I got into dnd recently, within the last 3 years. I really enjoy the game as a player, and I thought it would be fun to try making my own (partially since the other dms wanted a break). I spent a while brainstorming a story idea, and eventually, my campaign started. At first, I thought it was going pretty good, but stuff went downhill rather quickly. The players stopped paying attention to the game, and lots of scheduling problems popped up. My insecure self still thinks some of my players were making up conflicts so they didn't have to go to my sessions. Eventually, I asked them all for full honesty on whether or not they were enjoying the campaign. Here's an example of what one of them said:

Heccing no. There's no really memorable characters, the content is almost blatantly stolen without any new kind of gimmick or remix, and references to popular things can only go so far. The combat is either too easy or slightly too easy. Whenever the players try and do something on their own and spin off, it's either completely shut down or it's allowed to go on for way too heccing long. There's a genuine lack of a feeling of accomplishment whenever a battle is completed, and it doesn't really feel like we're actually advancing, both story-wise and power-wise. The level-ups don't feel deserved, and there aren't any new, fun, or exciting magic items to toy around with. Honestly? It kinda just feels kinda uninspired, sluggish, and boring. I'm sorry for tearing into you so much, but you made your choice when you said you wanted full honesty.

So... That's how my first attempt at dming went. I've found a new group now, and I'm wondering if I should try again, and if so, with the same campaign(edited to be better) or a new idea?

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

In general, you should aim not to repeat your failures. So I personally would not attempt to run that same campaign again without major changes. Honestly, it sounds like the combat encounters were the main weakness in that case what you should do is run a bunch of one-shots rather than a campaign. When you (or at least when I) am running a campaign I get so flustered keeping track of everything else that my combat encounters start to get bland. Plus when you are in a campaign you are often worried about 'ruining the story' by accidentally killing a PC so tend to make the combat too easy. In contrast when you are running one-shots it doesn't matter if you TPK the party they weren't going to last beyond that session anyway so it is much more freeing to experiment with super hard combats or weird types of combat encounters.

Oh boy, reading that stung a little—it reminded me of my first time trying to DM. Let’s just say it didn’t go well. Combat was sluggish and slow, there wasn’t any real narrative to speak of, and most situations became convoluted because I was trying too hard to make the campaign interesting. You’re not alone in this!

The real question is: do you find DMing enjoyable? The fact that you’re considering giving it another shot speaks volumes. Just remember, the first steps are always the hardest! DMing is all about trial and error—learning what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s an art form, and the key is to enjoy the process of improving at it.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors! Don’t give up! DMing can be an incredibly rewarding experience. I still strive (and occasionally struggle) to hear the joy and laughter of the players at my table, even after over a decade of DMing. I still trip and stumble sometimes, but that’s just part of the journey. If I can fail despite years of experience, it means there’s nothing wrong with failing—it’s just another step toward growth!

I agree, that you can think about cranking it back a bit. Think of a 1 shot (actually maybe a 2-3 session shot) and give it a try. No far reaching plans or anything, just something simple.

If the party gets smoked, that's ok. Then you know what it too much.

I would normally avoid offering this sort of thing, but that was just a very rough foray and a brutal response even when asked for honesty. While I'm sure your game needs help, those players seem like jerks and a game doesn't fail alone. It fails together. I've recently started playing with new groups and for a long while I thought that I was slipping in old age, but the new groups that I've been playing with are way more enthusiastic and helpful.

So I guess if you want to run some stuff by me, I'm happy to help. It sounds like combat was a big part of it and that's not my specialty (I think following the advice in the 2024 DMG is probably the clearest official WotC take on balancing encounters, but you should also make a habit of reading and re-reading the abilities of the monsters in your encounters and ask yourself given the background of the monster and the abilities they have how they would use them. https://www.themonstersknow.com/ is a helpful resource in regards to that. It's a bad idea to think of story and combat as two separate parts of the game. The combat tells a story about your monsters and the monsters were chosen because they push the story forward somehow). My specialty lies more in world building and storytelling.

But Wysperra is correct. Starting with one shots or just a short off-the-shelf adventure line can be helpful. It's not how I started, but I started because way back when I was in 7th grade I wanted to tell stories, my stories, and while I've walked away from the hobby now and again, never for long. Even now in my mid-forties I feel like I'm learning new things.

That sounds like you should just try to run a premade module - and stay loyal to it, rather than try to improve it. GM'ing is a skill, and like most skills, it can be learned. 

Me, personally, I've GM'd for 35+ years. And I'm genuinely bad at parts of it - because I never really sat down and tried to learn those particular aspects. Instead, I try to storytell everything, and I kinda-sorta get away with it. Mostly. But I have one of the same issues you do: I don't make combat challenging enough. I can live with that, but from time to time, players can't. That's life =)

Yes.  Absolutely.

DM'ing is an extremely complicated task with a mind-boggling number of variables to keep track of. No one ever gets it right the first time. No one. For a first-time DM to successfully negotiate an entire campaign from beginning to end with a table full of satisfied players would be like handing someone who just passed their driver's test the keys to a race car and expecting them to win the 24 Hours at Le Mans. 

Nobody gets an A+ the first time out. Most of us fail. But we try again, and we do slightly better. Then we try again, and we do slightly better. Then we try again, and we do slightly better. 

Try again.

Thank you for all the help, everyone. I'm going to give it another shot with a new plan for a shorter adventure. :)

Quote from The_DragonTamer >>

Thank you for all the help, everyone. I'm going to give it another shot with a new plan for a shorter adventure. :)

 Maybe also consider running a pre-made published adventure your next couple of times. Get the feel of how an adventure should run a bit before you go making your own again. That might help.