I’m new to D&D as a whole, along with my entire playgroup. I’ve only played one game with my sister as a DM so really I’m just looking for general advice to make it go more smoothly. I’m planning to do a campaign using the Lost Mine of Phandelver book.
Also, would it be a good idea to read the whole book in advance and plan some stuff out with it? I just want it to go smoothly for everyone and not get too tripped up if something unexpected happens
Well, first of all, welcome to the other side of the DM’s screen. Second, the best advice I can give you is watch this series:
After that:
If everyone is having fun, even if you’re not strictly following the rules, you’re doing it right.
If you can’t find a rule in around a minute, make a ruling, let everyone know that’s what you’re doing, and that you’ll look it up before the next session.
It’s okay to make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. That’s the best way to learn how to avoid those mistakes again in future.
Reread chapters 7, 9, and 10 of the PHB, the vast majority of rules that you will use almost every session are in those three chapters.
As to your Adventure module itself, yes, read it all the way through once and take notes. Then, make sure you read ahead before each session. Also, take notes of the sessions too so you can use them later to plan future stuff.
Thanks for the advice. Another question I have is this: is there a certain point that I should allow players to multiclass if they’re wanting to do that? If so, when and what’s the best way to go about doing that?
Thanks for the advice. Another question I have is this: is there a certain point that I should allow players to multiclass if they’re wanting to do that? If so, when and what’s the best way to go about doing that?
If you’re all new, I would personally recommend against Multiclassing in the beginning because it can potentially get confusing while you’re still learning. That’s like a second campaign thing in my opinion. It is an optional rule, you don’t have to use it at all. But I also wouldn’t let them multiclass without a good story reason for it.
Of course other folks will give you their advice too. Just watch over the next few days and you’re gonna get lots of different pieces of advice from many folks who all do things their own ways. You’ll figure your own way out too over time.
Make the players responsible for managing their characters and learn it along the way. Focus on the fun of going through the story and the fun of learning while making obvious mistakes in the rules, the characters and so forth. As long as you look at the mistakes, learn and implement you'll be find as time comes.
My personal learnings: - organize a session 0 (if you don't know what it is, google it) - make a 1-pager overview of the Played Characters with looks, behavior and a couple of reminders - make 1-pager reminder on how to run the game: mine includes a "how to describe a scene" section and a "how to run combat" and some exclamations like "Don't forget concentration (checks)!" and other things I often forget - don't waste to much time on writing (or recording) long summaries or recaps, only recap at the table & only what is important for the following session - prepare scene 1, 2, x by describing: location, (possible) events and NPC's in a summarizing manner (your brain isn't able to comprehend to much at the table anyway) - prepare treasure & hints/clues for the bigger plot
There's offcourse much more details to learn, but it's best learned by trying it.
This is an excellent blog by a guy who is DMing a game for his kids, their friend and their friend’s dad. Even though he is leading kids through the adventure the advice he gives is really good for any new DM.
Absolutely you need to read the book first. Probably twice. Be prepared for your PCs to not care about the next step. Not because they are being jerks but sometimes the hooks as written aren’t compelling enough for them to make the decisions you want. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the written story. Also, you need to understand that the encounters are rated as deadly, especially the initial ones for level 1. The first goblin ambush? Deadly. Don’t be afraid to give low level PCs a hand, especially new ones.
- make a 1-pager overview of the Played Characters with looks, behavior and a couple of reminders
1 pager cheat sheet example for 2 of my players.
I have the players highlight the things you see bolded and starred, like AC, HP, and their 2 main attacks/cantrips, so they know where to find the most frequently used things on their character sheets.
I also tell my players: "Your D20 is the most important. It's your "success dice." This is the die you roll to determine whether an attack hit, or you dodged something, or you saw something hidden, etc. The other dice are generally for damage and healing. You won't use all of them."
I have each player pull out the dice they are going to use, based on their weapons/spells. For example, the fighter pulled out a d20, d12, and a d8 to use, and then put the rest to the side. We were playing online, so I couldn't just reach over every turn and show them the correct die.
Otherwise, you get something like the following every round:
DM: "The orc got a 14. Does that hit you?"
Player, frantically flipping through pages to find AC: "I'm not sure! Where do I find that?"
And later, DM: "It's your turn. What do you want to do?"
Player: "Shoot the orc. [more frantic flipping] Um, how do I do that again? I can't find it! [Frantic sorting through dice] Which dice do I use???"
Riakka (Kate), half orc fighter level 3
*Initiative +2
*AC 16, *HP 28
Passive perception 14 & darkvision 60 ft
Passive insight 14
Passive investigation 7
*Main weapon: Greataxe +6 to hit, 1d12 +4 slashing, critical on 19 or 20, reroll 1 or 2 on damage
*Longbow, +4 to hit, 1d8+2 piercing, critical hit on 19 or 20
*Notable traits: second wind (heal bonus action), action surge (extra action), relentless endurance (drop to 1 rather than 0 HP)
Vashti (Elle), tiefling sorceress lvl 3
*Initiative +2
*AC 15, *HP 20
Passive perception 13 & darkvision 60 ft
Passive insight 11
Passive investigation 10
*Spell attack +5
*Spell modifier +3
*Spell save DC 13
*Cantrips: Mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost (+5 to hit, 1d8 cold damage and 10 ft slow), shape water, thaumaturgy
1 lvl (4 slots): Disguise self, Ice knife (+5 to hit, 1d10 piercing, then (hit or miss) 5ft radius blast DEX 13 save against 2d6 cold)
2 lvl (2 slot): Invisibility, Scorching ray (3x rays, each +5 to hit, 2d6 fire damage)
Bonus (1/day): Hellish rebuke (rxn to damage by creature you see, DEX 13 save, 3d10 fire damage, half on successful save)
I’m new to D&D as a whole, along with my entire playgroup. I’ve only played one game with my sister as a DM so really I’m just looking for general advice to make it go more smoothly. I’m planning to do a campaign using the Lost Mine of Phandelver book.
Also, would it be a good idea to read the whole book in advance and plan some stuff out with it? I just want it to go smoothly for everyone and not get too tripped up if something unexpected happens
Also, welcome, and way to be, taking on the DM role! Don't worry if it's not totally smooth the first time around.
One thing i came across is no matter how much story you right the chance is the party will find a way to speed it up if you run out of pland stuff but you feel the game hasent been going long enough dont panic just think you will be able to come up with something even if that is just to buy more time to think like for example fights can take a time with all the rounds so have some goblins come from the trees or have a wondering traider
A nother this is dnd is always more fun for the players and the dm id you can get them to RP so have them go to a tavern and chat between thier characters and maby a random NPC so you dont necicarly need huge plot twists with dragonds and fires and kings to make it fun well that is unless you want to cos thats all fun to😂
Another thing i recomind is never tell your party what thier oponents stats are 1 because that takes the fun from them figureing things out and 2 because it might be that you need to ajust some stats due to bad or good roles or if it is your first time over or under estimating what they can take on for example if an enimy is still strong and high hp but thier all low then maby thier 6 points of slashing damage is just enough to bring them down
And my final piece of advice for now is as i learned from the great mathew murcer from chritical role to see your players get realy into it and exited the best way to end a battle is "as this happens.... how do you want to do this" and have them explain how they finnish them off, let them be as creative in battle as you are with the storyline
OHHH and welcome to the magical world of D&D where anythi g your mind can think of can become real,
One advice, that helped me immensely to learn the rules is to write questions down when unsure about a rule or those odd situations that you're not clear how to rule as they occur while running your game. Don't wait until after the game to review what questions you may have but it down immediately.
As you run your game rule as you think it should be but after each game, you can research (leverage the forums as much as you can) those questions to see if you made the right ruling or how it should have been ruled. At the start you may amass a lot of questions but as you play more and get more comfortable with the rules that list will start to shrink where the only questions you may have remaining are those previously mentioned odd situations.
First, welcome to D&D. As for advice, there is too much to give at one time so I will stick with these 2 points. Have fun. If you aren't enjoying it, your players won't. The other is, especially if you are playing long sessions, take breaks. As the DM you will be involved none stop and after the session you will think, oh I missed this or that, I should have done, blah. The longer you go at a stretch, the more that will happen. Every couple of hours at most, get up, stretch, clear your head. You'll be surprised how taking a break can help keep things moving.
As many have said before me: have fun. Your players having fun will make sure you have fun. There's an unspoken aspect of this first rule that a lot of people overlook: chill out. Relax. You may have played a sesh where the dm is winging it and you had a ton of fun. Don't stress out. It'll all be good. I'm not saying go in blind, but familiarize yourself with the material/whatever changes you wanna make/your hb material if you decide to do so, but people are gonna enjoy it.
Also, there's no way to really get better at something besides doing it.
Rule 1. Unless a dead pc is still dead at the end of session. PHTTT on bad rule calls. SO you hit the party with a fireball doing 20d4s. Aka make a rule call and let stand to the end of the session. Even if the bad rule call resulted in extra damage to party or monsters, don't worry about. Just tell the group next before you play that you made a mistake.
Rule 2. Fix really bad mistakes asap. Hey Jasper I know I burnt your pc sheet and danced around it after I killed your monk Saturday. Oops. Sorry you should have not taken that much damage. Your monk is not dead.
Rule 3. Start small. I see that Matt C has been mentioned already.
scan the book but you don't need to read like you having a test on Friday. Do read and make notes for about 3 pages ahead.
Anything Matt Colville is gold for new DMs. I even found him to be a wealth of info and I have been running games for a long time. There are also other great resources on youtube. They will help you a great deal and will most likely answer most if not all of your first timer questions.
I’m new to D&D as a whole, along with my entire playgroup. I’ve only played one game with my sister as a DM so really I’m just looking for general advice to make it go more smoothly. I’m planning to do a campaign using the Lost Mine of Phandelver book.
Also, would it be a good idea to read the whole book in advance and plan some stuff out with it? I just want it to go smoothly for everyone and not get too tripped up if something unexpected happens
Well, first of all, welcome to the other side of the DM’s screen. Second, the best advice I can give you is watch this series:
After that:
As to your Adventure module itself, yes, read it all the way through once and take notes. Then, make sure you read ahead before each session. Also, take notes of the sessions too so you can use them later to plan future stuff.
I hope that helps.
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Thanks for the advice. Another question I have is this: is there a certain point that I should allow players to multiclass if they’re wanting to do that? If so, when and what’s the best way to go about doing that?
If you’re all new, I would personally recommend against Multiclassing in the beginning because it can potentially get confusing while you’re still learning. That’s like a second campaign thing in my opinion. It is an optional rule, you don’t have to use it at all. But I also wouldn’t let them multiclass without a good story reason for it.
Of course other folks will give you their advice too. Just watch over the next few days and you’re gonna get lots of different pieces of advice from many folks who all do things their own ways. You’ll figure your own way out too over time.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Make the players responsible for managing their characters and learn it along the way. Focus on the fun of going through the story and the fun of learning while making obvious mistakes in the rules, the characters and so forth. As long as you look at the mistakes, learn and implement you'll be find as time comes.
My personal learnings:
- organize a session 0 (if you don't know what it is, google it)
- make a 1-pager overview of the Played Characters with looks, behavior and a couple of reminders
- make 1-pager reminder on how to run the game: mine includes a "how to describe a scene" section and a "how to run combat" and some exclamations like "Don't forget concentration (checks)!" and other things I often forget
- don't waste to much time on writing (or recording) long summaries or recaps, only recap at the table & only what is important for the following session
- prepare scene 1, 2, x by describing: location, (possible) events and NPC's in a summarizing manner (your brain isn't able to comprehend to much at the table anyway)
- prepare treasure & hints/clues for the bigger plot
There's offcourse much more details to learn, but it's best learned by trying it.
Kr,
Rob.
This is an excellent blog by a guy who is DMing a game for his kids, their friend and their friend’s dad. Even though he is leading kids through the adventure the advice he gives is really good for any new DM.
https://gamenightblog.com/2019/02/15/phandelver-campaign-diary-1/
Absolutely you need to read the book first. Probably twice. Be prepared for your PCs to not care about the next step. Not because they are being jerks but sometimes the hooks as written aren’t compelling enough for them to make the decisions you want. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the written story. Also, you need to understand that the encounters are rated as deadly, especially the initial ones for level 1. The first goblin ambush? Deadly. Don’t be afraid to give low level PCs a hand, especially new ones.
1 pager cheat sheet example for 2 of my players.
I have the players highlight the things you see bolded and starred, like AC, HP, and their 2 main attacks/cantrips, so they know where to find the most frequently used things on their character sheets.
I also tell my players: "Your D20 is the most important. It's your "success dice." This is the die you roll to determine whether an attack hit, or you dodged something, or you saw something hidden, etc. The other dice are generally for damage and healing. You won't use all of them."
I have each player pull out the dice they are going to use, based on their weapons/spells. For example, the fighter pulled out a d20, d12, and a d8 to use, and then put the rest to the side. We were playing online, so I couldn't just reach over every turn and show them the correct die.
Otherwise, you get something like the following every round:
DM: "The orc got a 14. Does that hit you?"
Player, frantically flipping through pages to find AC: "I'm not sure! Where do I find that?"
And later, DM: "It's your turn. What do you want to do?"
Player: "Shoot the orc. [more frantic flipping] Um, how do I do that again? I can't find it! [Frantic sorting through dice] Which dice do I use???"
Riakka (Kate), half orc fighter level 3
*Initiative +2
*AC 16, *HP 28
Passive perception 14 & darkvision 60 ft
Passive insight 14
Passive investigation 7
*Main weapon: Greataxe +6 to hit, 1d12 +4 slashing, critical on 19 or 20, reroll 1 or 2 on damage
*Longbow, +4 to hit, 1d8+2 piercing, critical hit on 19 or 20
*Notable traits: second wind (heal bonus action), action surge (extra action), relentless endurance (drop to 1 rather than 0 HP)
Vashti (Elle), tiefling sorceress lvl 3
*Initiative +2
*AC 15, *HP 20
Passive perception 13 & darkvision 60 ft
Passive insight 11
Passive investigation 10
*Spell attack +5
*Spell modifier +3
*Spell save DC 13
*Cantrips: Mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost (+5 to hit, 1d8 cold damage and 10 ft slow), shape water, thaumaturgy
1 lvl (4 slots): Disguise self, Ice knife (+5 to hit, 1d10 piercing, then (hit or miss) 5ft radius blast DEX 13 save against 2d6 cold)
2 lvl (2 slot): Invisibility, Scorching ray (3x rays, each +5 to hit, 2d6 fire damage)
Bonus (1/day): Hellish rebuke (rxn to damage by creature you see, DEX 13 save, 3d10 fire damage, half on successful save)
Also, welcome, and way to be, taking on the DM role! Don't worry if it's not totally smooth the first time around.
One thing i came across is no matter how much story you right the chance is the party will find a way to speed it up if you run out of pland stuff but you feel the game hasent been going long enough dont panic just think you will be able to come up with something even if that is just to buy more time to think like for example fights can take a time with all the rounds so have some goblins come from the trees or have a wondering traider
A nother this is dnd is always more fun for the players and the dm id you can get them to RP so have them go to a tavern and chat between thier characters and maby a random NPC so you dont necicarly need huge plot twists with dragonds and fires and kings to make it fun well that is unless you want to cos thats all fun to😂
Another thing i recomind is never tell your party what thier oponents stats are 1 because that takes the fun from them figureing things out and 2 because it might be that you need to ajust some stats due to bad or good roles or if it is your first time over or under estimating what they can take on for example if an enimy is still strong and high hp but thier all low then maby thier 6 points of slashing damage is just enough to bring them down
And my final piece of advice for now is as i learned from the great mathew murcer from chritical role to see your players get realy into it and exited the best way to end a battle is "as this happens.... how do you want to do this" and have them explain how they finnish them off, let them be as creative in battle as you are with the storyline
OHHH and welcome to the magical world of D&D where anythi g your mind can think of can become real,
I recommend using Matt Colville's quick start cards:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wV-KWE3e9jDXFUWCSDfVmc708QTU1fPl/view
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
It's ok to have a campaign on rails. Just realize that the rails will end up looking like a spider web =)
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
One advice, that helped me immensely to learn the rules is to write questions down when unsure about a rule or those odd situations that you're not clear how to rule as they occur while running your game. Don't wait until after the game to review what questions you may have but it down immediately.
As you run your game rule as you think it should be but after each game, you can research (leverage the forums as much as you can) those questions to see if you made the right ruling or how it should have been ruled. At the start you may amass a lot of questions but as you play more and get more comfortable with the rules that list will start to shrink where the only questions you may have remaining are those previously mentioned odd situations.
First, welcome to D&D. As for advice, there is too much to give at one time so I will stick with these 2 points. Have fun. If you aren't enjoying it, your players won't. The other is, especially if you are playing long sessions, take breaks. As the DM you will be involved none stop and after the session you will think, oh I missed this or that, I should have done, blah. The longer you go at a stretch, the more that will happen. Every couple of hours at most, get up, stretch, clear your head. You'll be surprised how taking a break can help keep things moving.
Everyone is the main character of their story
As many have said before me: have fun. Your players having fun will make sure you have fun. There's an unspoken aspect of this first rule that a lot of people overlook: chill out. Relax. You may have played a sesh where the dm is winging it and you had a ton of fun. Don't stress out. It'll all be good. I'm not saying go in blind, but familiarize yourself with the material/whatever changes you wanna make/your hb material if you decide to do so, but people are gonna enjoy it.
Also, there's no way to really get better at something besides doing it.
Rule 1. Unless a dead pc is still dead at the end of session. PHTTT on bad rule calls. SO you hit the party with a fireball doing 20d4s. Aka make a rule call and let stand to the end of the session. Even if the bad rule call resulted in extra damage to party or monsters, don't worry about. Just tell the group next before you play that you made a mistake.
Rule 2. Fix really bad mistakes asap. Hey Jasper I know I burnt your pc sheet and danced around it after I killed your monk Saturday. Oops. Sorry you should have not taken that much damage. Your monk is not dead.
Rule 3. Start small. I see that Matt C has been mentioned already.
scan the book but you don't need to read like you having a test on Friday. Do read and make notes for about 3 pages ahead.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Anything Matt Colville is gold for new DMs. I even found him to be a wealth of info and I have been running games for a long time. There are also other great resources on youtube. They will help you a great deal and will most likely answer most if not all of your first timer questions.
Yup. I started D&D in the early ‘90s and I still learn useful stuff from Colville all the time.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting