Paul Farquhar
Legend
I'm not familiar with Jon Rogers, got a viewing list?
D&D General The DM Shortage
MichaelSomething
Legend
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Neat site, but on the expensive side. USD 55 to be a player in a 90-minute session. Most paid-for sessions I've seen are USD 10-30 for 2-3 hours.
Baldurs_Underdark
Hero
My experience is that the easiest way to draw new players in is to let them write the first page of the adventure (including of course their characters!), and guide them through that process as a DM with questions, suggestions and ideas. Then build the story line and dungeons on top of that foundation.
They will feel that they own the story, and will accept that you as a DM will try to squeeze that story into the D&D 5E format (which they still need to learn). And it will help you as a DM to fill your dungeons with appropriate monsters.
Sure, you may end up with an imitation of the Fellowship of the Ring, or something that looks a lot like Pokemon, but who cares? Next adventure these people will know the rules and you can much easier try something else.
Would not be the first time that such a creative process leads to someone wanting to become the DM in the next adventure.
M_Natas
Hero
I think one of the biggest problems with 5e is, that is to much player enabling at the cost of the DM.
Even lvl 1 players are superheros (with glass chins).
Every book gets new player options, everything is geared towards the players being fantasy superheroes while DMs get the short end of the stick.
I mean, just look at the spelljammer box. The box sucks for DMs who want to do anything other with spelljammer than running the adventure it comes with. 5e doesn't give the DMs an example world or really any good tools to homebrew compared to other editions or games.
All the "worlds" they provided for 5e lack any depth and are just backdrops for the player-superhero-Action.
IG you want to create a meaningful living World with an engaging story, in 5e you have to do it from scratch and also have to reinvent all the tools needed for it because 5e doesn't provide any good ones. Like the 5e DMG is really bad. And what there is in the DMG is backwards (like, build a monster from scratch and than figure out the CR? Who would do it thar way, that's stupid!).
And OneDND goes more in the direction of player enabling and reducing the GM to a computer, with idiot stuff like the influence Action with fixed DCs, or successful hiding a DC 15.
In 5e and the OneDND Playtest the DMs is reduced more and more to a machine. And that is really no fun. It is a lot of work to create something fun for the DM and that's why there aren't many DMs. 5e RAW is super fun wishfulfilment superhereofantasy for players and the DMs are only there to enable that wishfulfilment.
Even lvl 1 players are superheros (with glass chins).
Every book gets new player options, everything is geared towards the players being fantasy superheroes while DMs get the short end of the stick.
I mean, just look at the spelljammer box. The box sucks for DMs who want to do anything other with spelljammer than running the adventure it comes with. 5e doesn't give the DMs an example world or really any good tools to homebrew compared to other editions or games.
All the "worlds" they provided for 5e lack any depth and are just backdrops for the player-superhero-Action.
IG you want to create a meaningful living World with an engaging story, in 5e you have to do it from scratch and also have to reinvent all the tools needed for it because 5e doesn't provide any good ones. Like the 5e DMG is really bad. And what there is in the DMG is backwards (like, build a monster from scratch and than figure out the CR? Who would do it thar way, that's stupid!).
And OneDND goes more in the direction of player enabling and reducing the GM to a computer, with idiot stuff like the influence Action with fixed DCs, or successful hiding a DC 15.
In 5e and the OneDND Playtest the DMs is reduced more and more to a machine. And that is really no fun. It is a lot of work to create something fun for the DM and that's why there aren't many DMs. 5e RAW is super fun wishfulfilment superhereofantasy for players and the DMs are only there to enable that wishfulfilment.
Well like I keep saying. 5e wasn't designed for new DMs.
5e was designed for a vet DM, 2-3 older experienced players, and 1-2 new players. It was designed to bring fans back and was left with mechanical holes and basic lore to allow older players to port over their own settings and mechanics to 5e.
Thus if you are new and lack old personal settings and mechanics, you have open holes and not guidance to fill them. It was not designed for the boom it lucked into.
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Vaalingrade
Legend
The best is Leverage in terms of commentaries where he teaches a masterclass.
Faolyn
(she/her)
That, I feel, is actually bad advice, since it's basically saying that the DM should be telling a story that the players will have to follow or else it won't work. It will encourage railroading. The DM shouldn't be telling a story. They should be setting up the events so that the PCs can make the story.
Also, "model your adventures on good storytelling examples" doesn't say how to model them, or what makes those examples good storytelling.
There are about ten bazillion websites, blogs, and newsletters that are dedicated to GM tips. The Alexandrian talks about the Three Clue Rule. Roleplayingtips.com has, in their GM tips section, articles like "how to build quick guilds for your kingdom" and "11 ways to make mysteries magnificent." The Angry DM has a series called "let's start a simple homebrew campaign."
It's stuff like that that should be in a DMG.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
I disagree. Stuff like that should be where it is, and WotC should be doing it too, in that same media. The DMG doesn't need another job.
Faolyn
(she/her)
The DMG's job should be to be a DM's guide. Not (just) a list of treasure tables and encounter tables.
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