Hey let me get straight to the point. I am good at story writing since I am a writer however I need help with preparation for the game and tricks and tips for during the game. I have about 100 hours of experience playing the game as a non DM. Simply put I started playing this game with the full intentions of one day being a DM. Any help would be very much appreciated!
Agreed, SlyFlourish is a great resource. I also find YouTube channels like GM Tips with Matt Mercer or Satine Phoenix, Taking20, and Web DM to be excellent. That said Matt Colville's "Running the Game" playlist immensely helpful.
Welcome to DMing! The above resources are great - and well worth watching. A few extra tips:
You've mentioned that you're a writer - which will certainly help with the story. But remember, it can also be a hinderance. You have to share your story with a group of players that might have considerably different ideas as to the direction they want to take it - be prepared to check yourself for railroading your players.
It's good that you've sunk a good chunk of time as a player. You'll know what you appreciate from the DM; and it's probably the ability to make meaningful decisions, be faced with drama, tension and challenges to overcome, and a story full that allows you to identify with your character, and inject them into the campaign.
Allow me to quote Eisenhower, and Helmuth von Moltke: Plans are useless (no plan survives contact with the enemy), but planning is indispensable. This is accurate. Preparation is key to being a good DM; know your own world - know its people, its history and its conflicts. Know the reason your players will want to follow your plot hooks. Know the NPCs in the first town, the name of the barmaid's favourite tipple, or the halfling bard's favourite tune. That way, when your carefully laid plan is torn to shreds by your players, you won't be at a loss - you'll be able to delight in their creativity - and provide a satisfying direction for them to pursue.
Never make a player feel their choices are worthless. If a player wants to ask what the name of a random farmer is, don't say 'it's irrelevant', even if you never intended to give them a name. Otherwise players will treat your game like... a game.... where only the 'right' choices - that you've pre-determined - will advance the plot.
Some players connect to your world differently - understanding this will help you provide opportunities to sow them into your vision, and bring your setting to life. A player of mine really appreciated that each village in a region had their own locally named beer, usually with a local name: 'Willow's Wallop; Honeytipple; Tipsy Badger' - and made it their own little sidequest to try them all. Would have been easy just to call it 'ale' - but it's all in the details. Look out for opportunities!
Biggest tip for a new DM: Don't sweat the little stuff. You'll make mistakes. You'll forget the rules. You'll get stuck. But it's ok! We're all learning - and so long as the players (and you!) have fun, the rest is all framework.
d&d is about collaborative storytelling, it is important for you, the writer, to let go of your story. this will allow your dm+players story to flourish.
Honestly, best advice I can give is to learn by doing; if you've got that much time behind you as a player you have a good feel for how the game works so do a one shot to get the ball rolling (that way the prep won't be too overwhelming) then take it forward from there.
I'd recommend getting a module book to form the skeleton (dragon heist is awesome for this) and use that as the basis of your next step into DMing. When you've done a one shot and a module then just go crazy with your own stuff.
As for resources, I don't really recommend much more than Beyond, some of the info sites already suggested and maybe https://theangrygm.com (he's a love him or hate him kinda blogger but I really like his no BS style)... Oh and get this: http://critgames.com/rpg/dnd-5e-encounter-sheet/ it will make your life SOOO much easier
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Hey let me get straight to the point. I am good at story writing since I am a writer however I need help with preparation for the game and tricks and tips for during the game. I have about 100 hours of experience playing the game as a non DM. Simply put I started playing this game with the full intentions of one day being a DM. Any help would be very much appreciated!
This is a good resource (and newly released!).
http://slyflourish.com/returnofthelazydm/
Agreed, SlyFlourish is a great resource. I also find YouTube channels like GM Tips with Matt Mercer or Satine Phoenix, Taking20, and Web DM to be excellent. That said Matt Colville's "Running the Game" playlist immensely helpful.
Thank you!
You've mentioned that you're a writer - which will certainly help with the story. But remember, it can also be a hinderance. You have to share your story with a group of players that might have considerably different ideas as to the direction they want to take it - be prepared to check yourself for railroading your players.
It's good that you've sunk a good chunk of time as a player. You'll know what you appreciate from the DM; and it's probably the ability to make meaningful decisions, be faced with drama, tension and challenges to overcome, and a story full that allows you to identify with your character, and inject them into the campaign.
Allow me to quote Eisenhower, and Helmuth von Moltke: Plans are useless (no plan survives contact with the enemy), but planning is indispensable. This is accurate. Preparation is key to being a good DM; know your own world - know its people, its history and its conflicts. Know the reason your players will want to follow your plot hooks. Know the NPCs in the first town, the name of the barmaid's favourite tipple, or the halfling bard's favourite tune. That way, when your carefully laid plan is torn to shreds by your players, you won't be at a loss - you'll be able to delight in their creativity - and provide a satisfying direction for them to pursue.
Never make a player feel their choices are worthless. If a player wants to ask what the name of a random farmer is, don't say 'it's irrelevant', even if you never intended to give them a name. Otherwise players will treat your game like... a game.... where only the 'right' choices - that you've pre-determined - will advance the plot.
Some players connect to your world differently - understanding this will help you provide opportunities to sow them into your vision, and bring your setting to life. A player of mine really appreciated that each village in a region had their own locally named beer, usually with a local name: 'Willow's Wallop; Honeytipple; Tipsy Badger' - and made it their own little sidequest to try them all. Would have been easy just to call it 'ale' - but it's all in the details. Look out for opportunities!
Biggest tip for a new DM: Don't sweat the little stuff. You'll make mistakes. You'll forget the rules. You'll get stuck. But it's ok! We're all learning - and so long as the players (and you!) have fun, the rest is all framework.
friendly advice:
d&d is about collaborative storytelling, it is important for you, the writer, to let go of your story. this will allow your dm+players story to flourish.
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Honestly, best advice I can give is to learn by doing; if you've got that much time behind you as a player you have a good feel for how the game works so do a one shot to get the ball rolling (that way the prep won't be too overwhelming) then take it forward from there.
I'd recommend getting a module book to form the skeleton (dragon heist is awesome for this) and use that as the basis of your next step into DMing. When you've done a one shot and a module then just go crazy with your own stuff.
As for resources, I don't really recommend much more than Beyond, some of the info sites already suggested and maybe https://theangrygm.com (he's a love him or hate him kinda blogger but I really like his no BS style)... Oh and get this: http://critgames.com/rpg/dnd-5e-encounter-sheet/ it will make your life SOOO much easier
Plays Leo weekly on Chaotic Fabulous. Watch us weekly on twitch chaoticfabulous.com