I recently started playing 5e, my first tabletop RPG about a month ago. I've immensely enjoyed my sessions so far.
The next step I want to take is DMing. I've been GMing for ARMA 3 for over 4 years and I know that I have the correct mindset for it, and that many of the skills translate 1:1.
I would love to start DMing, but the breadth of 'gotchas' in 5e is a bit daunting and a huge unknown that I feel would impact my ability to effectively DM. What are your recommendations? Should I learn more before trying to DM? What are pitfalls that a DM might face that aren't obvious from the start, or that only somebody with more experience with DND than myself might know?
Definitely know the rules well if you're going to DM. That's always my first suggestion. If you're not comfy with the rules, it will show
I personally feel like this teeters on being bad advice...because while knowing the rules is important, being able to have the confidence to make final judgement calls regardless of what the book says is really key to DMing. The whole point of DMing is to parse through all the RAW so that you can find RAI that meshes with the world you are playing in...but rote memorization of every single rule isn't going to bring anything to the table if the person in the DM's chair isn't confident in their interpretation of some of those rules. That's not even counting all the times as a DM you will have to ignore some of the rules in favor of fun, or abide by the rule of cool.
Now, memorization can sometimes help build confidence, but it is much more effective to just realize that as a DM you only really need to stick to the basics and be confident that your players will enjoy how you handle the non-basic stuff, even if it doesn't perfectly match what is written...because at the end of the day a ruling that matches what the players would expect to occur in a given situation is going to work out better than what is written in the book. Sometimes the two can overlap, but sometimes they just won't, and that is ok as long as the players are having fun.
That all said, the DM is the rules arbiter first and foremost...the only gotchas are the ones you allow to exist because the DM has the power to hand-wave away things that would slow down the fun and the narrative being built...if you aren't super confident in a ruling, look it up, or just make a quick call and refresh yourself on the rule after the session ends.
I find that the rules for DM'ing in 5e is pretty much like any other tabletop RPG. Yeah rule sets are different and having a decent understanding of them is important but not the main thing you should focus on. Every DM will have to consort to the PHB every once in awhile (even the greats like Matt Mercer). I find as long as you lay out your expectations and learn what general expectations your party wants from the game it will go much smoother. Also setting general rules between how the party interacts with each other will save you in the future (especially if you got that klepto rouge who just can't keep his hands off other people's items.) Determine how you will compose your campaign: will you make it free and open giving your party multiple paths to choose, be linear and only have one path and "passively" push your party towards it, a dungeon crawl, etc.
If you are not completely comfortable setting up a one shot or a longer multiple session campaign, I would suggest getting a scenario book and run that first. The new Waterdeep scenario book just came out and I've heard that it's a great introduction into DnD and I'm sure DMing as well. This will help you get more familiar with the 5e style and setting. Also, just use the general books to start with (Players handbook, Dungeon masters guide, Monster Manual). I wouldn't get to wrapped up in all the expansion books just yet until you get more comfortable running with the basics. Be confident and remember you have the final say in any ruling. Keep it simple, have fun and keep a sharp mind.
(Also a complete reference guide phone app will help as well, especially for spells.)
I personally feel like this teeters on being bad advice...because while knowing the rules is important, being able to have the confidence to make final judgement calls regardless of what the book says is really key to DMing.
......
You say its almost bad advice, but then go on to say its important? Knowing when to deviate from the rules for the sake of story is important... but you still should know what rules you're changing, so you have a decent idea of the implications going on.
I've played far too many times with people that didn't know the rules, who basically made things up as they went along, or constantly stopped to reference the rules, and the games were disasters. I'm not saying that you should be slaves to the rules, but you definitely need a strong foundation.
I think AtlaStar is trying to make a point just to make a point, by disagreeing with someone else's. The DMG even says that the DM should have discretion on how to interpret the rules and make it appropriate to the situation and to the style of game the party wants to play. Why would it be bad advice to follow that rule?? The rule in the DMG is to not always feel like you need to stick to the rules.
I think Mephista's point is pretty important. You need to know the rules or you need to know where to find the rules. The entire game is predicated on there being a structure, however loosely you use that structure. You have to know the structure to know if you're being loose with it, and if that's something your players like. To me, that's the difference between HarmonQuest and Critical Role. HarmonQuest players PLAY incredibly loose when it comes to the rules, but they still KNOW the rules. Critical Role play more along the lines of modern D&D and do fairly well sticking to the structure, even though they say they play loosely. (This is all just my opinion and observation, other people may disagree, and I respect their opinion as well).
My advice is this: familiarize yourself with the rules, then do your own thing. For the most part, you're going to be following the rules. To me, the MOST IMPORTANT THING for a DM is to provide a good time for the players. Make them all feel good individually and as a group. Reward and punish accordingly. At the end of the day, you want them coming back for more.
I went through so many trials and errors until I found a good, steady pace for what works with my groups. Some want an open sandbox, some want a more linear story, and they want to be the heroes of that story. My groups tend to say they want an open world, but fall in line with structure of a good story, so I create the illusion of open world, and steer them into the narrative, or create a narrative around them and their backgrounds, and make the story about them. Find out what your players want, then get a feel for how they actually play with the first few sessions, and give them a good blend.
Also, check out GM tips on youtube, particularly the episodes with Matt Mercer. These videos will give you a bunch of 'situations' that could happen, and how to deal with them, and some good ideas for preparation which will boost confidence as a DM.
Having cheatsheets (or a good GM screen) will help you with a plethora of tables to look up conditions, general merchandise for sale, list of actions in and out of combat, and that differentiate uses of skill checks.
Familiarize yourself with the advantage/disadvantage system, and be liberal with it. You can promote good role play by giving advantage for someone who describes what their character is doing. You can punish bad ideas with disadvantage. You can build the effect of these rolls into the narrative, helping your story-telling.
Right after each session, talk with the group and ask what they liked, what they didn't like, and what they want out of the next few sessions. Communicate well with your players. And write up a quick 1-page recap of your sessions and send it to them a few days before your next session so they stay fresh on what's been going on, and to keep their interest peaked. When the campaign is over, you'll have a short diary of sorts that your players can look back on and reminisce.
I think AtlaStar is trying to make a point just to make a point, by disagreeing with someone else's. The DMG even says that the DM should have discretion on how to interpret the rules and make it appropriate to the situation and to the style of game the party wants to play. Why would it be bad advice to follow that rule?? The rule in the DMG is to not always feel like you need to stick to the rules.
While that may be the impression you have, I can assure you that isn't the case. More or less, DMing is about creating a shared narrative and world for the players to play together in. Knowing the basics is important, but they are also the basics because they are easy to learn. And at the end of the day the more memorable game is going to be the one that hits the notes of what the players enjoy, which isn't something that has to be mired by rules. If your players like combat, you just need to have a basic understanding of the combat rules and provide compelling reasons for the group to fight A over B. If your group likes social encounters, you need to be able to tell a compelling story and have a basic understanding of how ability checks work. If your players like grandiose worlds with lots of lore, you need to tell a compelling story about the world itself.
Notice how none of those things hinge on being a DM that knows all the rules, nor does it hinge on being a DM that cares about those rules. Therefore, being a master of the hard skills of DMing isn't going to get you as far as mastering the soft skills. At the end of the day it comes down to a simple question: would you rather play a game that has no compelling story or reason to interact with the world presented to you but has super consistent rules in place, or would you rather play a game that has a compelling story and reason to interact with the world but has less consistent rules that change as the DM grows their hard skills? Myself and many of the people I have played with would definitely choose DM number 2 in this scenario, hence my initial statement that such advice teeters on being bad advice since it doesn't put any weight on the importance of the DMs soft skills and rather places a majority of the weight on learning the hard skills.
I personally feel like this teeters on being bad advice...because while knowing the rules is important, being able to have the confidence to make final judgement calls regardless of what the book says is really key to DMing.
......
You say its almost bad advice, but then go on to say its important? Knowing when to deviate from the rules for the sake of story is important... but you still should know what rules you're changing, so you have a decent idea of the implications going on.
I've played far too many times with people that didn't know the rules, who basically made things up as they went along, or constantly stopped to reference the rules, and the games were disasters. I'm not saying that you should be slaves to the rules, but you definitely need a strong foundation.
You are misinterpreting what I mean, because in the end a DM needs confidence on what their rulings are regardless of what the book says...their confidence doesn't need to be tied to knowing what the book says, but can rather just be confident that their ruling makes the most sense for the world their players are in. A DM that can pull a random ruling out of their ass that isn't in the book, because they don't know the rule, and still be confident that their ruling makes sense is going to do a lot better job than a DM that knows the rules but isn't confident.
That said I can understand the confusion and why you interpreted what I said the way you did. I didn't do the best job of conveying what I meant.
1. Understand the majority of the rules as best as you can. Apply them as best as you can. Its ok to make "incorrect" calls. In the end I find it more important to look at the situation and apply real life logic to it. Then you know how something would happen. Which can then be translated more easily in what kind of roll that suits best with it.
2. Keep things moving a long. Don't spend too much time looking stuff up. It'll break the flow. Just make a call that make sense and is fair. After the game, and before the next session, you can look up the correct rules so you know for the future.
3. Make a piece of paper with the more hard to remember details. For me it means the rogue's rule about when he gets stealth attack and such, or the amount of die roll per potion. Little things like that which you can look up real fast.
4. Stay consistent. What applies to your players also applies to the opponents/monsters and vice versa. Also applies to play sessions. Just set a recurring date. If you got at least 3 players that can always make it with the others being on/off depending on their schedule... Just keep the sessions going. For me that is every other saturday we play. At first there were people who couldn't show up. They soon adjusted their private schedules to fit in the play sessions and started to show up more and more often. If you keep changing your agreed upon playtime there will never be an end to it. And the chance the entire group gets to play gets less and less in turn. Consistency and stability in as many aspects as possible is important.
5. Prepare your content. If you got a campaign know the broad outlines of EVERYTHING. This will take a few weeks of "intense" time investment. Know the big red threads and have a broad understanding of cities and some events/npc's. Create your content as modular as possible as well. That way your players can do whatever they want without you having to get nerves. You know your world and campaign so you can mention places of interest to incite their interest. If they go off track you can quickly introduce an npc that is part of a faction. A faction that you know because you prepared the broad strokes of the campaign. Modular content is great, because it plays into the illusion of choice/open world. It doesn't matter if the players go left, right or take a giant evasive move. They'll still end up at the same piece of content...which you can drop whereever and whenever you want. They didn't follow through on the tracks in the swamp. Fine.. I'll just drop in the bullywugs at a later point elsewhere. However once you do an actual session you have an idea for the short term details. Prepare those instead of just the broad strokes. Knowing how the big, behind the scene, events play out in your world helps in creating believable details on the spot.
6. Most important... STAY RELAXT!!! most people get anxious and stressed over nothing. Just relax. If you know the broad strokes of your campaign and adventure... All you have to do is focus on describing the environments/npc's and let the players do their thing. They will take care of the rest and you just have to bullshit/bluff/improvise your way with the information you have prepped. You can't do anything wrong. Just keep it moving along and be confident. In the end everyone will have fun, your collective story/experience will be great with lots of surprises.
7. When prepping content don't hesitate to just copy aspects from already existing adventure modules. Copy the battle maps and traps as well as opponents and just change it to whatever fits your session. Make it as easy on yourself as possible.
8. Take your time to improve. Each session see what you did and how to improve. If you're weak at environmental descriptions then next time focus a bit more on that. Gradually improving yourself.
9. As a first time DM I'd suggest starting small. Get a published adventure and run a few of those. Learn how adventures are made. Also learn that adventure modules are not finished products. You still need to invest time to make adjustments and modify entire sections. Meaning you learn the basics of how to create your own things. Then try to run a full fledged campaign existing of multiple singular adventures tied in together. Make modifications to make them fit in the same setting. Create tie ins so they flow into one another. They'll take place in a world so you'll have to create your own additional side quests which is great practice. Going full homebrew at the start is usually overwhelming for new DM's. Creating your own small side quests also lets you try out different things like murder hobo stuff, a chase-hunt, mystery murder and more. This will also give insight of what your players like or don't like while you broaden your experience/horizon.
10. Communication is very important. No idea how you should set it up. For my group it happened naturally since we're friends outside of the game as well. Before we start I take an hour setting things up, having a drink. We just sit around and talk about things DND related. After the sessions we do the same for another hour. Where they'll talk about some of their experiences. During those talks I guide the conversation to try and get more information about things they liked, didn't like and our expectations. We even have a chatgroup where we text about dnd related stuff during the week as well. Some people use a session 0 for that as a test session. But I prefer to do it little by little as we go along. In the end... communication is important. If you don't do it well things can get troublesome since there might be problems/frustrations growing that you didn't deal with soon enough.
This advice won't matter to you if you don't have anxienty or anything like that, but imma leave this post here if someone has maybe it helps -> first of all wear a fake moustash ( no joke it actually helped me alot ), but usually try practicing seperating yourself from yourself ( if it makes sense to you? ). The point is to try to make the DM different from the NPCs with voices and little quirky behaviour. So practice at home explaining something and then shortly getting into character ( its more of an art than a science so practice makes perfect ). Just try to relax, keep your cool and if you start to panic: roll some dice behind the screen, look at some papers and pretend like you are looking for something until you cool down a bit. And most importantly have fun and good luck :D
Love this idea (the mustache), But I (currently) only play on Discord, so face altering props are not a feasible option. Love the advice from everybody so far! I don't have any acting shame so thats a non-issue for me :)
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Hello D&D Beyond community,
I recently started playing 5e, my first tabletop RPG about a month ago. I've immensely enjoyed my sessions so far.
The next step I want to take is DMing. I've been GMing for ARMA 3 for over 4 years and I know that I have the correct mindset for it, and that many of the skills translate 1:1.
I would love to start DMing, but the breadth of 'gotchas' in 5e is a bit daunting and a huge unknown that I feel would impact my ability to effectively DM. What are your recommendations? Should I learn more before trying to DM? What are pitfalls that a DM might face that aren't obvious from the start, or that only somebody with more experience with DND than myself might know?
Thanks for any replies :)
Definitely know the rules well if you're going to DM. That's always my first suggestion. If you're not comfy with the rules, it will show
I personally feel like this teeters on being bad advice...because while knowing the rules is important, being able to have the confidence to make final judgement calls regardless of what the book says is really key to DMing. The whole point of DMing is to parse through all the RAW so that you can find RAI that meshes with the world you are playing in...but rote memorization of every single rule isn't going to bring anything to the table if the person in the DM's chair isn't confident in their interpretation of some of those rules. That's not even counting all the times as a DM you will have to ignore some of the rules in favor of fun, or abide by the rule of cool.
Now, memorization can sometimes help build confidence, but it is much more effective to just realize that as a DM you only really need to stick to the basics and be confident that your players will enjoy how you handle the non-basic stuff, even if it doesn't perfectly match what is written...because at the end of the day a ruling that matches what the players would expect to occur in a given situation is going to work out better than what is written in the book. Sometimes the two can overlap, but sometimes they just won't, and that is ok as long as the players are having fun.
That all said, the DM is the rules arbiter first and foremost...the only gotchas are the ones you allow to exist because the DM has the power to hand-wave away things that would slow down the fun and the narrative being built...if you aren't super confident in a ruling, look it up, or just make a quick call and refresh yourself on the rule after the session ends.
I find that the rules for DM'ing in 5e is pretty much like any other tabletop RPG. Yeah rule sets are different and having a decent understanding of them is important but not the main thing you should focus on. Every DM will have to consort to the PHB every once in awhile (even the greats like Matt Mercer). I find as long as you lay out your expectations and learn what general expectations your party wants from the game it will go much smoother. Also setting general rules between how the party interacts with each other will save you in the future (especially if you got that klepto rouge who just can't keep his hands off other people's items.) Determine how you will compose your campaign: will you make it free and open giving your party multiple paths to choose, be linear and only have one path and "passively" push your party towards it, a dungeon crawl, etc.
If you are not completely comfortable setting up a one shot or a longer multiple session campaign, I would suggest getting a scenario book and run that first. The new Waterdeep scenario book just came out and I've heard that it's a great introduction into DnD and I'm sure DMing as well. This will help you get more familiar with the 5e style and setting. Also, just use the general books to start with (Players handbook, Dungeon masters guide, Monster Manual). I wouldn't get to wrapped up in all the expansion books just yet until you get more comfortable running with the basics. Be confident and remember you have the final say in any ruling. Keep it simple, have fun and keep a sharp mind.
(Also a complete reference guide phone app will help as well, especially for spells.)
Self Righteous Paladin: "That much power corrupts a man."
Random Bard: "Power is just a tool. How you use it doesn't change that fact. It just shows the purest form of your desires."
......
You say its almost bad advice, but then go on to say its important? Knowing when to deviate from the rules for the sake of story is important... but you still should know what rules you're changing, so you have a decent idea of the implications going on.
I've played far too many times with people that didn't know the rules, who basically made things up as they went along, or constantly stopped to reference the rules, and the games were disasters. I'm not saying that you should be slaves to the rules, but you definitely need a strong foundation.
I think AtlaStar is trying to make a point just to make a point, by disagreeing with someone else's. The DMG even says that the DM should have discretion on how to interpret the rules and make it appropriate to the situation and to the style of game the party wants to play. Why would it be bad advice to follow that rule?? The rule in the DMG is to not always feel like you need to stick to the rules.
I think Mephista's point is pretty important. You need to know the rules or you need to know where to find the rules. The entire game is predicated on there being a structure, however loosely you use that structure. You have to know the structure to know if you're being loose with it, and if that's something your players like. To me, that's the difference between HarmonQuest and Critical Role. HarmonQuest players PLAY incredibly loose when it comes to the rules, but they still KNOW the rules. Critical Role play more along the lines of modern D&D and do fairly well sticking to the structure, even though they say they play loosely. (This is all just my opinion and observation, other people may disagree, and I respect their opinion as well).
My advice is this: familiarize yourself with the rules, then do your own thing. For the most part, you're going to be following the rules. To me, the MOST IMPORTANT THING for a DM is to provide a good time for the players. Make them all feel good individually and as a group. Reward and punish accordingly. At the end of the day, you want them coming back for more.
I went through so many trials and errors until I found a good, steady pace for what works with my groups. Some want an open sandbox, some want a more linear story, and they want to be the heroes of that story. My groups tend to say they want an open world, but fall in line with structure of a good story, so I create the illusion of open world, and steer them into the narrative, or create a narrative around them and their backgrounds, and make the story about them. Find out what your players want, then get a feel for how they actually play with the first few sessions, and give them a good blend.
Also, check out GM tips on youtube, particularly the episodes with Matt Mercer. These videos will give you a bunch of 'situations' that could happen, and how to deal with them, and some good ideas for preparation which will boost confidence as a DM.
Having cheatsheets (or a good GM screen) will help you with a plethora of tables to look up conditions, general merchandise for sale, list of actions in and out of combat, and that differentiate uses of skill checks.
Familiarize yourself with the advantage/disadvantage system, and be liberal with it. You can promote good role play by giving advantage for someone who describes what their character is doing. You can punish bad ideas with disadvantage. You can build the effect of these rolls into the narrative, helping your story-telling.
Right after each session, talk with the group and ask what they liked, what they didn't like, and what they want out of the next few sessions. Communicate well with your players. And write up a quick 1-page recap of your sessions and send it to them a few days before your next session so they stay fresh on what's been going on, and to keep their interest peaked. When the campaign is over, you'll have a short diary of sorts that your players can look back on and reminisce.
While that may be the impression you have, I can assure you that isn't the case. More or less, DMing is about creating a shared narrative and world for the players to play together in. Knowing the basics is important, but they are also the basics because they are easy to learn. And at the end of the day the more memorable game is going to be the one that hits the notes of what the players enjoy, which isn't something that has to be mired by rules. If your players like combat, you just need to have a basic understanding of the combat rules and provide compelling reasons for the group to fight A over B. If your group likes social encounters, you need to be able to tell a compelling story and have a basic understanding of how ability checks work. If your players like grandiose worlds with lots of lore, you need to tell a compelling story about the world itself.
Notice how none of those things hinge on being a DM that knows all the rules, nor does it hinge on being a DM that cares about those rules. Therefore, being a master of the hard skills of DMing isn't going to get you as far as mastering the soft skills. At the end of the day it comes down to a simple question: would you rather play a game that has no compelling story or reason to interact with the world presented to you but has super consistent rules in place, or would you rather play a game that has a compelling story and reason to interact with the world but has less consistent rules that change as the DM grows their hard skills? Myself and many of the people I have played with would definitely choose DM number 2 in this scenario, hence my initial statement that such advice teeters on being bad advice since it doesn't put any weight on the importance of the DMs soft skills and rather places a majority of the weight on learning the hard skills.
You are misinterpreting what I mean, because in the end a DM needs confidence on what their rulings are regardless of what the book says...their confidence doesn't need to be tied to knowing what the book says, but can rather just be confident that their ruling makes the most sense for the world their players are in. A DM that can pull a random ruling out of their ass that isn't in the book, because they don't know the rule, and still be confident that their ruling makes sense is going to do a lot better job than a DM that knows the rules but isn't confident.
That said I can understand the confusion and why you interpreted what I said the way you did. I didn't do the best job of conveying what I meant.
1. Understand the majority of the rules as best as you can. Apply them as best as you can. Its ok to make "incorrect" calls. In the end I find it more important to look at the situation and apply real life logic to it. Then you know how something would happen. Which can then be translated more easily in what kind of roll that suits best with it.
2. Keep things moving a long. Don't spend too much time looking stuff up. It'll break the flow. Just make a call that make sense and is fair. After the game, and before the next session, you can look up the correct rules so you know for the future.
3. Make a piece of paper with the more hard to remember details. For me it means the rogue's rule about when he gets stealth attack and such, or the amount of die roll per potion. Little things like that which you can look up real fast.
4. Stay consistent. What applies to your players also applies to the opponents/monsters and vice versa. Also applies to play sessions. Just set a recurring date. If you got at least 3 players that can always make it with the others being on/off depending on their schedule... Just keep the sessions going. For me that is every other saturday we play. At first there were people who couldn't show up. They soon adjusted their private schedules to fit in the play sessions and started to show up more and more often. If you keep changing your agreed upon playtime there will never be an end to it. And the chance the entire group gets to play gets less and less in turn. Consistency and stability in as many aspects as possible is important.
5. Prepare your content. If you got a campaign know the broad outlines of EVERYTHING. This will take a few weeks of "intense" time investment. Know the big red threads and have a broad understanding of cities and some events/npc's. Create your content as modular as possible as well. That way your players can do whatever they want without you having to get nerves. You know your world and campaign so you can mention places of interest to incite their interest. If they go off track you can quickly introduce an npc that is part of a faction. A faction that you know because you prepared the broad strokes of the campaign. Modular content is great, because it plays into the illusion of choice/open world. It doesn't matter if the players go left, right or take a giant evasive move. They'll still end up at the same piece of content...which you can drop whereever and whenever you want. They didn't follow through on the tracks in the swamp. Fine.. I'll just drop in the bullywugs at a later point elsewhere. However once you do an actual session you have an idea for the short term details. Prepare those instead of just the broad strokes. Knowing how the big, behind the scene, events play out in your world helps in creating believable details on the spot.
6. Most important... STAY RELAXT!!! most people get anxious and stressed over nothing. Just relax. If you know the broad strokes of your campaign and adventure... All you have to do is focus on describing the environments/npc's and let the players do their thing. They will take care of the rest and you just have to bullshit/bluff/improvise your way with the information you have prepped. You can't do anything wrong. Just keep it moving along and be confident. In the end everyone will have fun, your collective story/experience will be great with lots of surprises.
7. When prepping content don't hesitate to just copy aspects from already existing adventure modules. Copy the battle maps and traps as well as opponents and just change it to whatever fits your session. Make it as easy on yourself as possible.
8. Take your time to improve. Each session see what you did and how to improve. If you're weak at environmental descriptions then next time focus a bit more on that. Gradually improving yourself.
9. As a first time DM I'd suggest starting small. Get a published adventure and run a few of those. Learn how adventures are made. Also learn that adventure modules are not finished products. You still need to invest time to make adjustments and modify entire sections. Meaning you learn the basics of how to create your own things. Then try to run a full fledged campaign existing of multiple singular adventures tied in together. Make modifications to make them fit in the same setting. Create tie ins so they flow into one another. They'll take place in a world so you'll have to create your own additional side quests which is great practice. Going full homebrew at the start is usually overwhelming for new DM's. Creating your own small side quests also lets you try out different things like murder hobo stuff, a chase-hunt, mystery murder and more. This will also give insight of what your players like or don't like while you broaden your experience/horizon.
10. Communication is very important. No idea how you should set it up. For my group it happened naturally since we're friends outside of the game as well. Before we start I take an hour setting things up, having a drink. We just sit around and talk about things DND related. After the sessions we do the same for another hour. Where they'll talk about some of their experiences. During those talks I guide the conversation to try and get more information about things they liked, didn't like and our expectations. We even have a chatgroup where we text about dnd related stuff during the week as well. Some people use a session 0 for that as a test session. But I prefer to do it little by little as we go along. In the end... communication is important. If you don't do it well things can get troublesome since there might be problems/frustrations growing that you didn't deal with soon enough.
This advice won't matter to you if you don't have anxienty or anything like that, but imma leave this post here if someone has maybe it helps -> first of all wear a fake moustash ( no joke it actually helped me alot ), but usually try practicing seperating yourself from yourself ( if it makes sense to you? ). The point is to try to make the DM different from the NPCs with voices and little quirky behaviour. So practice at home explaining something and then shortly getting into character ( its more of an art than a science so practice makes perfect ). Just try to relax, keep your cool and if you start to panic: roll some dice behind the screen, look at some papers and pretend like you are looking for something until you cool down a bit. And most importantly have fun and good luck :D
Love this idea (the mustache), But I (currently) only play on Discord, so face altering props are not a feasible option. Love the advice from everybody so far! I don't have any acting shame so thats a non-issue for me :)