I've read the campaign over at least twice, and I feel like I know it pretty well. But I am absolutely freaking out, I'm running an adventure that contains some quite well known characters and I'm worried that I'll mess them up, I also decided not to allow certain things like evil alignments or min maxing, and I'm worried about my players getting mad about it.
Do any of you deal with pre session nerves? if so how do you deal with them?
If you're concerned about running NPC'S "the right way", just know that every table is different, every DM runs differently, and that is a feature not a bug. What's more, that's probably why your players want to play at your table. They probably really want to see your version of the adventure. Even if you don't change anything from the way it's published, the adventure filtered through your style and personality is the draw for them.
Hope that helps!
P.S, no evil characters is a very reasonable stipulation for a new DM to ask for. Evil characters are very complex to run from an RP standpoint, and even a lot of experienced DM's don't bother with them. I'm not sure how you're 100% gonna enforce "no minmaxing" however, since some players are always gonna try and do their best to make a good character and everybody probably draws the line between a good character and an optimized character differently, but the sentiment behind "don't make a character so good they break the game" is an understandable and reasonable one.
If you're paranoid about players disliking your take on these familiar characters, you could just change the characters' name and not tell them who they were originally meant to be. Most DM's basically just populate their world with a bunch of characters that are just legally distinct references to other characters in popular culture and nobody really minds.
Anyway, nerves are normal. I don't think anyone starts their game without some nerves of some kind, even people who love DM'ing and do it constantly still want to do a good job. I think it's a good sign that you care enough about your friends and wanting to make sure they enjoy themselves that you feel the urge to post on here to get advice. I'd also say don't worry too much about min-maxing... the problem is less players trying to maximize their skill in battle and more just that the kind of people who only care about doing well in combat aren't going to join in on roleplay or contribute outside of combat.
The way to deal with nerves is to deal with your nerves. You know the story, you know the rules, you just have butterflies. Sometimes a little bit of that is actually helpful, get a little adrenalin going, but if it's too much:
Do some deep breaths;
Be mindful; engage your senses using the things around you (ice cubes, soft pillows, the smell of flowers, w/e);
Congratulate yourself on being a good DM who does their homework and cares.
I've read the campaign over at least twice, and I feel like I know it pretty well. But I am absolutely freaking out, I'm running an adventure that contains some quite well known characters and I'm worried that I'll mess them up, I also decided not to allow certain things like evil alignments or min maxing, and I'm worried about my players getting mad about it.
Do any of you deal with pre session nerves? if so how do you deal with them?
Realize that nothing is locked in stone and you can make changes as you need to. As for evil characters, that can be tough in a party.
If you're concerned about running NPC'S "the right way", just know that every table is different, every DM runs differently, and that is a feature not a bug. What's more, that's probably why your players want to play at your table. They probably really want to see your version of the adventure. Even if you don't change anything from the way it's published, the adventure filtered through your style and personality is the draw for them.
Hope that helps!
P.S, no evil characters is a very reasonable stipulation for a new DM to ask for. Evil characters are very complex to run from an RP standpoint, and even a lot of experienced DM's don't bother with them. I'm not sure how you're 100% gonna enforce "no minmaxing" however, since some players are always gonna try and do their best to make a good character and everybody probably draws the line between a good character and an optimized character differently, but the sentiment behind "don't make a character so good they break the game" is an understandable and reasonable one.
If you're paranoid about players disliking your take on these familiar characters, you could just change the characters' name and not tell them who they were originally meant to be. Most DM's basically just populate their world with a bunch of characters that are just legally distinct references to other characters in popular culture and nobody really minds.
Anyway, nerves are normal. I don't think anyone starts their game without some nerves of some kind, even people who love DM'ing and do it constantly still want to do a good job. I think it's a good sign that you care enough about your friends and wanting to make sure they enjoy themselves that you feel the urge to post on here to get advice. I'd also say don't worry too much about min-maxing... the problem is less players trying to maximize their skill in battle and more just that the kind of people who only care about doing well in combat aren't going to join in on roleplay or contribute outside of combat.
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The way to deal with nerves is to deal with your nerves. You know the story, you know the rules, you just have butterflies. Sometimes a little bit of that is actually helpful, get a little adrenalin going, but if it's too much:
Do some deep breaths;
Be mindful; engage your senses using the things around you (ice cubes, soft pillows, the smell of flowers, w/e);
Congratulate yourself on being a good DM who does their homework and cares.
How did it go??