Several listener questions came in that were spiraling around the same general idea, and one that DMs have fielded since the very beginning of the game: how, and when, to exert the unlimited level of power that you possess as the DM.
In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave, take part in a grab bag of listener questions that deal with players constantly interrupting, as well as how to best approach using, or not using, the newest 2024 version of the Player’s Handbook. For any DM who has wrestled with how and when to exert their God-level power, this is the episode for you.
3:30 The first listener question that deals with the player that constantly interrupts the BBEGs monologues.
4:25 The pro is that you have an excited and engaged player as well as DM Tony’s idea of the “cutscene.”
5:40 Exerting your control to set a scene.
10:00 Teaching players how your world works and allowing the players to adjust the setup of the scene.
13:15 “We’ll get to that” – a bookmark for all the actions players want to take because it is still a turn-based game.
17:20 We delve deeper into DM Tony’s idea of the “cutscene.” What is it and how to use it.
21:10 The awesomeness of the hero punching the villain in the jaw and not caring about their speech.
24:07 The second listener question regarding using the new 2024 update to 5e.
26:00 We already decide what races, classes, and rules we allow in our campaigns – this is no different.
29:15 5e.tools – a great digital resource for DMs and the new Mastery properties of weapons.
34:00 Changing rulesets halfway through a campaign.
154.Can I Ask You A Question? When and How to Exert Your Unlimited Power as a DM in D&D
00:46:46
153.Misty Mountain Hop: Unleash Epic Adventures and Elevate Your Game with Middle-Earth's Magic
00:50:18
152.We’ve Only Just Begun: Kickstarting An Epic D&D Campaign With Expert Player Guides
00:38:31
151.The Time Warp – Mastering the Strange Way Time Flows in Your D&D Campaign
00:52:02
150.Don't Worry About A Thing: Essential Tips To Turn Your D&D Fails Into Wins
00:50:08
149.Signed, Sealed, Delivered – Revolutionize Your D&D Games With Digital Tools
00:49:12
148.Shipping Up To Boston – Uncovering The Secrets To Running An Epic Pirate D&D Campaign
00:46:59
147.Love the One You’re With – 3WD’s Top 7 Tips To Running Published D&D Adventures
00:43:54
146.It’s the End of the World: 3 Wise DMs Pro Tips to Ending Your D&D Campaign the Right Way
00:51:04
145.The Ties That Bind – Tying Together Characters, Backstories, And Adventures To Create The Most Immersive D&D Game Ever
00:48:36
144.Chill, Till The Next Episode – 3WD Answers The Question Of How Long An Adventure Should Be And How To Build Episodic Adventures For Your D&D Game
00:50:14
143.What I Like (And Hate) About You – 3 Wise DMs Reflect On A Decade of 5e and Share Tips That Will Make You Have Your Best D&D Game Ever
00:53:20
142.Go Go Godzilla! 3WD Brainstorms The Best Ways To Bring Unbeatable Monsters Like Godzilla Into Your D&D Campaign
00:45:33
141.Back in the Saddle Again: Our Best Tips and Tricks for Coming Out of DM Retirement and Running Your First D&D Game in Decades
00:43:51
140.Changes - 3 Wise DMs Absolutely Best Tips For The Player That Wants To Change Their D&D Character Class
00:42:22
139.RPG Mythbusters: The Tavern is the Best Place to Start Your D&D Adventure
00:50:54
138.I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In: 3 Wise DMs Discuss How Using Conditions Will Enhance Your D&D Game
00:56:47
137.She’s a Mystery to Me: How Long To Keep Secrets and Clues From Your Players In Your D&D Game
00:44:04
136.Whatcha Got Cookin’? – 3WDs Top 9 Tips To Homebrewing Magic and Magical Items From Pop Culture In Your D&D Campaign
00:49:20
135.You Say It’s Your Birthday – 3WD Reveals 7 Tips That Will Help You Build Your Own Very Special One-Shot D&D Game
00:43:48
134.Inspiration: How You Use It and 4 Ways You Can Improve It In Your D&D Game
00:46:42
133.Share and Share Alike: 3WDs Top Tips For Dealing With D&D Players Who Won’t Share The Spotlight
00:54:27
132.The Breakup Game – How Constant Splitting of the Party Can Lead to DM Burnout and What to Do About It
00:54:10
131.Damage, Inc. – 3WD Discuss What Hit Points Represent And How To Improve Your D&D Game By Changing Your Perspective.
00:46:18
130.Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting – 3WD Reviews the Avatar Legends RPG and Reveals Tips on Running Brand-New Systems in Your D&D Group!
00:51:49
129.Stone Cold Crazy – How a First-Time DM Ran a Crazy One-Shot With Four Kurt Russell’s!
00:47:04
128.Tumbling Dice – Using Board Games in Your D&D Game To Create Unique And Fun Sessions
00:43:27
127.Strange Magic – The Best Ways To Adjudicate Spell Effects In Your D&D and TTRPG Campaigns
00:47:54
126.Let’s Give ‘Em Something To Talk About: Our Best Tips To Get Your Players Roleplaying And Talking Amongst Themselves In Your D&D Game
00:50:50
125.Tribute to the Greatest Game In The World: The 3 Wise DMs Share The Lessons Learned From Running A 12 Player D&D Game
01:07:34
124.To Roll or Not to Roll? The 7 Best Times To Roll The Dice In Your D&D Game And When Not To.
00:44:09
123.Cutscenes – How to Deliver Lore and Secrets in Your D&D Games and TTRPGs While Still Keeping Your Players Involved
00:50:33
122.Live and Let Die: Dealing with Anti-Murderhobos in Curse of Strahd and Players Who Don’t Want to Confront the Enemy in Your TTRPG Game
00:45:27
121.How Low Can You Go? The Things Every DM Needs To Know When Creating Low Magic Settings in Their D&D And TTRPG Campaigns
00:46:04
120.D&D Accounting: 11 Tips and Pitfalls to Tracking Treasure in your TTRPG
00:43:53
119.Come Together: 3 Wise DMs and Tabletop Journeys Come Together to Discuss the Best Tips to Running a Shared TTRPG Campaign World
01:08:47
118.Behind the Screens: 3 Wise DMs Reveal What They Want and Need Behind Their DM Screens and Offer Tips to Improve Your DM Set-Up
00:44:26
117.Glory Days: 3 Wise DMs Shares the Pros and Cons With Their Return to Basic D&D Through the Old School Renaissance
00:46:25
116.My Name’s the Teacher: Making Leveling with Character Abilities, Oaths, and Patrons Matter in your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign
00:41:34
115.It’s So Easy: 3 Wise DMs 18 Favorite Dungeon Master Hacks To Help Make Running Your TTRPG Game That Much Easier
00:53:50
114.When Good Gaming Groups Go Bad: 3 Wise DMs Tips On How To Continue Your TTRPG Campaign With Only One Player
00:40:50
113.Just Do It! 3 Wise DMs Interviews a Brand-New D&D Enthusiast About the 13 Tips and Tricks to Mastering the Dungeon
00:52:39
112.Terrain, Maps & Minis, Oh My! The Long Tradition of Using Terrain and Minis in D&D to Enhance Your Game
00:54:25
111.Back in Black: The Players Wrap-Up to the Absolutely Epic Curse of Strahd Finale with Vampyr, the Star of Blood
01:16:22
110.Finish Your Homebrew Campaign With a Bang: DMs’ Breakdown of the Epic Ending of the Woodstock Wanderers
01:16:32
109.Will Player Character Secrets Ruin Your Campaign?
00:48:29
108.The Epic-Tier Divide: Bringing Your DnD Campaign Into the Wild World of High-Level Play
01:06:10
107.11 Quirky Dungeon Master Habits of the 3 Wise DMs
00:55:58
106.DMing All-Ranged Parties in Dungeons and Dragons 5E
00:51:44
105.When Is It OK to Kill a Player Character and What Do You Do Next?
01:12:57
104.Creating Fantastic RPG Factions: How to Use Groups, Guilds, Criminals, Guards, and More Organizations in Your TTRPG Campaigns
00:52:46
103.Playing With the Future: How to DM Foreshadowing in Dungeons and Dragons and other TTRPG Campaigns
00:47:23
102.DMing Advantage and Disadvantage: How and When to Play With D&D 5E’s Most Elegant Tool
00:52:41
101.The Pregnant PC: Handling Odd Character Creation Requests in Dungeons and Dragons and Other RPGs
01:00:18
100.100 Episodes of Dungeon Master Advice: The 22 Most Important DM Lessons From 2 Years of Gaming and Recording 3 Wise DMs
01:04:15
99.A Dark Sun Rising: The Allure and Compromises of Using Pre-Made Settings
01:01:42
98.Ending the Campaign: Bringing Your Dungeons & Dragons Story to a Satisfying Conclusion
00:50:21
97.DMPCs vs. Sidekicks: What’s the Better Way to Give Your Dungeons and Dragons PCs a DM Avatar?
00:52:42
96.Is ‘Don’t Over-Prepare’ the Worst Advice for New DMs?
01:12:31
95.Are Red Herrings Derailing Your D&D Game? Here’s What to Do About It
00:50:20
94.DM Hacks and Tricks to Make Running D&D Less Tedious and More Fun
01:09:32
93.How Many Players Are Too Many for One D&D Game? What About Other RPG Systems?
00:55:33
92.Putting PCs In Charge: How Do You Handle RPG Players Characters Moving Up to Become Kings, Queens and Leaders of Powerful Organizations In Your World?
01:09:58
91.When Should You Bend RPG Rules? Handling Players Who Want to Adjust Game Mechanics They Don’t Like
01:07:30
90.How Do You Make New DMs?
00:51:37
89.No Rest for the Weary: How the Rest Cadence of D&D 5E Can Completely Change Your Game
00:59:20
88.The Sinister 7: How to Run 7 Iconic D&D Monsters for Maximum Mystique
01:05:04
87.Do D&D Magic Item Limits Crimp Your DM Style?
01:03:54
86.The Fetch Quest: Are They Fun? Are They Worth It? Are They Just Filler for the Big Story?
01:02:56
85.Getting the “Face” Player to Shut Up and Let Other Players Share the Spotlight
01:09:07
84.9 Alternate D&D Rules to Try: Our Favorite Optional Mechanics From the DMG, Homebrew and Other Games
01:17:35
83.How to Handle a Backseat DM: 11 Things to Know
01:14:47
82.Sharing RPG Worlds: Balancing PC Power Levels and NPC Portrayals Across Shared Campaigns With Multiple DMs
01:25:03
81.Does D&D 5E Need Character Levels? Radical (Heretical?) Ideas About D&D Advancement
01:37:50
80.How to DM PC Builds and Abilities That Piss You Off
01:16:58
79.How Hard Is Too Hard for Your RPG Campaign and Players?
01:28:05
78.Characters Over Combat: What We Learned From Gaming in 2021
01:18:21
77.What to do With a Bored D&D Player? A DM’s Dilemma
01:10:12
76.The Curse of Strahd Postmortem: Our Players Talk About What They Thought of D&D 5E’s Barovia, the Things They Loved, and a Few Things They Didn’t
01:43:44
75.Strahd, Dead and Loving It? The 3 Wise DM’s Review of D&D 5E’s Curse of Strahd and DM Dave’s Campaign Through Ravenloft
01:11:26
74.All Eyes on the Game: 12 Tips to Keep Your RPG Players Involved and Focused on Playing
01:15:23
73.Motivating Your Players: How to Get Your TTRPG Player Characters to Take the Hook and Get On With the Adventure
01:17:28
72.It Takes a Village: 19 Tips for Building Towns and Cities for Your RPG Campaigns
00:51:30
71.D&D 5E for Old Fogeys: What Old-School DMs Like Us Should Know About How this Edition Compares to Earlier Versions of Dungeons & Dragons
01:11:15
70.Horror Gaming for Halloween: How We Squeeze Scares Out of Players Around the RPG Table
01:12:17
69.Teaching Your Wife to Play RPGs: How to Bring a Non-Gamer — and Perhaps Shy or Unmotivated Player — Into the Game You Love Without Making Them Hate It
01:07:56
68.WotC Changing D&D 5E Monsters and More – Are These the Updates the Game Needs?
01:14:04
67.29 DM Ideas for Spicing Up D&D 5E: New Twists for Campaigns, Combat, Equipment, Magic and More!
01:31:53
66.Patrons, Powers and Punishments in D&D 5E: So Many Classes Get Their Powers From a Higher Power … But at What Price?
01:11:58
65.RPG Weather, Puzzles and Ritual Challenges: 3 Ways to Make Your Campaign World More Immersive
01:08:16
64.Keeping Your Story Straight: How We Manage All the DM Details of Our RPG Campaigns
01:21:13
63.I’m on a Boat! Running Sea-Faring, Space-Faring and Other Ship-Based RPG Campaigns
00:57:13
62.Dragons: Why We Love Them and How We Run Them
01:08:00
61.How to Bring WrestleMania to Barovia: DM Dave’s Curse of Strahd Goes WAY Off Book With a Homebrew Wrestling PPV
01:06:34
60.Strange D&D Homebrew: Knowing When, Where and How to Make Your RPG Campaign Weird Without Losing Your Players
01:16:44
59.When DMs Go to War: How to Run Mass Combat in D&D (and similar RPGs) and Not Bore Your Players
00:57:38
58.When Your Game Goes Hollywood: How to Adapt Jurassic Park, Jumanji, and Any Other Movie Into an RPG Adventure or Campaign
00:54:02
57.Surrender Like a Boss: When RPG Monsters and NPCs Should Give Up and How to Get PCs to Accept Their Submission
01:11:37
56.21 Tips to Master D&D Combat: How to Run RPG Fights That Balance Fun, Challenge and Time Investment
01:38:25
55.Powering Up! Bringing D&D Monsters, Villains and Campaigns Up to Your Party’s Level
01:11:22
54.13 Tips for DMing Across the Multiverse: How to Bring Different RPG Genres to Life, From Fantasy to Steampunk, Intrigue, Horror and More
01:07:30
53.Superhero Roleplaying: How to Run Comic Book RPG Campaigns That Feel Super
01:15:59
52.11 Ways to Be a Better Dungeon Master: Lessons Learned in Our First Year Recording 3 Wise DMs
01:19:23
51.Bringing RPGs Back From COVID: How Do We Get Back to In-Person Gaming After More Than a Year of Roll20 and Quarantine?
01:19:01
50.21 Things Wise DMs Want From Their Best RPG Players
01:20:02
49.DMing Big Character Changes: How to Handle PCs Shifting Alignments, Races, Classes, and More Without Ruining the Game or That Player’s Fun
01:03:24
48.14 Tips for DMing First-Time RPG Players
01:14:46
47.15 Tips for Running RPG Villains: Playing BBEGs Your PCs Will Love to Hate
01:23:02
46.D&D Alignment: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for Your TTRPG Campaigns — RPG MythBusters
01:33:38
45.The Players’ Review of Storm King’s Thunder: The Whole Party Spills the Tea on Tony’s Version of #SKT
01:47:57
44.Storm King’s Thunder DM Review: The 9 Deviations DM Tony Used to Make D&D’s Giant Globetrot His Own
01:27:15
43.Bringing Your RPG Campaign World to Life: 37 Tricks to Give Your Setting a Soul
01:35:36
42.RPG MythBusters: PC Party Balance Is Essential! … Maybe Not as Much as You Think?
01:12:10
41.TTRPG Party Dynamics: How We Want Players to Work Together and What We Do When They Don’t
01:19:10
40.Missing in Action: How to Handle Players Skipping Games and Scheduling Conflicts
01:02:50
39.RPG MythBusters: Never Split the Party! … Or Should You?
01:32:42
38.How to DM Epic-Tier Games: 19 Tips for Running – and Ending – High-Level TTRPG Campaigns
01:16:55
37.Party Downtime: When, How and Should You Let the Players Pursue Their Own Character Goals?
01:24:18
36.When the DM Isn’t Having Fun: How to Fix a Game That Feels Like a Chore
01:02:58
35.When Metagaming Goes Wrong: How Do You Stop Out-of-Character Knowledge From Ruining Your Game?
01:20:16
34.Bringing NPCs to Life: How to Build Legendary Characters Your Players Will Talk About for Decades
01:20:12
33.How to Move a Stalled RPG Campaign Forward
01:08:38
32.DMing Large Groups: 19 Tips for Running Games With 6 or More Players
01:23:10
31.Our Favorite DMing Inspirations and Influences
01:41:32
30.DM Burnout: 6 Things That Cause It, and How We Recover From It
01:23:33
29.The Bootstrap Guide to DMing Your First Role Playing Game
01:10:36
28.2020: A Year in the TTRPG Lab
01:37:35
27.How to Set Traps in D&D: Causing Chaos, Mayhem and Problems for Your Players
01:17:29
26.D&D and Mental Health: Therapy, Autism and Exploring the Things We Can't Just Say
01:22:36
25.RPG Communication Breakdowns
01:32:11
24.D&D Errata: Love It or Hate It, Here’s How We DM It
01:32:20
23.Theater of the Mind: Is It a Better Way to Play D&D?
01:08:27
22.Rolling the Dice: How to Balance Randomness, Story and PC Agency in TTRPGs
01:25:01
21.Famous Fictional PCs: Should You Let Players Run Pop-Culture Clones in Your RPG Campaigns?
01:29:59
20.3 Ways to Design RPG Campaigns: Railroad vs. Open World vs. Dave
01:32:59
19.RPG Economics: What Can Players Do With All That Gold?
01:32:37
18.Digging Into Character Backstories for Fun and Pathos
01:18:27
17.19 Crazy Player Characters’ Stunts and How We DMed Them
01:38:42
16.9 Things D&D 5E Does Really Well, and 10 Things It Doesn’t
01:35:51
15.Adventure Time: 15 Tips to Build and DM Great Adventures, and the Ways We Fail at Them
01:20:57
14.7 Questions Dungeon Masters Ask and Our ‘Wisest’ Answers
01:40:09
13.3 Styles of RPG Campaign Storytelling
01:44:09
12.The Tao of D&D Encounters: How We Build Fights That Fit Our Games
01:30:18
11.39 Tips for New Dungeon Masters — and a Few for Veteran DMs, Too
01:18:04
10.13 Crazy DM Stunts You Won't Believe We Pulled
01:38:44
9.3 Ways to Pace D&D Encounters, Sessions and Games
01:23:37
8.What’s Fun for the Dungeon Master?
01:28:25
7.The 8 D&D Player Types and How to DM Them
01:21:44
6.What Makes Good Players and Problem Players?
01:21:15
5.The Biggest DM Mistakes We’ve Made
01:09:03
4.Rules vs. Continuity: Managing the Verisimilitude of Your Game
01:07:52
3.WotC's Racism Fix: Can Good DMs Help D&D's Stereotypes Problems?
01:00:58
2.Roll20 DM Newbs: Tips and Tricks From the Wise DMs' First Online Campaigns
01:17:24
1.Introductions: Traumatized Players, Improv Tricks and Our Biggest Struggles