Dungeon Manager Advice
Keep it moving
D&D is most fun when the story and action are both rolling along. Don’t get caught up in how you think something is supposed to go, just roll with it. As DM, you should make quick rulings and get on with the scene. Don’t sweat all the rules in the moment. If something is cool, do it.
DC 12 is a great DC
As the Dungeon Manager (DM), you are the most responsible for everyone having a good time. D&D is not a game of PCs versus DM. You’re not trying to “beat” them. You’re playing with them to make sure you all have a good time. Because of that, you want the DC in your scenes to be something they can hit. When things are generally easy or the monsters are small, DC 10 is great. When there’s action, DC 12 is perfect.
From time to time, when things are really scary, you can up the DC to 14 or 16. But even with highly rated monsters, you should keep the DC something that players can hit more often than not.
Don’t be stingy with the Hero Dice
Any time your players think of something cool to do or demonstrate their character’s backstory or help each other, give them a Hero Die. It makes them more likely to use Hero Dice when they know more are coming and it makes them more willing to role-play their characters in order to earn Hero Dice.
What Ability or Skill for what check
On the first page of this quick start, you’ll find a table that tells the things that each Ability does. When a character wants to sneak or climb a thing or investigate something, refer to that table to pick the right Ability for them to check.
For example, if a character wants to investigate a room, say, “roll an INT check.” If they want to sneak by a monster, say, “roll a DEX check.”
On the typical, modern D&D character sheet, you’ll see that each Skill is connected to an Ability. So if you say, “roll your Stealth,” that’s part of DEX.
Drama & Discovery & Danger
These are the 3 elements of any great adventure. Drama starts us off and lets us know something unusual or scary has happened. Maybe someone has gone missing or we hear a rumor that an evil wizard is seeking a powerful magic item. Drama calls the players to action. The dinosaur skeletons are attacking the townspeople!
Discovery leads us to the solution. As characters adventure, they’ll discover things about the drama. Did an ancient magic awaken the dinosaur skeletons? Does the wizard have an army of goblins to protect her? Was the missing villager exploring the haunted cave outside of town? Think of a few secrets and clues that characters can discover as they investigate and perceive their surroundings.
Danger is obviously the big bad, the monster at the end of the adventure. They find the magic item just as the goblin army calls the evil wizard! The haunted cave isn’t really haunted but full of kobolds who have laid tons of traps to make visitors think it is. The characters have to face off against a T-Rex skeleton!
More discovery! After a dangerous finale, wrap things up with hidden treasure, a clue to the next adventure, or a magic item.
Don’t think too far ahead in your stories. Just plan the Drama, Discovery, and Danger one session at a time. That way, your story can change as events happen. That way, the players help change the story.
Let the players solve problems with creativity
When you put obstacles in front of PCs–like a trap or a weird clue–you don’t need to have a solution or even a story. Let them come up with a creative solution. If it sounds cool, use it.
Sometimes, you’ll give PCs a random clue (like, “there is a carving in the tree that looks like lightning bolts”) and they’ll come up with a story to explain it. When it makes sense, go with it. You don’t have to start with all the solutions.