Game Masters Guild: Be A Better Dungeon Master for D&D and More

Welcome, brave adventurer! If you’re seeking to become the leader of your party, you’ve come to the right place. 

The Game Master’s Guild is a place to gather with other role players and gamer masters to learn more about how to run a fun and exciting role playing game for your friends and family. We will discuss game rules, dungeon design, plot and encounter structure, and techniques for keeping players engaged at the table. 

This class has an interactive, conversational style. The teacher will bring enough lesson  ideas each week to fill the class time, but our focus will be on how to integrate each of those ideas into each learner’s campaign. 

Remember Rule Zero: Everyone should have fun!

This is an ongoing class in which learners are encouraged to bring their ideas and questions to the table. Each class will generally:

🗡 Begin with a few minutes of sharing recent roleplaying experiences and asking questions (which we will discuss later in the class).

🐲 Introduce a puzzle, trap, monster, map, or gameplay idea that will challenge players and GMs alike to inject new fun into their adventures. 

🎙 Learners will discuss how the new technique might be applied to their new games. 

⏱ As we wrap up, we will return to questions that were asked at the beginning to share ideas and discuss solutions. 

Learners will be encouraged to collaborate during class to come up with new traps, monsters, dungeons, and puzzles. We will sometimes use breakout rooms or homework assignments to allow players to create new challenges before presenting them to one another in the main group. 

Your Game Masters Guild Master is Andrew Linke. Andrew is an experienced teacher, author of nine novels, and has both played in and run role playing games for over twenty years.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE 
Please note that this schedule may change based on learner suggestions and the release of new ONE D&D Playtest content. I will do my best to keep the schedule listing accurate as changes are made.


 📸 October 📸 
17 - Finding Your Players’ Style
As DM’s, it is our job to find the style of play that most entertains our players. This week we share tips for keeping players interested in the adventure. 

24 - ONE D&D: Expert Classes
Let’s dig into the latest play test material and discuss how “expert” characters balance with other character types. 

 📸 November  📸 
1 - It’s a Trap!
Sharing some of the most devious traps for castles, ruins, and dungeons. 

7 - Unchaining Combat Movement
Get your players off of the 2D battle grid and share ideas for creating acrobatic 3D combat spaces. 

14 - Fantastical Foods and Cultures
Sharing ideas for making food, clothing, and other cultural elements of a fantasy world feel different and unique. 

(No meeting the week of Thanksgiving)

28 - Is it Good to be Bad?
How to help your players remain on the side of good when they insist on playing villains and anti-heroes. 

 📸 December 📸 
5 - Never Invade Icewind in the Winter!
Bringing weather and terrain into your campaign. 

12 - Learn from Your Mistakes
Share mistakes that you have made as a player or DM… and the hilarious ways that your game was improved by them. 

19 - The Power of Myth
Let’s examine the structure of mythic storytelling and how we can use it to make campaigns more epic. 

(Christmas Break. We will return in January!)