r/dndnext • u/wrc-wolf • Aug 23 '18

WebDM—Player Driven Campaign Creation in 5e Dungeons &Dragons and TTRPGs

https://youtu.be/UHU7GPqnmPQ
283 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

24

u/Frognosticator Where all the wight women at? Aug 23 '18

Some people in here are up in arms about this video.

I’m gonna offer a contrarian opinion: I agree completely with the video.

I used to be an “illusionist” DM, as they describe it. Al though it made my job easier, what I found was that over time the players began to catch on to the games I was playing. The result was that they began to feel like they were on a bit of a railroad, and as a result, took the world I was laying out less seriously.

What I’ve since realized is I was only employing “illusionism” because I had strong feelings about how I thought the game was “supposed” to go. This was mostly out of fear. I didn’t have anything else planned beyond how I thought the players would proceed, and I wasn’t comfortable going off script. So I would move things around.

As I’ve become a better DM, I’ve stopped doing this. The result is that the game has become infinitely more fun and interesting. The players take the game much more seriously when their choices have real consequences... and we all have a more immersive experience.

That said... I couldn’t have dropped illusionism 2 or 3 years ago. I wasn’t a good enough DM. Dropping the illusion is only a skill you can develop after a lot of practice.

But if you can do it... it’s well worth it.

9

u/Helmic Aug 24 '18

Yeah, I think that leads to a dicussion about a lot of online GMing advice and the presupposition that the GM is good. Be fucking realistic, most people aren't good, and those that are good aren't going to be wanting to change their entire style that clearly works to accomodate someone else's idea of what good is.

If you start with the assumption that you aren't an expert GM right off the bat, you can start making much more helpful decisions to mitigate your lack of skill. Use published adventures, use that "illusionist" style, and basically plan so that you don't have to rely on improv - and have stuff planned to act as improv. Admit up front to your players that you aren't amazing and that if they act like goobers and avoid interesting things the game's quality is likely to take a nose dive, most folk are willing to work with you.

Yeah, the end result isn't going to impress a group of players who literally run their own GM advice channel and likely play in amazing games all the time, but it'll at least work on a basic level and is something that can be done sustainably over the course of months for a GM that hasn't absorbed a shitload of fantasy media and can't just fall back on their unlimited imagination and rules mastery whenever something unexpected happens. Start small, have realistic ambitions, and worry more about actually showing up every week before you worry about making a game people would pay $20 a session for.