Mistakes I've Made As A DM, And What I should Have Done Differently.

I let a player torture a goblin for hours in game.

One of my first mistakes as a brand new DM was letting a PC torture an innocent goblin for hours in game. The player left the party and stayed behind to torture my poor NPC. Even after the party had already gotten the info they needed. I don't remember the details of the story or even what the player was asking about.

I played the goblin, saying over and over that the players already had the info. I don't know anything else! The player continued to stay separated from the party and described in detail what he wanted to do to the goblin, like putting the point of a dagger under the goblins fingernails.

 The player didn't get my hints and continued to try to torture this poor guy even after he knew that the goblin didn't know anything else. It was really creepy and weird. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to this day, over 15 years later.

Since I was new to the game, I didn't know what to do or how to handle it. My only strategy at the time was to repeat over and over again that I didn't know anything. I felt so uncomfortable and just wanted the player to get back to the group and on with the game.

Back then my stories and sessions didn't get very far. But I'll never forget this creepy torture players choices. It was really weird to me that someone would do that. Weird power fantasies I guess. I don't know how long it took in real time, but it felt like forever.

Looking back, there are a lot of things I could have done.

Most simply, I could have just said "You torture the goblin for a few hours and you get no other information from him. Now back to the players who are actually playing the game..."

 I let this gross player hog the spotlight and hog my attention instead of focusing on the players who were trying to advance the story.

I could have made the goblin suddenly get a lot stronger and just beat the player to a pulp. Good revenge, right?

I could have made that player miss out on the next battle or loot cache. He wasted so much time in game that I could have ruled that he wasn't there to join in with what the  group was doing.

I could have said, "The goblin doesn't know anything, you would just be wasting your time."

But being the nice guy I am, I let him role play that nastiness. Never again.


I stopped a fight mid-battle because I wanted to move on to the next dungeon. 

The players were around level 3 in Pathfinder. They were fighting some large trolls and the BBEG who was a female elf wizard. My plan was to set up how powerful the villain was by having her kill some NPC's and ultimately capture the players. I wanted the players to wake up in the next dungeon so I could get them to where the plot needed them to be.

The plan didn't go well.

I was being really lazy that day and didn't put any energy into the baddies goals or characterization. So the battle was droning on, and I got bored. I cut the fight so early that I didn't even get a chance to establish how powerful the enemy was. The players had no idea that they were supposed to lose.

I had no clue how to plan for this. But I know now what to do.

During battle, on my turn, I should have made the enemies hit harder right away. Establishing the story and plot points in round one.

I should have told them that there would be a transition cut scene, and they would get a good chance to escape afterwords. If the players knew this, they probably would have trusted me more as a DM and enjoyed the story.

Instead of a cool story scene introducing the bag guy, it was an awkward and abrupt cut mid-battle. The players didn't know what was going on.

I didn't communicate to the players and I didn't put any energy into telling a good story.

In the end. I told them that they were captured and left in a dungeon. I got them to the content I had prepared so the game would be easier for me, at the cost of some great storytelling.

I had no patience for myself, and the lack of confidence in telling the story.


I gave my players a powerful magic item and two MacGuffins without making them work for it.

I felt bad because that session only had two players, and they ran into a really hard encounter without the rest of the party to help out.

The encounter I prepared was hard because the PC's had just gotten to 5th level in 5e. They all got to attack twice per turn now. So I decided that all my enemies had multi-attack as well as a few hell-hound creatures that have a powerful fire breath weapon.

Since it was pretty hard and there were only two of them, I let them sneak past a few enemies and let the players find some magical stuff like a broom of flying.

Since I let them sneak past a lot of my encounter, I didn't have anything else specifically prepared and I wanted to wait until the next session for the other players.

I also didn't have much of the world prepared and I definitely didn't plan on the players having the power to fly wherever they wanted.

Most of the session had to be improvised and role-played because I let them skip past the prepared content. Since things weren't prepared properly, I was panicking about what to do.

 They were searching for MacGuffins and I gave those to them relatively easy too. I let them charm and steal from two different NPC's I had just made up and neither of them put up a real fight.

I knew beforehand that a player wanted a magic broom, and I should have prepared for it. I should have made them go on a quest for it. Make them explore and work for their items instead of just dropping exactly what they want in front of them.

In that session, I became a pushover DM. I knew what the players wanted and I gave it to them. Without any real obstacles in their way.

I screwed myself over in 4 ways. Giving them powerful items, Preparing an encounter that depended on a specific player who didn't show up, and letting them sneak past the obstacles that was supposed to be the entire session of content, and Improvising pushover NPC's who didn't have specific goals or character personalities. Therefore the NPC's were really lame obstacles that the players easily got past. These are all bad ideas.

In my career as a DM I have gotten more and more scared of railroading. In that fear, I have tried to say "yes" to just about anything my players want to do. Usually I can improvise my way out of most situations and get the players back on track, but this time, I let it go too far.

I became out of balance with my preparation and my improv.  My neediness to allow players to make  choices destroyed the session.

Overall, I think the players still had fun, they had a great time role-playing and charming NPC's. They were freaking out because the battle was super hard. The session had ups and downs like any good story. And at the end of the session they did ultimately beat the baddies, after I fudged the dice and lowered some HP. The fact that they were worried the whole time mad it an intense experience.

I also could have given players more hints to make the battle easier for them. "Do you have any spells or items that don't use up spell slots?" "Do you have something that does ice damage to hurt the flaming hell-hounds?"

The main lessons I have learned here is to plan correctly and follow that plan even if the story becomes a bit too linear. Communicate better with players to tell them where to go and what to do.

I always give advice to people about not planning too much and now it's bitten me in the ass. I still think you should only prepare for no more than 2 or 3 sessions at a time, because you still won't know what might happen. In my case I didn't prepare a single session properly.

I have grown a big ego about being able to improvise my way out of most game situations. This situation got me into trouble because I was too nice and unprepared.

House Rules for My Table

During session zero, and before you start your first game with any group, make sure you establish your house rules and your expectations.
If your expectations aren't set, then each player will be expecting something different from you as the DM. Setting and establishing everything beforehand limits drama later on and ensures what type of game the players want to be a part of.

These rules are intended to reduce miscommunication and start out with everyone on the same page. The goal is creating a fun experience by working together.


So Here Are My Rules and Expectations

-No cheating. Fudging dice, faking stats, etc.

-No PVP. no killing or incapacitating PC's without consent.

-Results from a die roll can only be changed by the DM.

-Dice rolled on the floor don't count.

-Players are expected to share the spotlight and support other players. Don't Hog the spotlight. Sit back and allow other players to role play and use their skills without interruption.

-I expect players to know what dice to use.

-I expect players to be ready for their turns.

-I expect players to have a short backstory for their character and a character goal established before the first session.

-I expect players to pay attention and actively participate in the game.

-Keep side conversations to a minimum.

-Do not interrupt a scene when players or the DM are trying to role play. Wait for a scene or conversation to conclude before trying to start a new one.

-Critical hit rolls and calculating damage follow the rules in the 5e handbook.

-There are no automatic successes on skill checks when a 20 is rolled. Natural 20 critical hits only work with attacks rolls.

-The DM gets final say on how things work and what rules will be used. You can argue about rules after the game, but don't waste our time during play.

-I expect players to help each other out and support each other. Even in an evil campaign, the players should be working as a team.

-I don't worry about encumbrance rules, (within reason) counting rations and some other nitty-gritty rules.

-Be respectful to other players. We want a positive space for people to have fun.

-No charming, cursing, or otherwise trying to control other PC's. Special abilities and effects only work on NPC's. Players are there to play, don't take control of their characters unless you get a players consent and it's part of the story that the group agrees to tell.

-Any action will only happen in game if the DM says it does. This means that if the DM doesn't say it, or approve it, it doesn't happen.

-I know a guy optional rule. Where any player can make an NPC connection to get help in the current session or develop more of a backstory.

-Flashback scenes optional rule. Players can initiate a flashback scene to supplement their current actions. "Flash back to a week ago when I bribed a certain guard to let us get in with our weapons today"
"Flashback to my character writing a letter to the king, detailing the treasonous actions of a villain."

How to handle players that are too powerful. (Killing the villain before its time.)

   Good job! They win. Game over. Go home.

  You have a high level werewolf that you set up as a big bad? But the players somehow kill him before the final boss fight. Let them do it! Give them a victory, especially if it is a very clever way of winning. Being a good DM means being adaptable and working with what the players want to do. Within reason. Don't let them burn down your city. But Let them kill your big bad early. They'll feel accomplished for taking down something powerful and they'll appreciate you for allowing them to be creative. Anyway you "had a plan" all along.

   Maybe the werewolf was part of a pack of werewolves that the players will now have to deal with. Maybe the werewolf infected a bunch of towns-people who now need to be saved before they turn. Just because a big bad is dead, doesn't mean the story is over. It means you will have to adapt and improvise your way through the story. Use a new boss with the same exact stats you already prepared. The enemies should be adaptable too. They heard about what the players did and now the new boss can prepare for that situation.

   The vampire lord, that got killed too early, has an evil step sister who now wants revenge for her brothers death. Use the same final battle you had planned with the same stats but a different character. The story isn't over. In the star wars books, the emperor cloned himself. Final battles for days! There will always be one more power orb to destroy, one more magic weapon to find. One more town to save. The story isn't over. The players might have killed your robber baron but they still have to find the deed to the ranch. The Players still need to clear out the dungeon of kobold minions and evil cultists who were working for the dead boss. Don't give up and don't let the players stop your game. There is always something else that needs to get done.

   Fudge the dice! Change your stats mid-battle! This is one of the best powers a DM has at her disposal.  If you have 5 players attacking one bad guy, that's 5 attacks versus the bad guys one turn.  If you see the players are doing too much damage to your big bad, ending your epic fight too early, give your big bad 100 extra HP. Your baddies can take a powerful healing potion! Give your bad guys resistances or a powerful magical shield that the players can't penetrate until you decide when the baddie gets hurt. Use your plot armor wisely.
 
   Give the big bad an extra spell every turn. The players won't know. This can become a problem at higher levels when the party gets too strong. Let your big bad get in an extra attack or special spell to control the flow of battle. Let your boss go into a rage that lets him deal out extra damage. Have a second or third wave of minions come in to help the boss out. The players can't take down your big bad right away if they have to deal with his bodyguards first. Let the big bad run away. The big bad can use a teleport or fly spell to escape a loosing battle.

   Make sure the players have a goal that is more complicated then just killing the bad guys. They need to turn off the doomsday machine before time runs out. Dispel or de-power the magic orb the enemy was using to open portals. If you have set goals, you can put in as many obstacles in the way as you want. This way when the boss does die too early, your story can continue and the players still have things to do.

   If you need more time to prepare, send some skeletons or robots after the party. They won't be able to talk or charm their way out of battle with mindless creatures. During the battle you can have some time to think up whats next.

 Take a 10-15 minute break to think up something new.

Article inspired by this story.

12 MORE Things That a Good Dungeon Master Should Not Do.

Do not be afraid to be silly, use voices, or act something out.
   Your players are also your audience. The more energy and pizzazz you put into a performance, the more the players will react to you. As the DM, you set the bar for what players feel comfortable with. The more energy and commitment you put into a scene, the more the players will rise to match your level. Give your players a great story by acting things out, using props, or silly voices. The players will match your energy and you'll create a great game together!

Do not assume you need character sheets, books, minis, or even dice!
   Don't pay for fancy stuff you might only end up using once. Don't buy stuff you really can't afford. One of my best sessions was played without any paper or minis. We gave our DM ideas of what kind of quest and mission we wanted to do and the DM ran with it. Our whole group was able to improvise a great story without a single die roll or pencil used.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes.
   This is the only way you can learn. If you are too scared to try something new then you'll never know how much fun you are missing out on. It's OK to add weird or fun things to the game, if something doesn't work, just move on and do something different. Let players or other DM's help you if you get stuck or run out of ideas.

Do not make a party of players over 5 people.
   Unless you want to overwhelm yourself and make the game take longer. There isn't a point of pride running a game with 12 people. That sounds terrible. If you are lucky enough to have that many players break them up into smaller parties of four players.
   Small groups are a lot easier to work with and manage. You can actually pay attention to what everyone is doing and actually have a good role play experience. The battles take a long time normally, adding more people just slows it down. Create a size limit and stick to it.
    Find a group size that works for you. A size where things can be manageable and the game can be ran smoothly. There is no need to overwhelm yourself. If you have more people who want to join in, make a separate group for just them.
 
Do not rush the players, unless it's part of the action in the story.
   Let players plan a strategy or do some reconnaissance before they enter the bad guys hideout. Let the players see what they are up against before they start getting attacked. Of course if the players mess up their scouting trip, the bad guys will see them. But give the players a chance first.
   Let them plan where the rogue is going to go, or where the best place is to cast an illusion spell. The entire point of the game is problem solving and getting past obstacles, give players time to think of something.
   If it is the action in a story, you can give them time limits. Give them 60-80 seconds to take their turn. give them 4 or 5 rounds to interrupt the big bads ritual. Give them wave after wave of enemies to slow them down.
    But don't put unneeded pressure on players if it's not necessary to the story.

Do not try to subvert story expectations.
   In fact, steal ideas or guesses that the players make about what is going to happen. Stealing ideas is a lot cooler than trying to think up ridiculous twists just to keep players guessing.  There is no need for pointless subversion.
    A players idea could be better than the story you prepared. Players will feel a lot more accomplished when they know how the dragon lady will act at the end of the story. This is a good thing because it means the players were actually paying attention.
  Give your players that narrative payoff. Don't be the mandarin in Iron Man 3 or Rose in the Last Jedi. Plot twists and surprises only work when the characters actions make sense. Subverting expectations is basically a payoff without a setup. It doesn't work from a narrative perspective. If you want to prove how clever a writer you are, how about actually tying things together. Weave the plot threads together in a way that actually makes sense. That's clever writing. And it's harder than you think. Have endings that actually make sense to the genre of the story. Have an ending that makes sense to the characters. It's OK if someone guesses what is going on.

Do not wrap your ego around your creations.
   I know it's fun to build worlds and characters and story ideas. Enjoy it. Be passionate about it. Tell your story. But remember, it's your players world too. Let the players have cool backgrounds and ideas and interesting goals that will expand the story. It makes a far better experience when the players feel like they can affect the world around them and are actually a part of the creation. The DM is there to provide a setting and a story for the players to interact with. No one wants a DM to parade them around their world without being able to make choices. Players have specific characters that they want to play and the DM has to let them do that. A game doesn't exist without a dungeon master and players working together. It is a group game, It isn't your world, it's the groups world.

Do not try to make every session a huge ridiculous gimmick.
   You don't need an epic boss battle in a sinking tower every night you play. You don't need a huge puzzle dungeon that the players need to solve every session. You don't need a trivia game in your world to try to "spice things up". Having variety means having smaller stories too. Let the players hunt down the level 1 goblin bandits. Let your players take time to rest in the village and role play a little bit. You can do the big things too of course, but it should not be world ending or gimmicky situations every single game night. Do not overwhelm yourself trying to have a game-breaking experience every session.

Do not assume the dungeon master is supposed to be working against the players.
   Do not assume the DM is supposed to be trying to kill the players. Everyone should be working together because it is a group game. Unless everyone agrees, in session zero, that it will be a hard game and the players want that challenge. Do not treat the players like they are trying to beat you. Do not try to kill the players during every battle. No one will have fun doing that. Make a few important boss battles harder, of course, but not every single time. Have some variety. Your job as dungeon master is to set up challenges and obstacles as part of a narrative story. Let the players knock down the things you set up without getting mad about it.

You do not need specific answers to all your puzzles or encounters.
   The idea of having very specific answers creates railroading and frustrated players. Keep your answers open ended. This allows a lot more creative thinking for you and the players. Let the players be creative problem solvers. The more creative they get, the more interesting the action and the experience will be. Once the players do something cool that you like, let it work for them. Continue letting them believe that they need a specific answer.
  Only use specific answers if it is part of the story or a main quest. You'll still need to find the 3 magic keys to get the door open. Or the specific spell that can drain away a vampires powers. If it's a simple trap or puzzle room, that doesn't have any impact on the story, do not waste 3 hours of the game making the players find one specific puzzle just piece to get to the next room.
  Let the players ideas be a good problem solvers instead of forcing them to find once obscure specific answer. It creates a frustrating environment for the players. Let them figure out how to get past the fireball traps in the hallway. Let them roll play their way out of the bandit camp instead of just killing everything. The more open you are, the more fun experiences can arise. Listen to your players try to work things out and give clues if necessary. Listen to how they solve things and be open to ideas you could never expect.

Do not overwhelm yourself by over-planning. You will not be able to prepare for every situation.
   Do not prepare for more than two or three sessions at a time. If you try to go beyond that, you'll drive yourself crazy building worlds and dungeons the players might not even get to. Let the flow of the story go beyond the current session based on the players choices and where they want to go. If you know where the players are going, you only need to prepare that area for the next session. You don't need the 9 areas around that specific location. You don't need to prepare the surrounding countries and regions that have no impact on the story. Good world building happens one session at a time.
   Don't plan every single line a NPC says, just in case a player says one specific line. That's called writing a novel, which we aren't doing here. Instead you want general ideas for groups of NPC's or bad guys. What things do the city guards react to?  What does the bandit gang do if they don't get what they are after? What does a monster do if it's about to die? Don't not try to predict every action of every one of your players. Plan for what you know the players are planning on doing. This gives you something specific to work on instead of trying to create an entire world.

Do not assume that you need to know all the rules.
  You don't need to memorize the core rule-book and the thousands of expansion rules. Impossible. And almost pointless. Be specific on your players classes, and only the monsters and abilities you are planning on using in the near future. If you do need something specific, find it. There is no point in reading something, and then going back to the same thing months later when you actually need it. Read rules once, when they become relevant.
  If you need a specific rule during a game, have a player look it up for you so you can focus on keeping the game going. All you need to know are the rules that apply to your session that you are about to play in.
 

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.

How To Be a Good D&D Player

 If you use just two or three of these ideas, your DM and other players will always want you at their table.

Be Prepared and Be Ready For Your Turn.

A good TTRPG player will always have a general idea of what they want to do and what their goal is. This is key during battle. Know what dice you need to roll before your turn. Know when you are next in initiative.

Know what your spells and abilities can do beforehand. If you are ready to go, the battles are quicker and the game runs a lot more smoothly.

Don't waste the parties time by looking stuff up during your turn and trying to figure out what to do. You should have time before your turn to look up what you need to. Make sure you know everything on your character sheet and what dice you need to roll.

You don't need to know all the rules, that's almost impossible. All you need to know are the attacks, abilities, and spells that you are planning on using. Make the game run smoothly by being prepared.

If you don't know, ask questions before your turn.

Use Your Items and Abilities in Creative Ways.

This isn't a video game. That means you should not be hoarding all your magic items or special abilities for the final boss. The DM is giving you items for a reason. They want to help you out.

If you aren't using your cool gear and special abilities, you are wasting some great opportunities.

You will always find more loot and items. Use the magic items you already have!

Do not be afraid to try new things. I recently had a player tie a bear trap to a rope and throw it in the air to attack a harpy that was flying around. He rolled well, and I let it work. It was a great idea and a cool move that made the battle more exciting.

A good DM will let you try anything within some reason.

Remember that sometimes the dice won't be on your side, The GM might ask for a roll of the dice to decide how well it works out. 

Be creative. here are some examples:

Use a prestidigitation spell to add a special effect to your diplomacy or performance skill. Cover your blade in holy water before you attack the zombies.  Use your thunder wave spell to knock enemies off of cliffs. Tie your giant spider fang to a dagger for some poison damage.

You don't have to wait for the end of a fight. Use your turn to do something besides attacking. Unlock a door, or pull the lever, disarm a trap, pull someone out of danger.

Doing something besides attacking adds more strategy and complexity to a simple battle. Let yourself be part of the narrative by doing something that isn't in the rulebook.

The more creative you get, the more interesting circumstances arise to make an exciting and memorable game.

Help Out The Other Players And Share the Spotlight

The biggest part of the game is finding a good group that plays well together. The more you can do to make players feel welcome and accepted, the more fun the game will be.

You are part of the group.

Do your part to make it a good experience. It is a group game. Games fall apart for a lot of reasons, usually it's because of a bad DM, a bad player, or a general lack of energy.

Do not be the player who feels the need to lead the party at every turn. Let other players role play and use their ideas. You don't need to be doing everything. Since you are part of the group, you need to let other players try things.

 Sometimes your best skill is to support other players with their ideas or abilities. Different classes have different abilities for a reason, you should not be doing everything and you should not be able to.

Share the spotlight with other players so when it's your turn to do something cool, the other players will be there to support you.

Take time to step back and listen to everyone else.

Share Information With the Party.

Apparently this can be a problem in some games. Players keep secrets from each other and try to be special because they have a secret. If it is for a character, that's different.

If you have relevant info that the party needs to survive, tell them. Lack of communication is a problem in every group. Be helpful and be engaging.

Have a Clear Back story and A Character Goal.

Your backstory doesn't have to be a 30 page epic. No one is going to read something that long. Make it more like a paragraph or two with only 4 or 5 sentences each.

Make your backstory something easy that the DM can build off of and expand.

If you want good storytelling for your character, you need a backstory.

You need something connecting your character the the world around them. The more connections your character makes, the more you will be invested in the story.

Type up your backstory. Make sure your DM gets it and can work with your ideas.

 This is your chance to be a part of the world building and creative process, don't squander this opportunity.

Make sure your character has a goal to work toward. It doesn't have to be groundbreaking, just something to motivate your character to be a part of the game world and a reason to be there. It can be something as simple as wanting to own a castle or finding loot. Maybe you are searching for your lost siblings or you just want to go do some good in this crazy world.

Communicate with your DM in order to play your character effectively. Make sure your DM knows what your goals are so they can add it to the story. A good DM will listen and create opportunities for you to role play and advance toward your characters goal.  If you don't take advantage of those opportunities, that's your problem.

The better goal you have, the better story your character will have. Without your characters story, you might as well be playing a board game. For more ideas on character creation check this out.

Ask Questions and Help Move the Plot Forward.

Asking questions is key to a good game, a lot of players can end up missing out on things. If you have a good or helpful dungeon master, they will end up sharing a lot.

 Let the characters tell you stories and plot threads. You'll know exactly where to go next if you are paying attention.

Most DM's add things to the game for a reason. Ask about the odd looking painting on the wall. Find out why the villagers seem so stressed out. Ask why the orc shaman has a such better quality robes than the rest of her tribe. Ask the lord who hired you if they have anything that could help you on the quest.

In big cities, there might be clerics or seers who could spy on your enemies for you. Or a special shop selling the exact spell you were looking for. If you can't buy a spell, maybe you can hire someone who can cast the spell for you.

Dungeon masters can't possibly prepare everything, but if you ask for it, and let the DM know what you want, they can put it in the game for you. Ask for the flaming sword your character wants or the address to the vampires estate.

You want more loot? Ask about where the banks are, or the opulent merchants guild. As long as you make sure the DM knows what you want, you will probably end up getting it.

It never hurts to ask.

 Role play on your turn.

You can ask questions during battle. Talk to your enemies. As a DM, I get so bored when players just attack every turn.

Get your enemies name before you destroy them.  You do not have to attack all the time, but you should always be helping out the party in some way.

You don't have to kill every enemy. Allow your blood lust to have a little mercy. Tie them up and get info from them.

Knowledge is power. Most enemies will know more than your character does.

Help the DM.

Help your DM by stopping other players from making stupid game breaking choices. There is no reason to allow the edge-lord player to kill the bartender or burn down the potion shop. Stop the player who continually tries to kill the king. It makes things a lot simpler for everyone.

Help out with looking up rules, keeping track of initiative, or anything else you could possibly handle to make the dungeon masters job a little easier.

 It's usually pretty easy to see where the DM wants you to go, and what they have prepared. A good DM will let you stray from the railroad tracks. If you can tell that the story is lagging, or getting low on energy, it's probably because the story is off track. Go back to where you are supposed to go. Let the DM give you what they prepared for you.

Don't be a Dick. Do Not Fight Against the Other Players.

There is a big difference between playing a character, and just generally being an asshole. Don't waste too much time debating. No one wants to sit there for an hour while you argue about opening the next door. It's tedious and no fun. This is not a competitive game.

 No one wants to watch you try to kill the other players. The games take long enough without your pointless squabbles. I'm not going to sit there wasting my game time while you are basically measuring your long sword against other players.

We are not here to feed your insecure nerd ego and your ego has nothing to do with the game.

If you want a fight, go play a video game online and don't waste our time at the table. D&D is a group game, and you should be working together. As a DM I do not allow players to fight each other.

Do Not expect other players or the DM to know all the rules. Do not argue with the DM. It's OK to tell the DM what the rule is, but you have to let the DM  make the final decision. You have to accept that decision and move forward.

It's OK to help out and let people know the rules. There is no reason to hide information or make someone feel bad about not knowing a rule or ability.

No one will want to play with you if you are purposefully being mean or making things harder.

Don't condescend or berate other players when they don't know something.

Don't Be A Cheater.

Make sure your numbers and stats on your character sheet are correct. Have someone double check for you when you level up. If you are using an app for your character and stats, make sure you still know what your abilities are and where you are getting your numbers.

Make sure you aren't lying or cheating on your dice rolls. You can't be good at everything all the time. This is why we're rolling in the first place.

You need a random element of chance to tell an interesting story. If you are lying about your rolls,  fudging the chances,you deserve a boring story.

You need to be honest for the rest of the group to trust you. Don't let it become a problem. If your DM tells you to roll a different dice or roll for everyone too see, do it without arguing.

You Can Not Do Whatever You Want.

Despite popular conceptions, you can't do whatever you want. More accurately, you can BE whatever you want.

You can't burn down the village just for fun. You can't kill the king during his speech. You can't purposefully break the game or you won't have a game left to play.

 Use your cool ideas and great role playing. but don't go so extreme as to destroy everything.

The DM built a world for you to play in, and the players came to do some fun stuff. Don't ruin things for the group. Don't destroy things without a purpose or a plan. Don't use your evil alignment as an excuse. Show respect to the world that your DM took the time to create for you.

If you plan on destroying something or killing someone important. Let the party know about it. Let the DM have time to plan for what happens. Let the story progress instead of chopping it's legs off on the first session.

Be Appreciative.

Be happy that you have a group to play with.

Be thankful that you have a great game master who builds amazing worlds and continuously runs a game for you.

Be grateful that you are always invited back to the table.
 
Have Fun!

Come to the gaming table with a good attitude, and maintain that attitude.

The better you feel and the happier you are, the game will be that much more enjoyable for everyone.

The key here is to maintain a good attitude. Like maintaining a car or a good looking costume.

Being happy is a habit you have to form just like anything else in life. Being happy and actively choosing that is an essential part of any experience.

Especially a game where you have to work with other people. Choosing to be happy is essential to having fun. Having fun is what the game is ultimately all about!

Remember to be prepared.

Have an idea about what you are going to do next.

Be creative and ask questions.

Use your magic items.

Help out other players and the dungeon master. Don't be a dick.

Keep the game moving forward.

And above all, have fun!

Preparing your first D&D/RPG game

Preparation.

First you'll need a story idea. You don't need to create an entire world or an entire village. Just focus on a simple quest or character goal that can start your story. Offer a few story ideas for your players to choose from.

You can also work with your players to create a story along during session zero.

Start with one "dungeon" or "encounter" and work from there. A dungeon basically means anywhere you will have the players explore with while fighting monsters and role playing with non-player characters. A dungeon could be whatever you want. A city, a forest, ancient ruins, a cave, or anything else you can think of.

Don't over prepare. Just plan on the first session and a few ideas of where the story could go after that. Unless you are playing all day, one 3-4 hour session shouldn't have more than 3 or 4 encounters. Including at least one encounter that involves role-playing instead of combat.

The easiest way to start a story, or create a quest, is to create something the party needs and then put obstacles in the players way. Obstacles like monsters, traps, city guards, pickpockets, or villains who are trying to achieve the same goal as the players.

Here are some more ideas for coming up with a story.

   

Draw a map. Add Some Bad Guys

I think it is easier to start small. Especially when you are first starting. Draw one map of your dungeon, village, or cave. It doesn't have to be a pretty work of art or be to scale, this is for your own notes. Add where the monsters, animals, and traps could be.

Where are the NPC's that the players will run into?

Your dungeon doesn't have to be huge and complicated either. One night of play won't need more than five to ten dungeon rooms. 

Does your game start with someone giving the players a job? Do the players get what they want right away or do they have to go through multiple steps that take up a lot of sessions to finish the story? It can be as long or as short as you want it to be.

Aside from the map, Make a list of monsters or enemies that you might want to use during play. I say "might" because a good role player can talk their way out of some deadly situations. Have you list of enemies with all the stats you think the monsters might need.

This extra list will give you something to add just in case you run out of prepared content and need to insert another encounter quickly. Having this ready will enable you to avoid making players wait while you prepare another monster or the next step in the story.

To keep things simple, just focus on the enemies HP, AC, Attacks, special moves and ability checks or saving throws. I usually don't prepare ability scores or saves, unless they are big important bosses or long term villains. 

Make sure you have lots of extra blank paper to keep track of hit points and other notes during the game session.

To keep things easy, look up the challenge rating of monsters. For your first game it's OK to keep them simple. Challenge rating 1 or lower. For level 1 players.

I hate math and therefore I don't waste time and energy keeping track of experience points. Instead, have characters level up at the end of a session or at the end of a specific quest.

Once you know what classes your players have, you can add class specific details to your map. If you know you have a rogue, add some locked doors or traps they can disarm. If there is a druid or ranger, add an encounter with a mundane animal or horses so they can use their handle animal abilities.

For your magic users, add some runes or a scroll for them to read. If you have a paladin, cleric, or monk, make sure they have a temple or monastery to visit.

Add some NPC's with the same classes that your players might want to interact with, a fellow soldier, explorer, or contacts in a temple or thieves guild.

Add some loot and treasure to your map for the players to find. If you are playing 5th edition, there won't be any magic items at level 1. Always have some healing potions available at low levels.

Host Session Zero.   

Once you have a good story idea, ask your players if they are down with it. Sometimes play styles can get very different and dungeon masters have different styles as well. So make sure everyone is on the same page at first.

Session zero is spent making characters, getting to know play styles, establishing rules and other fine details of the game. 

The most important aspect of a session zero is getting each of the players characters to have a specific goal to work towards. If players start with a specific goal, they have something that motivates them to be a part of your game world. Character goals are a huge help to you as the DM because you can craft a lot of story around what a character wants to do.

This is also good to have the characters backgrounds intertwined. The first session is so much easier without the awkward role-play from brand new characters. I say skip it. Make the party already know each other and have already agreed to work together. 

Characters develop more in game than they do out of the game anyway. The players won't break your game as easily either. If they're already working together, it won't be awkward when one player wants to try to kill the bartender. The other players should help each other out and should jump in to stop some murder-hobo foolishness.

If this is your first time running a game, keep the character creation simple, so your group won't be overwhelmed with too many rules. Have your players start at level 1. Have them only use the races and classes in the handbook. You'll have enough to worry about without having to look up some obscure spells or abilities. More on session zero.

Be Adaptable When Running the Game.

Don't expect the players to do exactly what you want them to do. This turns into railroading and the players will end up with no choices at all. Being adaptable and being able to make stuff up right away is one of the best skills a DM can have.

There will always be something the players will ask about that you didn't think of preparing. Don't be afraid to make things up in the moment. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be something to improvise.

It is totally OK to have traps or encounters that don't have a planned ending. This gives your players a chance to be creative and lets you have fun with the players problem solving. You set it up, they knock it down.

Let your players try ridiculous things. If you are saying "no" to every good idea they come up with, the players won't have any fun and will see that trying to be creative is a bad thing. This destroys the spirit of the game. RPG's group games are designed for people to work together to solve problems. Don't destroy the dynamic by saying no to every great idea that pops up. A good DM works with the players.

Give your players the illusion of choice. Do they want to go explore in the forest? Or head to the ancient ruins? Either way, they will come across the one dungeon you have prepared. Because your job is to put obstacles in their way. You don't need to invent an entire new map just because the players chose to go right instead of left. Make it easy for yourself. Put the players where they need to be to advance the story. Skip travel time if you have nothing planned for it.

More Ideas about being adaptable here.

Running the Game.

This is where all your preparation and over thinking will pay off.

Instead of wasting time traveling, start the players off in front of the dungeon. Start where the action is. Set up the scene and then let them decide what to do. How will the characters get across a moat with no drawbridge? How will they get past the magic stone door blocking the entrance to the dungeon?

Make sure you are sharing the spotlight. If one player wants to do a thing, pause that player and ask what the other players are doing. Make sure every player is involved. Even if it's just to follow what the main player is doing. At least give each player a chance for their ideas to be heard. Let them talk one at a time, make them take turns talking if you have to.

As the dungeon master, you decide when to start and stop the action. If a player tells you that they are doing a thing, then say that the character does the thing. When the DM says it, it lets the party know what's happening and you can describe it in order to move the story forward. It also tells your players that you have heard and acknowledged what they want to do. If the DM doesn't say it, it didn't happen.

Make name tags for the player characters, so you and the group know the characters names. It's also good to have their race, class, HP, and AC recorded so you don't have to ask them every turn.

During battle, have a player keep track of initiative or put the name tags in initiative order. This will speed things up for you.

Have players look up rules so you aren't slowing down the battle. If someone needs to look something up, move on to the next turn so the whole table isn't waiting around.

Tell players that you expect them to know what dice to roll for their attacks and what their spells and abilities do before they get to their turn.

If you want to stay sane, take breaks at least every two hours. Don't be afraid to ask if players want to take a break.

If something comes up and you want to think about what to do next, it's OK to pause, and take a break, and think about it for a awhile. You aren't the computer running a video game. You need breaks too. 

Have fun! 

The most important rule is to have fun.

Don't overwork yourself and turn the game into another job.

Creating worlds and stories is supposed to be exciting. Being creative is the best thing we can do in this life.

Enjoy it.

Take a break if you aren't enjoying the game.

Don't overwhelm yourself thinking about building an entire world from scratch. Steal stories from books and movies. If you feel bad about stealing ideas, read this.

Use published adventures if you don't want to create your own. No one cares that an idea or two is stolen. The players are there for the same reason you are, To have fun!

   

For more insight, information and inspiration please visit gamesmastery.com 

  

How to stop players from destroying your game

   Some nerd told me a story about how his players killed everyone in the tavern before the group even formed. This is disappointing that some players even act that way. No respect for the game or the master. Set up your expectations and rules before you start.
 
   The best way to avoid this game breaking stuff is to prevent it in the first place. Your evil druid wants to bash in in the skull of the bartender? Your edge-lord warlock wants to let loose a fireball in the weapons shop? The rogue wants to put an arrow in the queens face? As a DM you'll have to be the one to stop the action.

   Appeal to your players, or the offending player. Say something like, "You see johnny Mc-Edgelord about to cast a spell in the shop. Are you going to let him ruin your negotiations? What are you going to do about this? You know there are towns guards and the city watch right around the corner." Or appeal to the specific attacking player. "Are you sure you want to kill the barkeep? There isn't anywhere else to eat and sleep in this small town, if you make an attack, the entire town won't deal with you at all. You won't be able to buy weapons or rent horses." Prevent something before it happens.

   If talking doesn't sway the party right away, you can send in the troops. Don't even wait for the second round of initiative. Right after the player makes the first attack, the tavern guests run and get the guard. The guard shows up in the first turn to stop the battle. They're all level 20 and they immediately beat players to a pulp. If you don't want the players or player to be killed right away, they can be locked up. Knocked out. Charmed to be agreeable. Or anything else you can think of. This is your game and you wont tolerate the shenanigans. Make the barkeep level 20 and he can just knock the player out right away. Catch the players red-handed. Teach them that there are consequences to every action.

   If your game has lots of magic or technology, the shops and taverns will have magical wards, alarms, force fields, magic shields, etc.  The tavern has automatic detect poison spells set up. Or purification spells to protect the food. A player attacks the bartender with his staff? A magical force field stops the staff in mid swing and the player is hit with an entangle or hold person spell. In a lawless world, no one is surprised to see turrets in the ceiling of their fine dining experience. The bartender has a magical cup that is actually a port-key to teleport unruly guests out of his shop. It could lead a rude guest to a dungeon or the drunk tank lock up. Have anti-magic fields set up so mages can't mess things up, or zones of truth around the bar. Have magic mouth or message spells set up to alert the guards right away. Have a bard playing songs to control or sooth the crowd.

   Does your player want to set everything on fire? The city is enchanted with fireproof wood. The firemen use create water spells. Endure element spells. Control element spells. They can animate objects to make flying buckets of water to put out fires right away.

   The kings royal court will have high level mages or powerful generals who can take out a player in one hit. Take them out before initiative is rolled. The 5 guards against the wall have been holding their actions for days just in case some idiot player decides to attack the king.

   If the party or one player does get away with something, have an NPC witness the event. The guards or the nobles find out and send assassins or bounty hunters after the player. Put up wanted posters in every town and tavern. No one will work with these social outcasts. Have the players deal with being constantly chased. If they want to act like criminals, the world will treat them like criminals.

  Another problem my friend had was that the players hadn't even formed the group when the tavern was attacked. The players had no loyalty to each other and it turned to chaos. I prevent this problem by having a session zero or something like it. Start the game with the players already knowing each other and already agreeing to work together. It gets even better when the players have a pre-established common goal. This way the players will actually help and support each other without becoming murder hobos.

   Do the characters even want to travel with someone who is constantly attacking when they're trying to get weapons made or their loot being divided up. The cleric or paladin will not want to be associated with someone who just tried to commit regicide.  Will the characters tolerate being with someone who tried to assassinate the king? Have the group role play it out. The offending player will have to decide whether to change their character a bit or play a new one.

    If you don't want to give consequences in game, you'll have to be an adult and talk to your players. Talk to the offending player in private out of the game. Tell him you don't want everything to be destroyed. Tell him you have a story to tell and other players to work with. If the people playing aren't having fun then it's not worth it. Tell the player that it is a co-operative game and you guys have to work together. Tell the player they won't be invited back to the next game if they keep wanting to destroy everything. Don't invite him again. Put them on time out. Being a group game means that the players and the DM need to work together. If you can, try to establish these rules during session zero.

   If your player wants to continue destroying stuff, tell them to go play grand theft auto all by themselves.

Good luck and have fun!

 



 

Make Your RPG Battles More Exciting and Memorable

Use different weapons and levels of terrain.

Do you have a battle prepared with bandits on the road?

 Sounds simple. And boring.

 Instead of all the bandits lining up and using swords, have a few bandits in up the trees. Having archers shooting down onto the party adds a new level to the combat.

 Players will have to defend from above and below. Have the same types of enemies use different types of weapons. Place the battle on multiple levels of terrain.

Use more magic.

Place a bandit who is hiding in the trees with a wand of magic missile to shake things up.

Spell casting can add a lot more obstacles to a simple battle.

A bad guy can cast entangle or a fog cloud.

 Some more powerful enemies can heal themselves with potions and magic.

 Letting the enemies use magic will always be more memorable than a couple grunts with swords.

Use Traps.

  Maybe the bandits placed traps in the road for the players to avoid or disable.

 The terrain itself can end up being an encounter on its own. Use traps, pressure plates, caltrops or simple trip wires to slow the players down.

Getting attacked by swords is fun, but a sword fight where you have to avoid traps is a lot more engaging.

Maybe the players will have to get around a cloud of poison gas. Get through a couple locked doors.

Have spike traps that pop up every other round or a magic trap that damages players every turn until a puzzle is solved.

Use The Environment.

  Make the land itself more exciting. Fighting bandits on the road in the forest? Good start. Perhaps the road is now on the edge of a cliff, or the bandits attack on an old bridge.

 Maybe the fight takes place in the fire swamp where everyone will have to avoid quicksand and fire traps.

How about a duel inside a building on fire with the roof crashing down on the combatants. Maybe a cave is collapsing around you.

Diversify your monster types.

Have monsters with different abilities fight alongside the bandits.

A sword fight against bandits just got weird when one of them changes into a werewolf.

Maybe the fight disturbs a nest of giant spiders or an owl-bear. It's not so simple a sword fight anymore when some wood nymphs are trying to protect their trees.

The fight with the wizard just got more complicated when you find out he has an ogre body guard or he commands a tribe of knolls to fight for him.

Add Personality to your bad guys.

  Make the enemies more human and relate-able.

Give all the random bandits some names.

John and Erin get sad or angry when they see their comrades die in battle.

 The enemies can talk to the players on their turns and try to make deals.

Maybe they decide to run away and get revenge on the players later.

 Maybe the bandits were just following orders and don't want to get killed in a random battle.

   When a goblin gets killed, another one suddenly cries out, "Gratz! Don't die today! you are my only brother!"

 This is great for adding detail and world building. They aren't just random enemies anymore when they have thoughts and feelings.

The NPC's aren't just simple meat for the grinder. The best battles will mean something to somebody. Including enemies.

   During the obligatory tavern brawl, the players might have accidentally killed the daughter of a nobleman. Now it's not just a random bar fight, its part of the story.

  -The players will have to figure out what to do when the guards come asking around.

   -The nobles could do a lot to try to get revenge.

  -They could send assassins to kill the players.

   -The nobles could outlaw weapons and magic items throughout the land.

  -The players could get arrested for murder.

Put more obstacles in the players way.

The players might need to solve a puzzle or get past a magic portal or gate before they can kill the bad guy.

Make the players fight through a few waves of enemies before they reach the boss.

Give the big boss a shield or force field the players need to take down before they can hurt him. All while the boss can still hit them.

Make the players cast a ritual spell that takes more than one turn to cast.

Give the players an objective that is different from just killing enemies.

The party needs to get the contents of a treasure chest before the bandits do.

The players might need to solve a puzzle or get past a magic portal or gate before they can kill the bad guy.

The bandits could have hostages that the players need to save.

Maybe a bandit is using a weapon or magic item that the players need for their quest.

The players could be tasked with stopping an evil cult from performing a ritual before time runs out and the bandits are in the way.

Create some kind of time limit will make a battle more intense. They only have 4 rounds before the magic orb explodes.

Save the hostages before they get killed.

Stop a magic artifact before it burns down the whole forest.

 Add narrative flavor and to the attacks and movements.

focusing on the numbers can get boring really quickly.

 Explain why the goblin rolled a 1 and missed his attack.

 He just saw his fellow tribesmen get slaughtered by the PC's, of course he would get a little rattled.

 If a roll is close but doesn't hit, talk about how the arrow hit the armor and bounced off.

Talk about how the player was just an inch away from dodging a sword to the face.

Everyone likes to explain in detail how they hit a guy. Describe the misses too.

Make it personal.

  If you have ample time to prepare an ongoing campaign, make each encounter personal to the characters back story or the goal of the current mission.

A player is on the way to find their missing brother?

 Erin the bandit used to work with the missing brother and has info on him.

If you are a good DM you can make this stuff up on the spot.

Have the characters talk during battle. John the bandit might know the location of the lost dungeon the players are looking for.

The missing brother could have owed money to the bandits or there was a secret love triangle with some of them.

If you plan this well, you won't ever need random encounters. The villains goals can be just as much a part of the story at the players.

 You don't have to add all of these things to every battle of course, that would make things complicated very quickly.

Help out and communicate with your players.

Give players hints about monster resistances and other special abilities.

The game will go slowly if you have skeletons who resist piercing damage and all the players are using swords.

 Let the players notice that the swords aren't effective.

Have them roll perception checks or knowledge checks to realize that a hammer or club would do a better job.

There is no need to waste your players time. 

Don't let the battle go on forever when each player is only doing 3 damage.

Players will appreciate the help and feel more accomplished when they figure stuff out. but you have to give them clues.

Characters have a lot of abilities and sometimes players won't know about them, or won't know what they do.

 It is your job as the DM to give hints and suggestions.

Have more experienced players help out the group to free up your time.

Speed up the battle.

 Delegate everything to your players to make the battles go faster.

Have a player keep track of initiative for you.

Have a player check the stats of each other character so the players know what they have.

If you have a small battle with goblins that are not imperative to the plot line, have a player keep track of the goblins hit points.

This gives you extra time to plan on whats next, or role play a conversation during battle.

 Have players draw maps for you.

Ask for a players help to move around minis and other game pieces.

Most players are always willing to help, and you should let them. It frees up your time and the players feel more involved.

  Tell players that you expect them to know what dice they are rolling and what modifiers and bonuses to add.

The DM should take time at the beginning of the game to help players out so it will run smoothly later on.

   If players are ready and know what they are doing, you can shave off some extra time in battle. Have players roll all their attacks and damage dice at the same time.

I have a way to use initiative that speeds up the battles and helps communicate whats going on in my games. Maybe you should ask about it.

Be An Adaptable DM For an Immersive Game

  Telling your players that they can't do something will suck the fun out of any game.

   Be able to improvise. Let the players try to seduce the dragon. Let them steal the deed to the ranch. The more you can adapt to what the players want, the more fun you'll have and the more interesting stories you'll get to tell.

  If a player can justify how they can jump 20 feet into the air, let them do it. Tell me how exactly your ranger grew up jumping through the trees I'll let you roll for it. Then maybe it will happen.

   Some one wants to charm the dwarf princess? Let them try. Make them tell you precisely what they want to say to her. Not only will they have to roll for it, but the have to say it. Have them turn on the charm for you along with making a roll. If the performance is good and they roll well, the princess just might be charmed, or at least a little more friendly. Let a player try something instead of denying their efforts right away.

  A player wants to try to kill the king? They can certainly try. The 20 guards and the court of wizards might have a say about it. As a DM you have the power to stop and start the action. An action won't happen unless you say it does.

   Let the players try things, but make them work for it. They want to dress as guards and try to sneak into the city? Have them roll charisma or intuition checks. Have them make knowledge checks too.
"Were you the guards who were coming back from hunting wolves? I don't see any pelts on you"

   Be adaptive to the rules too. Don't look something up because it always slows the game down. Come up with a decision on the spot. Have a player look it up when it's not their turn. Make up your own house rules. Look up the rule later and then adapt to it if works with your story.

  Don't be afraid to make things up and add detail and character to your world. Players will always have questions, and it is nearly impossible to prepare everything. So stay flexible with your in-game world building. If a player asks the name of a random NPC on the street, make it up. If it's a random person, the name doesn't have to be special, just call him John Doe. Who cares. You definitely won't need to prepare stats for him. Make sure you write down his name so it maintains continuity if the players ever ask about him again.

 Do the players want to explore a cave or a building that wasn't prepared? Make it up. Do it. Let them explore. Give them something simple to find. Maybe some one stashed a small weapon or a coin purse in the cave. Or there's evidence of an animal sleeping there. Or they find a silver ring under the rocks. You don't have to make up something epic or exciting. Have something there, even if it is simple. Finding something will always be better than a player finding nothing at all. Your world will seem a lot more "lived in" and interesting if there is something there to find. No one wants to play in an empty world. Discovering two gold pieces is always better than finding nothing at all.

 It's also OK to tell the players that you haven't prepared something. They'll understand. It's easier to tell that truth than to try to lie you way out of something. If you start making up crappy excuses as to why players can't do something, they'll feel railroaded and see right through it. Your world suddenly got rigid and and fake. So tell them that something wasn't prepared. Give them something rather than nothing.

  Be patient with players and expect your players to do the same for the group. Every player wants to do something epic and exciting every turn. A lot of players take their time to plan tactics and strategy,  or try to figure out what to do. If your players are having a hard time making a decision, it's OK to help your players and give them hints. Sometimes making a simple attack is the best option.

If the players are stuck on puzzles or riddles, give hints in the guise of the characters knowledge and experience. Say something like, "Your character has fought these creatures before, you know that they are weak to fire." Or, "You've lived in these woods along side the elf tribes for a long time, you remember the elvish word for 'friend'."
   A players knowledge of the world will be a lot less than what their characters know. You as the DM will always know more about your world, so help your players out. The group doesn't gain anything from a secretive DM. No one will want to play with an unhelpful dungeon master, so don't be that guy.

  Players can get frustrated easily when they are stuck on something. Help them out. You and your players will enjoy the game a lot more when you help them out, instead of allowing the party to be stuck for a long time. You have control over how long something takes. Try to get a sense of how your players are feeling. Don't let them get stuck or frustrated.

  If a player wants do a cool move or attack on their turn, go ahead and let them. If their choices don't impede on your story or the players enjoyment, why the hell not!? Let your player do a parkour move off the side of a boulder in order to stab an enemy in the neck. Let them make a dexterity or tumble check along with their attack roll. If they succeed, they'll feel great for pulling off a cool move. If they fail, it will still be a lot more interesting for the player than being denied that option. Don't immediately dismiss their ideas. You can make the situation a lot more interesting if they do fail. Maybe the bad guys catches them in the air, or the player slips off the rocks and falls on their face.         Whatever happens will be more memorable than you saying "No" and sucking the fun out of the game. The whole point of the game is to provide fun for the group as a whole. Let your players try things. Do not be a fun-sucker. No one wants to play with a nitpicking micromanaging DM.

  Let your players leave the table if it isn't their turn. Let them come and go and they'll still find enjoyment out of the game. Battles can last a long time, and people will need breaks. Take a break at least every two hours. Reset and refresh your mind, especially as a Dungeon Master. It doesn't matter how long you play, as long as there are breaks happening. If you have the right players, you can go all night!

  If you have something prepared and the players don't find it, let them find it anyway. There is no point in letting your hidden treasure go to waste. If you don't want to give players a straight answer, at least give them clues or a lead they can follow. Give them the choice to explore, let them ask questions. If they don't, then you at least gave them the option to unravel your thread of clues. If you don't give hints or clues the players won't know what to do. You need to tell them something. It is your job to communicate to your group. If you don't say anything, they won't know about it. You cannot expect players to find something if you haven't told them about it. Don't expect players to know what to do, if you haven't laid the groundwork for them first.

  The goal of the game is to have fun. Every time you dismiss an idea or say no, the less fun players will have. We want more fun, not less.

  Good luck and have fun!