Fancasting Luigi Mangione As Kevin Day

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Do you have any advice for someone about to dm for the first time? I'm less worried about running the session than how the hell do you plan one?

Btw Iove your art and it's inspired me to try out line work again

Thanks! And hey, that's a good question.

Here's the thing I've learned as a DM - you don't have to plan EVERYTHING.

In fact, the less you plan, the more prepared you'll be!*

*Some restrictions apply

How I like to think of when I DM is that me and my players sit in the middle of a WHEEL of possibilities. It looks something like this:

Every session you start with, you have a set amount of possible go-to points. These are limited. Usually, your party won't go from sipping drinks at a tavern to walking out the door and fighting cult members in ONE session.

The possibilities are endless, so what you need to prepare is just the next few steps. In the above image, what I mean is that they first two darker shades are representative of what you need to have prepared immediately, and the lighter shades are plans you can have on the back burner, but don't need to flesh out.

As your party makes choices and travels outside of the Starting Spot, you can prepare the NEXT steps based on the ones they chose.

So, say your party is in your tavern, and they decide to go to the Adventuring Guild to look for a job. You don't HAVE to prepare the Heist Mission in the Wizard's tower for that - you can know it's a possibility, but once they've made their first choice, you have a direction.

You can then kind of visualize what their next steps are.

Of course, this wheel isn't one way! Your players could always just... hop over to an adjacent topic! If they're solving a mystery, that could link up to a Cult involvement. And from there, they can discover a Secret Hideout for the Cult, which you already know was a possibility if they were to go into the forest.

And once that sort of adventure has started, you can go ahead and think about what other things you had planned out might link up to or evolve from where they are.

At that point, it's like playing a giant board-game. Which involves laying down track in front of an oncoming train.

My recommendation is that you keep a few things on hand which can be used anywhere:

a few maps that somewhat relate to multiple things on your map (for example, a dungeon-looking map that could be a Secret Hideout OR the Wizard's tower)

Some named NPCs - at least one per location that you can throw up immediately when they arrive

a few puzzles/plotpoints which can act as a placeholder while you think of details (for example, a Mystery can be hard to think of on the spot. Give them some random clues, such as a missing person, a few discarded items, etc and then take your time before the next session to link those items together!)

The rest is.. well... just making it up as you go along!

Of course, that's just MY personal way of doing things. Some people prepare way less, and some prepare way more. It's just all up to how quickly your players move/how comfortable you are with details.

she's a 10 but she loves to read dark academia books and wants to cover up a murder with her non-existent found family

And if I get a peach tattoo because Jeans pure happiness at having a peach (and him hiding it for later) brought me to tears, then what??

A Study on Richard Cameron, if you want to call it that

I know he was a stick in the mud, and he was also a buzzkill, but he was no older or younger than the rest of them. Probably eighteen/seventeen years old.

You see from the beginning, he was always trying to help with homework, and he was studious. That’s not a bad thing in any sort.

He WANTED to be in the Dead Poets. He WANTED to participate and have fun.

He was their friend. A dear friend, however ornery he may be.

Now, one may be thinking: ‘He blamed Keating for Neils death!’ Yes, he did. But I also blamed the doctors for my Papas death, which was completely unavoidable.

One of the five stages of grief is Anger. He was angry, hurt, and didn’t know what to do. He probably heard others blaming Keating.

Cameron was seventeen, maybe eighteen. He was a child. He was always a follower. He followed what others said. And others said Mr Keating and the Dead Poets.

Cameron was a Dead Poet. He probably was blaming himself even more than Keating.

Richard Cameron is Not a Bad Dude

aka. headcanons

He has deep repressed feelings for Charlie Dalton. I will die on this hill. Charlie goes around flirting with the poets and Richard absolutely hates how easy he makes it look, and he hates that Charlie keeps putting himself out there because he’s right here so why would he need to flirt with anyone else?? But he can’t express that because he’s Cameron so he tries to make Charlie stop by acting like a dick.

Cameron’s dad is similar to Neil’s, but his mom is more affectionate (only when he behaves correctly though). He obviously is feeling a lot of pressure from somewhere, but, unlike Neil, whose family is determined to hate him no matter what, Cameron’s family has expressed approval and affection when he brings home all As or talks about how badly he wants to be whatever they want him to be. He feels there’s something in it for him if he lives how they want him to, whereas Neil doesn’t ever see himself being enough.

Neil’s death scared the shit out of him. He was finally beginning to open up and feel like a part of the Dead Poets, but when Neil died, ultimately because of his father, Cameron knew that could be him if he kept acting this way and hanging out with the Poets. That’s why he kept talking about self-preservation, he wanted them to understand how important conformation was. In his mind, he was taking care of his friends. He didn’t want them to die.

Sometimes he tries to come out to Charlie. “Hey, Charlie?” “Yeah Dick?” “I told you not to- never mind.” pause “How do you do it?” “Do what? I do a lot of things.” “You know, flirt with everyone... you make it seem so easy.” “Richard Cameron, are you asking me for advice?” “Eat shit, Dalton. Forget it.”

The whole “I love the clarinet” was an attempt to impress Charlie. It evidently did not work.

After that crazy year, Cameron’s mental health declined hugely. He got a taste of genuine happiness and was basically slapped in the face by life. He didn’t really believe in what his parents wanted anymore, but he was too scared to pursue his own desires.

Re-watching The Dead Poets Society when you are no longer 14 and actually know who Walt Whitman hits different.

I wouldn't normally comment on the met gala outfits openly but. In defence of Elliot Page. I feel like a lot of people are missing that this is his first gala since coming out as transmasc and even without considering the green rose in his lapel (an obvious dual oscar wilde green carnation and prom flower reference), his outfit Yells "teen trans boy's first prom suit, borrowed/bought a size too large because it was the smallest available". The obviously overlong sleeves. The cut of the jacket collar. The overlong suit pants. The massive chunky black sneakers. The massive green rose in his lapel.

There's no way it isn't an intentional exaggeration of the young american transmasc experience. He understood the assignment, you all just aren't understanding him

when mrs. marks says that her niece is in a play with your son