After about a year of off-putting it, i have finally worked up the courage to be a DM.
I am going to run the lost mine of phandelver first, and then i was thinking of writing my own campaign and then teleporting them there. Should i instead buy a prewritten (as this is my first time DMing) or should i write my own. If so, what tools should i use? (I Have office 365 to use onenote, But not willing to pay for anything however free plans are fine by me). Also, do you have any tips for DMing a new player as a New DM? only 1 person in my group will be new.
There are TONS of resources out there for DMs both old and new, from numerous websites to entire youtube playlists all about being a DM, writing adventures, all of it.
But my recommendation is run something prewritten first, to get an idea of pacing, combat, how to weave in story hooks, etc. See what you like, what you don't like while working through a guide. That will help inform you of how you want to do your own world/game. Also talk to your players about what they want. Getting them involved early will make it much easier and more satisfying for everyone in the long run.
As far as note taking, I use google docs myself, but a friend uses One Note and there are so so many other (free) options out there. Use what you are comfortable with and only seek out other options if they can fill your needs better than what you already have. There's no point in getting a fancy campaign manager if you aren't going to use all the features.
Again, there are lots and lots of websites out there that can help with town generation (maps, names, personnel, etc), encounter builders, story plots, you name it there's probably a generator or roll table for it out there somewhere. Those are great if you aren't sure about things or need inspiration.
If you have more specific questions though feel free to post them or you can dm me too if you like! :)
World anvil is pretty great, and it’s got a free tier.
For the new player, set up a time to meet with them 1-on-1 to make their character. Don’t talk to them in terms of class/subclass; ask what they want their character to be able to do, then you figure out the best way to match what they want to the options. Sometimes, you can let them read that chart in the PHB with a 1-sentence description of each class to help get them thinking. Stay away from multiclassing. Then go over the basic game play: In a fight, you’ll roll a d20 and add this number. If you hit, you roll this die gut damage and add this number. Outside of a fight, you explain what you want your character to do, I’ll detour you need to make a skill check. Probably also cover saves and initiative, and that will get them through most stuff.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
After about a year of off-putting it, i have finally worked up the courage to be a DM.
I am going to run the lost mine of phandelver first, and then i was thinking of writing my own campaign and then teleporting them there. Should i instead buy a prewritten (as this is my first time DMing) or should i write my own. If so, what tools should i use? (I Have office 365 to use onenote, But not willing to pay for anything however free plans are fine by me). Also, do you have any tips for DMing a new player as a New DM? only 1 person in my group will be new.
There are TONS of resources out there for DMs both old and new, from numerous websites to entire youtube playlists all about being a DM, writing adventures, all of it.
But my recommendation is run something prewritten first, to get an idea of pacing, combat, how to weave in story hooks, etc. See what you like, what you don't like while working through a guide. That will help inform you of how you want to do your own world/game. Also talk to your players about what they want. Getting them involved early will make it much easier and more satisfying for everyone in the long run.
As far as note taking, I use google docs myself, but a friend uses One Note and there are so so many other (free) options out there. Use what you are comfortable with and only seek out other options if they can fill your needs better than what you already have. There's no point in getting a fancy campaign manager if you aren't going to use all the features.
Again, there are lots and lots of websites out there that can help with town generation (maps, names, personnel, etc), encounter builders, story plots, you name it there's probably a generator or roll table for it out there somewhere. Those are great if you aren't sure about things or need inspiration.
If you have more specific questions though feel free to post them or you can dm me too if you like! :)
World anvil is pretty great, and it’s got a free tier.
For the new player, set up a time to meet with them 1-on-1 to make their character. Don’t talk to them in terms of class/subclass; ask what they want their character to be able to do, then you figure out the best way to match what they want to the options. Sometimes, you can let them read that chart in the PHB with a 1-sentence description of each class to help get them thinking. Stay away from multiclassing.
Then go over the basic game play: In a fight, you’ll roll a d20 and add this number. If you hit, you roll this die gut damage and add this number. Outside of a fight, you explain what you want your character to do, I’ll detour you need to make a skill check. Probably also cover saves and initiative, and that will get them through most stuff.