Hello all,  I haven't played D&D since 1983.  I was an addict but that was a LONG time ago.  For about a year, my adult children (with the encouragement of my wife) have been bugging me to DM a family compaign for them.  I decided to talk the plunge and got the required 5e 'stuff' and we start next Sunday night.  Given this background, what advice would you have for me as a first time DM.  (I should note, two of the kids are newer but regular players already.  The other 3 are 1st timers.

Watch Matt Colville's Running the Game series. It will be better advice and more of it than anyone can give you here. And good luck!

+1 for the Matt Coleville videos.

Sort of meta-advice about advice though: research, get other peoples' perspectives, learn what they are doing, how they are DM'ing, why they do what they are going ( what are their gaming values and goals - which may-or-may-not correspond with what you want), and then make up your own mind about how you want your game to be.

You can learn a lot from other people, but at the end of the day, it's your table, and don't let anyone tell you how you "should" be playing.

Start off simple.  Let them learn and get used to the mechanics.  They traveling down a road, and wham attacked by some kobolds or goblins.  They get to town.  the townspeople are suspicious of them.  but after eating in the local inn and a few ales, they here of some kids missing.  Then have one of the players notice that one of the attackers on the road had something a little kid would have on him.  they tell the locals.  the locals hire them to go find them.  lead them to the hideout with more encounters.  Then after they get used to the mechanics and rules, step it up.  Good luck. 

Keep in mind the goal is for everyone to have fun.  A player rolls a 20 or kills someone, ask them to describe the killing blow.  

+1 to Vedexent's comment. Cultivate your own style of DMing. Watching videos and stealing ideas -- yes. Trying to copy someone else -- no. It will fail. You are not Matt Coleville or Matt Mercer or Jordan Caves-Callarman. Be your own person. Do the DMing your own way. Find your own voice.

Quote from BioWizard >>

Watch Matt Colville's Running the Game series. It will be better advice and more of it than anyone can give you here. And good luck!

Wow, this is a SERIOUS video series.  Thank you for pointing it out.  I hadn't ran across him in my limited YouTube surfing over the last few weeks.  I will definately start watching it.

 

I will also say that it can be easiest for first time DMs to start off with a pre-made adventure modual. 

• Session 0:  Find out what the players all want from the game.  Talk to them about the level of RP they want vs combat.  Layout expectations for rule conflicts such as what happens if you "Blow a call" during the game itself.  
  
  
• Let the players do as much work as you do. I recommend the Kids on Bikes backgrounds as a means to get them doing some character backstory and helping build relationships that you can use later: Link is here.
  
  
• Don't feel pressured to run every rule and every encounter perfectly.  It's going to take time and pacing.
  
  
• I use Combat Tracker - Improved Initiative for tracking combat.  I cannot recommend it enough offline or online.

Hi.

Welcome to this side of the GM scren. We have cookies.

At least, we better have cookies *glares at players*

I think the most important rule for a first time GM is: keep the game moving.

If you make mistakes, or can't remember rules, do not stop the game and look it up, just keep going. After the session, look it up. If you made a mistake, tell the players, "Look, I made a mistake, the last session stands but from now on we will use the correct rules."

As well, there is the usual advice for doing things for the first time. Relax. Breathe. Have fun. Stay hydrated. :-)

Quote from DMRDonn >>

 Wow, this is a SERIOUS video series.  Thank you for pointing it out.  I hadn't ran across him in my limited YouTube surfing over the last few weeks.  I will definately start watching it.

 Except to see Matt referenced a lot if you start asking questions here :-)

Wow, this is a SERIOUS video series.  Thank you for pointing it out.  I hadn't ran across him in my limited YouTube surfing over the last few weeks.  I will definately start watching it.

Pace yourself... One at a time, take breaks, and you don't have to go in order. They mostly have good and accurate titles to help you find what you are looking for.

Quote from Greenstone_Walker >>

Hi.

Welcome to this side of the GM scren. We have cookies.

At least, we better have cookies *glares at players* 

Cookies really don't go well with my pint of stout.

I'm going to add a controversial suggestion here, which I'd take with a grain of salt: watch 5e games on Twitch.

A lot of people new to D&D have watched Critical Role - and think that's how D&D should be played, and also thinks that's the level at which D&D needs be played to be a good game.

Watching Twitch will give you a better idea of what regular D&D is like.

That's not to say it's all good, by any means - although there are some very good games being run on Twitch. You'll see things you'll want to takes notes on, and incorporate those things into your style. There are things you'll see that you'll want to take notes on so you never do those things :p

But if you're worried that you need to be Matt Mercer, and that you'll never be that good ... have a look at what regular games are like.

I think you'll come away from at least some of those saying to yourself "I think I can DM at least that well", and if those Players were having fun, then a) it's was a good game and b) you've got a good shot at running a good game. Sure - you'll make mistakes, and you'll spend the rest of your life getting better if you don't give it up, but it will help you internalize that face that you probably can run an acceptable game that your Players will have fun with.

D&D With High School students is a really good show to watch to see how D&D is played and DM'ed by normal people.

Quote from DMRDonn >>

 Wow, this is a SERIOUS video series.  Thank you for pointing it out.  I hadn't ran across him in my limited YouTube surfing over the last few weeks.  I will definately start watching it.

 Yes, I also highly recommend that series. If it hadn’t already been recommended, I would have done it. I still regularly go back and rewatch different videos just to refresh my memory. Every one of them has been useful at some point. And I swear they should show some of them in schools for the history lessons alone, the D&D tie-in is just a bonus IMO. If you watch none of those other series (I haven’t) at least watch this one. (I also recommend GM Tips from G&S, but if you only have time for one series I would pick this one.) Otherwise you’ve gotten some great advice here from others.

But, if you want my personal 2cp, my “Top Tips” are:

1. If everyone is having fun, even if you’re not strictly following the rules, you’re doing it right. (This is really the only one that matters. If you ever want to know if you’re a “good DM,” or a “bad DM,” just look at your players faces and listen to their voices. If they are all having fun, and you’re having fun too, then you’re a good DM.)
2. If you can’t find a rule in around a minute, make a ruling, let everyone know that’s what you’re doing, and that you’ll look it up before the next session.
3. It’s okay to make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. That’s the best way to learn how to avoid those mistakes again in future.
4. Reread chapters 7, 9, and 10 of the PHB, the vast majority of rules that you will use almost every session are in those three chapters.

PS- Welcome to the other side of the DM’s screen!

Thanks all, lots of, what seems to me, good advice.  I am looking forward to getting started.  Fortunately for me, the group generally has a lot of fun together no matter what we are doing and I don't expect this to be an exception.  I will report back in a few weeks after my first session. 

@HomebrewMindFlayer I am actually going to run the starter set as neither my son nor son-in-law who are current players had ever played it.  I did insert two encounters prior to coming upon the dead horses though.  Neither are combat but were designed to cover player introductions and setting the groundwork for something that I want to come back to when I do the first homebrew after we all get our feet under us. 

@Rorlins, I will definitely check out the combat tracker.  I will note the other tool for the future but we are using the pre-made characters from the starter set for this first adventure.

I'm just a little ahead of you - about 80% of the way through LMOP as my first adventure as DM. Previously I'd been a player in a few RPGs, way back in college. Best advice I can give is to to read ahead, and prepare well. Don't think that because it's a prewritten adventure, you don't need to prep. That was my biggest mistake.

Now I find myself investing at least an hour out of game for every hour in game, probably more like two or three. I keep a folder with tabs for quick access to each encounter, which includes a print of the relevant page from the adventure book, and the stat blocks of everything involved in the encounter. I created custom stat blocks including the tactics from "The Monsters Know What They Are Doing" - which I highly recommend.

WotC do a pretty good job, but everything still needs fleshing out. I'm not all that great at improvising, so I try to think through in advance how they'll react to various PC inputs. Just some quick notes to myself about how they'd react to threats, bribery, pleas for help, amorous advances, etc... One major thing is how the NPCs may evolve over time. The adventure book gets less helpful as you get further through it because unless you are running it as a real on-the-rails hack 'n' slash, your PCs will have done stuff unique to your table.

Always look for potential consequences. My party loves how much the world reacts to them, even when it's to their detriment. They're learning that while they may be able to just charge in a f*** s*** up in a cave of orc raiders, the residents of a populated town may not take too kindly to that approach. Think of everyone that may be impacted by their actions, and how they are going to react to having their lives changed in that way. The town may be happy to be saved from a scourge, but how does the alchemist - whose shop was destroyed in the fight - feel about it? Superheroes tend to make their own nemeses, and if you plan to have future campaigns with these same characters, keep a list of people they pissed off. It'll give a real sense of structure when some random NPC from an earlier adventure suddenly shows up with a grudge to settle. They could be a future BBEG, or just a wandering loon driven crazy by the losses the party caused. They won't even remember them until they introduce themselves - and their callousness at the troubles they caused this NPC is kind of the point.

That actually gives me an idea of having an aggrieved commoner attacking them, despite being no threat to them at all at this point. What will they do? Do they try to smooth things over? Do they kill them without thought? Restrain them and take them to the city jail to cool off? Just who do they want to be? 

There are a lot of great resources out there suggesting tweaks to LMOP that can really elevate the game. However, always view them with a critical eye and apply with caution. I took cues from a youtuber about running Venomfang in Thundertree and whether through poor advice or poor comprehension on my part, combined with some reckless behavior from the party's rogue, it very nearly lead to a particularly brutal and totally unfair TPK. That taught me to much more critically evaluate the statblock of a creature before setting it lose on the party. LMOP kinda shoehorns in that dragon and if you don't run it in the way they prescribe it'll really put a crimp on your party's day.

Thanks Doug, nice to know I'm not the only one.  Good advice on prep.  I'm good through the Goblin hideout but decided after reading your post to have Phandlen prepped for next Sunday too.

I'd say prepare to not be prepared, it is unlikely that things will go as planned, and your players could derail things once in a while, but if you keep your cool, keep your players engaged, and most importantly, have fun, you should find it is just as good as it was all those years ago

The most important thing to remember is... Your players will do whatever comes into their minds to do, even if it isn't completely logical.