I'm new to the DM thing, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice? I told my players to go easy on me, since I am new and using a Homebrew (didn't know where to start, so I made my own), and they gave me an Aaracockra Ranger, A Tiefling Sorcerer, a Human Pirate, and a Dragonborn Bard. So, needless to say, I have an array of unique abilities and personalities to deal with. I've already come to realize, thanks to this website, that their characters were not built entirely right, but that can be manipulated given I'm running a Homebrew. I basically just need some advice on how to handle encounters and loot management, however any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Do not get me wrong. Askng is not a crime but please use google first. And if you do not want to google at least read the main page of dndbeyond. You will find there artciles that cover many wannabe DM problems.
When designing combat encounters, err on the side of easy most of the time. With relatively dumb opponents. (You can blame mistakes on the monsters intelligence then, rather than your own.) If a band of goblins goes down with no damage dealt to the players, then just have another group pile in hoping to surprise the characters. You are going to 'lose' most encounters anyway so don't rely on 'winning' or 'outsmarting' the players to be your main source of fun.
Treasure : I am renowned for being stingy here - but a poor adventurer is more likely to take whatever hook I dangle before his eyes....
Buy "The Lazy Dungeon Master" by Sly Flourish. Seriously. About an hour to read it, but it will save triple that in the first week.
These forums are a great resource, the people here will inundate you with their ideas and opinions. The issue isn't what we can help you with, it's that you missed a vital step in the DM learning curve: You need, need, to have a grasp of the core workings of running an adventure.
Now, I know that opening line was kinda harsh, but bear with me for a moment, please.
In my opinion, I would advise you to apologize to your players, tell them that you bit off more than you could chew, and ask if they'd mind putting those sheets down for a couple weeks. Then let them know that you'd like to run a premade adventure, something like Phandelver (a wonderful starter kit) or Tales from the Yawning Portal. Explain that the characters and homebrew you've put together are on hold, not scrapped, and that once the module you're running is done, you'll pick it back up. This allows for everyone to get used to how the rules work, how the characters are built and progress, and you can learn the way that encounters, loot, story, and pace work. You then scrap (or keep) the new characters and move on to the homebrew, or whatever else you/your players decide.
If, however, you plan on moving forward from where you are currently: read through the DMG, it will answer most of your questions on the surface. Read the articles on this site, and google every little thing you can think of. There are tools abound to help the DM. And remember: You will make mistakes, your players will take advantage of every opportunity you give them, and all of your best plans will go out the window. That is the life of a DM, and as long as you can enjoy playing with your table, you present a good narrative, and you're willing to continue to learn: you'll only get better.
DMThac0 makes good points. I will suggest only two things in addition.
1. Don't worry about it. You will make mistakes. We all did when we started, we still do. I've been playing over 30 years, I still occasionally make a mistake. This is your "learning" game. You and your friends will learn from this game, and grow in experience and confidence, then you will take what you have learned and have your second campaign, which will be better for it.
2. Look at a published adventure to get an idea on how encounters should run. I strongly recommend the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver from the D&D Starter Set. It is an excellent adventure, and will help you learn your way, even just by reading it to see how it's done. You can buy it in digital format here on DDB, or order the boxed set online fairly cheap.
Also, ignore what BirdCopp said. Googling is great for looking up a specific reference, but forums are made for this sort of thing, asking for advice from experienced people on something subjective. You do you.
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"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Consider this option, start off with no equipment or gold. Make up a quick backstory as to how they got there and have the party wandering down a road to the nearest town to meet a npc in the tavern for an adventure. As they travel have them encounter non-hostile npcs in the form of patrols, farmers, merchant etc. and get used to using the social skills and get the party a small amount of gold and some simple weapons. Have a small battle before you get to town with the under equipped party, make it simple not a threat. Then run another battle a little tougher, maybe a third. Give them a chest with a trap and some more gold. In town let them buy whatever they want, gear, trinkets, animals, guards, hirelings, henchmen, etc.
This approach will give you the chance to practise the mechanics of playing the game when there isn't the chance that you will kill the party. Make sure you prep and read up on all the npcs the party will encounter. Because the players will interact with many npcs, you are forced to role play the a-hole patrol, local yocal, deceptive merchant, etc. Try and use a different voice and try and make the npcs unique, give them some kind of a quirk so the players remember them. Players can have very different playstyles, take some mental notes as the game evolves. Try and vary the sessions to accommodate the different playstyles. One thing all players like is treasure/magic, give out a little bit often. Use dnd beyond to add little details to items, players love details. Don't be afraid to steal from the players and throw in the odd cursed item to keep them on their toes, berserker axe is fun. Allow the party to buy henchmen, hirelings and animals. This gives you a buffer in the battles, if the Ogre searches for a target and there is 4 pcs and 4 npcs... Or perhaps the henchmen picks up the Berserker axe. Also, having npcs joining the party allows you to have npcs infiltrate the party. A thief, assassin or polymorphed demon joins the party :)
I'm running a home brew in the vein of LMoP in the sense that everything has a clear path, but still gives freedom and choice for everything. So far my party is just about to enter their first dungeon, with low-level Drow as the main enemy throughout.
I'm running a home brew in the vein of LMoP in the sense that everything has a clear path, but still gives freedom and choice for everything. So far my party is just about to enter their first dungeon, with low-level Drow as the main enemy throughout.
I'd say keep the actual Drow to a minimum. Use Giant Spiders and Spider Swarms for a bulk of the forces.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I'm running a home brew in the vein of LMoP in the sense that everything has a clear path, but still gives freedom and choice for everything. So far my party is just about to enter their first dungeon, with low-level Drow as the main enemy throughout.
I'd say keep the actual Drow to a minimum. Use Giant Spiders and Spider Swarms for a bulk of the forces.
That works, as the idea I had in my head for a long term (very long term, not anytime soon) battle and constant theme throughout the campaign was about trying to stop Lolth from coming to the Material Plane. Spiders are a constant underlying theme, at least in my head. On paper, we'll see how it works. Thank you for the advice!
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Hello all,
I'm new to the DM thing, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice? I told my players to go easy on me, since I am new and using a Homebrew (didn't know where to start, so I made my own), and they gave me an Aaracockra Ranger, A Tiefling Sorcerer, a Human Pirate, and a Dragonborn Bard. So, needless to say, I have an array of unique abilities and personalities to deal with. I've already come to realize, thanks to this website, that their characters were not built entirely right, but that can be manipulated given I'm running a Homebrew. I basically just need some advice on how to handle encounters and loot management, however any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Signed,
A DM way in over his head
Do not get me wrong. Askng is not a crime but please use google first. And if you do not want to google at least read the main page of dndbeyond. You will find there artciles that cover many wannabe DM problems.
What kind of adventure are you running? Do you have a plan in mind that we can help you flesh out?
When designing combat encounters, err on the side of easy most of the time. With relatively dumb opponents. (You can blame mistakes on the monsters intelligence then, rather than your own.) If a band of goblins goes down with no damage dealt to the players, then just have another group pile in hoping to surprise the characters.
You are going to 'lose' most encounters anyway so don't rely on 'winning' or 'outsmarting' the players to be your main source of fun.
Treasure : I am renowned for being stingy here - but a poor adventurer is more likely to take whatever hook I dangle before his eyes....
Buy "The Lazy Dungeon Master" by Sly Flourish. Seriously. About an hour to read it, but it will save triple that in the first week.
Roleplaying since Runequest.
These forums are a great resource, the people here will inundate you with their ideas and opinions. The issue isn't what we can help you with, it's that you missed a vital step in the DM learning curve: You need, need, to have a grasp of the core workings of running an adventure.
Now, I know that opening line was kinda harsh, but bear with me for a moment, please.
In my opinion, I would advise you to apologize to your players, tell them that you bit off more than you could chew, and ask if they'd mind putting those sheets down for a couple weeks. Then let them know that you'd like to run a premade adventure, something like Phandelver (a wonderful starter kit) or Tales from the Yawning Portal. Explain that the characters and homebrew you've put together are on hold, not scrapped, and that once the module you're running is done, you'll pick it back up. This allows for everyone to get used to how the rules work, how the characters are built and progress, and you can learn the way that encounters, loot, story, and pace work. You then scrap (or keep) the new characters and move on to the homebrew, or whatever else you/your players decide.
If, however, you plan on moving forward from where you are currently: read through the DMG, it will answer most of your questions on the surface. Read the articles on this site, and google every little thing you can think of. There are tools abound to help the DM. And remember: You will make mistakes, your players will take advantage of every opportunity you give them, and all of your best plans will go out the window. That is the life of a DM, and as long as you can enjoy playing with your table, you present a good narrative, and you're willing to continue to learn: you'll only get better.
DMThac0 makes good points. I will suggest only two things in addition.
1. Don't worry about it. You will make mistakes. We all did when we started, we still do. I've been playing over 30 years, I still occasionally make a mistake. This is your "learning" game. You and your friends will learn from this game, and grow in experience and confidence, then you will take what you have learned and have your second campaign, which will be better for it.
2. Look at a published adventure to get an idea on how encounters should run. I strongly recommend the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver from the D&D Starter Set. It is an excellent adventure, and will help you learn your way, even just by reading it to see how it's done. You can buy it in digital format here on DDB, or order the boxed set online fairly cheap.
Also, ignore what BirdCopp said. Googling is great for looking up a specific reference, but forums are made for this sort of thing, asking for advice from experienced people on something subjective. You do you.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
Consider this option, start off with no equipment or gold. Make up a quick backstory as to how they got there and have the party wandering down a road to the nearest town to meet a npc in the tavern for an adventure. As they travel have them encounter non-hostile npcs in the form of patrols, farmers, merchant etc. and get used to using the social skills and get the party a small amount of gold and some simple weapons. Have a small battle before you get to town with the under equipped party, make it simple not a threat. Then run another battle a little tougher, maybe a third. Give them a chest with a trap and some more gold. In town let them buy whatever they want, gear, trinkets, animals, guards, hirelings, henchmen, etc.
This approach will give you the chance to practise the mechanics of playing the game when there isn't the chance that you will kill the party. Make sure you prep and read up on all the npcs the party will encounter. Because the players will interact with many npcs, you are forced to role play the a-hole patrol, local yocal, deceptive merchant, etc. Try and use a different voice and try and make the npcs unique, give them some kind of a quirk so the players remember them. Players can have very different playstyles, take some mental notes as the game evolves. Try and vary the sessions to accommodate the different playstyles. One thing all players like is treasure/magic, give out a little bit often. Use dnd beyond to add little details to items, players love details. Don't be afraid to steal from the players and throw in the odd cursed item to keep them on their toes, berserker axe is fun. Allow the party to buy henchmen, hirelings and animals. This gives you a buffer in the battles, if the Ogre searches for a target and there is 4 pcs and 4 npcs... Or perhaps the henchmen picks up the Berserker axe. Also, having npcs joining the party allows you to have npcs infiltrate the party. A thief, assassin or polymorphed demon joins the party :)
cheers,
Jocanuck
I'm running a home brew in the vein of LMoP in the sense that everything has a clear path, but still gives freedom and choice for everything. So far my party is just about to enter their first dungeon, with low-level Drow as the main enemy throughout.
Thank you all for the advice, everyone. It's all a lot of help!