My nephew, who is 12, has taken an interest in becoming a DM. He is new to DnD, but very smart and has been telling me all kinds of things I didn't even know were possible. He's been doing a lot of online reading.
For Christmas, I have bought him the DnD Core Rulebook Gift set, the DnD Starter Set, 3 sets of dice, a Chessex Role Playing Play mat, Vis-a-Vis Markers, and I've make paper miniatures for the Lost Mines of Phandelver. The last thing I'm putting together for him is Dungeon Master's binder. I currently have extra player sheets, initiative tracker sheets, and sheets that explain to a player what they can do on their turn. I also added a graph notebook and a regular notebook.
I'm wondering if there is anything else I can put into the binder for him. I want him to have a good base of materials to start with. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you.
Sheets listing conditions are always helpful to have. Maybe a small FAQ for new players. From what you have said, it looks like you have most of the stuff a new DM needs.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
I am quite visual in the way I like to DM, it might just be my style - I am a visual learner. I like to have, similar to the starter set, cut-outs / laminated cards (nothing special!) of things like different NPC portraits (so I can select / create a character on the spot), locations (generic looking houses, farms, windmills, caves, etc), landscapes / vistas, items, creatures, etc. I generally just print / laminate cards that are index sized. I find these can often be used to inspire players when it comes to character creation (select a laminated portrait and think about the character it would be!) or remind players of particular items / places they have visited along the way!
I think you probably have it covered for Lost Mines, but there's no such thing as being overprepared. Some other stuff that might be useful:
- binder sleeves with card-sized pockets. I use these to store info about NPCs, items, and locations (and a few other things, but those three are the ones I most often have to reorder to keep them alphabetical) on paper or thin card stock. Full pages are often far more than I need for that info, and putting more than one of them on a page means I can't reorganize them without recreating the entire page (and possibly a few others). If you pick these up, add card stock as well. ;)
- something to be used for blank standees. Plastic standee bases and cardboard are easiest. Plastic that he can use the markers on is more convenient.
- visual aids to keep track of conditions, spell effects and so on. Simplest is just paper or plastic rings slightly larger than a mini's base (if they can fit over the mini that's great, if not they can hang from them - it's all good). Have different colours for different purposes. Depending on the plastic, he might be able to write on them with erasable markers. Alternatively, small snippets of paper attached to a rubber band work well.
- area of effect templates. You can find fancy laser cut ones nowadays, but paper works just fine too.
- a clear box to roll dice in. I saw someone use one of these years ago and immediately rummaged through my stuff for one when I came home. What makes this convenient is that you can use one that's high enough that dice can never accidentally bounce out of them and land under the sofa or somewhere your goofy dog will gobble them up, without obscuring the roll. Dice trays or towers can be beautiful and do the job, but for simple functionality a clear box (say, 5"x5"x5" or so) can't be beat.
- storage. I have a wooden box that held wine bottles. It's a bit bulky, but it's a bit cooler than an oversized shoe box or something. It's not hard to find something that can easily be decorated. It just has to be able to fit the binder and, another suggestion, a divided container for all those small bits above. Something cheap from a hardware store will be perfectly serviceable, or you can go a bit more fancy and buy a wooden box from a craft store and put in dividers. It'll hold the dice, markers, pens, minis, standees, and whatever else he thinks would be useful.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
As DM would he be the presumptive host or traveling? A good backpack dedicated to his game materials is a utility item, main compartment for books and pouches or pockets where dice, pencils minis can be secured (also opportunity to learn organization life skills if he's not used to packing). I'm sure you can find something "thematic" but "sturdy" is better and if you wanted you could put some d20 or genre related pins or if there's velcro panels, I'm sure someone's making thematically appropriate patches out there. I'd say, you probably want one of those packs whose main compartments opens up flat so everything is pretty much ready to go when unzipped. Might even take the place of a binder.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
MidnightPlat, He would be hosting the game. He has the house with the most space. But I like the idea of something he could store everything in. I did buy a case for the minis, so that is covered.
JoeltheWalrus, I will find something for conditions. Thanks for the idea.
Panurjan, I will definitely find something for area of effect. I will look into storage and sheet protectors.
IrRy0, love the idea of portraits and location cards.
My nephew, who is 12, has taken an interest in becoming a DM. He is new to DnD, but very smart and has been telling me all kinds of things I didn't even know were possible. He's been doing a lot of online reading.
For Christmas, I have bought him the DnD Core Rulebook Gift set, the DnD Starter Set, 3 sets of dice, a Chessex Role Playing Play mat, Vis-a-Vis Markers, and I've make paper miniatures for the Lost Mines of Phandelver. The last thing I'm putting together for him is Dungeon Master's binder. I currently have extra player sheets, initiative tracker sheets, and sheets that explain to a player what they can do on their turn. I also added a graph notebook and a regular notebook.
I'm wondering if there is anything else I can put into the binder for him. I want him to have a good base of materials to start with. Any advice would be welcome. Thank you.
Sheets listing conditions are always helpful to have. Maybe a small FAQ for new players. From what you have said, it looks like you have most of the stuff a new DM needs.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
What a fantastic idea!
I am quite visual in the way I like to DM, it might just be my style - I am a visual learner. I like to have, similar to the starter set, cut-outs / laminated cards (nothing special!) of things like different NPC portraits (so I can select / create a character on the spot), locations (generic looking houses, farms, windmills, caves, etc), landscapes / vistas, items, creatures, etc. I generally just print / laminate cards that are index sized. I find these can often be used to inspire players when it comes to character creation (select a laminated portrait and think about the character it would be!) or remind players of particular items / places they have visited along the way!
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
I think you probably have it covered for Lost Mines, but there's no such thing as being overprepared. Some other stuff that might be useful:
- binder sleeves with card-sized pockets. I use these to store info about NPCs, items, and locations (and a few other things, but those three are the ones I most often have to reorder to keep them alphabetical) on paper or thin card stock. Full pages are often far more than I need for that info, and putting more than one of them on a page means I can't reorganize them without recreating the entire page (and possibly a few others). If you pick these up, add card stock as well. ;)
- something to be used for blank standees. Plastic standee bases and cardboard are easiest. Plastic that he can use the markers on is more convenient.
- visual aids to keep track of conditions, spell effects and so on. Simplest is just paper or plastic rings slightly larger than a mini's base (if they can fit over the mini that's great, if not they can hang from them - it's all good). Have different colours for different purposes. Depending on the plastic, he might be able to write on them with erasable markers. Alternatively, small snippets of paper attached to a rubber band work well.
- area of effect templates. You can find fancy laser cut ones nowadays, but paper works just fine too.
- a clear box to roll dice in. I saw someone use one of these years ago and immediately rummaged through my stuff for one when I came home. What makes this convenient is that you can use one that's high enough that dice can never accidentally bounce out of them and land under the sofa or somewhere your goofy dog will gobble them up, without obscuring the roll. Dice trays or towers can be beautiful and do the job, but for simple functionality a clear box (say, 5"x5"x5" or so) can't be beat.
- storage. I have a wooden box that held wine bottles. It's a bit bulky, but it's a bit cooler than an oversized shoe box or something. It's not hard to find something that can easily be decorated. It just has to be able to fit the binder and, another suggestion, a divided container for all those small bits above. Something cheap from a hardware store will be perfectly serviceable, or you can go a bit more fancy and buy a wooden box from a craft store and put in dividers. It'll hold the dice, markers, pens, minis, standees, and whatever else he thinks would be useful.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
As DM would he be the presumptive host or traveling? A good backpack dedicated to his game materials is a utility item, main compartment for books and pouches or pockets where dice, pencils minis can be secured (also opportunity to learn organization life skills if he's not used to packing). I'm sure you can find something "thematic" but "sturdy" is better and if you wanted you could put some d20 or genre related pins or if there's velcro panels, I'm sure someone's making thematically appropriate patches out there. I'd say, you probably want one of those packs whose main compartments opens up flat so everything is pretty much ready to go when unzipped. Might even take the place of a binder.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
MidnightPlat, He would be hosting the game. He has the house with the most space. But I like the idea of something he could store everything in. I did buy a case for the minis, so that is covered.
JoeltheWalrus, I will find something for conditions. Thanks for the idea.
Panurjan, I will definitely find something for area of effect. I will look into storage and sheet protectors.
IrRy0, love the idea of portraits and location cards.