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DM's Deep Dive with Tom Lommel on Improvisation
by Mike on 10 July 2017
This past month on the DM's Deep Dive Tom Lommel, AKA the Dungeon Bastard, discussed the topic of improvisation and D&D.
In a recent query of both Twitter and Facebook, creativity, flexibility, and improvisation topped out a list of the most valued D&D Dungeon Master traits. As a professional actor with a heavy focus on D&D, I sought out Tom to help us unravel the topic of improvisation, how we do it, and how we can get better at it.
Here's the Youtube video of our conversation:
During this episode we cover many topics including:
- The Dungeon Bastard, his day job, and his approach towards D&D.
- We're always improvising. D&D, at its core, is a game about improv. It's just how much improv.
- Improv isn't just the funny voices.
- Tom's three dirty tricks:
- "No, but" instead of "Yes, and".
- Pick one weird tick or detail for an NPC. Does the NPC always scratch his right eye when he talks? Does he refer to everyone as "ma'am"?
- Prepare for improvisation.
- Plot radars and Schroedinger's clues.
- Tips for improvisation during tense moments.
- Improv difficulty with homebrew versus published adventures.
- Books for good improv: Dungeon World, Fate Core, Fiasco
- What we think about Storm King's Thunder.
Other Related Links:
If you like the show, you can watch other episodes of the Deep Dive on Youtube or subscribe to the DM's Deep Dive podcast.
Related Articles
- Steve Townshend on Dungeons and Dragons Improvisation
- DM's Deep Dive Episode 1: New Dungeon Masters with Enrique Bertran
- Top Tips from a Sample of 4,000 Dungeon Masters
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