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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7097867" data-attributes="member: 20323">Yah, another DM is born <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Welcome to ENWorld [MENTION=6878412]Denalz[/MENTION]! Your story looks great.Here is the wisdom I wish I'd received when first chipping my teeth on DMing...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't run an assistant NPC, at least not at first. The temptation to have a "DM-NPC" is much maligned and rightfully so. Once you have some experience, then it's OK to incorporate such a NPC mindfully and sparingly. But not right away. Not. At. All.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't think too much further in advance than the next game session, especially while your group is forming and learning the game. If things do congeal into an ongoing group, great, then you can hatch more extensive schemes. But not at first.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You have ideas. That's great. But are they ideas that catch your players' interest? The first session (dubbed "Session Zero") should be about creating characters, and especially figuring out how the PCs connect to one another & to your proposed adventure. You should ask: I want to run a game where you begin shipwrecked on an island? How does that sound to you? And be willing to adapt to what your players want - they're the other half of the game after all! Maybe they're eager for something out of the pages of Dragon Age rather than Robinson Crusoe. You never know until you ask.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You don't need to come up with the entire story yourself. For example, many first-time players (and veteran gamers as well) won't put much effort into connecting their PCs together, thinking "it's the DM's job." That's baloney. Have a few well-constructed questions on your notecard to pose to such players to get them thinking about how their PCs might know each other. This is everyone's job, not just the DM's.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Start at Level 1. If this is the first time you're cutting your teeth on DMing and the first time many of the players will be playing D&D, I especially mean it. Start. At. Level. One. No exceptions. There's a reason classes are designed the way they are - because it lets players (and DMs) have a learning curve rather than throwing too much at them all at once.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prepare to improvise. This is a lifelong DM skill, so don't feel you need to do it flawlessly starting out. Just have a list of NPC names handy and maybe one page of notes, to begin with - that'll get you far.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't make your own monsters at first. Use the monsters from the published adventure adventure or Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters. Monster design is an involved mathematical & artistic process. You want to have a couple sessions understanding how monsters play at the actual table from behind the DM's screen before running off to make your own – e.g. it's very easy for new DMs to make overly complex monsters without thinking about how hard it will be for them to manage such a monster during actual play.</li> </ul>Gains darkvision (60 ft.) for 1 hour when blood of a yuan-ti is smeared over the tribal tattoo.Involve the whole party, whatever you decide.Again: see session zero. I'd say you have a good mix of encounters, probably enough time to fill a 3-4 hour session, potentially even more knowing how newer games tend to move slower as folks learn the rules and joke around.Their ship wrecks with supplies that can be salvaged. Similar "we start in prison / on an island" scenarios typically allow PCs to gain necessary equipment pretty quickly.They may not have a Cleric, but the Paladin will be able to perform Lay on Hands & the Druid may select healing spells.Ask your players. Or get a feel of their play style after a few sessions together and decide for yourself.</blockquote>

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