I’ve started playing dnd at school recently and I want to know what happens if the people in my campaign get off topic. Am I just supposed to say something like “no you can’t do that, do this or die.” Also how do you get ideas for campaigns. I’m terrible at running off my head and it takes time for me to write a campaign. Please tell me how you do it and how to keep people on the task at hand.
1) Vis-a-vis "players getting off-topic" - At some point, you sort of have to swallow your natural aversion to conflict and just put your foot down. "We're here to play D&D; either stick to it or you're wasting everyone's time." Obviously this is a case-by-case basis, but ultimately; as DM the buck stops with you. Don't be such a stickler that the fun goes away but you do have to rope the wandering conversation back on topic after a minute or two. Also; devices, I blanket recommend banning devices, it works. If you don't think you're up for this with your group, the truth is you either have problem players or you might not be suited for the DMing role.
2) "Where do you get ideas for campaigns" - That's sort of hard; for DMs that run homebrew stuff often it's just an idea for "hey here's a world/story I'd like to explore." Or you can poll your perspective players: find out what sort of game they'd like to play, what sort of setting they'd like etc. Failing those two options; there's always the realm of pre-written modules... Though honestly WotC's have seen better days so might want to air on the side of third-party ones. Ultimatley creativity is a pretty important trait for a DM.
3) "I'm terrible at coming up with things off the top of my head" - Unfortunately; that's a skill that DMs need to have, improvisation is an important element. Like any skill that takes practice and you get better at it with time. You can mitigate it a little bit by coming up with contingencies and what players MIGHT do; but they'll almost always come up with something you didn't think of, so you need to be able to roll with the punches as it were. Some people say "always say yes" to ideas, but in my experience that isn't always the right call and it's up to you to make that decision. Again; if this just isn't you, the DM position might not be for you, which is fine; not everyone is built to do it.
Thank you for your help this explains a lot of my questions. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of choice with DMing as all the players are new, I’m just teaching them to play. Ps I agree, I’m not the person for DMing I’m more the man who comes up with overpowered home brew stuff and uses it.
This has nothing to do with the topic but is your avatar a Pokémon?
Thank you for your help this explains a lot of my questions. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of choice with DMing as all the players are new, I’m just teaching them to play. Ps I agree, I’m not the person for DMing I’m more the man who comes up with overpowered home brew stuff and uses it.
This has nothing to do with the topic but is your avatar a Pokémon?
I think it’s like Corviknight thing. I may be wrong though.
Thank you for your help this explains a lot of my questions. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of choice with DMing as all the players are new, I’m just teaching them to play. Ps I agree, I’m not the person for DMing I’m more the man who comes up with overpowered home brew stuff and uses it.
This has nothing to do with the topic but is your avatar a Pokémon?
No problem; happy to help where I can. If the players are just learning: Lost Mine of Phandelver is literally built with that sort of player in mind if you're looking fora pre-written thing to run. There's also the new one on its way but honestly the feedback I've heard for Lost Mine is pretty good. Humblewood is also a pretty good one as far as third-party games go, or so i've heard.
If you're stuck being the DM; that's nothing to fear honestly provided your group is good. In a healthy group everyone is there to have fun anyway; and your players will often forgive a lot so long as that one goal is met; even if things turn into a total train-wreck... which often they will. There's a saying "No plan survives contact with the enemy"; the same goes for DMs plans and the players more often than not. But; some pretty memorable events can come from that.
And yes; my avatar is a Corviknight; and I'm a habitual Kenku player.
Weird, off-topic conversations are a big part of D&D, but I can understand wanting to stay on task. Sometimes, it can be as simple as clearing your throat and then just starting to talk, and the others will start to listen. Like much of life, it’s all about the confidence.
And I’ll also vote for lost mines of phandelver. It good for new players and new DMs, and it’s available for free here on dndbeyond.
You'll sort it out and with time, I would bet you'll get better at "winging it" when they wander off track. My group deliberately tries to wander off track on me frequently, but I am quite good at ripping off something from nothing and having them proceed with whatever "squirrel" moment has captured their attention just now. I can think of at least 2 sessions, where we played for 4+ hours and NOTHING they did was "on script" so the entire session was flying by the seat of my pants. To illustrate the level of improv I am capable of, when I had to "deal with" the situation they created, to avoid a LOT of sidetracking and confusion in the campaign itself, I had one member openly weeping and the other 3 choked up nearly to the point of tears.
Improv isn't easy for a lot of folks, but you can and likely will get pretty good at it over time. Rule number one, DON'T PANIC! Take a moment, develop some small bit and start working it (making notes as you do, to flesh it out more cleanly for your own records later.) Rule number 2 is HAVE FUN which is a bit easier than rule #1.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I’ve started playing dnd at school recently and I want to know what happens if the people in my campaign get off topic. Am I just supposed to say something like “no you can’t do that, do this or die.” Also how do you get ideas for campaigns. I’m terrible at running off my head and it takes time for me to write a campaign. Please tell me how you do it and how to keep people on the task at hand.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
Well... that's a whole series of things...
1) Vis-a-vis "players getting off-topic" - At some point, you sort of have to swallow your natural aversion to conflict and just put your foot down. "We're here to play D&D; either stick to it or you're wasting everyone's time." Obviously this is a case-by-case basis, but ultimately; as DM the buck stops with you. Don't be such a stickler that the fun goes away but you do have to rope the wandering conversation back on topic after a minute or two. Also; devices, I blanket recommend banning devices, it works. If you don't think you're up for this with your group, the truth is you either have problem players or you might not be suited for the DMing role.
2) "Where do you get ideas for campaigns" - That's sort of hard; for DMs that run homebrew stuff often it's just an idea for "hey here's a world/story I'd like to explore." Or you can poll your perspective players: find out what sort of game they'd like to play, what sort of setting they'd like etc. Failing those two options; there's always the realm of pre-written modules... Though honestly WotC's have seen better days so might want to air on the side of third-party ones. Ultimatley creativity is a pretty important trait for a DM.
3) "I'm terrible at coming up with things off the top of my head" - Unfortunately; that's a skill that DMs need to have, improvisation is an important element. Like any skill that takes practice and you get better at it with time. You can mitigate it a little bit by coming up with contingencies and what players MIGHT do; but they'll almost always come up with something you didn't think of, so you need to be able to roll with the punches as it were. Some people say "always say yes" to ideas, but in my experience that isn't always the right call and it's up to you to make that decision. Again; if this just isn't you, the DM position might not be for you, which is fine; not everyone is built to do it.
Thank you for your help this explains a lot of my questions. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of choice with DMing as all the players are new, I’m just teaching them to play. Ps I agree, I’m not the person for DMing I’m more the man who comes up with overpowered home brew stuff and uses it.
This has nothing to do with the topic but is your avatar a Pokémon?
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
I think it’s like Corviknight thing. I may be wrong though.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
No problem; happy to help where I can. If the players are just learning: Lost Mine of Phandelver is literally built with that sort of player in mind if you're looking fora pre-written thing to run. There's also the new one on its way but honestly the feedback I've heard for Lost Mine is pretty good. Humblewood is also a pretty good one as far as third-party games go, or so i've heard.
If you're stuck being the DM; that's nothing to fear honestly provided your group is good. In a healthy group everyone is there to have fun anyway; and your players will often forgive a lot so long as that one goal is met; even if things turn into a total train-wreck... which often they will. There's a saying "No plan survives contact with the enemy"; the same goes for DMs plans and the players more often than not. But; some pretty memorable events can come from that.
And yes; my avatar is a Corviknight; and I'm a habitual Kenku player.
Weird, off-topic conversations are a big part of D&D, but I can understand wanting to stay on task. Sometimes, it can be as simple as clearing your throat and then just starting to talk, and the others will start to listen. Like much of life, it’s all about the confidence.
And I’ll also vote for lost mines of phandelver. It good for new players and new DMs, and it’s available for free here on dndbeyond.
Thank you everybody for your help. I’ll try these things today.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
You'll sort it out and with time, I would bet you'll get better at "winging it" when they wander off track. My group deliberately tries to wander off track on me frequently, but I am quite good at ripping off something from nothing and having them proceed with whatever "squirrel" moment has captured their attention just now. I can think of at least 2 sessions, where we played for 4+ hours and NOTHING they did was "on script" so the entire session was flying by the seat of my pants. To illustrate the level of improv I am capable of, when I had to "deal with" the situation they created, to avoid a LOT of sidetracking and confusion in the campaign itself, I had one member openly weeping and the other 3 choked up nearly to the point of tears.
Improv isn't easy for a lot of folks, but you can and likely will get pretty good at it over time. Rule number one, DON'T PANIC! Take a moment, develop some small bit and start working it (making notes as you do, to flesh it out more cleanly for your own records later.) Rule number 2 is HAVE FUN which is a bit easier than rule #1.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I wish I could ban devices at my table. All of my players use D&D Beyond on their phones. Just another reason why I hate D&D Beyond.
Dungeonmastering since 1992!
Honestly I'd say it's well worth it; can always just say "print the PDfs".