Just like the title says, I'm a new DM and I was looking for help (possibly even a template) for planning a campaign. I'm not sure who my DM notes should be set up. What information I should have planned for each NPC, should I have a generator/method for creating NPCs on the fly? What part of each map needs to be planned out? Everything? Nothing. I'm feeling super overwhelmed and I'm not sure if I'm just overthinking things. I can improvise and adapt with what the players want but I prefer to having more planned than less. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My advice, buy a module, dragon of icespire peak or lost mines. That at least covers a large part of the work for you in terms of maps etc.
Then just plan session by session, 90% of NPCs won’t need stats, so you can just have a site like fantasy name generator up If you need help with names.
Agreed, you can get Lost Mine of Phandelver for free on D&D Beyond. It's written specifically as a starter adventure to teach players how to play and DM's how to DM. That's how I learned. By the end of it, I was ready to run a much larger adventure with much more complicated character options.
Read it all the way through, and then read and become very familiar with the rules about combat and ability/skill checks. Those are the rules that you'll need to know the most. At that point, round up 4-6 friends and start playing.
As for preparing, I've learned the hard way not to prepare too far ahead. The players will rarely do what you think they will do. Just read the section of the adventure you're running as well as the section just ahead of you. Read it a few times so you're familiar enough with the locations, NPC's, and encounters that you can improvise.
The important thing to remember is that the players only know what you choose to tell them. So choose to tell them about the things you're ready to do!
I am as well a new dm, who decide to create their own campaign. I have purchased both of the phandalin starter kits. To be honest I rain the first one a little bit and never really messed with the second. But what I recommend if your interestering on making your own adventure, create a loss idea of what you want this adventure to be, start your players off at lvl 1 (I did mine at 5, wasn't my best idea) this why you can learned class features better as well for players, and less to keep up with to start. Make a rough idea of things to do during the session, but not to much for players definitely will do their own. Thing as well, but loss ideas can help allow you to not be completely off guard. As take notes durning the seasion of folks names, happenings and such.
In all honesty, GM a different game system first. Much like my advice to someone new to TTRPGs is, I'd always advise GMing something different first because then you realise that the structure is similar across a lot of things.
All sessions boil down to a few key components I find:
1 - The Hook 2 - The Task 3 - The Complication 4 - The Resolution 5 - The Aftermath
The Hook This is the bit that needs the most planning. You need to set the scene and figure out how to get your players interested in the forthcoming task. The hook can take many forms: questgiver, burned down shack, dead body, arrested party member, attack, rumour etc. Plan this one the heaviest. Work out how to make the hook go in and how to most interest your players with the task.
The Task This is the bit where the aims of the task are stated: clear a dungeon, rescue a prince, kill the BBEG, steal back a relic, get revenge for something etc. The players will help to shape this depending on how they respond to the hook. You can plan this bit by thinking of ways the task can be resolved (sneaking round the dungeon, hack and slash, sending pets ahead to scout).
The Complication Often times this is the peak of the action. The party have decided to do something, or have deviated from the task so you need to keep them on track or present a new challenge. I tend to think of this as the bit with the encounter(s). The party work out what they're going to have to do to overcome and complete the task.
The Resolution This is how successfully they achieved their goal. Did they slaughter everyone in the dungeon? Did they take prisoners? What are the consequences of their actions going to be? How will this affect the world going forward? How does it affect the players going forward? This is almost impossible to properly plan if you participate in collaborative storytelling. If you're a DM that railroads players or wants to limit their options, it can be planned. But for everyone else, plan loose by working out what rewards might be on offer for them completing their task. You can also work out what punishments could be on offer too.
The Aftermath The dust has cleared and the party are off into the sunset or off to the next part of the adventure...maybe they're off home. I tend to use this section for the shopping, levelling, setting up an ongoing storyline, or getting the party to begin the journey to the place they'll start next time. This is where the IC stuff starts to break down into OOC for me. It's where I double check what loot everyone has, confirm how bad a state everyone is in.
Of course this is similar to story mountains, or other storywriting techniques. There's a reason for that...they work and they help structure things. The five act structure is really helpful as it crosses so many genres. I highly recommend looking into it. I'd also say, don't think of D&D as a game, but as a collaborative story that you are helping to frame. It makes things a lot easier.
As to planning a campaign, I wouldn't advise starting off with a long linked together campaign. I'd advise a series of quests first and as you get more confident, then look at how to link them together. Are the party in the employ of someone? Have they all been wronged by the same person? Find a goal that can unite the group and have them work towards that goal when thinking on a campaign scale. I'd also advise not having every session in a campaign simply be about the end goal of the campaign. Throw some one-shots in there. Find a way to give the party some one off adventuring too. It helps pace and provide perspective.
That would be my thoughts at least. I'm sure some people disagree or have other ideas.
Just like the title says, I'm a new DM and I was looking for help (possibly even a template) for planning a campaign. I'm not sure who my DM notes should be set up. What information I should have planned for each NPC, should I have a generator/method for creating NPCs on the fly? What part of each map needs to be planned out? Everything? Nothing. I'm feeling super overwhelmed and I'm not sure if I'm just overthinking things. I can improvise and adapt with what the players want but I prefer to having more planned than less. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
There are at least as many ways of doing things as there are DMs. In terms of notes, IMO it's more important to record what did happen that you need to remember than what might happen, but that's how I work, with a lot of freedom for the players and making stuff up on the fly.
I suggest prepping a toolbox. Have some NPCs prepped, even if "prepped" is just a name, description, and a few personality notes. Slot them in to roles as needed. Most NPCs will end up being bit players, and overdeveloping them is a waste of time. When they start to recur, that's when you flesh them out.
Similarly, have encounters on hand, and if they don't get used, see if you can use them later, perhaps with some reflavoring.
Start the PCs out with a specific goal, which will get you through the first few sessions. Make it explicit that this is the setup, so they can make their characters with that in mind. (For instance, in the game I'm running, the setup was "this is a Spelljammer game, and your characters have all signed up as new crew on a Perfectly Normal sailingvessel. You're all at least acquainted with each other.")
Use the initial goal to throw plot hooks at them, and see which ones interest them. Develop those. You should have some vague idea of some of the larger things going on in the world, but you don't need to flesh everything out yet, and sometimes a little thing will introduce major new elements. The less work you've already done, the easier it is to adjust.
As a new DM, you're probably going to be more comfortable with more structure than I'm talking about here. There are a number of ways to do this, including have the PCs be working for somebody else, or having their movement restricted in some way. A less obvious, but very useful, one is talking to your players. Agree on what the expectations are for the game, and you won't have players fighting against them.(And they don't have to be fixed in stone. You can open up the game later as you get more comfortable, if that's what the players want.)
Just like the title says, I'm a new DM and I was looking for help (possibly even a template) for planning a campaign. I'm not sure who my DM notes should be set up. What information I should have planned for each NPC, should I have a generator/method for creating NPCs on the fly? What part of each map needs to be planned out? Everything? Nothing. I'm feeling super overwhelmed and I'm not sure if I'm just overthinking things. I can improvise and adapt with what the players want but I prefer to having more planned than less. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My advice, buy a module, dragon of icespire peak or lost mines. That at least covers a large part of the work for you in terms of maps etc.
Then just plan session by session, 90% of NPCs won’t need stats, so you can just have a site like fantasy name generator up If you need help with names.
But yes but a module.
I have bought and ran a module before, I'm more thinking along the lines of my own homebrew campaign.
Agreed, you can get Lost Mine of Phandelver for free on D&D Beyond. It's written specifically as a starter adventure to teach players how to play and DM's how to DM. That's how I learned. By the end of it, I was ready to run a much larger adventure with much more complicated character options.
Read it all the way through, and then read and become very familiar with the rules about combat and ability/skill checks. Those are the rules that you'll need to know the most. At that point, round up 4-6 friends and start playing.
As for preparing, I've learned the hard way not to prepare too far ahead. The players will rarely do what you think they will do. Just read the section of the adventure you're running as well as the section just ahead of you. Read it a few times so you're familiar enough with the locations, NPC's, and encounters that you can improvise.
The important thing to remember is that the players only know what you choose to tell them. So choose to tell them about the things you're ready to do!
I am as well a new dm, who decide to create their own campaign. I have purchased both of the phandalin starter kits. To be honest I rain the first one a little bit and never really messed with the second. But what I recommend if your interestering on making your own adventure, create a loss idea of what you want this adventure to be, start your players off at lvl 1 (I did mine at 5, wasn't my best idea) this why you can learned class features better as well for players, and less to keep up with to start. Make a rough idea of things to do during the session, but not to much for players definitely will do their own. Thing as well, but loss ideas can help allow you to not be completely off guard. As take notes durning the seasion of folks names, happenings and such.
In all honesty, GM a different game system first. Much like my advice to someone new to TTRPGs is, I'd always advise GMing something different first because then you realise that the structure is similar across a lot of things.
All sessions boil down to a few key components I find:
1 - The Hook
2 - The Task
3 - The Complication
4 - The Resolution
5 - The Aftermath
The Hook
This is the bit that needs the most planning. You need to set the scene and figure out how to get your players interested in the forthcoming task. The hook can take many forms: questgiver, burned down shack, dead body, arrested party member, attack, rumour etc. Plan this one the heaviest. Work out how to make the hook go in and how to most interest your players with the task.
The Task
This is the bit where the aims of the task are stated: clear a dungeon, rescue a prince, kill the BBEG, steal back a relic, get revenge for something etc. The players will help to shape this depending on how they respond to the hook. You can plan this bit by thinking of ways the task can be resolved (sneaking round the dungeon, hack and slash, sending pets ahead to scout).
The Complication
Often times this is the peak of the action. The party have decided to do something, or have deviated from the task so you need to keep them on track or present a new challenge. I tend to think of this as the bit with the encounter(s). The party work out what they're going to have to do to overcome and complete the task.
The Resolution
This is how successfully they achieved their goal. Did they slaughter everyone in the dungeon? Did they take prisoners? What are the consequences of their actions going to be? How will this affect the world going forward? How does it affect the players going forward? This is almost impossible to properly plan if you participate in collaborative storytelling. If you're a DM that railroads players or wants to limit their options, it can be planned. But for everyone else, plan loose by working out what rewards might be on offer for them completing their task. You can also work out what punishments could be on offer too.
The Aftermath
The dust has cleared and the party are off into the sunset or off to the next part of the adventure...maybe they're off home. I tend to use this section for the shopping, levelling, setting up an ongoing storyline, or getting the party to begin the journey to the place they'll start next time. This is where the IC stuff starts to break down into OOC for me. It's where I double check what loot everyone has, confirm how bad a state everyone is in.
Of course this is similar to story mountains, or other storywriting techniques. There's a reason for that...they work and they help structure things. The five act structure is really helpful as it crosses so many genres. I highly recommend looking into it. I'd also say, don't think of D&D as a game, but as a collaborative story that you are helping to frame. It makes things a lot easier.
As to planning a campaign, I wouldn't advise starting off with a long linked together campaign. I'd advise a series of quests first and as you get more confident, then look at how to link them together. Are the party in the employ of someone? Have they all been wronged by the same person? Find a goal that can unite the group and have them work towards that goal when thinking on a campaign scale. I'd also advise not having every session in a campaign simply be about the end goal of the campaign. Throw some one-shots in there. Find a way to give the party some one off adventuring too. It helps pace and provide perspective.
That would be my thoughts at least. I'm sure some people disagree or have other ideas.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
There are at least as many ways of doing things as there are DMs. In terms of notes, IMO it's more important to record what did happen that you need to remember than what might happen, but that's how I work, with a lot of freedom for the players and making stuff up on the fly.
I suggest prepping a toolbox. Have some NPCs prepped, even if "prepped" is just a name, description, and a few personality notes. Slot them in to roles as needed. Most NPCs will end up being bit players, and overdeveloping them is a waste of time. When they start to recur, that's when you flesh them out.
Similarly, have encounters on hand, and if they don't get used, see if you can use them later, perhaps with some reflavoring.
Start the PCs out with a specific goal, which will get you through the first few sessions. Make it explicit that this is the setup, so they can make their characters with that in mind. (For instance, in the game I'm running, the setup was "this is a Spelljammer game, and your characters have all signed up as new crew on a Perfectly Normal sailing vessel. You're all at least acquainted with each other.")
Use the initial goal to throw plot hooks at them, and see which ones interest them. Develop those. You should have some vague idea of some of the larger things going on in the world, but you don't need to flesh everything out yet, and sometimes a little thing will introduce major new elements. The less work you've already done, the easier it is to adjust.
As a new DM, you're probably going to be more comfortable with more structure than I'm talking about here. There are a number of ways to do this, including have the PCs be working for somebody else, or having their movement restricted in some way. A less obvious, but very useful, one is talking to your players. Agree on what the expectations are for the game, and you won't have players fighting against them.(And they don't have to be fixed in stone. You can open up the game later as you get more comfortable, if that's what the players want.)
Angry DM has some great articles on this
https://theangrygm.com/how-to-homebrew/
https://theangrygm.com/tag/simple-homebrew-campaign/