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New to D&D and made DM. Help?!?!
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<blockquote data-quote="robus" data-source="post: 7198000" data-attributes="member: 6801558"><p>Good for you - but yeah, you've given yourself a job! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> DMing *is* fun but it's also challenging. If you're willing to work at it you'll quickly become a decent DM and eventually a great DM.</p><p></p><p></p><p>There's a lot of stuff in the DMs guide that you don't need. Focus on "Running the game" which surprisingly enough is not the first part of the book. As for the PHB pretty much all of that is relevant, but don't bog the start of your game with character generation - use pre-gens. If you're not starting off with LMoP (which includes pre-gen characters) then download some from WotC: <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets" target="_blank">http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets</a></p><p></p><p>Generating a character is quite an involved process and the PHB does not hold your hand well (it's written with the assumption that you know the game IMHO) - don't do it before you've played the game for a while.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I think you'll find the Starter Set adventure to be plenty long enough to make lots of mistakes and learn the ropes <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Really look at the Starter Adventure as a set of training wheels for your group. Run it with pre-gen'd characters to get the feel of the system and then when you're ready you can abandon it without a second glance and start your real campaign. Or if you're enjoying the adventure (and there's a lot of fun to be had) it dovetails pretty cleanly into most of the published adventures so you can turn it into the starting point for an epic campaign. For example my group started with LMoP - transitioned into Hoard of the Dragon Queen (skipping the sketchy early chapters), moved on to Rise of Tiamat while blending in Storm King's Thunder, with the potential for running Out of the Abyss as a high level adventure I'm calling "Into the Abyss" <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> We'll get about 3 years of play all told (and two of the players still have their Starter Set pre-gens as their characters!)</p><p></p><p>The forum has tackled the "New DM" question before, so check out the Basic Skills section here: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?545699-Best-of-the-5e-Forum" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?545699-Best-of-the-5e-Forum</a> (you'll also find discussion on all the published adventures too)</p><p></p><p>But this has to be read by any new DM IMHO: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?453707-How-to-Adjudicate-Actions-in-D-amp-D-5e" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?453707-How-to-Adjudicate-Actions-in-D-amp-D-5e</a> it really demystifies a key aspect of DMing (how to handle resolving player actions during the game) and is fun to read (it should be a chapter in the DMG)</p><p></p><p>And this advice from a grumpy curmudgeon (tongue mostly in cheek) is also very helpful: <a href="http://theangrygm.com/jumping-the-screen-how-to-run-your-first-rpg-session/" target="_blank">http://theangrygm.com/jumping-the-screen-how-to-run-your-first-rpg-session/</a></p><p></p><p>Good luck and don't read too much before your first session because most advice will become useful once you have some actual play experiences to refer to. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>And welcome to the forum it's been a goldmine of useful information. Stick around and tell us how it goes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="robus, post: 7198000, member: 6801558"] Good for you - but yeah, you've given yourself a job! :) DMing *is* fun but it's also challenging. If you're willing to work at it you'll quickly become a decent DM and eventually a great DM. There's a lot of stuff in the DMs guide that you don't need. Focus on "Running the game" which surprisingly enough is not the first part of the book. As for the PHB pretty much all of that is relevant, but don't bog the start of your game with character generation - use pre-gens. If you're not starting off with LMoP (which includes pre-gen characters) then download some from WotC: [URL]http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets[/URL] Generating a character is quite an involved process and the PHB does not hold your hand well (it's written with the assumption that you know the game IMHO) - don't do it before you've played the game for a while. I think you'll find the Starter Set adventure to be plenty long enough to make lots of mistakes and learn the ropes :) Really look at the Starter Adventure as a set of training wheels for your group. Run it with pre-gen'd characters to get the feel of the system and then when you're ready you can abandon it without a second glance and start your real campaign. Or if you're enjoying the adventure (and there's a lot of fun to be had) it dovetails pretty cleanly into most of the published adventures so you can turn it into the starting point for an epic campaign. For example my group started with LMoP - transitioned into Hoard of the Dragon Queen (skipping the sketchy early chapters), moved on to Rise of Tiamat while blending in Storm King's Thunder, with the potential for running Out of the Abyss as a high level adventure I'm calling "Into the Abyss" :) We'll get about 3 years of play all told (and two of the players still have their Starter Set pre-gens as their characters!) The forum has tackled the "New DM" question before, so check out the Basic Skills section here: [URL]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?545699-Best-of-the-5e-Forum[/URL] (you'll also find discussion on all the published adventures too) But this has to be read by any new DM IMHO: [URL]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?453707-How-to-Adjudicate-Actions-in-D-amp-D-5e[/URL] it really demystifies a key aspect of DMing (how to handle resolving player actions during the game) and is fun to read (it should be a chapter in the DMG) And this advice from a grumpy curmudgeon (tongue mostly in cheek) is also very helpful: [URL]http://theangrygm.com/jumping-the-screen-how-to-run-your-first-rpg-session/[/URL] Good luck and don't read too much before your first session because most advice will become useful once you have some actual play experiences to refer to. :) And welcome to the forum it's been a goldmine of useful information. Stick around and tell us how it goes. [/QUOTE]
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