New to game and DM'ing

[Hickatron]

Hi guys :)

I have always been interested in D&D, but due to my rural location, there has never been an opportunity for me to play. Until now. I have recently made some new friends that don't have the same torrent aversion to entering the world of D&D as my other friends had. They have agreed to play a game with me but as we are all new to the game, but I have a little more knowledge then the others, I have been chosen as the DM.
I fear I may have bitten off more than i can chew. I love telling stories and am more then happy to make an interesting campaign. But when it comes down to all the rules and other official things, I am scared that I am going to get it so wrong that I mess the whole thing up.
I have brought a 3.5 players handbook and am planning on purchasing the DM guidebook as well.
Any hints and tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help in advance. :)

[Kelb_Panthera]

First, a link: http://d20srd.org

Ignore the psionics, divine, and alternate rules sections for now. Almost everything you need to run a game is in the column on the left.

Google up a first level adventure and run it using the rules provided in the link above.

That should be enough to get your feet wet. Feel free to ask around here for anything specific that you don't understand. We're happy to help.

Welcome to the hobby and good luck.

[johnbragg]

I recommend using pre-made stuff. None of you have played before, I would recommend going over to DriveThruRPG.com and getting a PDF of the BECMI Players HAndbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. That's from the Basic set from the 1980s--the mechanics and stats won't match up well, but it walks you through how to play a role-playing game. IT's got two sample starter dungeons, one of which has a choose-your-own-adventure type system, one of which doesn't. Swapping out the monsters and statblocks for 3.5 statblocks isn't that hard, and it does a pretty good job of explaining to you what you're doing. (This is what you do first, then that, then this other thing.)

Well worth the $10, I think. The map from the players' handbook is a dungeon location in my current campaign.

Advice: Make your spellcasters have descriptions of their spells readily available. It's not fun to stop the game to look up how something works.

IF a player wants to do something cool in combat that you don't know rules for, they can try it against the other guy's AC +4.

[TheFamilarRaven]

Remember that it's more important for you all to have fun than to strictly stick to the rules. Get the basics down sure, but the more you play you'll better understand the nuances of the system and can incorporate more of the rules.

Remember that the DM does not solely control the story, and that he/she should never dictate the players' actions. The flip side is: Don't be afraid to tell PC's that certain actions are downright impossible. (example: "No, you can't jump to the moon, not even on a natural 20.")

Remember that the players' actions have consequences, and the world (not the DM) should react accordingly.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Unless you're -really- keen on making demons/devils and/or moral conundrums a focal point of your game, ignore alignment altogether except for when magic ineracts with it directly. It's a great story-telling tool when used well but it's one of -the- biggest headaches the game has to offer when it's not. If you do decide to put it to work, remember that alignment is descriptive, not prescriptive; none of this, "You wouldn't do that because you're <alignment>" BS. Don't allow it from anyone else at the table either.

[Hickatron]

First, a link:

Ignore the psionics, divine, and alternate rules sections for now. Almost everything you need to run a game is in the column on the left.

Google up a first level adventure and run it using the rules provided in the link above.

That should be enough to get your feet wet. Feel free to ask around here for anything specific that you don't understand. We're happy to help.

Welcome to the hobby and good luck.

Thanks for that link, it looks really useful :)

[Kelb_Panthera]

Thanks for that link, it looks really useful :)

No problem. It's about 85% of the core rules of the game and they were posted directly by the publisher. Whoever owns the site organized it into a hyperlink, self-referencing structure and made it very easy to use. It's an invaluable resource for newbs and veterans alike.

If you and your friends find you enjoy the game, you can purchase the actual core rulebooks to get the last few bits to round things out.

[Lost Demiurge]

Pretty much what the others have said. Grab a 1st level adventure, read it over, and give it a try. If people enjoy the game, then it's going well.

Now if you're wanting to make this a regular thing, then you might want to consider which direction you want to prepare your campaign towards.

Generally there's two kinds of groups... ones that enjoy having clear goals in front of them and don't mind a little railroading, or ones that enjoy sandboxes, where you just put a map in front of them and let them choose where to go and what to do.

One or two sessions should tell you which kind your group leans toward. With the first kind of group you'll have to prepare more, but they won't throw as much unexpected stuff at you. With the second kind of group you'll have to improvise more, but if you can learn to make stuff up on the fly, then you won't have to prepare as much.

Neither of these groups are absolutes, either. It's all shades of gray between them. You might have a sandbox player in a goal-oriented group for example, and so long as you vary stuff so that it's not all goal-oriented, they'll usually be happy.

[Warrnan]

Many people might disagree with me here and there are creative ways to go about it, but most premade adventures and monsters from the monster manual assume certain things about the heroes in your adventuring group.

They assume you have a way of dealing with both arcane and divine magical challenges. They assume many times you have a way to deal with traps and locks. They assume you have someone who can remove status debuffs such as poisons, curses and mind control.

This is a d&d paradigm that goes back to when it only had 4 classes. Fighter, thief (now called Rogue), cleric, and wizard. (I never played 1st edition so I may have gotten the name wrong.)

More experienced groups have ways to subvert things such as the need for a trapsmith, for example high level wizards summoning a minion of some sort to just set the kamikaze a trap and then the group may proceed.

But generally just make sure you have access to healing, Arcane magic, disable device and someone who can dish out lots of damage.

I wouldn't shoehorn people into forced roles but it's something to work toward.

[Ilveshlea]

Hey, I'm also new to DMing (and this forum). I've been playing D&D for a little over a year, but have just recently started a campaign as DM.
It was also recommended to me that I use a premade module(s) for my first campaign, as it is a lot easier when you're still trying to learn all the rules, you don't have to also make the entire campaign from scratch. You can focus more on learning and not have to worry too much about forgetting what the doors are made of, or what spells the enemy in the fourth encounter has ready for the day. Even having played the game for a while, I have trouble remembering a lot of the rules, especially ones that haven't really been relevant much in the other campaigns I've played, so DMing for the first time is a bit of a mad rush for the books for me.
We don't use psionics at all in our game and unless otherwise stated, the guys like to stick to core classes and races mostly (I allowed anything (except psionics) from any book in my campaign because I want to learn more about them, but if you're new to the game as well it might be good to stick to the core stuff).
Best of luck!

[LTwerewolf]

Pathfinder is a little easier to get going these days than 3.5, as they have the beginner box. You may want to give that a look and see if it's your cup of tea.

As for your being new, make sure everyone is on the same page. Since all of you are learning, make an agreement that sometimes you may want to mulligan things to make sure you can get it right and have fun. Also don't be afraid to go ahead and let some things happen just because it's fun even though it's not in the rules. Everyone quotes rule 0 (the dm is right, and when the dm is wrong, the dm is right) all the time, but a more important rule than that is that everyone at the table have fun.

[ganondorf50]

When first starting out its essential to be creative and to have fun. The rules are there but they are more like a guideline. Start off slow do a few encounters your new and your players are new. Just stick to the SRD which will help you and if you run into problems post here.

[Gruftzwerg]

start with an something small to begin your first adventure. Don't try any big world changing plots, just take it easy and simple.

First your players need to meet and have a reason to hang out together. Maybe a few already know each other, but it is the best if you role play the first meeting of the characters and let them socialize as team.
(example)
You could take a Caravan where a few of the players are hired mercenaries for security. Some others may come from another route and meet the caravan. And the last members are running away from a bunch of Orks who are behind them (and maybe 1 player is held as hostage for the slavemarket by the Orks?^^). The caravan & the players joins the fight. Now you have a party who is already bound by sweet & blood.

The caravan reaches its destination ( a small village). The territory of the Orks seems to have expanded fast in the last time. The village is under repeated attacks of the Orks and seem to need help. The players can now role-play to build up defenses (building/repairing the palisade, melee & ranged combat training for the villagers ect...), play a few fights with the villagers. Your party will help out the small village and will have their heroic feeling. In fact for the small village, they are some "really big heroes". ;)

As said, try to take a simple and not world changing plots for the beginning.

[ksbsnowowl]

Given that you are posting in the 3rd edition section, I'm going to assume you are running a 3rd edition game (3.0 or 3.5, whichever).

Running a published module isn't a bad place to start. I would really suggest going with The Sunless Citadel (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/3727/The-Sunless-Citadel-3e?it=1&filters=45471_0_0_0_45350_0).

I started running this series of modules about 20 months ago, and have had a blast with my group. I've written a campaign journal (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=14113.0) along the way; maybe reading that will give you an idea of the adventure before you need to buy it, and as a new DM you might glean a few insights about running a game.

Good luck!

[theForce017]

When first starting out its essential to be creative and to have fun. The rules are there but they are more like a guideline. Start off slow do a few encounters your new and your players are new. Just stick to the SRD which will help you and if you run into problems post here.

I agree, just have fun and don't hesitate to not follow the rules to the letter when a player wants to do something creative. My group has a "drunk" rule for the characters which is basically the Wild Mage spell caster level. -3+1d6 on all d20 rolls and checks.

Another link to a new site that might be helpful: http://tabletopsrd.com