So I am considering DMing for the first time using DNDbeyond. Considering that as of writing there is a sale, what would be a good campaign to do that would be a good starter as a DM, would I need extra rulebooks in regards to the campaign, and if so, which ones?
To be honest I'd ignore the sale and instead buy Dragon of Icespire Peak which is $14.99 as standard. It's a great little campaign designed specially for first time players and DMs and is fairly easy to pick up and play with very little experience. Then pick up the basic rules, which are free on D&D Beyond, and that's all that you really need to play. If you are looking to spend more then the Players Hand Book is half price in the sale and is always a good start BUT it's just an expanded version of the free basic rules and there's a revised edition coming out in the autumn so you might want to hold off.
Otherwise just have fun. You don't need to know everything for everyone to enjoy themselves and don't be afraid to look stuff up as and when it comes up at the table
Ok so Dragon of Icespire Peak as a starter, cool. Now I was eyeing Journeys through the Radiant Citadel as well. Would that be a good follow up set of adventures?
I've just finished a Dragon of Icespire Peak, and Lost Mine of Phandelver combined adventure with a group of new players. It took a year of sessions with sessions every two weeks. I'd highly recommend those two starter adventures which can be extended quite easily either only as far as level 6 or up to level 10.
Radiant Citadel is great for one-shots or limited runs. It's an anthology of shorter adventures rather than a singluar adventure. So that can be great for afterwards yes.
I'd very strongly advise though going with something very basic as your first foray into DMing. Dragon of Icespire Peak does a good job of mapping and describing environments whilst allowing you to add your own spin on things when and where you want to.
Hey, yeah my advice would be go for a starter kit. I started DMing last year. We did the older starter kit that has lost mines of phandelever in. Not sure if you can get that now as d&d beyond did an extended version of lost mine of phandelever. But anyway a starter kit is great, ours had pre made characters so we just jumped start into it. I did read through the whole adventure before starting and made maps ( I like drawing maps so not essential but it's the side of prep I find fun).
So we just had the starter kit, bought a big pack of d&d dice sets so everyone had a set of dice. Got some pencils & notebooks and started playing.
Similar to what others have said when I started playing dnd for the first time I used a starter set (Lost Mines of Phandelver) and it can be a really useful way of learning how to play the game and getting to know how to run an adventure without having to create one yourself which can be quite daunting at first.
Good luck and hope you enjoy running whatever you end up running.
Ok so Dragon of Icespire Peak as a starter, cool. Now I was eyeing Journeys through the Radiant Citadel as well. Would that be a good follow up set of adventures?
As Martin said Radiant Citadel is an anthology of one shots which is always a handy thing to have in your DM arsenal as you can either plonk them in your campagn as they are or file off the serial numbers and use them for parts to build out your main story. The other option is the Icespire Peak follow ups that are on here. Storm Lord's Wrath goes from levels 7-9, Sleeping Dragon's Wake goes from 9-11 and the last one is Divine Contention at levels 11-13. They're all $4.99 each and were written as sequels to the first adventure. By the time you reach those sorts of levels you'll probably be feeling pretty confident as a DM so can mix and match between these and some one shots, rearrange parts and make it your own. There's also the good chance your players will be feeling more confident and want to try new characters so you might even end up back at level 1 on a brand new campaign
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So I am considering DMing for the first time using DNDbeyond. Considering that as of writing there is a sale, what would be a good campaign to do that would be a good starter as a DM, would I need extra rulebooks in regards to the campaign, and if so, which ones?
To be honest I'd ignore the sale and instead buy Dragon of Icespire Peak which is $14.99 as standard. It's a great little campaign designed specially for first time players and DMs and is fairly easy to pick up and play with very little experience. Then pick up the basic rules, which are free on D&D Beyond, and that's all that you really need to play. If you are looking to spend more then the Players Hand Book is half price in the sale and is always a good start BUT it's just an expanded version of the free basic rules and there's a revised edition coming out in the autumn so you might want to hold off.
Otherwise just have fun. You don't need to know everything for everyone to enjoy themselves and don't be afraid to look stuff up as and when it comes up at the table
Ok so Dragon of Icespire Peak as a starter, cool. Now I was eyeing Journeys through the Radiant Citadel as well. Would that be a good follow up set of adventures?
I've just finished a Dragon of Icespire Peak, and Lost Mine of Phandelver combined adventure with a group of new players. It took a year of sessions with sessions every two weeks. I'd highly recommend those two starter adventures which can be extended quite easily either only as far as level 6 or up to level 10.
Radiant Citadel is great for one-shots or limited runs. It's an anthology of shorter adventures rather than a singluar adventure. So that can be great for afterwards yes.
I'd very strongly advise though going with something very basic as your first foray into DMing. Dragon of Icespire Peak does a good job of mapping and describing environments whilst allowing you to add your own spin on things when and where you want to.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
Hey, yeah my advice would be go for a starter kit. I started DMing last year. We did the older starter kit that has lost mines of phandelever in. Not sure if you can get that now as d&d beyond did an extended version of lost mine of phandelever. But anyway a starter kit is great, ours had pre made characters so we just jumped start into it. I did read through the whole adventure before starting and made maps ( I like drawing maps so not essential but it's the side of prep I find fun).
So we just had the starter kit, bought a big pack of d&d dice sets so everyone had a set of dice. Got some pencils & notebooks and started playing.
Yeah,
Similar to what others have said when I started playing dnd for the first time I used a starter set (Lost Mines of Phandelver) and it can be a really useful way of learning how to play the game and getting to know how to run an adventure without having to create one yourself which can be quite daunting at first.
Good luck and hope you enjoy running whatever you end up running.
As Martin said Radiant Citadel is an anthology of one shots which is always a handy thing to have in your DM arsenal as you can either plonk them in your campagn as they are or file off the serial numbers and use them for parts to build out your main story. The other option is the Icespire Peak follow ups that are on here. Storm Lord's Wrath goes from levels 7-9, Sleeping Dragon's Wake goes from 9-11 and the last one is Divine Contention at levels 11-13. They're all $4.99 each and were written as sequels to the first adventure. By the time you reach those sorts of levels you'll probably be feeling pretty confident as a DM so can mix and match between these and some one shots, rearrange parts and make it your own. There's also the good chance your players will be feeling more confident and want to try new characters so you might even end up back at level 1 on a brand new campaign