Don't forget the ultimate confidence trick: when a player has an idea that is better than yours, tell them they are correct without telling them what you originally had planned.

Poor Will. His friends were drifting from DnD. He moves and his friends meet an amazing DnD group. He was robbed of a peak experience.

One line of dialogue shows us that Eddie is a great DM: When Erica rolls a Critical Hit at exactly the right moment and everyone is celebrating, he just smiles and says, "This is why we play."

He knows that his job is to create scenarios in which the players walk away feeling like they did something really awesome. The game isn't about his pet "recurring villain" or the 200-page history of his "homebrew" setting or making the encounter he designed seem cool or anything else that centers the DM's ego, it's about the players.

All those other things can be tools toward that end--but that's all they are.

I keep my players locked in our playroom all week until dnd night. Candles and oil lamps for lighting  and only home grown vegetables and meats for meals. IMMERSION IS EVERYTHING

Eddie has set the standard for my DM'ing goals. I know we don't see a lot of him DM'ing in the show, but what little we do see is exactly what I strive for.. as much as I can.

Eddie’s scene as DM is my favorite scene of the whole series and has made me consider take up D&D as a nearly 50 year old man for the first time. Eddie is my favorite character and the most relatable to me. 😊

A friend of mine who's also a DM, writer and body-painter once told me about "suspension of disbelief," the idea that we are (as adults) naturally skeptic. We WANT to disbelieve everything we see. But if we can create an environment where someone is willing to suspend that proclivity, that's when we can weave magic.

People naturally experience this "suspension of disbelief" at a Renaissance Faire or at a ComicCon. The settings and others in cosplay help with the illusion. At the table, it's us, the DMs, that get to create that environment. It's not just on the table top. It's everything we get to do.

I needed this reminder Dadi. My group is picking up our session after five weeks away and I feel unprepared. Thank you for reminding me that more than half of it is creating the space to play. If I have to recon in the moment, my players will forgive me.

Also: your girlfriend is ADORABLE!!! I love the way she interacts and says "I'm behind the screen." Hello Girlfriend!!! Glad you're helping Dadi.

2:31 you could say you make yourself the Strangest Thing

“No dude that item was not promised to you 3000 years ago”

Eddie is far more than a GREAT DM, he is a very great character himself and the actor brought him to life. I really think they messed up killing him off so quickly. They could have done something far better with such a very loved character.

I sincerely hope Mr. J. Quinn knows how beloved his portrayal of Eddie was and just how much that character will be missed. One of the best supporting characters I've ever seen in a series. I also really appreciate what Stranger Things did to normalize and affirm tabletop roleplaying games. Obviously there have been other contributing factors but the show clearly made a big impact on brining TTRPGs into "mainstream" popular culture.

Honestly, Eddie's confidence and the way he is, like other characthers or people that are like "Im like that and i dont care what you think about me", helped me to be more like that, i was so shy as a kid, more less as a teen and now as a young adult im more comfortable being "weird" sometimes, and yeah, that also help me to have more joy playing games, D&D and other stuff, i mean, thats the point, have fun.

Eddie isn't childish. He's childlike. In the scene where Erica joins the party, he makes her show her work as a player. He acts like a bully, but when he learns she's serious about the game, he welcomes her in.
Being childlike is like being a jester. You can say what you want, as long as you keep your barbs blunted and you tell the truth in a way that keeps the king laughing with you.

My name is Sasha, im professional teacher an im DMing for ten years and i feel, like i get opposite (or complementary) idea of great DMing.  Im no showman, but clown. My players should always feel, like their ideas is SO unexpected, that i didnt see it coming and must impovise absolutely new encounter especially for them. When they tell like "We will tame dragon to attack this goblin camp" i theatrically make facepalm, tell them, that i made this camp for hour and now they destroyed my prep and players feel AGENCY. But somehow i have all statbloscks, make dragon mini from lego and find dragon roar. Im clumsy clown, who drops all his stuff on floor, cry and then suddenly juggle with it!

This was a great Stranger Things video essay with some DM advice in the middle

I just DM'ed for the first time last night... this is such timely encouragement. I was an absolute buffoon, and my players had a great time. And I was like, "oh shit, have I got the secret sauce already??"

I think over the years my greatest success as a DM is that I act equally if not more excited to play D&D with my players...every...single...session.  I get loud, I get emotional as the story unfolds around them, I care so they will care.  I have to show up and make sure that the party is having as much fun as possible so we can continue to have--as much fun as possible.

well it's also cause eddie showed that you can still be cool and older while playing D&D. It's not just a kids game like they thought

Best character in Stranger Things. My sons and I play D&D and are all metalheads. We immediately resonated with Eddie. It doesn't hurt that his intro music is one of my all time favorite songs (I Was a Teenage Werewolf - The Cramps)

There's a Matt Colville video about Eddie Munson that runs beautifully parallel to this. Mr Colville is a river to his people. Dadi is the cool, deep, calm lake that river feeds into.