Blog — The DM's Table - A DM And His Son

Make Your NPC's Feel Alive

I think that the true trick to making your world feel alive is through making the Non-Playable Characters feel more “real”.

How to Promote Player Investment

How do you generate and maintain player investment in your story? I believe it is three major things...

Never Stop Trying New Things

Over the course of my Dungeon Mastering experience, I have, and continue to, try new and different DM’ing styles. I have found certain mechanics to be a massive failure....and others a great success...

The Art of the Introduction

If player immersion is the momentum pump primer, then the story hook is what gets the momentum started. The key to a great story hook is....

Switching Up Character Building

As of lately I have been trying a new process out. By switching up the order in which I flesh out certain parts of my character sheet, I have found that I not only get more unique characters, but I also build a stronger bond with them.

Thoughts on the Traditional Party Build

It is my argument that the traditional party is not always the best option, and you and your party can actually find more fun outside of this usual party build...

Understanding Alignments

Something that I find to be the most commonly misunderstood attribute in Dungeons and Dragons is alignment. Too often do I listen to podcasts, watch youtube videos, and just see in person the misuse of alignment, heck I misuse them all the time, and that's why I wanted to start researching it.

Starting to Read Your Players

As I Dungeon Master more and more, I try to improve my craft a little bit each week...

A Guide to Helping New Players Get Started

First and foremost, welcome to the community. You have somehow stumbled upon probably one of the most fun games there is...

The Good, the Bad, and the Unforeseen about Podcasting a D&D game

About a year ago, from the time this post was written, I concocted this idea of a website and a podcast...

Spoiler Free Review of Tomb of Horrors

Tomb of Horrors is the epitome of Gygaxian Dungeon Design, and is a fun way to travel back in time to the era where DM’s and players were not necessarily on the same team.Tomb of Horrors is the epitome of Gygaxian Dungeon Design, and is a fun way to travel back in time to the era where DM’s and players were not necessarily on the same team.

My Transition from Homebrew to Pre-made Campaigns

In my past, I was an avid believer that I just had to write my own campaigns. I was wrong...

Dungeon Mastering as a Service

“Remember; the GM is there to be of service―to make players shine. The more they shine, the better and more memorable the game is, and the better a GM you are.”

― Dan Clark, “Making Players Shine” - Kobold Guide to Gamemastering

The Nerd's Guide to the Forgotten Realms

I decided that it might be useful to publish my Forgotten Realms reading list so that others might benefit from what I have researched and read about.

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeApril 27, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer

Using Games as a Method of Teaching

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
― Aristotle, Metaphysics

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeApril 20, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer

Thoughts on Writing Workflow Part 2

From the elevator pitch, I like to develop the basic ideas behind the driving the turmoil and “the big bad” NPC...

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeApril 13, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer

Thoughts on Writing Workflow Part 1

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

My Little Mirror

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeMarch 30, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer

My Writer's Journey Act 2 and 3

...with some measure of talent and luck the players and DM should be able to craft a great climax ending with the tools that WotC has given...

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeMarch 23, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer

My Writer's Journey Act 1

I was inspired to start publishing my adventures that I have written in the past by a talk that Chris Perkins gave at the 2017 PAX South...

A DM and His SonAlan DrakeMarch 16, 2017Dungeons and Dragons, Blog, Tutorial, Tabletop, RPG, Role-play Games, Role with Advantage, The DM's Table, A DM and His Son, Tabletop RPG, Dragon, Dungeon, Games, Board Games, Fun, Dice, Action, Adventure, League, Adventurers League, D&D, DnD, D and D, Writer