Roleplay Advice - Stars and Wishes
Invite your players to have a hand in the game design.
One of my favorite quick tools that keeps every D&D table humming is called Stars and Wishes.
I love it because it’s equal parts celebration and calibration.
At the end of a session you simply ask, “What was a star from this game?”—an earnest moment that stood out for you. Then you ask, “What’s a wish for games in the future?” and here you end up crowd-sourcing with the players to establish small tweaks you’d all like to see next time.
That’s it: positive feedback with a built-in rudder that your whole group gets to have a hand in steering.
This works so very well because stars anchor everyone's memory of the game in what went right, what they had fun with. This helps everyone leave the table feeling good.
Meanwhile, wishes provide forward momentum without slipping into criticism spirals. Better yet, it scales. A fast table check? Perfect. A deeper dive in Discord the next day? Also perfect.
When I'm the DM, I usually post my own star and wish first, partly to model the tone and partly to invite more thoughtful replies. And it doesn't have to be fancy, just: “Star: the improvised goblin ballad that player x handled! Wish: seeing the group dig into a roleplaying moment in the near future.”
The magic behind this is in repetition because our goal with it is to build a consistent sense of group connection and community. Do this every single game and you’ll also learn what your players value—humor, puzzles, role-play spotlights, brisk combat, whatever. As you notice these patterns, you’ll also learn how to adjust on the fly, and your sessions will feel purpose-built even when they’re gloriously off-script.
Hope this helps! Want more advice? Check out my thoughts on striking the balance between the story you want to tell as the DM, and keeping the pace active for the players.