First time DMing advice?

[ReddKing]

Alright so me and some friends have always wanted to play DnD, but never had the chance to find a group to play. Finally I decided to make a group myself and everyone was elated. We're all (with the exception of 1) new to DnD, and I am creating a homebrewed story for them, one thatll be dark and horror-esque, under the 5e rules. For the most part. So i bought the 3 books read through them and I have a small list of things I'm uneasy on.

-This is a party of 6, how am I to balance loot in dungeons?

-For the same reason, what's the best way to make the dungeons challenging (choosing monsters/traps) without making it overwhelming and unfair?

-At what pace should I allow them access to new and more powerful gear?

-Would larger dungeons be better? Or smaller, more intricate ones?

These, amongst a few smaller things, are my largest concerns. If there is someone willing to pm me, or chat it out on discord with some advice, I'd be more than grateful.

It should also be noted I will be using the website Roll20 for this.

Thanks in advance!

[noob]

Try to guess if you want casters to do everything(then put low loot or no loot at all) or if you want the non casters to be able to do stuff(then try to have reasonable amount of loot because non casters are a bit dependent on stuff for being able to fight monsters)

[Pr6i6e6st]

If you've got time, check out matt colville and matt mercer on YouTube. They've both got their own series for DM tips and they're very good. Matt colville talks really really fast though, so just a heads up so you're not spinning after the first 10 seconds.

[Puh Laden]

Don't worry about loot just yet if you're starting at level 1. You'll probably get a feel for what loot you want to give and how often soon enough. I normally hand out loot based off my excitement to see it used. If this is a horror-themed campaign, you'll probably want to have magic items found rather than bought so you don't have to worry about gold as much. Also you might look into the Death House (https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/Curse%20of%20Strahd%20Introductory%20Adventure.pdf ) module as a starting point. I hear it can be a bit challenging for the players, but if it's horror that's probably what you want and it will probably be a little easier with 6 players.

Edit: to make it challenging but fair, have danger but give warning to the danger. If there's a dangerous predator, have the players discover a mangled half-eaten corpse. If there's a razorblade trap, have one or two skeletons by it with limbs severed or heads decapitated. If there's yellow mold tell the players they can see mold that is yellow. If creatures are sneaking up on them, have the creatures roll Dexterity (Stealth) vs the passive Wisdom (Perception) of the PCs.

[Beaureguard]

For a lot of the questions (especially those about loot) depend on what you want things to feel like for the players. Lots of powerful loot early makes encounters easier and makes your party more like super heroes. Less loot makes encounters harder and scarier since there's more of a chance of death. In a lot of ways you just have to get a feel for where you want to fall on the difficulty scale and match it with the right amount of loot. That being said, it's easy to give your players loot, but really hard to take it away. When you DO give them stuff, do it in small doses until you get it where you want. If you overdo it and try to have the great item you gave them taken away, you'll risk sore players.

I'd recommend a similar thing with encounters and dungeons. Start small and work your way up. Encounter one may be going to killing a pack of wolves that have been attacking local sheep herds. Players track them to a simple liar and fight them. If you made the wolf pack too strong, they aren't stuck in a place they can't run from, and they don't have to fight a "boss" after three more rooms. If it's too weak then you can note to yourself that it was an easy encounter and kick things up a notch for the next planned encounter.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'll second Beaureguard on starting small and small doses of loot. That's a sensible path for a new DM.


-This is a party of 6, how am I to balance loot in dungeons?

-For the same reason, what's the best way to make the dungeons challenging (choosing monsters/traps) without making it overwhelming and unfair?

-At what pace should I allow them access to new and more powerful gear?

-Would larger dungeons be better? Or smaller, more intricate ones?

I try to aim for one item per player when they get a large hoard (like after a boss fight or something). Other than that I just go by what feels right. Like, if there's an alchemist living in the dungeon, then there will be a workshop with a few potions in it, because that just makes sense. Balance isn't really a concern.
Use the rules on page 82 of the DMG as a starting point, then adjust from there if things seem too easy or too hard.
I'd say the best points for 'new and powerful gear' are levels 5, 10 and 15. It's completely up to you, though.
Depends on the story you want to tell and what your players happen to enjoy. 99% of the time, a variety is the best solution.

[ReddKing]

Thanks for all the replies, they've mostly quelled my uneasiness on the subject! 'specially that last one.

[Demonslayer666]

Alright so me and some friends have always wanted to play DnD, but never had the chance to find a group to play. Finally I decided to make a group myself and everyone was elated. We're all (with the exception of 1) new to DnD, and I am creating a homebrewed story for them, one thatll be dark and horror-esque, under the 5e rules. For the most part. So i bought the 3 books read through them and I have a small list of things I'm uneasy on.

-This is a party of 6, how am I to balance loot in dungeons?

-For the same reason, what's the best way to make the dungeons challenging (choosing monsters/traps) without making it overwhelming and unfair?

-At what pace should I allow them access to new and more powerful gear?

-Would larger dungeons be better? Or smaller, more intricate ones?

These, amongst a few smaller things, are my largest concerns. If there is someone willing to pm me, or chat it out on discord with some advice, I'd be more than grateful.

It should also be noted I will be using the website Roll20 for this.

Thanks in advance!

Don't worry about balancing loot. I use a random generator and let the party sort it out. If one person starts hogging all the magic times, I give out specific items designed for a specific character, that way the loot is a little more fair.

Challenging the party will depend a lot on several factors, mainly how well they make and run their characters. My gaming group is full of expert players, so I really have to ramp up encounters for them to get some challenge out of it. I suggest ramping it up slowly, since easy encounters are ok, but really hard ones kinda suck. I highly recommend multiple opponents, as a single monster will go down fast since the party can focus fire on it.

If you are allowing magic items in your game, 3rd-5th level is a good point at which to give out uncommon items. Around 5th or so, they will need a magic weapon in the group to help get past resistances and immunities. This is of course entirely up to you and your setting.

Dungeon size will not matter too much. The key will be challenging the party's resources with enough encounters between rests.

I highly recommend dunjon. I use it quite frequently.
https://donjon.bin.sh/

Also, check out this thread here on this site, it has lots of good stuff:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?377491-Guides-Tables-and-other-useful-tools-for-5E-D-amp-D

[Lord Il Palazzo]

For the first session or two, keep things simple. In my first couple sessions of DMing, I ran prepublished adventures and there were several encounters that had various sorts of complications, like extra monsters that would show up part way through or traps that enemies were supposed to spring. I pretty much universally forgot to use them because I had enough on my plate running combat when I wasn't used to it.

I suggest picking fairly simple monsters without a lot of abilities you have to choose from (for example, orcs or zombies who approach and attack every round rather than cultists with multiple levels of spells available). If you have a solo monster or two (say, as bosses) they can be a little more complicated since you have less to keep track of, but think in advance about how their fights should go. I occasionally write up battle plans for bosses like this:
Turn 1: Boss casts Spiritual Weapon targeting an obvious spellcaster then attacks the enemy he has the clearest shot on with his crossbow and moves behind nearby cover.
Turn 2: If Boss is still concentrating on Spiritual Weapon, he directs it toward the enemy that dealt him the most damage last round. Either way, he then drops concentration on SW, casts Hold Person on the biggest physical threat and then attacks again with the crossbow before getting back in cover.
Turn 3: etc.
Obviously not every fight will go exactly like you plan, but if you keep you can speed up combat for the first few rounds even, that's already a win.

Keeping things simple goes for loot as well. If you give a magic weapon with one or two minor properties (like the ones on the table at the start of the magic item section of the DMG) it can be interesting to players and potentially useful (especially once enemies who resist nonmagic weapons show up) without creating a lot of extra complication. Consumable items like potions and scrolls can be nice since they only add complication to the one encounter or situation they're used in (unless you've got a wizard copying spells into a spellbook or something like that.) I'm also a fan of items like a Hat of Disguise or a Bag of Holding that have a lot of non-combat utility since some new players have enough trouble weighing their actions in combat as it is and non-combat items can help focus their attention on being creative and having fun in non-combat encounters as well.

As for your specific questions:

1) Don't worry about balancing loot too much. The players will come up with a scheme for divvying thing up.

2) Mix things up. I like to use more monsters than traps or puzzles, but I usually try to have at least some trap or puzzle elements. I also use some groups of weaker monsters, some smaller groups of stronger monsters and some mixed groups of different monsters, to keep things fresh.

3) I would give the party a small number of magic items early on for the sake of creating interest and then dial it back for a little bit. For the first level or two, I'd stick to things the party as a whole benefits from (like a Bag of Holding or a Wand of Cure Wounds) rather than just giving one player a super cool new weapon. It also helps for attention-grabbing if there's some plot relevance or a hook to lure them to some new adventure tied to an item you give them (like a magic ring or amulet with an inscription that points them toward some bigger treasure or quest).
As for equipment upgrades in general, I would go every several levels. I wouldn't do it on the fives like Ninja_Prawn said, mostly because there are some levels where players get big power-ups from class features (like level 5 when fighters get extra attack and mages get level 3* spells or level 11 when mages get level 6* spells and most others get some significant bonus on their offense.) I would stagger significant upgrades to happen between these class feature upgrades (maybe plan big upgrades around character levels 3, 8, etc.) so you players get cool things to play with more often and you don't have to deal with too big a power increase all at once.

4) I'd lean toward less intricate ones at first, but like with monsters and loot, definitely vary things to keep them interesting. (Don't feel like you need to start DMing with a dungeon of five 30x30 ft. rooms all in a row with no branching.) Do consider having a few interesting terrain features here or there (maybe a row of columns players can use for cover or a cliff edge enemies can be shoved off) but mostly keep it simple starting out.

*Level 3 and level 6 spells are considered a big increase over the spells that came before. Compare Shatter (level 2) to Fireball (level 3) or Cone of Cold (level 5) to Chain Lightning (level 6).

Edit: Oh, and to echo GlenSmash! below, congrats on getting into DMing! It may seem like a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun and can be really rewarding too.

[GlenSmash!]

Kudos to your for starting your own campaign.

For my first outing I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I did some googling to find a really simple one shot adventure to start out with and settled on "A Dark and Stormy Knight" then used the stats from the 5e MM for all the critters, and Loot guidelines for a level 1 party from the DMG.

I'm not saying you have to do it my way, but I would say to start small. Map out a dungeon or two, decide what baddies you want there, and what their motivations are. Think of plot hooks to get your party invested in the campaign, and then build out from there. Small dungeons with a good mix of, traps, loot, monsters, and roleplaying encounters would probably be better than a mega dungeon.

There are also some other things I wish i had known before I started DMing:

Players are going to go off book as often as they can, so be wary of trying to get them involved in "your story" but rather let them make their story.

Be careful to make sure spread spotlight evenly between all the players. My preferred way to do this is after presenting the players with a scenario (like the description of the town they just got to, or room they just entered) I ask one specific player "What do you do?" Next time I'll ask a different player and so forth and so on. It really keeps the game moving, and keeps one player from dominating the table.

On that same token, resist the urge to stop play and look up a rule. Oftentimes it's better to just make a ruling (even a bad one) and keep the game moving, then look up the rule later.

Be prepared to learn from your mistakes, and learn how to have a good laugh about them.

Have fun! Let us know how it goes.

[ReddKing]

Jeez all these posts are making me confident about this. Thanks for the advice, everyone! I didn't expect such a large and quick turnout of answers...

I'll be running it this Saturday, still have plenty of things to plan as a start. Will definitley post on how it goes!

Thanks again

[nickl_2000]

I can't give as much advice as others since I literally DMed my first session, in my life, last night.

My best advice
1: you will screw up something in your mind. No biggie, your players know you are human. Go with whatever you messed up on and let it go.
2: if something is feeling boring to you, cheat so that he players can move on. Besides, you are the DM it's not cheating it's a table rule.
3: ask after what went well and didn't go well and listen.
4: except the odd and weird solutions and rioll with it.
5 MOST IMPORTANT: have fun with it and the players will too

[Tanarii]

Most important thing: open your DMG to chapter 8, Running the Game, and read it again. Especially Using Ability a Scores, starting on page 237. That's your core resolution mechanic. Make sure you know how to use it properly the 5e way.

Edit: also for first time DMs I highly recommend perusing Angry DM's website, especially his how to run a game articles. http://theangrygm.com/category/how-to-gm/how-to-run/

[Ninja_Prawn]

Most important thing: open your DMG to chapter 8, Running the Game, and read it again.

*cough* that chapter's in the PHB. Oh. I thought you were talking about the chapters about running the game in the PHB, which, it turns out, are 7 and 9 (I knew they were close to 8). Sorry.


Edit: also for first time DMs I highly recommend perusing Angry DM's website, especially his how to run a game articles. http://theangrygm.com/category/how-to-gm/how-to-run/

Yeah, Angry's got some great advice. It was reading his website that convinced me to get into DMing in the first place.

[Socratov]

As a newly minted DM myself all I can say is:


Relax - you will do fine, and while you think you will mess up so many things, the players won't notice it anyway and as long as the game keeps on moving it's all be moot anyway.
Don't be afraid to be silent. The players will need time to think and discuss and allowing silence to form will invite the players to fill it up.
for loot: stuff that gives previously closed avenues of action an opening, is less powerful or game breaking then stuf that enables people to do something they can already do, but improve on it. lvl 5-ish is a great point to hand out stuff that enables your party to do better what they already do.
Relax, just relax. You will do fine.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

*cough* that chapter's in the PHB.No. "Running the Game" is definitely chapter 8 of the DMG, you know. PHB chapter 8 is "Adventuring" with a lot of stuff about movement, environmental effects, resting, and downtime. It's a good read, but I'll second looking at the "Running the Game" section of the DMG. (Maybe not all of it; I think I remember it having siege weapon stats and some other niche things that won't be helpful DMing 90% of sessions.)

[Tanarii]

Yeah, Angry's got some great advice. It was reading his website that convinced me to get into DMing in the first place.
Honestly, I probably shouldn't recommend it for first time DMs. It's a little bit too much to absorb if you're already being overwhelmed preparing for running games.

It's probably better for either someone like you were, who hasn't yet gotten into DMing but is thinking about it. Or someone who's tried it a bit, and willing to do lots of reading to dig into the dirty details of how to improve.