Summary
After playing two or three long-runningDungeons & Dragonscampaigns, it can be really easy to slip into a rut. You fall back on old habits, either as a player or as a DM, and rely on an old bag of tricks when it comes to creating new characters, worlds, or encounters.
But that ends here and now. Let’s all take a moment to look inward and reflect on our bad Dungeons & Dragons habits, and break the cycle together. DND players, let’s take a walk together and admit whether or not you’ve fallen into any of these bad habits at the table.
Too Much Edge
Kids, Can You Lighten Up
One of the most critical mistakes I see players make on their second or even third campaign around is that they continue to make edgy characters with tragic backstories. Sure, on your first go-around, I don’t blame anyone for wanting toplay a shadowy roguewith a tragic past. But you can go in different directions.
When you start your next campaign, try making a character that has the opposite of a tragic backstory. Maybe your character comes from a healthy and happy home! This can raise the question: what drove them to a life of adventure, despite their upbringing?
Not Repeating Classes
It’s Okay To Be An Outfit Repeater!
Whether within your own party or in back-to-back campaigns, there’s a bit of a tendency among players and DMs to avoid duplicate classes. Obviously, you don’t want an entire party of bards, though frankly, this can prove fun in a one-shot scenario. But, you shouldn’t be afraid to double up on classes, as long as you pick different subclasses.
Having two clerics in the party, for example, can actually really help keep your party up during combat. Plus, you can have a main healer and more of a flex healer if you want, among them. And, having two characters with the same class can create interesting roleplay opportunities. How are these two clerics different in their approach to medicine and worship?
The Most Unique Character Ever
Tropes Are There For A Reason
Another common character creation mistake I see a lot as a DM is people trying to create ‘the most unique character ever.’ Yes, on your first go-around, almost everyone loves to play a half-elf rogue or ranger. But, in their next campaign, players come to DMs with character concepts that are so outlandish it’s hard to place them in any sort of grounded reality.
The point is: don’t be afraid to rely on fantasy tropes. Obviously, you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself, but if you want to play a shadowy rogue or a seductive bard, by all means go for it! You don’t earn extra points or XP for making the most unique character of all time. Play what sounds fun to you, regardless of singularity.
Relying On Accents
We Can’t All Be British
DMs and players both suffer from this next mistake. There’s a tendency to believe that, when it comes to voices forNPCs or characters, an accent is the best way to go. However, in my experience, this is not always the best approach. Sometimes, people either can’t commit to the accent, or the accent can feel archetypal.
Instead of working on an accent for your character, why not try focusing on a vocal affect instead? These are often a lot easier to pull off. Does your character speak in a low, gruff tone? Do they speak a mile a minute? Or maybe they’re a character of a few words altogether. Whatever the answer, working on speaking styles and vocal affects is usually much more impactful than accents.
Railroading
Loosen Your Grip DMs
DMs: gather around. This is the most important thing for a DM to grasp, especially after running multiple campaigns. You have to stop railroading your players. I don’t care if it throws the game off track or if you don’t have anything prepared. If a character says they want to set an important item on fire, you let them do it.
This is because, from the player’s side, being railroaded takes all sense of agency out of the game. It’s easy for people to feel like their choices don’t matter, and ultimately, players will lean back in their chairs. Let what’s going to happen happen, DMs; I promise you it’s more fun that way.
Going For Optimization
Try Nerfs Instead!
Listen, a lot of people indeed like to play Dungeons & Dragons for character builds and class optimization. And, while there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this approach, personally, I think there’s a lot of fun to be had by making characters that maybe have some pretty distinct flaws to them as well.
When leveling up or creating a new character, why not try building in some flaws to them as well? Or, instead, you can take feats or other abilities that maybe aren’t the most powerful, but are fun to roleplay or are unique to the campaign.
Solo Character Creation
Work Together
Listen, I get it, there’s something really fun and mysterious about announcing and describing your new character at the table for the very first time. But you shouldn’t let the allure of that prospect stop you from making new characters with other players at the table.
First of all, doing this makes it easier for the group to come together at the beginning of a new campaign. Second of all, you’d be surprised how much inspiration you can get from working alongside somebody elseduring the character creation process, rather than doing it all yourself.
Rolling Dice Individually
Speed It Up
This is one of my biggest pet peeves as a DM, and also as a player. Even if you don’t have enough dice yourself to do this, you need to start borrowing others so that you’re able to roll all of your damage dice at once. Rolling each individual dice separately is taxing and time-consuming, especially during longer battles.
Better yet, you can also employ a dice rolling app or piece of software. Sure, there’s a little less novelty involved there, but it is a lot faster!
Not Having Spell Cards
What’s The Range On That Again?
As a DM who’s played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, there pretty much isn’t a spell anywhere from level one to three that I don’t know the range or basic vibe of. As spells get more complex, the rules get more complex.
That’s why it’s imperative to make sure that you get spell cards, or an app that allows you to easily reference your spell’s rules. There’s nothing more frustrating at the table than waiting for someone to pull up the rules to their spells, especially if they’re a high-level player.
Forgetting To Prepare Spells
Seriously, Every Day
This is for all my spellcasters out there who are meant to prepare spells every day. Don’t fall into the rut of just preparing your standard bread-and-butter spells every morning, or forgetting to do it altogether.
Each morning before you start the day, talk to your party and see what kinds of spells would prove useful in the encounters to come. If you have multiple spellcasters who prepare spells, ensure to work together to figure out what’s best for the party as a whole, reducing duplicate spells prepared.
