How to be a Dungeon Master when you have ADHD

I think most ADHD DM's start on a whim, GET SUPER FIXATED, then realize you're in too deep

ADHD? In your Dungeon Master? It's more likely than you think.

With Dael, Ginny, and Jacob all being public about their ADHD I feel like I'm over here gathering infinity stones

It took me 5 tries to finish this video instead of being distracted by a notification on my phone or noise from the other room.

Holy Moly this isn't a guide for DMs. It's a guide for living a life😂❤

“The Monsters Know What They’re Doing” book and blog by Keith Amman is very useful for prep

I had been playing for 5 years before trying DMing, and suddenly all of my player issued disappeared. I always found it hard to keep my mind on track, and when things did not involve my character, I would often zone out, and even more often miss important information because I was editing my notes and got too concentrated on it. :( lmao. DMing allows me to stay completely present in the game, since I constantly have to be prepping for the next thing, while also staying in the moment for the scene at hand. I LOVE it.

Hitting thumbs up before watching the video because I know blue hair lady will talk to me like I'm 6 years old and make me a better DM either way.

I would also add 2 things 1) fatigue is horrid with ADHD and can make it harder to regulate or keep tabs on how your body is feeling, what emotions your experiencing, or cause your mind to race. I like to phrase it as my brain can’t decide not to make a decision, so taking note of when you tend to feel tired can help you not to schedule games during those periods and get a nap, lay down, or decompression time before you play. 2) Decision fatigue is a nightmare as our brain is still an organ and needs resources to run and time to rest, and like above we’re not always in tune with when our body is tired or over worked. As such, I like to do what’s called table fiat in place of gm fiat. We have 5-7 brains, so why are we only using 1 to run the game? That’s not optimal! Let your players come up with npc details on the fly, world build together instead of doing it all before the game, or let them decide what happens on a failure (and workshop it if its a stalling failure)

I cried when you said "sometimes we're not ready for a session, we're not gods." This really spoke to me I feel like I'm never enough no matter how much detail I put into my games, and this video helped me realize how much my adhd affects my dming

Girl.... you are creative AF! I'm not even two minutes into the video writing this. I really appreciate your creativity and candor. Great job!

One thing I really recommend: Give minor minions distinctive features, it helps you AND your players distinguish between them and remember them, and makes the battle memorable. I still have a joke with some of my players about that one fancy hat that was a last addition to an enemy to set him apart from his companions. I have a list of features and cycle through them.

nooo ginnyyy :( your closing thoughts made me emotional. I dmed a oneshot once over a year ago and it went fine enough but for some reason ive been too scared to try again. But maybe i will actually try again because i want to and i do deserve to do that :( you are so kind in your videos and so encouraging, and so welcoming and i appreciate it so much. You really brighten up the ttrpg scene

I DIDN'T KNOW EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION WAS AN ADHD THING OMG That explains so much. That explains so much. Mostly about non-DMing related things though. Anyways I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to learn to shut the hell up during a session so my players can do things on their own for a bit. Even if the way I was subjected to that criticism was a discord dm from a player during a mid-session break lol. It's actually something that's helped me a lot with finding time to take notes though. If I feel like my players are doing RP or planning their next move and aren't involving an NPC it's usually when I try to take any important notes.

The moment you pulled out the ukelele was the moment I went "I'm in this picture and I don't like it." As always, right on the nose. Well done, Ginny!

I would love to see you make an appearance on ADHd20. They discuss the intersection between ADHD and TTRPGs. It's neurodicey!

I loved two things with this week’s sponsor: 1. “Just like we rehearsed.” Proceeds to constantly prompt lines 😂 (was the prompting a part of the script? I hope it was!) and 2. “I’m on there of my own free will!”😂

Stars and Wishes actually sounds exactly like a legitimate feedback technique taught in my management degree called "medals and missions", which is essentially just what you said. It's a great way to make sure people don't feel like feedback is negative (especially when the "missions" or "wishes" are explained in a positive way, rather than solely negative. That can make the "medals" or "stars" feel hollow)

While I don’t have ADHD, I DO have depression and anxiety, and as someone who is frequently a DM, I also found this video extremely helpful as they can give me similar struggles when it comes to prepping. The note taking I have definitely found as something helpful for both DMing and playing for keep focused, with a written journal as a PC and a Word Doc with headings as a DM

As a non-ADHD person (or not diagnosed) this sort of thing is still very helpful