Helping someone DM for the first time.

[Zilant]

I've decided that I really want to try and actually play D&D. I have always DMed the games I have been apart of mostly because no one else has the books or the desire to.
Recently, my brother expressed an interest in wanting to make a campaign so I told him he shold try and make a small adventure for him to get used to and understand the work and effort involved in DMing.

Something like a simple fetch quest, small 3-5 room dungeon, a trap or puzzle, and a combat encounter or two.

Since I never had anyone to show me the ropes (I started D&D on my own without a playgroup or anything like that) does anyone have any advice I could give him? I've already shon him the DM beginners guide on these forums.

It will probably be a game for just me and another person (not including the DM).

[sonofzeal]

For a game like this, there isn't much advice to give. Let's see...


- CR is generally just a guideline. In time you'll learn how to eyeball when it might be high or low, but for now err on the side of caution.

- Read monster entries thoroughly before you use them. Many starting DMs forget special traits like Damage Reduction or (Su) abilities, and these can make fights unsatisfying or anticlimactic. If you don't know what something means, check around or use something else.

--- Working off www.d20srd.org is helpful, since you can click on things to find out details.

- Be prepared to improvise. Players are the most perverse, counterintuitive life forms in the universe. They will never figure out what you want them to figure out, but they'll jump straight to conclusions you never thought of. They'll screw up even the simplest fights, but they'll find ways to massacre your Big Bad Evil Guy in the surprise round. Plan, certainly, but don't cling to your plans; if the plan isn't working, change tracks rather than forcing it through.

- ALWAYS REMEMBER: the DM's job is to facilitate the Players having fun.

--- Your job is not to "beat" them. A sadistic DM can always kill the party, even with technically-CR-appropriate encounters. Don't go down that path.

--- Your job is also not to let them win all the time. Every game has a risk of failure, and it's that risk that makes success so sweet.

--- Your job is also not to counter what they're doing just to make fights hard. If someone invested a lot into stealth, let their stealth be effective (at least most of the time). If someone's building as a tank, let them tank (at least most of the time). Players have fun when their characters succeed within their specialty. Your job is to help players have fun. Balancing this against providing risk is the most difficult part of DMing, at least on the game-mechanism side.

[Teflonknight]

Where is this beginners guide? I would really like to read it.

[Zilant]

Where is this beginners guide? I would really like to read it.

This guide was/is an invaluable resource to me when I started DMing frequently. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76474)


SO basically all the stuff you pick up on as you game.
I just wasn't sure what to tell him when he said "where do I start?"