Thinking of starting a campaign with a few friends. We're trying to do something short- 30-60 minutes for the first adventure, low fantasy / mystery with 4-6 players, in a tavern. First off, what kind of challenges / obstacles could I include? And how should I format the storyline? I'm a little lost :sob:. And since my party is really inexperienced, should I create a character to help them out? Like a Skyrim type 'you there! dragonborne!' ahh npc? I don't know, I'm a little lost.
Hey there, and congratulations on trying your hand at DM'ing! 30-60 minutes is a pretty short amount of time, however its not impossible to have some fun with it! Something as simple as having one of the Patrons in your tavern be an important NPC, good or evil. Bandits or Guards find out they are there, come to capture/kill them. Your players can try and talk everyone down, get into a fight, or both. And then they can also decide what to do with the important person or you could have them escape in the heat of battle and maybe have them drop something on the way out for the players to find as a cliff-hanger to set you up for a future adventure!
As far as creating characters, its not necessarily a bad idea, but talk to your players about the different classes and what they might be interested in playing. Maybe they like the simple side of bashing things with a weapon and can run a fighter or barb. You might have players who love the idea of magic, but need guidance on how to run a Sorc or Wizard. You might also have a player who doesn't even want to fight and just wants to help keep the party alive, but doesn't know what Cleric abilities to run. Guide them through it, don't do it all yourself, but definitely aid them! I would recommend starting out at at least level 2 or 3, that way they have a bit of power and won't have to worry too much about getting killed off the rip.
With all new players, your 30-60 is going to burn really fast, trying to teach everyone different things, helping them get comfortable with their character, and getting them to engage and open their creative minds! Just try not to overwhelm them with information, do your best not to kill them, and most importantly, have fun!
Advice for you as a DM: Find someone you really like as a DM and see if they're styles match your ideas of what you and your players have in mind! My inspirations are Matt Colville and Anthony Burch (Dungeons and Daddies podcast). My players enjoy the fun but serious tones I bring as a DM to the table, and I haven't had anyone complain or ask me to change anything yet!
If you have questions or want more advice, feel free to message me! Good luck in your adventures and may your PCs never die!
I disagree with the above. For your first time DMing and a really inexperienced party, create a bunch of level 1 characters with very stereotypical personalities and simple 1-3 paragraph backstories with a built-in reason for why they are in the tavern and some kind of relationship to the other characters and let the players choose which one they want to play from those.
e.g. maybe they are all former members of a gang who went their separate ways but then received a letter from their former boss asking them to meet at the tavern. Or maybe they all went to the same school then pursued other careers and have come back to town for their school reunion. Or maybe they all are neighbours who live in the town and have come to the tavern for some kind of festival / celebration. You could even go so far as to make it a wedding party and they are all members of the two extended families.
For a 30-60 minute session don't worry about much in the way of combat, you simply won't have the time for it. IMO the best short sessions are mysteries that the party solves which creates a nice satisfying conclusion. So plan challenges involving more skills / problem solving than fighting, things like: finding something someone dropped (or that someone stole), Figuring out who is lying moving heavy things - e.g. accessing a trap door underneath a giant cask of ale, or shoving aside a rack of wine bottles to open a hidden door, or lifting up a heavy chandelier that has fallen on someone, crossing difficult/hazardous terrain - e.g. a fire starts and need to save a kid on the other side, or panic breaks out and they have to cross to the other side of the tavern while everyone else is running around in a panic, swimming in a giant pool of ale. etc...
My advice would be to run an official starter adventure. Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.
Of these, the best for DMs to get to grips with things in my opinion is Dragon of Icespire Peak. It does a great job of scaffolding and modelling how a DM might run and design individual locations. Though Lost Mine of Phandelver does the best of creating a nice tight narrative arc.
These adventures also include starting pre-generated characters. This makes it the perfect starting point. I'd also as a result advise starting with the 2014 version of the rules, because the 2024 version does not yet have a starter adventure proper.
Starter Set and Essentials Kit are designed exactly for people in your position. I'd always advise starting there.
Don’t create a character to help them out. Make the encounters where they don’t need your help. You can also let everyone start with a healing potion to help out.
Avoid things that are going to get your players stuck. If you have to hep them solve a puzzle the puzzle is going to be even less fun than puzzles are already. (Even if your players love puzzles they aren’t going to enjoy you solving it for them).
make sure any clues can be found multiple ways or there are multiple clues.
for starting players and as a new dm a basic dungeon is the easiest to run because it is self contained and straightforward. i would avoid mystery, especially if you think your players are going to require help with it. Keep the game simple at first.
Have a light mystery. Don’t make it complex. The goal should be learning the game.
id also recommend going for longer than 30-60 minutes. Just explaining the game is going to take up a large portion of your time.
Im also a new dm, I recommend getting the Dragon of icespire peak. Also watch dm guides for that campaign to make it better. It really helps (the dragon of icespire peak)
My advice to new DMs would be to skip over all the "meeting each other at a tavern" type things, especially if you and your players are inexperienced. Roleplaying isn't natural for most people and though they will probably like it at some point, I say start them immediately at the front door of a small dungeon.
You can make the dungeon yourself or use ones made specifically for beginner players (Like the Delian Tomb or Tomb of the Serpent). You can give them a preamble of how they know each other and why they are doing this.
I think it's important to play first, try out the mechanics and do the things the system has rules in a book for first, especially if you only have a free hour or two, that's not a lot of time for DnD.
Hey all! I’m pretty new to building a D&D campaign and could use some advice.
I’ve made a few homebrew weapons and characters (mostly based on other people’s creations, then tweaked to fit my setting), but I’m not sure how to introduce them naturally in the story without it feeling forced.
Also, my party is starting at level 3—how do you usually decide what encounter difficulty/levels to aim for at that point?
Hey all! I’m pretty new to building a D&D campaign and could use some advice.
I’ve made a few homebrew weapons and characters (mostly based on other people’s creations, then tweaked to fit my setting), but I’m not sure how to introduce them naturally in the story without it feeling forced.
Also, my party is starting at level 3—how do you usually decide what encounter difficulty/levels to aim for at that point?
Any tips or examples would be hugely appreciated!
I assume you're talking about magic weapons and important NPCs? If so my advice would be to create a story around the magic weapon, this can be rumors or environmental storytelling. Maybe there's a rumor around town about this magic item? Maybe they find some scroll or tome that gives hints as to what this weapon can do? Think about the sword in the stone, whoever can pull it out of the stone is king. Environmental storytelling could be something like the party find it in the death clutches of a skeleton propped up against the dungeon wall or maybe a deity like the lady of the lake gifts them this weapon.
You can do similar things with NPCs, how do the party come across them? What are the NPCs current goals? Basically, it won't feel forced if the players can imagine some plausible reason that weapon or NPC is where they find them. It would be pretty lame if Excalibur was just lying in the grass or Elrond just showed up at Frodo's house one day to smoke.
Your second question is something you'll have to figure out through trial and error, your party's size, number of magic weapons and ability to think strategically can greatly effect how to balance things. Sometimes monsters labeled as CR3 can smoke an entire level 3 party, other times they'll be the ones getting stomped on. I would just be observant and always be willing to change things on the fly. I've never aimed for "balanced" encounters myself, just fun sounding ones.
thank you so much I'm just trying to work small details out as I don't plan on doing it for a while.
are there any other tips that DM need to know?
My one big piece of general advice is to keep in mind that as the DM, you are also a player of the game and expected to have fun running it. So, find the stuff that excites you and your players and roll with it. I think as DM's we can fall into the mindset of creating the game for our friends and expect ourselves to not enjoy it like they do and that is not the case. In fact, your friends will have fun if you had fun planning and running the game.
It's amazing to me how much different and contrasting feedback there is here. Some advice is good, and some is frankly pretty bad :D Teaching and expertise are entirely different things.
I'm a teacher, so I'm going to approach this from a teaching angle. You're aiming for 30-60 minutes, as you said. I think the advisors here are really missing how much of a time constraint this is. The goal is to simplify as much as humanly possible, eliminate options, and let them dive in instantly.
1. Don't front load data and rules Let me ask you as a student--what's more fun, diving in, or the teacher lecturing you on rules, plans, intentions, objectives etc? Diving in is the answer. Just start. Don't give them options, or rules, or choices to make. This is a super quick, one time thing, so hand them the tools and start. That's it: no primer, no background tale, world building data, mechanics, nothing. The only prompt you need is explaining the scenario when you start. "You find yourself in a jail cell with 4 others after getting arrested for a crime you didn't commit". You plop down a map. That's really all you need.
2. Don't let them choose their characters. Give them their characters. As agile said, just print out a variety of level 1 characters, double their HP, and give it to them. Each character should have a 1 paragraph summary of who they are. Make it simple, make it stereotypical. Me personally, I wouldn't use a D&D character sheet at all--it's overwhelming. They need to know HP, AC, basic equipment, spells, any special skills, and basic stats. Nothing else. Maybe you can find a pre-made ultra-simple template (or just make one).
3. Simplify Everything Spell slots: ignore them. Give them 4-5 spells they can cast if they're a caster. Equipment: just have them start out with basic equipment, if you have time, make their weapons awesome. Instead of long sword-->flaming long sword. Action and Bonus action: Let them choose their main action (attack, cast etc), and bonus action is a social interaction. (intimidate, persuade etc.). Eliminate reactions. Rolls: All rolls will just be a d20. Any roll within their domain of skill, just give them +5 to the roll. That means no skill checks, saves, straight roles--just plain d20 for everything. To stay super simple, just have weapons and spells do average damage, no dice necessary for damage. Narration: Make them feel awesome. Extend player crit range to 19-20.
4. Narrative Start in the middle of a narrative problem, not in a tavern. Start at a moment of tension. For example "You're in the back of a wagon, the wagon crashes and bandits have caught up to you." or "You're in a jail cell, and the jailer accepts your bribe for the key and explains how you get out." or "You just stole a magic relic from a powerful mage, and an alarm goes off", or "You're standing over the body of your mentor who was just murdered, the assailant is escaping", or "You open your tent flap to find an owlbear eating your provisions."
Step by step 1. Decide on the problem you're going to dump them into. Make the map, print the map. 2. Create their characters. Make 2-3 sentence backgrounds. Print their tokens. 3. Print out their character sheets. Simple as humanly possible. I'd say just make your own from a google doc and only include necessary info. Have them roll a d6 which will determine their character. 3. Loop ambient music from Youtube to set the tone.
Thinking of starting a campaign with a few friends. We're trying to do something short- 30-60 minutes for the first adventure, low fantasy / mystery with 4-6 players, in a tavern. First off, what kind of challenges / obstacles could I include? And how should I format the storyline? I'm a little lost :sob:. And since my party is really inexperienced, should I create a character to help them out? Like a Skyrim type 'you there! dragonborne!' ahh npc? I don't know, I'm a little lost.
Hey there, and congratulations on trying your hand at DM'ing! 30-60 minutes is a pretty short amount of time, however its not impossible to have some fun with it! Something as simple as having one of the Patrons in your tavern be an important NPC, good or evil. Bandits or Guards find out they are there, come to capture/kill them. Your players can try and talk everyone down, get into a fight, or both. And then they can also decide what to do with the important person or you could have them escape in the heat of battle and maybe have them drop something on the way out for the players to find as a cliff-hanger to set you up for a future adventure!
As far as creating characters, its not necessarily a bad idea, but talk to your players about the different classes and what they might be interested in playing. Maybe they like the simple side of bashing things with a weapon and can run a fighter or barb. You might have players who love the idea of magic, but need guidance on how to run a Sorc or Wizard. You might also have a player who doesn't even want to fight and just wants to help keep the party alive, but doesn't know what Cleric abilities to run. Guide them through it, don't do it all yourself, but definitely aid them! I would recommend starting out at at least level 2 or 3, that way they have a bit of power and won't have to worry too much about getting killed off the rip.
With all new players, your 30-60 is going to burn really fast, trying to teach everyone different things, helping them get comfortable with their character, and getting them to engage and open their creative minds! Just try not to overwhelm them with information, do your best not to kill them, and most importantly, have fun!
Advice for you as a DM: Find someone you really like as a DM and see if they're styles match your ideas of what you and your players have in mind! My inspirations are Matt Colville and Anthony Burch (Dungeons and Daddies podcast). My players enjoy the fun but serious tones I bring as a DM to the table, and I haven't had anyone complain or ask me to change anything yet!
If you have questions or want more advice, feel free to message me! Good luck in your adventures and may your PCs never die!
I disagree with the above. For your first time DMing and a really inexperienced party, create a bunch of level 1 characters with very stereotypical personalities and simple 1-3 paragraph backstories with a built-in reason for why they are in the tavern and some kind of relationship to the other characters and let the players choose which one they want to play from those.
e.g. maybe they are all former members of a gang who went their separate ways but then received a letter from their former boss asking them to meet at the tavern. Or maybe they all went to the same school then pursued other careers and have come back to town for their school reunion. Or maybe they all are neighbours who live in the town and have come to the tavern for some kind of festival / celebration. You could even go so far as to make it a wedding party and they are all members of the two extended families.
For a 30-60 minute session don't worry about much in the way of combat, you simply won't have the time for it. IMO the best short sessions are mysteries that the party solves which creates a nice satisfying conclusion. So plan challenges involving more skills / problem solving than fighting, things like:
finding something someone dropped (or that someone stole),
Figuring out who is lying
moving heavy things - e.g. accessing a trap door underneath a giant cask of ale, or shoving aside a rack of wine bottles to open a hidden door, or lifting up a heavy chandelier that has fallen on someone,
crossing difficult/hazardous terrain - e.g. a fire starts and need to save a kid on the other side, or panic breaks out and they have to cross to the other side of the tavern while everyone else is running around in a panic, swimming in a giant pool of ale.
etc...
My advice would be to run an official starter adventure. Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.
Of these, the best for DMs to get to grips with things in my opinion is Dragon of Icespire Peak. It does a great job of scaffolding and modelling how a DM might run and design individual locations. Though Lost Mine of Phandelver does the best of creating a nice tight narrative arc.
These adventures also include starting pre-generated characters. This makes it the perfect starting point. I'd also as a result advise starting with the 2014 version of the rules, because the 2024 version does not yet have a starter adventure proper.
Starter Set and Essentials Kit are designed exactly for people in your position. I'd always advise starting there.
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.
I am about to become a DM and I would love help and really feel like this is the right place to go for advice.
Don’t create a character to help them out. Make the encounters where they don’t need your help. You can also let everyone start with a healing potion to help out.
Avoid things that are going to get your players stuck. If you have to hep them solve a puzzle the puzzle is going to be even less fun than puzzles are already. (Even if your players love puzzles they aren’t going to enjoy you solving it for them).
make sure any clues can be found multiple ways or there are multiple clues.
for starting players and as a new dm a basic dungeon is the easiest to run because it is self contained and straightforward. i would avoid mystery, especially if you think your players are going to require help with it. Keep the game simple at first.
Have a light mystery. Don’t make it complex. The goal should be learning the game.
id also recommend going for longer than 30-60 minutes. Just explaining the game is going to take up a large portion of your time.
Im also a new dm, I recommend getting the Dragon of icespire peak. Also watch dm guides for that campaign to make it better. It really helps (the dragon of icespire peak)
My advice to new DMs would be to skip over all the "meeting each other at a tavern" type things, especially if you and your players are inexperienced. Roleplaying isn't natural for most people and though they will probably like it at some point, I say start them immediately at the front door of a small dungeon.
You can make the dungeon yourself or use ones made specifically for beginner players (Like the Delian Tomb or Tomb of the Serpent). You can give them a preamble of how they know each other and why they are doing this.
I think it's important to play first, try out the mechanics and do the things the system has rules in a book for first, especially if you only have a free hour or two, that's not a lot of time for DnD.
Hey all! I’m pretty new to building a D&D campaign and could use some advice.
I’ve made a few homebrew weapons and characters (mostly based on other people’s creations, then tweaked to fit my setting), but I’m not sure how to introduce them naturally in the story without it feeling forced.
Also, my party is starting at level 3—how do you usually decide what encounter difficulty/levels to aim for at that point?
Any tips or examples would be hugely appreciated!
I assume you're talking about magic weapons and important NPCs? If so my advice would be to create a story around the magic weapon, this can be rumors or environmental storytelling. Maybe there's a rumor around town about this magic item? Maybe they find some scroll or tome that gives hints as to what this weapon can do? Think about the sword in the stone, whoever can pull it out of the stone is king. Environmental storytelling could be something like the party find it in the death clutches of a skeleton propped up against the dungeon wall or maybe a deity like the lady of the lake gifts them this weapon.
You can do similar things with NPCs, how do the party come across them? What are the NPCs current goals? Basically, it won't feel forced if the players can imagine some plausible reason that weapon or NPC is where they find them. It would be pretty lame if Excalibur was just lying in the grass or Elrond just showed up at Frodo's house one day to smoke.
Your second question is something you'll have to figure out through trial and error, your party's size, number of magic weapons and ability to think strategically can greatly effect how to balance things. Sometimes monsters labeled as CR3 can smoke an entire level 3 party, other times they'll be the ones getting stomped on. I would just be observant and always be willing to change things on the fly. I've never aimed for "balanced" encounters myself, just fun sounding ones.
Hope that helps!
thank you so much I'm just trying to work small details out as I don't plan on doing it for a while.
are there any other tips that DM need to know?
My one big piece of general advice is to keep in mind that as the DM, you are also a player of the game and expected to have fun running it. So, find the stuff that excites you and your players and roll with it. I think as DM's we can fall into the mindset of creating the game for our friends and expect ourselves to not enjoy it like they do and that is not the case. In fact, your friends will have fun if you had fun planning and running the game.
It's amazing to me how much different and contrasting feedback there is here. Some advice is good, and some is frankly pretty bad :D Teaching and expertise are entirely different things.
I'm a teacher, so I'm going to approach this from a teaching angle. You're aiming for 30-60 minutes, as you said. I think the advisors here are really missing how much of a time constraint this is. The goal is to simplify as much as humanly possible, eliminate options, and let them dive in instantly.
1. Don't front load data and rules
Let me ask you as a student--what's more fun, diving in, or the teacher lecturing you on rules, plans, intentions, objectives etc? Diving in is the answer. Just start. Don't give them options, or rules, or choices to make. This is a super quick, one time thing, so hand them the tools and start. That's it: no primer, no background tale, world building data, mechanics, nothing. The only prompt you need is explaining the scenario when you start. "You find yourself in a jail cell with 4 others after getting arrested for a crime you didn't commit". You plop down a map. That's really all you need.
2. Don't let them choose their characters. Give them their characters.
As agile said, just print out a variety of level 1 characters, double their HP, and give it to them. Each character should have a 1 paragraph summary of who they are. Make it simple, make it stereotypical. Me personally, I wouldn't use a D&D character sheet at all--it's overwhelming. They need to know HP, AC, basic equipment, spells, any special skills, and basic stats. Nothing else. Maybe you can find a pre-made ultra-simple template (or just make one).
3. Simplify Everything
Spell slots: ignore them. Give them 4-5 spells they can cast if they're a caster.
Equipment: just have them start out with basic equipment, if you have time, make their weapons awesome. Instead of long sword-->flaming long sword.
Action and Bonus action: Let them choose their main action (attack, cast etc), and bonus action is a social interaction. (intimidate, persuade etc.). Eliminate reactions.
Rolls: All rolls will just be a d20. Any roll within their domain of skill, just give them +5 to the roll. That means no skill checks, saves, straight roles--just plain d20 for everything. To stay super simple, just have weapons and spells do average damage, no dice necessary for damage.
Narration: Make them feel awesome. Extend player crit range to 19-20.
4. Narrative
Start in the middle of a narrative problem, not in a tavern. Start at a moment of tension. For example "You're in the back of a wagon, the wagon crashes and bandits have caught up to you." or "You're in a jail cell, and the jailer accepts your bribe for the key and explains how you get out." or "You just stole a magic relic from a powerful mage, and an alarm goes off", or "You're standing over the body of your mentor who was just murdered, the assailant is escaping", or "You open your tent flap to find an owlbear eating your provisions."
Step by step
1. Decide on the problem you're going to dump them into. Make the map, print the map.
2. Create their characters. Make 2-3 sentence backgrounds. Print their tokens.
3. Print out their character sheets. Simple as humanly possible. I'd say just make your own from a google doc and only include necessary info. Have them roll a d6 which will determine their character.
3. Loop ambient music from Youtube to set the tone.
That's all you really need!