New DM Questions

[True Hero Gaol]

Hello all, I am new to the D&D world and newer still to the art of DM’ing, and was hoping I could ask a few questions about the task!

I have a group of friends that are all very interested in the game and that are currently running a short campaign with another DM just to get the feel of the game before we dive in ourselves. We have some grand ideas for a campaign that we want to build but bought the Starter Set to get some ideas before jumping in. I went ahead and got all the books I considered relevant to starting our adventures (Players Handbook, DMG, Monster Manual, Xanthars Guide, Volo’s guide, and the Sword Coast book) so we are fairly prepared resource wise. Also, when it is relevant in the questions, I have an iPad I plan to set up as my adventure tool.

My main questions would be as follows: (All of these about DM’ing)

Encounter tables: Do you as the DM have a skeleton setup that you run all of your encounters off of and plug in monsters as the scenario fits OR do you make sure you set up tables for every adventure that you know you are running and match up monsters accordingly? Do you run these off any spreadsheets or just word documents? What is your feeling on the apps or webpages? How much info for monsters do you keep on the tables? Just the names and damage or do you have a card system you set up rather than going through the books every time?

Loot tables: Similar questions as above for the encounters, do you make tables and plug in as you go or roll for the items? How do you handle random items in the wild, like discovering hidden items on your path, do you bring into account passive perception or do you hide things along their path that can only be rolled for? When it comes to a treasure chest or loot from a monster do you roll for the contents every time and randomly assign or do you have an idea of it ahead of time? Do you stick with the rarity suggestions pretty rigidly or do you pull all items fairly evenly? Do you pull out item descriptions (or have an app that you trust?) or do you just go to the books every time?

Spell descriptions: A lot of spells are spread out amongst the books, do you have a separate table that you pull depending on the characters you have in it, is their an app, or do you pull out only what your characters are playing/the monsters you plan to bring out?

Publishing adventures: Obviously just starting out our adventures probably won’t be anything to write home about BUT eventually the goal would be to get some things published on the site. Does publishing allow only BY THE BOOK (If its not shown it doesn’t exist kind of rigidity) items and monsters or are you allowed to create your own items and monsters and still have it published? What is the limit to creating your own items and monsters if the first question allows? Would it be that they have to be something that could reasonably exist based on the rules of the game set out by 5e or is it basically just up to their site to make a final word on it? Being that the rules say to be published it must be in the “forgotten realms” does that mean it has to exactly be based IN an area of that land OR can it reference surroundings and deities “implying” that it is in the forgotten realms and be able to come up with some random castle or area in that world?

Extra Published Content: If it is published on the dungeon masters guild, so it is “officially published”, does that mean that it can be used in the creation of other publications OR are you only allowed to use “core” books to create publications? There are a lot of monsters, spells, encounters, classes, etc. etc… on the site and I wanted to know how much of that is ok to use and still be able to be published? I am assuming from the other content I have seen I may be thinking that the rules are stricter than they actually are BUT I want to make absolutely sure before I invest our time into something that just simply wont work.
How do you handle the extra published content with a player? Like, if a player finds a race or a class that is “published” (so technically “ok”) do you allow it to come in your adventure or do you have restrictions? I am guessing that is all DM dependent but if anyone had any basic rules of thumb that would be helpful, I would appreciate it.
Is there any content that is allowed (other than the books I outlined above) that you would suggest as necessary for a DM? Any of the published content, official adventures, stuff like that?

Use of Maps/Combat boards: How extensive do you get with your dungeon sheets/maps/combat boards? I had an idea to make long distance maps in a hex pattern with removable hexes that all contain encounters, items written on them, encounter rates, stuff like that on them with a master sheet that I would have to know what is happening in each instance and then a separate combat sheet or Dungeon sheet to pull up for each encounter respectively. Anyone else have a way they handle these? Would you consider these absolutely necessary?

Any help on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated.

I am definitely an over planner and know that this doesn’t have to be over complicated BUT I would rather be prepared with everything that I can if I have the option!

I suspect most of this information would be easiest to arrange in an excel sheet or word document but if anyone has any suggestions for apps or things I may be overlooking I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

[Unoriginal]

Sorry I can't answer all your questions right now, but here's a few:

Encounter and loot tables are used to add randomness, and so are not needed if you want something more "controled" (as in, you decide the next encounter/loot). IMO it's best to keep the table simple, with the reference for what it is in detail writen elsewhere (ex: "rolled 47: 1d2+3 Killer Crabs" *look at doc detailing the encounter more (or not)*)


For the published adventures: unless you play in the Adventure League, you can alter them as much as you want. Obviously the less you keep of the plot, the less the campaing will be like in the book, but nothing's stopping you. You can put them elsewhere than in Forgotten Realms (some books do give suggestions on how to adapt them), add your own items and monsters, even change who the main antagonist is.

Doesn't mean changing things wily-nili is good for the story or easier to run, but if you think you'll prefer something to be different, you can change it as you wish.

[LordEntrails]

You're off to a good start, asking some good questions. The answer to most of them is "it depends" :) Since that's not so helpful, I'll try to give you some specifics in a moment.

I would suggest though that you look into the following before you get too far;

- Don't Prep Plots (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots), this is one of the blogs that addresses the larger philosphy of minimizing GM prep time, not pre-determining the campaign story, and creating a living campaign of situations and not storylines. Also read this from Juston; http://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101
- Sly Flourish (http://slyflourish.com/start_here.html), he's got a lot of good advice, plus he also expounds on the 5 minute philosophy as his approach to the above philosophy.
- I like these videos for both players and GMs, https://www.youtube.com/user/Bon3zmann

I have a bunch more links to references here, read what interests you and take what you value; http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?36014-GM-Advice

Now to your specific questions:

Encounter Tables: I do use the ones out of the DMG, plus I setup ones for specific areas. I use Fantasy Grounds, so they are all linked to MM/Volos etc stat blocks and I just click once and the whole random encounter is created for me and I just have to throw the tokens on a map. Others might have advice more related to how you will probably play.

Loot Tables: Set encounters I usually create the loot before the players come across it. Though I usually use the random tables to give me ideas of what they might have. IMO, it's important that I validate the loot before hand, and allow the NPCs to use appropriate items (I mean, the boss NPC brute should be using that +2 greatsword and not just hoarding it in the chest behind his chair).

Spell Descriptions: Again, I use FG, so everything is a click away on the character sheets or in the spell list. Old school I used to keep a brief annotation on my character sheet that told me casting time, duration, range and damage. You can also include a book and page number reference. But once you start using spells a lot, you will probably memorize those you commonly use so something more elaborate may not be needed.

Publishing Adventures:
This is a big topic. Their are a few good blogs out there, but it's been a long time since I read them so I could only blindly do a google search for those. Their are also two Facebook groups dedicated to DMsG authors and products that you may want to checkout (Creator's Circle (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1977612149124315/) and Fan club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DMGuildFanClub/))

In short, there are two ways you can publish; Via the OGL or via the DMsGuild. The OGL allows you to distribute anywhere, but you can only use the SRD content plus your own original content. The DMsG allows you to use the SRD and all 5E WotC publications as well as content from other DMsG authors, but you can only distribute through the DMsG (no Kickstarters, no DriveThru RPG, no personal website, etc).

Read the FAQ on the DMsG and then let us know what questions you have; https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/categories/202531048-DMs-Guild-General-Information

Maps:
I'm a big map guy, and yes, use hex maps for overland and grod for combat/round based exploration. There are links in my advice post linked above that talks about this some. Again, I use Fantasy Grounds so it keeps track of all of that for me with hyperlinks to descriptions and encounters and all that. (and you can use it with a digital game table if you make or buy one.) There are a couple of campaign managers online like Realm Works and Obsidian Portal you might like. Finally, the best at-the-table mapping tool is a dry erase map. It is quick and versatile. Not as pretty as 3D dungeon scapes, poster maps, or pre-printed tiles, but it gets the job done and really is your failsafe if you want gridded maps. You can always use it for random encounters or anything else.

I don't know about here on the playground, since I'm relatively new here, but ENWorld has a downloads sections with lots of tools such as spreadsheets etc. Can't recommend anything, as everything I use is in FG.

And DON"T OVER PLAN. It's not worth your time. Setup situations, define key NPC's that are drivers in the world, then spend some time setting up a couple for things going on in your world before your first session, then after each session figure out how the world has adapted to the changes the players have imposed on it. Prep the situations and the motivations, not the details! It does mean you have to get comfortable improvising, but you can do it and your players will never know!

[Tiadoppler]

Encounter tables:

I prepare a list of all the factions that have roaming forces in the general (30mi radius) area, and create sample encounters with each, that can be scaled up or down as needed. I reuse encounters occasionally based on how likely they are. The list is usually in Notepad++, and the encounters are in OpenOffice (Writer) (AKA Word) with extremely abbreviated stats in text form, so I can print out a whole encounter of enemies on a single piece of paper.

For example:
- Wildlife/Wolf pack
- Wildlife/Momma bear and cub
- Wildlife/Moose herd
- Kingdom A/Patrolling horsemen
- Kingdom A/Rangers
- Kingdom A/Soldiers guarding a wagon or carriage
- Kingdom B/Assassin or spy
- Bandits/Ambush
- Bandits/Camp
- Goblin/Raiding Party
- Goblin/Refugee Camp
- Rare/Rogue Elemental





Loot tables:

Always customized for the campaign, I use OpenOffice (Calc) (AKA Excel) to create weighted loot tables I can roll automatically. I never use the book loot tables, because I prefer to roll for the wealth of an opponent, then generate loot based on what makes sense for that character. Archers will be more likely to have arrows, while Swordsmen are more likely to have swords. A wild animal isn't likely to carry anything itself, but might be chewing on the body of it's last victim.

There are no random locked treasure chests strewn across the world. Jewelry, coins and occasionally gems are the most common grabbable loot. It's hard to carry or sell 10 sets of iron armor with bloody holes in the chestplate. Magical potions are pretty common, arrows less so. True, permanent magical weapons and armor are pretty rare.

Edit: I like to include extremely minor wondrous magical items as loot. One of my favorites: exploring an ancient temple, the party found the bathroom. Hanging in one corner was a clay image of a whale on a little chain. The clay whale had a permanent Prestidigitation effect that kept the surrounding area clean and smelling nice. No other effect, no combat effect, but became one of the party's real treasures. Think of anything small, modern and useful and make it magical+permanent. Flashlight. Alarm clock. Drill. Short ranged radio. Vacuum cleaner. Kindle-style book reader that can copy any non-magical writing. GPS system.





Spell descriptions:

I usually have access to the PCs spell list, and will copy it out into a single, abbreviated page for each player. It's time consuming at the beginning, but once you have most of the common spells in a text document, copy-pasting is easy. Books are at the table anyway, but I'd rather not flip them open during a game.

I'm upfront with the players about not including all spells in a game, especially certain high-level, campaign destroying spells.





Publishing adventures:

It's not a personal interest of mine, so I don't know much about it. My campaign is as close to, or as far from official settings as necessary to entertain my players.





Extra Published Content:

I believe that if you want to publish officially, you cannot reference unofficial classes/spells.


For character creation in a personal campaign:

UA: Almost always allowed until the official ruling or class is out. Subject to RAI rulings if I notice something absurd happening.

Homebrew or 3rd party: Send it to me to read. Convince me that your character's backstory and training requires this specific set of abilities and none of the standard classes will work. If you're a pixie from Waterdeep, you'd better have a good excuse for your three levels in Space Marine (Psionic). Usually allowed, or allowed with modifications. Subject to RAI rulings if I notice something absurd happening. I may ask the player to reroll their character(keeping name, species, XP, and overall wealth) to a similar 1st party class if it proves unbalanceable.





Use of Maps/Combat boards:

I use a 1.25" paper grid (~2'x3', in a tear-away notepad) in the center of the table. Continent/travel map is drawn using GIMP2 and printed on 8.5x11. This is for my use. The players make their own maps. Local area map: a square is 10 miles across, big enough for towns or the center of a city. Battle map is 5' standard. Permanent marker in lots of different colors.



I always make sure that 1 campaign = 1 clearly labelled folder for all files. Keep backups.

[Unoriginal]

If you want to roll on the table for loot, it's often better to do it before the fight, and have the creatures uses the items if relevant.

For exemple, a kobold might not use a cape that let them breath underwater if they didn't plan to go near water before leaving their lair, but they will generally carry any magic sword they managed to get their hands on.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Encounter tables

Personally, I tailor every encounter to suit my needs; having a 'skeleton' or framework for them would defeat the point in my view. I haven't actually used a random encounter table in years.


Loot tables

For random loot, I use the DMG tables. About half the time I just pick a set of things that I think the players will find interesting, though.

Randomly hiding treasure in the wild is fine, but you need to be sparing with it. Treasure is powerful and should generally be a reward for overcoming challenges, or a tool that will be needed for future challenges. Also it would encourage players to spam Perception checks even more than normal, which is not a good thing.


Spell descriptions

Is it weird to have all the spells and their descriptions memorised?


Publishing adventures

I don't know much about the DM's Guild, sorry. I write for a 3rd party publisher, so we have our own standards & procedures (such as OGL compliance).


How do you handle the extra published content with a player?

Case-by-case basis. Sometimes I'll pre-approve a selection of non-core content at the start of a campaign, but generally I like people to start from the core books and only ask for extra things if they really need them.

Playtests for content I've written are obviously an exception to this.


Use of Maps/Combat boards

Maps can be nice to have, but they're not essential. Using Roll20, I keep a strategic map to mark where the party is in the world and sometimes use tactical maps for combat, but only for major encounters. I'd say that adding metadata to a map is overkill. The advantage D&D has over video games is that the game is being run by a sentient being, who can just make stuff up as and when it's needed. You don't have to hard-code every potential dungeon and treasure chest from the start, you know?

[True Hero Gaol]

Wow, all of you guys have given me huge chunks to think about, I really appreciate it! Wrote this on my lunch break and am just reading the comments. I will be back once I am off work and go into some more detail but I did want to say, thank you for those that responded, a lot of good points and resources, stuff i didn't even think of!