osarusan
Explorer
Don't bother with a campaign setting yet. Do your own thing. When you're new to the game you really want to start small, and it will help you to be able to make up your world as you go, rather than turning to page 236 to see what is in the city that the players go to. ;-) Remember the KISS rule: "Keep It Simple, Stupid."
The MM and either Dungeon or Dragon magazine is a very good choice.
I suggest not buying much more than that to start with. When you've learned all the rules in the books you own, then its time to buy more. But don't give yourself too much work to start with. Like William_2 said, you won't be able to learn all the rules at first, and that's perfectly OK.
I played the game without minis for years. They're very fun, but also 100% not necessary.
There's so much advice to give, and we don't want to overload you.
I'll repeat some of the advice that was said earlier, because I think it is important enough to warrant repeating:
- You play *with* the players, not against them. Likewise, you may have to remind them that they play *with* you, not against you. Don't be afraid to kill the PC's if that's what happens... just don't purposefully try to.
- Never assume your players will do what you expect. They almost never do. Some days they may even be content to spend 3 hours shopping and 3 more talking in a bar instead of going on a dungeon crawl. It happens. A good DM can use those aspects of the game to turn them into the adventure, ignoring whatever you may have had planned.
- Be confident. The DM runs the game and the players should know that. Some players may try to take advantage of a less-confident DM (it's human nature). Here's a little secret though: sometimes we all do things without knowing what we're doing... we just wing it. But the players usually think we've got everything under control. So just pretend that you do.
The MM and either Dungeon or Dragon magazine is a very good choice.
I suggest not buying much more than that to start with. When you've learned all the rules in the books you own, then its time to buy more. But don't give yourself too much work to start with. Like William_2 said, you won't be able to learn all the rules at first, and that's perfectly OK.
I played the game without minis for years. They're very fun, but also 100% not necessary.
There's so much advice to give, and we don't want to overload you.
I'll repeat some of the advice that was said earlier, because I think it is important enough to warrant repeating:- You play *with* the players, not against them. Likewise, you may have to remind them that they play *with* you, not against you. Don't be afraid to kill the PC's if that's what happens... just don't purposefully try to.
- Never assume your players will do what you expect. They almost never do. Some days they may even be content to spend 3 hours shopping and 3 more talking in a bar instead of going on a dungeon crawl. It happens. A good DM can use those aspects of the game to turn them into the adventure, ignoring whatever you may have had planned.
- Be confident. The DM runs the game and the players should know that. Some players may try to take advantage of a less-confident DM (it's human nature). Here's a little secret though: sometimes we all do things without knowing what we're doing... we just wing it. But the players usually think we've got everything under control. So just pretend that you do.
