Thursday Knights

[snowmanboy]

as a DM, does anyone know of anywhere for me to get some help or ideas with game ideas for my player characters? i mean like story ideas, dungeon ideas, encounter ideas, backstory ideas anything.

[Thoth]

DM advice #1 is and always will be: Steal Everything.

Steal ideas from movies, books, plays, games (video, board, rpg, everything), dreams, everything. Steal. Everything. STEAL IT.

[AlchemicFox]

I couldn't agree with Thoth more.

Point of note: steal from things that AREN'T fantasy. Take anything science or technology related, make that stuff magic. I made a pretty decent campaign out of Dead Space by doing this.

[Greg]

One big thing I like to suggest is to use TV Tropes as a resource.

Storytelling in tabletop RPGs in a lot of ways needs to be cliché. The stories take so long to tell, and it's so easy to miss things that your fellow players or DM say, that if you try to do a lot of subtle storytelling it's very likely to get lost in your players' minds.

Tropes are good because they are patterns of storytelling that people will consciously or subconsciously recognize, and make it easier for them to remember.

[snowmanboy]

thank u for the replies, huge help

[Harsgault]

Do not forget to look to the players themselves to provide ideas. Not all players are receptive to the idea of having a background, much less a detailed one as well as character goals and personality traits. Yet if your players are willing to provide such things they almost by default give you near limitless opportunities for adventure hooks and storylines where the campaign can really be about the characters and not just 'things the party gets mixed up in.'