How do I DM?

[Gale]

I'm planning on starting a new campaign this Saturday evening. The problem is I've never actually been a DM before; I'm unsure about how to exactly go about doing so. I'm asking if anyone can help guide me through the process of preparing the campaign. I'm not planning on starting the actual story for about a week or two; the first two sessions will simply be practice for myself and inevitably have little to no connection to the future ones.
Basically, any advice of help would be really appreciated. I honestly do want to get the game going by this Saturday but if I feel I'm not ready I'll probably wait until next week.

[Beelzebub1111]

The best training for a GM is to find a pre-printed first level module. I like "Box of Flumph" but check your local game shop for something that looks interesting.

And don't forget the most important rule. Low Experience Characters for Low Experience GMs. don't try to bite off more than you can chew.

[BWR]

If you have money and time, find a copy of the Pathfinder GameMastery Guide. It has a lot of practical and theoretical information about how to DM, most of it applicable to all games, but a fair amount specifically for PF/D&D.

If not, you'll just have to wing it. Here (http://www.highprogrammer.com/alan/gaming/gmtips.html)are a fewhttp://www.fantasylibrary.com/lounge/dave1.htmonline (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Dungeon-Master)guides that might help (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76474).

[zephyrkinetic]

Ah, welcome to the noble ranks. :smallbiggrin:

First of all, get books. Make sure you've got a copy of the DMG, a PHB, and a Monster Manual. You can't do much without those, and it is usually expected (at least in my experience) of the DM to provide the necessary specifications.

Decide how you're going to want your table to run. Settling on some basic rules up front will help a long way - even if you expect your table to be cooperative, write them down so that you can point back to them later.

Have dice. Have a DM screen. Be prepared to host people at your place, as well - this isn't just a game, it's a gathering. Things as simple as having enough chairs, and keeping some snacks on hand are often overlooked.

After that - it's just a matter of having in mind what you want folks to do. You're going to probably run some lousy stuff at first - expect it, and acclimate yourself as quickly as you can. Don't try to do anything too crazy at first - sticking with the basic races, classes, and monsters is one of the best tried and true methods to get used to DMing. You'll have your hands full as it is without having to worry about Prestige Classes, and templates, and planar excursions, etc.

Congratulations, and good luck. Above all, have fun. That's the point, here, right?

[DJroboninja]

My biggest pointer for new DMs is to not get too bogged down in building a campaign setting/storyline. At first, focus on learning the rules through published adventures. Don't worry about making them connect into a big cohesive story, just do "Adventure of the Week" episodes.

Once you've got your grasp of how the game works, you can move onto the fluff. If you're able to, try to use a published campaign setting at first (heads up, Eberron is AWESOME).

[Afgncaap5]

The best way to learn DMing is to dive into it, I find. I think your idea to not do anything story related at first is a good one, it'll help you to figure out what you're doing.

Also: I've found that I have a habit of preparing more than my players will get to in a session. I recommend doing this, but it's also good not to go overboard if you're preparing your first session. (One of the hardest things is figuring out about how much material fits into a time slot. It feels different as a PC Than as a GM. It'll take a bit to figure that out.)

[ElenionAncalima]

My best advice would be to keep things simple. Most of the new DM pitfalls I have seen are the result of being overly ambitious.

ie)
-Mixing systems
-Building the entire setting and story from scratch
-Starting at high levels
-Allowing evil character.
-Having lots of house rules.

I would suggest starting with a pre-written module at level 1. I would also avoid allowing to many special cases. I think its better to keep things pretty strict. If you are just starting out, reasonable players will understand. Once you have the hang of it, you can start getting more creative.

[Kid Jake]

Something that it took me quite a while to learn is that there's diminishing returns on excessive preparation. Don't try to guess at where the players are going to go long-term and just take it session by session or you'll drive yourself crazy.

Make up about a dozen stat cards that can pull double duty if need be (the local guards and bandit population are suspiciously similar) and have a list of random names and descriptions you can pull out in a tight spot. That way things'll always look like they're going according to plan regardless of what they try.

What I do to keep the plot moving is to think up about 10-20 quest lines, nothing fancy just 'Local Gang Problems' or 'Forest Fire' and give them each a handful of bullet points. 'Gang robs the tavern. Gang kidnaps mayor's son. Gang sells the PCs conjured horses that disappear in half an hour, then laughs about it.' and then write up a scenario for each. '4 goons charge into the tavern with swords. Or: DC20 Search check suggests that the mayor's son was kidnapped by someone who spends a lot of time in sewage, sewer has two dozen mooks patrolling in groups of six.'

That way, if the PCs behave and finish one quest at a time you've got a nice little queue you can go through to keep them busy. But if they decide that the mayor is kind of a **** and losing a son might bring him down a peg you're not caught off-guard by them wanting to just go camping instead. You can just take a glance at your handy notes and see 'DC15 Spot check lets them see the smoke before the out of control fire circles them. If they act fast they can find the kids who accidentally started it before they burn and be town heroes.'

Glancing back at this it seems more like rambling than solid advice, but I hope it gives you an idea or two.

[KorbeltheReader]

You're doing the Lord's work, my friend. My advice:

1. Keep it simple. You don't need a big elaborate story or a dozen planned encounters. Decide where they start and plan a plot hook to get them going, a couple of potential resolutions, and 3 encounters along the way.
2. Don't sweat the details. If you run across a rules question and you don't know the question, make a call and move on. You can look up the answer afterwards and be prepared next time.
3. Have fun! You'll probably get butterflies like you're about to give a speech or start a job interview. Just relax, get everyone seated at the table with drinks and whatnot, let conversation flow for a few minutes and then ease in. Have the players introduce their characters and describe them, describe the opening scene, and you're off!

[INDYSTAR188]

In addition to all the other fantastic advise here I would recommend spending some time getting the players backstories and character ideas so you can use that to help prepare your campaign. I think that takes some of the burden off of you to make the game 'fun'.

[ZamielVanWeber]

They got the big ones (KISS, easy module, work with players, etc.). Make sure your players know that you are new to this and to keep their general shenanigans level to a minimum. And you should make sure you keep your shenanigans level to aminimum too.

Good tips: as DM you have a right to fudge NPC rolls. I do this mostly to keep accidentally easy encounters challenging or to keep accidentally challenging encpunters from TPKing my party (since there is a good chance the OP encounter is my fault).

[Slipperychicken]

As a player, I prefer when the GM is honest and straightforward with me. He doesn't have to tell me his ideas for the plot (as that might ruin it) or anything our character's wouldn't know (it's often more fun that way), but it's okay to take a 5-10 minute break if you need time to figure something out, and to let us know if you ran out of material and need to end the session early.

Speaking of breaks, apparently human attention spans are such that it's helpful to take a short break (5-15 minutes?) every 90 minutes or so, or whenever it feels appropriate to break. My group tried this, and it helps our endurance quite a bit: If we go for like 4 hours without stopping, we get fatigued and start slowing down. It also gives an opportunity to get food, look up rules, socialize, and perform bodily functions without interrupting the game too much.



Also: I've found that I have a habit of preparing more than my players will get to in a session. I recommend doing this, but it's also good not to go overboard if you're preparing your first session. (One of the hardest things is figuring out about how much material fits into a time slot. It feels different as a PC Than as a GM. It'll take a bit to figure that out.)

My current GM typically does this, and I like it because it lets us keep playing for 1-3 hours beyond the scheduled stop time when we really want to keep going. It also means that he doesn't have to wing it for the last hour or so (I can generally tell when he's improvising because I start seeing names like "Farmer Dude", "Coco Puff" and "Housie").

Another thing my current GM does which seems to work is, at the end of a session, ask us (the players) about what we think we're going to do next session. I think the idea is to let him focus his prep time around that instead of trying to guess our actions.

[Darkz0r]

Remember that if you have no idea what your campaign will be about in the end, you can always connect stuff later with a bigger plot.

Like:
Session 1: PCs fight an evil tribe of kobolds that were attacking a fisherman village that supplies food to the main city. They find a red ruby ring with a random symbol.
Session 2: Having saved the fisherman village, someone asks the PCs to save their relative that was captured by pirates demanding ransom (maybe some noble).
Session 3: Whatever quest.
Session 4: Whatever quest 2. PCs discover, during whatever quest or whatever quest 2 the ruby ring is used by a few select pirates.
Few more sessions: PCs discover a plan of pirates + kobolds + ?? to take over the main city near the fishing village.

If you place random stuff at some quests its easier to connect too.

[Zirconia]

I've been under a new DM lately, and one thing he did to make his job easier was ask one of the more experienced with rules people (usually me) to check on rules questions as they came up, allowing him to continue with other actions. In many cases the next person in order can go without having to wait to find out if that goblin got cover from standing next to a corner. That prevents "5 people sitting around staring at you while you page frantically through books so they don't get bored" syndrome.

In a related note, announce when you start the campaign that for any rules question that isn't fast to resolve, you will make a ruling on the fly to keep things moving and it can be reexamined between sessions. People are usually good with this, especially if you tend to rule in favor of the PCs, they will be much more receptive to a correction when their lives aren't on the line.

[INDYSTAR188]

Remember that if you have no idea what your campaign will be about in the end, you can always connect stuff later with a bigger plot.

Like:
Session 1: PCs fight an evil tribe of kobolds that were attacking a fisherman village that supplies food to the main city. They find a red ruby ring with a random symbol.
Session 2: Having saved the fisherman village, someone asks the PCs to save their relative that was captured by pirates demanding ransom (maybe some noble).
Session 3: Whatever quest.
Session 4: Whatever quest 2. PCs discover, during whatever quest or whatever quest 2 the ruby ring is used by a few select pirates.
Few more sessions: PCs discover a plan of pirates + kobolds + ?? to take over the main city near the fishing village.

If you place random stuff at some quests its easier to connect too.

I usually let my players draw conclusions about things they think are 'clues' and then I run with it if it's a cool idea or it sounds better than what I had planned for them to find. I think rewarding their roleplay and teamwork efforts is a good way to keep them engaged.

[ElenionAncalima]

One more piece of advice...take advantage of existing resources.

Using things like generators, bestiaries and NPC databases really takes the load off of preparation and improvisation. Your players won't know that the stats are generic, as long as you make you descriptions interesting...they probably aren't going to realize that the cotton candy monster was actually a Gray Ooze.

[Regis_is_a_bro]

I'm not sure which book it's in, I think it's DMG 4e. There's a small adventure in the back of it, if you are playing 4e :smallyuk: but, if you are playing 3.5 :smallbiggrin: then you can still use it, but make the necessary adjustments. You could just use it as a basic outline, and build your own adventure from there. It's quite useful actually.