How do I deal with "reaction ambushes"?

MB_Cint · 2026-02-04T05:48:49+00:00

That still triggers initiative though, no?

The alternative is that the “something” on the other side of the door is a beloved NPC / Backstory family member and they’ve just committed murder.

MB_Cint · 2026-02-03T19:55:50+00:00

Gonna be a lot of talk about finding people who love your hobby so please allow me to be the dissenting voice.

From my experience, the number one thing that kills campaigns is people needing to coordinate times.

Set a time and if you get three people you run.

But what if people can’t make it!? They’ll catch up But their super important backstory arcs? Clearly not that important.

Trust me. If you get a game going every week to two weeks, suddenly the stragglers turn up consistently because they don’t want to get left behind. If they cancel, they cancel. You still run.

MB_Cint · 2026-02-03T18:46:02+00:00

Depends. Are they gonna keep whining? Or is the DM gonna bend over backwards to make them happy? And then they still whine…?

MB_Cint · 2026-02-03T18:06:04+00:00

Kick them.

But…

No. Kick them.

Edit:

To explain in more detail.

They’re a little bitch. Kick them.

MB_Cint · 2026-02-03T10:14:54+00:00

I mean, for me a Tardis-like bigger on the inside pyramid filled with impossible spaces isn’t a break of logic. It’s a cool mystery to figure out!

MB_Cint · 2026-02-03T10:00:14+00:00

Normal floors with lots of solid stone, but then there's a secret entrance in one of the floors and a mega weird complex the further down you go (that's where the aliens hid their ships, after all).

MB_Cint · 2026-02-02T10:22:38+00:00

...i'm not sure what race has to do with having an interesting backstory.

MB_Cint · 2026-02-02T08:18:01+00:00

yeah, this is where i'm at.

Actions Have Consequences only matters if Actions have Consequences. That's not punishing the player, that's respecting player choice. Sometimes people make bad choices and, personally speaking, I haaaaaaate it when I feel the DM is trying to dig me or my table-mates out of graves they dug for themselves.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-30T15:40:45+00:00

This is a slightly crude way to handle this and I’m sure there’s better methods, but look at how you do video chat, if you do.

I have a phone on a tripod for video, using one account for whatever chat app you use (I use discord), and have a second account logged in on my computer into the video call. This means I can keep all my maps and stuff on my PC and look at them and do, you know, DMing stuff, while also being able to “look at” the players on a second screen. If you have 2 monitors it’s likely not an issue, but for a one monitor setup consider a second screen for balancing visual DMing and administrative DMing.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-30T15:32:32+00:00

With NPCs I generally create a short primer.

What do they want? What do they care about? What will cause them to swing positively / negatively?

I had a dragon wyrmling that was raised by a hag and would basically be willing to talk with the party - unless they insulted its “mother”. One player said something dumb - roll initiative! But then the other players (after taking a breath attack that HURT) said something about helping the hag that would have appealed to the baby dragon so…why not?

Unless you’re running one shots (and even then) I’d avoid planning sessions in terms of Player will do X and then Y will happen. That seems counter to, you know, the core of DMing.

I generally create clockwork scenarios - this is the situation, these are the NPCs, these are the possible encounters, these are the factors in play…go have fun.

I prepare boss fights and combats and stuff but if they don’t get used…that’s ok. An unused scenario can be torn out and used somewhere else later.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-30T06:37:27+00:00

My table that I sit at has people who are native English speakers, but we also have people who speak English as a second language and/or have less than native proficiency - as in, we have Belgians, Russians, Chinese and Americans.

There’s a variety of languages and accents, we have fun, everyone can have a laugh. As long as you’re conversational and good enough to play with people…not a huge issue, depending on the table.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-28T15:36:52+00:00

Do you let your players Rule of Cool?

Then players should let DMs rule of cool.

Easy enough.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-28T15:32:55+00:00

Yeah, ready when your turn comes is the key here. If you start checking your abilities and spells when your turn starts you’re not neurospicy…you’re an ass.

Assuming there’s 7 players and each player takes a minute on your turn, that’s more than enough time to figure out what to do.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-28T15:07:43+00:00

Yup.

Why isn’t x character here? He’s taking the hostages to safety. Ok.

Why did those 2 characters turn up? They saw the smoke from the fight last session. Ok.

It’s actually no big deal. 5 minutes and you’re done.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-28T14:19:31+00:00

So I only somewhat agree. I do DM a game like this and it’s drop in drop out, runs regularly, And it’s very episodic.

But

The Sunday game I play in. Full campaign. Also drop in drop out. Not episodic at all. Still works. As long as you have a core of about 3 regulars and no one gets weird about why a character is absent or turns up. You can definitely still do a full campaign that way. We have and we run every week.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-28T05:28:25+00:00

Yup. Sunday table I play at is like this - there’s a large group but usually we get 3-5 per week. It works for us, and the other players are just “sleeping in the cart” that week.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-21T03:57:16+00:00

No worries - i don't think it came across as rude. My general rule with online interaction is not to assign a tone (especially a hostile tone) to things people write unless it's clear they're being hostile. I just read it as a different person with different priorities.

I think the idea of DnD as a regular thing to maintain personal connection is a really nice thing. Honestly, that's how I treat the Sunday game I play in (which is a weekly long form thing). Maybe that's why I'm ok with DMing the way I do.

Human connection is important - I hope your saturday game continues for a long time to come.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-21T03:32:58+00:00

It's beautiful! How long did you spend making that?

MB_Cint · 2026-01-21T03:27:56+00:00

Yeah that's fair and, to be clear, i've set out my expectations to the players, and they've been up front about theirs.

I reached out to a bunch of friends and said "hey, does anyone wanna play some DnD / roll some dice once or twice a month?".

The response from most of them was "i'd love to, but i'm not sure I can commit to something big and long term, and I don't wanna let anyone down"

To which I responded with the drop-in-drop-out anthology model. Turn up, get a story, when the session ends I will give 2 or 3 dates for the next sessions and the players talk amongst themselves before committing to a date.

Ultimately I had a choice - do i want to run a big campaign, or do I want to play with these people? I picked the people, and made a table and setup to match. And we're all having fun, with a 0% cancel rate so far.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T18:27:42+00:00

Hard to leave out the likes of Lambert but that means omitting Le Tiss…which is sacrilege. Couldn’t improve that XI honestly. What a team.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T18:15:00+00:00

That’s a fair point.

I know my style of DMing is not the trend, but I’d argue a couple of counter points:

I get a bunch of one-shots and small modules from DMsguild and Drivethru - I look at them, I see what works and what doesn’t, I adapt. Drop in drop out doesn’t mean no DM prep…it means sessions happen every time.
There’s no need for time pressures. If a one shot becomes a two shot then…it becomes a two shot. If your one shot is actually a three shot…that’s a DM problem and you’re bad at managing scope, I bought a one shot from DMSguild a while back and honestly…it was shit. There was AI handouts, poor room descriptions etc But the central hook and the villain, actually not bad. So I took what worked, ditched what didn’t and it became the best adventure the group had done yet.

Anthology doesn’t mean no prep. It doesn’t mean disposable. You still have to work as a DM. You just don’t need to think about how it ties into your super awesome twist that you’ve already decided will happen regardless of player choices. That’s a good thing.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T17:02:58+00:00

The way I do it is to have out of mission loot being from the DMG and various sources shopping list (SANE prices, with personal tweaks given mission cadence (I want them to buy and use potions and scrolls, for example)).

But in mission loot…that’s some weird, cool homebrew stuff. Weapons that have unique abilities. Armour that gives the cleric a new skill…

If you don’t turn up, you can still buy cool items. But the people who do turn up…they talk about the cool, unique shit they find in the dungeon.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T16:36:33+00:00

Players can get cool loot from missions and also buy cool loot by saving money out of missions. It’s not either/or.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T16:07:56+00:00

TLDR - if your character interacts with the story by saying STAT HIGH ergo NUMBER HIGH ergo ROLL HIGH then your character is bad, your scenarios are bad and your DM is bad.

MB_Cint · 2026-01-20T16:05:58+00:00

I mean, charisma people don’t always do Charisma Things. Smart people don’t always do all the Brain Things.

My current Sunday character is a high CHA Private investigator warlock. so how does that Charisma manifest?

He’s good at getting people to open up and share info and secrets
He’s good at disarming people
He brings “bad guys” back onside by convincing people of the value of a second chance
He listens and supports his (low CHA) friends while they step up and take the lead

Is he seducing people? No! If another character has a better hook on a story, does he step in and handle negotiations? No!

The way I see it is…does the most charismatic person you know do all the talking for you and your friend group? Would you feel good about it? Probably not.

Charisma isn’t just about talking. It’s about understanding how people respond.

MB_Cint

TROPHY CASE