Once Bitten, Twice Shy

[devilbat]

But you didn't fail.....the players failed you

Absolutely true. Get back out there and do it again.

 

[Tinner]

Well I finally decided to take the plunge and run my own, small D&D game. It was with people I consider good friends, because I'd figure they'd only laugh at my poor attempts in private.

The problem was that there was apparently some animosity between the players. No one ever told me this. No one made any protests when I commented who would be in the campaign.

My first attempt at DMing just completely crashed and burned. Now I'm really wary about even trying again. Has something like that happened to you enworlders out there? How did you dust yourself off and get back into the saddle. I would like to try, but I'm worried I'll just fail again.

You'll notice I highlighted several portions of your original message. That's because those are the only areas where anyone "failed."

You really NEED to read this.

The only error made here was not being careful about who got invited.
That's an easy mistake to make, and doesn't reflect in any way on you as a person, or on you as a DM!

You should definately try to DM again, but you need to more carefully screen your players.
Tell them up front that this is supposed to be about gaming, and not about hanging out with people who don't get along.
Decide who can play nicely with others, and only invite those people. If this means your group is smaller than "optimal" so be it, at least you'll have a group willing to play rather than bicker.

If a player joins and then becomes disruptive, boot them immediately! This is very easy if you're already playing online. Just dump/ban them from the channel/forum.
Be straitforward and honest with people. Kicking them out of a game doesn't mean you're not their friend. It just means that you feel they are a disruption to your hobby.

And make sure you read that link. It has saved me a world of grief!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

You crashed and burned - not because you were a lousy pilot, but because your crew failed to do their parts to keep things flying.

Until you are sure that you are not capable of being a decent DM and no longer want to put in effort to improve, you should keep trying.

Good luck.

 

[Graybeard]

Like many people before mentioned, you did not fail, your players did. If you decide to run a game via post or email, I would be glad to play in it. Your basic story sounds like a good start. You have an interesting stpryline with many good RPing possibilities. Good luck with your next group.

Chuck