It’s Friday night and everyone is done with work and school for the week. Most would kick back and turn on the television, scroll through a few shows, and maybe waddle off to bed. But not you, you have an important role to fill this night. The role you must fill is the Dungeon Master (DM) for your friend’s adventuring party. This role isn’t one to be taken lightly, after all you control the destiny of the poor, foolish adventures that are wandering around your world. They don’t eat, breathe, or fight unless you know about it, and not only do you hold in your all-powerful hands the fate of these adventurers, but you also hold the fate of the night’s entertainment

Let’s face it, as the DM you are a large influence on whether or not the night was a success. Some might even say that the DM is the life-force of D&D. Wizards of the Coast knows that good DMs are essential to creating a great experience for players, especially beginners. That is why they create an entire manual specifically for the DM!

As a DM yours is the solemn charge passed down by our ancestor DMs for keeping D&D alive. You control the fate of this amazing game that creates whole new worlds of imagination for characters to run around in. Do I daresay it, yes I do! You control more than just the fate of the adventurers, you control the fate of the game of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) itself. It is up to you to create a wondrous experience for D&D fans everywhere. With that in mind here are a few hints for how to improve your DM skills.

1. Learn How to Listen

While you may be the storyteller of the adventure, you are not ultimately responsible to control every thought and idea of your adventuring party. Too many DM’s have a god complex where they place themselves in a position of authority to dictate every move, thought, and word of their friend’s characters. Take the time to listen to what your friends have to say. Often they will point out flaws to your story or flaws in your gameplay. Don’t worry about getting everything a hundred percent right all the time. Whether your friends give you a friendly suggestion or rudely broadcast your error to the entire human race, learn to listen and accept correction. It will only make future games better.

2. Get to Know Your Friend’s Play Styles

This seems like an obvious one, but nevertheless it’s an ingredient that shouldn’t be missed. Everyone has a different reason why they enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons. Some like the glory of slaying hordes of undead and some prefer the interactions and storytelling. Knowing what motivates your friends to play D&D is like the ingredient of chocolate in a chocolate cake. Have you ever made a chocolate cake without the chocolate and served it to guests? I hope not, but if you ignore your friends style of play and interests, you will create an adventure that isn’t suited to their tastes. It will be like forcing your guests to eat plain oatmeal! If you don’t heed this warning, then don’t be surprised if the players gag at your adventure.

3. Create Adventurers that Revolve Around Backstories

One of the perks of D&D over video games, is that the only limit to D&D is your imagination. Some players will create long and elaborate back stories about their characters. Others will boast about some great deed they accomplished. Use this information! If a player presents an entire novel to you about their character, then you are in luck, because they’ve practically written the adventure for you!

For example, a friend mentions how his character Gildar the Dwarf is adventuring because a goblin horde murdered his whole clan during a raid. If that is the case, then who cares if Gildar the Dwarf slew a bunch of undead that were harassing the local town? Imagine the intensity of the story if Gildar the Dwarf found and slew the goblin warlord who was responsible for destroying his clan! Listen to the character backstories and weave it into your story telling.

4. Give Names to Places and Villains

You can ask anyone in my family, “Who is greatest villain in D&D of all time?” All of us will answer, Lord Goodwill. The story goes that our adventuring party did a job for Lord Goodwill, and discovered that he was a treacherous, back stabbing, evil tyrant, who enslaved us. After a daring escape from the slave camp, we plotted our revenge on the traitorous Lord.

While this adventure took place over six years ago, the reason why Lord Goodwill still holds the title of being the Archvillain of D&D in my family, is because of how our DM played the character. Being the naïve adventurers we were, we assumed that everyone we interacted with (especially if their name was Goodwill) was a noble person. We were wrong.

Giving names to places and people in your adventure helps create a personal connection with the players. No one will remember slaying a nameless Orc bandit leader at the end of an adventurer, and no one will remember visiting that dusty old town in the middle of nowhere. Just as your adventurers put some thought into their characters, try putting a little thought into your monsters. This doesn’t mean you have to name each Goblin that the party encounters (Wait did you just slay Ziggy or Bones-for-Brains). However, a little effort to create a unique villain will go a long way.

I myself admit that I am no perfect DM, and I still have a number of lessons to learn. However, I hope that my few cents on how to be a better DM will make a difference for you and your adventuring party. The tricks that I’ve shared may add extra work into creating an adventure, but it’s these small things that separate a great DM from a poor one.

About Andrew Larsen:

In my mind I am a crime fighting super hero, but in reality I am a published author, MMA enthusiast, miniature painter, and comic book nerd, who is married to the greatest girl in the world.You can find me on Twitter, and LinkedIn.