Please help a beginner DM

[Bowbreaker]

Hey guys.

So I and three real life friends want to start a D&D 3,5 campaign. Thing is that none of us have any DMing experience, it would be the first time any of us plays with the other three (we recently met) and we are all a bit rusty.
Because we couldn't find anyone else I thought that I could try my hand at DMing myself, but I am neither confident enough nor have the time to just make up my own campaign world myself.
Do you have any advice for a beginner D&D player who wants to try DMing?

I believe that I am rather good at expanding universes, filling plotholes and creating rich details, but I am not that versed at making an engaging narative from scratch or thinking of goals to drive a campaign and I really lack experience when it comes to appropriate challenges for groups, especially mechanics wise.
I've thought of looking for a premade module, preferably low level and with a healthy RPing element (not just hack & slash) but I don't really know where to start looking. I would also appreciate some beginners guides, worlds that are easy to work with or a good method to generate interesting plots.

All help and tips are appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[Alroy_Kamenwati]

Starting out with a module for a beginning DM is usually the best bet. Usually a good module, just do a google search and look through the various ones that 3.0/3.5/4e (and of course the earlier AD&D editions) have to offer, will entertain the players and you will learn how to handle the random situations that happen on the session to session basis. Modules are also great for kicking off campaigns, while I don't DM as much as I play the few times I have I used to a module to kick off a campaign and I've had my own friends start with a module themselves. Also it might be best to start out with an established universe (I'd recommend the standard Greyhawk or Faerune) that way there are NPC's already made for you and it is easier to start out in.

After you get a few sessions under your belt and you feel that you're ready to start making your own setting and campaign from scratch, I'd get a good handle on the type of game you want to run and that your players want to play in. Usually my DM asks 'What do you guys want to do?' and it escalents, turning into a pretty good concept and making it easier for you to make your setting. Also the Theme and the Tone need to be well thought out before you build a world so that it is consistent. Before building your own world look at the 3 big campaign settings, Greyhawk, Faerune, and Ravenloft and from there build your setting.

I hope this helped you in some sort of fashion :)

-Alroy

[Bowbreaker]

Are there any specific modules you would recommend? Low level and with at least a partialf RP/Story focus?
If you do, please also tell me why you recommend those and if there is anything I should watch out for when using them.

[Alroy_Kamenwati]

Really it depends on what your group likes, are they more into killing stuff (usual Hack&Slash) or are they more into political intrigue and roleplaying? For beginners its usually the former, and for that I'd recommend anything with the classic 3: Goblins, Orcs, or Bandits. However I have not played with a module in such a long time that I cannot recommend any, give a general google search for the system you are running, the levels you want to run it (1-3 is probably what you are looking for), and look through those.

[JusticeZero]

Also, when it comes to worldbuilding, this tip is absolutely vital that you remember always and repeat to yourself regularly:


You are not even half as clever as you think you are!
So don't try to be clever and creative and groundbreaking and edgy.
Use basic stuff, not much extra, and use it Rules As Written (RAW).
Don't let people use a bunch of splats and homebrew rules.
For the pantheon of your choice's sake do not attempt to homebrew, "balance", "tweak", or "adjust" ANYTHING! Not right now. The people coming up with homebrew stuff online have a lot more experience with how the game works than you do, and the majority of what THEY come up with is horrendous garbage.
Don't go flipping through your monster manual looking for new ideas what to use today. Come up with one enemy who is doing one basic and predictable plot that they use. Pick out a tiny number of things that might be seen from those and just run with that. As people level, write up versions of your enemies with a few class levels and use copies of those.

[Rukia]

Definitely start with a module until you get the feel for it. There are plenty of good ones, one of my favorites which gives a very sandboxy feel is T1 Village of Hommlet. It's an old adventure but if you look online you can find conversions to 3.5 so you can easily run it. In my opinion it is one of the best modules every written and personifies what D&D is/was all about. It has a ton of NPC's already created in the town, works as a base of operations so players have a place to call home, has plenty of roleplaying opportunities, etc.. The only actual adventure spelled out in the module is the Moathouse, but at level 1 they will get eaten alive so you can add a bunch of side quests and such to give them things to do.

My players entered Hommlet and spent the first couple of hours just meeting NPC's which opened up a ton of opportunities for them and then decided what they wanted to pursue. The Innkeeper had a problem with bandits hijacking his shipments so they they borrowed a wagon and went bandit hunting with half the players hidden as cargo. In return the Innkeeper gave them free room and board for a month. They also spoke to the head cleric at the temple of St. Cuthbert who asked them to retrieve something for him from Emridy meadows(part of the history of the area) and ended up fighting a bunch of undead. In turn they were allowed a few masterwork weapons and some healing potions. They also had the option of taking out some spiders in the nearby woods for the village's woodcutter though they never got around to doing it, but the option was there.

They ended up questioning one of the bandits who mentioned the Moathouse to them which gave them another opportunity. Unfortunately they were sloppy and left bandit corpses everywhere, and even cut the ears off to show the Innkeeper as proof, and worse yet they decided against going to the Moathouse for 2 days. In turn the spies in town(mentioned in Module) sent word to the master of the Moathouse who had plenty of time to send Assassins to take them out one night at the Inn and also had an ambush ready for them on the path to the Moathouse. As you can see it just builds up from there.

In general I'd say be very careful in how you start the campaign.

1. Keep it simple, don't allow a ton of splatbooks until you all understand the basic mechanics and understand how the tiers work.

2. Don't go crazy with treasure and it can really screw up balancing encounters. If you give too much too quickly they may just mow down encounters that are "supposed" to be challenging. It's also easier to give treasure when needed than try to take away what you've already allowed.

3. It's ok to fudge a little in the beginning, but don't get them used to it. Punish them for making stupid decisions or not running when they should have. Eventually a player will die and that's just how the dice fall. If you always protect them they'll come to expect it and it takes some of the fun out of it. The D&D world is dangerous so make sure you convey that.

4. Towards the end of the module be thinking about what to tie in next. I usually have an idea where I think the campaign will go a couple weeks before they get there.

5. Learn to improvise. Your players will always do things you don't expect so be prepared to make things up as you go. If you're not good at it you can always prepare a handful of NPC's incase they decide they want to look for someone you didn't account for. Village of Hommlet actually has most NPC's accounted for so it won't be as much of a problem. Some modules don't do this.

[Gwendol]

Straight out-of-the-box adventures are a great way to start. I recommend the linked 3.5 adventures Sunless Citadel - Forge of Fury.

I'm running FoF right now, planning on going into the Sons of Gruumsh next.

[Bowbreaker]

I wanted to mention that all of us do have varying experience with D&D, just not with DMing.
And all 4 of us agree that we want a good roleplaying focus, though hack and slash should still be there in a decent amount.
I'll be looking in to Forge of Fury now to see if that is somehing that fits what I'm looking for.

@JusticeZero: The one homebrew I do really want to use is the Giant's variant Diplomacy rules.

@Rukia: What exactly do you mean by tiers?

[Prince_Ornstein]

in regards to tiers there is this: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0

helped me learn about tiers and what they meant, might help you to.

[Bowbreaker]

Does anyone else have any modules to recommend or tips to add? Sunless Citadel seems okay, but it is pretty much a dungeon crawl with only a little RP/character development opportunities.

[Gwendol]

Start with it and build from there. With a good frame you can flesh it out as you see fit.

[Threadnaught]

I'd suggest just using The Giant's Diplomacy fix and diving into the deep end. Have as much stuff prepared as possible when you start, but be ready for your players to find and pull at a loose thread just in case. Any player starts being a nuisance, hit them with your books.

It's how I started. :smallcool:

[PurpleSocks]

Just going to suggest Red Hand of Doom, its a load of fun an is ideally level 5 entry, but theres a really good DM guide on the forums that will give you all the information you need to tweak it.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171284

I'd also suggest you use a campaign setting of some sort, it makes world building so much easier when you can just google the map for a specific city.

Avoid level adjustments and templates to start.

Id restrict spell choice to PHB 1 & 2, and Spell Compendium. You really don't want to have to deal with some of the spells in Sandstorm. Haboob etc.

Be wary of DMM persist and craft contigent spell.

Your players will probably ask you for something from splat books and as its most good you will probably end up caving (and if it helps mundanes, let them have it), if you do you allow splatbooks you must definately ban the following;

Savage Species
Book of exalted deeds
Book of vile darkness
Invisible Spell
Shivering Touch
Anything from Dragon Magazine