TTRPG Dungeon Master/Game Master/Referee thread

[Mukky]

Any TTRPG Dungeon Masters/Game Masters/Referees in dG? Sound off and give me your best stories and advice!

I'll start:
The classic piece of advice: Have a list of random NPC names on your DM screen, whenever the players suddenly go off course and ask the random civvie what their names is, take a name, mark it off, and there ya go! Seemed like you had a plan all along!

If you've got more time, why not make a handful of mini-profiles for some NPCs so they're all a little bit more fleshed out! These mini-profiles should have things like:

• Name
• Age
• Voice (If you need it, write down a line that might help you "Get into character"
• One or two traits (Keep this part simple, when it comes to non-important NPCs, the simpler the better! Keep it one-note, like "really likes peaches" or "sings when they talk" and make it their whole personality. This makes for memorable NPCs!)

 

[Scott]

first and foremost, I primarily do ttrpg as a Player and don't have years upon years of experience under my belt, so i am willing to be corrected. i just read a ton of rulebooks

this is mostly a dnd 5e thing, but I find a lot of enemies are kind of weak if you stat them exactly like the book says once players get a couple levels under their belt. this isn't a problem if your group is using the game for more narrative or rp purposes, or are pretty new to the game in general. but if a couple of players are chewing through every encounter and you want there to be a little more threat, start buffing up some stats behind the screen. doesn't have to be egregious, maybe just some more health at first to see how it impacts the players.
my group ran into this in our current campaign. DM decided to run a premade (Dragon of Icespire Peak) as a lead in to his original idea, and the final boss of it got destroyed before it even got to act despite our characters not being particularly minmaxed and only level 5. we all had a good laugh about it, but the DM has since buffed enemies twice. didn't tell us the particulars of course, just mentioned that he did since he wasn't expecting us to steamroll, and now the narrative:combat ratio feels a lot better.

different story if you're running something more crunchy, like Dark Heresy or Pathfinder 1e. but 5e is simple and flexible, so play around with it

edit: thread theme

 

[Mukky]

Story from last night's game

The players have had this custom item I gave them, called "Yonnfarnam's Cherry Bomb". It's a tiny round bomb that explodes for 5d100 damage at an unknown range. The user can set the timer by speaking into it, and once lit, the fuse cannot be put out. They've had this item for the past 5-6 sessions, buying it for a single gold piece from a reoccuring travelling merchant.

Last night, they're travelling down a path that lead them down to the Wizard Yonnfarnam's keep, meeting him for the first time. They asked for his help, to which he was mostly indifferent to their requests, but off-handedly mentions that he has more of these cherry bombs somewhere, before leaving to go hunting and telling the party "You're welcome to sleep the night while I'm out, the furniture will show you to your quarters".

The players being in a famous wizard's keep, of course, decide to go exploring. Two of the players went together to this weird machine that enchants their items. They worked it a few times and got themselves three enchanted items, before trying it one more time, and the machine breaking all together and breaking the item they put in. The players then decided to book it, in the hopes they could leave before Yonnfarnam returns and finds out.

After about 5, 10 minutes of travel, one of the players hears a hissing sound coming from their pocket, and I pull out a 30 second timer on my phone.

The players start freaking the fuck out as they scamble through their bags, one spends all their spell slots to get the hell out of dodge, the player with the hissing sound hurridly asks me if it's the Cherry Bomb, and I confirm it, before another player screams "GIVE IT TO ME GIVE IT TO ME" before throwning the bomb 120ft away (they have a special ability which gives them further throwing distance). I have the players roll a 1d100 to determine the bomb's range (hitting an 85ft radius), and they end up rolling a 375 damage on the bomb, decimating the forrest behind them and securing themselves a restless night.

After the moment has calmed down, they check themselves and realise... their bomb is still there, so as a reward for surviving the explosion, they've secured themselves valuable infomation on how to use their own in the future.

The players all collectively agreed that the moment the fuse went off, that was the best moment of the session, which was already packed with memorable moments.