Welcome to Dungeon Mastering 101, my Dungeon Mastering course based on over 30 years of experience. In this series I will share my failures and successes and the lessons learned along the way. In this episode, I will cover World and Lore. Making the Setting Work at the Table.

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga, Dungeon Mastering 101 episode! It is Palast, Frostkolt the 15th, my name is Adam, and today I am continuing my Dragonlance Gaming series all about Dungeon Mastering. Today we are going to discuss Making the Setting Work at the Table in this World & Lore episode.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this channel, ring the bell, and you can support this channel by becoming a Patron on Patreon, a Member of this YouTube channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance media, using my affiliate links in the description below.

Worlds are not built to be admired — they are built to be used. Lore that does not influence player decisions, emotions, or consequences is decorative at best and distracting at worst.

A Dungeon Master’s goal is not to explain the world,  but to make the world felt through action.

If lore does not change how players act, it has arrived too early or too late.

Players learn a setting by surviving in it, not by being told about it.

A location that does not react to player actions is not alive yet.

Players understand the world when they see how authority is applied.

Conflict creates story even when the players are not present.

History should feel debated, not settled.

If players ask follow-up questions, the lore is working.

Before sharing lore, ask: “Will this affect a player decision in the next 10 minutes?”

For any region, create:

This guarantees tension.

World & lore are not about depth — they are about pressure. A good setting pushes back when players act. A great setting remembers.

When lore becomes experiential, locations become reactive, and factions pursue goals independently… your world stops being a backdrop and starts being a participant.

That is when players stop asking, “Where are we?”…and start asking, “What happens if we do this?”

And that’s it for this episode of Dungeon Mastering 101, World and Lore! Do you have any tips or tricks based on your experience as a player or Dungeon Master? Was I off base on any of my suggestions? Feel free to email me at [email protected] or leave a comment below. 

Thank you for tuning in. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to this channel, ring the bell, and you can support this channel by becoming a Patron on Patreon, a Member of this YouTube channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance Gaming materials, using my affiliate links in the description below. Thank you Creator Patron Aaron Hardy, Producer Patron Azrael, and Developer Patron Chris Androu!

This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).