Empower Your Players: Why You Should Root for Their Success, Not Their Characters' Defeat

Ever played in a game where the DM seemed to get way too much sick pleasure out of throwing endless roadblocks at the party? You know, that type who does a little victory dance whenever a character buys the farm, and sulks like a kid who dropped their ice cream cone when the BBEG gets taken down?

That whole "DM vs Players" adversarial mentality is just a recipe for a tense, frustrating time around the table. It sucks all the fun right out of the experience - you know, that core reason we're all here in the first place to roll some dice and adventure with friends.

But what if we flipped the script entirely? Instead of the DM being some antagonistic force hindering the players at every turn, they went full-tilt hype squad mode championing the party's cause. Their whole mission is to create an epic, engaging campaign elevated to new heights by the players' characters and decisions.

When the players pull off something awesome, the DM is right there cheering louder than a Soccer Mom at the World Cup Finals. They live for facilitating those incredible narrative moments, not gut-punching the group repeatedly.

Look, at the end of the day, adopting this supportive, pro-player mindset is pretty much the cheat code for maximizing everyone's enjoyment. The players can actually kick back and savor the experience knowing the DM has their back. And for the DM, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of your homies having an absolute blast with the world you've created.

In this post, I'll break down why this philosophy works so well and how you can start DM'ing in a way that supercharges the fun-factor. Buckle up, adventurers!

The Benefits of Being a Player Hype Squad

Okay, so why should you dive headfirst into this whole "DM as the world's biggest PC fan" mentality? Let's take a look at some of the major upsides to rooting for your players' success.

For starters, the whole atmosphere around the table just...improves. There's an upswing in cooperation, way more back-and-forth synergy, and an overall vastly more positive vibe in the room. When players can actually kick back and trust that the DM wants them to succeed, they're infinitely more willing to take creative risks and think outside the box.

Instead of just standing there trading blows with an enemy like a couple of immobile punching bags, they might get the crazy idea to swing from that chandelier, land with a flourish on the dining table, and take a flying leap at the bad guy's throat - all because the fear of "losing" isn't this oppressive weight on their minds. An environment where failure isn't brutally punished opens the door for players to devise some truly incredible, meme-worthy shenanigans.

But it's not just about facilitating ridiculous antics (as hilarious as those can be). Another huge upside is that the story gets to emerge more organically when you're championing the players' choices and decisions. They're no longer making choices out of fear that they'll be punished for taking risks. They can pursue wildly unexpected paths that blossom into fascinating narrative threads you never could have planned for as a DM.

Because at the end of the day, when your goal is wanting those player characters to succeed and have a blast doing so, any sense of antagonism or animosity between you and the group at the table gets utterly obliterated. You're all rowing in the same direction, collaborating on crafting an amazing, memorable adventure full of triumph and hijinks. And who wants that toxic "Us vs Them" hostility muddying up what's supposed to be an epic good time with friends?

Practical Techniques for Championing Your Players

Alright, so we've established that being a full-fledged hype squad for your players is the way to go for maximizing fun at the table. But how exactly do you put that into practice during an actual session? Here are some techniques to incorporate:

Don't Be Stingy with the Hints

When the players seem hopelessly stuck or just utterly stumped by a puzzle or scenario you've prepped, don't be afraid to graciously provide some hints or clues to nudge them in the right direction. Sure, the solution might be glaringly obvious to you as the all-knowing DM, but the players only have a tiny sliver of the context you do. Leaving obvious breadcrumb trails, having an NPC offer cryptic advice, or just straight-up confirming they're on the right track can be simple ways to keep the narrative momentum going without bringing everything to a screeching halt.

Make Failures Survivable

This is a big one - you don't need to deal out insta-death consequences for every little failure or missed roll. If a character whiffs an Athletics check and plummets off a cliff, maybe have them luckily crash into a cluster of awning canopies that break their fall instead of splattering into a fine red mist. If the rogue wasn't quite stealthy enough to evade that ogre's notice, perhaps the ogre's terrible eyesight and lack of depth perception meant its axe swing wasn't nearly as pulverizing as it could've been.

I'm not saying character deaths should never be on the table - high stakes make the victories all the sweeter. But you don't need to default to crushing, inevitable demises every time something goes slightly sideways. Find that sweet spot of meaningful consequences that still leave room for the PCs to recover and persevere.

Use Intelligent Villains (Except When It's Fun Not To)

Here's a prime example of letting the players' choices organically dictate the outcome rather than treating every threat as a singleminded, suicidal killing machine. An enemy spellcaster probably isn't going to stand toe-to-toe with the party's heavily-armored front-liner and start efficiently incinerating the whole group one-by-one. More likely, they'd cut their losses and retreat to fight another day, knowing they're a frail, robed bookworm going up against several tons of screaming heavy metal.

Thinking strategically for your enemies, having them loathe unnecessary risks and value self-preservation, can make the battles far more dynamic and unpredictable. Of course, there's always room for dumb muscle-headed brutes to go full tilt in the name of entertainment when it fits. But give your bad guys some survival instincts as a general rule.

Challenging While Supporting: Finding That Sweet Spot

Okay, I can hear the skeptics now - "But if I'm just letting my players steamroll everything, where's the fun and excitement?? Don't we need stakes and threats to keep things interesting??"

Fair enough, my dudes. I'm definitely not advocating for just handing out participation trophies and making the whole adventure a total cakewalk. While rooting for your players' success is pivotal, you still need engaging obstacles and meaningful challenges to overcome. Otherwise, what's even the point?

The key is realizing that death doesn't have to be the one and only consequence staring the party in the face. You can absolutely keep the tension and stakes sky-high while still allowing failures to play out in ways that don't outright murdered the PCs.

For example, maybe the barbarian's overconfident blunder doesn't get them instantly crippled and killed, but it leads to them getting captured and thrown into the enemy's brutal prison mines. Boom - now the party has to hatch an escape plan, deal with being stripped of gear, avoid execution, all while working their way through the harsh labor camp environment. High stakes, meaningful consequences, but their story gets to push forward in an exciting new direction.

Or perhaps the party's actions have larger ramifications that the world itself reflects. If they fail to clear their name for a framed crime, suddenly they're wanted fugitives who can't waltz into civilized areas without being attacked on sight. If they fumble negotiations with a insecure noble, maybe that noble's lands erupt into chaos and revolt that spills over into the entire region's stability.

The point is, you can manufacture incredibly tense, dramatic, ultra-compelling scenarios that don't just rely on killing off characters as the default penalty for failures and mistakes. Get creative with your consequences and players will still be every bit as engaged.

Speaking of creativity and rulings, here's another pro-tip: when you've got a scenario or rule that seems ambiguous, opt for whichever interpretation is going to be most fun and empowering for the players. Different game systems have varying crunch, but you'll always have situations that require your best judgment call as the DM. When in doubt, err on the side of giving your players that cinematic hero moment or letting their weird shenanigans succeed in a blaze of glory.

Because at the end of the day, that's what this is all about - facilitating an incredible, entertaining experience where failure doesn't always mean the story slams into a brick wall. Maybe the players' overambitious gambit didn't quite work out, but you "fail forward" in a way that launches an exciting new narrative thread for them to tackle rather than it all just grinding to a halt. When you make sure the story always progresses through failures, you keep everyone engaged and eager to see what insanity unfolds next.

Putting Players in the Power Seat

Alright, so we've established that being an antagonistic DM is a total buzzkill, and that rooting for your players while still presenting meaningful challenges is the ideal sweet spot. But what else can we do to really empower and elevate the player's roles as the heroes of their own story?

For starters, bake in optional side objectives or alternative win conditions into your encounters whenever possible. Instead of just straightforwardly pitting them against a rampaging mammoth that must be killed, what if they discover the real issue is just an annoying thorn stuck in the beast's foot? Suddenly they have an interesting decision - try subduing it through combat as expected, or attempt a creative solution to extract the irritant and potentially pacify the woolly titan?

Scenarios with shades of gray like this immediately open the door for players to flex their creative problem-solving skills. Because let's be real - players come up with some wildly brilliant or absurd gameplans that we could never predict as DMs. When they start proposing crazy leftfield ideas, seriously consider letting them run with it instead of immediately shutting it down as "impossible."

The more you let players steer the narrative in unexpected directions based on their out-of-the-box thinking, the more engaged and invested everyone will feel. Their decisions, no matter how bizarre, start leaving this organic ripple effect that influences other players' approaches and choices too. It's this gloriously unpredictable, highly collaborative emergent storytelling - and it's awesome.

Lastly, make sure you're empowering and rewarding players when they do pull off some amazingly clever or supremely entertaining stunt. Describe the epic results of their harebrained scheme in intense, cinematic detail. Shower them with fun narrative rewards beyond just standard loot - like circumstantial campaign secrets they overhear, unique items more about flavor than mechanics, or cementing their reputation through rumors spreading across the lands.

By facilitating an environment where players are consistently encouraged to get creative and think outside the box, you're essentially deputizing them as DMs in their own right. They have real agency to mold the story through their decisions in ways that increase both their enjoyment and yours as the storyteller observer. It's an incredibly fun and rewarding collaborative experience all around.

The Finale (Make Sure to Smash That Subscribe Button)

Whew, if you've stuck around through all those words, you're obviously a true champion of fun at the gaming table. Hopefully, by now, I've thoroughly convinced you to fully embrace being the world's loudest, most extra cheerleader for your players' success.

Because really, that's what this whole TTRPG gig is about at its core - not opposition and adversity, but facilitating an epic, fantastical journey that you get to vibe along with right beside your players. You want their heroic tales to reach those soaring emotional peaks and their ingenious machinations to pay off in creative, unforeseeable ways. As the DM, you're not obstructing that - you're the co-pilot helping bring it to life in the most bombastic, entertaining fashion possible.

Yes, making that mental shift to a more supportive, player-empowering mindset might take some getting used to if you're accustomed to the adversarial style. But I guarantee, once you nail that groove of crafting legit challenges while still rooting for your party's success, you'll wonder why you ever ran games any other way. If everyone leaves those sessions with massive grins and an eagerness to get the crew back together for more hijinks, you've achieved some real beautiful magic.

So in the comments, I want to hear what narrative rewards, encounter twists, or just general uplifting DM practices you all use to champion your players and their characters. I'm always on the hunt for fresh ideas to elevate that fun-factor even further. Who knows, maybe your insight will end up sparking my next big blog inspiration!

Alright, you all know the drill - make sure you smash that subscribe button to get updates whenever new hot TTRPG takes drop. And if you're feelin' extra generous, share this joint with your game group to spread the gospel of pro-player DMing. It's free to sub, I pinky-promise no premium membership upcharges, and it helps cut down on the spam-spam-spam. Thanks for joining me on this maximizing-fun-at-the-table wavelength, and happy adventuring, you beautiful band of dice-rollers!

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