If you do make a mistake, then tell the group afterwards, "OK, we did this wrong. Tonights session still stands, since rolling back time is too hard, and we'll do the new way from now on."
My advice is always the same on the subject, remember that role-playing games aren't storytelling games, role-playing is a game from which stories emerge. Don't be a narrator of the story, be a facilitator of the story that emerges. It's not a game where as a GM you sit down and decide "this is what will happen", it's a game where the GM presents the players with a conflict/challenge within an imagined world you populate to see what they do with it. The rules of the game are how those decisions are resolved and the player characters (Their stats and fiddly bits) are where their advantages and drawbacks are found.
From the perspective of the player, a good role-playing game is one in which what you think, what you decide and what you do as a player matters and defines the story.
Unless a dead PC on the ground at the end of the night, no recons. Big deal that fireball 20d20s. No pc died. Make a call and it stands for the night. Oops that spell was supposed to be wisdom not con. Big fat hairy deal. Don't get mad when your own dice hate you. 2 or 3 minutes to look up the rule.
One thing I've always found useful is to have a prepared group of encounters that kind of advance the story or are one-off side quests. That way, if the players do something completely off-the-wall, I have something I can simply put wherever it is needed.
Another thing I've found useful... I will usually find a way for the party to find a potion of revivify early on. Death can come quickly at low levels, and especially with new players it can be discouraging, and with new DMs it's easy to misjudge the difficulty of an encounter. They only get one - and some deaths can't be undone - but it is a "get out of jail free" card for something unfortunate. I've found it allows me to be a little more creative with encounters.
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Repeated for importance.
Don't be scared to make mistakes.
If you do make a mistake, then tell the group afterwards, "OK, we did this wrong. Tonights session still stands, since rolling back time is too hard, and we'll do the new way from now on."
Well said!!!
Unless a dead PC on the ground at the end of the night, no recons. Big deal that fireball 20d20s. No pc died. Make a call and it stands for the night. Oops that spell was supposed to be wisdom not con. Big fat hairy deal. Don't get mad when your own dice hate you. 2 or 3 minutes to look up the rule.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
One thing I've always found useful is to have a prepared group of encounters that kind of advance the story or are one-off side quests. That way, if the players do something completely off-the-wall, I have something I can simply put wherever it is needed.
Another thing I've found useful... I will usually find a way for the party to find a potion of revivify early on. Death can come quickly at low levels, and especially with new players it can be discouraging, and with new DMs it's easy to misjudge the difficulty of an encounter. They only get one - and some deaths can't be undone - but it is a "get out of jail free" card for something unfortunate. I've found it allows me to be a little more creative with encounters.