Useful advice to be an entertaining tabletop role-playing game referee

1.  No more than six players per referee.  If you have more than six players, have two or more referees.  The reason is to give each player a better chance to have their moments to shine their skill or ability during each game session.

 

2.  While players should give game related advice, and sometimes be awarded experience points for contributing good ideas, to make their jointly created campaigns more entertaining; as a game referee, you are the final arbiter on what takes place within your fictional game universe.  Don’t allow a disruptive and obnoxious player to force you into making detrimental decisions that harms the enjoyment of your campaign for yourself and for other players.

 

3.  Do not allow any extraneous, irrelevant, or unrelated conversations while your campaign should be played.  You and your players only have a short amount of time to play each week or each month.  Thus, every minute of game time needs to be used for playing your campaign.

 

4.  Whenever I start a new D&D campaign, I always have a session zero for my players.  That way, all my future players know what to expect from our campaign.  My tone is drama, with some mild, safe for work comedy.  My PCs are recruited and then assigned their first assignments by a Lawful Good temple, respected noble, or trade guild.

 

For example, the Furriers' Guild has lost communication with their trappers, furriers, and fur transport voyageurs in a distant forest that’s full of money making, fur-bearing animals.  They have also lost contact with their two fur trading posts.  The guild hires the PCs to find out what has happened to them.  The PCs are hired to deal with any problems themselves or ask for aid from the guild.

 

The actual game play starts in the next scheduled session.  That gives my players time to think about what roles they want and what roles their team needs. 

 

5.  Questions that I ask my players:

Why do you play D&D?  How can I give you the experiences that draw you to D&D campaigns?  Some players love combat, others love finding and exploring forgotten ruins and overland trade routes.  Other players love the role-playing of improvisational theater, while others love making plans and then turning those plans into action.

What are the abilities each player brings to our group and how can I assist to bring that out?  If a player has a non-combat skill of cooking, they can be in charge of the party’s chuck wagon, a type of field kitchen covered wagon.

 

6.  Take the time to create brief character backstories for each player character.  That will assist the player to think of their characters as persons, instead of disposable, hand puppets.

Player’s character:  An experienced fighter named Leif Erikson.  His wife’s name is Batilde Erikson who is a retired female warrior.  Leif’s fourteen year old daughter is Saga Erikson.  A few weeks ago, Saga started her basic ranger training.  This short description of Leif’s family, as a permanent part of the character’s written records, reinforces the idea that Leif has a family worth fighting for and something to look forward to returning to.

A touching scene of farewell

Lastly, please read other online articles that have addressed this topic better than I have here.  The more work you put into your campaign before it starts, the more entertaining your campaign will become.