D&D General The Best Advice for New DMs I Can Give

[Ancalagon]

DMing is a craft you will never stop learning about - there is no point in "I shouldn't do this because I need to perfect it" kind of thinking. I will never perfect it. Even if I did, I am changing as a person, so I have to change how I GM!

 

[BrokenTwin]

Honestly, this advice applies to almost everything we do as human beings. Pity it's so hard to actual do for so many of us. Nobody wants to suck at doing something, but it's an almost universal truth that you need to be willing to be bad at something to become good at it.

 

[GrimCo]

Perfect is enemy of good. Seriously, sometimes, good is good enough. Stop prepping, start running.

Also, D&D is a game. If you are having fun, everyone at the table is having fun, and people are coming over and over, you are doing things right. If game stops being fun, walk away. Find new hobby. Find something else. No point in wasting precious free time on activity that you're not having fun doing.

 

[Reynard]

Has there been pushback?

I often disagree with your positions, but on this one -The best way to learn how to DM is to just start doing it - absolutely.

There's a whole thread of people disagreeing with this rather uncontroversial perspective.

 

[Clint_L]

Also, my DMing is noticeably better with 1-3 adult beverages.

 

[renbot]

I've been DMing for longer than I care to remember and I still get imposter syndrome whenever I DM.

So it's not just me?? Been DMing since (gods!) 1977 and still beat myself up after my last session over something trivial I could have done better.

 

[Clint_L]

So it's not just me?? Been DMing since (gods!) 1977 and still beat myself up after my last session over something trivial I could have done better.

It’s about every other session for me. Occasionally I feel like a great DM, but most sessions end with me feeling either pretty good about my skills or sorely lacking.

My last home game I felt like Matt freaking Mercer, but my last club game I felt like apologizing afterwards.