Tolkien Dwarvish runes. Applicable in countless scenarios from TTRPG to taking notes in class to look cool. Rules are simple and consistent. Good luck.
DMs, how traumatized are your players? because two of mine just watched the new season of stranger things and both frantically messaged me separately saying ”I just had flashbacks to the campaign”
Also, they said that apparently I have given them such nightmares over my campaign that they literally saw the new season, and couldn’t help but constantly think ”Oh my gah, thats exactly like what happened in xyz event” and it has helped them continue to theorize over the plot of my campaign. But little do they know my like of thought for their campaign is thinner than a grain of cheese and loosely held together by a fishbone of a main plot.
Nothing brings me more joy than watching my rules lawyer player become feral trying to figure out how my homebrew monsters and entire world function. Yes, the scary monster I created is killable, no sorry, a nat 20 doesn’t hit or affect it. A low-level cantrip will automatically one-hit KO it tho.
Yes, I killed off the god of time in my original world. Yes, this does have consequences. Sorry, not in any of the main books though.
Being a DM is so funny, especially one that improvs 90% of the campaign, because my players built a conspiracy wall surrounding the overarching plot, and I don’t even remember saying half the stuff they put up on this wall. But then they look at me like lost puppies and I just smile and throw my thumbs up like “hey yeah, good job sport!” then turn and rapidly wonder when I even unintentionally foreshadowed big bad evil guy in game. Like they were saying “this was a genius use a foreshadowing in the way of using the title of this loose book - of which I definitely made up on the spot - to hint at our future villains!” And I just have to sit there sweating bullets like “haha yeah, man that’s good. Yep. Totally meant that.”
Examples: I mentioned off hand that the god of the void/nothing in my world is like a black hole, as like a cool world building fact, and they connected this small cool fact to like half the campaign. Cool stuff, but like???? I just like blackholes????
Background: We found an old man who was resurrected in his fishing, and we were asking him questions. Here’s how it went.
Me(bard): “Sir? Are you ok?”
Old Man: *raspy* “No…”
Rogue: “Is it because I stabbed you in your heart?”
Old Man: *raspy* “No…”
Rogue: “How did you die?”
Old Man: “I died of a heart attack.”
Me(bard): *starts to ask if the man saw a crazy woman when he was resurrected, but decides to be polite* “Would you like some water?” *thought his voice would be less raspy*
Old Man: *raspy* “Yes, I would.”
Dm: “Then, he falls over, the last bit of life draining out of him.”
All of us: “wHAT?!”
Dm: *laughing hysterically* “You guys had 4 questions, it’s not my fault you asked dumb ones!”
Rogue: “He wants water? Fine.” *Throws the dead old man’s body into the ocean*
Dungeons and Dragons, like most TTRPGs is a shared experience about telling a story. The Dungeon Master (DM) sets the scene with a beginning and often has an ending in mind. How the protagonists get from point A to point Z is up to them. Railroading the players with a linear story without choices, character growth, or input from the players is rather one-sided.
