When the Well Runs Dry
What is a DM to do when the inspiration just isn't there?
I finished my series on Skill Challenges more than a month ago. While I think it turned out well, it took a lot more out of me than I anticipated. Since publishing the last post, I keep returning to a blank page trying to come up with my next topic. And I continue to come up empty.
I don’t feel like talking about rules. The easy path would be to make a character or something, but that is just meh. I was thinking of maybe reviewing a book, but then I need to read through the whole book and take notes and such and I am just not feeling it right now.
After tossing around, and discarding, idea after idea, it suddenly hit me: this is exactly how I feel when I am trying to prep a D&D session and just cannot seem to find the motivation to see it through.
So I decided to lean into that and dust off some tips on how to get back on track.
Let’s take a look…
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As a Dungeon Master, there are some days when the ideas come easily. You think of a cool villain, an interesting encounter, or a weird dungeon room, and the session practically writes itself. It is in those moments where I feel I am the king of Dungeons and Dragons as I play out the encounters in my head and get chills thinking about how much the players will enjoy the next session.
And then there are days, or weeks, where you stare at your notes and think, “I got nothing.” You question how it was that you ever thought you had the ability to create a single D&D encounter, never mind an entire campaign. Who are you kidding? Fraud! Just go back to playing checkers.
That’s exactly how I’ve felt trying to come up with this post.
I am not one that can talk for the sake of talking. I speak only when I feel I have something to say. This is why I cannot commit to a strict posting schedule. I never want to send a post about some random topic just to say I published something. I want it to mean something.
So, if I put on my DM hat and imagine this post is the next game session, what would I do to get back on track?
The answer is, go back to the basics. Set aside the pressure of creating an adventure or an encounter or a post. Just focus on what I love about the game.
Here are a few specific prompts…
Flip through one of the Monster Manuals and randomly stop at a few creatures. Check out their stats and their powers. Don’t worry about the level. You can always adjust the stats to to fit the party level if you want. But imagine how this monster might fit into the campaign. Imagine the party finding this monster in a completely unexpected place.
Check out the traps in the Dungeon Master’s Guides. Specifically hunt for one that you’ve not used before. Read through the stats and descriptions. Just as with the monsters, how could this trap or hazard really catch the party off-guard?
One of my favorite things is to look at magic items—especially those with multiple powers. Imagine the party finding a grossly overpowered magic item at the end of an encounter and then the owner of that item wanting it back. Or maybe you add a side-effect to the item so that when they try to use it, they realize how out of their element they really are.
And my favorite source for inspiration is to just look at the maps. I will pull out my pile of maps or scroll through an adventure module and just look at the locations. I might not even use that map, but the details like the magic portal or the quicksand or the trap door might be just the inspiration I need to create the perfect encounter.
So if you’re a DM feeling stuck, remember:
You don’t need THE idea, you just need AN idea
Anything can be a source of inspiration
Put those books to use
And just like that, I managed to put together my next post.
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This post definitely resonates with me. I think we often do many of these tasks in a haphazard way—sometimes flipping through books in desperation as we prep for a session. I like how all these concepts are codified in this article. We could all be a little more deliberate in our quest for inspiration and I think you’ve outlined how to do it here quite nicely!