That moment when you're the DM...

My biggest piece of wisdom here is just to trust your players. Especially at the beginning of my DM career, i used to throw a disgustingly dumb amount of challenges at my group, at the time because the mechanics were new to me, and now because they're just so fucking clever. Make your plans as a DM. Players can do A,B,C to get out of here, They had 1,2,3 opportunities to gather intel, and then cut them loose. The world is the world, right? You don't have to compromise that (especially if they have enough intel going into whatever situation is playing out) for them to find a way to triumph, and most times they will. My players are always pulling out some genuinely amazing creative original idea to save their skins, and I love those moments when they suprise me! Many of which, would not have happened had they not put themselves in over their heads. If they dont succeed, and they really, truly believe that the choices THEY MADE put their characters in that position, then they won't hold the fate of those characters against you the DM because that's what good story telling is. And at the end of all the schemes and the planning and the dice rolls, that's really what everyone at the table wants.

/r/DnD Thread Parent