Disclaimer: This is a flipping essay, I apologize. If anyone reading wants to skim and pop into the comments to answer one or two questions, it would be much appreciated! As a new DM, I have a lot of questions and a lot of thoughts.   

   Me and two other friends began playing not-so-seriously in a world that I built for fun. I was both DMing and playing a character, which is not horrible but not super fun at the same time (meta-gaming is, so far, easy not to do; as an author in the making, half my time is spent not meta-writing). As time has progressed, we gained two more members to our party and, in all honesty, the world is still in the makings because it was, as I said, just for funsies at first. But now I have introduced storylines and my characters have taken to my new world very well! HOWEVER…

   Since this is my first time DMing, I am a wee bit overwhelmed. I watch video after video online and read up as much as I can on the important stuff and, for the most part, follow the rules as best as I can. My only experience seeing dnd being played is Critical Role's first campaign, and I have otherwise never played "professionally". 

   This world of mine, the campaign I am currently running, is becoming far more serious now that me and my group are meeting regularly. I am planning on merging my own plot with "out of the Abyss" so as to have a bit of a reprieve from rushing to better plan my own world - any suggestions on how to read it, what to skip, or how to properly integrate it? 

   We are playing on a large continent but, more notably, in the northernmost Kingdom of Escosia, which protects the rest of Alterra (the continent) from the Abyssal planes (the barrier between the material and abyssal planes are thin to near nonexistent in the northeastern-most corner; the only thing standing between there and Escosia being, what is aptly called, The Giant's Mountains [enchanted as a barrier against fiends]; also, would someone like to summarize the Abyss? It is very confusing and as of right now I understand it is like Dante's Inferno with a bunch of layers and a SUPER big bad in the form of the dragon queen). 

   I have a lot of the history down for the entirety of the continent including wars, races, religions, cults, and some things in-between. I know what kind of society my game is based around (magic is a major part of life but, at the same time, is treated almost as we see guns or cars - some people have it, some people love it, some people hate it), what the government of Escosia looks like (democracy with a noble court), and social classes (basic medieval style). Does anyone have any suggestions or tips about Escosia as it stands right now?

   In our first three 4-hour sessions, I have already made one major mistake thus far (being in the last one we played) - 4 Perytons against 4 level 3 players. To be fair, I expected that our barbarian would be present for this fight. Even without him, we killed one of them but we still face the problem of there being three of them (and their purpose was not to kill us but whisk the humanoids of our group to their nest); my Cleric is out of spells and is being carried off alongside the Ranger (our tracker), who is out of potions, to the nest for the hatchlings and our Bard and Fighter have been left behind in the deep of night, in the deep of the mountains. All of us are looking a bit rough, health wise. I already have a plan to remedy that and save us from a TPK or at least a HPK (half-party kill) though. I have learned that evening out battle is important but… any tips?

   There are two evil groups that are being introduced (one in a much more low-key way than the other) through this current plot, one of them connected directly to the mercenary past of one of our PCs: Drow (serving Bel) and... well, essentially, they worship a half-immortal Red Dragonborn. 

   This Red Dragonborn, Zorox, (serving Zariel, who serves Tiamat [any suggestions on different fiends? If so, let me know!]) aims to unleash the Abyss (meaning Zariel, meaning eventually Tiamat) upon Alterra for a second time in its history. This BBEG plotline is in favor of aiding Tiamat, far far far far FAR in the future, rising to the material plane. The party will have to stop this, working their way from the bottom of the food chain up and preventing Tiamat from rising in the first place (avoiding a showdown with her if possible). I may debuff Zariel in order to make Bel a bit more of a difficulty (or just make her less impossible to beat) if things go the way I am thinking - you’ll read more about that a bit further down.

   I do not quite totally understand the Drow but, for the purposes of my campaign, I am sort of conforming them to my needs...? (My understanding is that they are Abyssal Fey who live in a matriarchal system, but anything that is not Drow is lower than the lowest Drow. Some groups of Drow serve certain Abyssal masters, while some do not...?). The group of Drow that I intend for them to run into will be loyal to the great demon Bel, who is opposed to Zariel and Tiamat’s rise to the material plane. My question about this aspect of the plot is, would it be reasonable for Bel to aid the party in taking down Zariel? Like, say, far in the future, he offers to make a deal. Whether they take it or not, the party is still sort of on the same side of Bel - to stop Zariel from raising Tiamat; would it be reasonable for him to extend favor, even if it only lasts as long as Zariel’s power trumps his? And if this works, would it be reasonable for him to then want: A. Kill the Party to grow stronger or B. Betray them before they stop Zariel so he can try to reach the material plane first? I do not know enough about that to make a call, I don’t think, unless y’all think I can bend the written history to fit my world and campaign.

   I know that I am thinking way ahead into the campaign - I have plenty of in-between plots and possibilities semi-planned or thought out for the party. Am I working too hard? Am I not working hard enough? What should I focus on in Escosia? What tips do you have for me as I learn, quite suddenly, how to DM? Should I avoid using Zariel and Bel as endgame bosses? If you have answers to questions I asked throughout this essay (I sincerely apologize oml), please be willing to share! You don't need to answer all of my questions... but one or two from any one person would be nice thank youuuu!!!

EDIT: I would like to add that I have my beginning and ending. The middle still needs planning, but I am also working on that. I figure that it is most important to ask about the ending so that I know where I am going throughout the course of the campaign. One more question... if I have a major plot further south in Alterra that revolves around the Feyworld, should I save that for a different campaign? I figure that I should, but I wanted to ask anyways.

EDIT #2: Also, in the case that we do not get there or that my players are well-thought, two smaller bosses to face instead of going the whole way could be the Matriarch of the Bel-worshipping Drow society and the Red Dragonborn Zorox [who may possibly have a shift ability to a Red Dragon?]. So, I do have backups, and backups for my backups. And should they not want to go even as far with the Drow, we could make sort-of quick work of the Zorox plot - similar to the 7-8 episode Briarwood Arc in Vox Machina's campaign. Anyways, yeah. Wanted to put that out there too.

I think Out of the Abyss is one of the harder adventures to both play and DM, so you might want to consider possibly something easier. I only do homebrew adventures and have never played a 5e published adventure, though, so I can't really help much with that.

If you haven't yet watched it, I highly recommend Matt Colville's series called "Running the Game." It's about 90 parts, not all of which need to be watched immediately, but he addresses how to be a DM there. Linky:

Also worth watching are his Campaign Diaries about his Shield of Gravesford campaign. He describes a lot of the events and is pretty honest about when he made mistakes and what he would do to fix them if he could re-do them (and how you can avoid making them too). He's had 35 or 40 years of DMing and playing D&D so he has seen and done it all, and his advice is smart, easy to follow, on point, and enjoyable to listen to.

I want to caution you a little about having watched Critical Role or any big-name streaming game. Critical Role is a good show, but it is a stage show. They do not play D&D like most people play D&D around a coffee table. There's nothing particularly wrong with what they are doing, but if you try to ape them as either DM or players, that is not a good idea. Not because of anything particular about CR, but rather, because each and every DM and each and every group of players is unique and has its own style, and you and your friends need to do what is fun for you, not what is fun for Matt Mercer and company on Critical Role. 

Just as a simple example having watched about 8 episodes of Colville's Chain of Acheron stream and 60+ episodes of CR season 2, I have no hesitation in saying I would much rather play with Colville's group than the CR team. I can't even explain in words why except I just get a better vibe from them. I would not recommend watching Chain of Acheron as a new DM, at least not to get "DMing tips" from Colville -- he opens that storyline with the party getting defeated and having to flee the city, which is not a standard way to open, and which most players would not like. But just the way he runs the session, the types of challenges he puts before the players, and the way the players interact with each other, is more comfortable to me than the way CR does things. Again there is no right or wrong here -- my point is that these are 2 very different styles of game group doing the same thing (live-streaming D&D with multiple mics and cameras), and they are wildly different in style and approach.

What you need to do is find your own style and approach -- something that works for your group, at your table, in your world. Don't try to copy the streamers... let them do them, and you do you.

   I'll look into an easier adventure to send the party into, thank you for the heads up (regardless of playing it or not ha, you already know more than me)! I am definitely going to being Colville's series, it looks like a great place to start. I figured CR wasn't the best example, I just wasn't sure what was - but now I do. Thank you again for your tips and cautions! <3    I wasn't completely sure posting a forum would work but here we are. Thank you!

As forums go this one is pretty good in terms of helpfulness. There are many knowledgeable people here who like helping others learn how to play D&D.