New DMing, need walkthrough/help

[Leitmotiv]

I am starting a 3.5 campaign and am the designated DM. It's been a LONG time since I've touched a paper RPG. I recently bought 4.0 and it did not really walk you through the process of DMing. Everything seemed scatterbrained and not properly sorted or explained. For example, the first time DC is mentioned, it is not explained what it stands for.

So I switched to 3.5. I need help on the nuts & bolts of running a game. A simple step by step guide that doesn't go into detail on creation or flavor. Youtube surpisingly has nothing this simple and most videos focus on the Player's Guide or character creation.

HELP!

[Bubzors]

I would suggest grabbing a pre made module for a low level party. Read it over and run your group through it. It'll let you concentrate on running a game without being overwhelmed. I did this and it helped a lot in understanding how to set up an adventure. Get used to running combat, keeping track of initiative, monster hp, etc.

I've always found reading other people's ideas or other pre made modules gave me good ideas for encounters and how to properly pace an adventure. Once you get used to the mechanics of running the game is when you can start expanding and concentrating on RPing or making a complex world.

Hope it helps and welcome to the other side of the table. Being DM is extremely rewarding and fun

[Leitmotiv]

We have A Dark and Stormy Knight as our first non-campaign adventure. A one-off. But it doesn't have any how to's. It's just the flavor and setup.

I need to know the basics. Thanks for your help, btw.

[Menteith]

Familiarize yourself with the specific rules you expect to come up next session. For example, if you expect that there will be a combat along a fast moving river, make sure you're familiar with Swim Checks/Armor Check Penalties. If you expect that the players will be forced to venture through a completely dark area, know the rules for "blind fighting". You don't need to know all the rules off the top of your head, but refreshing relevant ones can help keep a session moving forward.

If you're new to DMing and feel unsure about how specific rules interact, I'd highly recommend you spend time before a session creating a "Cheat Sheet" with the relevant rules you'll need for quick reference.

Stay ahead of the players. While it's impossible to always predict where a game is going to go, try to guess what's likely to happen and map out consequences.

I'm not if this addresses your question or not - if you were looking for more technical advice, I'd be more than happy to help further. Just let me know how I can help.

EDIT Rolls are commonly made using 1d20+modifiers. Typically, attributes modify these rolls.

Some of the more common rolls are Attacks, Saves, and Skill Checks.

Melee attacks are made using 1d20+Base Attack Bonus (abbriviated BAB, given by the class) + Strength mod. A 2nd level Fighter with a Strength Score of 18 (+4 Str Mod) attacking a target would roll a single twenty sided die (1d20), add their base attack bonus (+2) and their Strength Modifier (+4) for a total of 1d20+6. If the result equals or exceeds the target's Armor Class (abb AC), damage is dealt and rolled.

Ranged attacks follow the same formula, but use Dexterity instead of Strength as a bonus. In the previous example, if the Fighter was attacking with a bow and had a Dex of 12 (+1), they would roll 1d20+3.

- A weapon automatically hits on a "natural 20" (a roll of 20 on a d20). A weapon automatically misses on a "natural 1" (a roll of 1 on a d20).

- A weapon scores a critical hit when the dice roll a result within a weapon's "Critical Range", which is given under the weapon's stats. For example, a Dagger has a "Critical Range" of 19-20/×2, meaning that it "threatens" a critical when a 19 or 20 is rolled, and does double damage (x2) on a confirmed critical. If a 19 or 20 is rolled, a second attack roll is made after the first - if it lands as well, the attack is a critical hit.

- Some attacks are called Touch Attacks, and only need to exceed the target's Touch AC in order to have an effect.

Armor Class is 10+bonuses (Typically Dex Mod, Armor Bonus, Shield Bonus, and various misc bonuses).

- Bonuses of the same type do NOT stack. Wearing 2 shields does not provide multiple Shield bonuses, as they add a bonus of the same type. Dodge bonuses are the exception to this rule, as multiple dodge bonuses stack.

- "Untyped" bonuses (bonuses that do not specify a type) stack with all other bonuses.

Damage rolls occur if an attack hits. The total damage dealt for a melee attack is equal to the weapon's base damage + some portion of Str Mod. Each weapon typically lists how much base damage they will do; for example, a Greatsword does 2d6 base damage for a medium creature. How much Str is added to the damage is dependent on how the weapon is being wielded - if its an "off-hand" weapon (being used with the Two-Weapon fighting option) it gets half the Str bonus (rounded down), if it's being used with one hand (for example, a Sword and Shield used together) it receives the normal Str bonus, and if it's being used with two hands it receives 1.5x the Str mod. Going back to our Fighter with a +3 mod, they would add +2 on damage rolls with "off hand" weapons, +4 on weapons wielded in one hand, and +6 on weapons wielded with both hands.

- Typically, ranged weapons do not add an attribute bonus on damage rolls. Composite Longbows are capable of adding Str to damage (see their entry (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/weapons.htm) for specifics), and Thrown weapons naturally add Str (not Dex!) to damage rolls.

- Many magic effects call for an Attack or Touch Attack in order to inflict an effect. If the attack roll for these spells succeeds, they will inflict their effect rather than cause damage.

Saves are made using 1d20+base save (as given by the class) + relevant ability modifier. A Will Save made by a 2nd level Wizard with a 12 Wisdom Score (+1 Bonus) would be 1d20+3 (base save) + 1 (Wis Mod) - they would roll a single 20 sided die and add 4 to their total. There are 3 saves; Fortitude, Will, and Reflex, each with an attribute that corresponds to them (Constitution, Wisdom, and Dexterity, respectively).

- A "natural 1" (a roll of 1 on a d20) is an automatic failure for a save, and a "natural 20" (a roll of 20 on a d20) is an automatic success for a save, regardless of any modifiers.

Skill Ranks - Characters have a number of skill ranks that they may spend at first level, and again at each level up. Typically, this number is 4x (N+Int Mod) at first level, and N+Int Mod at each level up, where N is class dependent. Each class has a number of "class skills". Players may spend purchase a rank in these class skills on a 1 for 1 basis, and may have a maximum number of ranks in these skills equal to their current level + 3. If a player wishes to buy a rank in a skill which is not a class skill, they must spend twice as much, and may only have maximum ranks equal to 1/2 * (current level + 3). For example, a Wizard with an Int of 18(+4) has just leveled up to lv2. They receive 2+Int Mod skills, or 6 skill points at this level. Our Wizard wants to be sneaky, and wants to purchase ranks in Hide - a skill that is not on their skill list, meaning they must spend 4 points in order to purchase 2 ranks in the skill. The maximum amount of ranks they could have right now would be 1/2 * (3+2) = 2.5, or 2 ranks, so they can only get 2 ranks in Hide. Our Wizard spends their last 2 skill points to put 2 ranks into Knowledge [Local], which is a class skill and has a maximum rank of 3+2 = 5.

Skill Checks are made using 1d20+Skill Ranks+Attribute Mod. For example, if you were a Bard with 4 Skill Ranks in Bluff and a Cha of 16 (+3), and you wished to Bluff a guard to get into a building, you would roll 1d20+4+3 (1d20+7). Skills do NOT automatically succeed on a Natural 20 nor do they automatically fail on a Natural 1.

- When characters are under little/no pressure, they may "take 10" on a skill check, acting as if they had rolled a 10 on a die and adding modifiers to it. This allows trained swimmers to not drown when practicing in a pool, or a chef to prepare a sandwich without burning it when there's no pressure.

Combat (I highly recommend you check out this (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm) as a reference)
Everyone gets a Swift Action, a Move Action, and a Standard Action in each round of combat. It is possible to combine one's Move and Standard Action into a Full Round Action. The link I provided lists what sorts of actions fall within each category, and I'd recommend that you browse them if you have time.

A common use for a move action is to move your movement speed. Typically, on an unarmored human, this is 30ft/round (or 6 squares of movement). How far you can move can be limited by difficult terrain or other factors.

- If a creature has a movement modes other than land (typically Fly speeds or Swim speeds), they may move that far through air/water.

- If no other forms of movement are taken in a round, a "5 foot step" may be taken. This allows creatures to move a single square even if they do not have a Move action available to them. Additionally, 5 foot steps do not provoke Attacks of Opportunity (covered below).

A common use for a standard action is to make an attack or cast a spell. See above for how to make an attack, and see each spell's description for how they function.

- Spells often have different casting times - see each individual spell for how long it takes to cast. If a Spell has a casting time of Full Round Action, it consumes both the move and standard actions, but occurs on that player's turn, while if it has a casting time of 1 full round, it still consumes the player's move and standard actions but occurs at the start of the player's next turn).

Attacks of Opportunity occur when certain actions are taken in melee range. In general, trying to move out of a "threatened" (threatened means it is within melee range) square, attempting to use a ranged attack in a threatened square, or trying to cast a spell in a threatened square "provoke" these attacks. AoO do not take an action to perform, and each creature is limited to 1 AoO per round. Remember that the "Five Foot Step" does not provoke these. Additionally, a "Withdraw" action may be performed to move without provoking.

- When a Combat starts, you first need to determine if everyone's aware of it. If only some participants are aware of combat, a Surprise Round occurs.

Surprise/Initiative (relevant link to the rules here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/initiative.htm))
- Anything I type here will be redundant. This is one of the areas where the rules are actually pretty clear on the SRD, though I'd be happy to answer questions if you have any further.

And that's what you'll probably need off the top of my head. Let me know if I missed someone you still have questions on, and good luck!

[Leitmotiv]

I think I can figure out the more detailed nuanced stuff as it comes along. But I'm talking about the most basic fundamental stuff. Like a step by step flowchart.

1. Characters encounter a monster, roll initiative (and how this is done).
2. Attacks, roll whatever

See I'm not even sure what to write. 4.0 didn't do this. There was no clear linear process for the basic stuff. That's what I need. Stuff like what stats to roll against and when.

Edit: Rulebook -> flowchart

[Asteron]

I think I can figure out the more detailed nuanced stuff as it comes along. But I'm talking about the most basic fundamental stuff. Like a step by step rulebook.

1. Characters encounter a monster, roll initiative (and how this is done).
2. Attacks, roll whatever

See I'm not even sure what to write. 4.0 didn't do this. There was no clear linear process for the basic stuff. That's what I need. Stuff like what stats to roll against and when.

Go here (http://www.d20srd.org)

That has almost everything laid out in a simple manner. All of the info is from the PHB, DMG and MM1.

[Morphie]

I think there is no fast and easy way to learn how to run a game of D&D. That's why they wrote so much books about it ;)

In my opinion it's just like playing D&D as a PC, but you play the Bad guys and you'll have your friends trying to kill you. On purpose.
There is a step-by-step guide, it's called the Dungeon Master's Guide. If you read it along with the Player's Handbook you'll have a grasp of general rules of the game. There is no problem of resorting to the books while you play, that's also part of the game.

The players will have to know what they are supposed to do, so you need to have an adventure to play. And you need to read it in order to guide them throughout the story and to, as said before me, plan ahead. There are plenty of pre-made adventures, so:
1- Choose one of them,
2- Tell your friends to roll for characters (Chapter 1 in PhB and so forth. First the abilities, then choose the race, then the class) based on the required level for the adventure.
3 - Read the adventure along and the core books.
4 - Play. It's a group effort really, if you find something you can't understand in game, just ask the players of how you should handle it. As you gain experience it will happen less and you'll start to have fun. D&D is a complex game, but it's worth it.

Edit: Point 3 should be before point 2, but you can do both at the same time.

I hope it turns out ok, enjoy :)