becomingDM

After the thirtieth miss rolled by both you and the players you decide to end combat for the night because it just keeps dragging on.  It doesn't have to be this way!  In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle explore strategies to make combat more interesting.  Whether it's adding to your descriptions, thinking tactically about your monsters or joining Danielle in her love of spreadsheets we've got ways to make combat less of a slog and more fun for both you and the players!   Got an idea for a future episode of the show? Let us know! We'd love to hear what you' want to hear about.  Just go to https://becomingDM.com/Ideas to let us know!

Haven't gotten enough evil yet? That's ok, we're not done!  In part 2 of our discussion about running evil campaigns, Daniell and John continue talking about factions in evil games and about how to make sure that things are staying fun.  Join us for the conclusion of our discussion on running evil campaigns! We want to hear from you! If you've got an idea for a future episode, make sure to go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas and let us know today!

Sometimes your players are tired of being the good guys.  Sometimes they just want to create a little mayhem and ignore the plight of the villagers.  Sometimes they event want to BE the plight of the villagers!  In this episode of becomingDM we're going to be talking about Running Evil Campaigns and the things that you might want to consider.  We had a good time talking about this topic, so this is part 1 of a two part episode.  Make sure you come back in two weeks to hear the rest! Got an idea for a future episode? Let us know! Submit your ideas to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to let us know!

Whether it's helping to create a stat block for an NPC you hadn't anticipated being part of your campaign or generating a list of items that the party found in a Goblin's pockest, AI tools allow DMs to add things to their game that would normally require a large amount of effort.  In this episode, John and Danielle talk about AI in general and how Generative AI tools can take some of the DMing burden in your game. If you've got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM, make sure to go to https://becomingDM.com/Ideas and let us know!

There's so much information to share with players about your world, especially with a new campaign.  It may be tempting to just give players a massive document to get them up to speed, but don't do it!  It's just as important how you deliver your exposition as it is what is in it.  In this episode, John and Danielle talk about some of the techniques they have used to make exposition fun in their games.  Join us! Got an idea for a future episode topic?  Make sure to go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas and let us know all about it!

There's a lot of different ways that you can increase and add to immersion in your table.  In past episodes, we have made reference to a table that John built with a TV in the middle.  In this episode, Danielle takes on the MC role and interviews John about questions she's always wanted answered when it comes to building and running games with a digital table.  Don't forget to check out the episode page on our website at https://becomingdm.com/ep71 to see pictures of the finished table as well as some high level guidance on how it all comes together.

Whether it's time, money, food and water, or other resources, running a resource restricted game can add a new dimension at your table.  In addition to making player choices matter, restricting resources can cause combat to be more challenging.  Join John and Danielle to hear about the ways you can add restrictions into your game!  Don't forget about our contest to win a 34.5x48 battle mat.  You can enter to win by submitting your idea for a new episode at https://becomingDM.com/ideas 

When players don't get along, it can make your session take forever to get anywhere.  Whether it's simply buying in that everyone is on the same team or having a decision mechanism when players don't agree on something, encouraging player collaboration is critical.  In this episode, John and Danielle talk about the tips and techniques that they use to get players to work together. Don't forget! We want to hear from you!  If you have an idea for a new episode topic, go to https://becomingDM.com/Ideas and let us know!

Join us for another episode of our occasional series, My Favorite Monster.  In this episode we're talking about good-aligned monsters that you can put against your evil party.  Whether it's the always classic Unicorn or the lesser known Guardian Naga, we've got something that you can challenge your players with.  So join John and Danielle for this latest episode of becomingDM!

As hard as it may be to believe, D&D isn't the only tabletop roleplaying game around.  So it's possible that you'll end up in a place where you want to play something different at your table.  In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle discuss the things to consider when changing game systems.  From the why you're changing to the aspects of the new game you might consider, we're covering it, so please join us!  We'd love to hear what you'd like for us to talk about in a future episode!  Go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to let us know your idea for a new topic!