Hey, so I just recently got into D&D and after a couple months of looking I finally found a group of people willing to play a new campaign. Some have previous experience in the game and others have none. So I was wondering if anyone has some good tips so I can make an engaging adventure that will both challenge the veterans and teach the beginners.
It doesn`t help that I have almost no clue what I'm doing.
Okay, first assuming something here, calm down - breathe. It is okay to fail, but if you panic you will learn nothing from the experience.
Now let's start with the concept of DMing before creating an adventure. The players are the primary drive for the game, you control the world around them. You give them context, they do something or ask something, a roll may be involved, you give them the result or information. DMing sounds more difficult then it actually is. The most difficult part is learning to improvise well, which massively increases your abilities as a DM. Growth in this requires experience and luck, though natural talent and ability to act helps.
Alright, now let's move on to making an adventure. The first mistake most people make is trying to pre-plan everything. No, stop, don't do that. The party will do something you didn't plan for and if you attempt to force them to do something, they will resent you for it. It's probably not a good idea to try to immediately create a level 1 to 20 adventure. Let's start with a contained area that is no more than 3 levels or so. Make it in a town or village and have about 3 dungeons. I will be operating from the assumption that the players are at level 1.
Start the game kind of slow, like the party is traveling to that town or village to complete some minor task, so that the players can interact with each other and begin to establish their characters. Then in the middle of this present a sudden change of mood, some dead horses in the path or another mystery, combined with an ambush or another fight involving humanoids or strange non-beast creatures. The attacking creatures will probably run away at half strength, running towards the first dungeon. This brings personal investment in the character, curiosity in the story, and adrenaline in the game. You must start the battle within the first 10 minutes of the session, and the mystery in the first 5 if you can without interrupting the character development, otherwise you will lose the window of opportunity to grab the most of your players interest as possible. This mystery should help point to the first dungeon and give some idea of the overarching story of these 3 dungeons.
The first dungeon should be outside of the town and it should be possible for the players to perhaps go there before going to town, or go to town and then later go to that dungeon. A cave is a pretty good location for this kind of dungeon. I suggest around 7 rooms with 20 to 50 foot long pathways. This dungeon may have one or two traps, but doesn't have any locks to pick or secret doors. Traps should be non-lethal, like alert systems or movement inhibiting, or low damage. Kobolds, Goblins, Spiders, Bandits, and Dogs are good monsters to have in this kind of dungeon, make sure that the total CR of the monsters fought per group are equal to 1 CR or less. With the final boss of this dungeon being something more interesting, a Bugbear, a Mage, or another of the humanoids that has a pet wyrmling or some other interesting creature that has a CR of 2 or less. Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 25gp, two mundane treasures (silver necklace, small bag of semi-precious gems, or non-adventuring supplies), and one uncommon magic item (usually at this stage it's a +1 weapon that the leader is using). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds to the overarching story, probably giving some information that can point to the third dungeon. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 300XP per player, or around 8 to 12 total monsters.
The town should have 15 to 25 buildings. 10 to 20 of them are houses, barns, other common places that the players are likely to ignore. The others should be a small temple/shrine, a townhall, a tavern/inn, a general store, and the second dungeon. It should be late when the players arrive and they should be able to complete whatever minor task they came to do. You should give them opportunities to find more information on the first dungeon, introduce a problem in the town that leads to the second dungeon, and give more information on the overarching narrative. It can also have some short in town side quests that you give some XP for (25 for easy, 50 for medium, 100 for hard).
The second dungeon should be in town. A seemingly abandoned house that leads to an underground laboratory, or a mansion taken over by bandits, or something similar. This dungeon is related to the direct problem in the town, and the party may end up going here first instead of the first dungeon. It should have at least 10 rooms with shorter pathways. This dungeon probably only has one trap, but it's more lethal; and it has 2 locks, either on doors or chests; and one secret door or puzzle that leads to a treasure stash. The total CR per group of monsters is probably 1/2 to 1 1/2. The boss should be a Mage, Cultist, or monster somehow connected to the town problem with a CR of 2 (with some help) or 3 (with minimal help). Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 50gp, three mundane treasures (silver goblets, a moderate painting, religious symbol), three consumable uncommon magic items (scrolls or potions), and one uncommon magic item (a wand or staff used by the boss). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds to the overarching story, probably giving some information that can point to the third dungeon. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 600XP per player, or around 15 to 20 total monsters.
The third and final dungeon should need information (a map and set of coordinates for instance, or magical keys that open it up) from the first two dungeons or trading something from the first two dungeons to get to it. The third dungeon can be anywhere and of any type that makes sense for the narrative. This is the point where I can't give too many specifics. Room number can be anywhere from 12 to 20 and the pathway lengths might be short or long. Have 5 total between any combination of traps, locks, secret doors, or puzzles. Total CR per group of monsters around 1 to 2. The boss can be anything of CR 3 to 5 that makes sense, the amount of help they have should be based on how hurt the party is and their CR (the higher CR they have and more hurt the party is, the less help they should have). Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 100gp; a total of 10 between mundane treasures, uncommon magic items (non-consumable ones should count as 2 items); and 1 rare item (either on the boss or in an area past the boss, it may be the thing that the players were seeking to begin with). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds a new mystery that can be the beginning of the next adventure. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 1800XP per player, or around 30 total monsters.
Start with a pre-made adventure. I’m starting with Ghosts of Saltmarsh and I’ve run 2 sessions so far with my third one on Tuesday. It’s easier to use an expert’s work than it is to create your own when you’re learning.
Ask, “What do you do?” a lot. That will engage your players more and they’ll have more fun than if you tell a story and they listen.
Make sure that everyone gets to play. I have a group of 6 players and I’m paying attention to who hasn’t said anything for a while and I ask them what they’re doing when that happens to keep them engaged.
When someone wants to do something and you don’t have a clue what to do have them describe what they do and roll to see how well they succeed. Then go with whatever makes sense to you based on their roll. Improvise!
Prepare scenarios and let the players create the story. And remember that nothing that they do happens in a vacuum. Change scenarios on the fly based on the actions that the PCs take, just make those changes consistent with the personalities and motivations of the NPCs and/or intelligent opponents. As I said before, improvise!
Have enough to drink. You’re going to talk more than you think and your throat will get dry if you don’t have plenty of water.
Have fun and enjoy yourself. D&D is a game, have fun and go with whatever your players end up doing. They’ll surprise you and you’ll enjoy yourself!
I would also suggest using a premade. Lost Mine of Phandalin from the Starter Set is pretty much universally acknowledged as being a great intro.
Have a "Session 0". It gives your players a chance to get together and discuss character selection, what peoples expectations are, player vs player conflict, general alignment ideology. You don't have to go far before you find an example of pc's stealing from or attacking another pc, or pc's randomly murdering good or neutral npc's (like a shopkeeper that they can't afford their wares) and things like that. You may or may not be fine with that, but it's good to get it dealt with up front. Party composition. Maybe everyone wants to be a wizard. That's probably not going to be a good thing, so again, handy to have a chat.
Once pc's are sorted out, get players to write backstories and give them to you. D&D will take over your life. And the best way to engage your players is by involving their characters and watching them evolve and resolve backstory conflicts. Encourage your players by telling them the more they invest in their pc's, the more you can invest into their story.
RP. Well. First of all, just have fun. Almost everyone has watched Matt Mercer. You're probably not him. Unless you are. In which case.... Hi? But seriously, RP is not for everyone, and it usually takes a while for people to really get into it. It'll be up to you to lead the way with this. Practice voices and accents. I used to write down character/people names next to NPC's so I remembered what voices I was using. And it's sometimes easier to use voices if you have something like "Forrest Gump" written next to a key Farmer NPC for example. Don't use the cliched phrases like "Life is like a box of chocolates", but having Forrest written there made it easier for me to think of how an NPC would talk.
Have pictures of key locations and NPC's. That way, if players want more description, you have everything you need right in front of you. Just google search and voila.
Don't let players roll for something that they MUST find. If there is a hidden door that is absolutely the ONLY way forward, they will almost certainly roll a nat 1 on investigation if you let them roll.
Have fun. Dming is a big workload, but it can and should be amazing. And remember that your fun is just as valid as your players. You're not a slave to their whims, it's your game too.
Adding to and seconding what has already been said, I would start with a pre-made adventure. Especially looking at the time you have available. You can find some small adventures online for free or for a contribution of your choice, google "one-shot D&D 5e pdf" for quick results and pick something you like.
The time you have availabel I would worry about:
- Do we have the gaming equipment we need ( at least 1 set of dice, 2 is better - pen, paper is easy to get ofc., a rulebook (Player Hand Book/ dndbeyond) or the leaflet of the starterset and a campaign, either a book, the leaflet from the starter kit or a store-bought adventure book) --> If you don't have any of these, I recommend buying the starter kit, it's on sale now in a lot of stores as there's going to be a new one and it has good value for money (it gives you everything mentioned above)
- Next thing: start working with the players on their character or pull some ready-made ones from the starter-set or online
- Study the rules, how do the stats work, how do the interaction and check work and the basic combat rules for hitting, rolling for damage, moving etc.
- Accept that your first sessions you will be figuring stuff out as you go, once you've got the basic down, work on the DM skills you encounter during the game. Then start thinking about roleplaying, homebrewing a campaign etc.
Once you’ve had a go at running a couple of published adventures and start writing your own, I offer you this main piece of advice:
When designing a scenario, don’t focus on what the characters have to do, rather, focus on what choices the characters have to make, and more importantly, what they have to choose between. Then let them play out the consequences of their choices.
The main act of a role playing game is to make choices on behalf of your character. Often these choices are barely conscious and Belen player and character - e.g. combat. But when a player has to make a choice that has significant stakes and especially personal consequences for the character, then the act of making the choice becomes a more significant part of the game and the consequences have more meaning and lead to a much more satisfying player experience.
And as it’s an entirely non-mechanical art of the game, levels of experience are immaterial. Newbies and veterans will be as engaged as each other.
As a GM I find few things more satisfying than sitting back and listening to the players debate the most appropriate course of action in light of expected consequences, and then get ready to proceed, knowing what lies ahead.
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Hey, so I just recently got into D&D and after a couple months of looking I finally found a group of people willing to play a new campaign. Some have previous experience in the game and others have none. So I was wondering if anyone has some good tips so I can make an engaging adventure that will both challenge the veterans and teach the beginners.
It doesn`t help that I have almost no clue what I'm doing.
I have two days. Please help me!
Okay, first assuming something here, calm down - breathe. It is okay to fail, but if you panic you will learn nothing from the experience.
Now let's start with the concept of DMing before creating an adventure. The players are the primary drive for the game, you control the world around them. You give them context, they do something or ask something, a roll may be involved, you give them the result or information. DMing sounds more difficult then it actually is. The most difficult part is learning to improvise well, which massively increases your abilities as a DM. Growth in this requires experience and luck, though natural talent and ability to act helps.
Alright, now let's move on to making an adventure. The first mistake most people make is trying to pre-plan everything. No, stop, don't do that. The party will do something you didn't plan for and if you attempt to force them to do something, they will resent you for it. It's probably not a good idea to try to immediately create a level 1 to 20 adventure. Let's start with a contained area that is no more than 3 levels or so. Make it in a town or village and have about 3 dungeons. I will be operating from the assumption that the players are at level 1.
Start the game kind of slow, like the party is traveling to that town or village to complete some minor task, so that the players can interact with each other and begin to establish their characters. Then in the middle of this present a sudden change of mood, some dead horses in the path or another mystery, combined with an ambush or another fight involving humanoids or strange non-beast creatures. The attacking creatures will probably run away at half strength, running towards the first dungeon. This brings personal investment in the character, curiosity in the story, and adrenaline in the game. You must start the battle within the first 10 minutes of the session, and the mystery in the first 5 if you can without interrupting the character development, otherwise you will lose the window of opportunity to grab the most of your players interest as possible. This mystery should help point to the first dungeon and give some idea of the overarching story of these 3 dungeons.
The first dungeon should be outside of the town and it should be possible for the players to perhaps go there before going to town, or go to town and then later go to that dungeon. A cave is a pretty good location for this kind of dungeon. I suggest around 7 rooms with 20 to 50 foot long pathways. This dungeon may have one or two traps, but doesn't have any locks to pick or secret doors. Traps should be non-lethal, like alert systems or movement inhibiting, or low damage. Kobolds, Goblins, Spiders, Bandits, and Dogs are good monsters to have in this kind of dungeon, make sure that the total CR of the monsters fought per group are equal to 1 CR or less. With the final boss of this dungeon being something more interesting, a Bugbear, a Mage, or another of the humanoids that has a pet wyrmling or some other interesting creature that has a CR of 2 or less. Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 25gp, two mundane treasures (silver necklace, small bag of semi-precious gems, or non-adventuring supplies), and one uncommon magic item (usually at this stage it's a +1 weapon that the leader is using). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds to the overarching story, probably giving some information that can point to the third dungeon. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 300XP per player, or around 8 to 12 total monsters.
The town should have 15 to 25 buildings. 10 to 20 of them are houses, barns, other common places that the players are likely to ignore. The others should be a small temple/shrine, a townhall, a tavern/inn, a general store, and the second dungeon. It should be late when the players arrive and they should be able to complete whatever minor task they came to do. You should give them opportunities to find more information on the first dungeon, introduce a problem in the town that leads to the second dungeon, and give more information on the overarching narrative. It can also have some short in town side quests that you give some XP for (25 for easy, 50 for medium, 100 for hard).
The second dungeon should be in town. A seemingly abandoned house that leads to an underground laboratory, or a mansion taken over by bandits, or something similar. This dungeon is related to the direct problem in the town, and the party may end up going here first instead of the first dungeon. It should have at least 10 rooms with shorter pathways. This dungeon probably only has one trap, but it's more lethal; and it has 2 locks, either on doors or chests; and one secret door or puzzle that leads to a treasure stash. The total CR per group of monsters is probably 1/2 to 1 1/2. The boss should be a Mage, Cultist, or monster somehow connected to the town problem with a CR of 2 (with some help) or 3 (with minimal help). Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 50gp, three mundane treasures (silver goblets, a moderate painting, religious symbol), three consumable uncommon magic items (scrolls or potions), and one uncommon magic item (a wand or staff used by the boss). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds to the overarching story, probably giving some information that can point to the third dungeon. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 600XP per player, or around 15 to 20 total monsters.
The third and final dungeon should need information (a map and set of coordinates for instance, or magical keys that open it up) from the first two dungeons or trading something from the first two dungeons to get to it. The third dungeon can be anywhere and of any type that makes sense for the narrative. This is the point where I can't give too many specifics. Room number can be anywhere from 12 to 20 and the pathway lengths might be short or long. Have 5 total between any combination of traps, locks, secret doors, or puzzles. Total CR per group of monsters around 1 to 2. The boss can be anything of CR 3 to 5 that makes sense, the amount of help they have should be based on how hurt the party is and their CR (the higher CR they have and more hurt the party is, the less help they should have). Total Treasure of the dungeon should be around 100gp; a total of 10 between mundane treasures, uncommon magic items (non-consumable ones should count as 2 items); and 1 rare item (either on the boss or in an area past the boss, it may be the thing that the players were seeking to begin with). Searching the body of the boss or the rooms the players should find some information that adds a new mystery that can be the beginning of the next adventure. Monster XP of the entire dungeon should be 1800XP per player, or around 30 total monsters.
A couple of other suggestions.
Professional computer geek
Oh man, this is great. Thank you. I think I have the basics for my campaign now. I'll let you know how it goes!
A thousand thank yous and then some SladeTracey and Tim!
I would also suggest using a premade. Lost Mine of Phandalin from the Starter Set is pretty much universally acknowledged as being a great intro.
Have a "Session 0". It gives your players a chance to get together and discuss character selection, what peoples expectations are, player vs player conflict, general alignment ideology. You don't have to go far before you find an example of pc's stealing from or attacking another pc, or pc's randomly murdering good or neutral npc's (like a shopkeeper that they can't afford their wares) and things like that. You may or may not be fine with that, but it's good to get it dealt with up front. Party composition. Maybe everyone wants to be a wizard. That's probably not going to be a good thing, so again, handy to have a chat.
Once pc's are sorted out, get players to write backstories and give them to you. D&D will take over your life. And the best way to engage your players is by involving their characters and watching them evolve and resolve backstory conflicts. Encourage your players by telling them the more they invest in their pc's, the more you can invest into their story.
RP. Well. First of all, just have fun. Almost everyone has watched Matt Mercer. You're probably not him. Unless you are. In which case.... Hi? But seriously, RP is not for everyone, and it usually takes a while for people to really get into it. It'll be up to you to lead the way with this. Practice voices and accents. I used to write down character/people names next to NPC's so I remembered what voices I was using. And it's sometimes easier to use voices if you have something like "Forrest Gump" written next to a key Farmer NPC for example. Don't use the cliched phrases like "Life is like a box of chocolates", but having Forrest written there made it easier for me to think of how an NPC would talk.
Have pictures of key locations and NPC's. That way, if players want more description, you have everything you need right in front of you. Just google search and voila.
Don't let players roll for something that they MUST find. If there is a hidden door that is absolutely the ONLY way forward, they will almost certainly roll a nat 1 on investigation if you let them roll.
Have fun. Dming is a big workload, but it can and should be amazing. And remember that your fun is just as valid as your players. You're not a slave to their whims, it's your game too.
Adding to and seconding what has already been said, I would start with a pre-made adventure. Especially looking at the time you have available. You can find some small adventures online for free or for a contribution of your choice, google "one-shot D&D 5e pdf" for quick results and pick something you like.
The time you have availabel I would worry about:
- Do we have the gaming equipment we need ( at least 1 set of dice, 2 is better - pen, paper is easy to get ofc., a rulebook (Player Hand Book/ dndbeyond) or the leaflet of the starterset and a campaign, either a book, the leaflet from the starter kit or a store-bought adventure book)
--> If you don't have any of these, I recommend buying the starter kit, it's on sale now in a lot of stores as there's going to be a new one and it has good value for money (it gives you everything mentioned above)
- Next thing: start working with the players on their character or pull some ready-made ones from the starter-set or online
- Study the rules, how do the stats work, how do the interaction and check work and the basic combat rules for hitting, rolling for damage, moving etc.
- Accept that your first sessions you will be figuring stuff out as you go, once you've got the basic down, work on the DM skills you encounter during the game. Then start thinking about roleplaying, homebrewing a campaign etc.
Once you’ve had a go at running a couple of published adventures and start writing your own, I offer you this main piece of advice:
When designing a scenario, don’t focus on what the characters have to do, rather, focus on what choices the characters have to make, and more importantly, what they have to choose between. Then let them play out the consequences of their choices.
The main act of a role playing game is to make choices on behalf of your character. Often these choices are barely conscious and Belen player and character - e.g. combat. But when a player has to make a choice that has significant stakes and especially personal consequences for the character, then the act of making the choice becomes a more significant part of the game and the consequences have more meaning and lead to a much more satisfying player experience.
And as it’s an entirely non-mechanical art of the game, levels of experience are immaterial. Newbies and veterans will be as engaged as each other.
As a GM I find few things more satisfying than sitting back and listening to the players debate the most appropriate course of action in light of expected consequences, and then get ready to proceed, knowing what lies ahead.