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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 9383307" data-attributes="member: 2067">Yeah, I think "coy" is a nice way to put the attitude that D&D DMGs have had toward this. Especially, I think, the "running" side of things. DMGs have been more weighted to the "preparation" side, typically. Part of this is probably a bit of unstated "whatever works for your table!", which is a good instinct, but is entirely useless for a first time DM who maybe is picking up D&D for the first time. If the goal is to prep a new DM, that advice is useless.If I were to make a first-timer's guide, I think I'd recommend the traditional dungeon map with keyed encounters + table you can roll on for random events as far as prep goes. Put a McGuffin in the hands of a monster, populate maybe 3-7 rooms, and be prepared to roll on a table, and you'll have a pretty good initial session. If you're a first-time DM, we don't need to get fancy - we can use this first session to figure out what you like and what you don't like, maybe see what's easy for you and what's hard, and to get to know your group and the characters. For a first-time DM, empowering them to figure out what they want to spend their energy doing is probably the most important thing to get out of the first session. That, and avoiding any obviously poor DM choices (ie, session zero advice about what topics to avoid, broad advice on not taking control of PC's, how to just ignore rules that don't work for you like alignment or encumbrance, how to encourage the party to cooperate rather than fight each other, etc.).</blockquote>

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