I'm a new DM and I am introducing D&D to my school.
I don't know how many people would want to join, but more than 4 from what I've heard. I have it almost all set up and am getting it officially labeled as a club and even getting a whole classroom dedicated to the club. And the club is sponsored by a teacher that even played 3rd edition when he was in high school, though he is somewhat rusty at the game and only participated as a PC.
What are some tips from other experienced DM's? What should I have prepared for the club?
Start out with low expectations. By that I do NOT mean that you should epxepct the game to be boring or difficult but rather that you shouldn't expect everything to be perfect straight from the start. Try a a few short simple adventurers just to see what you enjoy and to learn the rules. Talk amongst yourselves as to what kind of game you want to play. Do you want to play a silly game with lots of jokes, do you want to be more Marvel superheroes?
There is no wrong way to play D&D but if some people want to be sneaky investigators and other players just want to kill monsters and the GM wants something else as well it might end up badly. If you have enough people maybe you can have more than one group depending on what people want to play?
Most importantly though, D&D is a game that is made for everyone to have fun. It's not a competition, neither amongst the players nor the players versus the GM.
If you do have more than 4-5 people sign up, you might look at finding some others to DM. You don’t want to be running a game with 10 PCs, but two games with 5 each could work.
Don’t worry about making mistakes. Mistakes will happen, but as long as you learn from them you’ll be fine.
If you are ever unsure if you’re doing a good job, look around at your players. If they’re having fun, you’re doing a good job. That’s all that really matters.
My advice for a new DM with new players is this: players don't often like to be told things, players like to discover things. Don't tell them do this, go here, don't tell them "in my world 1000 years ago there was the Heart Calamity and Illusion magic doesn't work anymore because X god fought Y hero and....etc etc" or drop other lore dumps at their feet and expect them to care.
However, let the players discover the plot hook, or the dungeon in the wilderness, or get the players asking you "hey what's this Cataclysm the npc's keep mentioning?" and bit by bit uncover the mystery for them in a way that feels like they're driving it, THEN you're more likely to get players' interest and investment.
However, another thing about new players, and this might seem contradictory, is that sometimes they need the DM to hold their hand while they figure out what they want out of the game and how it measures up to their expectations. Some new players don't come in from other gaming hobbies, or come from ones with very different assumptions as to what the "goal" is or what "winning" and "losing" look like, and sometimes you have to put up a thousand sign posts telling them what they can do without telling them necessarily what TO do.
These two points have to be carefully juggled and they depend a lot on who you're playing with, so there's no perfect balance of when to lead and when to let the players lead. You just need to use your best judgement.
I was one of the officers of a gaming guild at my university. We had over 100 members.
As a DM:
Read the Dungeon Master's Guide. Many questions and concepts that players will throw at you are in that book or there will be something similar.
Start by playing by the rules in the books. It will help the players learn and make it easier for other players to try out being a DM in the future.
Keep your adventure arcs small. It will be easier for new players to join.
As a person running the organization:
If you have enough players for two tables, try to provide opportunities for the player to intermix and re-muster tables. It will change the culture of the org from two different groups that don't play with each other to one group that everyone has played with everyone else.
Be Inclusive. Actively invite people to not just try the game but to be a part of the group.
I'd recommend checking in with the faculty at your school. I am a history teacher who runs a weekly D&D club at my school. The first few years was a lot of work, but now I have 3-4 separate campaigns running each week and I check in with the DMs each week to see if they need help/advice/assistance. It may be a good opportunity to snag some resources your school has too.
I also created a Google Classroom for my students with copies of core rulebooks, useful videos, articles, and other information to help. It's always worth checking into.
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I'm a new DM and I am introducing D&D to my school.
I don't know how many people would want to join, but more than 4 from what I've heard. I have it almost all set up and am getting it officially labeled as a club and even getting a whole classroom dedicated to the club. And the club is sponsored by a teacher that even played 3rd edition when he was in high school, though he is somewhat rusty at the game and only participated as a PC.
What are some tips from other experienced DM's? What should I have prepared for the club?
Start out with low expectations. By that I do NOT mean that you should epxepct the game to be boring or difficult but rather that you shouldn't expect everything to be perfect straight from the start. Try a a few short simple adventurers just to see what you enjoy and to learn the rules. Talk amongst yourselves as to what kind of game you want to play. Do you want to play a silly game with lots of jokes, do you want to be more Marvel superheroes?
There is no wrong way to play D&D but if some people want to be sneaky investigators and other players just want to kill monsters and the GM wants something else as well it might end up badly. If you have enough people maybe you can have more than one group depending on what people want to play?
Most importantly though, D&D is a game that is made for everyone to have fun. It's not a competition, neither amongst the players nor the players versus the GM.
Good luck!
If you do have more than 4-5 people sign up, you might look at finding some others to DM. You don’t want to be running a game with 10 PCs, but two games with 5 each could work.
Don’t worry about making mistakes. Mistakes will happen, but as long as you learn from them you’ll be fine.
If you are ever unsure if you’re doing a good job, look around at your players. If they’re having fun, you’re doing a good job. That’s all that really matters.
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My advice for a new DM with new players is this: players don't often like to be told things, players like to discover things. Don't tell them do this, go here, don't tell them "in my world 1000 years ago there was the Heart Calamity and Illusion magic doesn't work anymore because X god fought Y hero and....etc etc" or drop other lore dumps at their feet and expect them to care.
However, let the players discover the plot hook, or the dungeon in the wilderness, or get the players asking you "hey what's this Cataclysm the npc's keep mentioning?" and bit by bit uncover the mystery for them in a way that feels like they're driving it, THEN you're more likely to get players' interest and investment.
However, another thing about new players, and this might seem contradictory, is that sometimes they need the DM to hold their hand while they figure out what they want out of the game and how it measures up to their expectations. Some new players don't come in from other gaming hobbies, or come from ones with very different assumptions as to what the "goal" is or what "winning" and "losing" look like, and sometimes you have to put up a thousand sign posts telling them what they can do without telling them necessarily what TO do.
These two points have to be carefully juggled and they depend a lot on who you're playing with, so there's no perfect balance of when to lead and when to let the players lead. You just need to use your best judgement.
I was one of the officers of a gaming guild at my university. We had over 100 members.
As a DM:
As a person running the organization:
"Find your next great gaming experience"
Discord: DmOz
Standard array. Buy some first and second adventures from DMs Guild. Run those repeatly and swap out who dm them.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I'd recommend checking in with the faculty at your school. I am a history teacher who runs a weekly D&D club at my school. The first few years was a lot of work, but now I have 3-4 separate campaigns running each week and I check in with the DMs each week to see if they need help/advice/assistance. It may be a good opportunity to snag some resources your school has too.
I also created a Google Classroom for my students with copies of core rulebooks, useful videos, articles, and other information to help. It's always worth checking into.