Noob dm needs help

[Spermax]

Hello! I just started playing dnd with my friends. I'm planning our first adventure, a 2 days "one shot". I made my own dm screen, so the question I have is what kind of info should I put there? Values? Monsters? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[Twizzly513]

Some advice I got and have found useful is to have list of some male and female names just in case your characters talk to someone random (it will happen often). That way you can have names that fit your theme instead of George the Guard. You could add in a table to roll on or just a list of things that could happen on the way to somewhere, so that way you can keep things exciting and keep the players on their toes.

[Demonslayer666]

Conditions, difficulty scale, lighting, and travel speed.

Reminders on a sticky note:
character names and players
give out inspiration
concentration checks

[Shining Wrath]

You'll need the conditions more often than anything else. E.G., it's not always easy to remember the differences between incapacitated and paralyzed.

A random name generator. Roll two or three D20, pick one syllable from columns A, B, & C. There's some good ones on the Internet if you have a tablet or laptop.

[MrStabby]

A map.

I find this very useful. Need an NPC - you can pick a traveller from anywhere, someone with a friend/brother/enemy somewhere else. A map gives clues as to the ecology of the area so someone who died in the wilderness died to a manticore/harpies/yuan-ti. It helps so much with on the spot backgrounds as well as travel distances, being aware of the local economy, history and whatever. When things go off the rails there can be a place for the PCs to go.



Passive perceptions.

Nothing ruins suspense quite like asking the PCs what their passive perception is.



Spell descriptions for your enemy casters.


Prices for typical goods (on the spot if you need to build a quest/quote a reward this gives you a sense of scale of what you are offering. It is also useful as a shop/building a world to gauge what is poor/rich etc and what people in different sections of society can afford. Just a little list. You don't have infinite space.


Major plot points/world points for players to discover

The things you want to work into the campaign/hint at over the next few months. The longer you can let these things unfold the less artificial and rammed in they seem to be. When the PCs start to grill the old soldier in the bar he can work some of these into his tales.

[Whit]

Let's look at what is needed by all people
1. Make sure the adventures know where their dc check. Armor class weapon damage a few main spells and what equipment they have
2. DM is the story teller and monsters
Have a few names ready male female
For town or etc social interaction
3. Have your encounters ready hit points ac D.C. Damage DVD treasure if any
Have difficulty checks ready
So, you can have them interact and roll some skills
Passive Check rolls ready
Active searches due secret doors or searching for treasure
Or that hidden creature.

Generic example: tavern x in city x
Guards post fir adventures to check 5 days west where a caravan disappeared. Each person gets up to check. Introduce each other and ask guard bar keep etc info social interaction Play your stats
Meet the sheriff who makes contract with your group
Group buys supplies if needed go out searching. Random encounter possible on road. Friendly or not.
Investigation tracks off into woods or wherever. Random encounter or not. Friendly or not.
Find wagon and goblins. Or empty wagon that leads to cave and whatever. Simple trap to find or get hit. Defeat bad guys find a note Adventure hook to continue.

Or more elaborate an apprentice or one of your characters havnt heard from the local wizard who lives x days from town. Travel to tower. Doors locked my magic. Pick lock or find the clue to open the door. A magic mouth or statue asks. Opens to a bigger than looks tower. Investigate. Find main lvl and stairs leading up. Secret door that leads down. Some traps if not investigated searched for. Few minor elemental combats fire kitchen, water bathroom, earth leading to trap door. Air in tower. Perhaps portal in tower to lower lvl a mishapled summoning circle. A mischievous imp or quasit loose a minor demon an imprisoned mage a fight. Perhaps releasing him to help win the fight. Now a friend and benefactor

[Whit]

Look at what a DM screen has. And pick what you think you may need and not need.

[CaptainSarathai]

I did the same thing, made a screen for myself from two 3-ring binders and some clips. What's nice about this method, is that I can turn the pages in my screen (held open by clips) and flip through the different charts and info I have typed up.

One of the pages that I almost always have showing, is the "Who's at my table" page. It's a simple list with

Name of Player
Name of Character
Race, Class
AC
Attribute Scores (I bold any that they have save proficiency in)
Skill Proficiencies
It takes up far less space than you think. Once I know the Proficiency Bonus (written in the top corner of the list) and their Ability Mods, I can figure out what their skill modifiers based on a list of skills. I only need to update my table when they get new Prof Bonuses, an ASI, or somehow learn new skills.
That chart lets me be sure to always call them by character name, to help immersion. I also don't have to ask "does X hit you?" I already know. I have all their saves and skills as well, so I can tailor things to them. For example, if I know Gro-Balog the Half Orc has knowledge Nature, whenever Araxis the Paladin asks about a sculpture of some "mythical" beast, I can say that Gro-Balog's knowledge of creatures might apply here, without the player even asking.

I also have a page with "at a glance" info, like a DC table, generic Monster AC/HP/Damage by level, Condition effects, and notes or page numbers for weird stuff like Grappling or Squeezing.

I have several lists of names. About 50 male and female names for each race or faction in the game. I roll these on a "d60" which is a d6 and d10, giving numbers between 11-69. When I assemble these names, I usually use names that have a meaning, like the Nordic name "Bjorn" means bear, and I write that alongside. This way, when I roll up a name for an NPC, I also have a bit of inspiration for their personality as well. Bjorn might be very large and kinda hairy, and have a deep, booming voice and gruff personality.

I write all of my monsters onto notecards as I use them. Then, I clip all those together in alphabetical order, and keep them with my binder. Whenever I need to make an encounter on the fly, I have some critters to pick from off the notecards.

In the center I keep my campaign notes, like the map of the dungeon, any info I've typed up for the current adventure, etc.

Any handouts are easily tucked into the binder pockets, and I have a few generic town maps printed out ahead of time, in case they ask. If I poached them off the internet, I just drop a white block over any town names and stuff, so that I can always write them in as I bring up the map.

I also keep a notebook and pencil. Any campaign notes get jotted down in here, I can track damage on it, and if I have to crack a book to reference anything, I always mark down the rule and page, so that to can decide if I want to add this to the screen when I get home.

My set up is like the traditional "3-panel" screen from the outside. The middle was left as just a white sheet and I used a bold, dry-erase marker to write on the plastic cover; I marked initiative order on here, so that players always knew who was on deck. It speeds up combat enormously (I keep a list for myself jotted in the notebook, with any hidden creatures, Lair effects, etc).
The two side panels originally had art slipped into the covers, to look a bit more professional and evoked the campaign setting. Over time though, I realized that it might be more helpful to start giving the players some reference notes, and so now, one wing displays a reference sheet for common rules, and the other has a list of names, for people, places, etc that is currently relevant to the game. This sheet comes in and out a lot, and I don't usually bother typing it. It's just a way to remind the players that "the king" is actually named Anceval, and "his castle" is called Landuin. Again, this helps them with immersion.

Other budget tricks that I use:

My battle mat is just poster board with a grid drawn on, and then gloss laminate stuck over top. You could also use clear packing tape. It can be used with dry-erase markers. The official mats use grease pen and water to erase.

My creature tokens are printed and cut out from pictures I found online. I mirror the image to have a front and back, fold it in half and glue/tape it, and then stick it into a binder clip as a base. I used some number stickers on each binder clip, so that if I'm attacking with 6 goblins, they are each numbered 1-6 where the players can see them. Easier to say, "I attack goblin #6" than, "I attack the goblin over there, by the door - the one attacking Gro-Balog. No, the other one attacking Gro-Balog!"

I have really cool 3d dungeon tiles that I built by myself. Whenever I design dungeons, I draw up any tiles that I'll need onto corrugated cardboard. Grid-squares are 1" and then I leave a 1/4" border around the piece. I cut little 1/4" thick strips to frame the piece and serve as "walls."
Wrap each piece in tape to hide the wavy edges of the cardboard, then glue them together. You can buy textured grey spray-paint from stores like Wal-Mart or Lowe's, so I spray everything with that for a suitable stonework look. Or you can just paint them grey, whatever. Paint grid lines into them, and you're good go. They'll a good, long time, and the players really love them.
I make doors the same way I make my tokens - print a picture, stick it into a binder clip.
I've also made scenery from cardboard, like tents, trees, buildings and stuff. It uses the same principles, but it's a little more complicated.

I bought a pack of poker-chips as well. I used these as tokens on the board for things like conditions and persistent spell effects. If I have an item to be picked up and carried around during a combat (like "capture the flag") then I'll print a picture of the object and tape it to a chip.
Some people use these for inspiration, too. I don't. I use Hershey's Kisses! I can get a giant bag of them for a dirt cheap. I give players a Kiss whenever they earn inspiration (yes, the jokes are inside and dirty) and when they cash it in for Advantage, they also get to eat tasty chocolate.

I play at an FLGS, and these kinds of things have earned me a bit of notoriety as the guy that people want to have as their DM. I get tagged to do events at the store like Free RPG day, and holiday 1-shots (especially Halloween)