Never played D&D and taking role as DM

[Mitchbones]

Hello just wanted to introduce myself and plea for osme help

Basicly, Ive wanted to play D&D for about 6 years, but never knew anyone interested, recently with changes of turning 16 and meeting new people I have found 5 people wanting to play. One of the players used to play for about 2 years but then stopped, he mentioned that he could DM but he kinda sucks at it. I considered having him do this, but I've had my heart set on DMing for quite sometime.

I picked up the PHB read it about 2 times, got the DMG read it once and someone got lost....and I picked up the DMing for Dummies book (excellent for noobs). Ill just get to the point, Im wondering if there is any general advice for newcomers to D&D and/or DMing, online recorces, or modules you guys recommend ( I already picked up sunless citadel)

Im willing to spend up to $100 (my guitar money :'( ) on books and materials for this group...I was thinking about getting Ebberon, but i dont know much about it....


thank you,
mitchbones out

 

[mearls]

DMG II might be a good book to pick up. It has a lot of general advice on running a game.

Other than that, just dive on in and start running Sunless Citadel. There's no substitute for actually running a game. Don't be afraid to screw up. You can always just start a new campaign!

Once you're done with Sunless Citadel, you can start thinking about what you want to move on to next. Dungeon Magazine and Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics series are both great places to look for adventures.

 

[Crothian]

I agree with Mearls. Get DMG 2 and a low level modiule like Sunless Citedel. Don't worry about Ebberon or anything else yet.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'm a big fan of Ebberron, and there's a short introductory adventure in the back of the campaign setting, that I haven't played, but which looks pretty good.

That being said, while you are willing to spend a healthy amount on books, your players might not be, so you might want to stick to the basics. Also there's a potential risk of information overload for those who have not played before.

My number one reccomendation for a DM of any level is a subscription to Dungeon Magazine. In a few months (issue 139) they'll be starting a new adventure path called Salvage Tide (an adventure path is a series of linked adventures spread throughout a single year that take characters from level 1 to 20). It looks pretty awesome (like pirate and dinosaur awesome).

 

[Meloncov]

When learning the game with your group, perhaps the most important thing is to not get bogged down too much in the rules. It's far better to act based on a misunderstood rule then get overly bogged down trying to figure out mid-game the correct way of doing things.

 

[Solarious]

Stick to the basics when starting out. I'm a fan of Ebberon, but it is best to become familiar with the rules first, then try to decide which way you want to take your games. You don't know what part of the game you enjoy the most: roleplaying, or combat, or storytelling, or whatever direction you go.

A few pointers.

1) Know the rules. Especially if your players want to introduce a new system, like psionics into your game. They might get it wrong, and you may need to adjust the game slightly in order to accomadate them. Speaking of new rules being introduced into a game...

2) Don't be afraid to say no. But listen to your players, too. If the DM is the heart and brains of a group, then the players are the blood and guts of it. This rule also applies to yourself, because...

3) Start small, then expand. Don't bite off more than you can chew, especially since you're just beginning. The rules of DnD are complicated and sometimes poorly written or inconsistant, so stick to basics, so to speak. Expanding on this idea...

4) Play the game the way you and your players want to play. It doesn't matter if you disagree with the rules or what is written in the book. Change it if you want to: you're the DM. But be aware of the consequences of doing things like that. While on the topic of the aptly named 'house rules'...

5) Be internally consistant. You'll confuse your players if you flip-flop on the rules or characterisms. If you're struggling with and issue, stop and talk to your players about it, and make a decision. But for the most important rule of them all, and this one IS a rule...

6) HAVE FUN. There is no point in all this if you don't have fun. Speaking of which, I hope you enjoy your first experience with your friends!

 

[pogre]

Buy a battlemat and some pens. If there is not a hobby store near you that carries battlemats - mark a large piece of posterboard with a one inch grid. Take it to a copy shop and have it laminated. Use dry erase markers on the laminated posterboard. A battlegrid will make your job running combat a lot simpler.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Solarius has it right: Make it fun. Keep it simple.

I agree with Pogre- battlemats help new players (and GMs) keep track of the battle.

You don't have to invest a fortune in minis to use a battlemat, either. Go to Target and get JellyBelly jellybeans to use as enemy counters. For instance, you can use Apple (green) for zombies, use Coconut (white) for skeletons, Cherry (red) can be orcs. When somebody kills a critter, they get the bean. Then, when its time to award XP, its all multiplication (say, 150 Xp per Orange jellybean x 4 kills = 600 XP to that PC) and dessert- the killer gets to eat the JB's!

Larger enemies may be represented by Peanut Butter cups, gumdrops, etc.

BTW: Licorice JB's make good Master Villains- they even taste bad!

Something I've used before in campaigns with new players is the reset. When you start a combat, record the starting locations of all characters & their HPs. If a disaster occurs, restart from that point, just like a video game. Let your players know this won't happen every time...

 

[RigaMortus2]

I personally think for right now, as a new player/user of D&D, the Core 3 books are all you really need. And of course a module or two. All other books are nice to have, but not necessary to get started, especially for someone new.

The only advice I would give is, you need to have a great imagination and you need to be fair to the players. Remember that itt isn't the DM vs. the Players, you are all there to have fun. Try learning how to balance (combat) encounters so that they can be overcome, but still pose a moderate risk. This of course will only come with practice. I haven't DM'd in years, so when I do I often have a habit of making hard encounters by accident. I also don't pull any punches either, so this has a tendancy of ending up killing a party member or even turn into a TPK. So yeah, don't do what I do

 

[Gold Roger]

You are me five years ago (I was sixteen as well, just met new people, never played before and wanted to play long before that).

Start simple. Just a small village, some dungeons and maybe premade adventures.

Don't use a Campaign Setting. When you're new it's far to much stuff to keep in mind, to much background.

Learn one step at a time. I wanted to do everything from the beginning and of course got myself overwelmed. Stick to your first campaign. No matter how much you want to start something new, the first campaign is something you'll never forget, bring it to a good end.

Don't get yourself down. An unconfident DM will not make for a fun game.

Start with an all good group. That way inter party struggle is harder.

Don't buy any new rulebooks for now. When you are new to the hobby the three core books are more than enough. If you want to buy new stuff, invest in advice (DMG2 is golden. Best DMing advice you can get) and play utilities, like minis (with your budged I'd stick to token for now though, minis are expensive), battlemaps, adventures or wizard of the coasts fantastic locations (not for the adventures, but when your players want to explore that cave you didn't think of, pull out the cave map and some monsters and you're ready to go).

And stick to the boards. People around here can provide great advice. We have some of the designers here and I'd argue some of the best DM's there are as well.

If you find the time read one of the storyhours.

Piratecat is an original D&D 3rd edition playtester, greatly praised DM and all around great guy. By simply reading about his game you should improve. He also just recently restarted his storyhour, so it's easy to drop in, you can find it here.