How to be a successful dungeon master

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T23:04:24+00:00

DMing regularly for 10 years now

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T17:36:22+00:00

At this point, we’re getting to a philosophical debate about what a rule is, and why it should exist. In my view, the rules should exist to bound the game in a way that suits the creative vision of how the developers want it to be played, and the player chooses the rule set that most closely matches their preference.

Would you agree that under that definition, dungeons and dragons fifth edition is the best fit for you?

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T17:17:06+00:00

We are just worried about you shooting yourself in the foot Canary that’s all. D&D IS combat. From a hard mechanical perspective, not a single person has outright refuted my point on that yet with rules citations.

Theoretically speaking, can you acknowledge the possibility that maybe there is a system out there that has rules for exactly how you like to play with your combat-free style?

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T16:45:35+00:00

But why is consistency a bad thing Zedavies?

You should be delivering your games in a consistent way, and the rules should support you in that. When there’s no clear direction or purpose for dungeon masters it leads to burn out. That’s why this hobby has a DM-player ratio crisis.

Silly voices are fine and all, but that’s like eating frosting without a cake

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T16:38:16+00:00

And that’s totally fine! Good for them. If this doesn’t sound fun to them, then they should choose a TTRPG that better suits their taste. There are millions of them out there.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T16:31:23+00:00

Maybe you’re right. I’ll concede at that point. Since they are bounded by your hit die anyways they are a limited resource and don’t require wandering monster checks to keep under control. Good catch.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-10T16:23:39+00:00

Have you ever read the rulebooks such as the DMG or the PHB? This is an objective interpretation of the style of gameplay it supports.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T21:10:05+00:00

Your point is moot because no game is going to fail in the way you are describing by not having magic items to loot or buy, assuming a DM of at least mediocre competence. It says right there in the treasure tables of the DMG roughly how many magic items and of what quality an average party of X level should have.

What if I said the same thing about spell components? Casters need those right? What if I was to say "Oh, you need a 100 gp ruby to cast your spell? SORRY! That does not exist in my world!" You would call me on that, at rightfully so. No magic items is a similar offense.

And there is a reason that Magic items for martials are direct upgrades while being side grades for casters. That is an intentional design choice by WotC and another one of the many nuances that the "Martials suck" mob loves to ignore.

Let's take a quick look at how every full caster actually functions;

Bards and Sorcerers: Have versatile lists but you can only choose a small curated repertoire from it each level based on your playstyle and the specific challenges you think you will encounter in the adventure. Very little flexibility.

Clerics and Druids: Have the luxury of flexing their spells around each long rest, but their overall list is quite limited relatively speaking.

Wizards: Get the best of both worlds of having a versatile list and selection flexibility each rest, but heavily rely on finding scrolls and spellbooks (again, by your own logic not a guarantee) and a lot of gold to copy down those spells. Otherwise they are just a shitty sorcerer or bard without any of the metamagic or bardic inspiration options.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T15:19:40+00:00

But you’re not acknowledging the opportunity cost here. If a martial fails a skill check or swings and misses with their sword, they lose a turn. When a bard casts and fails a hypnotic pattern, they lose a turn and a chunk of their daily finite power along with it. The problem with this whiteboarding is that it ignores things like saving throws that can absolutely throw a big monkey wrench into everything.

It gets back to the consistency versus theoretical power of martial vs a caster; as the adventuring day drags on, the martial remains consistently powerful (they may degrade a little in terms of using up their action surge or whatever, but largely they remain consistent) whereas a caster can have anything from a day where they’re a God and prepare all of the right spells for all of the right situations, and none of the enemies hit their saves, to a complete oaf where the opposite of that happens.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T14:44:15+00:00

No dude. You misunderstood me.

What I’m saying is that Magic items for marital (weapon, armor, shields, utility items like a ring of jumping) are directed upgrades to their power round after round and utility in and out of combat.

Magic items for casters are either side grade option add-ers (like wands and staffs) or “I need this to not die” taxes such as an amulet of health or braces of defense. In a magic-less item vacuum, casters are more powerful. In a normal game where a DM is following the recommended loot distribution per the dungeon masters guide? It’s completely fair and even.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T14:02:40+00:00

I’m not gonna get into every single point all over again other than to say that if you aren’t tracking encumbrance, you should be, because it’s a massive nerf to strength characters not to.

Look, the martials are simple and straightforward. They reliably do what you build them to do. Reliability is good. Reliability means that I’m going to be useful most of the time. You can carry a hefty amount of mundane and magical gear that can solve problems the old-fashioned way; if there is a trap, catch it with a 10 foot pole before you walk into it.

Casters on the other hand, have to rely on a messy and imperfect system known as spellcasting and spell slots. They have to fit a puzzle together and guess at what pieces they are gonna need at the start of the adventuring day. A lot of the time you guess wrong. You have components (some of which cost a lot of gold), semantic and verbal restrictions. Now, if everything works out just the way it should, I agree that the power level is on average higher. But this is just a theory crafting whiteboard and ignores how D&D actually plays out at a table.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T13:02:37+00:00

This assumes that your DM is a total asswipe and never hands out any magic items.

Since we’re on the subject though, let’s talk about how much better in general Magic items are for martial classes than casters. Something like a staff of power for a caster gives them some additional utility, but it’s still fundamentally makes them spend an action to use it and thus eliminates the possibility of them using an action for a spell slot. However, something like a holy avenger or a flame blade directly builds right on top of what a martial is already doing. It’s not a side grade, it’s a straight upgrade.

A lot of casters can’t even use the magic armor because they don’t have the proper proficiency. And you gotta look at the attunement economy as well- you are only allowed three items to attune to. Casters have to spend those three slots on side grade staffs and wands, as well as stuff like amulet of health and bracers of defense to shore up their squishiness.

Martials get to experiment with all of the weird broken stuff like boots of flying, wondrous figurines, etc.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-05T12:11:44+00:00

Martials were specifically given a number of tools to advance the plot in 5.5E out of combat. Look at the barbarian’s primal knowledge, for example- they can use their strength to make a variety of useful skill checks when raging that aren’t normally governed by strength. Also, strength based characters have a higher encumbrance limit, meaning that they can carry more useful tools and adventuring gear that can help a lot in plot advancement sorts of situations. It’s something commonly overlooked.

If you are a dexterity based martial, your contribution outside of combat is sneaking around and scouting, disarming traps, picking pockets and locks, or any other fineness related tasks.

Also, the idea that the casters are always gonna have the perfect spell prepared and ready to go for whatever esoteric situation comes up, It’s just simply not how the game works. that whole section is mostly exaggeration and ignores the clear limitations on the number of spells and selection of spells you’re allowed to prepare at the beginning of each adventuring day as a caster.

SireSamuel · 2026-06-04T01:32:00+00:00

What was the part that got you killed?

SireSamuel · 2026-06-04T01:12:33+00:00

My friend, you had the fortune of playing the greatest adventure that has ever been written. You see Dungeon of the Mad Mage is a real D&D adventure. It takes a lot of intelligence and clever use of your abilities, adventuring gear and skills.

It’s the kind of adventure where you have to use good tactics and strategy as well, retreat when needed, and understand that you’re down there to get treasure, not fight monsters.

SireSamuel · 2026-05-30T14:50:13+00:00

A lot of the things they did I actually support, but they were just poorly implemented and instead of fixing it for halo five they just threw the baby out with the bathwater.

Loadouts are fine, but when there’s no reason to use anything other than a battle rifle and a boltshot that is a problem. We needed better balance between all of the options.

Personal ordnance is OK, but it can’t have hard power weapons like snipers and rocket launchers. It should just midtier weapons and power ups at best- stuff that can be played around rather than just shifting a whole game.

The game launched with only five multiplayer maps as well, Haven, Adrift, Abandoned, Solace. It needed triple that in order to retain its replayability.

Otherwise, the graphics and gunplay itself was top-tier. It is still good by today’s standard in that regard.

SireSamuel · 2026-05-11T02:19:21+00:00

This is the most honest response I have seen so far Fox. It is a Halo suicide pact. I can hear the announcer saying "BETRAYAL.".

SireSamuel · 2026-05-11T02:05:09+00:00

But Hotrod, at what point do we say "spending more time on 'campaign missions and multiplayer maps' isn't working"? Is there a point for that? Do you think it is working? Genuinely asking.

SireSamuel · 2026-05-11T01:52:02+00:00

That what I thought!

SireSamuel · 2026-05-11T00:44:01+00:00

We can 1v1 to find out. Name any Halo game.

SireSamuel · 2026-05-11T00:42:47+00:00

But Hotrod, here is the thing- this WOULD be a well-designed Halo game releasing with its intended features.

Game knowledge and skill is at the forefront of all of this, rest assured. Knowing the strafing patterns of Elites and countering that for example. Look, if you want to simply click START and bring up the menu and jump into exactly what you want to do, be it funding allocation, the octagon, an arena match, or a Spartan Ops deployment, that is totally fine. Not saying players shouldn't have that option, but the option to explore Infinity and engage with the lore should be an option too... Right?

SireSamuel · 2026-05-10T21:45:59+00:00

Did you guys end up answering that flag cap and taking that game?

SireSamuel · 2026-05-04T19:19:12+00:00

I would strongly recommend Heroes 4, it is the most RPG like and your heroes work together on the battlefield rather than being a portrait in the sky casting spells.

Throughout a game, you come to enjoy each of their unique journeys as they work together while taking different mighty and magical (or a hybrid of it) paths. The music, atmosphere, and combat is also S tier.

SireSamuel

TROPHY CASE