What was your first year of DMing like? Mistakes new DM's can avoid..
Lord Zardoz
Explorer
If you want to be a player, and not the DM, dont be the guy who buys all the books. If 5 or 6 people all want to try the game, and only one owns the books guess who ends up being the DM?
Its not the worst mistake to make, and the outcome is often not bad.
END COMMUNICATION
Its not the worst mistake to make, and the outcome is often not bad.
END COMMUNICATION
Whimsical
Explorer
Buzz has already stated this, so let me restate it.
Don't create stories; create scenarios.
If you want players to play a certain way, be upfront about it and inform your players what you want. If you want heroicly motivated players, ask players to create heroicly motivated PCs. It can also help when you reveal how the game is going to start and how it's going to go in very general terms and then the players can build their PCs toward that, including coming up with reasons why their PC is going to do it and why he is hanging out with those other guys.
Don't create stories; create scenarios.
If you want players to play a certain way, be upfront about it and inform your players what you want. If you want heroicly motivated players, ask players to create heroicly motivated PCs. It can also help when you reveal how the game is going to start and how it's going to go in very general terms and then the players can build their PCs toward that, including coming up with reasons why their PC is going to do it and why he is hanging out with those other guys.
Agent Oracle
First Post
Hmmm... okay, tips for new DM's.
1. Own Far Too Many Dice to be Logical
That's a good start.
listen, as a DM, you will need every single die in your toolkit at one point or another. I've had DM's who brought model trees and columns and miniatures of every available kind to the battlefield, but never one who could set the scene so well as the player who puts down three d6 stacked high and declares "this is a column, and these single d6's make a wall... with high, narrow windows here, here.. and here."
the surplus of dice is your friend. Nothing makes you look less professional then asking for someone to loan you their dice, and certain spells and effects require lots more dice than you get in your basic boxed set.
2. Railroads never end well
You may think that you have control over your players, but if you put too much stress on them, the train will jump the tracks. you'll either be left with no players or a colossal mess of a campaign. nobody wants towork with either.
3. Let the players argue with you.
sure, you could just use ample application of rule zero, but why bother? you have four, living, breathing people there who are willing to look up any rules you might be shaky on. if a player contests anything you do, don't immediately smack him down, give him a chance to explain his position. If the rules say he's right, he may very well be right, and it'll improve your standing in their eyes if you conceed that, even as a DM, you are human.
4. Know when to put your foot down
If you think a player is doing something shady, put your foot down. Read their character sheets. Check their math. Add up their feats, make sure they qualify for everything they have, and have only things you've let them have. Make sure their stats haven't been drifiting upwards since level 1. Make it known that you have to give prior approval before all spells / classes / prestieges from splatbooks / 3rd party sources / pdf files are allowed in your game. If you do it politely, this isn't an invasion of their privacy, or disrespectful to them in any way. Just let them know that in this world, you are the one who decides what goes on.
1. Own Far Too Many Dice to be Logical
That's a good start.
listen, as a DM, you will need every single die in your toolkit at one point or another. I've had DM's who brought model trees and columns and miniatures of every available kind to the battlefield, but never one who could set the scene so well as the player who puts down three d6 stacked high and declares "this is a column, and these single d6's make a wall... with high, narrow windows here, here.. and here."
the surplus of dice is your friend. Nothing makes you look less professional then asking for someone to loan you their dice, and certain spells and effects require lots more dice than you get in your basic boxed set.
2. Railroads never end well
You may think that you have control over your players, but if you put too much stress on them, the train will jump the tracks. you'll either be left with no players or a colossal mess of a campaign. nobody wants towork with either.
3. Let the players argue with you.
sure, you could just use ample application of rule zero, but why bother? you have four, living, breathing people there who are willing to look up any rules you might be shaky on. if a player contests anything you do, don't immediately smack him down, give him a chance to explain his position. If the rules say he's right, he may very well be right, and it'll improve your standing in their eyes if you conceed that, even as a DM, you are human.
4. Know when to put your foot down
If you think a player is doing something shady, put your foot down. Read their character sheets. Check their math. Add up their feats, make sure they qualify for everything they have, and have only things you've let them have. Make sure their stats haven't been drifiting upwards since level 1. Make it known that you have to give prior approval before all spells / classes / prestieges from splatbooks / 3rd party sources / pdf files are allowed in your game. If you do it politely, this isn't an invasion of their privacy, or disrespectful to them in any way. Just let them know that in this world, you are the one who decides what goes on.
Dross
Explorer
Make sure that the players know what books are allowed and stick with it. You can game with the three core books, maybe plus the complete books, maybe plus the psionic books, maybe include the Forgotten Realms books, maybe include the Eberron books etc etc 
the KISS (Keep It Simple, not the band
) principle: Start small. Number of books, plot/scenarios. You can then work your way up to grande designs
KNOW you will stuff something up. Some rule, some action or some ability will be forgoten/misremembered/misinterpreded. It happens. :\
State rule 0, then use it as sparingly as possible. "Because I'm the DM" is not a good enough reason. "Because I see it as working this way so you can't do that, so can you rethink your action?" is good reason.
Remeber the players also have a hand/vested interest in playing and enjoying the game
A good DM governs a game that he and the players want to play and enjoy playing. Be that role-playing, roll-playing or whatever in between.
And finally,
If they can, MAKE THEM JOIN ENWORLD to look at all the help that they can get here.
the KISS (Keep It Simple, not the band
) principle: Start small. Number of books, plot/scenarios. You can then work your way up to grande designsKNOW you will stuff something up. Some rule, some action or some ability will be forgoten/misremembered/misinterpreded. It happens. :\
State rule 0, then use it as sparingly as possible. "Because I'm the DM" is not a good enough reason. "Because I see it as working this way so you can't do that, so can you rethink your action?" is good reason.
Remeber the players also have a hand/vested interest in playing and enjoying the game
A good DM governs a game that he and the players want to play and enjoy playing. Be that role-playing, roll-playing or whatever in between.
And finally,
If they can, MAKE THEM JOIN ENWORLD to look at all the help that they can get here.
1) The players will NEVER do what you expect them to do.
2) Read parts of the dmg II, there's some very good stuff in there about the psycology of the game.
3) Don't take things too personally. First time dms can get very nervous and don't want to make mistakes.
4) The goal of every game is to make each player feel cool and special. If you do that, I don't care of you run a series of nonstop combats right out of the MM or have an epic script the scale of the Odessey, the players will enjoy the game.
2) Read parts of the dmg II, there's some very good stuff in there about the psycology of the game.
3) Don't take things too personally. First time dms can get very nervous and don't want to make mistakes.
4) The goal of every game is to make each player feel cool and special. If you do that, I don't care of you run a series of nonstop combats right out of the MM or have an epic script the scale of the Odessey, the players will enjoy the game.
Bagpuss
Legend
Try and keep everyone involved. Some players are naturally going to grab all the attention, they just have that sort of out going personality, others will naturally just keep quiet unless given a chance to speak. You are like the chairman of a meeting it's your job to make sure everyone gets heard, and no one gets shouted down. Try and put something into every evening that will give each player a chance to shine.
If the party splits up and one group has an encounter and the other is just searching a room or something less involved, don't focus one group until their encounter is finished. If you keep switching between groups they won't feel left out and it can also produce mini-cliffhanger moments between rounds.
If the party splits up and one group has an encounter and the other is just searching a room or something less involved, don't focus one group until their encounter is finished. If you keep switching between groups they won't feel left out and it can also produce mini-cliffhanger moments between rounds.
A couple of basics (to me anyway) for a new DM:
1. Get a written module like the Sunless Citadel rather than trying to write your own for the first few - the background work is too much for a new DM in my mind.
2. Speak clearly and slowly and make sure everyone can hear you
3. Make sure you've got some essentials, a battlemat, minis, dice, scrap paper and pens/pencils, snacks
4. Don't put use all the books ever printed, it's too much to keep track of. Keep it simple. The core rules are perfectly good.
5. Don't try and do too much. You're not trying to create a cinematic experience or anything awe inspiring, it's just about having some fun with some friends.
1. Get a written module like the Sunless Citadel rather than trying to write your own for the first few - the background work is too much for a new DM in my mind.
2. Speak clearly and slowly and make sure everyone can hear you
3. Make sure you've got some essentials, a battlemat, minis, dice, scrap paper and pens/pencils, snacks
4. Don't put use all the books ever printed, it's too much to keep track of. Keep it simple. The core rules are perfectly good.
5. Don't try and do too much. You're not trying to create a cinematic experience or anything awe inspiring, it's just about having some fun with some friends.
Numion
First Post
The biggest thing for me was:
When in doubt, say 'yes'
Allow the crazy maneuver, let the special ability the player has spent his choices to get work, allow the unexpected use of a spell, etc..
I noticed I was usually blocking instead of allowing things in my game if the rules were unclear. This small change, which is actually pretty difficult for me to stick to, make the game much more enjoyable for the players.
Just don't let them trample over you
When in doubt, say 'yes'
Allow the crazy maneuver, let the special ability the player has spent his choices to get work, allow the unexpected use of a spell, etc..
I noticed I was usually blocking instead of allowing things in my game if the rules were unclear. This small change, which is actually pretty difficult for me to stick to, make the game much more enjoyable for the players.
Just don't let them trample over you
buzz
Adventurer
QFT.Numion said:
I would extend this to the full "Say yes, or roll the dice" from Vincent Baker's Dogs in the Vineyard. And it would relate it to a quote in my .sig, which I will shamelessly add here for emphasis:
"I learned the most important lesson about D&D that day. I remembered that this is a game about imagination, about coming together to tell a story as a group. And the fact is, the players have as much right to tell that story as the DM does—after all, they’re the protagonists!"
—James Wyatt, on playing D&D with his son.
Great advice in this thread so far. Kudos, ENWorld!
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