D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Three tips for dealing with large party sizes.

1. Appoint a Co-DM or Sub-DM

2. Split the group

3. Design a campaign that will engage a big group
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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Five ways to create memorable boss battles.

1. Foreshadow the battle

2. Raise the stakes

3. Create an epic battleground

4. Add dynamic elements

5. Grant the players satisfaction
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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Four ways to gain the advantages of metagaming without metagaming.

1. Roll Knowledge checks to learn a monster's strengths and weaknesses.

2. Use Perception and Insight to discover information other PCs are hiding.

3. Rationalize out-of-character ideas in-character.

4. Create a high-int character if you want to use modern ideas in-character.
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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

I apologize in advance for probably mispronouncing "Sun Tzu."

Three ways to deal with metagamers:

1. Subvert common genre tropes

2. Improvise

3. Change the appearance of your monsters so that players can't recognize them

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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Keep the five W's of character development in mind:

1. Who is your target audience?

2. What do you write?

3. Where do your background events take place?

4. When do you write a character background?

5. Why write a character background?

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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Don't be too stingy with your combat resources (potions, powers, action points, etc.), but also don't waste them.

Use just enough resources to keep yourself and your allies from dropping in battle.


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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Avoid penalizing or nullifying desirable player behaviour. Repeated catastrophic failures will turn players off a given behaviour altogether.

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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

The most fundamental tip for character development:

Start with an overarching concept. This is what will primarily guide your roleplaying.


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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

The most fundamental tip for good roleplaying:

For every decision you make, from the monumental to the mundane, you must ask yourself, "What would my character do?"

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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Three ways to deal with inattentive players:

1. No repeating

2. 6-second rule

3. Commercial breaks
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D&D Quick Tips: advice for players and Dungeon Masters

Three steps to problem solving:

1. Establish a problem exists

2. Determine the source of the problem

3. Implement a fair solution
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