"My sword detects Orcs nearby!"
Welcome to the third episode of the Dungeon Master Guys podcast! We have a big show this time around, with all kinds of special guests. So listen in to Chatty DM, Newbie DM, and Dave the Game as they fire off some more DM tips to help you improve your games.
In this episode:
- Dave the Game talks to Quinn of At-Will and Danny of Critical-Hits about improvising games
- Chatty DM talks about the “what if” method of campaign design
- Newbie DM talks to Randall Walker of Initiative Or What? about using props to make your game more immersive
- Chatty DM and Newbie DM talk to Chris Sims, freelance game designer and writer for Critical Hits, about using cursed items in your game
- Plus we answer an email and voicemail
Things mentioned in the show:
- Ultimate Toolbox
- Minting the Coin of the Realm at Initiative or What?
- Necklace of Strangulation Cursed Item at At-Will
- Kobold Hall Starter Kit at Newbie DM
Music:
- “What you Want” (ver. 2) by Kevin MacLeod
Sponsored by:
The Dungeon Master Guys, Episode 3 (39 mins, 19 MB)
[Download MP3 | Podcast Feed | iTunes Link]
We are always on the lookout for questions (about being a D&D 4e DM or about GMing in general), comments and suggestions. You can leave them here in the comments, email us, or leave us a message at 305-349-3026, and we’ll be more than happy to feature them in a future show.
Good stuff!
Some interesting ideas. My players never really liked props at the table, excpet I started giving out quest cards, that summed up groups of goals, with clear rewards. They liked that. Whenever they weren’t sure what to do next, they went through the quest cards.
I like props in that they trigger my “That’s neat!” response. But for the most part anything beyond handouts such as messages or puzzles is perceived as clutter. Occasionally I will get an idea that I would like to work in to a campaign but I seldom follow through.
One notion I came very close to using was when the party found a particular object, handing them an Alexander’s Star puzzle. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is in the shape of a great dodecahedron; imagine something like a twelve sided die but instead of pentagons it has pentragrams (a Google search will turn up images), and if anyone turned one of the sides I would inform the party that they had just broken five pentagrams imprisoning demons. Hilarity would ensue, including the possibility that one of the demons would try to jumble up the puzzle reduce the chance of it ever being trapped in the thing again… and incidentally free the other seven demons.