First time DM Help
- Thread starter SingingLotus
- Start date
Theone0581
First Post
I would not recommend doing a home-brewed campaign when you firs start out. They can be fun because you have complete control and knowledge over everything, however they take a considerable amount of work and preparation and can be very overwhelming and difficult to maintain. However, once you get the hang of things and get the feel and understanding of what it takes to DM I would deffentaly recommend the experience to write your own and share you adventures.
If you want to DM a very memorable and fun game, I would recommend checking out some of the free downloadable PDFs on the WotC website. More specificly, my personal favoret the "Tomb of Horrors". Which can be found here: Adventures: Tomb of Horrors (Revised)
It's a fairly easy game to run, and requires very little prepep time. Keep in mind though, if you decided to do this campaign, it is rather difficult for pcs, and may result in head scratching frustration. You might want to consider a 42 point buy for your players to give them the edge.
Good luck
If you want to DM a very memorable and fun game, I would recommend checking out some of the free downloadable PDFs on the WotC website. More specificly, my personal favoret the "Tomb of Horrors". Which can be found here: Adventures: Tomb of Horrors (Revised)
It's a fairly easy game to run, and requires very little prepep time. Keep in mind though, if you decided to do this campaign, it is rather difficult for pcs, and may result in head scratching frustration. You might want to consider a 42 point buy for your players to give them the edge.
Good luck
Last edited:
the Jester
Legend
My advice:
Don't set out to tell a story. Set up a situation with npcs with motivations that interact, some of which are threats to parts of the setting that the pcs are invested in (home town, etc). See what happens.
The pcs determine the story. Do not ever decide in advance what they are going to do. Try to predict them; but be ready for them to instead jump on a ship and sail to the newly discovered continent a month's journey away.
The story is where you tell about what the pcs did when the game is over.
Don't set out to tell a story. Set up a situation with npcs with motivations that interact, some of which are threats to parts of the setting that the pcs are invested in (home town, etc). See what happens.
The pcs determine the story. Do not ever decide in advance what they are going to do. Try to predict them; but be ready for them to instead jump on a ship and sail to the newly discovered continent a month's journey away.
The story is where you tell about what the pcs did when the game is over.
I like the "iceberg" approach to designing content: you should know quite a bit more about everything then you reveal to your players. So when laying out a dungeon, consider how it was formed or built. If you were building a fortress, how would you lay out the rooms? If you decide that a dragon took up residence in a particular cavern years ago, describe that location as scorched. Even if the players never learn about the dragon, it adds flavor.
Try to give each dungeon something unique. This one was tunneled by a giant worm. That one isn't a dungeon, but a tower. This one was built to hold pirate treasure, and is filled with hidden rooms.
As a first time DM with experienced players, I'd advise embracing the philosophy that this world exists independent of the players, and thus isn't finally tuned to their needs. Sometimes a village is being attacked by a dragon when you're only 3rd level. Sometimes the ultimate magic ring is just in the hands of a hobbit. That way you can offload some of the encounter balancing on the players. If every encounter is tailored to the party and they die, that's your fault for throwing something too hard at them. If you offer them all different difficulties and they chose to pursue the titan, that's there own poor risk management. Just make sure not to be stingy on escape opportunities.
Observe your players. What content do they perk up for? If their attention is flagging during plot exposition, cut it short and present more information later. If they're having fun running errands in town, don't force them to move on. Besides being crucial for pacing, you can start to learn what makes your players tick. Is it love of gold? Now you know how to give them meaningful options in the story, but still be fairly confident they'll choose the choice you like.
Finally, while you're still building up instincts for presenting content, try to build some "outs" for yourself. Is there a big fight you're worried about balancing? Describe a large bell in the room. If the fight goes well, that was flavor. If the fight is too easy, a foe can ring it for reinforcements. But make sure to give clues beforehand. The wolf howl doesn't mean wolves have to attack, but if they appear after a battle that turned out easy with no warning, it feels like the DM is cheating. On a similar note, don't be afraid to pull content. If the players seem to be growing bored with a dungeon, the kobolds you planned in the next room can vanish. Don't go overboard, don't fine tune the number of foes so the party always just wins. But if you accidentally made a dungeon way too tough, you can tone down the later rooms; if the players aren't having fun with something, you can find ways to end that content early.
Try to give each dungeon something unique. This one was tunneled by a giant worm. That one isn't a dungeon, but a tower. This one was built to hold pirate treasure, and is filled with hidden rooms.
As a first time DM with experienced players, I'd advise embracing the philosophy that this world exists independent of the players, and thus isn't finally tuned to their needs. Sometimes a village is being attacked by a dragon when you're only 3rd level. Sometimes the ultimate magic ring is just in the hands of a hobbit. That way you can offload some of the encounter balancing on the players. If every encounter is tailored to the party and they die, that's your fault for throwing something too hard at them. If you offer them all different difficulties and they chose to pursue the titan, that's there own poor risk management. Just make sure not to be stingy on escape opportunities.
Observe your players. What content do they perk up for? If their attention is flagging during plot exposition, cut it short and present more information later. If they're having fun running errands in town, don't force them to move on. Besides being crucial for pacing, you can start to learn what makes your players tick. Is it love of gold? Now you know how to give them meaningful options in the story, but still be fairly confident they'll choose the choice you like.
Finally, while you're still building up instincts for presenting content, try to build some "outs" for yourself. Is there a big fight you're worried about balancing? Describe a large bell in the room. If the fight goes well, that was flavor. If the fight is too easy, a foe can ring it for reinforcements. But make sure to give clues beforehand. The wolf howl doesn't mean wolves have to attack, but if they appear after a battle that turned out easy with no warning, it feels like the DM is cheating. On a similar note, don't be afraid to pull content. If the players seem to be growing bored with a dungeon, the kobolds you planned in the next room can vanish. Don't go overboard, don't fine tune the number of foes so the party always just wins. But if you accidentally made a dungeon way too tough, you can tone down the later rooms; if the players aren't having fun with something, you can find ways to end that content early.
