Dear Readers, welcome to a guide designed to enhance one of the most crucial aspects of any Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign: player engagement. Keeping players invested in the story not only ensures that everyone has a great time but also enriches the narrative, creating a memorable and immersive experience. In this post, we’ll delveContinue reading “Captivate Your Players: Complete Guide to D&D Player Engagement”
Tag Archives: how-to
Creating Dynamic NPCs: How to Develop Memorable Non-Player Characters for Your Campaign
Dear Reader, welcome to a journey into the heart of what makes Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaigns truly unforgettable: the creation of dynamic and memorable non-player characters (NPCs). Whether you’re a seasoned Dungeon Master (DM) or a newcomer looking to enhance your storytelling prowess, developing NPCs that resonate with your players can elevate your gameContinue reading “Creating Dynamic NPCs: How to Develop Memorable Non-Player Characters for Your Campaign”
How-To DM: From One-shot to Epic – Tips for Crafting and Running Short Adventures
Dear Readers, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a game of limitless possibilities, where epic sagas and legendary campaigns unfold across vast landscapes. However, not every adventure needs to span multiple sessions. One-shot adventures, designed to be completed in a single gaming session, offer a unique and focused experience for both Dungeon Masters (DMs) and players.Continue reading “How-To DM: From One-shot to Epic – Tips for Crafting and Running Short Adventures”
How-To DM: Running an Epic Boss (BBEG) Fight
Dear Readers, I’m going to try a different format for this post to see how I feel about it. If you love it or hate it, let me know in the comments section below! Introduction One of the most exhilarating aspects of D&D is facing formidable foes in epic boss battles. These climactic encounters canContinue reading “How-To DM: Running an Epic Boss (BBEG) Fight”
How-to: Mastering the Art of Scheduling D&D Games – A Guide for Dungeon Masters and Players
Scheduling Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) games can often feel like herding cats, with conflicting schedules, real-life responsibilities, and various commitments of the players involved. However, with effective planning and communication, you can create a seamless gaming schedule that accommodates everyone’s needs and ensures an immersive and enjoyable D&D experience. In this post, we’ll explore someContinue reading “How-to: Mastering the Art of Scheduling D&D Games – A Guide for Dungeon Masters and Players”
How-To Run a Successful One-Shot Adventure
One of the most fun and engaging ways to play D&D is through a one-shot adventure. A one-shot adventure is a self-contained story that typically lasts for one session, usually around three to six hours. It’s a great way to introduce new players to the game, and it’s also perfect for more experienced players whoContinue reading “How-To Run a Successful One-Shot Adventure”
How-To DM: Balancing Encounters
As a Dungeon Master, one of the key responsibilities is to create encounters that are challenging and engaging for the players. Encounters can be anything from combat to puzzles, and they serve as a way to move the story forward and keep players invested in the game. However, creating encounters that are both balanced andContinue reading “How-To DM: Balancing Encounters”
Painting Update: Elven Bladesinger and New Etsy Purchase
Deer eaters, just a short Sunday post about what I’ve got going on. Let’s start with the Etsy Purchase. A freaking castle: It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It actually comes apart in layers for the players to adventure inside. I bought it from Centrion3D. I love their stuff, even if it is a little pricey. IContinue reading “Painting Update: Elven Bladesinger and New Etsy Purchase”
How-To DM: Character Backgrounds in Campaigns
Dear Readers, this is going to be an interesting post… Be forewarned. Let’s say you build yourself a marvelous campaign. You have a wonderful campaign world in which you have woven an epic tale of triumphs and failures. You have yourself a wonderful world waiting to be explored and a story just waiting to beContinue reading “How-To DM: Character Backgrounds in Campaigns”
Miniature Painting Spotlight: Pre-primed Hobgoblins…Sort Of
Readers, today we’re going to look at painting a couple of hobgoblins I’m going to be needing tomorrow for the Inglorious Ingrates. I’m going to provide a step-by-step process on how I’m going to go about painting these miniatures. As we are going to be dealing with miniatures that are already prime, we are goingContinue reading “Miniature Painting Spotlight: Pre-primed Hobgoblins…Sort Of”
Not a Player’s Perspective – How-To DM: When Things Go Awry
Our normal contributor for today is bogged down with work and exams from his master’s degree. Which is fine and totally understandable. This leaves me the ability to do another article today on something been thinking about. What do you do when your campaign gets derailed? We’ve all been there. You know what I’m talkingContinue reading “Not a Player’s Perspective – How-To DM: When Things Go Awry”
VERY Brief Painting Update: Goliath Barbarian
Hello, Dear Readers! It’s been one heck of a week, and it’s looking at being busier as my birthday is coming up this Friday (yay me!). Unfortunately, that means I didn’t get a lot of painting done this week (although I plan on having it for next Tuesday!). Here is the update on the Barbarian:Continue reading “VERY Brief Painting Update: Goliath Barbarian”
Staff Update: New Contributor!
Hello again, Dear Readers! I have awesome and wonderful news. As of this week, we have yet another contributor joining our staff, Riley! They have several articles out on the horizon and we are looking forward to see their content. Please welcome Riley to our awesome writing team. Additionally, as it [my Clan Invasion Kickstarter!]Continue reading “Staff Update: New Contributor!”
Painting Update: Short One, Because It’s Humid!
As many of you know, when you paint miniatures, it is necessary to have a nice try environment so that the miniatures will dry out and you can move on to the next layer. The problem here is that it is so hot and humid outside that the AC can’t keep up with my sunroomContinue reading “Painting Update: Short One, Because It’s Humid!”
Painting Update: Goliath Barbarian and Planetar
First off, I’m really excited about these two projects. In particular, I’m really excited about the planetar. I think he, in particular, is going to turn out particularly well. Not to say I’m not going to put forth my best effort on the goliath, but the planetar is looking good to me. First off, theContinue reading “Painting Update: Goliath Barbarian and Planetar”
How-To Play: Player Responsibilities
I’ve done a lot of articles on DMing, of course, and as I know that I have a lot of players that are Readers as well. As such, I’ve thought about this post for some time, and wanted to right it to address some things that many DMs have said that they wish their playersContinue reading “How-To Play: Player Responsibilities”
How-To DM: Strongholds & Businesses
One of the cool things about tabletop games, especially with D&D, is the idea that, during the course of adventures, the party can acquire (and sometimes “acquire” if you catch my meaning…) various things that aren’t traditionally considered treasure. What am I talking about? I’m talking about businesses and strongholds. Maybe the king granted theContinue reading “How-To DM: Strongholds & Businesses”
How-To DM: Converting Old Modules/Adventures
If there’s an activity that I enjoy as much as I enjoy miniature painting, it is the act of converting old modules. As I have detailed before, there’s an old adventure in Dungeon magazine issue 53, called “Clarshh’s Sepulchre” that is easily one of my most enjoyable modules to run. The best part of thisContinue reading “How-To DM: Converting Old Modules/Adventures”
How-To DM: Absent Players
We’ve all been there: you either have a regular session every week, or every two weeks, or even monthly. It’s scheduled out. But come the day of or the day before, and they cancel on you. Or, they just tell you they’re going to be gone that day and they can’t make that session. WhatContinue reading “How-To DM: Absent Players”
How-To Play: Types of Games
Dear readers, as you can see, I’m starting a new series called “How to Play.” I hope you enjoy it! Last week as well as last night I had the privilege of running a game for my daughter and several of her friends, all of whom are ladies whose ages range in age from 18Continue reading “How-To Play: Types of Games”
Miniature Restoration Project: Mistletoe
And some of you may remember, one of my favorite projects that I do that are miniature related is to restore my parents’ old pewter miniatures. Today, we have with us an old, what I believe, is a ranger. He might be something else, but I doubt it. In any case, his name is Mistletoe.Continue reading “Miniature Restoration Project: Mistletoe”
Painting Update: Paladin
So apparently my post from three days ago didn’t upload, so I find myself this morning editing my post. Lovely. In any case, here is what was posted originally, and you’ll get a bonus post in a few minutes… Good afternoon, Dear Readers, and welcome to another painting update! I finally remembered to grab theContinue reading “Painting Update: Paladin”
Painting Update: Rogue For My Wednesday Evening Young Peoples’ Group
You may remember that I had posted about an aasimar paladin that I had been working on for a player in this group. I had also posted before that about the other miniature I had planned on working on for the same group (at the end of the post). Long story short: the paladin isContinue reading “Painting Update: Rogue For My Wednesday Evening Young Peoples’ Group”
Ho-To DM: DMing Young People
Sorry for the late post…it’s been a busy day. I had a number of doctor’s appointments today, so please forgive me. Tonight, Dear Readers, was an awesome game. I’m not going to do a summary, although it would be great, but I will let you know that I am running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. But thisContinue reading “Ho-To DM: DMing Young People”
I’m Stuck…
Note: if you are one of my Tuesday campaign players, do not read this until after 11 pm tonight. Spoilers. Dear Readers, I find myself in quite the quandary. You see, I’m stuck. I have about a half dozen projects I’m working on and I’m stuck between them. I have to finish doing prep forContinue reading “I’m Stuck…”
How to DM: DMing Kids
As many of you may have read, I have an affinity for kids. I, myself, have a number of them. I love kids. When I began Adventures League where I used to live, it was really just to get my kids out of the house to give my wife a break (we didn’t have anyContinue reading “How to DM: DMing Kids”
How-To DM: Improvisation
Dear Readers, as you may have seen, my Tuesday group has begun a new campaign, calling themselves the Inglorious Ingrates. You may have seen our Wednesday staff writer, Brandon, who does our “Player’s Perspective” post, writing about their new exploits. If you did not know, by the way, we are starting that group as aContinue reading “How-To DM: Improvisation”
How-To DM: Game Extras
Pretty much everyone knows the basics of playing D&D. You need your books, dice, character sheets, an adventure/module to run, players and a DM. That’s the basics of what one needs to be able to play. But that’s just the basics. What else can enhance your game above and beyond the basics? Electronic Campaign TrackingContinue reading “How-To DM: Game Extras”
HOW-TO DM: GET YOUR HOBOS OFF THOSE RAILS
Hello everyone! In this week’s installment of How To DM, I’d like to talk about railroading. I’m sure everyone understands the term, but – just in case – let’s define the term. Railroading is a form of adventure design that essentially eliminates, or seriously limits, player choice. In reality, what we’re doing when we railroadContinue reading “HOW-TO DM: GET YOUR HOBOS OFF THOSE RAILS”
The Joys of Campaign Writing
I want to tell you all a story about how I got all mixed up giving character creation details to the wrong party. It happens to the best of us: you’re running multiple campaigns a week or month, and one for both of them is beginning brand new. In my case, it was both ofContinue reading “The Joys of Campaign Writing”
Xanathar & How-To DM: Character Creation Guidelines
First and foremost, before I get into anything else, or do anything else, here he is, in all of his hateful and dreadful glory, The Xanathar: Isn’t he just the cutest?! Just…that way he looks like he’s going to either not kill you outright or disintegrate you? And even from the rear, you just KNOWContinue reading “Xanathar & How-To DM: Character Creation Guidelines”
Let’s Do Some World Building: More on the Village of Borest
Last time, we took a look at the concept of world building and applied it to a small town of Borest, specifically the inn. We fleshed out a few NPCs. Now, let’s flesh out some more. Last time, I said I’d flesh out the town mayor/selectman/elder. The reason I left him off the list isContinue reading “Let’s Do Some World Building: More on the Village of Borest”
How to DM: Forming a New Group
Today’s installment is on forming a new group; what to look for and what to avoid. I hope this helps you in forming your own future groups! Determine the Sort of Game You Are Playing This is the first and most important step in finding a new group. What kind of game are you planningContinue reading “How to DM: Forming a New Group”
How-To DM: Using a Random Encounter Table
So, you have a great campaign, maybe one you wrote, maybe a prewritten one. Who knows. And you have a random encounter table. The question usually comes up: what do you do with it and when do you use it… Here are some ideas: The Players Derail the Campaign So the players have gone totallyContinue reading “How-To DM: Using a Random Encounter Table”
Miniature Painting Spotlight: Miniature Restoration – Pegasus
Hello, Dear Readers! I hope your week is going well. I’ve been doing okay, truth be told, and working on a lot of self-care. In fact, today’s post is about a miniature that is dear to me. It’s my dad’s old mini for one of his favorite characters: the bard Pegasus. Pegasus was an oldContinue reading “Miniature Painting Spotlight: Miniature Restoration – Pegasus”
Not All Puzzles Require Solving
Even though I was unable to play my normal Sunday Adventurers League game (I had to travel again yesterday), I was able to play my Sunday evening Discord game. I’ve talked about this group before (how the wood elf Elren befriended the tarantula named Benjamin), and it’s a good group. Currently, it’s made of ElrenContinue reading “Not All Puzzles Require Solving”
Let’s Do Some World Building
Dear Readers, I apologize for a lack of post this last Friday. Both yourdorkmaterials and I were swamped. Thanks for your understanding! So we’ve talked a lot about building adventures, and encounters, and campaigns, etc…But what if we want to build a world? Well, that’s what we are going to look at doing today, andContinue reading “Let’s Do Some World Building”
Premium Content: Painting the Marilith
Miniature Painting Spotlight
So I promised an update on the painting of the female elven ranger miniature that one of our Dear Readers had won in our first giveaway, and here is where she was last… Well, she advanced some… She was coming along quite well… And then I did some more work, getting the base paint onContinue reading “Miniature Painting Spotlight”
Premium Subscriber Post: When Awesome Campaigns Fizzle Out
Until next time… P.S. – I hope you are enjoying the premium content! If there are any topics or subjects you would like me to address, feel free to let me know in the comment section below!
Painting Miniatures: Space Marine
Dear readers, today’s painting installment will be a step-by-step on how I go about painting a Warhammer 40K space marine. These are, in particular, primaris space Marines. Unfortunately, I will not be able to show you what they look like prior to priming, as I have already primed them. But I will go over howContinue reading “Painting Miniatures: Space Marine”
Of Miniatures and Subscriptions
Dear Readers, As you could tell recently, I had offered premium subscription services. The problem? WordPress.com can be…finicky sometimes. So although you can still support The Blog, you will be getting the premium content via email until I can get things figured out. This is JUST subscriptions via thedailydungeonmaster.com. I have the subscription on hereContinue reading “Of Miniatures and Subscriptions”
How-To DM: Rainy Days and…What Day is It? Thursday, You Say? Well, Yeah, Those Can Get You Down, Too…
Not sure what the weather is like where all of you are, but today is rainy and dreary. In a word: sucky. At least for me. That said, when you are having such a day, and you have no games to prep for, what do you do with that extra time when you are inContinue reading “How-To DM: Rainy Days and…What Day is It? Thursday, You Say? Well, Yeah, Those Can Get You Down, Too…”
How-To DM: Where to Find Inspiration
Dear Readers, this is going to be a short post. I had a back procedure today and am in quite a bit of pain. I’m stuck on bed rest for the next 24 hours, so I have the extra time today… Inspiration can come from many and varied forms. Here’s some places I’ve found: 1)Continue reading “How-To DM: Where to Find Inspiration”
How To Add DnD To Your Resume
Dear Readers,This particular treatise was written by one of my teen players. They wish to remain anonymous, so there is no name associated with it. That said, this is the product of another person, and if you cite it or use it, please credit The Daily Dungeon Master Blog.Lastly, I included some D&D memes forContinue reading “How To Add DnD To Your Resume”
Future Plans For The Blog
Hello, Dear Readers! Tonight I wanted to share some future plans that I have for The Blog, some of which I discussed in brief yesterday. ARRYN The first is a partnership with the Arryn Gaming Community on Discord (known as just Arryn by the server members). Arryn is a gaming community dedicated to RPGs, withContinue reading “Future Plans For The Blog”
Mini Painting Update!
So I told you I would keep you updated on my miniature painting! Boy, oh boy have I been busy! First off, you remember Xanathar? Well, here he is now: Of course, there’s still more work to do. I still have to shore up around each eye stalk’s eyelid thing, as well as each eyeballContinue reading “Mini Painting Update!”
Miniature Painting Christmas Miracle
So I wanted to tell you all a quick story. I wanted to surprise my wife this Christmas with something I thought she’d appreciate and wouldn’t think that I’d be able to get for her. You see, she’s been on a HeroForge kick of late. She’s been designing characters left and right. She’s even hadContinue reading “Miniature Painting Christmas Miracle”
Painting Update: Manshoon and the Drider
So I finally did it! I finished Manshoon! He turned out wonderfully. The only thing I have not done is any kind of shading. I’m still trying to get that friend of mine to help me learn that shading technique that he uses. Thus, he’s not fully finished. In other news, I have started workContinue reading “Painting Update: Manshoon and the Drider”
How-To Paint Minis: Painting Minsc
Hello, Dear Readers! I only have a short post as my recent MS relapse has had me in near constant doctors appointments! That said, I have something to show you: Isn’t he wonderful? I finished painting his base, did some touch-up work, and shaded him. There is a shading technique that I want to tryContinue reading “How-To Paint Minis: Painting Minsc”
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