DM Tips Twitter Archive: May 2011

by Mike Shea on 3 June 2011

Below is an archive of all of the Sly Flourish DM Tip Twitter posts for May 2011. Get daily DM tips at http://twitter.com/slyflourish!

And, of course, including Combat Outs in every one of your battles: http://t.co/KhPxTLN #dnd

Four ways to speed up combat: four players; Essentials Only; no magic item powers; level 1 to 10. #dnd

@gamefiend @davethegame Players can do their part to speed things up but doing so is counterproductive for them. They want a big turn.

@DaveTheGame @gamefiend I agree. I'd love fastplay rules but I don't know how they'd do it. I tried limiting powers and players hated it.

#dnd tip: Plan no more than three battles for a four hour game or two battles for a three hour game.

@TheIdDM ignore things that aren't fun. Hard to see who has a good time with rations.

In case you missed it, Terrain Effects and Terrain Props Podcast with @deadorcs and I: http://bit.ly/im3MZE #dnd

#dnd tip: The Hannibal Lecter villain seed: Give your villain a piece of information critical to the party to prevent instant killings.

#dnd tip: Write up three solid directions your players can choose from at the end of an adventure. Have them ready on game night.

@aquelajames I'm a big fan of monsters sacrificing hit points for bonus damage at those points.

#dnd tip: Keep your terrain effects simple. It's hard enough remembering what your monsters are supposed to do.

#dnd tip: Mix wide open encounter areas with smaller complicated claustrophobic areas.

Updated the formatting of the DM Cheat Sheet to fit it better on letter-sized paper: http://t.co/1AYjuVT #dnd

#dnd tip: Be careful with brute swarms if your group lacks burst and blast attacks. They can be deadly.

#dnd tip: In your dark sun campaign, use that awesome color map and show them their place in Tyr or Athas at the beginning of your game.

#dnd tip: Go easy on big battles and lots of terrain effects at low levels. Big rooms full of goblins is just fine at level 1.

Cool thought from @Squach. The Despair Deck, when they flip the cards, keeps players from taking extended rests too early.

#dnd tip: Sometimes players just want a room full of orcs. Not every encounter has to be fully developed with environmentals, puzzles, etc.

#dnd tip: Hand select appropriate classes and races for the campaign world you want to run based on the flavor of the campaign.

#dnd tip: Most solo bosses can be reskinned versions of Monster Vault dragons. Only the free action attack gives them away.

#dnd tip: Michael Clayton plot seed: What valuable piece of information do the PCs possess that everyone would kill them to quiet?

I'm having fun in heroic tier Dark Sun but I still look back fondly at level 30: http://t.co/iL7ptYl #dnd

#dnd tip: If you really want to play a monster from the MM1 or MM2, just make sure you increase its damage using the new Damage charts.

Ran a fun Dark Sun game in Kalidmay tonight. Running with 4 players makes things a lot nicer sometimes. #dnd

#dnd tip: Refresh your adventure music playlist every couple of months to keep things fresh. Keep it about 8 hours long for a good mix.

#dnd tip: Find out your players' birthdays so you can run a special adventure tuned around them that week.

@atminn @davethegame and I talk all about running paragon adventures here: http://t.co/xAdACdf

#dnd tip: Mix up outdoor encounters with underground ones. Don't stick them in a dungeon for six months.

#dnd tip: Perhaps its heresy but you might include bronze and iron in the base Dark Sun materials. I can't believe in a stone longsword.

#dnd tip: Did the PCs get routed or forced to run after fighting a foe? Give them a chance for revenge!

#dnd tip: Skill challenges, puzzles, and riddles within an encounter helps keep the attention of your players on the game.

@TheIdDM There are a few things I'd like to see. I'd like to see options for shorter battles, better skill challenges, less complexity.

#dnd SlyFlourish: DM Tip Twitter Archive: April 2011 http://goo.gl/fb/CKCdS

@DaveTheGame story is always secondary to a good encounter design with my group. I can figure out a story easy enough.

Btw, I'm tweeting #dnd ideas while looking at this http://t.co/udmq78H

.@davethegame @chrisssims @SarahDarkmagic it would seem that having a non-kill-all goal for the battle let's you control pacing. #dnd

#dnd tip: Don't forget to try to keep your house rules over on the DM's side of things so you can tweak without changing PC rules.

@AirPower25 extended crits and triggered on crit effects are a big one. Too many interrupts is another. Too many free attacks. Etc.

Looking for inspired Dwarven Forge setups and found this cool looking tower: http://t.co/uTZp9lR #dnd

#dnd tip: Don't house rule every small broken combo. Instead, find the root cause and house rule those.

Excellent level 1 pregen characters available online as part of the Dark Legacy of Evard Encounters season: http://t.co/b9xpiB7

#dnd tip: Don't stack up a lot of denial effects in a single battle like slows, difficult terrain, dazes, or obscurement. It's frustrating.

#dnd tip: Good humanoid miniatures are always useful in your game. Pick them up before they're all gone!

#dnd tip: Take the time to draw a good color map on 1" grid sheets of paper like gaming paper: http://bit.ly/e9QHDZ

#dnd tip: Give a +2 bonus to skill checks and attack rolls for good roleplaying or storytelling. Reinforce good behaviors.

#dnd tip: Go back to the fundamentals. Read "Building Adventures" on page 169 of the Dungeon Master's Book. http://amzn.to/e1XBOK

Broke my own principal not to buy any more tiles and bought these. Will probably sell all the others I have. http://t.co/2eJ074U

#dnd tip: When running a Dark Sun game, begin your night's adventure showing their place on the big poster map.

Listen to me crash this week's DM Round Table: http://t.co/DstgTwz I come in around the 1 hour 33 minute mark eating crumb cake. #dnd

Pretty cool custom dice from a one-man dice business: http://t.co/cy5K38C #dnd

Excellent article by @gamefiend on epic storytelling: http://t.co/hdy3WU9 Loved it even if he didn't link to my book =( #dnd

#dnd tip: Lord Vizier from the Dark Sun Creature Catalog makes for an excellent 26th level Lich.

Enjoyed a great talk with @matt_james_rpg on dealing with power creep in 4e. Mixing it and then sending it to @davethegame for Critical Hits

@SG_Fred DM Round Table, The Tome Show, The Newbie DM Minicast, and the WOTC official podcast are all good.

#dnd tip: Some written flavor text for your nightly adventure intro summary can work nicely for a summary stored in Obsidian Portal.

Sly Flourish pro tip to add to @gregbilsland. Marry an editor! @RosaMoonshadow is the greatest.

Excellent #dnd pro writing tips from @gregbilsland : http://j.mp/m4h72I

#dnd tip: Try telling your players what the DCs are for skill checks and challenges so they're more willing to use untrained skills.

I love that the Dark Sun Belgui is pronounced Bell Guy. Makes it handy to describe them.

#dnd tip from The Tome Show: Running Epic tier in Toril. Have the avatar of the Gods as primary NPCs.

@KevinKulp Check out the duel description in the metallic draconomicoon. A level +4 solo fights until either side is bloodied.

If you enjoyed these tips, take a look at Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips book or Sly Flourish’s Running Epic Tier D&D Games. You can also use these links to purchase the Dungeon Master’s Kit, the Monster Vault, the Heroes of the Fallen Lands or bookmark this link to buy anything from Amazon.

Need some battle maps? Pick up some Gamemastery Flip-Maps from Troll and Toad, an official Sly Flourish sponsor.

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