D&D General Advice for a new DM

[HooliTheBird]

Hey all!

I’ve been looking for somewhere to go for advice and ideas as I’ve recently started my very first D&D campaign with a group of friends, but have run into burnout and issues of inexperience. My boyfriend suggested I “do it the old-fashioned way and consult a forum”, which brings me here.

I have about eight players in my group right now, which is a great deal more than I initially anticipated, but nevertheless, I’m determined to give them an exceptional experience.
We had our first, and so far only, session early this past July (scheduling me damned).
For all my obsessive planning, it went alright. I inevitably forgot to add in some plot points and scenarios and had to fudge my way through a bit, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is all I could ask for.

Now, I’ve had a fair bit of experience in D&D, but have never committed to DMing before, and it’s been a very daunting task.
The trouble I now find myself in is mainly in regard to writing out the campaign I have in mind.
I fear I may have gotten too ambitious in homebrewing my own storyline, and now I’m kind of regretting it, and a growing dislike for my idea has begun to fester.
It’s hard for me to know if an idea I have is truly bad or if I’m just too stuck in my own head.
Usually, I would bounce ideas off my boyfriend, as he has years of experience DMing and has a brilliant, creative mind. But unfortunately, he is a player of mine, and I’m unable to consult him.

So anyways, here I am.
I’m really not all too sure what advice to ask for as a baby DM, but any and all thoughts, comments, and advice are beyond welcome and appreciated.

I am grateful that you took the time to read this!

I hope you have a wonderful day. <3

 

[Lidgar]

Welcome to the forums!

There are many, MANY, amazing DM's on here who will no doubt give you some excellent advice, including links to videos and other references.

I'll keep my advice short. It's very common for DMs (especially new ones) to get this awesome idea for a campaign and then start writing it all out in detail, including plots within plots, side characters, etc. It's fun, like writing a story that the players get to experience.

My recommendation is to shy away from that approach. Instead, think about what are the core elements of your campaign idea. Antagonist, setting, allies, deities, etc. Then, think of ways you will introduce those elements to the characters through a series of encounters. One way to think of it is more like an outline or flow chart with lots of branching points.

Why this approach? Because players like (at least the illusion of) agency. The ability to go in different, maybe unexpected directions. They are the ones that will be writing the story, so give them the tools to do so. I think you'll be amazed and pleased by the unexpected turns your campaign takes over the years.

One last bit of advice: remember you are a player too, so make it fun! Don't stress about "messing up" - it's likely your players will never notice.

Happy gaming!

 

[Koloth]

Suggest finding a small module and run that first. Get used to being on the DM side of things. If possible temporarily break the group in to 2 groups of 4. Run each group through the same module. Fix mistakes from the first run in the 2nd. These learning runs can use temporary characters. A pre written module frees you from having to think of everything while you are learning to DM.
If you can, find something like the old Living Greyhawk or similar organized play modules. Those are normally setup to run 4 players in one 2~4 hour session. You might have to do a bit of conversion depending on the module and the system you are running. Then step up to running all 8 through a slightly higher level module. Don't worry if it winds up being too easy or too hard. You are practicing the mechanics of managing 8 players.

In between these practice sessions, you can be taking the lessons learned and applying them to your self written campaign. Nothing wrong with a self written plot hook leading to a pre written module. You don't have to do ALL the work yourself.

 

[billd91]

If it works for you to do so, consider not making the plot line you're designing so heavy that you can't also work in interludes of other, smaller adventures - people to help with short quests, smaller ruins to explore, monsters to chase away from vulnerable populations, etc. Those will be easier for you to prep and give your players some fun variety while you spend time letting the longer term plot line develop in your head.

Adventure path-style plot lines can be fun to do as they're always giving you something to do and progress toward. But without interludes, they can feel kind of oppressive and breathless, particularly if there are DIRE CONSEQUENCES involved in not dealing with the main plots problems as soon as possible.

 

[HooliTheBird]

Welcome to the forums!

There are many, MANY, amazing DM's on here who will no doubt give you some excellent advice, including links to videos and other references.

I'll keep my advice short. It's very common for DMs (especially new ones) to get this awesome idea for a campaign and then start writing it all out in detail, including plots within plots, side characters, etc. It's fun, like writing a story that the players get to experience.

My recommendation is to shy away from that approach. Instead, think about what are the core elements of your campaign idea. Antagonist, setting, allies, deities, etc. Then, think of ways you will introduce those elements to the characters through a series of encounters. One way to think of it is more like an outline or flow chart with lots of branching points.

Why this approach? Because players like (at least the illusion of) agency. The ability to go in different, maybe unexpected directions. They are the ones that will be writing the story, so give them the tools to do so. I think you'll be amazed and pleased by the unexpected turns your campaign takes over the years.

One last bit of advice: remember you are a player too, so make it fun! Don't stress about "messing up" - it's likely your players will never notice.

Happy gaming!

Thank you for the warm welcome!
This was super helpful for me to hear. I definitely don't want to get so caught up in the planning of everything that it becomes stiff and unenjoyable for everyone to play. I think taking a step back and having a looser approach will help me a lot! I tend to overthink things, so this was very encouraging for me.
Thank you for taking the time to comment!

 

[HooliTheBird]

Suggest finding a small module and run that first. Get used to being on the DM side of things. If possible temporarily break the group in to 2 groups of 4. Run each group through the same module. Fix mistakes from the first run in the 2nd. These learning runs can use temporary characters. A pre written module frees you from having to think of everything while you are learning to DM.
If you can, find something like the old Living Greyhawk or similar organized play modules. Those are normally setup to run 4 players in one 2~4 hour session. You might have to do a bit of conversion depending on the module and the system you are running. Then step up to running all 8 through a slightly higher level module. Don't worry if it winds up being too easy or too hard. You are practicing the mechanics of managing 8 players.

In between these practice sessions, you can be taking the lessons learned and applying them to your self written campaign. Nothing wrong with a self written plot hook leading to a pre written module. You don't have to do ALL the work yourself.

This is fantastic advice. I had actually started to consider splitting up our group as needed (for time, scheduling, and general ease of management), and I think I will definitely try to do so. I love the suggestion of trying out some preexisting content. I think that would be really wise and helpful to do as I get the hang of everything.
Thank you so much for your advice and for giving me that extra nudge to go ahead and break things down a little to make it easier on everyone involved.

 

[HooliTheBird]

If it works for you to do so, consider not making the plot line you're designing so heavy that you can't also work in interludes of other, smaller adventures - people to help with short quests, smaller ruins to explore, monsters to chase away from vulnerable populations, etc. Those will be easier for you to prep and give your players some fun variety while you spend time letting the longer term plot line develop in your head.

Adventure path-style plot lines can be fun to do as they're always giving you something to do and progress toward. But without interludes, they can feel kind of oppressive and breathless, particularly if there are DIRE CONSEQUENCES involved in not dealing with the main plots problems as soon as possible.

Absolutely. This is something I've been concerned about, making things feel oppressive, as you said.
I know I kind of set myself up for that in my initial storyline draft, and I've been trying to rework it so it doesn't feel like an endless struggle for the players. I want things to be fun and exciting, not feel so much like a chore.
Thank you for your help!

 

[aco175]

I read someplace, so I cannot take credit for it, that there is an art of illusion. The players will believe you if you do not show them behind the curtain so to speak. Don't tell them about the trap secret or the magic item they missed. If they run into a NPC and ask his name and you have nothing, you pick up your notes and page through them as you make something up and say- "Here it is, his name is Twigleaf." Like you had it there all along and your players will think you put all this work into the world.

You can also ask your boyfriend. Ask him first if he would help, but this means that he would know some of the stuff and it might not be as fun when everyone discovers it. He might/should be willing to help if you are having design problems or he might be great with making maps and such. If he is a good player and boyfriend he should not let his prior knowledge spoil the fun and others enjoying things.

A key part of designing world stuff is that the players will not care as much as you. You can spend all this time making a great list of gods and how they interact and relate to each other, but the players will be just as interested with copying the list from Forgotten Realms or Grayhawk. Now if you have a player that wants all this, plan some and let them plan more.

You only need to plan one week at a time. Do not burn yourself out making this grand level 1-20 campaign when it might never last that long. Plan some vague plans on the big bad guy and a couple cool ideas, but nothing set on paper. Do make the initial adventure and some detail on a small home base town. Have an idea on a small level 1-3 or 1-5 plot with a minion of the big bad. Work on this but you only need to stay just in front of the players and what they want to do and go. After they wrap up these few levels and save the village or defeat the underling, then they learn of a bigger threat with maybe the bid bad and some of his plans. Then you plan out a few more levels with something to defeat a plot of the big bad and so on.

 

[bloodtide]

Really, you need a smaller group to start. At least say two groups of four, or even groups of 2-3 players.

To start, you really want to keep it simple. You don't need several interlaced plots, you just need one simple one. What you want is a classic plot, and give it your own unique twist.

Avoid writing out a campaign. Your not writing a multi season TV show arc....your not even writing a single TV show....your writing a 'short' (aka something under 20 minutes), or even "a webisode" to use a modern word.

 

[GuardianLurker]

To continue on a theme: Y.A.G.N.I.
You Ain't Gonna Need It.
It can be really hard to stop yourself from fleshing out your world. But, especially as a beginning GM, build literally ONLY what you need, nothing more. If your PCs are exploring the local dungeon, you need the town, and a skeleton framework of the world/society surrounding it. You don't need to flesh it out, just place it into a context.

One I haven't seen yet, but was my hardest won lesson - Don't Panic.
Your players WILL do something that you never anticipated, that completely derails the plan you had. Let it happen, roll with it. When you panic, you make bad decisions, mostly (as a GM) on how to save your lovingly built evil plan by forcing the players to do what you want. Let it go. Relax. Let it happen. Then adapt.

And on a similar note - never box yourself in. Don't write a puzzle/situation that only has one solution, and it MUST be that one (or none at all). Write the situation, know how YOU would solve it, but then note that it's only a possible solution. So when the players come up with their wacky answer, you don't panic.