The reason I am not typing this on the "DMs Only" page is because I'm not really a DM, just an aspiring one. Also, I'm a player in a game, so I don't want to hear the secrets of the DM. So, here we are. I have trouble making worlds, but I am a huge fan of making maps. I need to prepare the locations on the map for players. I try to write stuff down, but I don't know how to write it. And I don't have the Monster Manual, just the Starter Set and PHB, which have limited monsters and tips. So I need help on finding out how to format and structure a homebrew adventure on Word. (P.S, I'm not planning a long campaign or sessions. Probably only up to 3 or 4 sessions that are 30 minutes each.)
If you're preparing an adventure that you intend to run for other players, you count as a DM in my book. Welcome to the other side of the screen!
I'd suggest making a list of NPCs/monsters you think you want to use, and think about what motivates them. Don't worry too much about detailed stats right away, just get a brief idea of what they want, and how they want to go about getting it. That'll help you determine how they react to things on the fly, since you can almost guarantee that your players will do something you don't expect at some point.
You might have access to limited numbers of published statblocks, but it's easy to reuse them with different names and descriptions of abilities attached, and you can always tweak the numbers a bit if you want to. Bear in mind that the number of players and enemies can matter a lot in 5e - because of the action economy a single big enemy without any allies can be surprisingly easy to take down, and a big group of less powerful monsters can be a real threat. Changing the number of enemies in an encounter can frequently be a better way to adjust the difficulty than making the individual monsters harder or easier (and you can always have some of them flee, or have reinforcements arrive mid-battle).
I hope you and your players all have fun. Good luck!
edit: Right - you asked about suggestions for how to write things down. I think it'll vary a fair bit from person to person. I like to keep my notes very brief and quick to read. I expect there's some advice on that in the Sly Flourish links above, but in addition to that you might want to look at Kelsey Dionne's work at The Arcane Library. She has a couple of adventures that are free to download, and I really like the way she makes it easy to glean important points when reading her modules on the fly.
Bear in mind that when you're writing notes for yourself, you don't need to be as polished as the authors of modules that are meant to be used by other people.
Also, here's a playlist of videos from Sly Flourish going over the steps of adventure prep he recommends in Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. This may be more in line with what you're looking for than the article I linked earlier - there's some good stuff in there, but a lot of it is also aimed at writing adventures for publication.
The reason I am not typing this on the "DMs Only" page is because I'm not really a DM, just an aspiring one. Also, I'm a player in a game, so I don't want to hear the secrets of the DM. So, here we are. I have trouble making worlds, but I am a huge fan of making maps. I need to prepare the locations on the map for players. I try to write stuff down, but I don't know how to write it. And I don't have the Monster Manual, just the Starter Set and PHB, which have limited monsters and tips. So I need help on finding out how to format and structure a homebrew adventure on Word. (P.S, I'm not planning a long campaign or sessions. Probably only up to 3 or 4 sessions that are 30 minutes each.)
Please help me!
(P.S, where can I see a video of the AD&D rules?)
If you're preparing an adventure that you intend to run for other players, you count as a DM in my book. Welcome to the other side of the screen!
I'd suggest making a list of NPCs/monsters you think you want to use, and think about what motivates them. Don't worry too much about detailed stats right away, just get a brief idea of what they want, and how they want to go about getting it. That'll help you determine how they react to things on the fly, since you can almost guarantee that your players will do something you don't expect at some point.
You might have access to limited numbers of published statblocks, but it's easy to reuse them with different names and descriptions of abilities attached, and you can always tweak the numbers a bit if you want to. Bear in mind that the number of players and enemies can matter a lot in 5e - because of the action economy a single big enemy without any allies can be surprisingly easy to take down, and a big group of less powerful monsters can be a real threat. Changing the number of enemies in an encounter can frequently be a better way to adjust the difficulty than making the individual monsters harder or easier (and you can always have some of them flee, or have reinforcements arrive mid-battle).
Conveniently, Mike Shea just did a writeup on adventure creation, including a bunch of links to useful resources he's come across: http://slyflourish.com/on_writing_adventures.html
I hope you and your players all have fun. Good luck!
edit: Right - you asked about suggestions for how to write things down. I think it'll vary a fair bit from person to person. I like to keep my notes very brief and quick to read. I expect there's some advice on that in the Sly Flourish links above, but in addition to that you might want to look at Kelsey Dionne's work at The Arcane Library. She has a couple of adventures that are free to download, and I really like the way she makes it easy to glean important points when reading her modules on the fly.
Bear in mind that when you're writing notes for yourself, you don't need to be as polished as the authors of modules that are meant to be used by other people.
Also, here's a playlist of videos from Sly Flourish going over the steps of adventure prep he recommends in Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. This may be more in line with what you're looking for than the article I linked earlier - there's some good stuff in there, but a lot of it is also aimed at writing adventures for publication.