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Dmitri
2019-04-03, 07:00 AM
so my friends want me to DM and im lost on what to do and how i should take notes on the quest and one member is really new to D & D :frown:

Ken Murikumo
2019-04-03, 07:27 AM
Best way to learn is by doing! Just jump in and go for it. That said, there are some tricks:

-Use a system your familiar with; otherwise use an easy system to learn with

-Try using a module for your first adventure. If you're crazy (like me) disregard this.

-Get an idea of what the players want out of the game. Have a good session zero

-Don't plan too heavily. You plans WILL NOT survive first contact with the players.

Gerner
2019-04-03, 08:00 AM
Hi

I think the first thing is to start simple I use the first session as a "tutorial" were they might be traveling to watch the first main quest giver or something like that.

If you are new to DMing and the party consists of mainly new players I would start at level 1 to decrease the number of possibilities for the players (and you) to keep track on.

My last adventure I more less started out as Matt describes in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTD2RZz6mlo&list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_&index=2

If you do not want to write your own you can use several prewritten adventures.

Remember you gonna make mistakes, and offend the players wont even notice, just roll with it and have fun.

Zhorn
2019-04-03, 08:55 AM
Welcome to the DM's Club!

It is horrifying the first time, but you'll find you legs pretty quick.

advice... hmmm.

Session zero is a must. A single session adventure not tied to the main plot. If things are going to go south while everyone is working things out, best to have it happen in a non-canon event.
Start with something that lets players start rolling dice early (combat, skill challenge, chase encounter, anything). An rp start is tough for first time, both as a DM and new player, but encounters are the best ice breakers.

The goal of the session zero doesn't need to be complex, and is best kept as simple as possible:

Riding between towns and being chases by highway men.
A small rundown prison/dungeon has just been overrun by a ghoul attack and now's a chance for the players to escape.
A small town wresting match with a grand prize of 50gp.
A bear has killed a small child and the parents hired a few mercenaries to hunt it down.


My current game started with a roadhouse my players were at being taken over by a group of wild folk (gnoll cultists). Players had to band together, find there equipment and get away alive.
Launched them into Lost Mines after that, but it gave them a chance to make mistakes without impacting the module the following week.

Zakhara
2019-04-03, 01:34 PM
http://i.imgur.com/jPhFhuF.jpg

Start with your best foot forward: prepare for ease of improvisation over exhaustive storytelling. Lists of names, places, descriptions, and shorthand rules help far more than mapping out places the players don't need to care about yet.

Keep it simple to start. If you're new, and some players are new, ask some patience from any more experienced (and request their aid). Don't try to set the world on fire; you must walk before you run. Don't try to start an epic until you're comfortable with something more digestible.

Draw from your influences, both for portraying characters and giving the game your thumbprint. Enthusiasm trickles down to the players.

Avoid "railroading," as the fun in these games comes from unprecedented freedom in trying things. Establish a situation, ask what they do, and follow through based on their choice. If they go somewhere you didn't expect, adapt your ideas around their choice--you get to use your material, and they get to see proper consequence from their actions. Everybody wins.

You will feel like this:
https://img.devrant.com/devrant/rant/r_504352_r4eRQ.gif

This is good. Embrace the chaos and it can no longer hurt you.

Wuzza
2019-04-03, 02:01 PM
so my friends want me to DM and im lost on what to do and how i should take notes on the quest and one member is really new to D & D :frown:

If your friends have "designate" you DM, then they have confidence that you can do it.

Have you and your players watched rpg's on youtube? Crit Roll, Nerdachy etc? Is so, ensure that you all realise that for the first few months (random timescale, but you get the idea) you're sessions aren't going to be anywhere near that polished.
While you are learning, and I know DM'ing can fill you with dread, realise and express to everyone in your group, that you are ALL learning.
Honestly, your first few goes might not pan out exactly what you have in your head, and that's ok. Once you are all a bit more comfortable, maybe see if someone else wants to run a one-shot.
When you learn to ride a bike, the first few times you'll fall off. Just get back on the horse (bike) and keep going.

You can do it dude!:smallbiggrin:

Wuzza
2019-04-03, 02:02 PM
http://i.imgur.com/jPhFhuF.jpg
https://img.devrant.com/devrant/rant/r_504352_r4eRQ.gif

Those wheels aren't wobbly enough...… :smallsmile: (also, Gromit isn't blindfolded)

SirGraystone
2019-04-03, 02:06 PM
For a first adventure the most suggestions is "Lost Mine of Phandelver" because it's been written as a introduction to the game, and has lots of advices added.

Now if you want to write you own stuff, the first rule I would follow is don't create more then you need. You can start with something like this
- A village as a starting point with an Inn, General store, blacksmith, small church and leader (mayor or minor lord)
- The name of the near town, you don't need more then the name at this time, but it's somewhere for the adventurer to explore later or just upgrade their gears
- The name of the kingdom and it's leader
- The local landmark, a river, a lake, a forest, mountains

You can draw a basic map putting all those together. You don't need more then that to start (many adventure were started with even less)

Next you need a dungeon, it doesn't have to be very big 6 to 12 rooms is enough for a first one. Keep it simple. It can be an abandoned mine, half buried temple, just caves infested by monsters.

The second rule I would follow is that for everything you create, try to add a secret link to it. The blacksmith may be a spy for the King keeping an eye on the mayor of the village. The Innkeeper may be a retired rogue who has a price on his head and his hide far away from the city. The goblins infesting the copper mine are really getting paid by the mayor who want to ruin the lord who own the mine,

In conclusion, don't create more then you need, made secret for everything you create, keep it simple and remember to have fun :-D

Man_Over_Game
2019-04-03, 04:00 PM
In conclusion, don't create more then you need, made secret for everything you create, keep it simple and remember to have fun :-D

To add on this, a common mistake I see a lot of DMs make is caring too much on the small details. Every DM has been caught creating plot after plot after plot, into dungeons, prisons, caves, demiplanes, with complex spells and fetch quests....to be foiled because the players went Right instead of Left.

Never plan around what your players are going to do. If you want to write details, write about the plots of the bad guys and the world around the players, but never create plans based on how players react or what predicament they're going to be in. Make that stuff up on the fly.

Try to specialize your game around the expectations of your players. If they like social events, don't put in too much combat. If they prefer stealth, then allow them to do so. Everyone gets more fun when they're allowed to do what they want to do.

Lastly, combine both of these things. Don't create minor details, unless it's to match player expectations. When a player searches for a trap, try not to tell him "you find nothing" when he rolls well. Instead, tell him that he DID find a trap, and that he managed to disarm it. Now he has knowledge of the traps of the area, and how to better avoid them (Bonus to find/disarm traps in the remainder of the dungeon). Create plot twists on demand, create hidden elements as needed. Most of DMing is smoke and mirrors, and if you do it right, the players won't ever know that most of the things you create aren't premeditated. Instead, they'll uncover a world full of secrets that are waiting to be discovered.

You could spend your entire week planning a bunch of plots and subplots and NPCs, and have none of it be relevant. Instead, make the fine details on the fly, and only plan the overarching stuff (like what makes each city interesting, or the interactions between cultures, or why the BBEG is doing what he's doing, or what pots the BBEG has his fingers in).

Wuzza
2019-04-03, 04:50 PM
a common mistake I see a lot of DMs make is caring too much on the small details.
Cherry picked this one out. Related to your adventure, absolutely. If it's something that relates to one of your players, pinpoint that bad boy. The more you can integrate your players into the world, (hopefully) the more they will buy-in.

SirGraystone
2019-04-04, 09:00 AM
Dmitri let's us know how it went :smallsmile:

Or if you have any specific questions

KyleG
2019-04-06, 04:28 AM
Do you think its worth not even starting with a BBEG in mind. Just a couple of adventurers travelling and wandering into danger oblivious to bigger things. Introducing said BBEG in a much more subtle way?

I came up with my BBEG (who incidentally isn't a BBEG, just some fool who caused some things to happen, and may/may not get taken advantage of later) but what business do my level 1-5 characters really have to do with him.

Jay R
2019-04-06, 10:59 AM
Learning how to DM a game, as described in Game of Thrones:

Jon Snow: I don’t know how to do that. I thought I did, but… I failed.
Davos Seaworth: Good. Now go fail again.

KillianHawkeye
2019-04-06, 11:18 AM
Do you think its worth not even starting with a BBEG in mind. Just a couple of adventurers travelling and wandering into danger oblivious to bigger things. Introducing said BBEG in a much more subtle way?

It's fine to do this, especially if you want to introduce the players to some world-building or mention a few Chekhov's Guns that they'll need to know about later in the adventure. Or just let them get used to their characters and establish an inter-party dynamic before the plot gets serious.

Then again, there's nothing wrong with the traditional "quest from the King" or stereotypical "shady-looking guy at the inn" methods.

Personally, I like to set up a situation like "you're all going to Location X and looking for adventure" and then have each player explain to me why they're going there and what their motivations are for accepting heroic quests or whatever. This puts them all in the right frame of mind for the adventure and provides a setup where joining together to follow the plot makes sense to everyone.

SirGraystone
2019-04-07, 11:26 AM
Do you think its worth not even starting with a BBEG in mind. Just a couple of adventurers travelling and wandering into danger oblivious to bigger things. Introducing said BBEG in a much more subtle way?

There's a lot of way to build a campaign, none are really wrong it depend of your style of DMing. It perfectly fine to just have a group do quests and dungeons without a BBEG and have the PCs deal with goblin raiders, wild owlbear, or anything probleme adventurers are needed for.

The thing with BBEG is that usually make it easier for the DM to create hook for future adventure, PCs will want to hunt him (or her) down often without reward. They can taunt players, escape and come back. The problem with BBEG is how to make them of correct level for the adventures one way is to have him increase in power with the PCs.

The Savage Tide path had the group help a noble lady from the start, her brother was the BBEG, when the PCs got more powerful, he made a deal with a demon lord and became half-demon, later once killed came back as a death knight.

Or have a hierarchy of villain, like a goblin chief for level 4, working for necromancer that the group can meet at level 8, with Orcus pulling the string for when they are level 12, that is reveal as the story go.

But all this is unnecessary for a new DM, for a first adventure you can just throw them into action.

Zakhara
2019-04-07, 02:51 PM
The problem with BBEG is how to make them of correct level for the adventures one way is to have him increase in power with the PCs.

The solution is to not have them scale with the PCs. No villain worth their salt is going to comparable to, in their minds, a gang of nobodies. They can (and should) be far beyond what the PCs can handle in the short run. Whether because they're crazy-powerful, slippery as hell, or well-connected, a villain who's "playing fair" is losing.

A strong villain--especially one so above the party's initial ability--can cause awe, fear, mystery, and so many other emotions beyond "let's you and I fight."

DeTess
2019-04-07, 03:34 PM
Do you think its worth not even starting with a BBEG in mind. Just a couple of adventurers travelling and wandering into danger oblivious to bigger things. Introducing said BBEG in a much more subtle way?

I came up with my BBEG (who incidentally isn't a BBEG, just some fool who caused some things to happen, and may/may not get taken advantage of later) but what business do my level 1-5 characters really have to do with him.

Especially if you're just starting with a group that isn't particularly familiar with TTRPG's, I would make sure that your first story arc takes no more than about 5 sessions. This means that there usually isn't place for a big epic BBEG. Instead, make your players contend with something smaller, like a corrupt mayor, a minor cult, or even just getting from point A to point B in a world inhabited by dragons, trolls and goblins. While you're doing this first minor arc you can sprinkle in some hints towards your future BBEG, but your first arc should work without the players ever figuring out the existence of that BBEG. Then, if the players are invested in the world and feel like continuing on, you can start introducing your BBEG more blatantly and start tying everything together.

Jay R
2019-04-08, 08:10 AM
An ideal BBEG is far above the PCs, and either ignores them or considers them a mere nuisance.

Sauron and his Nazgul can destroy Frodo and Sam if they ever found them, but they are busy fighting a war.

Richelieu has enough men to crush the musketeers, but he's too busy trying to hold a kingdom together (and can't upset the king too much, or he'd be out).

Harry Potter is never as powerful as Voldemort.

The four Pevensies would be stone in four rounds if they faced the White Wolf alone.

Luke Skywalker has far less power of the Force than Darth Vader, and his X-wing is far, far weaker than the death star.

[This is why I'm not a fan of CR. The other side should be much stronger, and while the PCs can beat tiny portions of the evil forces (some goblins, a few Cardinal's guards), they should be looking for a clever way to avoid the great power and still melt the Ring, recover the Queen's diamonds, destroy the Horcruxes, break the wand, or blow up the death star while the bulk of the enemy forces are busy elsewhere.]

The Kool
2019-04-08, 10:19 AM
Do we know what system you wish to play? 5e? 3.5? Pathfinder? I have one suggested house rule for you that will ease some of your stress and give you some wiggle room to not worry about killing players right out of the gate while you get your feet under you:

Give your players triple HP for level 1. A lot of people start at level 3, but this can add some complexity and the real reason they do it is for the HP. So just start them with triple HP and you don't have to worry nearly as much about accidentally killing your players.