4 Common DM Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)

Being a DM isn't easy. The players only have to keep track of one complete character history and roster of actions (two or three at the most), while you have to keep the entire world spinning around them. Everything, from the political intrigues in the Iron Towers, to the raiders encamped in the shadowy depths of the Fangwood, are all under your authority. Not only that, but you need to come up with threats that will challenge your party without turning the game into a slog, or arbitrarily taking away their victories.

It ain't no thing.

It's not an easy balance to keep. However, here's a list of some definite steps you should take to make sure your players have fun, and to make things easier on yourself.

Mistake #1: Taking Away PC Abilities

There's always one player at the table that drives the DM nuts because of his or her character's abilities. Maybe it's the wizard who can charm her way through any fight, or the barbarian who can cleave any enemy in twain with a single blow. Maybe it's the paladin whose smite destroys every demon who comes near him, or the rogue whose masterfully applied poison brings down every foe in mere rounds. Whatever the trick is, you're sick and tired of dealing with it.

Maybe it's Stunning Fist... never mess with Stunning Fist.

No matter how frustrated you get, though, it is a mark of bad storytelling to simply render class abilities null and void. The most obvious form of this faux pas is to drop an anti-magic field down for no reason other than you are tired of the wizard's shit, or suddenly giving every enemy you fight DR 15/- just to make the fighter sweat. These things do exist in the game, and you can use them, but they need to be used sparingly, and only when dramatically appropriate.

What You Should Do Instead

Instead of just throwing down your DM fiat, you should instead do something that challenges the player without totally removing his or her character's abilities. If your rogue is a known poisoner, for example, then enemies should carry antitoxin on them in order to increase their saves. That doesn't render the poisons obsolete, but it means they're less likely to win the day on their own. If your wizard is noted for fire magic, then an enemy should prepare for it with proper protections, or even counterspells. If your fighter is specialized in destroying a single enemy, then provide more enemies than that warrior can dispatch to create an additional challenge.

Do not simply slap your red button and say, "you can't do that thing anymore." Instead, adapt to your players in order to keep up with the challenge their PCs represent.

Mistake #2: Saying "Just Play Whatever You Want"

If you grew up with strict parents, chances are good you always swore that when you had kids you'd let them do what they wanted. Some DMs had similar experiences, and when players ask them, "what should I make?" the DM responds with, "I can roll with whatever!"

No. No you can't.

This scenario never works out well for the DM. Within an arc or two you're going to be posting in your gaming community of choice going, "hey, so I have this party with nothing in common, no reason to work together, and they're all ridiculously overpowered. How do I make this work?"

What You Should Do Instead

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and in this case you can prevent most of your party problems by presenting very clear limits, and making sure everyone is on the same page regarding the tone and feeling of your campaign. Simon Sez covered this in his blog post Making A Character For The Game You're In, but it bears repeating; communicate with your players.

If you want to run a game about noble heroes of the realm fighting a great evil, that's cool. If you don't tell your players that's what's happening, though, you're likely to end up with an antipaladin, a vampire cleric of the goddess of undeath, an assassin, a paladin, and a drunken halfling mercenary along for the ride.

Mistake #3: The Single-Enemy Fight

The "party vs. lone villain" tradition is deeply rooted in RPGs. So deeply rooted, in fact, that most DMs never even think to question it. Instead, they tear their hair out trying to figure out how any lone villain could possibly stand up to the well-oiled machine of the party. Do they add in more hit points so the bad guy lasts longer? Give them DR? Spell resistance? Make the bad guy invisible, or fly, or teleport away at the last moment so the party has to chase him?

I could give him a 52 strength... is that too much for a 5th level party?

Stop. You are overlooking the easiest ways to solve your problem.

What You Should Do Instead

Instead of trying to make that one bad guy so powerful, maybe you should ask why there's only one bad guy in the first place.

For example, if your party is opposing a demonic warlord, why isn't he attended by less-powerful-but-still-threatening guards? If the party is stepping into a necromancer's den, why aren't the dead warriors of ages ready to step to their master's aid? If they're fighting an illusionist, why doesn't that illusionist create false doubles so that it isn't just the party ganging up on one person? You could even fight a ranger in his wooded sanctuary, which he's rigged with traps and hidden weapons in order to make every battlefield maneuver a risk. After all, falling trees and trip-wire crossbows could turn a boring old boss battle into a triumph you'll be telling stories about for years.

While there are situations where the 4-on-1 scenario is appropriate (dragons, giants, huge-sized golems, etc.), they should be a rarity. If you're stressing about how to make a fight more threatening, never be afraid to put a few more carefully chosen minis on the map.

Mistake #4: Purposefully Frustrating Your Players

There is a fine line between a refreshing challenge, and a frustrating slog. Sometimes it's all about how you present something, and sometimes it's about the luck of the dice. Sometimes, though, a DM purposefully sets out to make things as hard on players as possible by waging a war of attrition.

Tie them to the rails... full speed ahead!

Don't. Just don't.

What You Should Do Instead

The easiest way to avoid this mistake is to ask yourself what your reaction would be if you were seated on the other side of the screen. Once you've assessed that, though, you need to ask yourself if your party has the capability of countering this thing you're doing. For example, if you are going to make your bad guy invisible, does the party have a means to find you? If they have access to spells like glitterdust, see invisibility, or even alchemical items like smog pellets (or a familiar with blindsense to point out what square the bad guy is in), then invisibility is a viable option. If, however, there is no way for your party to locate you except by sheer luck, it's likely a bad move.

That's how you should assess every tactic you plan to use; is it possible for the party to counter this, without making anyone feel left out? If they'd have to roll a 20 to overcome what you're trying to do, whether it's giving your villainous general an armor class that's impossible to strike, or your infernal queen an SR that can't be penetrated by anyone in the party, then it might be a good idea to either scale it back, or use a different tactic.

Lastly, and this is crucial, the party needs to feel like it's making progress. Whether it's a dungeon crawl, a horde battle, or solving a riddle, the key is to keep players engaged without making them feel like you're punishing them.

Do you have any additional DM mistakes that should be added to the list? If so, toss them in the comments below. If you want to make sure you're up to date on all my latest posts, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you'd like to help support Improved Initiative, then go to my Patreon page to throw a little bread in my jar.