tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post1052758689908018005..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: 5 Tips on DMing the First TimeAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-8707359356899139172017-12-12T01:25:51.442-07:002017-12-12T01:25:51.442-07:00Damn. Would have killed for this when I started. I...Damn. Would have killed for this when I started. I had ... maybe half of that down from prior reading. <br /><br />Bookmark'd (and added to the "You know about D&D, right?" pile. Archonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17718160700690722856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-16079933450538425002017-12-10T10:37:39.439-07:002017-12-10T10:37:39.439-07:00This is advice I'd build a house atop of.
The...This is advice I'd build a house atop of.<br /><br />The convoluted twist, from my experience, comes from the fact that the people that have no skill at DMing are usually your friends and co-players: your RPGing social circle.<br /><br />It quickly turns into a spiral of adulthood (a commodity not always found in vast abundance in the medium) to navigate the minefield and avoid a sicilian daisy-chain of "you won't play with me so I sure as hell won't play with you".<br /><br />The solution, of course, comes from not being a bloody hermit crab and having enough of a pool of people that these considerations become obviated by the laws of the market.Drainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09724863160300686402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-68046618960038229272017-12-09T07:41:23.437-07:002017-12-09T07:41:23.437-07:00Excellent advice. Should be in a large font in eve...Excellent advice. Should be in a large font in every introductory set.Charles Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00941603544547428940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-52191771332605515122017-12-08T21:26:24.982-07:002017-12-08T21:26:24.982-07:00Scratch that. I've just finished a new post a...Scratch that. I've just finished a new post about <a href="http://tao-dnd.blogspot.ca/2017/12/the-convenient-backstory.html" rel="nofollow">Backstories</a> on Dec 8th. Address your backstory comments there.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-29187789886218330292017-12-08T20:58:11.024-07:002017-12-08T20:58:11.024-07:00D-Squared,
The answer is simple. Because D&D ...D-Squared,<br /><br />The answer is simple. Because D&D is a game. I don't ask why the Top Hat wants to go around the monopoly board.<br /><br />I do not want to let this sink into a debate about the backstory. Fundamentally, I wrote a post about role-playing earlier in the year, which gives my opinion about the motivations for participants. Please, if anyone has any discussion about the necessity of backstories for playing, please write them on this post:<br /><br /><a href="http://tao-dnd.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-two-philosophies.html" rel="nofollow">http://tao-dnd.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-two-philosophies.html</a><br /><br />The only relevance of backstories to the post above is that NEW game managers are not equipped to deal with the manner in which players will use a backstory to manipulate a DM. If you want to talk about how players do that with a backstory, or you wish to contend that players use a backstory for manipulation purposes, please write those comments here. That discussion would be relevant to the above.<br /><br />Thank you.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-2755081939027956082017-12-08T19:58:21.593-07:002017-12-08T19:58:21.593-07:00Regarding backstory, the player should be able to ...Regarding backstory, the player should be able to answer this one question: why is your character adventuring? That is all a DM (new or otherwise) really need.D-Squaredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02491792875541242502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-54519935571565705722017-12-08T17:39:52.330-07:002017-12-08T17:39:52.330-07:00very useful, and to the point. It took longer tha...very useful, and to the point. It took longer than I thought to come up with 20 things. But I eventually did. I began to take issue with your last bit about not having a backstory. I personally hate long ones, because death happens in my games. So I started asking for a couple sentences only for those who wanted to do it. But I ultimately agree, backstories are too much for a gm, especially a new one, to deal with. They are not necessary for player fun. Robin Irwin https://www.blogger.com/profile/05972978418186272545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-16441211791882263792017-12-08T08:48:38.420-07:002017-12-08T08:48:38.420-07:00Why wasn't THIS section in my Dungeon Masters ...Why wasn't THIS section in my Dungeon Masters Guide?<br />: )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-20597999832338920012017-12-08T08:36:30.264-07:002017-12-08T08:36:30.264-07:00Alex,
The FIRST time you DM you're going to b...Alex,<br /><br />The FIRST time you DM you're going to be too busy to have a good time. Not the last time you DM'd.<br /><br />And you may, as it happens, have a good time ... but admit it. You don't play FOR a good time any more.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-19167030656861784792017-12-08T08:29:37.129-07:002017-12-08T08:29:37.129-07:00"You're going to be too busy to have a go..."You're going to be too busy to have a good time"<br /><br />Not convinced that these two things are mutually exclusive. I work my ass off DM'ing but still manage to have a good time. And, no, my players don't have cheese dust all over their hands!<br /><br />On the other hand, maybe players would have no problem building this list of 20 things in my games.<br /><br />Alex W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09855004577506079208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-8522772302061466052017-12-07T21:26:30.203-07:002017-12-07T21:26:30.203-07:00I really like all this advice. Backstories seem li...I really like all this advice. Backstories seem like a great idea, and really aren't.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02846071799831004752noreply@blogger.com