DM Tips Twitter Archive: August 2011

by Mike Shea on 2 September 2011

Below is an archive of all of the Sly Flourish DM Tip Twitter posts for August 2011. Get daily DM tips at http://twitter.com/slyflourish!

I think published poster maps are one of the three best lazy DM tools next to re-skinning and the DM Cheat Sheet. #dnd

#dnd tip: To speed things up and still keep up the threat of a battle, change "-2 to attacks" auras on enemies to "-2 to defenses".

@teccan9nja I like making traps on my own on the fly using my chart: http://t.co/Vwvm628

@ramjet1000 In heroic, solos can be solo as long as they come from newer books. Generally they'll want help, though.

#dnd tip: Acrylic sheets from Home Depot work very well over flat dungeon tile arrangements as well as poster maps. http://t.co/GWkt9dr

#dnd tip: From the @wizards_dnd podcast: the order of effects at the beginning of the turn is decided upon by the creature's player.

Three random Gamma World plot seeds: a Mach 10 fighter crashes, a diamond the size of jupiter, an earthquake in the Shenandoah valley.

I'm working really really hard to be a lazier DM...

#dnd tip: Take screen shots of monster blocks from the compendium, paste them together in Paint, and send as Photos to your iPad.

#dnd tip: Hand select appropriate classes and races for the campaign world you want to run based on the flavor of the campaign.

For those who haven't seen Fiasco: http://t.co/XNZBJ7l I'll also have a Sly Flourish article about it. #DnD

My Fiasco-style character relationships in my new Gloomwrought campaign was a big success. People loved it. #DnD

#dnd tip: How is your villain changing his plans as your PCs move forward in their story?

Just backed the Kickstarter for @davethegame's Get Bit. I played this on our ride to PAX East earlier this year. http://t.co/avq2ggx

#dnd tip: Add excitement to your game by running it during a 5.9 earthquake...

#dnd tip: Good heroes make choices. Give your players plenty of opportunities to make the hard calls.

Cool website of daily maps for your dungeons: http://t.co/ZBTbWD4 #DnD

#dnd tip: From the immortal Chris Perkins, model your notable NPC after a movie character to help with the voices: http://t.co/0AHQNkK

#dnd tip: If you don't have it, invest in a good set of hero miniatures. While you can get away with monster tokens, PCs need minis.

ok, I'm combing through all the solos in the Mon Vault and MV2 and they all seem to have good ways to handle daze, stun, and dominate #dnd

No one ever gets mad in World of Warcraft when a boss resists Concussion Shot. Why should they care if Orcus resists Stun in #dnd?

The problem with stun/daze/dom on solos is that the DM spends most of his or her effort counteracting it instead of doing cool things. #dnd

I like how the Robe of the Archmage maximizes dice damage without making it a crit! http://t.co/UYSiFih #dnd #ihatebonuscrits

#dnd tip: The newer the monster book, the better the monster design. When selecting monsters, pick from newer books first.

#dnd tip: Give bored players a chance to roll a skill check to learn something interesting about an environment or monster.

Pretty cool ideas to spice up an encounter: http://t.co/8nZka7v - thanks @plaztkeyes #dnd

#dnd tip: You don't need dwarven forge to have a 3d map. Use thread spools or toilet paper rolls to boost up dungeon tiles.

I haven't used it at the table yet, but after reading through it, the Neverwinter campaign book looks fantastic: http://t.co/eujKzAe #dnd

#dnd tip: Give your players a chance to shine with a lower difficulty encounter. Run only three monsters instead of five or six.

Check out @davethegame's first #dnd #ddi adventure, Rumble in the Valley: http://t.co/BctDow0 Congratulations Dave!

I seriously think a game-wide house rule that dazes, stuns, and dominates don't work against solos would solve a ton of problems. #DnD

.@Nullzone42 Yep. It's End of Turn too so it breaks solos with multiple turns per round. "Hey look, Lolth is dazed again." #DnD

Why would @wizards_dnd give Knights three potential rounds of daze attacks? Have we not learned? See hammer strike http://t.co/943s0Tw #dnd

For the record, I never recommend using a #dnd monster pre MM3 without major customizations.

Our friend @TheIdDM has another excellent #dnd 4e analysis. This time on Player Character options and choices: http://t.co/Cfp4nQW

#dnd tip: Keep traps, terrain effects, and hazards simple. You have enough to worry about.

#dnd tip: think of creative ways to build 3D sets out of Dungeon Tiles:
http://t.co/fxRkrc7

Doing a fiasco-like relationship list for my Gloomwrought campaign. One roll for each relationship between PCs. #dnd
http://t.co/cZBZlRx

Excellent pro #dnd DM tips from @wotc_rodney @aquelajames and Jeremy Crawford gathered by @Neuroglyph : http://t.co/qANQfs7

It's cool to open up a thirty year old #dnd book and immediately see elements you can steal for current monsters.
http://t.co/dSV4RfW

#dnd tip: Character sheets can be printed two to a page and still be legible. Saves ink and makes it easier to see all options at once.

The official theme song to my Gloomwrought adventure - http://t.co/u8xD0NJ What's your campaign's theme song? #dnd

Even my wife can't agree with my "Essentials focused" games.

#dnd tip: Be like @chrisSSims and build your encounters beginning with the story you want to tell.

In case you missed it, @dmsamuel and @squach have awesome recordings of the #dnd Gencon seminars: http://bit.ly/SAKKB

Big victory yesterday when my most Essental-skeptical player said he loves the design of Heroes of Shadow and won't miss older stuff. #DnD

Ran my first Gloomwrought game, the party fought a hydra outside the city gates while watchers bet on them. #DnD

#dnd tip: Be careful with too much slowing and difficult terrain. It can get annoying quick.

Glad to hear someone can run all of Gardmore Abbey with just the box contents, MV, DM Kit, and the Dungeon Tile master set.

A commenter, "Josh", posted this excellent wiki of broken elements of #dnd. Note and beware! http://t.co/58tXHgs

The Tome Show's coverage of Gencon #dnd seminars is outstanding. @Squach and @DMSamuel did an amazing job. http://t.co/y4j5MoW

#dnd tip: Mix up easier and harder fights to give your PCs a chance to stretch all their cool abilities before you drop the hammer.

Pouring over the Gloomwrought sourcebook. I want to suck this book dry of its marrow and regurgitate it for the joy of my group. #dnd

Got lots of great complements to @JaredvonHindman's art in my books including some who said it was the reason they bought it!

My favorite @obsidianportal #dnd tip: cut-and-paste your own written flavor text into your campaign wiki to easily keep track of your game.

From the @wizards_dnd podcast: Even in the most sandboxy of sandbox games, give your players a sign post to give them optional direction.

The Neverwinter Campaign setting makes me wonder if I could run a campaign with no prep. Just let each night run itself. #dnd

#dnd tip: Running an epic one-shot adventure? Stick to Essentials source material.

@DnDPrincessAria the level of the game, the world you want, and the types of players play a big part in deciding to limit selection or not.

#dnd tip: Hard-hitting elemental effects are a great way to increase threat in an encounter without making it slower.

.@Wizards_DnD I like "complete" products that have maps an tokens. Gardmore and Undermountain sound awesome. Map pack is also cool. #dnd

Playing #dnd with @Eric_nowak, @RosaMoonshadow, and others. Old school handwritten char sheet!
http://t.co/5DzedK4

Great way to reveal monster defenses to players 3 rounds into the battle on the monsters initiative card.
http://t.co/3oIg9qh

.@DaveTheGame is a big hero of mine. Tons of drive, brilliant gaming mind, and humility in a sea of ego. Congratulations again, my friend.

#dnd tip from @rjschwalb: Don't put a DC in front of advancing your story.

I can't believe I talked to @erikscottdebie and didn't realize he wrote Gloomwrought which I'm running for my next mini campaign. #dnd

#dnd tip: The recent Zhent Soldier miniature from Lords of Madness makes for a great generic bad guy miniature.

#dnd #ddi will have oriental char themes, a ninja assassin build and a kanji rune priest build. Go go Oriental Adventures.

The finale of drunken #dnd.
http://t.co/Nl87bCX

A good testament to the success of drunken #dnd
http://t.co/YWgCAVg

Taking a drunken #dnd break. I'm pretty sure every #dnd tweeter is in this room.
http://t.co/TuQqg09

@TheIdDM I'm at the "not quite as drunk" table.

The weight of my back pack makes me glad I'm not a Warhammer player.

If you're looking for me at #GenCon, this is what I look like.
http://t.co/NFmMKVy

Just arrived in Indy. I know I'm in the right city! #GenCon
http://t.co/HG5Fqc3

I agree. Epic solos shaking off any status effect should be save for only the most encounter breaking effects of which there are many. #dnd

#dnd tip: Always give solos a way to shake off stuns, unconscious, and dominates. Give epic solos a way to shake any status effect.

Enjoying packing light for Gencon, but Gamma World may get cut. Tip: tear off a corner of zip-lock bags so they collapse better.

Another good #Gencon survival guide: http://t.co/lrYybNs

For those of you going to #Gencon, here's a survival guide I wrote up: http://t.co/RP7GrxQ

#dnd gencon tip: Print your adventures double-sided to save half the paper. Paper is heavy.

The new Paizo minis look great. I look forward to picking a few up. http://t.co/h5gOUJw http://t.co/DJRncGr http://t.co/KtRmbjb #dnd

@Wizards_DnD Is that some new Dwarven Forge set I haven't seen yet?

#dnd Gencon tip: Having trouble finding a game to play in? How about running one instead. That way you're always playing.

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