150418 Behind the DM Screen Talk - Ruling "Tricks of the Trade"

BEHIND THE DM SCREEN 150418 DM Ruling "Tricks of the Trade" This D&D group of course is focused on playing the game as written, and because of that, unlike other groups, we do not incorporate what is considered to be 'house rules'. I would like to share with those DMs watching the twitch stream a few pointers to ensure that they understand why I do certain things, what they are for, and how best to take advantage of and utilize all those available assets during your sessions, specifically for the purpose of making sound decisions when it's up to you to make a decision and call things one way or the other. These are what I call 'standard DM responses', you've all probably heard me use them at one point or another, and they are used this way. 1. When a player asks for information that you are unable to give out at that particular point in time, or the information would not be known to the player for a number of reasons, this is the answer I give. I shrug my shoulders and say 'idontknow'. Everyone understands that universal body language and gutteral noise. It's just a nice way to say 'I'm sorry, I can't tell you that at this time'. No need to elaborate. That's all that is said. 2. Book and page number. (that's why in our DM Player Notes handout, we encourage players to have certain books, so that everyone is literally on the same page. All can be acquired online in pdf format, and are a must have. Folks just don't have the time generally to look here, and look there for the same answer, it just makes things move a lot smoother). 3. DM Session Log number and location. 4. Twitch stream number and location. If that what was said...find it and show me. 5. The state of present conditions. If the player says, things are this way, but the position of the tokens or conditions say otherwise, they have no standing, and, attempting to fool themselves, others, and the DM is just ridiculous. If someone tells you it's daytime and it's pitch black at night, what do they hope to achieve? That some how you will agree with them, despite the proponderous of evidence to the contrary? There is absolutely no point to that argument. These standard responses are nothing more than a filtering mechanism, to point the player to the resources that are available to them, so that they may, or may not, substantiate their claim with the required physical evidence you need to make a decision. Without it, it's all just a needless waste of time, and that is one of your responsibilities as a DM, to realize that D&D does take time to properly execute, and time wasters will be a source of counter productivity and should be removed as quickly as possible, as soon as they make themselves known. You players watching the twitch stream, take my advice, don't try to BS your DM, pull the wool over his eyes, force his hand, or make a last ditch effort to cover your tracks regarding a poor decision, that's just insulting, will never happen, and is a sure fire way to get booted from the group, because, if your DM engages in the types of record keeping discussed here, he will have a solid first hand knowledge of everything the party did and everything the party said, (especially after typing up the DM Session Log and previewing the session stream) so, a player that continually engages in this type of behavior will very quickly find themselves on the DMs 'potential problem player' list, which is a part of the DMs radar that a player ought not voluntarily place themselves. Bad idea! Best course of action is to realize a mistake had been made, accept that the facts are what they are, and move on. The DM will not retroactively change the present condition of things to suit a players request! Life doesn't work that way, so why should D&D, when it mimics real life? If a player has the facts, then they should easily be able to make their case. It they can't, then they should quickly learn to no longer interrupt the DM and waste precious game time with 'wild goose chases' that have no standing and cannot be verified. If you do inadvertently allow something into the game that cannot be verified afterwards, do not hesitate to make clear that you made a mistake and quickly remove it from the game, no longer allowing it to be utilized. Otherwise you risk upsetting the delicate balance of the campaign with unplanned 'house rules' that are never welcome.