As the title says, I am a new DM to Dungeons and Dragons. Actually, I'm new to D&D altogether. I have watched a fair bit of Critical role here and there over the last few years and dabbled in some things to do with D&D but now, after some friends of mine wanted to learn and play as well, I decided to DM a Campaign for them. I've completely gone crazy with everything and made myself a whole new homebrew type of world with races and classes of my choosing. Now with all that being said, it is a bit overwhelming but insanely fun at the same time trying to learn everything while creating this awesome world from scratch for my players. I am looking for tips from other DM's that have already established Campaigns for things like:
How do you prepare for each session? What are some useful resources and things to have on hand for each game? Lastly, what are just some general tips you could give to a starting out DM that you wish you had known when you started?
The best thing to do is first figure out your players characters and make sure that is all okay. Next is to establish your first session. The best thing is to make many encounters that lead on to others, so that you can then build on those after the first session, and isn't just a straight forward path. Also sprinkle in little side quests and little encounters. What is also fun is that you try and work on others backstories. Make sure that your players don't meta game. What i like to do on session 1 especially tho is to make sure that all the players know their boundaries while having lots of fun. Session 1 is the test to see what you can improve on, and you can actually re \do it if you want.
The best thing to do is first figure out your players characters and make sure that is all okay. Next is to establish your first session. The best thing is to make many encounters that lead on to others, so that you can then build on those after the first session, and isn't just a straight forward path. Also sprinkle in little side quests and little encounters. What is also fun is that you try and work on others backstories. Make sure that your players don't meta game. What i like to do on session 1 especially tho is to make sure that all the players know their boundaries while having lots of fun. Session 1 is the test to see what you can improve on, and you can actually re \do it if you want.
I guess I forgot to mention but we did our first session last night and it went very well. I just found myself stumbling on a few things and it really did point out some key things to focus on for myself. I just figured I would look to more experienced DM's to see what some of the best ways to push forward are. I appreciate your insight and I'll take a lot of that information in going into the next session! :D
Hi there! I only began DMing a while back, on my 5/6th session with my group now :).
I found that making little cheat-sheets was advantageous over having the entire handbook/having to google everything, so I make sure to have the basics ready without needing to go hunting for it. My players are mostly new so I felt like having quick answers would keep them moving a long better since they were relying on me (and the two semi-experienced players) to explain as we went. For example, I had a sheet that explained all of their race/class abilities.
My first session was very rigid, I prepared so much! But now I've gotten more comfortable I prepare minimally with notes being for my benefit, rather than a 'THIS MUST HAPPEN' script. I have a quick description of an area, a list of (obvious) anticipated actions from the party and NPC names etc. My players are still warming up to roleplaying but I feel like I'm much better equipped myself now :).
For each game I will have all the books on hand, bookmark pages that I expect to need like monsters I have planned, and other than that getting other players to do something while checking a detail for one player minimises the time spent waiting on me, or I just make an educated guess and wing it. I will also have my notes on what has happened so far, maps of the immediate area and kingdom, vague outlines of things that can happen in response to a couple of the most likely party decisions and a few floating events that I have no plan for but can hopefully squeeze in if the party go in a completely unexpected direction.
Ultimately no amount of preparation and advice from others can substitute for experience so expect early sessions to be rough one way or another, but all that advice will make it easier to learn from your experience and things will start improving quite quickly. And getting feedback after the first few sessions can be valuable, if your players are comfortable enough giving constructive criticism.
Listen to your players. They can give you so many ideas especially when they go off and do something other then what you have plained for the session. And even then listen to them because they can give you so much to work with.
When building a campaign I prefer to have a general theme and a general idea as to where you want to take the game. From there let the players decide how they are going to get there. Pay attention to the players because this can develop future gaming sessions.
Take notes. Lots of notes.
When your players go off coarse for the gaming session. And they will. Be prepared to make shit up on the fly. Again listen to your players because it will make things so much more easy.
Prep for at least 2 sessions at a time if you can. Dont worry because chances are the group will not make it through half of one sessions content.
If you mess up its ok because your the DM and odds are you players will not even notice and this may even spark some new ideas.
Be prepared to toss out all of your notes because the group will sooner or later do something that will cause them to just pass up on all of that hard worked content you came up with for the next few sessions.
I use notebooks. I have one for the game quests and whatnot and one for encounters. This is a good way to keep a log of the game progress. You can also go back and use stuff that was skipped over later if you want and if it will work with the session. I also use actual physical books and use bookmarks. But thats just me.
Make your own maps. There are tons of tools to do so. I usually use Photoshop or Gimp, or just pen/pencil and paper. Check out gimp though. Great program and its 100% free. Also pre-made maps if you can work them in to the game. There is an endless supply online.
I could go on and on, and then some. But I will leave you with this one last tip and I feel the most important. One that I have already mentioned. Listen to your players. Here is simple example. They might think that an NPC that you just tossed into the game simply to point a direction or sell them a room at the inn for the night is up to no good. Even though you never intended the NPC to be of any purpose to the story. Well the players just made that NPC have a purpose. Use it.
Very useful advice and I will definitely be using this. Thank you so much for such helpful tips. I really do appreciate all of these comments, they're amazingly helpful already. This goes for everyone that has responded to this post. You're all great people and I can't thank you enough for helping me out along this new journey! All of this makes me super excited as I move forward with D&D!
Best thing I did before DMing - go watch Matt Colville's "Running the Game" series on Youtube. He's engaging to listen to and insightful when it comes to starting out fresh. Really helped me find the holes in my planning.
As the title says, I am a new DM to Dungeons and Dragons. Actually, I'm new to D&D altogether. I have watched a fair bit of Critical role here and there over the last few years and dabbled in some things to do with D&D but now, after some friends of mine wanted to learn and play as well, I decided to DM a Campaign for them. I've completely gone crazy with everything and made myself a whole new homebrew type of world with races and classes of my choosing. Now with all that being said, it is a bit overwhelming but insanely fun at the same time trying to learn everything while creating this awesome world from scratch for my players. I am looking for tips from other DM's that have already established Campaigns for things like:
How do you prepare for each session? What are some useful resources and things to have on hand for each game? Lastly, what are just some general tips you could give to a starting out DM that you wish you had known when you started?
The best thing to do is first figure out your players characters and make sure that is all okay. Next is to establish your first session. The best thing is to make many encounters that lead on to others, so that you can then build on those after the first session, and isn't just a straight forward path. Also sprinkle in little side quests and little encounters. What is also fun is that you try and work on others backstories. Make sure that your players don't meta game. What i like to do on session 1 especially tho is to make sure that all the players know their boundaries while having lots of fun. Session 1 is the test to see what you can improve on, and you can actually re \do it if you want.
I guess I forgot to mention but we did our first session last night and it went very well. I just found myself stumbling on a few things and it really did point out some key things to focus on for myself. I just figured I would look to more experienced DM's to see what some of the best ways to push forward are. I appreciate your insight and I'll take a lot of that information in going into the next session! :D
Hi there! I only began DMing a while back, on my 5/6th session with my group now :).
I found that making little cheat-sheets was advantageous over having the entire handbook/having to google everything, so I make sure to have the basics ready without needing to go hunting for it. My players are mostly new so I felt like having quick answers would keep them moving a long better since they were relying on me (and the two semi-experienced players) to explain as we went. For example, I had a sheet that explained all of their race/class abilities.
My first session was very rigid, I prepared so much! But now I've gotten more comfortable I prepare minimally with notes being for my benefit, rather than a 'THIS MUST HAPPEN' script. I have a quick description of an area, a list of (obvious) anticipated actions from the party and NPC names etc. My players are still warming up to roleplaying but I feel like I'm much better equipped myself now :).
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/35205-words-of-wisdom-from-experienced-dms contains a range of tips.
Also the youtube channels "Taking20" and "How to be a great GM" have videos covering all manner of topics if you have the time to really start digging into things in detail.
For each game I will have all the books on hand, bookmark pages that I expect to need like monsters I have planned, and other than that getting other players to do something while checking a detail for one player minimises the time spent waiting on me, or I just make an educated guess and wing it. I will also have my notes on what has happened so far, maps of the immediate area and kingdom, vague outlines of things that can happen in response to a couple of the most likely party decisions and a few floating events that I have no plan for but can hopefully squeeze in if the party go in a completely unexpected direction.
Ultimately no amount of preparation and advice from others can substitute for experience so expect early sessions to be rough one way or another, but all that advice will make it easier to learn from your experience and things will start improving quite quickly. And getting feedback after the first few sessions can be valuable, if your players are comfortable enough giving constructive criticism.
Listen to your players. They can give you so many ideas especially when they go off and do something other then what you have plained for the session. And even then listen to them because they can give you so much to work with.
When building a campaign I prefer to have a general theme and a general idea as to where you want to take the game. From there let the players decide how they are going to get there. Pay attention to the players because this can develop future gaming sessions.
Take notes. Lots of notes.
When your players go off coarse for the gaming session. And they will. Be prepared to make shit up on the fly. Again listen to your players because it will make things so much more easy.
Prep for at least 2 sessions at a time if you can. Dont worry because chances are the group will not make it through half of one sessions content.
If you mess up its ok because your the DM and odds are you players will not even notice and this may even spark some new ideas.
Be prepared to toss out all of your notes because the group will sooner or later do something that will cause them to just pass up on all of that hard worked content you came up with for the next few sessions.
I use notebooks. I have one for the game quests and whatnot and one for encounters. This is a good way to keep a log of the game progress. You can also go back and use stuff that was skipped over later if you want and if it will work with the session. I also use actual physical books and use bookmarks. But thats just me.
Make your own maps. There are tons of tools to do so. I usually use Photoshop or Gimp, or just pen/pencil and paper. Check out gimp though. Great program and its 100% free. Also pre-made maps if you can work them in to the game. There is an endless supply online.
I could go on and on, and then some. But I will leave you with this one last tip and I feel the most important. One that I have already mentioned. Listen to your players. Here is simple example. They might think that an NPC that you just tossed into the game simply to point a direction or sell them a room at the inn for the night is up to no good. Even though you never intended the NPC to be of any purpose to the story. Well the players just made that NPC have a purpose. Use it.
Very useful advice and I will definitely be using this. Thank you so much for such helpful tips. I really do appreciate all of these comments, they're amazingly helpful already. This goes for everyone that has responded to this post. You're all great people and I can't thank you enough for helping me out along this new journey! All of this makes me super excited as I move forward with D&D!
Best thing I did before DMing - go watch Matt Colville's "Running the Game" series on Youtube. He's engaging to listen to and insightful when it comes to starting out fresh. Really helped me find the holes in my planning.
I'll check that out now. Thank you so much!
I second Matt Colville's stuff on youtube. Good stuff.