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 yourself into this fun situation.  Join us! We'd love to hear from you!  Let us know what you'd like a future episode of becomingDM to be about...

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 of the mind combat is a great way to add a different perspective to you game.  Join John and Danielle as they discuss the things to consider when...

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!

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 well as things to consider if you're getting involved in a pbp game. We'd love to hear from you!  If you have an idea for a future episode of...

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 about it!  Go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to share your episode idea.

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 want to include in your campaign management as well as three common ways of performing campaign management.  Join us to hear all the details!  That,...

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 becomingDM?  Or Maybe a side quest?  Make sure to go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas and let us know all about it!

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 becomingDM?  We'd love to hear about it!  Go to becomingDM.com/ideas and let us know all about it.  Want to submit an idea for a side quest? ...

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 side quest or main episode of becomingDM, let us know!  We always want to hear what you want to hear. Make sure to go to...

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 of this two-part episode! Got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM?  We want to hear about it!  Let us know by going to...

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 one in four decades of running games!  Will John be convinced to start using DM screens?  Join us to find out! We always want to hear what you'd...

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.

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 topics just didn't get addressed.  becomingDM Side Quests aims to cover those topics in a shorter form episode than our standard main episode...

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 asking for a roll.  Got an idea for a new episode topic?  Let us know!  Go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to submit your idea for a future episode...

Whether it's a unique tool, a specialized non-magical weapon or something entirely different adding the custom crafting to your game is way to better engage your players in your game.  Join Danielle and John as they talk about things to think about when you look at adding crafting to your game from both the DM and player perspective. Got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM?  Let us know!  Go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas to submit your episode idea today.

Have you found that your players deal with the enemies you set up a lot more easily than you would expect?  Maybe it's just a matter of how you're reading the enemy stat blocks and incorporating them into your game.  In this episode of becoming DM, John and Danielle walk through and show how decoding the stat block can lead to much more challenging encounters for your players.  Join us! We'd love to hear your ideas for a future episode.  If you want to hear us talk on a specific topic, go to...

If you spend enough time around a group of people that play tabletop RPGs, eventually you'll find yourself in a situation where a variety of jargon is being used that you may not understand.  This is especially prevalent in online forums where people talk about running games.  In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle spend some time decoding and explaining some of the more commonly used jargon in the rpg space.  Join us! Got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM?  We'd love to...

Running games with another DM can be a fun and exciting way to split up some of the work of a tabletop RPG.  But how do you make sure that both you and your co-DM are on the same page? Or that you have an acceptable division of the work? In this episode of becomingDM John and Danielle explore the things to consider before entering into a co-DM situation.  Join us! If you've got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM, let us know! You can submit ideas at https://becomingDM.com/ideas

Have you been a player for awhile and decided that you wanted to give it a shot and move to being a DM?  Whether it's looking for things that you didn't think about in the "job" of being a DM or just wanting some guidance on where to start, this episode is for you! Join John and Danielle as they talk about making the transition from player to DM. This episode topic was submitted by a listener like you! Got an idea for a future episode?  Let us know, go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas and tell...

After the thirtieth miss rolled by both you and the players you decide to end combat for the night because it just keeps dragging on.  It doesn't have to be this way!  In this episode of becomingDM, John and Danielle explore strategies to make combat more interesting.  Whether it's adding to your descriptions, thinking tactically about your monsters or joining Danielle in her love of spreadsheets we've got ways to make combat less of a slog and more fun for both you and the players!   Got an...

Haven't gotten enough evil yet? That's ok, we're not done!  In part 2 of our discussion about running evil campaigns, Daniell and John continue talking about factions in evil games and about how to make sure that things are staying fun.  Join us for the conclusion of our discussion on running evil campaigns! We want to hear from you! If you've got an idea for a future episode, make sure to go to https://becomingDM.com/ideas and let us know today!

Sometimes your players are tired of being the good guys.  Sometimes they just want to create a little mayhem and ignore the plight of the villagers.  Sometimes they event want to BE the plight of the villagers!  In this episode of becomingDM we're going to be talking about Running Evil Campaigns and the things that you might want to consider.  We had a good time talking about this topic, so this is part 1 of a two part episode.  Make sure you come back in two weeks to hear the rest! Got an...

Whether it's helping to create a stat block for an NPC you hadn't anticipated being part of your campaign or generating a list of items that the party found in a Goblin's pockest, AI tools allow DMs to add things to their game that would normally require a large amount of effort.  In this episode, John and Danielle talk about AI in general and how Generative AI tools can take some of the DMing burden in your game. If you've got an idea for a future episode of becomingDM, make sure to go to...