git gud dming

>>51578331
Practice. Write. Read. Imagine.

>>51578365
Fpbp.

We could blow an hour telling you tricks and shit, but the best way to do this shit is simply to try it, fail, and learn.

>>51578916
>Fpbp.

>the best way to do this shit is simply to try it, fail, and learn.

Wow this is exactly what I wanted to here. Thanks!

>>51578331
>eschew
That word means exactly the opposite of how you used it.

Really, start with just literally anything and describe it using the most purple prose you can throttle out of it, and then once you get good at vomiting out chunks of descriptive text, just start dialing it back until you're at a level you feel works for the tone you're trying to set. Like this thread right here:

>It was clear that whoever made this thread was a rookie, but at least someone who was familiar with the lay of the land, as evidenced by the text in his subject field. A cute doggo lay splayed on a wooden floor in his image, well-chosen to garner at least a few interested clicks to this fresh thread. The bare number of replies over the last hour was evidence that this this thread was largely unused after creation. The Tomorrow theme cast the entire page in a shadowed dimness, isolated clusters of muted white characters in slim rows all agreeing that OP needed more practice dotted their way down to where the Auto counter slowly and silently ticked off the seconds until the thread would refresh.

>A glance at the stats in the corner told me we were already at page 4.

>>51578331
Corgi a cute. CUTE

>>51578331
Practise is the biggest component - my first games were absolute crap, and I think most folks who have been DMing for a while will look back on their first campaigns and say the same.

As for more generically useful advice:
- Don't forget that the players have other senses. Sight and Sound are the ones GMs always remember, but smell, touch and taste are really key things in giving the players a mental image of a scene. A pitch-black dungeon could have walls that are sanded to an eerie smooth texture, or rough-hewn from the quarry sandstone. If it smells wet and dank, or dusty and dry, or sterile - indeed if it smells of nothing - it all puts players there.

- Build campaigns around the players(part 1). This is a cheap trick for easy investment. Player backstories are a mine of information about what kind of stuff they want to see in the campaign. Whether that is a tried and true method of putting a loved one in danger, or using old friends and family as an important bit of local flavour - if they include NPCs in backstories, use them. (The addition to the first mark is don't put them in danger from the outset, unless that is the character's primary motivation. If you want to put loved ones in danger, give the party screen time with them first, and allow them to build up a relationship in game, rather than on paper, with the individual. It makes the emotional play more impactful, and more engaging)

- Build campaigns around the players(part 2). I always ask players what their characters want, beyond how they ended up here. How do these characters see themselves ending up? What is their ideal scenario? It provides useful hooks to create morality plays. If a character is playing a thief who wants to get rich, for example, they are almost subliminally asking for a 'get the treasure or do the right thing?' scenario.

>>51578331
As far as room and item descriptions go, remember Chekhov. Anything given meaningful details should be significant. If it's not that important you can't spend a minute painting a picture. As you get more experienced you'll know when to speed things along.

As far as combat, Descriptive combat is always best, but it's not a singular endeavor.

Nobody wants to hear. Ok, he swings at you, *rolls some dice* he hits, now it's your turn *rolls some dice* you hit him back.

You and every player with you should get in the habit of describing a bit of flavor in every attack, as well as including what other players are doing as well 'while so and so is wailing on the skeleton with his axe I leap forward to ...'

It's the same technique that's used in porn, and it works the same way at the table. Adding what the person before you is doing and describing it in your words helps to ensure (a) everyone is paying attention to the combat, and (b) it all sounds a lot more dynamic and happening at the same time instead of static I go you go stuff.

>>51579786
>I always ask players what their characters want

It's always important to know what everyone wants out of a game, so when everyone is on the same page and has the same expectations it's a lot easier to have happy players.

>>51578331
>Are there DM's on /tg/ that can train me?
No. You have to read, you have to write, and you must treat it like practice.

On the desk lay the detritus of a day spent in sloth; open food containers, a half-empty bottle of Pepsi, and overturned loaf of bread, and what looked like a month's worth of bills. Unopened.

That's what my roommate's desk looks like right now.

>>51581768

>> Memories of my father's bakery float to the surface, especially the multitude of sores from cooking implements for neglecting the wares.

"I relocate the bread upright in on a elevated surface away from the desk. "

>>51578331
That is a very sad dog.

>>51578331
Write every day. Write anything. Write a little. Write a lot. Write a sentence, write a poem, write a letter, write a short story, just write. It's how writers practice, and DM's are a lot like writers.

>>51582681
This. Poetry is especially good because it forces you to expand your vocabulary.