Hi all. I'm going to be DMing for a group of good friends of mine soon. It'll be my very first time DMing anything. Initially I was going to be co-DMing with a friend, but their schedule is too hectic, so it's just going to be me, which is totally cool, but I'm a little nervous. This group is awesome, and we've been friends for years, so I'm not concerned about them, more so just wanting to make a good impression as DM.
I have a bunch of the source books, the DM guide, and the adventures from the essentials kit, as well as Sunless Citadel.
Any tips, tricks, advice you guys have for a brand new DM? It's all much appreciated!
It sounds like you have the resources you will need to start already at your disposal. The essentials kit in particular was written for new DMs as well as new players, so reading through it, even if you do not run that particular set of adventures, can be very helpful. Also, do not worry, if you feel nervous. I have been both running and playing for years now and I still feel like that, especially before an important event or encounter.
The best advice I can offer is two-fold. 1) Talk to your players. It is often useful to have a session 0 before you start play. This doesn't have to take an entire evening , although it can, especially if you include character creation. The main idea is to give you and your players a chance to talk about the game. Some things to consider are: What will the setting be? What method will you use to generate Ability Scores? Which optional rules or house rule will you include? This is also a great time to discuss what sort of game everyone likes. Some players like lots of combat, some like puzzle solving, some just want a good story. There is no wrong or right answer to any of this, but it is always helpful to know what your players expectations are. Of course, this doesn't end when the campaign starts. Take a few minutes at the beginning or end of a session to talk about how things went. What did the players like or dislike? What are they looking forward to doing or seeing in game? What plans do their characters have? Also, don't be afraid to eavesdrop on conversation between PCs. These can be very informative and also give you some truly unexpected ideas.
2) Remember that everyone is there to have fun. This includes you. Being a DM is a lot of work, but it can be very rewarding as well. Enjoy! and welcome to the madness.
1. Have a random encounter or 2 prepped incase they totally throw a curveball at you with where they decide to go. You can continue the session with and encounter that might add to the story without having to either railroad them or just totally make everything up as you go along which can be hard for a new DM.
2. Try to end a session either with them deciding on their next move (so you know what to prep), or end the session at the start of a combat. Stopping right as enemies pop out at you leave a cliff hanger for next time, combats also take a long time to do and stopping/staring mid combat feels awkward and anticlimactic.
3 Don't call for rolls that aren't necessary just because it fits a category, it just slows things down. Example: If a raging barbarian says they want to break a window, don't make them roll strength, it's a window, glass breaks on accident, and if they roll a 1 you are going to have to come up with some bs about how a 7ft tall half orc with an axe failed to break glass.
4 Unleash your inner nerd. You spent your whole life uptucking your nerdiness and now's the time to take it out and swing it around. If you get into it, you will make people feel like they have permission to do it too.
5 Lv 1-2 can be deadly, they have very little health and just a few unlucky rolls can kill a player. Maybe consider having the first encounter not be a fight to the death, but rather something like your wagon being robbed on the road where failure means having something stolen rather than everyone dies.
When you're voicing characters, just do a celebrity impression. If you're bad at them, then congratulations, you just made up a brand new voice and at least they'll have some idea who they're talking to. But if you're good, then it's a fun little joke for you and the players. Everyone loves meeting a Paladin who talks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or spice up a Bandit encounter with the dulcet tones of the Macho Man Randy Savage.
It sounds like you have the resources you will need to start already at your disposal. The essentials kit in particular was written for new DMs as well as new players, so reading through it, even if you do not run that particular set of adventures, can be very helpful. Also, do not worry, if you feel nervous. I have been both running and playing for years now and I still feel like that, especially before an important event or encounter.
The best advice I can offer is two-fold. 1) Talk to your players. It is often useful to have a session 0 before you start play. This doesn't have to take an entire evening , although it can, especially if you include character creation. The main idea is to give you and your players a chance to talk about the game. Some things to consider are: What will the setting be? What method will you use to generate Ability Scores? Which optional rules or house rule will you include? This is also a great time to discuss what sort of game everyone likes. Some players like lots of combat, some like puzzle solving, some just want a good story. There is no wrong or right answer to any of this, but it is always helpful to know what your players expectations are. Of course, this doesn't end when the campaign starts. Take a few minutes at the beginning or end of a session to talk about how things went. What did the players like or dislike? What are they looking forward to doing or seeing in game? What plans do their characters have? Also, don't be afraid to eavesdrop on conversation between PCs. These can be very informative and also give you some truly unexpected ideas.
2) Remember that everyone is there to have fun. This includes you. Being a DM is a lot of work, but it can be very rewarding as well. Enjoy! and welcome to the madness.
Good advice here. I would add: Find out where the party wants their characters to go. What do they want to be in 5-10 levels? What is their backstory? That way you can modify modules (if you use those) or write things into that help develop the character arc. As an example, I am DMing a group of players that are basically D&D noobs. The fighter wanted to be a vampire hunter basically, getting revenge. He became a Blood Hunter. The party met when they were on a boat trip around the Moonshaes (Forgotten Realms) and he did not realize that part of the goods he was carrying was a vampire's coffin being transported to a new resting place. His father's seneschal (retired cleric) found out, tried to kill the vampire, the vampire was stronger, the boat caught fire and the party washed up on an island, which was actually the start of the module (I added the vampire/cleric). So they get off the island. They don't know if vampire is alive (he is, of course). After a level or two, they find out that the father's estate is up for sale. Go to find that the father sold everything to purchase some magical items as a way to fight this vampire. Now they have to go find the items, and get the spells completed.
Throughout the course of several modules, they are all slowly advancing, not only in levels but in what their characters want to be.
Don't feel like you are tied to exactly what the module says. If there is a section that you feel will be awkward to role play for you. Or that it doesn't make sense then change it to what you want.
Don't feel like you are tied to exactly what the module says. If there is a section that you feel will be awkward to role play for you. Or that it doesn't make sense then change it to what you want.
Exactly. Change what you need to change to fit a storyline better, or the strengths/weaknesses of the party. I have cut stuff out of many a module (or added to it) to fit the world better.
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Hi all. I'm going to be DMing for a group of good friends of mine soon. It'll be my very first time DMing anything. Initially I was going to be co-DMing with a friend, but their schedule is too hectic, so it's just going to be me, which is totally cool, but I'm a little nervous. This group is awesome, and we've been friends for years, so I'm not concerned about them, more so just wanting to make a good impression as DM.
I have a bunch of the source books, the DM guide, and the adventures from the essentials kit, as well as Sunless Citadel.
Any tips, tricks, advice you guys have for a brand new DM? It's all much appreciated!
It sounds like you have the resources you will need to start already at your disposal. The essentials kit in particular was written for new DMs as well as new players, so reading through it, even if you do not run that particular set of adventures, can be very helpful. Also, do not worry, if you feel nervous. I have been both running and playing for years now and I still feel like that, especially before an important event or encounter.
The best advice I can offer is two-fold.
1) Talk to your players. It is often useful to have a session 0 before you start play. This doesn't have to take an entire evening , although it can, especially if you include character creation. The main idea is to give you and your players a chance to talk about the game. Some things to consider are: What will the setting be? What method will you use to generate Ability Scores? Which optional rules or house rule will you include?
This is also a great time to discuss what sort of game everyone likes. Some players like lots of combat, some like puzzle solving, some just want a good story. There is no wrong or right answer to any of this, but it is always helpful to know what your players expectations are.
Of course, this doesn't end when the campaign starts. Take a few minutes at the beginning or end of a session to talk about how things went. What did the players like or dislike? What are they looking forward to doing or seeing in game? What plans do their characters have? Also, don't be afraid to eavesdrop on conversation between PCs. These can be very informative and also give you some truly unexpected ideas.
2) Remember that everyone is there to have fun. This includes you. Being a DM is a lot of work, but it can be very rewarding as well. Enjoy! and welcome to the madness.
1. Have a random encounter or 2 prepped incase they totally throw a curveball at you with where they decide to go. You can continue the session with and encounter that might add to the story without having to either railroad them or just totally make everything up as you go along which can be hard for a new DM.
2. Try to end a session either with them deciding on their next move (so you know what to prep), or end the session at the start of a combat. Stopping right as enemies pop out at you leave a cliff hanger for next time, combats also take a long time to do and stopping/staring mid combat feels awkward and anticlimactic.
3 Don't call for rolls that aren't necessary just because it fits a category, it just slows things down. Example: If a raging barbarian says they want to break a window, don't make them roll strength, it's a window, glass breaks on accident, and if they roll a 1 you are going to have to come up with some bs about how a 7ft tall half orc with an axe failed to break glass.
4 Unleash your inner nerd. You spent your whole life uptucking your nerdiness and now's the time to take it out and swing it around. If you get into it, you will make people feel like they have permission to do it too.
5 Lv 1-2 can be deadly, they have very little health and just a few unlucky rolls can kill a player. Maybe consider having the first encounter not be a fight to the death, but rather something like your wagon being robbed on the road where failure means having something stolen rather than everyone dies.
When you're voicing characters, just do a celebrity impression. If you're bad at them, then congratulations, you just made up a brand new voice and at least they'll have some idea who they're talking to. But if you're good, then it's a fun little joke for you and the players. Everyone loves meeting a Paladin who talks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or spice up a Bandit encounter with the dulcet tones of the Macho Man Randy Savage.
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Or don't do impressions. You can get by saying in Anrold S voice the npc asks where the charimin
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Good advice here. I would add: Find out where the party wants their characters to go. What do they want to be in 5-10 levels? What is their backstory? That way you can modify modules (if you use those) or write things into that help develop the character arc. As an example, I am DMing a group of players that are basically D&D noobs. The fighter wanted to be a vampire hunter basically, getting revenge. He became a Blood Hunter. The party met when they were on a boat trip around the Moonshaes (Forgotten Realms) and he did not realize that part of the goods he was carrying was a vampire's coffin being transported to a new resting place. His father's seneschal (retired cleric) found out, tried to kill the vampire, the vampire was stronger, the boat caught fire and the party washed up on an island, which was actually the start of the module (I added the vampire/cleric). So they get off the island. They don't know if vampire is alive (he is, of course). After a level or two, they find out that the father's estate is up for sale. Go to find that the father sold everything to purchase some magical items as a way to fight this vampire. Now they have to go find the items, and get the spells completed.
Throughout the course of several modules, they are all slowly advancing, not only in levels but in what their characters want to be.
Don't feel like you are tied to exactly what the module says. If there is a section that you feel will be awkward to role play for you. Or that it doesn't make sense then change it to what you want.
Exactly. Change what you need to change to fit a storyline better, or the strengths/weaknesses of the party. I have cut stuff out of many a module (or added to it) to fit the world better.