Hey guys! I am super excited because on Saturday I will be Dming my first game over Roll20 and discord. So far I have a map and they are starting at level one because the party consist of 3 inexperienced players with 2 experienced players so this way the 3 players can have as much help as they need. I am doing a homebrew adventure I found it is called " The Sleeping Harold's" and then after that I will be leveling them to level 2 ( I do not see a reason to be at level one for more then one campaign) Then if they clear that adventure I will be starting "the mine of lost mine of phandelver" next. So any tips? how does the game sound so far? Anything i should do or prep besides the map?
One thing I try not to do is start people at level 1 unless their character has never been outside their home city. Even mages who useally live in seclusion train everyday. For me at least I find it easier to start them between level 3 and 5 depending on their starting class. Anyway the best advice I can give you is
make the plan, execute the plan , expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.
Prepare the basic outline,
make note cards with Basic NPC names and info ( job, outlook on life and the world, and how they act)
treasure list
take time to describe things, so they feel like they are there.
" On you go into the forest" vs " you walk into the dense forest, you hear the sounds of the grass under your feet, the wind in the trees, you hear the flapping of bird wings, and animal noises in the distance"
Try not leave the players in completely open-ended situations. Try to know ahead of time what the players will be doing without them feeling like they are being railroaded.
At the end of the session ask everyone what their intentions are going forward. This gives you information to plan around for next session.
If you dont have a gm screen try to have a list of all the basics at hand even if its just pag numbers from the phb. eg currencies, conditions, Difficulties ect.
Tea. Seriously. If you are not used to doing a lot of speaking, get some tea. Make sure it is at least warm and not black tea. I personally use a green tea with mint. If you don't like tea, warm water will do. Your throat will thank you for it, especially if you are doing extra talking to explain the game to the new players.
Other than that, just make sure these two things are true: you are having fun, and your players are having fun. If you focus on that, you will be golden. Don't let obscure rules bog you down and break the moment, it is okay to make a quick ruling and look up what the book says after the game. It is even okay to ignore any of the written rules.
It's probably too late for a session 0, but at least spend a few min at the very beginning levelsetting with everyone. There are tons of resources to be found out there around session 0's but some of the main things I try to do at the very minimum online is:
What happens when someone misses a session? Another player runs or DM runs or character fades into the background?
Expectations for breaks.
Preferences for dividing up loot, preferred marching order (if any), etc.
Is everyone looking for a serious storytelling, wise-cracking or good old hack & slash?
With new players, they will more than likely have no idea, but it'll get conversation going with the experienced players. Then after a session or two, ask if they want to see more battles, puzzles, riddles, cloak and dagger, battles, etc. You're kind of limited with the Phandelver campaign, but you can always adjust it liberally to make the game more fun for everyone at the table.
Above all, have fun and don't be afraid to roll with a made up rule and tell them, "For this time, you need to do so-and-so to succeed". My first DM session I spent way too much time looking up rules and I think my players were bored to tears waiting for me to flip through manuals. Like was mentioned earlier, the rules are a framework but feel free to shift as long as everyone is having fun telling the story together.
Remember the rules laid out in the Player's Handbook introduction:
1. The DM describes the environment.
2. The players describe what they want to do.
3. The DM narrates the results of the adventurers’ actions.
You can play the rest by ear. If you forget a rule, make a quick decision, even if it's not the "right" one. Keeping the action going and moving the story in an interesting direction is always better than taking a 5 minute break to look up a rule. Any rulings you make on the spot don't have to be final; you can always address them next session. Likewise, if they pick a fight with someone the adventure doesn't provide stat blocks for, just improvise. Players have no idea what a monster's statistics are, so it doesn't matter if you got them off a book or make them up on the spot.
Players will fixate on whatever you describe. The more you describe something, the more they'll think it's important. Be careful not to draw attention to something inconsequential. If you want them to figure something out, leave at least 3 clues so they can connect the dots. What's obvious to you isn't obvious to them at all. When setting a scene, leave whatever is more likely to be of immediate concern to the players last. If you're describing a room with monsters, leave them for the end. If you lead with the monsters, they'll start asking questions about them before you're done setting the scene since the monsters are an immediate concern.
Some players will speak more than others. If you notice someone's too quiet, deliberately put the other characters on hold and ask them what they're doing or would like to do. If they're not sure, you can give some suggestions. If they're just doing nothing and watching everyone else, take that as an opportunity to describe the town or dungeon.
Be sure to give players a break every hour, especially if you plan on playing more than 2 hours. It'll give them a chance to check their cell phones and talk among themselves so they don't do it mid-game.
As for the level one thing, I fully support with new players in the group, but I would perhaps consider leveling them to two at the end of the first night if they don't finish. Lvl 1 is a great learning position, but piss poor to manage. So weak... so weak...
And tea. So. Much. Tea. I had to buy a legitimate teapot and heater to keep refilling my cup. Also buying honey wholesale... practically.
Also, plan. Then expect nothing to go according to plan. The PLAYERS don't know it, and therefore have nothing to follow. Also, allow room for group-specific jokes. Example, my part is obsessed with hitting every library on the planet to rob, because of something that happened in the first village.
I don't like doing published adventures. Too rigid for me, and generally my party as well.
If you're running a homebrew story, don't plan YOUR story. I made up a world, conditions, and politics, and exposed the players to a quick overview. But the players guide the story. Everything they do is in regards to THIER personal quests, and I write their stories. They want to discover the tombs of the ancient dragons, they aren't interested in a civil war in their country! The war I wrote has caused them problems and is still relevant, but the characters aren't actively involved in it. Makes for amusing consequences.
Give them options, or at least the illusion of options. I tend to quickly draw up two quests, give them the option of a quest, then keep the other in a stack to be used again at a later date with different details.
As for breaks, you don't have to make them on the hour. We tend to break after two hours and have 5-7 hour games. This tends to be because half my party takes a solid two minutes to make a single action in combat. All my attempts to give them time limits has resulted in whining and complaints. So while one person is spending an eternity deciding on what spell or who to attack, everyone else fiddles on their phone. Other games when everyone is engaged and ready to go, no one wants to stop for more than a quick bathroom run. So this really depends on the group.
Another thing that depends on the party is the rulebook, and how it's interpreted. I am constantly arguing with my players because they pick out loopholes like lawyers to try and get away with everything.
I get why people don't want to start at level 1, but for a new player or group, I think it simplifies things, as long as the adventure is not deadly. But I ignore XP and level up after the first session (or sooner if it's a long session), not the first adventure.
I am playing my own homebrew campaign with one group and while session 1 was a little bit railroady, I didn't even have a session 2 planned. At the end of session 1 I asked them what they want to do next (within the world as they know it) and I'll prepare the next session with that feedback in mind. The new guy had a pretty fleshed out background for his character which was quite different from anything I've seen previously (not that I have that much experience) so I'm adjusting to fit that. I didn't really have a story arc in mind, but one is emerging based on their characters and the events of the first session.
As a new group with one brand new player, I also asked them what they liked best about the game - RP, combat, exploration, etc., so I can build my adventures with that in mind. (In my case, it's RP).
I've started campaigns at level 1. It's fine - especially for new players, the lower level you start the easier it is to get started (since there's fewer things to remember).
I've also found that what's very helpful for me is having good maps. On a world-map scale, it's helpful to know what's around the players to give them context for where else they could go - nearby villages, important features etc. On a dungeon scale, filling in rooms of the dungeon with a lot of detail helps players make the battles more interesting - having lots of environment to interact with (pillars and corners for PCs and NPCs to hide behind, chests and tables and boxes and chairs and things for items to hide behind, etc) makes the battles and exploration more varied.
Players love when you give them tangible things. If they find a letter of importance, give it to them don't just tell them what it says. Either hand write it or do it as a word doc in a handwritten font. Then print it out, roll it up, wrap a piece of string around it or secure it with a hair tie. Same with maps. I'm also a big fan of ambient music, sound fx and mood lighting. there are tons of resources for that stuff. Have fun!
I highly recommend using the starter set. Home brew is very hard to start with for DMing there are a lot of pitfalls and social contracts you can stumble over. Just remember it's not you vs the players.
There are some REALLY good short youtube videos you can look up from major DM's like chris perkins or matt mercer where they talk about lessons they learned from their first time and tips for beginners. A lot of cool conversations at comicon panels and such where they give you the keys to success.
Something I started doing recently, and this is going to be VERY determinant to the group, but I started under-preparing on small details in certain towns.
Example: New elven city they arrived in, where the trees are tall, buildings made of both stone and wood, woven throughout the forest, up, down and between the trees. They went to the residential district, which didn't have a name. Party wanted a name. I told them to pick one. By a random d20 roll, the highest number got to pick the name, Sequoia. Then I improved the rest of the description of the area, details the party ended up using to their advantage later. Other newly added details were a nuisance to them and caused problems.
Lesson: By giving the party some control over menial details, they feel more a part of the story, and it can REALLY help flush out fun complications you may not have thought of before. It also takes some of the pressure off of planning.
Get a DM screen, the revised one with the red dragon in flight on the front is best. It will save you clicking g through books every five minutes which can kill the pace. If you don't know a rule make it up on the spot, note down what it was and check it out later after the session for next time.
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Hey guys! I am super excited because on Saturday I will be Dming my first game over Roll20 and discord. So far I have a map and they are starting at level one because the party consist of 3 inexperienced players with 2 experienced players so this way the 3 players can have as much help as they need. I am doing a homebrew adventure I found it is called " The Sleeping Harold's" and then after that I will be leveling them to level 2 ( I do not see a reason to be at level one for more then one campaign) Then if they clear that adventure I will be starting "the mine of lost mine of phandelver" next. So any tips? how does the game sound so far? Anything i should do or prep besides the map?
One thing I try not to do is start people at level 1 unless their character has never been outside their home city. Even mages who useally live in seclusion train everyday. For me at least I find it easier to start them between level 3 and 5 depending on their starting class. Anyway the best advice I can give you is
make the plan, execute the plan , expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.
Prepare the basic outline,
make note cards with Basic NPC names and info ( job, outlook on life and the world, and how they act)
treasure list
take time to describe things, so they feel like they are there.
" On you go into the forest" vs " you walk into the dense forest, you hear the sounds of the grass under your feet, the wind in the trees, you hear the flapping of bird wings, and animal noises in the distance"
Try not leave the players in completely open-ended situations. Try to know ahead of time what the players will be doing without them feeling like they are being railroaded.
At the end of the session ask everyone what their intentions are going forward. This gives you information to plan around for next session.
If you dont have a gm screen try to have a list of all the basics at hand even if its just pag numbers from the phb. eg currencies, conditions, Difficulties ect.
Tea. Seriously. If you are not used to doing a lot of speaking, get some tea. Make sure it is at least warm and not black tea. I personally use a green tea with mint. If you don't like tea, warm water will do. Your throat will thank you for it, especially if you are doing extra talking to explain the game to the new players.
Other than that, just make sure these two things are true: you are having fun, and your players are having fun. If you focus on that, you will be golden. Don't let obscure rules bog you down and break the moment, it is okay to make a quick ruling and look up what the book says after the game. It is even okay to ignore any of the written rules.
It's probably too late for a session 0, but at least spend a few min at the very beginning levelsetting with everyone. There are tons of resources to be found out there around session 0's but some of the main things I try to do at the very minimum online is:
With new players, they will more than likely have no idea, but it'll get conversation going with the experienced players. Then after a session or two, ask if they want to see more battles, puzzles, riddles, cloak and dagger, battles, etc. You're kind of limited with the Phandelver campaign, but you can always adjust it liberally to make the game more fun for everyone at the table.
Above all, have fun and don't be afraid to roll with a made up rule and tell them, "For this time, you need to do so-and-so to succeed". My first DM session I spent way too much time looking up rules and I think my players were bored to tears waiting for me to flip through manuals. Like was mentioned earlier, the rules are a framework but feel free to shift as long as everyone is having fun telling the story together.
Good luck!
Remember the rules laid out in the Player's Handbook introduction:
You can play the rest by ear. If you forget a rule, make a quick decision, even if it's not the "right" one. Keeping the action going and moving the story in an interesting direction is always better than taking a 5 minute break to look up a rule. Any rulings you make on the spot don't have to be final; you can always address them next session. Likewise, if they pick a fight with someone the adventure doesn't provide stat blocks for, just improvise. Players have no idea what a monster's statistics are, so it doesn't matter if you got them off a book or make them up on the spot.
Players will fixate on whatever you describe. The more you describe something, the more they'll think it's important. Be careful not to draw attention to something inconsequential. If you want them to figure something out, leave at least 3 clues so they can connect the dots. What's obvious to you isn't obvious to them at all. When setting a scene, leave whatever is more likely to be of immediate concern to the players last. If you're describing a room with monsters, leave them for the end. If you lead with the monsters, they'll start asking questions about them before you're done setting the scene since the monsters are an immediate concern.
Some players will speak more than others. If you notice someone's too quiet, deliberately put the other characters on hold and ask them what they're doing or would like to do. If they're not sure, you can give some suggestions. If they're just doing nothing and watching everyone else, take that as an opportunity to describe the town or dungeon.
Be sure to give players a break every hour, especially if you plan on playing more than 2 hours. It'll give them a chance to check their cell phones and talk among themselves so they don't do it mid-game.
If you have some time, listen to the Sage Advice segments on Dragon Talk. The episode on Table Rules is particularly relevant to your question.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
As for the level one thing, I fully support with new players in the group, but I would perhaps consider leveling them to two at the end of the first night if they don't finish. Lvl 1 is a great learning position, but piss poor to manage. So weak... so weak...
And tea. So. Much. Tea. I had to buy a legitimate teapot and heater to keep refilling my cup. Also buying honey wholesale... practically.
Also, plan. Then expect nothing to go according to plan. The PLAYERS don't know it, and therefore have nothing to follow. Also, allow room for group-specific jokes. Example, my part is obsessed with hitting every library on the planet to rob, because of something that happened in the first village.
I don't like doing published adventures. Too rigid for me, and generally my party as well.
If you're running a homebrew story, don't plan YOUR story. I made up a world, conditions, and politics, and exposed the players to a quick overview. But the players guide the story. Everything they do is in regards to THIER personal quests, and I write their stories. They want to discover the tombs of the ancient dragons, they aren't interested in a civil war in their country! The war I wrote has caused them problems and is still relevant, but the characters aren't actively involved in it. Makes for amusing consequences.
Give them options, or at least the illusion of options. I tend to quickly draw up two quests, give them the option of a quest, then keep the other in a stack to be used again at a later date with different details.
As for breaks, you don't have to make them on the hour. We tend to break after two hours and have 5-7 hour games. This tends to be because half my party takes a solid two minutes to make a single action in combat. All my attempts to give them time limits has resulted in whining and complaints. So while one person is spending an eternity deciding on what spell or who to attack, everyone else fiddles on their phone. Other games when everyone is engaged and ready to go, no one wants to stop for more than a quick bathroom run. So this really depends on the group.
Another thing that depends on the party is the rulebook, and how it's interpreted. I am constantly arguing with my players because they pick out loopholes like lawyers to try and get away with everything.
I get why people don't want to start at level 1, but for a new player or group, I think it simplifies things, as long as the adventure is not deadly. But I ignore XP and level up after the first session (or sooner if it's a long session), not the first adventure.
I am playing my own homebrew campaign with one group and while session 1 was a little bit railroady, I didn't even have a session 2 planned. At the end of session 1 I asked them what they want to do next (within the world as they know it) and I'll prepare the next session with that feedback in mind. The new guy had a pretty fleshed out background for his character which was quite different from anything I've seen previously (not that I have that much experience) so I'm adjusting to fit that. I didn't really have a story arc in mind, but one is emerging based on their characters and the events of the first session.
As a new group with one brand new player, I also asked them what they liked best about the game - RP, combat, exploration, etc., so I can build my adventures with that in mind. (In my case, it's RP).
I've started campaigns at level 1. It's fine - especially for new players, the lower level you start the easier it is to get started (since there's fewer things to remember).
I've also found that what's very helpful for me is having good maps. On a world-map scale, it's helpful to know what's around the players to give them context for where else they could go - nearby villages, important features etc. On a dungeon scale, filling in rooms of the dungeon with a lot of detail helps players make the battles more interesting - having lots of environment to interact with (pillars and corners for PCs and NPCs to hide behind, chests and tables and boxes and chairs and things for items to hide behind, etc) makes the battles and exploration more varied.
Players love when you give them tangible things. If they find a letter of importance, give it to them don't just tell them what it says. Either hand write it or do it as a word doc in a handwritten font. Then print it out, roll it up, wrap a piece of string around it or secure it with a hair tie. Same with maps. I'm also a big fan of ambient music, sound fx and mood lighting. there are tons of resources for that stuff. Have fun!
I highly recommend using the starter set. Home brew is very hard to start with for DMing there are a lot of pitfalls and social contracts you can stumble over. Just remember it's not you vs the players.
There are some REALLY good short youtube videos you can look up from major DM's like chris perkins or matt mercer where they talk about lessons they learned from their first time and tips for beginners. A lot of cool conversations at comicon panels and such where they give you the keys to success.
Something I started doing recently, and this is going to be VERY determinant to the group, but I started under-preparing on small details in certain towns.
Example: New elven city they arrived in, where the trees are tall, buildings made of both stone and wood, woven throughout the forest, up, down and between the trees. They went to the residential district, which didn't have a name. Party wanted a name. I told them to pick one. By a random d20 roll, the highest number got to pick the name, Sequoia. Then I improved the rest of the description of the area, details the party ended up using to their advantage later. Other newly added details were a nuisance to them and caused problems.
Lesson: By giving the party some control over menial details, they feel more a part of the story, and it can REALLY help flush out fun complications you may not have thought of before. It also takes some of the pressure off of planning.
Get a DM screen, the revised one with the red dragon in flight on the front is best. It will save you clicking g through books every five minutes which can kill the pace. If you don't know a rule make it up on the spot, note down what it was and check it out later after the session for next time.