Summary

• Stock voices are okay, don't pressure yourself to be perfect like pros.
• Characters remember things that you forget in lore-heavy games.
• Balancing is crucial to avoid accidental TPKs, adjust encounters wisely.

Let's face it, at one point or another, as a DM running a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons game, you're gonna make some mistakes. However, that doesn't mean you can't learn from them and improve. But those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat themselves. So, let's take a little stroll ℱdown memory lane, shall we?

If you're a longtime DM, you've probably made at least one of these mistakes. And, if you're a newer Dungeon Master, who doesn't have that many games under their belt, don't worry,🌜 you will make thes💃e mistakes. Here are some mistakes we've all made as DMs.

10 ♔ Running Out Of Voices

There's Never Enough

Voices have never been my specialty as a Dungeon Master. I basi🗹cally can create one to two unique voices, and then I have ♊a handful of stock voices for various NPCs my party might encounter that, more or less, sound completely the same. What's a DM to do when you run out of voice ideas?

While it's always good to have some stock character voicesꦑ, it's also🐲 fair to give yourself a break as a DM. Not everyone can be a Matt Mercer or a Brennan Lee Mulligan. This is definitely one I need to work on more personally, though.

9 ▨ Forgetting Critical Details

What's Your Name Again?

It happ꧟ens to everyone, especially if you're a DM who likes to run complex, lore-heavy campaigns. You might have an amazing Word doc that's full of tidbits, notes, and insights into the world, but in a cౠritical roleplay interaction, you forget specific details. Or, even worse, sometimes you say the wrong thing, and guess what, that's canon now.

Personally, I remember I accidentally introduced a key NPC, but forgot to mention that ওthey were a relative of a member of the party. Nobody at the table looked surprised at all, and I was shocked, as I had been planning the reveal for some time. It was only later, when I realized I💎 hadn't actually introduced them correctly, that I understood what had happened.

8 🅠 🧸 Messing Up A Reveal

Don't Forget The Twist

I will never live this mistake down. Sometimes, as a Dungeon Master, you end up spending weeks planning the perfect twist for your party, only to flub it at the las⛄t minute. This ca🅷n be devastating not only for your party, but for your self-esteem as a DM.

Without spoiling the specific twist, there is a very important twist reveal you can run in the C🥂urse of Strahd module that I completely flubbe💮d my first time running the module. My players all started laughing when they realized what happened while I silently wept. Good times.

7 ❀Poor Balancing 𓆏

Accidental TPK

Balancing is one of those things in Dungeons & Dragons that nobody's ever really sure about. It's got🌠ten easier over the years and across editions to balance combat encounters, but ultimately, running combaཧt with high-level monsters is always a roll of the dice (pun intended).

Sometimes, though, the only way to get through a poorly balanced combat encounter is to throw your hands up and admit you made a mistake. That is, unless you want to run a full-blown TPK. Every DM worth their salt might pull back on the number of monst🦩ers they use at the last minute, or even weaken stats if necessary.

6 🌳 Terrible Names ⛦

Worse Than Forgetting A Name

Worse than forgetting a character name or running out of character voices is improvising a name on the fly and coming up short with nothing. Sometimes, you get flustered and, in the moment, you end up naming 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a goblin NPC that the players encouᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnter in a tavern 'Gary,' because you simply have no other ideas at your disposal.

It happens to every DM. And, the best part is, your players will almost certainly make sure that Gary the Goblin stays around for the ♏long haul. 𒐪When this happens, lean in. It's not a good DND campaign if players aren't spending the final game weeping over their fallen comrade, Gary the Goblin.

5 ไ Getting Caught Off Guard

Happens To The Best Of Us

This is a common issue that plagues Dungeon Masters, which basically covers 🧸all manner of sins. Sometimes, a player will throw something at you that you're just not prepared for. Whether it's an out-of-the-box solution⛦ to a riddle or just a moment of roleplay that feels out of nowhere, sometimes, you're just not prepared.

But that's okay at the end of the day. Dungeons & Dragons is an improvisational game, and in 🍸improv, stuff like that is always going to come up. The best thing you can do, particularly as a new DM, is to l🎃augh it off and move on.

4 𓃲 Adjusting HP ♌

I'll Just Add 100 HP Real Quick

Similar to adjudicating battle encounters on the fly, a lot of D🔯Ms will add HP to their enemies if they feel that the combat is too easy, or, in contrast, they'll lower their adversaries' HP if they feel like the encounter is too hard. This is almost always 🐲a mistake for a few reasons.

One, players can catch on to this pretty fast. Two, HP doesn't always make a combat encounter easier or harder. It tends to have more to do with action economy and abilities than anything else. If you need to adjust an encounter on the fly, you're better off adding more creatures or taking away certai𓂃n abilities from your monster.

3 ꦺ Forgetting Player Abilities

Wait, You're Immune To Fire Damage?

This is an incredibly common mistake that tends to happen to Dungeon Masters who have big tables. Luckily, the biggest group I've ever run is only six players, but even at that level, it can be hard to keep track of every single player's magic items, features, and abilities. This can lead to some 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:frustrating moments as a DM.

For example, one time, I planned an ambush encounter against a playe✱r who could not be poisoned. This made the idea of an assassin 'poisoning them in the middle of the night not work at all, and the player pointed this out to me in 💮the moment. Whoops.

2 🐻 Poor Time Management 💮

This Game's Runnin' A Bit Long

Sometimes, this is more the players' fault than anyone else's, but it's ultimately on the DM to make sure the game runs within reason. Some tables don't care 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:how long a game runs. But some people have schedules, work in tꦜhe morning, etc. And it's important to make sure you're respecting people's time.

As a player, I remember I once inadvertently played a seven-hour game against my will. Rookie n♍umbers, I know, but for me, I can only play Dungeons & Dragons for about four to five hours max before I start to get too tired. Call it a skill issue, I like my sleep.

1 ♊ Being A Yes DM

No Means No

As a Dungeon Master, it's important to encourage creativity and make sure that everyone at the table feels like they have agency of someไ kind. However, it's also important to say no sometimes; otherwise, players will take advantage.

Make sure that, withinไ reason, if a player is trying to do something that feels too far-fetched, explain to them why you're saying no, and lay down the law. As a DM, what you say goes𝓡. Just be careful not to let all that power go to your head.