Like the title says I am a brand new DM and I'm apprehensive about starting. I would feel better having some advice from more experienced DMs. How do I start? Where should I focus? how do I keep players engaged? How should I react to unforeseen circumstances? What about problem players? How do/did you run tLMoP? any advice, anecdotes, and thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you
OK, so I first thing I did when I was in exactly your position was I watched a few playthrough videos of LMoP on YouTube. You don't need to watch the whole campaign, just the first chapter or two so you can get the feel for how it works. I also recommend reading the whole module. You don't need to memorizer it or anything, but you should have a good idea of the events that happen and when they happen. Your focus, for now, should be on understanding the basic rules. You don't need to know the intricacies of how every spell works or how much gold every item costs, just how combat works in general, the main ability checks, etc. Player engagement, at least for me, comes from keeping the game moving. If you're not sure of something, just make a gut ruling and look it up after session. Don't waste more than a minute or two looking something up, it kills the pace. Unforeseen circumstances are going to happen, probably starting on your first session. During them, I go back to the rule of cool: if it's cool and it makes everyone have fun, go for it. The improv will get better as you get more comfortable also. Player problems are hard to make a blanket statement for. It's kinda case by case, based on what the issue is. As for how I ran LMoP, the first time I basically ran it straight from the book. You can do that with not too much prep and still have a good time. I hope I asnwered your questions, but if you need more, don't be afraid to ask.
Don't worry about having all the rules memorized, but it wouldn't hurt to study the actions in combat section of the basic rules. My players didn't have a strong understanding of actions versus bonus actions versus reactions and so forth. In fact, it's over a year later and some of them still don't!
Take note of what your party's HP, AC, and skills proficiencies are and as well as any other special properties they might have. When it comes to skill checks, I usually ask the character with the highest proficiency to roll instead of everybody trying to roll.
Give a little thought about how your party's backgrounds could tie into the story.
For any important NPCs, you might want to take a few notes on them too so you can keep them straight as far as their personalities and any accents you might give them.
Have a blank battle map ready. I ran the goblin ambush as theater of the mind and it was disaster since I wasn't prepared to keep track of where everyone was in relation to each other when players kept asking how many feet away the goblins were. Lesson learned.
You don't have to do random encounters. My players quickly got bored of these once they realized they weren't getting any good treasure out of random encounters. So we stopped doing them.
Figure out what Nezznar the Black Spider's motivations might be for your game since the book doesn't give any. I just said that the head of Nezznar's house had sent him to secure the Forge of Spells in order to make magic equipment for their drow army.
Consider using milestone experience instead of tracking XP. It's easier for everyone.
LMoP was my first DM foray, and it was a great campaign for new DMs and players alike. My best advice to you....don't sweat knowing everything. It's a learning experience for all.
Reading the players handbook and DM's guide is pretty important if you haven't already. You won't remember everything, but at least having a good idea of the rules is pretty important for gameplay purposes. While you can stop down and look up rules. Doing so interrupts the game with is a HUGE negative. As noted though, you don't have to know all the rules, but having at least an understanding of the rules helps the game resemble a D&D game.
If you don't know the rules in a situation, just wing it as a DM. That is what we do! DMing is about winging all kinds of stuff because you aren't reading a novel. You have campaign details and then you have players who are really the ones who drive the direction of the campaign. (this is very important for fun factor purposes)
Hopefully you have some experience playing the game so you know generally how things roll. Each DM has a different style and as you go forward you will develop your own. As noted, watch games online (Youtube or Twitch) and learn from them. (both what to do and what not to do!)
I stress this. Do not stress DMing when you are running the game. The game is predicated on the DM and if you are nervous or unsure. It directly affects the game. Get it started and just roll with it. I know this can result in some good and some bad, but that's okay. It's your first time! Rinse and repeat and update what you do based on what you learned last time! Eliminate what was bad and do more of what was good! DMing is a skill you most hone. It doesn't just happen!
Most important. Relax and enjoy the game! If you are comfortable and happy and your players are happy. You did a great job! That won't happen if you're extremely uptight and questioning every single move you make as the DM!
I've run LMoP several times and my best advice for you is to focus your preparation work on the village of Phandalain. There are several NPC's who are quest givers and making a few simple notes on each on a single crib sheet it'll help you quickly get into the roleplay for them and keep you from needing to flip pages so you can find them.
Example: NPC: Townmaster Harbin Locations: Townmaster's Hall (evening/night), Random shops, or the Inn (daytime). Quest: Orc Trouble Personality: Pompous, bumbling, well meaning Bonds: Keeping people safe in Phandalin
Repeat that for the other NPC's and then you can quickly roleplay them off the cuff, without needing to page flip. It's minimalist, but helpful! After that? If you want to go deeper the recommendation to read the LMoP writings at Sly Flourish is absolutely going to help!
Write the cross reference in the book. Quest give on page 5 gives quest to page 17. Change the dragon encounter as it is a possible TPK with new people. Have it shake down the players for their loot. The opening ambush is a little deadly you may want to change that. I am currently running at my LGS.
Write the cross reference in the book. Quest give on page 5 gives quest to page 17. Change the dragon encounter as it is a possible TPK with new people. Have it shake down the players for their loot. The opening ambush is a little deadly you may want to change that. I am currently running at my LGS.
The opening ambush is designed that way though. That’s why there’s a blurb in there about what to do if the party doesn’t win the encounter.
I finished this last night after five sessions . I stand with changing the dragon encounter. I also moved Gundar (your lost friend) into Echo Cave complex. But take notes and make your players take notes.
In addition to the advice above, which looks well suited for helping you do the work of a DM while in the game:
1) Chat one-on-one with each of your players briefly about what they want out of the game (as people), and who their characters are (background/inspirations etc). It might be something fun and simple, or something more heady. But what you really are looking for is "what sort of game environment do my players consider fun, since we're committing several hours regularly (I hope) to this."
I started a game with a player who made a really interesting character but who, as a character, was terrible for the party. It made the other players (not just their characters) upset, and they ultimately left the game. Another player kinda enjoys playing but mainly just because of the social element, they don't really care or get too invested or involved in the game itself. Both of these are things that maybe could have been addressed earlier-on, one-on-one.
2) Be kind to yourself and to them. That means scaling combat up or down, throwing in RP ways to get over obstacles, thinking about traps that can be checked and defused - and, not getting too high strung about getting anything wrong! Be straight with your players and say "hey, first time doing this, I'm a player too in that sense here - so let's all have fun but feedback will be great."
3) Have the stat blocks for your monsters handy, have the PCs stat blocks ready too.
4) Be flexible! And related to #1 - think about who's story you're telling. Not really an issue with Phandelver but it's not a bad mindset to have when DMing that the story being told might not be the story you thought you'd be telling (every DM has been flummoxed by their PCs doing something the DM didn't expect, didn't prepare for, didn't anticipate, etc.).
Like the title says I am a brand new DM and I'm apprehensive about starting. I would feel better having some advice from more experienced DMs. How do I start? Where should I focus? how do I keep players engaged? How should I react to unforeseen circumstances? What about problem players? How do/did you run tLMoP?
any advice, anecdotes, and thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you
OK, so I first thing I did when I was in exactly your position was I watched a few playthrough videos of LMoP on YouTube. You don't need to watch the whole campaign, just the first chapter or two so you can get the feel for how it works. I also recommend reading the whole module. You don't need to memorizer it or anything, but you should have a good idea of the events that happen and when they happen. Your focus, for now, should be on understanding the basic rules. You don't need to know the intricacies of how every spell works or how much gold every item costs, just how combat works in general, the main ability checks, etc. Player engagement, at least for me, comes from keeping the game moving. If you're not sure of something, just make a gut ruling and look it up after session. Don't waste more than a minute or two looking something up, it kills the pace. Unforeseen circumstances are going to happen, probably starting on your first session. During them, I go back to the rule of cool: if it's cool and it makes everyone have fun, go for it. The improv will get better as you get more comfortable also. Player problems are hard to make a blanket statement for. It's kinda case by case, based on what the issue is. As for how I ran LMoP, the first time I basically ran it straight from the book. You can do that with not too much prep and still have a good time. I hope I asnwered your questions, but if you need more, don't be afraid to ask.
I'd recommend reading this blog post from Sly Flourish.
Don't worry about having all the rules memorized, but it wouldn't hurt to study the actions in combat section of the basic rules. My players didn't have a strong understanding of actions versus bonus actions versus reactions and so forth. In fact, it's over a year later and some of them still don't!
Take note of what your party's HP, AC, and skills proficiencies are and as well as any other special properties they might have. When it comes to skill checks, I usually ask the character with the highest proficiency to roll instead of everybody trying to roll.
Give a little thought about how your party's backgrounds could tie into the story.
For any important NPCs, you might want to take a few notes on them too so you can keep them straight as far as their personalities and any accents you might give them.
Have a blank battle map ready. I ran the goblin ambush as theater of the mind and it was disaster since I wasn't prepared to keep track of where everyone was in relation to each other when players kept asking how many feet away the goblins were. Lesson learned.
You don't have to do random encounters. My players quickly got bored of these once they realized they weren't getting any good treasure out of random encounters. So we stopped doing them.
Figure out what Nezznar the Black Spider's motivations might be for your game since the book doesn't give any. I just said that the head of Nezznar's house had sent him to secure the Forge of Spells in order to make magic equipment for their drow army.
Consider using milestone experience instead of tracking XP. It's easier for everyone.
LMoP was my first DM foray, and it was a great campaign for new DMs and players alike. My best advice to you....don't sweat knowing everything. It's a learning experience for all.
Reading the players handbook and DM's guide is pretty important if you haven't already. You won't remember everything, but at least having a good idea of the rules is pretty important for gameplay purposes. While you can stop down and look up rules. Doing so interrupts the game with is a HUGE negative. As noted though, you don't have to know all the rules, but having at least an understanding of the rules helps the game resemble a D&D game.
If you don't know the rules in a situation, just wing it as a DM. That is what we do! DMing is about winging all kinds of stuff because you aren't reading a novel. You have campaign details and then you have players who are really the ones who drive the direction of the campaign. (this is very important for fun factor purposes)
Hopefully you have some experience playing the game so you know generally how things roll. Each DM has a different style and as you go forward you will develop your own. As noted, watch games online (Youtube or Twitch) and learn from them. (both what to do and what not to do!)
I stress this. Do not stress DMing when you are running the game. The game is predicated on the DM and if you are nervous or unsure. It directly affects the game. Get it started and just roll with it. I know this can result in some good and some bad, but that's okay. It's your first time! Rinse and repeat and update what you do based on what you learned last time! Eliminate what was bad and do more of what was good! DMing is a skill you most hone. It doesn't just happen!
Most important. Relax and enjoy the game! If you are comfortable and happy and your players are happy. You did a great job! That won't happen if you're extremely uptight and questioning every single move you make as the DM!
Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
I've run LMoP several times and my best advice for you is to focus your preparation work on the village of Phandalain. There are several NPC's who are quest givers and making a few simple notes on each on a single crib sheet it'll help you quickly get into the roleplay for them and keep you from needing to flip pages so you can find them.
Example:
NPC: Townmaster Harbin
Locations: Townmaster's Hall (evening/night), Random shops, or the Inn (daytime).
Quest: Orc Trouble
Personality: Pompous, bumbling, well meaning
Bonds: Keeping people safe in Phandalin
Repeat that for the other NPC's and then you can quickly roleplay them off the cuff, without needing to page flip. It's minimalist, but helpful! After that? If you want to go deeper the recommendation to read the LMoP writings at Sly Flourish is absolutely going to help!
Write the cross reference in the book. Quest give on page 5 gives quest to page 17. Change the dragon encounter as it is a possible TPK with new people. Have it shake down the players for their loot. The opening ambush is a little deadly you may want to change that. I am currently running at my LGS.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
The opening ambush is designed that way though. That’s why there’s a blurb in there about what to do if the party doesn’t win the encounter.
I finished this last night after five sessions . I stand with changing the dragon encounter. I also moved Gundar (your lost friend) into Echo Cave complex. But take notes and make your players take notes.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
In addition to the advice above, which looks well suited for helping you do the work of a DM while in the game:
1) Chat one-on-one with each of your players briefly about what they want out of the game (as people), and who their characters are (background/inspirations etc). It might be something fun and simple, or something more heady. But what you really are looking for is "what sort of game environment do my players consider fun, since we're committing several hours regularly (I hope) to this."
I started a game with a player who made a really interesting character but who, as a character, was terrible for the party. It made the other players (not just their characters) upset, and they ultimately left the game. Another player kinda enjoys playing but mainly just because of the social element, they don't really care or get too invested or involved in the game itself. Both of these are things that maybe could have been addressed earlier-on, one-on-one.
2) Be kind to yourself and to them. That means scaling combat up or down, throwing in RP ways to get over obstacles, thinking about traps that can be checked and defused - and, not getting too high strung about getting anything wrong! Be straight with your players and say "hey, first time doing this, I'm a player too in that sense here - so let's all have fun but feedback will be great."
3) Have the stat blocks for your monsters handy, have the PCs stat blocks ready too.
4) Be flexible! And related to #1 - think about who's story you're telling. Not really an issue with Phandelver but it's not a bad mindset to have when DMing that the story being told might not be the story you thought you'd be telling (every DM has been flummoxed by their PCs doing something the DM didn't expect, didn't prepare for, didn't anticipate, etc.).