How to Improve Your Dungeons & Dragons Game, According to Sam Whitver of D&D Authority
Dungeons & Dragons is as scary as it is liberating. On the one hand, you have a game limited only by your imagination and a large rulebook that you can ignore as you see fit. On the other hand, if you are a dungeon master, you will have to tread a tricky tightrope. It’s important to give your players the freedom to be crazy and creative, but you also need to restrict them a bit so that you can actually complete the campaign or storyline you’re trying to play.
Lifehacker recently had the opportunity to chat with Sam Whitwer -D&D fan, co-author of the magnificent Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: visual story and prolificmouthpiece for all things , thedark side . During our 1 hour chat, Whitwer shared some great tips from his years of experience playing Dungeons & Dragons .
Whether you’re a Level 1 Dungeon Master or have been on the same campaign with the same friends for ten years, here are some tips to get even more out of your dice-throwing days:
What are the qualities that make Dungeons & Dragons great? What characteristics or traits should players bring to the game if they want the best experience?
The word that comes to my mind all the time is generosity . If you’re with generous people, you won’t have a bad time. If you are working with a group of competitive people, one of the challenges they have to face is learning to overcome their own competitive streak, or maybe selfish inclinations, and let other people be the center of attention, share attention and do everything of course. having a good time. But as a rule, if you have a bunch of generous, nice, funny people, you shouldn’t have a problem playing Dungeons & Dragons .
As a Dungeon Master, how do you get your players to act like a cohesive team? What if you have players who are more withdrawn or prefer to play more independently?
As a DM, it’s all about observing their players and learning what they like and learning how to turn them on a little.
We actually played a game last night – just – with two new players. And I found out that one of the players at the table, one of the newcomers, really sparked the conversation. She was not completely disabled when the fight started, but if the fight lasted a little too long, she could get out of the fight a bit, while the ability to pronounce out of the fight really made her smile and her eyes lit up and it was really a lot of fun. … But it’s really about finding the tastes of the players and then adapting the adventure to that.
For different players, I have different strategies that tend to work in terms of getting them to play. And it’s also just make sure you go around the table and give everyone a chance to be in the spotlight, their chance to prove themselves – a moment that really ties into their character.
I feel like as a DM you should feel comfortable breaking the rules – you cheat on the die roll off-screen or allow players to get away from punishment for things that might not be written in the rulebook but that make for a more engaging story. How to balance fairness and fun?
A few very wise friends of mine host the Order 66 podcast. They have a thing called The Rule of Composure. If the player comes up with something, and it’s just cool, give it to him. We don’t steal company money or rob a bank – we don’t do anything wrong by breaking rules here and there in favor of a great story or a great moment.
The rule of thumb: if something is cool, and someone comes up with an idea that is really interesting and interesting, figure out how to do it within the rules. Rules aren’t there to stifle you, they have to be in order to make a great story. And history, I think, should always come first; players must be first.
How do you find different methods and styles to get your players into the game without excluding someone else’s special approach to playing Dungeons & Dragons ?
As a rule, I try to keep things moving as fast as possible, so that people constantly react to what is happening. But furthermore, if I see that the player needs a little more attention to be interested, I speak to him directly. I think the only technique I have, which is kind of a brute force technique, is just enthusiasm. If I pour out my enthusiasm on them and they see that I am truly engaged, it tends to take them out of their shells a little. Even if they are silent, if I say what I say to them with enthusiasm, they tend to accept it.
“It’s kind of funny considering the fact that in many, many work situations I’ve learned that I can get away with things that you might not get away with – as an actor on a set or as a creative person in a room. – I often get away with it, because if I say it with enthusiasm, no one is offended.
It comes out like, “Hey, would that be cool?” No one is offended by my crazy ideas or the fact that I crossed the boundaries and all that. Maybe this is a lesson I learned from Dungeons & Dragons : approach people with enthusiasm, not serious. People react much better if you say, “Hey guys, isn’t this fun?”
Here’s one more thing: some players really want to sit and watch for a bit. And that’s okay too. You have to get a feel for this, because sometimes throwing someone in the spotlight is a bit of a concern, especially if they’re new players. They shouldn’t feel obligated to jump into the spotlight; they just need to feel excited. So if they want to intervene, they can. Forcing someone is never good.