GM Tips for Deathmatch Island

Let chaos reign!

If you’re a longtime listener of My First Dungeon, you may have noticed that, outside of Honey Heist, I (Shenuque) have never GM’d a season before. But that doesn’t mean I don’t do it outside of the podcast! In fact, I recently stepped into the role of GM for a friendly game of Deathmatch Island, and man, oh man—this is a MUST play for any TTRPG lover. I’ve read this book several times now, and while there are so many things I love about it, there are also a few things not included in the book that I wish I’d known before starting. If you’ve ever wanted to run this game, here’s a quick review and guide on the additional resources that helped me.

For reference, the game I ran had the largest recommended group size: one GM (called Production) and five other players.

There Are So Many Free Reference Docs

The creators have put together a Production Kit and a Competitor Kit filled with character sheets, rule sheets, welcome letters for players, and helpful reference graphics for any GM playing the role of Production. The letters are generic and ominous, which adds to the atmosphere, but for extra flavor, I hand-wrote custom messages on each one. One note simply read: “Someone here is a traitor. Come find me.” The immediate distrust and clique development among the group were chef’s kiss—so juicy for the GM. My players quickly formed a dominant alliance of three, leaving two others on the outskirts looking in. Combined with the NPCs they befriended, this created plenty of cracks in a hastily built team dynamic.

Set the Scene with Whatever Tools You Have

Looking back, I wish I had thought and prepped ahead to use music to set the tone of various scenes. But you don’t necessarily need additional schticks to achieve the same effect. My favorite trick was having the players do an immersive memory exercise. I had all my players close their eyes and imagine their character’s most cherished memory. Then, I described how the memory started to fade—details slipping away as if a nightmare was stealing their dreams. Just as they struggled to hold onto the moment, I slammed the table—a jolt as their boat hit rocky waters, signaling their arrival at the first island.

Do you have any low-prep GM tricks you like to use to throw your players off their game?

Utilize the Pre-Built Islands and Nodes

In Deathmatch Island, the game unfolds over three phases across three different islands:

1. Scout Stage: Players explore different nodes and compete in challenges.

2. Scramble Stage: Players prepare for the upcoming battle royale.

3. Battle Royale: The plots that have been building on that island finally come together.

The book includes pre-built islands with suggested characters, plot points, and events, and I highly recommend using them. I took these elements then added a few of my own twists, and it made my prep process so much easier. I kept all the pre-built characters, simply changing their names and adding five extra NPCs for the first island. Since character creation is quick, generating new NPCs on the fly was effortless.

Kill Players and NPC Whenever It Makes Sense

While Deathmatch Island has mechanics for character death, part of the fun is the ever-present tension of life and death stakes. I’m not suggesting you eliminate players at random, but sometimes, characters will back themselves into a corner where death is the only realistic outcome.

Additionally, make deaths unexpected. The moments when characters feel safest are often when they are in the most danger. That kind of gut-punch twist fits perfectly into the tone of Deathmatch Island.

Let the Players Cook

At first glance, the game seems centered around competing in challenges while gathering weapons and survival gear for the Battle Royale. But if you have the time, let your players roleplay as much as they want. The best part of any reality TV show is watching the relationships develop, and the same is true here. The competitions and mystery are only fun if the characters are engaging with each other. Plus, those relationships give you so much leverage for emotional gut punches between islands.

The Book Layout Is Messy—Just Roll With It

The game’s core mechanics are simple—building dice pools, adding extra dice, handling injuries—but some smaller, nuanced rules are scattered throughout the book in ways that can be hard to track. I found myself frantically flipping through the book trying to find a footnote with a small specific rule that I could not remember for the life of me. My advice? Use the rules when you remember them, but don’t be afraid to improvise. Nothing kills the momentum more than stopping everything to look up a rule. As I learned from My First Dungeon’s own Brian Flaherty: Rules are just suggested guideposts. It’s okay to veer off course and return later.

Respect the Dice

If a player rolls a 22, let them do whatever they want, even if it’s brutal and ruins all your plans. Yes, Brian did roll a 22 once and killed an NPC whom I’d intended to have a major impact in the back half of the game. And no, it wasn’t even on a Deathmatch roll. But I had to respect the number, and the fact that he was using a weapon, which automatically raises the stakes of any action.

Your players will throw wrenches into your plans, and Deathmatch Island gives them that power. Embrace it.

Deathmatch Island is both an excellent read and an incredibly fun game to play. Learn the basics, rely on the quick-reference sheets from the Production/Competitor Kits, and when in doubt, just make something up. The real fun of this game is unraveling the mystery together and discovering what kind of cast is playing this season of Deathmatch Island.

Good luck out there.

— Shenuque

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