Satine Phoenix DM Tips: Permissions December 16, 2020Zoltar hello and welcome to GM tips the show</p> <p>where my friends and I share with you</p> <p>our thoughts and suggestions on how to</p> <p>gain master your role-playing game</p> <p>I’m your host Satine Phoenix co-creator</p> <p>of Mazur Khanna and a dungeon master on</p> <p>Fury’s reach today I’d like to discuss</p> <p>something I hear a lot about something</p> <p>that needs addressing today’s theme is</p> <p>permission</p> <p>permission to be a kid permission to</p> <p>roleplay</p> <p>permission as a game master changed the</p> <p>rules permission to reward players and</p> <p>encourage them permission to throw</p> <p>everything you’ve read about right out</p> <p>the window to unfold your story the</p> <p>heart and soul of role-playing is</p> <p>imagining things with your friends there</p> <p>are tons of tabletop games that you can</p> <p>play that each have their own set of</p> <p>mechanics take these mechanics away and</p> <p>guess what you can still play in each of</p> <p>these worlds take away mechanics I’m not</p> <p>actually saying that I’m actually</p> <p>talking about the similarities of all</p> <p>these games playing Ivan Van Norman’s</p> <p>game Dredd taught me a lot about what’s</p> <p>actually necessary to roleplay Ivan the</p> <p>game master made the decision to not</p> <p>have character sheets so the story would</p> <p>unfold the way he wanted it to we</p> <p>discussed her character’s intentions and</p> <p>backstories with Ivan before the game</p> <p>started and from there he knew how to</p> <p>navigate us through his world with the</p> <p>simplicity of making poles whenever we</p> <p>made story altering choices we were able</p> <p>to honestly react to the situation at</p> <p>hand</p> <p>having played games with over</p> <p>complicated mechanics m4e and simplified</p> <p>games like Dredd it’s clear that each</p> <p>tables mechanics can change the feel and</p> <p>pacing of the games you have permission</p> <p>dear game master to decide which of</p> <p>these mechanics you want to use and</p> <p>which you don’t you have the control the</p> <p>rules are a guideline and before you</p> <p>start trying to lynch me I got this</p> <p>first hand for my friends Mike morals</p> <p>and Chris Lindsay over at Dungeons and</p> <p>Dragons use what makes sense to you toss</p> <p>are developed rules you want as long as</p> <p>you communicate these changes to your</p> <p>adventures before the game and everyone</p> <p>knows your rules for the table you have</p> <p>permission from me from Mike and Chris</p> <p>to alter as you see fit for your game</p> <p>you have permission to take the campaign</p> <p>books and modules and use them as</p> <p>inspiration you can take the lore and</p> <p>flip it on its head you can destroy</p> <p>cities and enslave nations freeze oceans</p> <p>it’s your story don’t like how racist a</p> <p>town is you can change them you are the</p> <p>storyteller and the players are there to</p> <p>explore your world this might not go</p> <p>over well for all your players some want</p> <p>to play in the world they know and love</p> <p>there are plenty of gamers who run by</p> <p>the book and there are tables for them</p> <p>as well</p> <p>unless you’re a part of organized play</p> <p>groups you have the freedom to</p> <p>manipulate everything I can roll on</p> <p>about this but instead let’s discuss</p> <p>this with one of the original crew</p> <p>members and producer for geek and</p> <p>sundry’s twitch channel</p> <p>Ryan green hey I’m so happy you’re here</p> <p>and excited to be here we in our</p> <p>pre-interview had so much to talk about</p> <p>it gives pretty crazy I love the history</p> <p>of you and your gaming experience yeah I</p> <p>kind of rambled on for quite a bit than</p> <p>that it was a consensual rambling so</p> <p>it’s okay but we landed on permission</p> <p>because what I didn’t realize is that in</p> <p>order to create the stories and go to</p> <p>the depths that we go to we need to have</p> <p>permission and we don’t often give</p> <p>ourselves permission well it’s</p> <p>interesting because I feel that that</p> <p>people feel so limited by the</p> <p>information that they’re given from</p> <p>books and modules and you know GM’s Gil</p> <p>there’s so much stuff in content that’s</p> <p>there that that people look in and say</p> <p>this is how it’s done and that’s not</p> <p>true</p> <p>no those are guidelines those oh those</p> <p>are suggestions now it’s good for</p> <p>players to have players and DMS to share</p> <p>a general consensus of how rules work</p> <p>but in terms of what you’re allowed to</p> <p>let to do both as the player and as the</p> <p>DM that’s that’s a completely different</p> <p>story to tell altogether yeah so for me</p> <p>whenever I begin to develop an idea it</p> <p>starts as just that just that idea just</p> <p>that simple little molecule of something</p> <p>and ice and I write a story around that</p> <p>I go and I go and I go and I say well</p> <p>what rules work for this and 15 is such</p> <p>a friendly friendly storytelling system</p> <p>because the rules are so simple but it’s</p> <p>important to know all the rules and and</p> <p>leave them and then manipulate them and</p> <p>then manipulate them after you</p> <p>understand it and we all have our</p> <p>general mechanics you have you know the</p> <p>d20 you have your damage you know little</p> <p>little the algorithm that you have to</p> <p>perform which is generally only three or</p> <p>four numbers yeah that’s it and as long</p> <p>as you’ll have that then you can start</p> <p>playing with with the permission of what</p> <p>you’re allowed to do and what you’re not</p> <p>allowed to do what you allow your</p> <p>players do and you don’t allow them to</p> <p>do yeah and so for me one of the things</p> <p>that I love that I love to do is is</p> <p>allow my player</p> <p>to tell me something and so I I</p> <p>structure my thought process whenever</p> <p>we’re going say into an encounter I</p> <p>structure my thought process into three</p> <p>things first is the narrative the first</p> <p>priority is narrative then there is the</p> <p>mechanics and then there is the</p> <p>storytelling the actual narrative that I</p> <p>want to have so I have a general</p> <p>consensus as to what it is that I’m</p> <p>trying to achieve with my story but if</p> <p>the role player if the player actually</p> <p>tells me something that oh they want to</p> <p>run up and they want you to attack a</p> <p>bandit and they’re approaching they</p> <p>start describing the wind on their face</p> <p>and then that you know going through the</p> <p>leaves and subject and then sneaking up</p> <p>behind them and just to soft breath</p> <p>against the back of their neck to make</p> <p>their hairs rise and then slit their</p> <p>throat like yes let’s do this let’s</p> <p>do it so I’ll have them roll and if it’s</p> <p>high enough they just get a kill it</p> <p>HP doesn’t matter AC doesn’t matter I’m</p> <p>like you you I want you to the only AC</p> <p>that’s there is how much you gave me is</p> <p>how much the difficulty is is just it</p> <p>gets lowered with the more role-playing</p> <p>the more narrative you give me yeah</p> <p>because at this point I’m just the</p> <p>narrator for your story you as the</p> <p>player I’m just I’m just here to tell it</p> <p>but if you start writing your own fluid</p> <p>dimensions to it I’m all about it well</p> <p>what do you what happens when you have</p> <p>another player who sees that and it’s</p> <p>like that’s not fair they have X amount</p> <p>of hit points and in all this what are</p> <p>they what happens when they start I said</p> <p>well yeah if they just slit the pandas</p> <p>throat and you don’t like it that</p> <p>happened in two seconds what do you want</p> <p>to do you tell me how you stop that from</p> <p>happening tell me what the problem is</p> <p>that your character sees that because</p> <p>that you’re getting out of character</p> <p>emotions and you’re getting in character</p> <p>emotions you just told me you’re out of</p> <p>character what’s your in character and</p> <p>and then I want them to start engaging</p> <p>and start giving me that role plan that</p> <p>narrative because it’s not about it’s</p> <p>not always about min maxing it’s not</p> <p>always about the strict and stern</p> <p>mechanics of something DMS rewrite stuff</p> <p>all the time it might just be a simple</p> <p>spell or you know a little thing here</p> <p>and there but to completely forego</p> <p>combat mechanics in favor of</p> <p>storytelling</p> <p>that’s what D&D is about it’s about</p> <p>storytelling not about number crunching</p> <p>at least not</p> <p>so if you have a lot of players who are</p> <p>doing this super heavy descriptive</p> <p>role-playing do you manipulate the</p> <p>mechanics to the point where they all</p> <p>just kind of succeed because of the</p> <p>heavy role play well that’s where the</p> <p>next step comes in which is the</p> <p>mechanics and the storytelling itself</p> <p>because I might intend for a villain to</p> <p>escape now if they do things really well</p> <p>may start rolling those NAT twenties and</p> <p>they start getting there then I might</p> <p>have to change my story quite a bit but</p> <p>mechanics do have to limit what the</p> <p>players do just a little bit because</p> <p>otherwise if I if I let them do</p> <p>everything that they wanted at all times</p> <p>it gets out of control so that’s where</p> <p>the mechanics do come in and I have to</p> <p>say well you do have to see you know if</p> <p>you get hit you still have to perform a</p> <p>concentration check yeah because I like</p> <p>that and that does make sense you can’t</p> <p>you can’t stay focus on something after</p> <p>getting bludgeoned in the side of the</p> <p>head yes exactly and so that’s why that</p> <p>rule does exist but you know again if a</p> <p>rogue is going up and slitting a throne</p> <p>I’m like that’s something that you do as</p> <p>a rogue like that’s that’s a function</p> <p>that you have if a wizard did that</p> <p>different story Oh interesting</p> <p>so unless unless the character is</p> <p>dynamic in their backstory in their</p> <p>history says that they have this</p> <p>criminal origin that they you know the</p> <p>skull drudgery that they try and perform</p> <p>and that’s a little bit different but</p> <p>that’s because you’ve written me a</p> <p>narrative you’ve given me a reason why</p> <p>your character acts the way and performs</p> <p>that way as a wizard which is it seems</p> <p>out of character for the wizard class</p> <p>but in character for you so it’s like</p> <p>honest role playing will encourage you</p> <p>to reward the players absolutely</p> <p>constantly and and I feel that that’s</p> <p>the greatest thing that you can do for</p> <p>the players is reward them for</p> <p>role-playing and reward them for telling</p> <p>their story again I’m just narrating at</p> <p>this point yeah cuz I want them to come</p> <p>up with their dialogue I want them to</p> <p>come up with their monologue and</p> <p>furthermore whenever you’re you’re</p> <p>looking or you’re you’re listening to</p> <p>the story I want everyone at the table</p> <p>to stop and just listen and just think</p> <p>for a moment and not try and just go</p> <p>over to the ladder</p> <p>I don’t know this anime the Doritos and</p> <p>you know just going and I just want them</p> <p>to to be able to listen to what they’re</p> <p>saying is you’re gonna get so much more</p> <p>out of that because it’s about reacting</p> <p>that’s the that’s the honest role</p> <p>playing is reacting to the other person</p> <p>and there’s so many people at the table</p> <p>say there’s four players and a game</p> <p>master everybody’s reacting to one</p> <p>another so listen to what the other</p> <p>players are doing is what you’re saying</p> <p>listen to the game master and then kind</p> <p>of feed off of that yeah and then it</p> <p>because that’s gonna establish the type</p> <p>of things that you might that might</p> <p>influence your character and the player</p> <p>again that the in character in the out</p> <p>of character at dynamic which are two</p> <p>very different things and that that’s</p> <p>something that I feels really important</p> <p>for the roleplay itself is understanding</p> <p>those two elements because I might be</p> <p>angry that so-and-so just kind of bent</p> <p>the rules in the favour and the DM</p> <p>allowed it but then a and I had to say</p> <p>well what would my character do what</p> <p>would my character do in this moment if</p> <p>they can bend the rules I bet I can’t –</p> <p>but how far can I go to the limitations</p> <p>of my character so I think that a lot of</p> <p>people are afraid of letting go of the</p> <p>numbers I I agree I agree so how do you</p> <p>that so you gave one example on how to</p> <p>overcome that or do you have any other</p> <p>examples III try and tell everyone</p> <p>yes and no matter what yes and if if you</p> <p>know we’re having conversation of forest</p> <p>and one of the character says that</p> <p>Beehive is nearby suddenly a beehive is</p> <p>nearby and I’m like sure why not it</p> <p>really has no influence over the story</p> <p>yet</p> <p>but it’s there but and at the same time</p> <p>if like we were talking about the the</p> <p>Bandit going up or the Bandit standing</p> <p>there and someone slitting the throat</p> <p>now a dagger has a certain number that’s</p> <p>associated with it but at that point</p> <p>a dagger still deals a lot of damage to</p> <p>a jugular yeah I don’t care what a</p> <p>number says at that point if you’re if</p> <p>you’re telling me specifically what</p> <p>you’re doing then then that allows the</p> <p>numbers to just not exist but if you say</p> <p>I’m gonna go up and attack the Bandit</p> <p>then the numbers will exist okay so if</p> <p>you have like you have you have your</p> <p>dagger at the jugular and you’re like</p> <p>this is what I want to do heavy heavy</p> <p>role play I roll a one you still get to</p> <p>more or less do what you are doing but</p> <p>as you were approaching you misstep and</p> <p>you stepped on that twig getting the</p> <p>attention of the other ones you end up</p> <p>getting the dagger into the side to the</p> <p>side</p> <p>there because of the sudden attention</p> <p>that was drawn to you you still hit the</p> <p>guy and you still you know scratch the</p> <p>throat yeah but you don’t necessarily</p> <p>deal all the damage that you were</p> <p>intending and now as a rogue that was</p> <p>standing there all the attention on you</p> <p>is exactly what you don’t want to have</p> <p>happen yeah so I don’t want to take away</p> <p>from what you did from the intent of</p> <p>your action in the intent of your</p> <p>roleplay I don’t want to take that away</p> <p>but I am going to punish you because the</p> <p>mechanics told me to interesting so as a</p> <p>game master you are the one who can</p> <p>guide how far the role-playing can go</p> <p>I’ve seen some the mechanics a base on</p> <p>the mechanics but I always respect the</p> <p>role play first and then if the</p> <p>mechanics say that I can’t respect the</p> <p>role play do you know a die roll says I</p> <p>can’t respect I’m like well we’ll see</p> <p>I’m fudging it here and there budging I</p> <p>hear things</p> <p>you’re the game master you want to give</p> <p>the players a certain amount of openness</p> <p>but just here and there and then</p> <p>resurrection is actually another great</p> <p>example a character dies and it’s like</p> <p>well I’m a cleric I’m I guess but are</p> <p>you trained enough are you powerful</p> <p>enough can you actually do it do you</p> <p>have access to that spell do you still</p> <p>have the spell slot available or did you</p> <p>drain all of that ratings within you one</p> <p>day you know for that day and you know</p> <p>so the role play might be really rich</p> <p>but I’m like you know what’s better the</p> <p>fact that you can’t do something yes</p> <p>role play that you can’t do it you place</p> <p>your hands on their chest you feel the</p> <p>magic begin to surge through that</p> <p>radiant energy begin a search through</p> <p>you and in slowly pit her out you feel</p> <p>exhausted and you begin to collapse</p> <p>sucks because because that spell slots</p> <p>not there but I’m like I’m now going to</p> <p>let you know that you are fatigued from</p> <p>this and you are actually suffering</p> <p>exhaustion because you are over</p> <p>stressing your body yeah do it</p> <p>and then the players need to know that</p> <p>it’s okay yeah it’s okay to fail and</p> <p>it’s okay to have flaws and to be below</p> <p>a certain amount of hit points and all</p> <p>that I mean that’s that’s how life goes</p> <p>right and I want I want to as bring as</p> <p>many real-life rules that we have in</p> <p>restrictions that we have in our reality</p> <p>to the game without making it feel like</p> <p>real life and still feel like a game</p> <p>yeah are you ready for the last three</p> <p>questions I hope so</p> <p>what is your pregame house</p> <p>rule mmm definitely yes aunt mm-hmm</p> <p>definitely yes aunt I want people to</p> <p>feel comfortable and I want them and</p> <p>then I want and that they are able to</p> <p>make the story such as the beehive or</p> <p>the Bandit and I want them to know that</p> <p>it’s okay to not know everything as long</p> <p>as you’re trying yes as long you know</p> <p>you don’t need to know all the rules you</p> <p>need to know more crunch you don’t need</p> <p>to know exactly the the right path to</p> <p>take to level up in the most efficient</p> <p>way do what matters to you</p> <p>I this is your story this is your</p> <p>character just go do with it and</p> <p>everyone else is going to accept that</p> <p>around you because they don’t know</p> <p>better either what is your favorite GM</p> <p>moment I’m so lucky because it is a</p> <p>thing that I get to experience again and</p> <p>again with every campaign and it’s</p> <p>character creation oh and it’s because I</p> <p>can sit here and create characters all</p> <p>day you know that’s that’s what a DM</p> <p>does they create hundreds and hundreds</p> <p>of characters but especially with new</p> <p>players if I say we’re gonna create a</p> <p>character in a fantasy environment right</p> <p>now you already thought of something I</p> <p>don’t know what that is and it’s the</p> <p>first time that I get to interact with</p> <p>my player where I get we get to share</p> <p>our imagination and it comes together</p> <p>and we think of the exact same thing</p> <p>eventually we get to it but we get the</p> <p>exact same thing yeah and if I say it</p> <p>that you say Bart I’m like great you</p> <p>already know who your mother and father</p> <p>are you already know if they’re dead or</p> <p>alive you know if you were raised by</p> <p>wolves or bears you know all this I</p> <p>don’t tell me so I just it’s a</p> <p>questionnaire and an inquiry</p> <p>why I just start going in and you were</p> <p>writing a story together in that moment</p> <p>but it’s our story no one else in the</p> <p>room knows it and so to see a story</p> <p>written in seconds in moments that’s my</p> <p>favorite DM experience because then I</p> <p>look at everything that you created in</p> <p>that very moment I say well now how am I</p> <p>going to fit this in and how am I going</p> <p>to make sure to best represent your</p> <p>story in this game because it’s about</p> <p>you not me beautiful no GM tip for the</p> <p>audience okay so I kinda meant a little</p> <p>bit before but it’s listening stopping</p> <p>and listening</p> <p>whenever the dam is speaking you are</p> <p>listening whenever a player is speaking</p> <p>you are listening</p> <p>because there is so much to get out of</p> <p>those small moments the little nuances</p> <p>and it’s not just listening it’s</p> <p>watching because if I say sure we can go</p> <p>there that’s one thing but sure we can</p> <p>go there</p> <p>the influx in my voice yeah the</p> <p>expression on my face the the little</p> <p>bits of acting that you get from that</p> <p>can have an entirely different meaning</p> <p>exactly just because you weren’t talking</p> <p>to your friend because it wasn’t your</p> <p>turn</p> <p>yes and and if it’s stopping listening</p> <p>and paying attention like those are so</p> <p>important to be able to do absolutely</p> <p>thanks for watching GM tips here on geek</p> <p>& sundry a big thank you to Ryan for</p> <p>hanging out with us a pleasure where can</p> <p>we find you on the Internet so off for</p> <p>Twitter you can find me at hydro snail</p> <p>and my twitch is twitch TV slash hydro</p> <p>snail underscore Ryan green very long</p> <p>very nice</p> <p>I’m sateen Phoenix as always at sateen</p> <p>Phoenix and you can ask me questions to</p> <p>explore on this show at hashtag ask</p> <p>sateen you can find me Sundays at noon</p> <p>on orphan echo on twitch.tv slash major</p> <p>arcana and tuesday evenings dungeon</p> <p>mastering on twitch TV slash D&D and if</p> <p>you haven’t seen sagas of sundry dreads</p> <p>check it out on project alpha comm Ryan</p> <p>will you GMs out of here</p> <p>I’d love to so you find yourself on your</p> <p>knees hands bound behind your back</p> <p>you’re in some form of stone room</p> <p>possibly a cathedral moonlight shining</p> <p>through the stained glass looking to</p> <p>your left you see that stained glass the</p> <p>moonlight shimmering in the dust on it</p> <p>you see a falling star no an angel some</p> <p>sort</p> <p>crashing before you a man steps out of</p> <p>the shadows his face obscured with</p> <p>darkness he spreads his long black wings</p> <p>they’re broken and battered from combat</p> <p>feathers begin to fall from them and</p> <p>from the tips you can see that they are</p> <p>they have been burned and charred with</p> <p>battle but they are stained with blood</p> <p>looking at you hello bishop you look at</p> <p>me with such reprise you’ve seen me</p> <p>before yes</p> <p>you see his focus still the glance up</p> <p>back up to that stained glass window and</p> <p>back at you you can’t hear you you know</p> <p>hell hell is not a place of fire and</p> <p>brimstone you feel your body begin to</p> <p>heat and swell no he’ll there’s not a</p> <p>place of pain as you get an image of</p> <p>hooks flying towards you or agony you</p> <p>feel the hooks descend into your flesh</p> <p>no hell is a place where God doesn’t</p> <p>listen placing his hand upon your head</p> <p>your head you disintegrate into ash</p> <p>[Music]</p> <p>[Applause]</p> <p>you</p> <p>[Music]</p> <p>[Applause]</p> <p> Share this:TweetWhatsApp
