New DM

[RavenIshtar]

So, me and a couple of friends are wanting to start playing D&D and I'm probably going to end up being the DM. We've decided to run a combination of Pathfinder and 3.5 since we've all played before, but never as a DM, and it's been a while since any of us have played. I have a few ideas as to some initial things for the campaign, but I don't know what to really do for the campaign, or how to even get one started. Any ideas, suggestions, or advice?

[Vitruviansquid]

I'm a big believer in the fundamentals.

Give your campaign a simple premise and fill it with simple actors who want simple things.

Complexity will arise as you play because they really can't help but arise in RPG's. Making your game overwrought from the start means there isn't space for this organic complexity to come about, and it's this organic complexity that will be the most memorable.

[RavenIshtar]

I'm a big believer in the fundamentals.

Give your campaign a simple premise and fill it with simple actors who want simple things.

Complexity will arise as you play because they really can't help but arise in RPG's. Making your game overwrought from the start means there isn't space for this organic complexity to come about, and it's this organic complexity that will be the most memorable.

Yeah, I can understand that. I'm not sure how I want it to be based on. I want it to be from scratch, cuz I don't really want to do one that is predetermined, you know? I feel like they are set too much on a set path, and I want one that can change per the characters decisions.

[2D8HP]

.First off don't use "hooks". Back in my day we didn't bother to use hooks.
Use settings/situations instead.
1)Make up or steal find a scene that looks like it will be fun/exciting.
2) Listen to what the players say.
3) Have them roll some dice for suspense.
4) Tell the players what changed in the scene.
5) Repeat
"Your at the entrance of the Tomb of Blaarg what do you do?" If they're real contrary "Your inside the Tomb of Blaarg, what do you do?". If they're super contrary, "your trapped deep inside the Tomb of Blaarg" etc. Just quickly narrate to the part where the actual adventure begins. They can role-play how they turned tail and ran back to the tavern.
If they still make a fuss?

Hey! How did we wind up here?! I didn't vote for this!

Don't be afraid to call it off.
Being a player is most of the fun, and less than half of the headache of being a DM! Your doing them a favor!

Sorry guys, I don't have anything else prepared. How about a game of risk? I've also got Excalibur on DVD and Conan the Destroyer, and Hawk the Slayer on VHS.

or even make one of them "put on the daddy pants" and be the DM!

Here's the screen and some dice. Shall I play my Fighter/Rogue or my Ranger?

For a crash course in DM/player interaction see DM of the Rings
While much of the fun of DM'ing is in making a world (the other part is witnessing the PC's shenanigans), try to keep world building bare bones. It's usually more fun to read, then to play. When the players start to get jaded, then maybe introduce "exotic", "innovative", and "weird" elements, but usually at first freaky "Alice in Wonderland on LSD" "adventures" are not fun!

If there's backstory, unless it's a map, journal etc.that my PC finds don't give a handout! Are there no oracles, street prophets, and witches who will give voice to the backstory in character? Then use them!
One of the most successful (i.e. my players liked it) "campaigns" that I DM'd/Keeper'd (I reused the same setup for both Call of Cthullu and Dungeons & Dragons) was a mashup of the plot set-ups of "Conan the Destroyer" and "Young Sherlock Holmes" (cultist, Elder gods, yadda, yadda, yadda), I didn't map anything out on paper before hand at all! I just imagined "scenes", described them to my players, and had them roll dice to see if they did whatever they were trying to do, then on to the next scene!
As a player I prefer Swords and Sorcery settings, but I can remember some particularly fun sessions of Shadowrun that had no fantasy elements at all. The trick was that a very good gamemaster amped up the roll-playing aspects, and downplayed the role-playing aspects, with lots of action and suspense, resolved by many dice rolls (a chase were you roll at each corner or notable landmark lends itself well with this approach).
Other times that I've had a lot of fun involved lots of described magical elements and dialog, and almost no dice rolls at all. More boring RPG sessions seem to involve an intermediate amount of dialog (role-playing), and action resolved with dice rolls (roll-playing). So I would advise GM's to stay away from a "middle-of-the-road" approch, and to stick with what's working at the time. If the action is flowing keep the dice rolling, if the players are "playing" (doing the thespian thing), only stop them to roll dice for the suspense of it, otherwise keep 'em talking.

[Anonymouswizard]

Okay, first, I believe in the Fate Core school of game design where possible:
-talk to your players about what they want.

Now that's not to say you can't come with an idea, such as 'WW2, but with steampunk mecha', but if your players want to focus on offensive mech battles where they smash their way to the enemy capital instead of the slow defensive battles you want, it's time to compromise. Maybe you can make the battles more dramatic or faster paced.

But never say 'you are here and this is the plot, shut up', because it has a good chance of players reacting badly if it lasts more than a couple of seconds. What if Bob the thief has no reason to enter the Dungeon of Doom?

[2D8HP]

What if Bob the thief has no reason to enter the Dungeon of Doom?

Bob Herzog, the King of the wall climbers? He lives to loot Dungeons!

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