Online course for Dungeon Masters
Great Game Mastering
Run games with confidence.
Take a seat behind the DM screen. 59 video lessons on preparing, running and rescuing a game, from your very first session to the trickiest table. Based on interviews with 100+ DMs, and it works with any roleplaying system.
Title art by Deiv Calviz, used with permission
01
Preparation
Prep where it matters, props, maps, the DM screen.
02
Players
Find the right group, set expectations, handle issues.
03
Running the game
Drama, pacing, combat beyond rolling dice.
04
Special situations
Online play, missing players, the dreaded TPK.
What is it?
From complete beginner
to confident DM.
A course packed with tips and suggestions for Dungeon Masters and Game Masters, or for anyone thinking of DMing for the first time.
Become more efficient in your game prep, cut time, focus and avoid common pitfalls. Compelling narration, voice acting, finding the right players, dealing with issues at the table, creating unforgettable moments, and running combat beyond “roll the dice and subtract something”.
What’s included
Four foundations,
59 lessons.
Lifetime access to the course and all future updates. No recurring membership fee.
- Game preparation. Props, the DM screen, maps and handouts, and how to prepare where it matters.
- Players. Find the right players, set expectations, deal with issues and match the game to each player.
- Running the game. The DM role, drama and excitement, pacing, combat, battle maps and miniatures.
- Special situations. Playing online, missing players, making magic special, monster variations and avoiding the total party kill.
We will cover more ground than the elemental plane of earth.
What you get out of it
“Run a game players, and you, will love to remember.”
- Confidently run a game, even with experienced players, even if it’s your first time.
- Save time on your game prep by preparing where it matters.
- Handle issues at the gaming table calmly and confidently.
- Hone your skills with the included exercises whenever you have time.
- Add arrows to your storytelling quiver by switching between styles.
- Create hundreds of monster variations and make monsters and magic more than stat blocks.
Is it for you?
Written for new DMs
and seasoned ones.
For players who want to take on the Dungeon Master role, and for Dungeon Masters with a few years of experience who want to hone their craft.
Novice Dungeon Masters learn frameworks and tools that make it easy to run a game confidently, even if you have never done it before. More experienced DMs get tools to spend prep time more efficiently and to handle problem players and difficult situations with ease.
Everything in the course works across all roleplaying systems. If you mainly want to write storylines for your campaigns, have a look at Writing Adventures and Campaigns instead.
Which course is for you?
A brief comparison of our courses
Want to write the adventures as well as run them? Get both courses in the bundle for $65.
From students
What Dungeon Masters told us
Course inventory
Five sections, 59 lessons
About four hours of video, plus checklists, cheat sheets and an improv generator to download.
01 Great Dungeon Mastering 3 lessons
→ Introduction and welcome
→ Who is speaking?
→ Overview: what's in store?
03 The player group 8 lessons
→ Player group: introduction
→ How do I find players?
→ Who are the right players for my campaign?
→ Setting expectations
→ Game table etiquette
→ Getting to a good party composition
→ Balancing power levels between characters
→ Exercise: know your players
05 Special situations 15 lessons
→ Special Situations: introduction
→ Taking care of your voice
→ Voice acting
→ Dealing with challenging players!
→ GM to the rescue: TPK and Deus Ex Machina
→ Making magic magical
→ Making monsters more interesting: variations
→ Homebrew rules
→ Dealing with in- and out of character knowledge
→ Dealing with missing players
→ Dealing with a split party
→ Character (over-) optimisation & Min-Maxing
→ Playing online or remotely: what are the options?
→ A touch of evil: should you allow evil characters?
→ Final words
02 Preparation 13 lessons
→ Preparation: introduction
→ Session preparation in more detail
→ One Shot games vs. Campaigns
→ Do you need to know all the rules?
→ How much should you prepare?
→ Exercise: Speed preparation
→ Power levels characters vs. world
→ Finding good adventure hooks
→ Design elements: dungeons, buildings, environments
→ Design elements: Traps and secret doors and rooms
→ Design elements: Riddles and puzzles
→ Dealing with commercial campaign settings
→ Game master screen setup
04 Running the game 20 lessons
→ Running the game: introduction
→ The game master role (Leadership)
→ The rule of cool
→ Managing conflict
→ Dealing with stage fright and anxiety
→ Building drama: narration
→ Exercise: variations on a theme
→ Building drama: cutscenes
→ More options to build drama and immersion
→ Props and handouts
→ Character rewards (loot, gold and other things)
→ Running combat: Encounters
→ Running combat: Battle maps and miniatures
→ Danger ahead: player character death
→ "GM cheating": should you be fudging the dice?
→ Dealing with failed skill checks: failing forward
→ Pacing the game
→ Winging it: improvisation
→ Exercise: Stanislavski improvisation
→ Exercise: after action report
Join us
Start your adventure today.
Lifetime access and all future updates. One payment, no subscription.
$39 one-time
30-day money-back guarantee, as long as you haven’t started more than half the lessons.
Who is speaking?
Hey, I’m Mark.
I am a scientist who also happens to be a long-time roleplayer with 30 years of experience. I have run games in many different systems, from fantasy to sci-fi, and thanks to my day job of handling bacteria in a lab you’ll likely get a unique perspective :)
I spent years putting the information in this course together and learned a lot along the way, which I would love to share with you.
We share the most amazing hobby on the planet, you and I, and I am passionate about getting the most out of our gaming and preparation time to bring the fun front and center.
Questions
Frequently
asked.
Will this course help me even if I have never been a DM before?
Yes. I designed this course so first-time DMs have everything they need to run their first session.
Will this course help me if I already have experience as a DM?
Yes. The preparation lessons include time-saving tips that even experienced DMs will find useful, and my perspective may give you insights you hadn’t thought of before. For more advanced material, have a look at the Writing Adventures course.
Will this course work with my game system?
Yes. The fundamentals in this course work with any roleplaying system and genre, not only Dungeons & Dragons or fantasy games.
What if I don’t like the course?
I will never ask you to spend money on something you don’t enjoy. There is a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee. The only condition, to prevent abuse, is that you haven’t started more than half of the lessons.
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