Hey guys I'm Durgon and I'm a brand new DM for my group. Was just wondering what (if any) tips you may have for me to keep this entertaining and creative. Thanks!
Be prepared for some rail roading, and player shenanigans. Remember when in doubt bs. I'd go with either physical copies of Lost Mines of Phindelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak
So you wanna DM, eh? You think you're ready? It's actually really easy as long as you don't try too hard before you figure out where to direct your effort.
What you need to know to run the game
Make sure to talk about what kind of game you're running with your players prior to running it. Clarify both your and everyone else's expectations.
Have a clear starting event and an ending event in mind for the session and keep the game moving. Don't hesitate to skip and summarize small things such as shopping or traveling if they're just going to bog the game down. You want to keep everyone participating and engaged as much as possible.
Don't over prepare unless you're having a lot of fun doing it. Have a theme in mind for your game and prep enough for the next 1-2 sessions. Don't plan out the entire campaign before starting because the course is going to change as you play and a lot of it is going to be left unused.
Pay attention to your group's reactions to things and be ready to adapt to facilitate them. Don't forget that you're all on the same side, and while you put the opposition in front of them you generally want them to win. Be generous with the information you give them about the environment and potential dangers. If the whole group gets off track then it's perfectly fine and encouraged to toss out the end point you had before and run with them.
And that's it! If you follow the four points above you will not only be a good DM, you should also be able to quickly prepare as well. Know what your players want, and have a clear start and end point in mind for the session and you'll quickly get a feel for the direction you need to plan in and how much you need to prepare. If you feel that having an ending in mind is reducing your players' freedom, don't; Make the quest worth their while and players will almost always go for it happily. Just make sure they have the option to opt out if they want to. In my experience, players will stall out without a clear path available to them, especially new players. Knowing how much freedom your group can comfortably handle is something that falls under clarifying expectations and knowing your group.
The Rant
One of the things I stress a lot when I give advice about DMing is to keep the game moving, because failing to do so results in egregious amounts of time wasted in each session. It is not uncommon at all for games to have 1-2 hours of wasted time if the DM doesn't step in and get things moving when they stop. To be clear, by "wasted time" I'm talking about time where nothing of value is accomplished, the story is not progressed, and multiple players are disengaged from what's going on as they wait for things to move on. A short time skip with a summary of what happened or an NPC approaching to stir things up can work wonders, and don't hesitate to grant auto success on low-stakes interactions to keep things moving. When the dice are rolled the game is put on pause while success is determined, and that's fine in moderation, but don't be that DM that makes players roll for every single interaction, even when the result doesn't matter and turns a visit to the shop in town into a painful two-hour interaction.
If an interaction isn't important and you want to quickly determine success, you can let(or make) them take 10 on the roll and add their modifiers as normal(or just let them succeed). This is the passive check rule, and it's typically applied when time is not an issue and there's no pressure. I'm a huge fan of this rule, as it makes characters have a baseline level of competency when they're calm and it eliminates repeated tries at something since they'll always get the same number. It's also important to note that a nat 20 is just a high roll for skill checks, not an auto success; They don't bend reality unless you let them, and since it's not an auto success when your players try to do something clearly impossible you can just tell them it's impossible, because they couldn't reach the DC even with a nat 20 or because it actually is impossible. Doing this will save you a disgusting amount of time and allow your games to have a lot more interesting content per session since it frees up so much time and you move from one fun thing to another at a fast pace.
Lighten up, let things happen, and don't be afraid to circumcise a bugbear!
I'm serious about that. Lighten up - People play to have fun, so make it fun. Jokes, meme's breaking the 4th wall, etc. The more laughing that goes on the better. Let things happen - Players are insane, so let their insane stuff have a chance of working.
All good games have a "hey, remember that time we circumcised a bugbear" moment. That's the stuff people talk about years later. No one cares about Acererak's speech, but they do recall when the gnome barbarian broke his concentration with a purple-nurple.
It's all a game... and after 40 years I still gotta remind myself that sometimes.
Lighten up, let things happen, and don't be afraid to circumcise a bugbear!
I'm serious about that. Lighten up - People play to have fun, so make it fun. Jokes, meme's breaking the 4th wall, etc. The more laughing that goes on the better. Let things happen - Players are insane, so let their insane stuff have a chance of working.
All good games have a "hey, remember that time we circumcised a bugbear" moment. That's the stuff people talk about years later. No one cares about Acererak's speech, but they do recall when the gnome barbarian broke his concentration with a purple-nurple.
It's all a game... and after 40 years I still gotta remind myself that sometimes.
You're right. People take a the game too seriously... also what about circumcising a bugbear?!
Lighten up, let things happen, and don't be afraid to circumcise a bugbear!
I'm serious about that. Lighten up - People play to have fun, so make it fun. Jokes, meme's breaking the 4th wall, etc. The more laughing that goes on the better. Let things happen - Players are insane, so let their insane stuff have a chance of working.
All good games have a "hey, remember that time we circumcised a bugbear" moment. That's the stuff people talk about years later. No one cares about Acererak's speech, but they do recall when the gnome barbarian broke his concentration with a purple-nurple.
It's all a game... and after 40 years I still gotta remind myself that sometimes.
You're right. People take a the game too seriously... also what about circumcising a bugbear?!
Lighten up, let things happen, and don't be afraid to circumcise a bugbear!
I'm serious about that. Lighten up - People play to have fun, so make it fun. Jokes, meme's breaking the 4th wall, etc. The more laughing that goes on the better. Let things happen - Players are insane, so let their insane stuff have a chance of working.
All good games have a "hey, remember that time we circumcised a bugbear" moment. That's the stuff people talk about years later. No one cares about Acererak's speech, but they do recall when the gnome barbarian broke his concentration with a purple-nurple.
It's all a game... and after 40 years I still gotta remind myself that sometimes.
You're right. People take a the game too seriously... also what about circumcising a bugbear?!
My players are..... interesting.
I can relate My brother has been recruiting a lot of monsters in my campaign. If he keeps this up, Neverwinter, and water deep might strike down on Phindalin.
Hey guys I'm Durgon and I'm a brand new DM for my group. Was just wondering what (if any) tips you may have for me to keep this entertaining and creative. Thanks!
Just watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTD2RZz6mlo&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_&index=3&t=0s
I'd suggest sticking with a module at first. Homebrewing a campaign is a lot of work.
Be prepared for some rail roading, and player shenanigans. Remember when in doubt bs. I'd go with either physical copies of Lost Mines of Phindelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak
So you wanna DM, eh? You think you're ready? It's actually really easy as long as you don't try too hard before you figure out where to direct your effort.
What you need to know to run the game
And that's it! If you follow the four points above you will not only be a good DM, you should also be able to quickly prepare as well. Know what your players want, and have a clear start and end point in mind for the session and you'll quickly get a feel for the direction you need to plan in and how much you need to prepare. If you feel that having an ending in mind is reducing your players' freedom, don't; Make the quest worth their while and players will almost always go for it happily. Just make sure they have the option to opt out if they want to. In my experience, players will stall out without a clear path available to them, especially new players. Knowing how much freedom your group can comfortably handle is something that falls under clarifying expectations and knowing your group.
The Rant
One of the things I stress a lot when I give advice about DMing is to keep the game moving, because failing to do so results in egregious amounts of time wasted in each session. It is not uncommon at all for games to have 1-2 hours of wasted time if the DM doesn't step in and get things moving when they stop. To be clear, by "wasted time" I'm talking about time where nothing of value is accomplished, the story is not progressed, and multiple players are disengaged from what's going on as they wait for things to move on. A short time skip with a summary of what happened or an NPC approaching to stir things up can work wonders, and don't hesitate to grant auto success on low-stakes interactions to keep things moving. When the dice are rolled the game is put on pause while success is determined, and that's fine in moderation, but don't be that DM that makes players roll for every single interaction, even when the result doesn't matter and turns a visit to the shop in town into a painful two-hour interaction.
If an interaction isn't important and you want to quickly determine success, you can let(or make) them take 10 on the roll and add their modifiers as normal(or just let them succeed). This is the passive check rule, and it's typically applied when time is not an issue and there's no pressure. I'm a huge fan of this rule, as it makes characters have a baseline level of competency when they're calm and it eliminates repeated tries at something since they'll always get the same number. It's also important to note that a nat 20 is just a high roll for skill checks, not an auto success; They don't bend reality unless you let them, and since it's not an auto success when your players try to do something clearly impossible you can just tell them it's impossible, because they couldn't reach the DC even with a nat 20 or because it actually is impossible. Doing this will save you a disgusting amount of time and allow your games to have a lot more interesting content per session since it frees up so much time and you move from one fun thing to another at a fast pace.
Lighten up, let things happen, and don't be afraid to circumcise a bugbear!
I'm serious about that.
Lighten up - People play to have fun, so make it fun. Jokes, meme's breaking the 4th wall, etc. The more laughing that goes on the better.
Let things happen - Players are insane, so let their insane stuff have a chance of working.
All good games have a "hey, remember that time we circumcised a bugbear" moment. That's the stuff people talk about years later. No one cares about Acererak's speech, but they do recall when the gnome barbarian broke his concentration with a purple-nurple.
It's all a game... and after 40 years I still gotta remind myself that sometimes.
...cryptographic randomness!
First off, thanks for the info!! I really appreciate the advice. The first session was awesome and I hope to hear more from yall. Thanks a bunch!!
You're right. People take a the game too seriously... also what about circumcising a bugbear?!
My players are..... interesting.
...cryptographic randomness!
No problem. I'm still new myself, and with LMoP, I had a crazy time with my brothers during that campaign. It's light, but it was a fun time
I can relate My brother has been recruiting a lot of monsters in my campaign. If he keeps this up, Neverwinter, and water deep might strike down on Phindalin.