbondurant7959 I never thought people would be interested in this. Such awesome feedback, I so appreciate it! Maybe I'll see what I can do this week/weekend :) !!!

[@mikealcer]

I really love bringing a big, fancy dice tower out when a player wants to do something really significant or really stupid/entertaining.

[@Knigobi]

@@mikealcer ugh I must get my hands on a nice one, as of now I have a custom dnd table I built that has a dropped center for rolling dice that’s lid with LEDs - usually someone wants to do something stupid I roll my big chonk dice right down the center, but a tower sounds so much more satisfying!!! 😭

[@Beardy9102021]

Those speakers are in my cart now and I am stealing your false hydra adventure hook for sure! I use the Deck of Many Things as an inspiration deck when I am not using it in the story. The official book they released not to long ago has a list of what each card can give a player instead of a standard reroll. Its pretty fun and chaotic as is my DM style. This gives the player a card in their play space as a reminder of inspiration and it has been so helpful for the players. I have been DMing for a decade now and each of my players has had an affect on my homebrewed world. Each of them know how much they contribute to my story and we have that level of trust in each other. I have had my share of weird and offputting experiences but its always the story that draws me back out into the world and to my friends. Never loose your creative spark.

[@Knigobi]

@@Beardy9102021 I’ll have to share my full false hydra set up soon! They also had an extra player in their party that I was keeping a journal of and playing silently behind the screen for 9 IRL months. It was true dedication, but their first hydra encounter finding a journal on the ground filled with stories of them that they don’t remember? Absolute gold. It takes a lot of dedication to run a false hydra campaign smoothly but it was the most rewarding thing I’ve experienced as a DM to date.

[@kcbondurant7959]

I love that "false hydra". I think I'm going to use it as a phrase.

[@agilemonk6305]

Excellent woodworking.

[@travisbuschette8609]

I do the same thing with the cheap poster screen! But instead of a whiteboard for maps, I have a giant sketchpad so I can save the maps for later just in case. I love being able to freehand draw a map and not worry so much about the gridlines since I can just lay the screen on top. And then we can use dry erase all over the screen to indicate fires breaking out, or damage to buildings, etc. Such a great cheap addition to the DM toolbox!

[@FREAKlovesBROWNIES]

I organize my sessions on a PowerPoint, each slide is a area with quick notes about npcs or whatever and what plot hooks I would like to toss out if there are any. I've not dm'd much of 5e but it worked well for my Candela game and cthulhu games. This was really helpful! There is a possibility I'll become a dm in the near future for my husband's group for 5e and it's a bit daunting.

[@Knigobi]

@@FREAKlovesBROWNIES ooo please share more (if you/time are willing) about your experience with Candela! I’d love to hear! As far as 5e, from my experience I’ve heard of other versions but 5e has been one of the easiest basis for TTRPG that I’ve been a player in. A bit intimidating at first but it’s the easiest to play around with. If there’s anything that feels particularly daunting please let me know so I can try to help out in a future video!

[@captainpegasus2752]

Thank you for the amazing, succulent D&D content that i will always crave. Keep it up, mate!

[@Knigobi]

Thank you for the kind words!! My video uploads may not be every day in the long run, but trying to build up a bit of a catalog so people have stuff to watch soooo I may have a new video coming out shortly! 🩵

[@captainpegasus2752]

@Knigobi (also, I desperately need those lanterns)

[@Knigobi]

@@captainpegasus2752 they are the BEST! I use them literally every day! They come in sets of 2 and I won’t lie I got my first set as a gift, my second set also as a gift, and you can bet I’m asking for another set for Christmas! LOL

[@RedRaggedFiend]

Fun video! 2 Tools you might want to try out: a Paizo Flip-Mat as an easy to use and store replacement for the whiteboard/frame glass combo, and a DM Binder. Mine has quick rules references, price lists, dungeon/town/wilderness dressing, roll tables for traps, hazards, what's happening in town, homebrew overland travel mechanics, and a couple of one-shot adventures in case the players bail on the current quest mid-session, etc. Customized to your particular needs to keep play fast and minimize trying to find things in the book!

[@Knigobi]

@@RedRaggedFiend I definitely need to get a binder sooner or later! The flip mats however I am not the biggest fan of. I tried it in the past but I could never customize it exactly how I needed. I tend to have super detailed ideas of how I want spaces to work and though the flip-map is super handy to throw together randomized environments I find it lacking the creative control I need, especially when I get into combat puzzles 😔 Hoping to some time soon go through and make 3d squares and props I can mess around with easier but scheduling can be tricky at times.

[@RedRaggedFiend]

@@Knigobi Interesting, I expect a drawing with a grid placed over it and the same drawing on an already gridded surface would have functionally the same end result. Maybe when you do a segment detailing one of your combat puzzles using the board and grid I'll better understand your challenge.

[@Knigobi]

@ maybe we’re thinking of 2 different products here haha when I googled I found the Pathfinder boxes of terrain gridding which are premade paths, terrain, pillars and columns etc. ?

[@RedRaggedFiend]

@@Knigobi That does sound like something different. "Pathfinder Flip-Mat" should bring up the correct item. They're double-sided laminated grids. I have a few of them, the basic one is nice but I also like the ones with basic grid on one side and a generic inn or sailing ship on the reverse so I don't have to always draw those tedious layouts.

[@Knigobi]

@ ahh that makes more sense! I am only finding the already drawn out puzzle grid things lol I was like “where are the wires crossing here” haha Definitely will check that out!! Thank you!!

[@Zr0din]

Looking forward to that DM Screen video. SHOOT! Do 2! A normal horizontal one and a one with an old tablet to display stuff and play sounds. So my fav tool is my tablet that has my PDF's and displays the graphics for people. I also do have the premade maps and Pawns. That helps combat a WHOLE lot!

[@Knigobi]

@@Zr0din I totally respect the dm screen video ones but they were never super my vibe. But a nice wood DM screen is definitely on my list 🩵

[@yoitsuitachi4482]

Just found your amzing channel. Love all the things you shared. I am thinking of DMing and just so that I get to play DnD since no one out here plays this game ( some might know about it ). And yeah, lets see how this goes.

[@Knigobi]

@@yoitsuitachi4482 thank you so much!! This means a lot!!! It can be daunting to get into it but it’s so rewarding. If there’s anything that feels a little extra intimidating let me know and I can try to make a video to help out! But you’ve got this!!! Even if it’s rough at first just having the want to be a DM and researching it is a huge step to enjoying DnD! Best of luck!!!

[@abycidairesecond]

It's the first video I saw from you. The flame speaker is mindblowing, I am clearly going to buy two asap. Thank you for that video and for the others. But beside that, seeing you drink raw milk like that is demonic. I fear your power. (My power is drinking it knowing I will suffer for hours after)

[@Knigobi]

@@abycidairesecond I will not lie, I am indeed Lactose Intolerant, I simply enjoy milk and cheese too much to let it go. I stub my toe for just existing and suffer for hours, I’ll take suffering for a genuine cause any day ✌️🩵 BUT I am so glad to have shared something people will love! I wish I was sponsored but in reality I just have an awesome future Mother-in-Law who put me on to these for parties and I was like “hey, you know I’m using these for DnD, right?” 😂😂😂 But thank you so much for the awesome comment, it had me actually cackling! I love milk so much 😂

[@ClarkyClark]

Wood worker? DM? My venn diagram of things i also am is a circle. Subbed!