12 Things a Good Dungeon Master Should Not Do.

Are players not showing up for your games? Do your players always act bored and unexcited when you are DMing?

There are things you can change to make your game more interesting and fun!

Here are 12 things you should consider avoiding during your game.

Do not play a PC character in your own game. 

The players are there to be the heroes. Not you. A game masters job is to facilitate a game for the players, not do all the work for them.

The players are there to decide the action and where to go. If your DMPC is doing all the work, why do you even have players?

The PC's are the heroes of your world. You should be working with the players to have a fun time. Players don't want to be upstaged by an NPC the whole time.

If players aren't getting to role play by making choices or getting the killing blow, they are going to get disinterested really fast. Let your players do the cool moves or cast the all important spell. NPC's should only be in the game to advance the story or help out the players in some way.

Any NPC you have should be off to the side or in the background, allowing the focus of the game to be on your players.

Allow your players be the stars of the show.

If you want your own hero, play your own game or write a book so you aren't wasting the players time.

Do not rewind time or backtrack on what you said before.

 No one will believe in your world or take your story seriously if you keep changing it. Players will think nothing they do matters, because you'll just change it again anyway.

After an hour of play, I once had a DM move the entire party back to the beginning of a dungeon just because he forgot to spring a trap there. Boy was I annoyed. When we were there the first time, I specifically said that I was checking for traps. Not only did this DM rewind an hour of our progress, he also proved that he wasn't listening to his players in the first place.

If you did miss something like a trap and want to use it later, just add it to a room that the PCs haven't gotten to yet.  It's totally okay to move things around. You get to keep your cool trap without destroying your own game. And the players will never know that you missed something.

If you do need to change something major about the story, talk to the group about it. Let them know what you are changing and why. Ask for their input on how to solve the problem.

The more you communicate with people the more they will trust you. Your players will trust you to tell a good story and trust that you have their interests at heart.

Players need to feel like they have agency and their choices matter by affecting the game world. That won't matter when you keep changing things.

Do not change your house rules unless the whole party agrees to it.

 Do not tell players "no" without a good reason.
   If a player wants to try something, let them try. It becomes way more fun for everyone when people get to try their ideas. No body want to be stuck in a game that isn't progressing.
"Can I pick the lock."
"No."
"Can I try to break down the door.?"
"No it's magical."
"Does my character know where the key is?"
"No"
DoEsN't tHaT sOuNd ExCiTiNg.....
Don't be a negative Nancy DM. Always help your players if they get stuck. It is your world and things don't exist unless you say so. So give hints, give clues, and help your players out. If you aren't helping, you're hindering. This will slow down your game tremendously. Eventually no one will want to play with you. When you do say "No", tell your players why things don't work how they expected it to. When you actually take time to explain things, even if it's out of character, the players will be a lot more understanding and will buy into your world a lot more. Be honest about it. Tell them you didn't prepare something. Tell them you didn't think about a certain aspect of the world. The players will understand and work with you. Be an adaptable DM.

Do not railroad the story.
   If your game doesn't go off in an unexpected direction, then you are probably railroading. Leading the players where you want them to go.  Give clues and let the players decide what to do and where to go. Allow your players explore and make choices.

Do not play favorites by focusing on just one player.  
  You need to shift the focus from one player to the next. If one player gets all the role-play attention or one player gets all the good loot and magic items, you are probably playing favorites. Shift the attention around. "Erik is playing cards at the tavern, what are the rest of you guys doing?" If a player is talking too much and trying to hog the spotlight, pause that player and ask what someone else is doing. "You are going down the hall, searching for traps. Now what is Buttercup doing?" Do not play favorites or the left out players won't want to come back. Make players feel included.

Do not get mad at players if they don't know something. 
   Especially when the player is new to the game. New players aren't going to spend hours reading up on things when they don't even know where to start. It's your job to help players get started and teach them what they need to know. If you give new players crap, it will be your fault when they don't want to play again. A good game needs a good group and a good DM. If new players have bad experiences they won't join you for a second session. Be patient and be supportive.

Do not expect players to know what to do or where to go.
   Most casual players will not even read the handbook. You can't expect them to read your Star Wars fan fic. Most people just want to come play with their friends. Most players will not read your 30 page history of your world. Do not get mad or expect people to read everything. Give players the info they need to know, and keep the story moving forward. Getting pissy or defensive when someone didn't study doesn't solve anything. If you do have expectations, you better communicate them as soon as possible. If you don't tell people what you expect, it won't happen.

Do not leave players in the dark.
   Maybe the party is fighting a giant magical worm creature with damage resistance. It is your job to give players hints about those resistances and magical abilities. Your players are all making attacks that aren't doing much damage? Tell them about it. Let them use perception checks or knowledge checks to find out what attacks aren't working. Do not let the battle drag on, especially if the battle has nothing to do with the story. Help your players out. They won't figure anything out unless you are giving hints. Nothing will move forward unless you allow it to. Do not expect players to know anything about your world unless you tell them. Do not hide your secrets and the call your players  stupid. Do not expect players to figure things out. Do not expect your players to figure everything out. Do not get mad at your players if they don't know something.

Do not pause the game to look for obscure rules.
   I really hate when people do this to me. Any action or story that got build up, is suddenly destroyed because the DM wants to know some minuscule thing that really has nothing to do with the story or the role play. We all get caught up in this at some point. Make sure you can be aware of this during your game. If you really do need a rule quickly, have one of the players look it up for you so you can move on to the next thing. Keep that good momentum going and it will make a much more interesting story. If you don't know something right away, tell your players that you will give them the information later do you can get on with the game.

Do not stop your players from exploring.
   A huge part of most games is being able to see what's over the horizon in a magical world. Let the players decide where to go. If they want to go to a city or cave you haven't prepared, let them. Make it up as you go along. The town doesn't have to be interesting or full of intrigue. The cave doesn't need to be deep and full of monsters. It just has to be there. Maybe the town is really boring, but one of the townspeople could give a clue to what the players need to do next. Maybe the cave is only ten feet deep, but the players find some bones or cave paintings or a letter that leads them elsewhere. If you have something prepped that you haven't given the players then use that. Do it wherever they go. They will feel accomplished for always finding something, and they will believe your world is that much bigger because they found something there. Exploration is a big part of most games. Let your players explore!

Do not let players break your game. 
   Don't let people assassinate the king on the first session. Don't let the players kill their guide into the mountains. First appeal to the player who wants to do the stupid thing. "Do you really want to destroy your only way into the mountains? No one else from the town will help you, especially if they find out you killed their guide." or talk to the other players. "You see Wolfgar draw his knife. Are you going to let your companion actually kill your guide?" If you know something bad is about to happen, stop it in it's tracks before it gets worse. If your party continues to act like criminals, then the world is going to treat them like criminals. The players dictate how they interact with the world. A good DM will adapt to it. How to stop players from breaking your game.

Do not be afraid to take breaks when you need to.
   Pause the game when you need to. but wait for after a battle. Or a natural break in the story. This is different than stopping everything to look up a rule. Keep the momentum during a scene going and then break afterwords. Pausing is definitely important for you to relax you brain for a second. Two of your players need to pee anyway. Get up from the table, stretch, drink some water and refresh your epic skills. You should have a break at least every two hours.