I'm interested in doing things as a Dungeon Master (mostly at a local store called Heroes Rise) and was wondering what best I should try and get to begin with this. I will mostly be trying it IRL though I may try some stuff out in online. I have done DND though only for a month or two.
Somewhat of a goal of mine would be to DM for the Adventurer's League at Heroes Rise though I don't really have any material to get started with this all.
I don't really have a way at the moment sadly for much money as I'm unemployed (working on getting a job though).
Being a broke DM is tough, because ideally there's a bunch of books that you'd like to buy. Starting with the core DM's Guide, Players Handbook and Monsters Manual. You could probably get started by just buying Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's a great starting place for a group of anywhere from 3-6 players, and has pretty much everything you need to play and run the game. Depending on how long your sessions are, it'll probably take you a few months to finish. By then you'll have a job (fingers crossed) and can pick up the core books. Then the cheapest and easiest way would be to start writing your own quests, probably slowly spreading out from Phandelver as your base so you have a lot of NPC's and maps already done. Lost Mines of Phandelver should only set you back $10-$15. Maybe even less if you can find a second hand copy. Good luck.
Being a broke DM is tough, because ideally there's a bunch of books that you'd like to buy. Starting with the core DM's Guide, Players Handbook and Monsters Manual. You could probably get started by just buying Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's a great starting place for a group of anywhere from 3-6 players, and has pretty much everything you need to play and run the game. Depending on how long your sessions are, it'll probably take you a few months to finish. By then you'll have a job (fingers crossed) and can pick up the core books. Then the cheapest and easiest way would be to start writing your own quests, probably slowly spreading out from Phandelver as your base so you have a lot of NPC's and maps already done. Lost Mines of Phandelver should only set you back $10-$15. Maybe even less if you can find a second hand copy. Good luck.
I'll second this. You can get the basic rules off of Wizards of the Coast's D&D page, which is a watered down version of the Players Handbook, or the Starter Kit comes with it, a watered down version of the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, and a set of dice. It typically runs for under $20. After that, my suggestion would be to get the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide in some order, followed by the Monster Manual for the stat blocks. The Elemental Evil Player's Companion is also a free download.
After that Sword Coast Adventurers Guide has some great lore along with some players options.
Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Monsters both have some good lore, additional monster stat blocks, and some player race options.
Xanathar's Guide to everything has some class options, additional spells (including all those included in the Elemental Evil), some content for player backstories, and it revisits some dungeon masters guide topics and gives some great aids.
The Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica includes player options and DM guides if you want to use the MTG plane.
The rest of the current books (unless I'm forgetting one) are adventure modules.
Nothing that I've mentioned after the Monster Manual is needed to be a DM. Having a decent comprehension of the three core books will help the most outside of actual experience. Don't worry if all of your rulings aren't correct, you'll probably forget many rules initially and realize it later. It's not a big deal as long as your players are having fun. Just try to remain consistent with your rulings in a campaign or acknowledge that you made an incorrect ruling if you want to use the proper one going forward.
Also, consider checking your local library to see if they have a copy available. Mine has at least one copy of the core books, though they are all checked out.
I definitely agree with the library aspect. If your local library does not have the books available they could try to do an interlibrary loan to get it for you. It should help until you can get on your feet and are able to purchase the material.
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Heyo!
I'm interested in doing things as a Dungeon Master (mostly at a local store called Heroes Rise) and was wondering what best I should try and get to begin with this. I will mostly be trying it IRL though I may try some stuff out in online. I have done DND though only for a month or two.
Somewhat of a goal of mine would be to DM for the Adventurer's League at Heroes Rise though I don't really have any material to get started with this all.
I don't really have a way at the moment sadly for much money as I'm unemployed (working on getting a job though).
Being a broke DM is tough, because ideally there's a bunch of books that you'd like to buy. Starting with the core DM's Guide, Players Handbook and Monsters Manual. You could probably get started by just buying Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's a great starting place for a group of anywhere from 3-6 players, and has pretty much everything you need to play and run the game. Depending on how long your sessions are, it'll probably take you a few months to finish. By then you'll have a job (fingers crossed) and can pick up the core books. Then the cheapest and easiest way would be to start writing your own quests, probably slowly spreading out from Phandelver as your base so you have a lot of NPC's and maps already done. Lost Mines of Phandelver should only set you back $10-$15. Maybe even less if you can find a second hand copy. Good luck.
I'll second this. You can get the basic rules off of Wizards of the Coast's D&D page, which is a watered down version of the Players Handbook, or the Starter Kit comes with it, a watered down version of the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, and a set of dice. It typically runs for under $20. After that, my suggestion would be to get the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide in some order, followed by the Monster Manual for the stat blocks. The Elemental Evil Player's Companion is also a free download.
After that Sword Coast Adventurers Guide has some great lore along with some players options.
Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Monsters both have some good lore, additional monster stat blocks, and some player race options.
Xanathar's Guide to everything has some class options, additional spells (including all those included in the Elemental Evil), some content for player backstories, and it revisits some dungeon masters guide topics and gives some great aids.
The Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica includes player options and DM guides if you want to use the MTG plane.
The rest of the current books (unless I'm forgetting one) are adventure modules.
Nothing that I've mentioned after the Monster Manual is needed to be a DM. Having a decent comprehension of the three core books will help the most outside of actual experience. Don't worry if all of your rulings aren't correct, you'll probably forget many rules initially and realize it later. It's not a big deal as long as your players are having fun. Just try to remain consistent with your rulings in a campaign or acknowledge that you made an incorrect ruling if you want to use the proper one going forward.
Also, consider checking your local library to see if they have a copy available. Mine has at least one copy of the core books, though they are all checked out.
I definitely agree with the library aspect. If your local library does not have the books available they could try to do an interlibrary loan to get it for you. It should help until you can get on your feet and are able to purchase the material.
"Shadow Hide You..."