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PODCAST

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM

Learn how to be a better DM (Dungeon Master) so you can tell better stories for yourself and your friends. Learn things like how to start a campaign, how to create realistic NPCs, how to move the plot along, and how and why to use session 0"s for your party. Join hosts Justin Lewis, Cayden Ottley and Tanner Weyland as they distill all the DM tips, tools and resources for the beginner DM, for the DM with a few years of experience and for the Forever DM who"s been playing for 20 years. If you"re sick

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All Episodes

01:35:48

Episode 1 - Well… We’re in Hell. || The Pact & Boon

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/10/03

Welcome to the World of Calignos.This is the first episode of The Pact and Boon, and we find our heroes in the Prison of Mentiri within the City of Dis in the 2 levels of the 9 hells... A great place to start.Mentiri is hot, the food is terrible and our heroes are a little less than heroic.Each of our characters, Joland, Wolfgang and Alon, find themselves in difficult circumstances, some, falling from great heights while others are protecting helpless innocents.Let's see if our adventurers can

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00:18:51

You've Been Building Encounters Wrong This Whole...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/10/01

Stop balancing D&D encounters and start engineering them. This episode gives Dungeon Masters a simple four-part framework, DICE, for building unique encounters on demand, no math required.You'll learn the four parts of every encounter (Doing, Incentive, Conflict, Effect), see the math behind why you'll never run out of ideas, and watch a brand new encounter get built live from a random combination. Want more encounter design tools in your inbox? Grab the Dungeon Master Level Up Guide:

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00:19:33

Session 0 Isn’t Step 1: How to Prepare Your D&D...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/09/17

Most DMs treat session zero as step one. It's not — it's where prep pays off. Professional DM Justin Lewis breaks down five conversations to have with your D&D players before session zero ever starts.From setting expectations to building real excitement to a player brief people actually reread, this is a practical guide to getting your table ready before the dice hit the table. For more, grab the Dungeon Master Level Up Guide: https://session0studios.com/newsletterCovers: what session zero actually

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00:20:05

Stop Blaming Your Players. Start Coaching Your Table

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/09/03

In this episode, I’m breaking down the three levers every DM has to fix frustrating table behavior without turning into the bad guy: structural changes to your game, direct asks you’re probably avoiding, and the mindset shifts that matter more than either one. If you’ve ever resented your players without knowing how to say so, this one’s for you.Thanks for listening to today’s show. If you like our stuff and want to support us, here are some sponsor links and links to our other stuff:Worldsmith:

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00:17:52

How to Quickly Build an Interesting Combat Encounter

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/27

Is it possible to build a combat encounter quickly while also making it interesting? After all, most quickly-planned encounters end up just being a bunch of random enemies thrown at the players. But that's not as interesting as an encounter that has a concept, unique terrains, and monsters to match (which is the formula Tanner will be exploring in today's episode). Let's roll initiative!

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00:15:46

Stuck? How to Keep the Cogs of the World in Motion -...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/25

Welcome to the Season Finale of Creative Contraband! Today Danny Barrett helps us deal with slow sessions or stuck campaigns.With these 4 different techniques, you will be able to make things move again whether you are a Dungeon Master or a Game Master.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for Dungeon Masters and Game Masters alike, you

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00:55:53

Mimics and Networking with DM Neal - C.C. S2E11

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/18

In the third and last interview of the season, we join the very productive DM Neal, and talk about everything from Mimics and subverting expectation, to IT work and business practices.Grab a pen, open a beer and enjoy this talk filled with useful information!Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠Listen to DMs Block here: https://dungeonmasterblock.podbean.com/ Listen to me

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00:13:13

The Insecure DM Trope (And How Not to Become It)

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/13

You know the trope: the DM who builds an unwinnable encounter, or a puzzle so clever it’s basically unsolvable — not because the story needed it, but because somewhere underneath, they needed to feel untouchable.In this episode, Justin unpacks the inner work behind that trope: a concept he calls “okness,” the diamond-level self-security that keeps insecurity, jealousy, and thin skin from leaking into your games. You’ll get four practical exercises — the Negative Feedback Loop, the Gratitude Journal,

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00:15:14

Therapy: Your Last Day on Earth - C.C. S2E10

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/10

Welcome back to Creative Contraband, dear Dungeon Masters! Today Danny Barrett tells us about Your Last Day on Earth, a free contemplative solo NanoRPG.We then use that as a pivot to discuss the role of TTRPGs in therapy, and how we can apply some of that knowledge at our tables, while staying safe and caring.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Find Heltung

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00:10:04

Is it Better if it's Homebrewed?

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/06

Do you ALSO feel the crushing need to homebrew if you want to be a good DM? Well you're not alone! While one of the best aspects of D&D is the capacity to create a world, an adventure, or even classes and spells out of pure imagination, it's also a LOT of work... but is the adventure better in the end for it? That's what Tanner discusses in this episode.

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00:13:32

TTRPGs, Performance Art and Ephemeral Artforms - C.C....

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/08/04

Welcome back, Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today Danny Barrett talks about the importance of being present and focusing on our players.We discuss different kinds of performance art, and the differences in replicability between paintings, music, improvisation, TTRPGs and others.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for Dungeon Masters

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00:10:55

Neurocinema and the Kuleshov Effect - C.C. S2E8

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/27

Welcome back, dear Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today Danny Barrett tells us how the order of the information influences the conclusions we draw.We discuss examples from TV shows, and you will be able to learn how to use the Kuleshov Effect to help (or not) your players.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for Dungeon Masters and Game

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00:15:05

Why Your D&D Group Keeps Canceling (It’s Not a...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/23

Scheduling conflicts aren’t really about calendars — they’re about priorities. Justin shares the story of nearly losing three close friendships (and Session 0 Studios’ own actual play show, The Pact and Boon) before realizing that every scheduling conflict falls into one of two categories: Capabilities Problems (miscommunication, logistics, missed texts) or Priorities Problems (misaligned commitment levels). The first is easy to fix. The second is the one nobody talks about — and the one actually

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00:13:45

Pocahontas, Cars, Invincible, Avatar and Reskinning -...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/20

Welcome, dear Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today Danny Barrett shows us how reskinning can optimize effort and enhance success at the table.Do you have some more examples we missed?Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for Dungeon Masters and Game Masters alike, you can find related projects and sponsored links here:Worldsmith:

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00:15:43

Magic Item Shops: Guardians, Pricing, and the Players...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/16

Your party just walked into a magic item shop — and at least one of them is already casing the room for guards, cameras, and an exit route. Are you ready?This episode breaks down how to run magic item shops that actually hold up under player scrutiny: how to protect items players will try to steal, how to stock a shop so it feels earned rather than random (crafters, trade routes, and discovery), and why you should always price higher than your gut tells you to — especially if you’re letting players

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00:19:49

Lord of the Rings as DnD - C.C. S2E6

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/14

Welcome once again, dear Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today we talk about how the Lord of the Rings trilogy can be described mostly as DnD checks and situations.In this episode you will learn how to take a movie and analyze it in DnD terms, maybe even translating some situations into the table.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for

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00:51:02

Railroading: Everything You Know About It Is Wrong

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/09

Railroading has a bad reputation in the TTRPG world — but is it actually the villain DMs think it is? In this live panel from FanX 2025, Justin Lewis, Tanner Weyland, and Cayden Ottley dig into what railroading really means, why every DM does it whether they realize it or not, and where the line sits between guiding a story and steamrolling player agency. Expect real talk on good railroading vs. bad railroading, how to course-correct when you've leaned too hard on the tracks, and how player

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00:17:14

Suspense vs. Surprise - C.C. S2E5

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/06

Welcome once again, dear Dungeon Masters and Game Masters! Today we talk about suspense and surprise from Alfred Hitchcock's movies and Game of Thrones.In this episode you will learn how to make the most impact by managing the knowledge your players have about each situation.Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠⁠⁠If you want more content for Dungeon Masters and Game

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00:21:38

Looking Beneath the Surface: the Hidden Wishes of D&D...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/07/02

Players (and DMs) have many unchecked assumptions for what they want out of a D&D adventure: they want "powerful loot," easy NPC interactions, and a cinematic, epic story for them to experience... right? Or is that just the surface level? Do they actually crave something more integral to D&D, like collaboration, creativity, and real consequences? Tanner discusses 5 hidden wishes that players have and DMs would benefit from addressing.

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01:07:30

Sacred Art of Gaming Shares Wisdom about Solo TTRPGs...

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM... ·

2026/06/30

In our second interview episode, we sit down with Sacred, and talk about Solo TTRPGs, intention, immersion and getting to know yourself.Sit back and enjoy this light-hearted talk about all things tabletop!Creative Contraband is a segment designed and hosted with love by Danny Barrett for How to Be a Better DM.Find Danny at: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/gamemaster.hof⁠Find Sacred on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Sacred_Art_of_GamingIf you want more content for Dungeon Masters and Game Masters

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