The Don'ts of GM'ing

[@YawdroGaming]

I always ask my players what they want to do next session before they leave the current session. Having a little inkling goes a long way in minimizing my prep as the DM. Of course they could change their minds, as plans always seem to go sideways, but I always appreciate the heads up at the least.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@YawdroGaming yeah I always ask that too. Same reasons

[@BockwinkleB]

3:00 Im not sure I agree with you. Gary wrote all those modules way before DL. TOEE came out later, but the ideas and genisis predate DL by a long shot. His modules were a lot of tourneys and "one shots", but they were related. DL was more cohesive, but it was literature before being a module obviously.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@BockwinkleB they were definitely related. Giants led to drow for example. But each series wasn’t written to be followed along in order, one to the next, series to series’s. They tried to do that later with duct tape and bubble gum but it didn’t really fit well

[@danielpasilis4046]

I swear I have always thought players should be able to award the GM XP based on how well they run things..."You get 100 bonus XP for not being a jerk"

[@Joethelawyer]

@@danielpasilis4046 lol that can work too 😂

[@TeresaBlocker-zm7bj]

A reverse session might be fun too. The DM makes a party of adventurers, and the players get "points" or something to build a dungeon to challenge this party, great for helping players if they want to learn how to DM, and great if the DM just wants a night off of running things.

[@charlesbarthalmuelmortimer1445]

Great channel. The delivery hits like barbarian’s great axe-quick, brutal, and you just can't look away!

[@Joethelawyer]

@@charlesbarthalmuelmortimer1445 just like a train wreck huh? Lol. Thanks man!

[@xavierp7658]

I love your down to earth approach to making these videos

[@Joethelawyer]

@@xavierp7658 thanks man! It’s the no frills approach 😂.

[@impcirca1988]

Just leaving an offerring for the algorithm. Good video ty

[@Joethelawyer]

@@impcirca1988 thanks man!

[@oz_jones]

Thats a spicy thumbnail, love it

[@Joethelawyer]

@@oz_jones hope it gets peeps to click on the video 😎

[@knightwolf4612]

Helmuth von Moltke was the one that said: ‘It is almost impossible,’ wrote Von Moltke, ‘to remedy during a campaign an error in the primary concentration of the troops,’ adding that ‘no plan of operations can with any certainty reach beyond the first encounter with the enemy.’

[@Joethelawyer]

@@knightwolf4612 damn! A scholar!

[@cp1cupcake]

That quote just reminds of Eisenhower's "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable".

[@Joethelawyer]

@ great line!

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Re your criticism of increasing linearity in module design. There are significant advantages for honing and maintaining one’s GMing skills where adventures follow a so-called ‘railroad’. The players still have choices, albeit somewhat more limited than your preferred design philosophy, and the game play is not bogged down by any nasty surprises that require makeshift and often inadequate ‘home brew’ adjudications outside the purview of the rules as written. Less conflict regarding game mechanics tends to equal more affable contentment at the table and is an easy trade-off to make, especially for those of us less comfortable with an on-the-fly, loosey-goosey, impromptu style of play. Additionally, a more structured approach to story arc enables the use of various AI assisted, on-line resources such as character generation, pre-prepared situational maps for the entire campaign and automated combat resolution. Seen in this light, a small amount of so-called ‘player agency’ seems like a small price to pay for predictable efficiency and efficient predictability.

[@davidmorgan6896]

If you are AI generating your maps then why not generate all the maps you could ever use? Certainly all the large scale maps. And if you pick a decent system, GURPS or Hero, you have rules for most situations and less need to homebrew. Personally, I would rather prep more than railroad.

[@Joethelawyer]

The more loose approach allows for more creativity. And I’ll never use ai as a tool for my DM’ing . Takes away from the creative process.

[@davidmorgan6896]

@@Joethelawyer I've used AI to generate visuals as I can't draw. It might be useful for music and sound-effects too, but I've not tried. I'm not sure that using a tool in this way sacrifices creativity. I have experimented with getting Copilot to create an adventure. What I got was hackneyed and cliché ridden and unusable.

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Dancing the fine line between participation and sarcasm. Didn’t actually expect anyone to take my original post seriously but apparently there is much more tolerance for the opinions of the clinically insane than I had anticipated.

[@Joethelawyer]

@ lol

[@norsethenomad5978]

I do railroad, but I’m building the tracks each week before the session

[@Joethelawyer]

@@norsethenomad5978 not sure what means but if it works for your group so be it

[@norsethenomad5978]

@ essentially I have no idea where the story is going, but I make decisions that point the players in a direction that I figured out the week prior

[@Joethelawyer]

@@norsethenomad5978 gotcha. Thats works!

[@eaglegreenwood7021]

good video

[@Joethelawyer]

@@eaglegreenwood7021 thank you! More every day!

[@brianeasterling9317]

Thank God for Gen-X DM advice Enjoying this series Joe :)

[@Joethelawyer]

@@brianeasterling9317 lol thanks man!

[@comeau187]

Loved it.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@comeau187 thanks man!

[@freddaniel5099]

Thanks for the laughs 👍

[@Joethelawyer]

@@freddaniel5099 any time buddy! 😂

[@Pantherrrr]

The last Don't. Don't stop making videos. Keep it up

[@Joethelawyer]

@@Pantherrrr I won’t! I’m on a roll. :)

[@TeresaBlocker-zm7bj]

The do nots (doughnuts) of DMing. 1. beer 2. Don't rail road, a beginning a beginning and a beginning 3. Ruling over rules, give players agency, Don't be a rules lawyer 4. Beer 5. Don't expect acting and don't be afraid, don't stop learning. 6. Don't try to win and don't be a dick 7. BEER

[@Joethelawyer]

@@TeresaBlocker-zm7bj and did I mention beer? 😂😂😂😂

[@marioevildm7410]

as an evil dm I approve this video 💜💜

[@Joethelawyer]

@@marioevildm7410 evil must stick together!

[@davidmorgan6896]

The first point - no beginning, middle and end - cannot be stated loudly enough. I'm fed up with advice from people who did a writing course saying you should plan out a campaign like "the Hero's Journey" or other spurious nonsense. PCs do not reflect, they don't go through arcs. Games are not novels and Aristotlean notions are no guide here. In games, stories are only seen through the rear view mirror.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@davidmorgan6896 yup. Otherwise it’s a railroad

[@mokane86]

Don’t use invisible/not in sight enemies during an encounter without any hints of such, and set them up to be able to move in range of the party on their first turn and wipe them with an alpha strike. Twice now my DM has taken me down in this manner with literally nothing I could possibly do to see it coming or defend against it. Might as well just drop a house on me without a saving throw. I’m happy to be slain , but give me a chance to try.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@mokane86 bad dm. Really bad

[@mokane86]

@ he’s not a bad bad DM , I’d probably say combat set up is his weaker aspect, but yes this is frustrating especially as the melee tankish guy. I might have to mention something about it feeling bad and unfair. Or maybe from now on we will all run back from combat and kite all the enemies away from their starting position. And actually it hasn’t been any case of real invisibility, at least creatures with invisibility are often a bit weaker when detected. It’s more like “two banshees burst out from the wall behind the party and wail” “This big bruiser guy comes onto the board and uses his movement to reach you and attack you” Uhhh he steps onto the board 30ft away from me? How come I didn’t see him in the open field when he was 35+ ft away? I wouldn’t have moved to this position and should have seen him turns ago

[@defnlife1683]

Agree with you 100%, basically on everything. Funny that you say people can’t level up IRL. I mean they can, sorta, doesn’t mean they will. Map XP to money, HP to health, stats to irl stats. There should be a way to map the rules cyclopedia to real life lmao. Maybe not full becmi, kinda weird to found a religion to become a god.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@defnlife1683 I’d want to map out my way to a castle, as the rules cyclopedia lays out. That’d be badass. 😎😎😎

[@defnlife1683]

We do as lawyers do: map it out. Wage worker ( as fighter) Science/Engineering (Magic User) Self Help Guru (Thief lmao)

[@Joethelawyer]

lol especially as to the thief 😂

[@finnfish5418]

I couldnt think of a fancy comment today. So, I'll leave you with this- meow.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@finnfish5418 woof! 😂😎

[@erc1971erc1971]

My hot take is that I do not like sandbox games. I much prefer linear games. Not railroads, but linear - where the GM prepared an adventure and we have freedom to accomplish the goal, etc. as we see fit. In my 44 years of playing RPG's every single time a GM tried to do a sandbox it was a directionless and meaningless mess that felt like nothing was prepared. I have never seen a sandbox campaign ever survive to see a 2nd session because they were so bad.

[@Joethelawyer]

@@erc1971erc1971 I ran one for almost five years. And the one I’m running now is approaching year two. It takes a lot of prep and experience.