D&D 5E First Time Game Master

[BookBarbarian]

I was so scared to DM my first time, I started with the simplest adventure I could. The scenario was literally bad weather forced the various player characters to seek shelter in an old tower. Then the storm caused some doors to fall down, and the players explored the tower and tomb, fought some baddies, and got some loot.

It took a couple of hours. It had some great social interaction first, as the PCs met each other, then moved to exploration with a trap encounter, and had 3 combats. It worked out really well.

My advice:

Keep it simple.

Concentrate on making the game fun instead of making it right.

If you don't know something spend no more than a couple of minutes looking it up at the table. To me it's better to make a bad ruling quickly, and do better next time, than cause the game to grind to a halt by spending all your time trying to find the right rule.

Engage each player individually and equally.

 

[robus]

There are a few threads in the “best of” thread collection that cover basic DMing skills, but the absolute best one (and the reason I created the best of collection ) is this one: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?453707-How-to-Adjudicate-Actions-in-D-amp-D-5e

It’s a fun read and a great way to get introduced to the non-combat aspects of 5e.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I'm trying my hand at running a game for the first time ever

Woohoo! Welcome to this side of the GM Screen!

Any other advice for running a very short game or maybe just a single session?

Relax. Have fun. If you screw up rules just go with it and fix things at the end of the session. Don't forget to ask your players for feedback. Have fun (yes, I know I said that twice, but it is important, this is supposed to be a hobby).