For new DMs or people with lots of ideas

[Kaisenborg]

Hey! So my idea with this thread, and btw this is my first thread or post for that matter here. The idea was that people with ideas or questions about making a campaign could post them down here. I myself have taken the step into Rpg and I took a big one (at least for me it feels like it's a big one :smallwink:) I'm going to DM my friends who never have tried anything close to Rpg and we'll now that you mentioned it.. The only Rpg I've done myself is watching (critical role on twitch from Geek and sundry) I got so inspired that I want to try it. So enough about my **** please so post anything inspirational or suggestions or questions and we will try to work it out!! Sorry for the occurring grammar mistakes hopefully my point made it all the way through.

[freeWeemsy]

If this is your first time DMing I'd recommend using the starter kit. It does a great job of introducing both you and the players to how D&D works, and will save you a lot of time and headache. Once you've made it through the starter kit then you should be more than ready to create your own adventure!

[Stan]

Good Luck! Here's some general advice for DMing. These are just suggestions that might be helpful, nothing that must be done.

1. Steal. and adapt. Some DMs think that they have to do it all on their own or it's not original. It's totally ok to use pre-published stuff. At the same time, don't be afraid to go away from the published plan and adapt it to your group's play style and characters. You can take a set of published stat blocks and maps and overlay your own plots. Especially don't be afraid to steal stat blocks at it takes time to create new NPCs and monsters.

Speaking of stealing, this link (https://merricb.com/dungeons-dragons-5e-adventures-by-level/) has a bunch of adventures, many of them are free or pay what you want.

2. Use visual aids as needed. You may or may not want to play on a battle grid. If not, be prepared to provide a visual layout as well as a description. Some people are very visual and seeing relative locations make things click in their head. It doesn't have to be good, just so they can get the gist. Depending on what's available, you can use a dry erase board, battle mat, computer/tablet, or paper and pens. This blob is the hill with the giant hand sticking out, these are are row of statues, these are the trees, etc.

3. The game must flow. Pacing is tricky but watch for the game stalling. If the players look like they don't know what to do, list options, give reminders, or whatever you want to put them back on track. Ok, remember you have that three eyed skull with you. Would you like to put that on the altar, or destroy it, try blessing the altar, or exploring the walls of the room. Also, don't overly disrupt the flow looking up rules. If you can't find a rule reference in a minute, make a ruling on the spot, such as a bonus/penalty to a roll, a chance of success, or something like that, and get back to the fun of gaming. Later, you can look up the official way of doing it and let everyone know at the beginning of the next session.

If you have specific questions, I and others can try to give options.

[Kaisenborg]

Thank you for all the information!
I've already started to build my own world from inspiration of others, like the critical role that I love or lotr which is my childhood. So I got my hook for my players and I let them show and tweak their races and such just to make them feel like they choose to be here. So they have their backstories and starting areas in the world I've got my main capital (kind off done)
Should I throw this away and go with a complete starter kit to begin with or can I keep building?

And if I keep going I got some questions as well

[Stan]

Should I throw this away and go with a complete starter kit to begin with or can I keep building?


If you and the players are already grasping things well, you can skip the starter kit if you want. If you do use it, the included adventure takes place in a frontier area and 98% of it could be moved to a frontier of another world. So, you could keep the setting that you've started and still use the starter kit.

If you don't have enough copies of the Players Handbook for everyone, encourage your players to download the free Basic Rules. (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules) It doesn't have all the races, classes, or class archetypes but it gives them a reference to learn how things work.

[Kaisenborg]

If you and the players are already grasping things well, you can skip the starter kit if you want. If you do use it, the included adventure takes place in a frontier area and 98% of it could be moved to a frontier of another world. So, you could keep the setting that you've started and still use the starter kit.

If you don't have enough copies of the Players Handbook for everyone, encourage your players to download the free. It doesn't have all the races, classes, or class archetypes but it gives them a reference to learn how things work.

Okey I will consider it. We do have 1 copy of the basic rules and actually we don't have a PHB yet because we'll they're not sure how much fun this will be and those books are quite expensive is that something that's a "most have" because I've found most of the things I need (I think) online.

[Stan]

You can get quite a ways without any books. There's also the SRD (https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/SRD-OGL_V1.1.pdf) (pdf link, free system reference document) that has the rest of the classes but only one archetype each. It lacks a full listing of feats but you can play a whole campaign without feats. The SRD also has magic items and monsters which covers much of what the DM would need.

[Kaisenborg]

Thank you Stan! You have been so helpful!

Here's two question I'm curious about. :smallcool:

First of all how do you handle the currency. I know it says in the books “this is worth 25gp” but how do you know how much loot they should get like when they find new Armour and just good as it is in a chest at the goblin camp. I want to be consistent.

And is it a good or bad idea to have a few “random” encounters while the party is traveling by the road or through the forest?
What I mean by this is that is it good to have like a wolf with stats and all ready and when the stop for a break or something like that I roll a dice to determine if that encounter shows up?

[Stan]

Extra equipment they can't use can generally be sold for 1/2 to 1/4 retail price once they get back to civilization. However, be sensible as a small town may not have the money or use for some equipment. You can say some equipment is too poor quality or too gross in condition to have value if is being used by monsters. Also, make a quick estimate of weight if they try to do things like carry back 50 suits armor.

As you won't have treasure tables without the DMG,you can use this generator. (http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=treasure;cr=0;loot_type=Individual Treasure) (Donjon as some other handy tables too - look at the left menu.) Individual treasure is like what you would find on monsters wandering around. Horde treasure is what you'd get at the end of an adventure. Feel free to convert the coins to equipment or goods. Intelligent opponents will likely be using the treasure if it's useful, especially magic items.

It's easy to over do random or wilderness encounters. But they can be used to punish/reward thinking about routes. If they have never played before, definitely start with an easy encounter on the way to the main location. It gives the players a chance to try out the combat rules with less danger and without affecting the larger challenge. Rolling for possible night encounters rewards players who make cautious preparations. Random encounters can also give information - a preview of what sorts of things to expect. For example, if they are headed to a temple with unknown inhabitants, if it's now a goblin lair, they might encounter a goblin patrol. If the temple is now home to a cult of necromancers, they might encounter random skeletons. Intelligent opponents can also be captured and bribed/intimidated to get info on what's in store for them.

[Kaisenborg]

Thanks for the link!
Well my pcs are going to get thrown into a Dungeon straight away. I'm doing what's called "prisoners of molok" there was a guy online who talked about this basic öy they all get kidnapped and don't remember where they are or who they got there, so they will have to fight their way out. With my supervison this will be easy fights ofc and they will have no armor or gear so I need to make a bunch of ransom loot that kind of suits them or at least give them a lot of gold in the end so when they get back to town they will buy their new starter gear. Does that sound like a decent idea?

Sorry if I'm asking to many questions btw
But would it be easier to make an easy pantheon of God's or is there some pre-made pantheon in the PHB that don't know of? Because I'm almost into making my own since I think one of my players will be a cleric

[Stan]

That's a good start, as long as you don't make them go through the process of buying gear and trick them. (I've had that happen.)

There are detailed pantheons of unique D&D gods for settings such as Forgotten Realms. But they aren't necessary. People often use well known, historical pantheons, such as Norse, Greek, or Egyptian. The players handbook has tables of what domains each god would offer. Or you could have clerics serve abstract philosophies. I've often used a huge number of spirits instead of super powerful gods - the idea is a given spirit has a handful or even only one worshipper who has spells. This turns things around and lets the player invent a religion just for them. Or, you can just keep it vague and not detail religion at all.

[Kaisenborg]

How would I trick them? And ofc I should not do that I would just tell them to buy a set of ordinary starting gear for their specific class.