New to D&D 5e (GM advice or help)

[jayjay1098]

Hello all!

I have always wanted to play D&D and have finally found a group of friends who are just as excited and interested in playing as I am. So, we went ahead and bought all the books i.e monster manual, GM book, player handbook.

However, none of us have experience or great playing time. I have stepped up and suggested that I would GM as I love to tell stories. We have purchased the Tiamat Campaign and as I read through it I start to wonder how to use the adventure book. It provides the GM with plenty of information, but how can I use the book to react to the choices they make. At times I get confused as I do scenarios in my mind as to "What if they do this". I tried to find it, but which page do I go to? What information should I give them?

I would love to hear experienced or starting GM's as to how you would react and how you use the book.

Thank you!

[b4ndito]

Read the dmg and it should help you figure things out. Just remember, you aren't pushing the story, the players are.

You describe the setting, they react to the setting, you determine the results. Just wing it until you get comfortable.

[Madfellow]

Role playing and improvisation are vital skills for a GM. You describe the environment and its occupants and ask the players what they want to do. When they tell you, you quickly decided what the consequences of their actions are. Most of the time it's simple stuff like, "I pull on the lever!" "Okay, the door opens." You'll also have to act out or describe the behavior of the NPCs, and determine how they react to the players when they're encountered.

I do find it helpful to ask myself, "What if they do this thing?" It helps me be prepared, because I can imagine a number of possibilities and anticipate how things might shake out. More often than not, though, the party will surprise you, so you just have to accept that and wing it sometimes. If you have a question that the adventure book can't answer for you, then feel free to come up with something yourself.

DMing can be challenging, maybe even overwhelming at times, but it is also very rewarding. Good luck. :smallsmile:

[calebrus]

Just wing it until you get comfortable.

This.
Except it isn't going to stop once you get comfortable. You'll just get better at winging it. Every GM has to play it by ear until forever.
The published adventures are pretty much on rails. Try to keep your players on those rails until you get a good feel for winging it, and until you get comfortable making it up as you go along. Your players will deviate from what the adventure has planned for them. This is not in question. They will 1000% do it every time. Just be ready to think on your feet to try to get them back on track.

[Occasional Sage]

Especially with published adventures, a key skill for DMs is reskinning scenes to fit player behavior. What this requires of you is a thorough understanding of the upcoming sections of the adventure, and what places or people are VITAL for the characters to proceed. Then, if they go in a totally bizarre direction that neither you nor the writers anticipated, reinsert the important bits in their way to keep the plot on track. By changing place or character names and being flexible with other surface details, the story doesn't go off the rails and the players feel like their decisions are respected (as opposed to "No, you MUST go to THE ONE PLACE and talk to THAT GUY or else doom").

Make notes of changes you make so that you can maintain continuity.

[jayjay1098]

Thank you so much for all your help and advice! It is difficult at first, but we did the Tiamat campaign and evetyone loved it. All your tips helped. It makes more sense now that as a GM you can describe the scene and npcs, and have them react to certain situations!

Thank you!

[Vidrina]

So I recently ran into this problem too, but you just have to find a good group that's willing to learn with you, and you'll get better at looking like you know what you're doing.

The Rise of Tiamat book is meant for a higher level campaign, by the way. Try Lost mine of Phandelver first.