Have an idea. Familiarize yourself with the rules enough to adjudicate actions fairly. You do not need to know everything, that is a falsehood. Present the idea to your prospective players about your ideas. Start with a small area for the PCs to adventure in. Do not draft hundreds of pages of lore, only plan enough what you need. Go to YouTube and watch Matt Colville’s Running the Game series. It has 84 videos and will take you a bit, but you will be a better DM for it.
I would recommend for your first DMing stint, DM a premade adventure like Lost Mine of Phandelver, or the stuff in the essentials kit.
Learn the rules as well as you can, but you don't have to learn everything. Remind the players that THEY'RE supposed to know the rules pertaining to their own character abilities.
And then just try it! See what happens, have fun, tell a story with some friends and some dice.
Its not that bad. Like the above has mentioned, you just need to get a good understanding of the rules. Dont worry about having to look stuff if you need to. Also your your players should know their characters and be able to look up things if they are not sure. For the most part it will all come naturally with time and you will notice that you will be able to make quick judgment calls. Now one thing I have mixed feelings about is using a pre-made adventure for your first game. That is up to you though. I personally have never used a pre-made adventure/campaign and have been actively DMing since the 80s. However I have read through a crap load. They are full of useful ideas. If you want to run a pre-made for the first time then go online and find something that is tailored for a new comer. There are tons of free resources out there. Take notes, lots of notes. Keep them loose because your players might switch things up on you all the time. My personally feelings on this is to let them. Just make adjustments to the game as needed. You will want to spend some time between sessions on game prep and to even reflect on what happened in previous game sessions. Dont get all caught up on how other DMs keep their stuff organized. Use what works for you. Have several random encounters set aside for when your players take random strolls into a forest or whatever for their own reasons. Lastly. Make sure your players understand that you are new to this DM thing. Some might even help you. In the end its not bad at all and is extremely fun to DM.
One thing to also mention is that it's VERY OKAY to get the group together, and offer to DM for 2 or 3 sessions, having an extremely limited idea for a one shot with only a few planned encounters or scenarios that doesn't have to include background material, lore, politics, etc.
Essentially a quick dungeon crawl or something similar. Much simpler to plan, and establishes off the bat with everyone (including yourself) that it's a low level comittment to try out to see if you really enjoy being in the Hot Seat and if your style meshes well with the Party and their expectations. Everyone deserves to have fun, including you. And, let's you learn from the experience and grow/adapt for the next session.
Make sure to set aside time before playing for everyone including you to establish general table rules and expectations (this is often called a Session 0), that way everyone is on the same page.
I've also never done any d&d online in any of the long, long years (only in person), so if that's your intent a lot of other people can add advise to any specific questions.
just wondering how one starts out as a dm, i would like to know how to DM for my friends but i dont quite know how to go about it.
My Spells, My Races, My Magic Items, My Monsters, My Subclasses,
Have an idea. Familiarize yourself with the rules enough to adjudicate actions fairly. You do not need to know everything, that is a falsehood. Present the idea to your prospective players about your ideas. Start with a small area for the PCs to adventure in. Do not draft hundreds of pages of lore, only plan enough what you need. Go to YouTube and watch Matt Colville’s Running the Game series. It has 84 videos and will take you a bit, but you will be a better DM for it.
oh and this IS the place to ask those questions. Welcome!
ill try that, im of course going to gain some experience being a player first, but DM is a goal i have. thx for the advice
My Spells, My Races, My Magic Items, My Monsters, My Subclasses,
I would recommend for your first DMing stint, DM a premade adventure like Lost Mine of Phandelver, or the stuff in the essentials kit.
Learn the rules as well as you can, but you don't have to learn everything. Remind the players that THEY'RE supposed to know the rules pertaining to their own character abilities.
And then just try it! See what happens, have fun, tell a story with some friends and some dice.
yeh when i get confident for my 1st dm sesh ill see what happens lol
My Spells, My Races, My Magic Items, My Monsters, My Subclasses,
Its not that bad. Like the above has mentioned, you just need to get a good understanding of the rules. Dont worry about having to look stuff if you need to. Also your your players should know their characters and be able to look up things if they are not sure. For the most part it will all come naturally with time and you will notice that you will be able to make quick judgment calls. Now one thing I have mixed feelings about is using a pre-made adventure for your first game. That is up to you though. I personally have never used a pre-made adventure/campaign and have been actively DMing since the 80s. However I have read through a crap load. They are full of useful ideas. If you want to run a pre-made for the first time then go online and find something that is tailored for a new comer. There are tons of free resources out there. Take notes, lots of notes. Keep them loose because your players might switch things up on you all the time. My personally feelings on this is to let them. Just make adjustments to the game as needed. You will want to spend some time between sessions on game prep and to even reflect on what happened in previous game sessions. Dont get all caught up on how other DMs keep their stuff organized. Use what works for you. Have several random encounters set aside for when your players take random strolls into a forest or whatever for their own reasons. Lastly. Make sure your players understand that you are new to this DM thing. Some might even help you. In the end its not bad at all and is extremely fun to DM.
Welcome to the plunge!
One thing to also mention is that it's VERY OKAY to get the group together, and offer to DM for 2 or 3 sessions, having an extremely limited idea for a one shot with only a few planned encounters or scenarios that doesn't have to include background material, lore, politics, etc.
Essentially a quick dungeon crawl or something similar. Much simpler to plan, and establishes off the bat with everyone (including yourself) that it's a low level comittment to try out to see if you really enjoy being in the Hot Seat and if your style meshes well with the Party and their expectations. Everyone deserves to have fun, including you. And, let's you learn from the experience and grow/adapt for the next session.
Make sure to set aside time before playing for everyone including you to establish general table rules and expectations (this is often called a Session 0), that way everyone is on the same page.
I've also never done any d&d online in any of the long, long years (only in person), so if that's your intent a lot of other people can add advise to any specific questions.
Boldly go
that helps alot too, ill cross the great bridge when i get there :O
My Spells, My Races, My Magic Items, My Monsters, My Subclasses,