What Are Some Common First-time Dm Questions?

[The Stray]

Every day, I see posts by first time DMs asking questions and searching for answers, so I've decided to write a book to help them out. I'd like to know what you feel are some common first-time questions that most newbies would like some help with, because I'm looking for some material to kick the book off.

So, what are some common first-time GM questions?

 

[Jack99]

Questions may vary according to system. Or do you plan for it to be a general book for all things D&D?

 

[The Stray]

It's a general book, with an emphasis on D&D, but with enough applicability to apply to a wide variety of systems. I'm looking at this as a quick-start guide to how to get a campaign up and running, and how to deal with issues as they come up.

 

[pogre]

As a high school teacher, I occasionally field questions from a few students who run games. Some include:

How do you keep the players on task? I know some will wince at that question, but a wide open game is pretty tough for new DMs to handle.

Do you roll in the open?

How do you enforce alignment? Again, a question that will make many wince, but this was a poor freshman whose players kept killing the town guards and NPCs that were supposed to be plot points or even actively helping the players.

How do you say "no" to players? Here I'm consolidating several questions such as: Tom wants to play a liche in the campaign and has the new book "X" that says he can, but it will ruin my campaign.

 

[Rechan]

So this will be just a FAQ, instead of a real "How-to DM".

"Where should I start?"

 

[The Stray]

The book will be about "How to start and run a campaign qickly and easily." A FAQ will be a part of it, but I'm interested in all sorts of new DM questions, because the ones that come up the most will be the ones that I will need to address first.

 

[roguerouge]

What's this sandbox gaming style I hear about?

 

[roguerouge]

All the old school gamers I meet online look down their noses at running modules. Why are they so snobby about it? Do I have to create everything myself?

So Harry's PC stole Larry's PC's gold. Now I think Larry's going to kill Harry's PC. Should I do something about it?

What is a RBDM and do I want to be one?

My players want to play evil characters. Is that a good idea?

My table's PCs keep dying. Are my players stupid or am I doing it wrong?

Okay, explain it to me again... how does ________ (game rule) work?

 

[Reynard]

All the old school gamers I meet online look down their noses at running modules. Why are they so mean about it? Do I have to create everything myself?

That's a little passive aggressive, don't you think? perhaps the question would be better asked, "Should I use modules or write my own adventures?"

 

[The Stray]

RBDM=Rat Bastard DM, correct?

Hmm, the Rules questions do come up frequently, too. I'm going to need to figure out a way to address them in a way that meets my goals to keep this guide fairly system-neutral.

Thanks for the ideas--keep them coming!

I'm noticing that I have two audiences that might be good for expansion in different directions.

1) The new to GMing, or RPGs in general.

2) Those who want to set up a campaign quickly and get started when they are low on time or need some inspriation.

These two audiences are going to move the work into different directions.