What was your first year of DMing like? Mistakes new DM's can avoid..

Emirikol · Jul 4, 2006

I'm working with a couple of kids to try to help them become "new" DM's. If you recall when you first started DMing, what kind of things should they try to avoid or be better at? What were the 'turning' points in you or your DM that made them better?

Kafkonia · Jul 5, 2006

As a new DM, and having had three different DMs myself recently, I think the biggest thing is: know your players.

That doesn't mean you have to know they're favourite movie, etc. But you should be trying to read their body language and listen to their comments to see how they feel about the game. And it never hurts to ask.

Yesterday I was in a game where one character had a homunculus that died due to an arbitrary DM fiat. Now, it was hilarious in the context of the game -- a roll of exactly an 83 caused it to be hit by a carp that had been shot by an arrow that had missed the original target. But the player himself was a little put out, as that was 3000 GP gone, and his whole schtick was that he built stuff like the homunculus, his golem, etc.

Thankfully, we had some treasure and I, as a player, found him the fungus golem that actually cost less than his homunculus, so all was well in the long run. But if we weren't all friends with well over 10 years of history behind us, it'd be the sort of thing to watch out for.

Varianor Abroad · Jul 5, 2006

Some of them they just have to learn by doing.

I would say the biggest mistake that's most avoidable is

a) creating a grand campaign

b) with a grand scope

New DMs are better off IMNSHO when they start small, with a couple "trial" campaigns to get their feet wet. Use published worlds and adventures and learn the ropes. Then start in on more detailed, personalized games.

Odhanan · Jul 5, 2006

That's a vast topic. The best way to get selective answers, according to the specific problems they might be confronted to, would be to actually read the Dungeon Master for Dummies and Dungeon Master's Guide. After, you'd spot what would require some improvement/particular focus on their part.

Gamera · Jul 5, 2006

http://www.dmshaven.freeservers.com/dmshaven_files/page0001.htm

Here is a link to a page with several short articles on Dming.

Mark · Jul 5, 2006

Emirikol said:
I'm working with a couple of kids to try to help them become "new" DM's. What kind of things should they try to avoid or be better at? What were the 'turning' points in you or your DM that made them better?

Never rush a decision during a game when a few moments of thought (politely ask your players to wait) will allow you to make a better decision. The time spent waiting increases the fun most of the time anyway.

buzz · Jul 5, 2006

Group chargen. Get the players together and talk about what you all want out of the session/campaign. Have everyone be aware of each other's characters; create a party as a group. Can't be stressed enough.

EDIT: Also... situation, not plot. Plot bad.

Kid Charlemagne · Jul 5, 2006

Don't let yourself get too wrapped up in how you expect things to go - allow your players to surprise you, and go with the flow. If you can learn to love it when this happens, and adjust with the changes, you'll do just fine.

ssampier · Jul 5, 2006

Know the rules. Have them read the core -- twice if they need to.

Sure they are going to make mistakes. It's best to admit them, deal with it as fairly as you can, and move on.

I agree with the advice so far. Mark has good advice, but I think th collary should be; don't spend endless amounts of time finding the perfect rules. If you cannot find it in a few minutes, make a judgement. Wait until the end of session for fixes.

Asmor · Jul 5, 2006

Don't be too hard on yourself. As long as everyone's having fun, that's the important thing. Don't sweat the rules too much. Just make something up and keep the game moving.

Along the lines of knowing your players, know what they want from the game. And the helpful people they are, they've given you a list of exactly what they want from the game! Look at their character sheets. You see the fighter with all the combat-specific feats? He's looking for a lot of combat! The rogue who has maxed ranks of Diplomacy, Bluff, etc is looking for some chances to interact with and manipulate NPCs. Look for what people are trying to make their characters good at, because that's what they want to do.