First time DM using 5e. Advice?

[Mangles]

Morning.

I'm about to run my first 5e game as DM. Any particular advice?

I was going to run Hall of Kobolds from the DMG. Anyone have an estimate how long would that module run for with a new to d&d group?

[Kane0]

Well, what do you know about your group?

Also, how much time do you have, and how much experience do you have as DM in general?

Have you read this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?358474-A-Grognard-s-Guide-to-D-amp-D-Next-5E-Rules) yet?

Edit: Wait, Hall of Kobolds? Where that?

[Mangles]

In my group we have 3 people who haven't played in 10 to 15 years and 2 people who are brand new to the game. I've played a fair bit play by post and a few online games but haven't played in person at all.

In regards to DM experience, I've run two or three 3.5e games that didn't go really well. Mainly due to typical PbP interest drop I think. I'm hoping a one shot adventure in person will go better.

I read Grognard's Guide just now and I think it helped clear up some spell caster stuff I had in my head from 5e.

I don't have my DMG on me right now but I'm talking about the adventure right at the end. I think its called Kobold's hall. A few kobold fights and a white dragon fight at the end.

[Kane0]

Well you've played enough to be familiar, but if you have new starters just take it slow. It might even take you a full session 0 to get characters and sort out the basics, unless you're using pregenerated characters.
The good news is that 5e is pretty easy to pick up and play, so you shouldn't have to spend too long learning the ropes. The stuff in the DMG should be easy enough to finish in the one go without much hassle.
If you're familiar with 3.5 then be aware of the differences between it and 5e, they appear mechanically similar but the style and feel of play is noticeably different. Don't be afraid to get stuff wrong and check it later for next time.

Don't stress over it, remember that it is a game after all and you are only starting out. There will be plenty of chances to 'get it right' the more you do it, for now just focus on having fun.

[Puh Laden]

I don't know what your pbp setup is, and this might sound obvious, but for face-to-face I would recommend either writing down the most frequently used monster stats for the session or keeping them open on a laptop. I often keep the SRD open on my laptop for just such an occasion since most of the common monsters are in there.

Edit: I also like using this quick rule sheet: http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172273

[Bahamut7]

Bounded Accuracy. You need to understand this and action economy in this version first and foremost. ALL classes but Monk get 1 attack per turn at level 1. Even spells that affect multiple targets is still 1 time. So plan accordingly. Not everyone will have a bonus Action at level 1.

As for Bounded Accuracy, barring specific Magic Items (Manuals, Tomes, and Giant Belts) attribute scores max out at 20 (with items they can not go over 30). I think one monster has an AC of 28. Tarrasque 25. Everything else is pretty much lower. To hit bonuses are rarely given out and most characters will get I believe +16 at most (could be wrong) at level 20. A +11 will be about the most a character will get to apply to saving throws.

Consumables are your player's best friends as the system is designed for low Magic item.

Cantrips and Proficiency Bonus scales with character level...everything else is class level.

Feats and Variant Human are optional. Read up on these and decide if they are allowed.

Multi-classing is also optional and generally requires key timing as well as a stat requirement. make sure your players understand this. It is still very much possible and offers decent combos.

Not all spells add ability modifier to damage.

[Mangles]

Looks like Kobolds Hall is a 4e oneshot in the wrong DMG. This is what i get for looking for a starter adventure late at night.

Guess i'll buy the starter set unless anyone has a recommendation for a level 1 adventure.

EDIT: @Puh Laden: Solid advice, I'll definitely do that.

EDIT: @Bahamut7 clearly need to read up more on action economy since that didn't just all make clear sense to me. Fuzzy on the bonus action thing, I'll work it out.

[Bahamut7]

EDIT: @Bahamut7 clearly need to read up more on action economy since that didn't just all make clear sense to me. Fuzzy on the bonus action thing, I'll work it out.

Most classes will move and take an action. The action can be attack, casting a spell, moving again, etc. A bonus Action is typically awarded base on class. For example, a Monk at level 1 can move, make an attack, and then make an unarmed attack with their bonus action. You can move and attack and move so long as you have movement leftover.

The biggest concern for action economy is for creatures with multi attacks. At level 1 this effectively turns the creature into 2 based on action economy. Be cautious with creatures with multi attacks at low levels. Most martials don't get a second attack until level 5...they will still have means of boosting their damage, but still only one chance to hit.

Oh yea, critical successes make you roll damage dice twice and you only add the static damage mod once.

[KorvinStarmast]

You want advice?
Here's some good advice for a first time DM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepFO4psgKE).

[Tanarii]

Read DMG chapter 8 Running the Game.

Especially the section on Using Ability Scores p237-242. Although the following Exploration and Social Interaction sections are also useful.

Also make sure you're familiar with the PHB Adventuring chapter. A lot of DMs, especially ex-players, kinda gloss over that in favor of the Combat stuff. It has a lot of useful things about basic D&D dungeon & wilderness-oriented exploration. Including noticing threats. (In that regard, the DMG also has stuff on secret doors and traps worth reading as well.)

[Puh Laden]

Looks like Kobolds Hall is a 4e oneshot in the wrong DMG. This is what i get for looking for a starter adventure late at night.

Guess i'll buy the starter set unless anyone has a recommendation for a level 1 adventure.

EDIT: @Puh Laden: Solid advice, I'll definitely do that.

EDIT: @Bahamut7 clearly need to read up more on action economy since that didn't just all make clear sense to me. Fuzzy on the bonus action thing, I'll work it out.

I hear the starter set is good. The DMsGuild also has plenty of free and pay-what-you-want adventures too, though admittedly the only ones of those I've actually ran, rather than just read, were the ones I put on there, which I won't name out of respect for the rules.

As for action economy: On your turn you get 1 action, 1 move (which is explicitly not an action, and it can be split up on your turn), 1 bonus action if a feature, spell, or what-have-you gives you one, and you get 1 reaction for a round. Bonus actions are not interchangeable with actions nor vice-versa, neither are moves nor reactions. The only instance in which action can be read to also mean bonus action is that whenever you are deprived of your action you are also deprived of your bonus action. You also get one free "object interaction" on your turn; stuff like drawing or stowing one weapon, opening or closing a door, etc. And if a feature doesn't say what kind of action it uses, it doesn't use one at all.

Attacks can also be something that's a bit confusing that you should probably make sure you understand, though you probably won't need to worry about it at low levels. But for instance, an attack is different from the Attack action. There are melee attacks, ranged attacks, "weapon" attacks, spell attacks, and combinations such as melee weapon attack, or ranged spell attack.

[Sabeta]

I have an extremely analytical style of thinking. Which comes down to: I enjoy deconstructing things and then rebuilding them. When I finally decided it was time to be a DM rather than a Player, I deconstructed all of the elements that made my previous DMs either successful, or unsuccessful. I then rebuilt that, tweaked it a bit to find my own style, and roled with it. I was very clunky at first, but my players really enjoy my campaign so far.

My Favorite Moment: When I pulled the map off the table, to reveal a nearly identical map but with a cloud backdrop in place of grass, as I narrated how the castle they were battling in was actually an Airship. Had two audible gasps, and a "holy ****."

Anyway, here's my advice:
1) Know the Rules: Memorize everything, from class features to those pesky Darkness/Hidden/Hiding/Perception/Investigation questions that everyone on this board but me and a few others seem to have so much trouble with. Failing that, know where you can find those rules as quickly as possible. Bookmark specific pages in the PHB for quick reference. When the DM gets stumped the game halts, make sure you're able to get it back on track.
2) Be willing to break the Rules: The rules are fine and dandy, but sometimes my players could so something cool if I allowed him to jump just 5 feet more than the rules perscribe. I might allow it, so long as they don't try to abuse the rule of cool to the point that nothing makes sense anymore.

That's the only truly important parts, honestly. Especially if you stick to premade adventures. A couple of other helpful things to know include a fine understanding of class balance/capabilities so that you can either keep an eye out for munchkins trying to multiclass something cheesy (like that old Coffee Drow I saw a while back, or the oh-so-famous Warlock 2 dip). Here's a few more though.

3) Understand the settings lore intricately. I run a homebrewed campaign, and was surprised when my player (who is Jewish) asks if any animals are considered to sacred to hunt or eat. I then arbitrarily decided that anything with horns was considered sacred, because the goddess herself had them. Cows were up for debate, and my character firmly planted herself on the side that Cows were sacred, and I used that for roleplaying opportunities later on.

4) Railroading isn't railroading if your players don't notice. Create paths of least resistence, or play on their morals. My players will always do the right thing. If they're given a choice between a village possibly under attack, or escorting wealthy merchants to the next town over, I know they'll pick the village 9/10 times. Knowing how your players will respond makes it so that you can give them the illusion of choice while secretly keeping everything railroaded. Even if they go with the wealthy merchants option, I can just shift the combat encounters to a generic road and the problem is solved.

5) If you run your own campaign, keep it consistent. There's a lot of ideas I put into my game that didn't work when it came to playtesting. For example, in my world people who aren't buried come back to life within a few hours, as an "Animate". They're like zombies, except without the rotting part, and they even retain their memories. It's almost like a second life, but the world fears them so it's mandatory to bury people as soon as they die to prevent Animate from ruling the world. I decided that this was a little bit too annoying if literally everything did it, so I decided that monsters don't have souls and don't need to be buried. It required some retconjuration, but ultimately worked out; however now there's a few more things that I want to tweak and I'm worried my players will get annoyed if the story retroactively changes too much.

TLDR: You just need the rulebooks and and adventure and you're good to go. You don't need to be Matt Mercer to be a DM, you just need to know the rules and be a decent storyteller. You don't need to be a professional VA, just good enough to seperate the NPCS for your players.

I kind of meandered through that, probably a bit too much. Sorry if my post was a whole lot of nothing.

[Mangles]

It was an interesting meander at least. Gives me something to think about if this one shot turns into an ongoing campaign. I didnt really want to just run modules others have made, this was just a solution to see if we were interested in more.

[MrFahrenheit]

Avoid house rules and UA for the time being, until you get a feel for the game and what you think fits best.

[Jorgumander]

I don't know what your pbp setup is, and this might sound obvious, but for face-to-face I would recommend either writing down the most frequently used monster stats for the session or keeping them open on a laptop. I often keep the SRD open on my laptop for just such an occasion since most of the common monsters are in there.

Edit: I also like using this quick rule sheet: http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172273

This was a super handy find. THANK YOU!!!

[Geodude6]

OP, I plan to adapt Kobold Hall to 5e and run it for a few new players. As long as you do the work to convert it to 5e mechanics, it should be a fine adventure.

[Cespenar]

For an intro to 5e, I suggest the Lost Mines of Phandelver module. It's a pretty good module for both beginners and old timers, and got things for everyone: has both sandbox and linear parts, combat and talky bits, etc.

I recommend it heartily.