Hi Masters, I'm looking at wanting to become a DM. I play in a group and i'm probably the least experienced / newest player compared to everyone else but i like the idea of creating my own series of short campaigns, almost like short story 1 shots. I'm after any advice for what to expect, how to organise the sessions or any tips and tricks that can maybe help me on my steps of dungeon mastering! Many Thanks,
Here are some bite-sized suggestions for your consideration:
Decide what you are playing. Decide early on if you want to do a module in an established setting, a homebrew adventure in an established setting, fit a module into a homebrew setting, or homebrew the whole thing. I'm one of those who homebrews pretty much everything, so my suggestions will lean strongly in that direction by default. If you prefer modules and established settings, that's awesome, and others will be better equipped to guide you on running those.
Don't overthink or overdevelop or overprep. This is not a novel your players are going to play through, it's a story you and they build together. I find it works best for my campaigns (YMMV) to create a broad-scope world with nations, gods, and factions ready to go (Ready means three or so bullet points on each thing, you don't want to define too much too soon) and then to create one reasonably detailed locale to start in, often a village or small town. Reasonably detailed means six or seven important locales and a 'face' NPC or two for each one. Each element should be described very briefly. You will add more and more places and NPCs and organizations and nations and such as you go. You do not need it all at once. All you really need is what you will need for the current session. I find that one of the worst things is to have too many plans.
Do a Session 0 You might want to do this prior to deciding what to run. If you start off thinking of running a technomagical Eberron setting game and the players want a sword and sandal Conan style cthulu-style eldritch horror, you should probably figure that out prior to sitting down with character sheets. Suggestions for Session 0 would be to require ties among the characters that will encourage cooperation among the group. Ties like being family members, guildmates, old friends, having shared enemies, former (or current) romantic partners (!) etc. Anything that would take away that awkward 'Ho there fellow random traveller, would you care to join us randos on a quest' that can be so awkward. It also cuts down on loner type characters or antagonism among the party at the outset (If antagonism develops in play, that's another thing). Another thing is to have everyone say what they are hoping to face and experience in the game and come to consensus. If one player wants to be pirates and another wants to be town guards and a third wants to be spies, and a fourth wants to be a party animal, then its best to settle that prior to dealing with getting James Bond, Blackbeard, Elliot Ness, and Miley Cyrus into a cohesive group that works together (might be fun, but a big challenge to make work at the outset) Another big thing is hard and soft limits. It's not good if you, say, have an NPC commit suicide and the characters find the body if you don't know that a player had a real-life experience like that and it causes them distress to have it happen in game. Get these things established early and have a plan for addressing them. I'd suggest reading up on Session 0 in depth. It'll save you worlds of misery if you do it.
Don't be afraid to ask for patience and ask for help. You said you are the least experienced player in your group. Your friends will understand and as long as they understand that you are the DM and that your call is final, they should be happy to help you during play and help you get better if you discuss it afterward. No one is expecting perfection, even from DMs with decades of experience. Be sure to have a healthy understanding of what a mistake is and is not, and don't sweat it. You got this.
Have fun Your job is not to be responsible for everyone else's fun. Your job is to present your game and your world and be fair and consistent with your players and facilitate their having fun. Everyone's enjoyment is their own responsibility. Your fun is just as important as that of your players. It's tremendously rewarding to build a campaign and shepherd the players through the story you build together. It's a cooperative hobby, and while your monsters and NPCs may (or may not) be antagonistic to your player's characters, you as the DM are not antagonistic to your players or even the characters themselves. There is nothing to prove by overwhelming the characters with your power, you're the DM. You control the world. There is also nothing to gain from going soft or making it easy on the characters either. Just trust that you'll grow to get a good feel for what challenge level is appropriate over time, and don't worry if you put too much or to little against the characters sometimes.
You got this! Hope you'll post how things go on your first session!
My #1 tip for new DMs is to think small! Players will have way more fun with a simple problem they can deal with in one adventure (and you can describe in one sentence), like "find the plant to cure the mayor's illness" or "save the local priest from the cultists." Your idea of short, one-shot-like games is awesome! Even experienced players don't usually like getting bogged down with convoluted backstory, powerful NPCs, or a world-saving destiny...plus, without that, there's less stress about "keeping them on track."
My #2 tip probably seems really silly, but odds are you'll have at least one player in your game who's terrified of damage and very pushy about taking long rests. Don't let them take those long rests! If you do, they'll probably steamroll the monsters and, worse, make "mileage" classes like Fighters and Warlocks feel useless. So set an in-game time limit on your adventure (the dungeon seals itself on the new moon, the prisoner will be sacrificed at midnight, etc) so the characters can't just leave the dungeon to sleep. I wish I'd been told this when I started.
Good luck! You'll do great! Oh, and remember to have fun!
The advice others have already given is fantastic and I won’t repeat it. Here is my one addition. All of the best advice I ever got on how to DM all in one playlist. That’s not everything there is to know, you might even disagree with some of it, but it is one heck of a great start. I have been D&Ding for almost 30 years and I still go back and rewatch that series and continue to learn from it.
My #1 tip for new DMs is to think small! Players will have way more fun with a simple problem they can deal with in one adventure (and you can describe in one sentence), like "find the plant to cure the mayor's illness" or "save the local priest from the cultists." Your idea of short, one-shot-like games is awesome! Even experienced players don't usually like getting bogged down with convoluted backstory, powerful NPCs, or a world-saving destiny...plus, without that, there's less stress about "keeping them on track."
My #2 tip probably seems really silly, but odds are you'll have at least one player in your game who's terrified of damage and very pushy about taking long rests. Don't let them take those long rests! If you do, they'll probably steamroll the monsters and, worse, make "mileage" classes like Fighters and Warlocks feel useless. So set an in-game time limit on your adventure (the dungeon seals itself on the new moon, the prisoner will be sacrificed at midnight, etc) so the characters can't just leave the dungeon to sleep. I wish I'd been told this when I started.
Good luck! You'll do great! Oh, and remember to have fun!
Idk, #1 seems like a matter of taste. Some people (like me) do love deep high-stakes adventures with a lot of background. However, not everyone wants that. That's the sort of thing you can suss out in session 0
And #2 is a great point about trying to take too much advantage of the rest systems. I'd caveat that if every adventure has a big countdown, that can get wearying. Something that makes taking your sweet time not an attractive option on a general basis is great advice, but you risk monotony if things are run the same every time. Maybe do the countdown secretly sometimes and if they do abuse rests, they find the captives killed, the dark ritual completed with the evil demon lord released, or the temple vanished for the next century, with bad consequences. From then on, they'll be a lot more careful about those rests and you don't have to do the same thing every time.
Start small! Create a nice one shot and say it as it is: you wanna try this out. If everything works like a charm, you can always create a new session later, and if that works well - keep it going.
One other advice: Don't be too focused on the rules. If there is something you don't remember, just make a ruling you think is fair. It's OK to tell the players you don't remember, but "this is how it's going to be now". Check the rules later when you get home, and "update" the players before your next session. I guess there are people who completely disagree with me on this, but me and my players prefer a quick and smooth game and would rather have the DM make a choice on the fly than spending 5 minutes digging up the exact obscure rule (OK, there ain't that many of them in D&D 5e, but still - get the story moving).
Best of luck! DM'ing isn't that difficult, and it can be really funny. Ana remember the best advice ever for DM's: "Be a fan of your players!"
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Hi Masters,
I'm looking at wanting to become a DM. I play in a group and i'm probably the least experienced / newest player compared to everyone else but i like the idea of creating my own series of short campaigns, almost like short story 1 shots.
I'm after any advice for what to expect, how to organise the sessions or any tips and tricks that can maybe help me on my steps of dungeon mastering!
Many Thanks,
Warmish Mushroom.
Sure, glad to chime in!
Here are some bite-sized suggestions for your consideration:
Decide what you are playing. Decide early on if you want to do a module in an established setting, a homebrew adventure in an established setting, fit a module into a homebrew setting, or homebrew the whole thing. I'm one of those who homebrews pretty much everything, so my suggestions will lean strongly in that direction by default. If you prefer modules and established settings, that's awesome, and others will be better equipped to guide you on running those.
Don't overthink or overdevelop or overprep. This is not a novel your players are going to play through, it's a story you and they build together. I find it works best for my campaigns (YMMV) to create a broad-scope world with nations, gods, and factions ready to go (Ready means three or so bullet points on each thing, you don't want to define too much too soon) and then to create one reasonably detailed locale to start in, often a village or small town. Reasonably detailed means six or seven important locales and a 'face' NPC or two for each one. Each element should be described very briefly. You will add more and more places and NPCs and organizations and nations and such as you go. You do not need it all at once. All you really need is what you will need for the current session. I find that one of the worst things is to have too many plans.
Do a Session 0 You might want to do this prior to deciding what to run. If you start off thinking of running a technomagical Eberron setting game and the players want a sword and sandal Conan style cthulu-style eldritch horror, you should probably figure that out prior to sitting down with character sheets. Suggestions for Session 0 would be to require ties among the characters that will encourage cooperation among the group. Ties like being family members, guildmates, old friends, having shared enemies, former (or current) romantic partners (!) etc. Anything that would take away that awkward 'Ho there fellow random traveller, would you care to join us randos on a quest' that can be so awkward. It also cuts down on loner type characters or antagonism among the party at the outset (If antagonism develops in play, that's another thing). Another thing is to have everyone say what they are hoping to face and experience in the game and come to consensus. If one player wants to be pirates and another wants to be town guards and a third wants to be spies, and a fourth wants to be a party animal, then its best to settle that prior to dealing with getting James Bond, Blackbeard, Elliot Ness, and Miley Cyrus into a cohesive group that works together (might be fun, but a big challenge to make work at the outset) Another big thing is hard and soft limits. It's not good if you, say, have an NPC commit suicide and the characters find the body if you don't know that a player had a real-life experience like that and it causes them distress to have it happen in game. Get these things established early and have a plan for addressing them. I'd suggest reading up on Session 0 in depth. It'll save you worlds of misery if you do it.
Don't be afraid to ask for patience and ask for help. You said you are the least experienced player in your group. Your friends will understand and as long as they understand that you are the DM and that your call is final, they should be happy to help you during play and help you get better if you discuss it afterward. No one is expecting perfection, even from DMs with decades of experience. Be sure to have a healthy understanding of what a mistake is and is not, and don't sweat it. You got this.
Have fun Your job is not to be responsible for everyone else's fun. Your job is to present your game and your world and be fair and consistent with your players and facilitate their having fun. Everyone's enjoyment is their own responsibility. Your fun is just as important as that of your players. It's tremendously rewarding to build a campaign and shepherd the players through the story you build together. It's a cooperative hobby, and while your monsters and NPCs may (or may not) be antagonistic to your player's characters, you as the DM are not antagonistic to your players or even the characters themselves. There is nothing to prove by overwhelming the characters with your power, you're the DM. You control the world. There is also nothing to gain from going soft or making it easy on the characters either. Just trust that you'll grow to get a good feel for what challenge level is appropriate over time, and don't worry if you put too much or to little against the characters sometimes.
You got this! Hope you'll post how things go on your first session!
What a fantastic reply thank you! Lots to consider and think about but very informative information. :) This is why i love this community
Thanks! I wish I'd been told a lot of that when I started. You can do it.
My #1 tip for new DMs is to think small! Players will have way more fun with a simple problem they can deal with in one adventure (and you can describe in one sentence), like "find the plant to cure the mayor's illness" or "save the local priest from the cultists." Your idea of short, one-shot-like games is awesome! Even experienced players don't usually like getting bogged down with convoluted backstory, powerful NPCs, or a world-saving destiny...plus, without that, there's less stress about "keeping them on track."
My #2 tip probably seems really silly, but odds are you'll have at least one player in your game who's terrified of damage and very pushy about taking long rests. Don't let them take those long rests! If you do, they'll probably steamroll the monsters and, worse, make "mileage" classes like Fighters and Warlocks feel useless. So set an in-game time limit on your adventure (the dungeon seals itself on the new moon, the prisoner will be sacrificed at midnight, etc) so the characters can't just leave the dungeon to sleep. I wish I'd been told this when I started.
Good luck! You'll do great! Oh, and remember to have fun!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
The advice others have already given is fantastic and I won’t repeat it. Here is my one addition. All of the best advice I ever got on how to DM all in one playlist. That’s not everything there is to know, you might even disagree with some of it, but it is one heck of a great start. I have been D&Ding for almost 30 years and I still go back and rewatch that series and continue to learn from it.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Idk, #1 seems like a matter of taste. Some people (like me) do love deep high-stakes adventures with a lot of background. However, not everyone wants that. That's the sort of thing you can suss out in session 0
And #2 is a great point about trying to take too much advantage of the rest systems. I'd caveat that if every adventure has a big countdown, that can get wearying. Something that makes taking your sweet time not an attractive option on a general basis is great advice, but you risk monotony if things are run the same every time. Maybe do the countdown secretly sometimes and if they do abuse rests, they find the captives killed, the dark ritual completed with the evil demon lord released, or the temple vanished for the next century, with bad consequences. From then on, they'll be a lot more careful about those rests and you don't have to do the same thing every time.
More great advice coming in :) My confidence is building!
Quote from NaivaraArnuanna >>
So set an in-game time limit on your adventure (the dungeon seals itself on the new moon, the prisoner will be sacrificed at midnight, etc)
Good luck! You'll do great! Oh, and remember to have fun!
Im so using this idea in one of my shorts. I can think of a player who's character will defiantly be scarified! haha!
I seconds Gehennaheretic.
Start small! Create a nice one shot and say it as it is: you wanna try this out. If everything works like a charm, you can always create a new session later, and if that works well - keep it going.
One other advice: Don't be too focused on the rules. If there is something you don't remember, just make a ruling you think is fair. It's OK to tell the players you don't remember, but "this is how it's going to be now". Check the rules later when you get home, and "update" the players before your next session. I guess there are people who completely disagree with me on this, but me and my players prefer a quick and smooth game and would rather have the DM make a choice on the fly than spending 5 minutes digging up the exact obscure rule (OK, there ain't that many of them in D&D 5e, but still - get the story moving).
Best of luck! DM'ing isn't that difficult, and it can be really funny. Ana remember the best advice ever for DM's: "Be a fan of your players!"
Ludo ergo sum!