8 Ways to Accomplish More in Your Games

Greetings gamers from all systems, places and timelines.

What happens during every gaming session needs to matter. Perhaps not directly to the main story, but at least to some plot thread. When this doesn’t happen, players can find themselves frustrated or disappointed after a game if it doesn’t feel like they really accomplished anything. This is why we’ve put together some tips to ensure every game feels satisfying. Because no one wants to sit through a session that feels like a double-sized filler episode. Not to say that once in a while some fluff is a bad thing, but if overused, it could cause the DM to be perceived as either not prepared or, even worse, having a flimsy story. 

1. Do a Recap at the Beginning of the Session 

To paraphrase White Snake, the party will not know where they are going if they don’t know where they’ve been. And while the party making plans in-game can be valuable, it will make everyone’s life easier if they are clear on the details. Feel free to do the recap yourself or allow a player to do so. If they really nail it, don’t be afraid to give them an appropriate party XP reward. 

2. Maps Are a Tool, Not a Burden

We all love maps and visual aids. However, depending on how you’re running things, it could take 3 rounds just to make it to the bathroom. Some people may say this sounds crazy, but every situation does not require a map. Just the key ones that have things to resolve, such as monsters or traps. Trust me, a little theater of the mind makes the wheel turn faster. 

3. Scene Control 

This is something that requires the DM to be able to read the situation carefully. If the players are having fun, then they are filling in the blanks of your story. However, you may not want any scene, especially if the party is divided up, to go on for too long. While you don’t want to push a player or the whole group out the door, you could always give subtle hints that it’s time to move on. 

4. Combats Shouldn’t Take Forever 

A long battle does not necessarily mean it was a good one. Unless you’re running an important scene, the players should be at least reasonably threatened, burn some resources and then move on. A classic mistake is to have one or two combats swallow up half or even nearly all of a session. What did we accomplish last week? “Uh, we had two long-ass battles and then took a long rest.” No thanks, hard pass. 

5. Lore, Details and Quests 

If the painting on the wall doesn’t have significance to the plot, don’t give it a Tolkien-level description. Otherwise, you will have your players barking up the wrong tree for the next five games. While everything and everyone doesn’t need a story, they also definitely don’t need a quest. Because odds are the party won’t remember or care about a quest log that’s as long as Smaug’s tail. Nor will the game run efficiently if the party is trying to remember and organize 19 different clues. Forget about solving the mystery, the real challenge would be just finding out which open plots all of these clues belong to. 

6. Avoid Confusion Like You Would Vecna 

Odds are, the game will operate smoother when you have all of the session details at the ready. So, be comfortable with the material so you can lay it out in the most engaging and non-confusing way possible. In this way, the party isn’t waiting on you. Nor are you going to need to backtrack and re-explain anything that seemed simple on paper but lost half the group. 

7. Take Character Knowledge Into Account 

Odds are, none of the players in your game have either a 19 wisdom or a 20 Intelligence. But their characters might, so allow them to make skill checks to acquire a subtle hint when needed. That is unless everyone is laughing or having the time of their lives. Otherwise, have someone make a skill check to determine the group can’t cross the canyon here without building a bridge. Otherwise, you might have 7 players standing in one place for 90 real-life minutes when the most practical solution is to just keep heading South. 

8. Use Status Attacks Sparingly 

I’m not a fan of mechanics that take characters out of combat. Sure, it’s super awesome when someone stuns the boss, but things can grind to a halt when a character is stunned, paralyzed or anything else that skips them in the turn order. This can be especially the case when there is already a lot going on the battle map. “Oh, I’m stunned again? I’m going to run out for coffee. Anyone need anything? I should be back before it’s my turn anyway.” 

Conclusion 

As a DM, you don’t want to cut a scene before its time. But you don’t want to turn an in-game trip to Wawa into a 4-hour event, either. While the game shouldn’t feel like you’re reading from a script, whatever the players are doing should feel like an accomplishment at least in some respect. This way, missing a game will really be something they want to avoid. Just like if a player misses a game the last thing you would want to tell them is all we did in the last session was shop and get some in-game snacks. The best way to keep people from missing games is to convince them, if they do so, that they are missing out.