Kind of a setting where the players are in a snowy tundra village, and they go on different quests asked by the village leader, and go and retrieve different artifacts, and kill certain monsters.
It's best to use a starter set to, well, get started. Also know that DMing can be a pain sometimes, thus you usually require much patience when being a DM. Take some advise from someone who's been a forever DM for 5 years.
Well in lieu of a specific question as others have said use a pre made campaign it cuts down on the prep time for a new DM. -
Know the rules for every class that is playing in your campaign unless you have played A LOT of D&D in 3 years all the interactions of different class and subclass specific things wont be front of mind for you and tables hate when the DM constantly fumbling around looking up rules, it breaks up the flow.
Have a session zero be clear about expectations, is this a RP heavy campaign, a combat heavy campaign, expected number of sessions, anticipated level progression all that stuff so that you are reasonably certain the campaign you will be running is actually something your players want to play in. Review character sheets - feats - builds (depending what level you start at and I would recommend starting at level 1 as a new DM) A mock skirmish at session zero to see how the group interacts, work out any kinks in tech you may or may not be using for maps and coms, all that sort of stuff can be a great tool for a new DM. Its also an excuse to toss the players an extra 200 gold to start with or something like that so they can buy whatever common gear they want to start.
Prep - Prep - Prep then prep some more as a DM you need room for all the things that should happen then some room for all the nutty stuff players dream up.
Have fun ------- post after a few sessions let the forum know how its going!
If you plan on being a dm any great length of time you need the following:
1.Access to the PHB, DMG and MM either physical copies or D&D Beyond. Everything else is gravy
2. A pad of Graph paper , a pencil and a notebook. If you have access to mobile devices or laptops is nice but not required
3. You need an idea for the campaign, and you have to be able to sell it to your players. This is often the hardest part of being a DM. There are many ways to get the idea Watching movies, reading books, talking with your friends on discord, Facebook or wherever you chat with them. I will give an example here in late 2022 a friend and i sat down and watched John Wick ahead of the fourth movie being released and it being my first time watching them led to a friend and I creating a shared campaign setting that led to other friends making suggestion or asking if they could use what we had written up already all because i watched a movie. My second example is two nights ago another friend posted a picture of house with some interior pictures and showed that it was in fact built on a cave. He captioned his post "Think of the D&D Sessions you could have." My response was "Are we playing in the house or is the house the subject of an adventure?" A third friend responded to me saying "Yes!" My mind was off to the races after that.
4. Realize there are times you are going to be wrong, and it is okay to be wrong. You can't learn the ins and outs of being a DM otherwise. Be gracious with your players, but also remember to extend that grace to yourself. Being A DM is not for everyone and if you find you are not enjoying it don't force it.
5. As an Old DM to a New DM the best advice i can give you is look into the older editions Particularly Look at an read the forward sections of the first and second edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon masters guides some of the best advice ever given about being a DM is given by the people who Wrote those sections of the books. Wisdom of the ancients. Remember the rules such as they are, they are the beginning, a wellspring if you will. The game is yours! Make it your own! Design incredible and terrifying monsters, Create memorable NPC. Make great and terrible foes for your party to win and die against.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Rule Zero: Make the game your own
Online Resources This is a small list of things that can be helpful to a DM be they new or experienced Covering everything from cartography, campaign management and virtual Tabletop environments.
Xeresia's - advice is sound and I am embarrassed nobody thought to bring it up before yes definitely PHB DMG MM to start at a bare minimum.
I will add though in this day and age it almost unheard of to not have maps of some sort be they digital using a TV or extra monitor as a visual aid for the players or a large dry erase map for the table where you have sketched out the encounters - preferably with gridlines already on the dry erase.
Personally I use a VTT for all my campaigns both in person and virtual its easier - cheaper - and gives you the option for hybrid sessions when paired with some sort of communication solution.
We are not allowed to talk about specific VTT's on this site I think but a quick search will tell you what the easiest ones to use are.
Not many players these days are into the theatre of the mind thing when you can very quickly do amazing 2d maps in AI.
We are not allowed to talk about specific VTT's on this site I think but a quick search will tell you what the easiest ones to use are.
People keep saying this but as far as I know it's never been a rule, especially since WotC have official partnerships with most of the big ones.
@ Pandalv829. If you do decide to try the VTT (virtual table top) route then Roll20 and Foundry both get a lot of love but you need to buy the books etc on those platforms which can get expensive if you've already bought the physical versions or the D&D Beyond digital copies. If you've already bought the DDB versions it's worth looking at AboveVTT for a free (if occassional slightly janky) VTT that pulls through from Beyond or if you have a Master Tier subscription here then DDB has it's own VTT named Maps which is still a little basic as it's in Alpha but t's having features added at a decent rate
I have very little idea of what it’s like to be a DM, but I have played dnd for 3 years
Avocado 🥑
(I like potatoes)
So do you have a particular adventure you want to take your players through?
Kind of a setting where the players are in a snowy tundra village, and they go on different quests asked by the village leader, and go and retrieve different artifacts, and kill certain monsters.
Avocado 🥑
(I like potatoes)
Do you have any questions about DMing?
It's best to use a starter set to, well, get started. Also know that DMing can be a pain sometimes, thus you usually require much patience when being a DM. Take some advise from someone who's been a forever DM for 5 years.
Well in lieu of a specific question as others have said use a pre made campaign it cuts down on the prep time for a new DM. -
Know the rules for every class that is playing in your campaign unless you have played A LOT of D&D in 3 years all the interactions of different class and subclass specific things wont be front of mind for you and tables hate when the DM constantly fumbling around looking up rules, it breaks up the flow.
Have a session zero be clear about expectations, is this a RP heavy campaign, a combat heavy campaign, expected number of sessions, anticipated level progression all that stuff so that you are reasonably certain the campaign you will be running is actually something your players want to play in. Review character sheets - feats - builds (depending what level you start at and I would recommend starting at level 1 as a new DM) A mock skirmish at session zero to see how the group interacts, work out any kinks in tech you may or may not be using for maps and coms, all that sort of stuff can be a great tool for a new DM. Its also an excuse to toss the players an extra 200 gold to start with or something like that so they can buy whatever common gear they want to start.
Prep - Prep - Prep then prep some more as a DM you need room for all the things that should happen then some room for all the nutty stuff players dream up.
Have fun ------- post after a few sessions let the forum know how its going!
Thanks! This seems really helpful
Avocado 🥑
(I like potatoes)
If you plan on being a dm any great length of time you need the following:
1.Access to the PHB, DMG and MM either physical copies or D&D Beyond. Everything else is gravy
2. A pad of Graph paper , a pencil and a notebook. If you have access to mobile devices or laptops is nice but not required
3. You need an idea for the campaign, and you have to be able to sell it to your players. This is often the hardest part of being a DM. There are many ways to get the idea Watching movies, reading books, talking with your friends on discord, Facebook or wherever you chat with them. I will give an example here in late 2022 a friend and i sat down and watched John Wick ahead of the fourth movie being released and it being my first time watching them led to a friend and I creating a shared campaign setting that led to other friends making suggestion or asking if they could use what we had written up already all because i watched a movie. My second example is two nights ago another friend posted a picture of house with some interior pictures and showed that it was in fact built on a cave. He captioned his post "Think of the D&D Sessions you could have." My response was "Are we playing in the house or is the house the subject of an adventure?" A third friend responded to me saying "Yes!" My mind was off to the races after that.
4. Realize there are times you are going to be wrong, and it is okay to be wrong. You can't learn the ins and outs of being a DM otherwise. Be gracious with your players, but also remember to extend that grace to yourself. Being A DM is not for everyone and if you find you are not enjoying it don't force it.
5. As an Old DM to a New DM the best advice i can give you is look into the older editions Particularly Look at an read the forward sections of the first and second edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon masters guides some of the best advice ever given about being a DM is given by the people who Wrote those sections of the books. Wisdom of the ancients. Remember the rules such as they are, they are the beginning, a wellspring if you will. The game is yours! Make it your own! Design incredible and terrifying monsters, Create memorable NPC. Make great and terrible foes for your party to win and die against.
Rule Zero: Make the game your own
Online Resources This is a small list of things that can be helpful to a DM be they new or experienced Covering everything from cartography, campaign management and virtual Tabletop environments.
Thanks a lot, this seems like really good advice, I’m thinking of designing some of my own monsters, but I haven’t decided yet.
Avocado 🥑
(I like potatoes)
Xeresia's - advice is sound and I am embarrassed nobody thought to bring it up before yes definitely PHB DMG MM to start at a bare minimum.
I will add though in this day and age it almost unheard of to not have maps of some sort be they digital using a TV or extra monitor as a visual aid for the players or a large dry erase map for the table where you have sketched out the encounters - preferably with gridlines already on the dry erase.
Personally I use a VTT for all my campaigns both in person and virtual its easier - cheaper - and gives you the option for hybrid sessions when paired with some sort of communication solution.
We are not allowed to talk about specific VTT's on this site I think but a quick search will tell you what the easiest ones to use are.
Not many players these days are into the theatre of the mind thing when you can very quickly do amazing 2d maps in AI.
Just some additional thoughts. Have fun!
People keep saying this but as far as I know it's never been a rule, especially since WotC have official partnerships with most of the big ones.
@ Pandalv829. If you do decide to try the VTT (virtual table top) route then Roll20 and Foundry both get a lot of love but you need to buy the books etc on those platforms which can get expensive if you've already bought the physical versions or the D&D Beyond digital copies. If you've already bought the DDB versions it's worth looking at AboveVTT for a free (if occassional slightly janky) VTT that pulls through from Beyond or if you have a Master Tier subscription here then DDB has it's own VTT named Maps which is still a little basic as it's in Alpha but t's having features added at a decent rate
Ok, thanks!
Avocado 🥑
(I like potatoes)