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Jay R
2021-05-19, 09:52 PM
This is not the first time I've posed my rules for DMs. But they have changed (somewhat). I am continually trying to improve them.

Feel free to suggest improvements. These are better now because of ideas suggested when I posted them before.

A few comments: I am trying for a breezy, interesting, sometimes humorous tone. I probably won't use an improved phrasing that makes it more precise, but less interesting or humorous. These are no use to me unless I'm willing to re-read them fairly often.

Also, we may disagree on how to run games. There is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I won't accept your suggestion because we don't agree on how to run games, and there's nothing wrong with that. You do you, and I will do me. These rules are intended to help e run the best game I can run, of the sort of game I want to run. We may get into discussions about how to run games, and I have no problem with you running the kind of games you believe in. But will continue to to run the kind of games I believe in.

So here they are:

Rules for DMs
By Jay R

1. Don’t make it flammable if you don’t want it burnt.

2. The DM cannot make the PCs more complex than the players do. No matter what the character sheet says, there are usually only three PC alignments – Lawful Snotty, Neutral Greedy, and Chaotic Backstabbing.

3. What the players want today is a quick, easy victory. But what they will want tomorrow is to have brilliantly and valiantly turned the tables to barely survive a deadly encounter where it looked like they were all about to die.

4. It is not the DM's job to oppose or obstruct the players. It is the DM's job to provide opposition and obstructions to the PCs. (Max Killjoy)

5. It's your job to build the problem. It's their job to find a solution. If you create a death trap with only one solution, then then they cannot get out unless they figure out what your solution is. But if you build death trap with no intended solutions, then any clever plan they come up with might work.

a. Do not confuse a death trap with no solutions with a death trap that cannot be solved. No resemblance.
b. The purpose of a death trap is not death; it is to make the players feel clever. Don't build one to cause death, and more importantly, don't build one to make them feel stupid. (TB)
c. An escape proof trap, is, by definition, escape proof. What you want is a fool proof trap, and allow your players to amaze you with the quality of fools being made today. (DH)

6. Never let a player roll a die unless it is reasonable to roll a 20, and reasonable to roll a 1.

a. If there's no way to fail, don't roll. If there's no way to succeed, don't roll.
b. If it doesn’t matter, then don’t roll dice; summarize.

7. At the start of the game, you should have in mind several ways for the PCs to fail. By contrast, it is not your job to find a way for them to succeed.

a. It is, however, your job to make it possible for them to succeed.

8. Reward good tactics, consistent characterization, and brilliant ideas more than lucky die rolls.

9. A role-playing game is run by rules. But it isn't made out of rules; it's made out of ideas, characters, and imagination.

10. The more completely you know the rules, the better you can be at ignoring them when necessary.

a. "When necessary" means it should be rare, forced by an unusual situation, and non-intrusive. [And some people believe it should not happen even then.]
b. Applying the rules is like eating food. That should always happen. Ignoring the rules is like taking medicine; it's only a good idea if something is wrong.
c. Never change a rule unless you know why it was written.

11. When you change rules, you don’t necessarily have to tell the players if it is something that their characters wouldn’t know. But you should tell them not to assume all D&D rules apply.

a. If you changed dragons because most people in that world don’t know details about dragons, you don’t have to tell them those details. But you should tell them that dragons aren’t color-coded for the benefit of the PCs.
b. Not knowing about the monster is a challenging adventure of discovery. Knowing things that are false is just a failure mode. No resemblance.

12. Never base a campaign on something you are a lot more excited about than your players are. You may have a great idea for a story based around Andalusian left-handed barbed-wire weaving, but by definition, your players are less interested in it, and less knowledgeable about it, and won't get your clues or references. And they won't care.

a. You can have a story with Andalusian left-handed barbed-wire weaving because it led to a great story, and in that case your expert knowledge will improve the game. But base it on the great story idea, not on Andalusian left-handed barbed-wire weaving.
b. A story based on Andalusian left-handed barbed-wire weaving can work only to the extent that you get the players excited about Andalusian left-handed barbed-wire weaving.

13. Don’t hinge your adventure on the players figuring out a specific clue. Just because it seems obvious to you doesn't mean that it will seem obvious to your players. Have multiple clues, and/or multiple entries.

a. For every hint you drop, they will “find” another dozen hints. And the false hints will often overwhelm the true ones.
b. Know what you will do if they never figure out the clue.

14. Failing to solve a puzzle can cost them hit points, time, resources, curses, some treasure, or surprise attacks, but it should never cost them the adventure.

a. Some nice treasure can be behind the secret door, but the quest object cannot. [Unless there's another way to find it.]

15. If you aren’t willing for the players to have it, don’t put it in the game. Remember that if the NPC uses an item on the PCs, there are only two possible outcomes:

a. They party will all die, or
b. The party will wind up with the item.
c. Yes, it’s possible for the NPC to use up the last charges on the item. But if you do that, the players will feel cheated. If it’s that powerful, leave them two charges. That way they can use it, but it won’t warp the game.

16. The players do not have the right to screw up the game. They do have the right to screw up your plot. Don’t confuse the two.

a. Do not give them a set of options that includes screwing up the game.
b. “Screwing up the game” includes genre-busting. Medieval fantasies don’t have railroads, factories, or atomic power; the players have no right to introduce them (unless genre-busting is a focus for that game).

17. The dice do not have the right to screw up the game. They do have the right to screw up your plot. Don’t confuse the two.

a. Do not roll a die if the result could screw up the game.
b. I don’t care how wonderful that well-designed NPC is. He or she is not necessary for the story to continue. If the PCs kill him, let him die.

18. The DM does not have the right to screw up the PC's story. He does have the right to screw up the PCs' plans. Don’t confuse the two.

a. The player does have the right to screw up the PC's story -- even by accident. If a 2nd level PC chooses to attack a dragon, then the PC's death is his doing, not the DM's.
b. Some players believe that they have the right to screw up another PC’s story. This can lead to serious problems. There is no quick, glib answer.

19. There are players who see the world as a series of activities they can safely and straightforwardly defeat, and there are players who see the world as a dangerous world with life-threatening risks behind every bush. You cannot run the same game for both sets.

a. This means that you might not be able to let all players into your game.
b. Neither is inherently bad, but know which kind of players you have.
c. If the term "CR" is a common part of the players' conversation, assume that you have the first group, and plan accordingly. Never count on them deciding to run away from a deadly encounter.

20. When the players ask for something - an item, a skill, a feat, whatever - they are not planning to use it for what it is intended for, they're planning the weirdest thing it could possibly be used for.

a. This does [I]not apply if it’s something you require them to ask for.

21. PCs should not roll for common or obvious knowledge. If the world has three moons, then they don't have to roll to remember it. They've lived under that sky all their life; they don't even have the idea of a world with only one moon.

22. A backstory is like a sword. Some characters are incomplete without one, and others wouldn't use one even if they had it.

a. If a player has a backstory, use it. It’s a great start to adding a new dimension or idea to the game. But use it her way, to develop the character the way she wants it to go.
b. Use of the backstory in the adventure should always feel like the DM’s creation has been modified to fit the player’s creation, not vice versa.

23. A player who wants to coordinate with you about her backstory during character creation is a pearl beyond price. Do everything you can to support her.

a. Supporting her can mean changing your world to include her ideas, and building new cultures that include the background she wants. You can veto certain aspects occasionally, but always try to find an alternative that gives her what she wanted.

24. A player's backstory isn't your toy to destroy if you want; it's part of their toy. You can threaten their friends, family, or homes, but by the end of the adventure, the players should not feel abused. Use their family as hostages, but expect them to be rescued, and to come home with more than they started with. If you burn down their cottage, they should wind up with a castle. The players should be glad that the adventure happened.

a. If your scenario made them sorry that they had a backstory or if your players are avoiding having backstories for defensive tactical reasons, then you are abusing the backstory.

25. In every session, each PC should have at least one crucial moment when they are the essential character.

a. Identify the loudest player and the pushiest player. You will never need to set up their moments; they will do so.
b. Identify the quietest player and the least active player. You will need to set up their moments every session, and make it impossible for the first two to take these moments over.

26. A game is a co-operative venture. You don't have the right to force players into your game against their will, and for the same reasons, players don't have the right to force themselves into your game against your will.

a. Not all games are alike, and that's fine. Not all players want the same things out of a game, and that's fine.
b. Avoid having players who won't like the kind of game you're running. And then run a game your players will enjoy.
c. Let the players know what kind of game you’re running before they decide to join in and create characters.

27. When a PC gets a great new ability, there needs to be an encounter in the next session for which that ability is devastatingly effective. Otherwise it doesn’t exist. There should also be an encounter in the next session in which it is useless. Otherwise, the rest of that character doesn’t exist.

28. The purpose of wandering monsters is to prevent the game from bogging down. If the players spend over five real minutes in useless discussion, then it's ghoul o'clock.

a. Be careful with this. Not all discussion is useless.
b. There should be encounters that have nothing to do with the main quest, or there is no world – just a party and a quest.

29. When the party’s victory is assured, the encounter has lost all suspense. Mop-up combat is boring, so end it.

a. Remember, the NPCs don’t want to die; they would usually rather flee, negotiate, or surrender.
b. One round earlier, when you know the PCs have won and they don’t yet, is a great time for the NPCs to offer to negotiate.
c. This is your opportunity to force-feed them that obvious fact they’ve been missing, and let them believe they earned it.

30. When you design a scenario, you should be firmly on the players' side, trying to produce encounters in which they have every legitimate chance to succeed (and in which poor play and bad decisions can still let them fail). But when running the scenario, you need to be a fair and neutral judge of the PCs' actions.

a. You are also a judge of the scenario, constantly deciding if its unfair (in either direction). Change it instantly if it’s significantly more dangerous than you planned. That is not the same as changing it because the PCs are failing.

31. If the result isn’t random, then don’t roll dice; summarize. Rolling dice for mop-up combat is as pointless as rolling dice for tying your shoes.

a. Rolling dice for the impossible assumes that there’s at least a 5% chance that you can jump to the moon. Rolling dice for the trivial assumes that there’s at least a 5% chance that you can’t open your closet door.

32. As far as possible, interact with the characters as characters, and the players as players.

a. The player is asking about the rules. The character is asking about the orcs. Don’t confuse the two.
b. A question about the rules should be answered fully. A question about any aspect of the world that is not directly in front of them or included in their backstory should usually be answered with, “How is your character trying to find out?”
c. If what they’re asking about is common knowledge, then answer the question simply and directly.

33. Don't plan how to answer a player's question until you know what the question is. And don't approach all players the same.

a. The player who routinely asks for nonsense should most often get a "No". The player whose requests are pretty basic and reasonable should most often get a "Yes". The player who asks for something cool and cinematic but unlikely requires a careful judgment call. She should sometimes get it – but rarely enough that it creates a climactic moment, not an average move.
b. Some players ask questions to find out what the limits are. If you try to say “Yes” all the time, you are changing the limits. You help that player the most by giving the direct, simple answer.
c. Think about a movie where you've seen something like this happen. Did the hero do it often? Probably the player should be allowed to do it often. Did the hero do it once, as a desperate move, at the big finish? Then save it for the big finish.

34. The player identifies with the PC, and will take what happens to the PC personally. If the PC wants to defeat the orcs, then the player wants to defeat the orcs. The DM does not have that luxury. The orcs want to kill the PCs, but the DM should not.

a. Follow Matt Dillon’s principle: “I never hang anybody. The law does.” The DM should never kill a PC. Sometimes the game might.

35. When the players come up with something you never considered, stop and think. This is the source of your absolute best, most perfect moments. It’s also where all scenario-destroying mistakes come from. Ask yourself which it is before you react.

a. “Scenario-ending" and "scenario-destroying" are not (necessarily) synonyms. You may have planned a major battle in front of the Black Gate. But a PC ending the quest by throwing the Ring into the Cracks of Doom could still be a satisfying, if abrupt, ending.

36. You are here to give the players a challenge. But the challenge should be within the game (dragons, traps, puzzles), not playing the game (mapping, tracking equipment).

a. Having said that, they are in still charge of their character sheets and their equipment.

37. The players are sitting around a table, listening to a description. The characters are living through the situation. These are not the same thing. Remind them of things that their characters would not have forgotten, but not things that characters will forget.

a. The PCs can’t forget that they picked up a magic glaive, so if they start looking around for a long weapon, remind them that they have it. And they won’t forget the face of the sorceress who destroyed their village. But if they forgot that the blacksmith said he heard about ogres in the hills, then the PCs weren’t paying attention.
b. Your description needs to communicate what the PCs can see. If it didn’t, then fix it. "Eric, a gazebo is not a monster; it's just a roofed structure with an open view. Your character is looking at a wooden building."
c. This can require some careful judgment calls.

38. The “Rule of Cool” must always be subordinate to the “Rule of Don’t Be Ridiculous.”

a. Support player ideas that are cool, creative, imaginative, and reasonable. That does not mean supporting ideas that are cool, creative, imaginative, and unreasonable.
b. If the idea is one you can see Aragorn, Conan, Captain America, or James Bond trying, then allow it – for the right character. [\Don’t let the Conan-clone play the James Bond stunt.]

39. You will make mistakes – lots of them. A crucial skill to be a good DM is the ability to fix mistakes as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

a. This will sometimes involve admitting them. It will also sometimes involve keeping the players from ever seeing them.
b. In either case, the point is to make the game go forward. You are repairing your game, not your ego.


Edit: The following rules have been added based on the discussion below.

40. Listen to the players’ complaints, even if you know they aren’t valid. [“You don’t give any treasure” when you know that they chose not to open two treasure vaults.] They may be wrong about why it happened, but their annoyance at what happened is still real.

a. It’s not their fault that they are wrong about facts that they aren’t supposed to know. [It’s not your fault, either. It’s just the truth.]
b. Fix what you reasonably can – independent of why it happened.
c. Some problems can’t be fixed. But nothing goes in that category until after you try.

41. No matter what the game rules, say, no matter what these rules say, don’t do nothin’ stupid (JR2)

a. Apply any rule so that what you are doing fits the situation.

Telonius
2021-05-19, 10:37 PM
Rule 2: I'd add "Chaotic Horny."

Pex
2021-05-19, 11:49 PM
40. When a player tells you he's not enjoying the game, listen and find out why. Try to fix it. Maybe you can do something different. Maybe the player needs to do something different. Maybe another player needs to do something different. It is an unfortunate sadness once in awhile the problem cannot be fixed and the player leaves the game, but do not dismiss the player as a whiny baby upon first complaint.

Lacco
2021-05-20, 02:30 AM
It is almost guaranteed that players will react to NPC in the opposite way you expect. If you spent a week thinking about this likeable guy, they will try to avoid/maim/kill the traitor. If you whipped up a random weirdo that you think will bore them to death just to make them move on, they will love the guy and will want to spend time with them or even make them join their party.

Movement is your friend. Standing up and moving around the room changes the energy from quiet to chaotic - so if the game allows it, stand up once in a while and work the room.

Have a player that loves puzzles in a party that hates them? Combat can be a puzzle. A dungeon may be a puzzle. A character may be a puzzle. Lore may be a puzzle. You don't have to place actual puzzles into the game to bog it down: make the game itself an optional puzzle.

Democratus
2021-05-20, 08:44 AM
41. Invoke all the senses, it helps immensely with immersion.

a. Think about what the place smells like (damp and musty, dry and dusty, faint ammonia smell on the breeze, etc.) what the players are hearing (the distant drip of water, the silence of a tomb, the gentle creaking of a ship). Does the stone they are leaning against feel cold and wet? Is the lever they found in the wall strangely sticky?

b. Use these descriptions to provide the players with consistent clues. There's nothing more satisfying than a player saying "Wait...last time we smelled ammonia there was a xilthor beast near!"

RedMage125
2021-05-21, 11:14 AM
#42 (I guess, but I think this should rank higher on the rules list):
House rules are okay. But any changes to the mechanics of the game should be made apparent to your players at the outset. Example: If you implement some kind of "critical failure" rules. All your players need to know this.

#43 (corrolary to above rule):
If your homebrew setting has specific niches for certain game elements, don't bore your players by making them all listen to all of them, only bring them up when/for whom they are relevant. Example: Your players don't need to know the specifics of each deity's dogma. But if you have a PC Cleric who wants to go with the Life domain, give that player a run-down of those deities who grant that domain and what their clergy are like.

Cicciograna
2021-05-21, 02:12 PM
This is very well written and very well thought. I would just make a note about the "mopping up": sometimes it's enjoyable, especially after a long and difficult combat, it gives the PC a sense of power and can be satisfactory even if the fight is essentially over. Maybe not against the minions of the uber-wizard that threatened the land, but against the wizard himself when it's clear that it's tapped out but unwilling to surrender.

Jay R
2021-05-21, 05:44 PM
Telonius: Yes, you’re right. I could get a little more detailed and a little more accurate, but that wouldn’t improve either the joke or the advice. The essential point is this: The DM cannot make the PCs more complex than the players do. The examples are merely examples (and flavor).

Pex. Good point. I’ve rephrased it to be in the same voice as the rest, and to emphasize the kinds of mistakes I’m likelier to make:

40. Consider the players’ complaints, even if you know they aren’t valid. [“You don’t give any treasure” when you know that they forgot to open two treasure vaults.] They may be wrong about why it happened, but their annoyance at what happened is still real.
a. It’s not their fault that they are wrong about facts that they aren’t supposed to know. [It’s not your fault, either. It’s just the truth.]
b. Fix what you reasonably can – independent of why it happened.
c. Some problems can’t be fixed. But nothing goes in that category until after you try.

I’ve dealt with the issues that some players can't play in some games in rules #19 and #26. I didn’t include it here because I don’t want to accidentally over-emphasize it.

Iaccocco: Your first paragraph doesn’t seem to have anything to do with how to correct or prevent DM mistakes.

Your second paragraph isn’t communicating. How does this improve the game? You assert that it does, but I don’t see how. I’m a long-time statistics and algebra instructor, and I know how and when to walk around the classroom. But I have no idea how this is supposed to make a difference in a game. [It also doesn't apply to online games, which have gotten more common lately.]

The third paragraph seems to have a point, but I don’t know what it is. Could you give an example of the kind of puzzle you mean? Are you expanding the definition of puzzle, or do you have a clear idea of something they can do during combat or otherwise that replaces the intellectual exercise of a puzzle? Combat certainly involves making decisions, and sometimes figuring out what will defeat this monster can be puzzling, but in rpgs, puzzles are a change of pace – an intellectual exercise that is different from combat.

I’m not saying I disagree with you – merely that I don’t know what you mean. Please give a clear example.

[I suspect that I agree and always do this, so I don't see it as a rule to add. I ran a long quest that involved putting together many clues to determine what the artifacts they carried really are. And I like introducing monsters they don't know, so that they could try to work out what their weaknesses are. But I don't consider those puzzles, and they certainly don't replace the very different game element of decoding, or solving a riddle, or other traditional puzzles.]

Democratus. This is certainly a good idea, but there are ten thousand good ideas for being a DM. I’m considering whether or not to include it, and whether this specific idea needs to be generalized.

RedMage125: This seems to be pretty much the point of #11. [So, yes, it’s much higher on the list.] By the way, the order of the rules is not based on importance. Mostly it’s the order I thought of them, with some of them moved around to make the sequence flow better.

Cicciograna: Thank you. I agree that the rule of mop-up combat needs to be applied with good judgment, based on the specific situation. But that’s equally true of most rules.

So I have added the following:

41. No matter what the game rules, say, no matter what these rules say, don’t do nothin’ stupid (JR2)
a. Apply any rule so that what you are doing fits the situation.

It’s currently labeled #41, but my tentative plan is for it to always be the final rule on the list.

The man clause will not be modified. It’s something my father used to say fairly often. I’m not satisfied with how subclause a. is currently phrased, or even if it’s needed.

Whether I use your idea or not, your comments are helping me re-think my rules. Thank you for them, and keep them coming.

Herbert_W
2021-05-22, 02:09 PM
19. There are players who see the world as a series of activities they can safely and straightforwardly defeat, and there are players who see the world as a dangerous world with life-threatening risks behind every bush. You cannot run the same game for both sets.

a. This means that you might not be able to let all players into your game.
b. Neither is inherently bad, but know which kind of players you have.
c. If the term "CR" is a common part of the players' conversation, assume that you have the first group, and plan accordingly. Never count on them deciding to run away from a deadly encounter.


Let's not make the mistake of treating players as simply and immutably falling into one of these categories. Players are capable of learning. While some people are naturally more cautious or gung-ho than others, most players who clearly fall into one of these categories do so because they have learnt that this is what to expect from the game due to how a previous DM ran it. What can be learned can be re-learned.

It's easier to teach players to be careful than to teach them to expect balanced encounters. Players need to trust their DM in order to expect every encounter to be balanced, and it takes more time to build trust than to destroy it. If your goal is to teach your players to be cautious then it should only take a TPK or two to make them realize that, yes, you actually mean it when you say that your campaign is a meat grinder. On the other hand, the only way to teach players to expect balanced encounters is by earning their trust by consistently succeeding in delivering balanced encounters.

New players are especially malleable. They have yet to learn how the game works through playing it, so they'll be very receptive to lessons learned early on. More experienced players are less malleable. This is especially true for players who have been "burned" before by DMs who promise a balanced campaign and then, through accident or malice, deliver those players into a world of danger. Earning the trust of these players takes time, but it can be done.

Lord Torath
2021-05-22, 02:42 PM
You could combine 6 and 31, and possibly toss 17 in there, too.

Telok
2021-05-22, 07:40 PM
1.a. If you want something set on fire put the matches and fuel right next to it, and be prepared to light it yourself. Because this is when the players will have a sudden and inexplicable attack of not being psychopathic arsonists.

Trafalgar
2021-05-23, 04:24 PM
I would add two rules. I think they should be in the first 10:

Rule 1:
Make it fun.

Rule 2:
You are not writing a novel.

Leonard Robel
2021-06-08, 03:23 AM
My DM rules are shorter, sort of stop and think before I act.
1. Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.
2. KISS (keep it simple stupid).

Rule number two is the hardest part of DMing and game making, IMHO.

KorvinStarmast
2021-06-22, 04:10 PM
Rule XX.X.
As a DM, pay attention to what rewards a player responds to. (Each them may have different buttons that get pushed by an RPG). You'll tend to get the behavior that you incentivize by the rewards you offer.
a. If you reward murder hobo moves, you'll tend to get more of them.
b. If you reward problem solving by lateral thinking, you'll tend to get more of that.
c. If you reward heroic sacrifice, you'll tend to get more of that.
d. If you reward doing the difficult thing because it is right, you'll tend to get more of that.

Jay R, I am not sure if that is concrete enough for your list, but it seems to me, based on a lot of different groups that I have played in and have DM'd for, to be a truism.