Throughout the course of your game you will have players that will occasionally not show up from time to time. Preparing for handling those missing players and how the character, story, and treasure experience changes as a result are really important to define before this happens so players and DM are all on the same page with what to expect. In th…

Chases! Whether the party is trying to get away from the town guard or trying to prevent an enemy from escaping they can add a sense of excitement to the game. But how do you make a chase more exciting for everyone at the table? In this episode of becomingDM John and Danielle talk about the as written rules for chases in both D&D as well as Pathfin…

Do you find yourself wanting to encourage certain behaviors in players? Whether it's roleplaying, heroics, or something different adding the Inspiration optional rule to your game may be just what you're looking for. Join us as John and Danielle talk through on the episode requested by listener Ryan Ross! We talk about some of the official rules as…

Part 2 is here! If you were waiting for the second half of our episode on running games for large groups, this is it! Join Danielle, John, and Robert as they continue the discussion and touch on skill checks, combat, and more for large parties at the table. Also learn why Danielle is a monster and John is a slacker! Don't forget that as we get clos…

Our episode about running games for large groups was so large we had to split it into two parts! In the first part of this discussion, Robert Spann joins John and Danielle to talk about whether you really need to have such a large group and some tips and tricks to keep players engaged if you have a large group at your table. Don't forget our contes…

Heists can be a great way to add a sense of intrigue. But how do you add them to your game in a meaningful way? And how do you do so without it ending up being "the rogue show". John and Danielle talk about working backwards from the objective to plan out a heist adventure for your table. And don't forget, we are counting down to episode 100! If yo…

Join us as John and Danielle discuss this topic that was suggested by listener Robert Spann! If you're getting new players to your table, they probably don't know or understand the differences between the various classes that they can choose from. In this episode, we discuss different strategies and techniques to help players settle on a choice whi…

At some point you may need to end your campaign. Maybe you've come to the logical conclusion of the story for these characters, maybe people are needing to move away. Whatever the reason, how you end your game can have a big impact on how people look back on the game and you as a DM. Join John and Danielle in this episode as they talk about some of…

If you think about the world that your characters are moving through, there is probably some sort of legal structure that says what is allowed and what's not allowed. Within communities of the world there may be a moral structure that is in line with or counter to the laws of the land. In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle talk about def…

In part 2 of our Running Large Scale Combat episodes we continue the conversation digging deeper into what happens when the party members take on leadership roles in the military. Join us as John and Danielle further explore this topic! Got an idea for a future episode? We'd love to hear it! Go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to let us know!…

Are there large armies clashing in your world? If so, then eventually you may have the party getting involved with fighting them, so knowing how to run large scale combat is a useful skill for DMs. In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle talk about some options for how to run large scale combat scenarios and what to consider before you get…

Sometimes you don't have time to create a map for your combat encounters. Sometimes the players do something unexpected and get into a fight that you weren't prepared to put on the table in front of you. Sometimes you just don't have enough space to run the combat that you would like with minis and everything. Whatever the reason, running theater o…

We have seen several people curious about how long it actually takes to plan out a session lately. In this becomingDM side quest, John looks at the factors that can influence how long session planning takes and then reveals his average prep time. Join us for the side quest!Oleh becomingdm

Are you finding that you have trouble scheduling games with your group and no one seems to be available at the same time? Or maybe you don't have the time to dedicate to a single long session. If that's the case, consider running play by post games. In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle talk about the benefits and challenges of pbp as we…

Having trouble trying to figure out where to look for players for your game or where to find a game that you can play in or run? In this becomingDM side quest, John talks about some of his favorite places to look for people for local games. Join us to find your next game! Got an idea for a future side quest or main line episode? We want to hear abo…

There is a lot of stuff that happens in your games every session. If you don't stay on top of managing your campaign, you could end up with players asking to revisit an NPC that you haven't thought about in months and don't really remember anything about. In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle talk about what sorts of things you might wan…

Spend enough time getting people together for game sessions and they're going to want to have some food. In this becomingDM side quest, John talks about the things to consider for food at the table and goes through some of the items that he has found have gone over well with the table. Join us for a feast! Got an idea for a future episode of becomi…

This week we continue our discussion about getting your game unstuck. Whether you are still stuck on setting, your players are being an issue or anything else, we'll cover it and strategies to get yourself and your game unstuck. Additionally, John learns the term, "faffing about"! Join us for this week's episode! Got an idea for a future episode of…

In this becomingDM side quest, John talks about a new game that you can use to play something different! Get ready for a game that mimics 80s style text-based computer games, but needs no computer with the game Parsely. If you want to get a copy of Parsely for yourself, make sure to go to https://memento-mori.com If you've got an idea for a future …

Is your game filling you with a sense of dread when it's coming up, or even when you're running it? Do you find that you or your players just aren't having fun? In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle discuss the ways that DMs (and players) can get stuck in the game and how you can work towards getting unstuck! Join us for the first part o…

In this becomingDM Side Quest, John delves into optional rules for D&D 5e and talks about flanking. One of the standard rules that was left out from older versions of D&D and even pathfinder was how to handle when the party (or enemy) flanks their opponent. Check out this episode to see how the optional rule resolves that.…

The age old question of whether you, as a DM, should use as a DM screen. What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks? What are some neat cool things you can do with them? In this episode of becomingDM we dive into the topic of DM screens with two different viewpoints: Danielle who is a staunch advocate of DM screens and John who has never used on…

In this becomingDM Side Quest, John talks about playing something different with the game I, Toaster. This will be a quick overview of the system with some highlights of the game play without getting into the nitty gritty details of the system.Oleh becomingdm

We're introducing something a little new here at becomingDM. Over the past several years we have found that there have been several topics that have come up that just didn't warrant a full episode. An introduction to a new game system, niche or custom rules, and a number of other topics have all fallen into this. Usually that meant that those topic…

Tabletop role-playing games rely heavily on rolls to determine if characters are able to accomplish a task. Unfortunately, that can sometimes mean that DMs can be overzealous on asking for rolls for actions. In this episode, John and Danielle talk about some of the questions to ask yourself to determine if you really need that skill check before as…