D&D 5E REALLY REALLY BAD DM ADVICE

[DemoMonkey]

You absolutely have to allow everything in your game that's printed in every book or supplement or article, physical or electronic, by anyone.

 

[DemoMonkey]

You can never allow anything in your game that isn't in one of the Core rule books, physical or electronic, by anyone.

 

[Olrox17]

The key to a successful campaign is writing the entire plot far in advance, and making sure the players follow it closely, exactly as you planned. Never let your players stray from the railroaded plot, or else you may be forced to (gasp!) improvise!

 

[generic]

Advertise a horror based D&D game. When the players get there let them know there will be no combat, no spells, home brew classes such as "athlete" and "scholar". Oh, and it's going to be set in modern times, there is no magic and you have your own skill based resolution system.

Too soon?

Very much so.

 

[generic]

Bullet round: Excellent DM advice of the highest caliber.

1. Remember, magic items are a necessity. If each PC doesn't have at least 5 magic items by level 3, you'rem game is already un-fun, wrong, and boring.

2. Don't use any of the monsters made by WotC, even when you don't know how to homebrew monsters yet. Balance is an illusion.

3. Reward Inspiration for bringing snacks.

4. Slave away as a DM without a thought to enjoying the game, playing in a setting you hate, until you're filled with rage and self-loathing.

5. Never use game aids like miniatures or graphs. The Orc is always simultaneously within range and not within range.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Always stick to the letter of the RaW.

Give yourself plenty of time for RPing by running just one encounter per session, that's plenty of excitement - and keep bookkeeping simple by assuming a long rest between each session.

 

[CleverNickName]

Don't bother asking for specific ability checks. Just let the players tell you which checks they want to make, no matter how far-fetched or improbable.

Also, the game assumes that every attack roll is always made with Advantage and therefore the rogue is always sneak attacking. It's called "bounded accuracy," look it up, sheesh.

 

[jmartkdr2]

It's vitally important that you commit every rule in every core rulebook to memory before you even contemplate running a session. If you're not word-perfect on all three books, you will not be able to run a single tavern encounter well. Never, under any circumstances, allow players to tell you the rules for their characters or otherwise take up any of the effort of running the game. You should and must know everything.

 

[Eltab]

Never use the same monster twice; it's boring. Even if the campaign theme is "Rise of Dragons" there should only be one dragon in the whole world. If the PCs kill it, it's gone.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Do not use ANY D&D material from previous editions of the game. You wait until Wizards of the Coast re-prints it for 5E! Nothing in the game is valid and worthwhile until some rando in the D&D department vets it by cutting and pasting the material into a new book first.