To DM or not to DM. That is the question. Any advice?

[cmad1977]

I’d allow any books that your players would be comfy using or ask for. If they are new maybe stick to the PHB so as not to overwhelm them off the bat.

 

[S'mon]

I would say: Run a one shot, provide pregens, but allow players to bring their own PCs if they want. As it is a test drive I suggest using point buy/array & PHB only. You may want to run at 3rd or even 5th level due to the extreme vulnerability of 1st level in 5e.

Then if it goes well you can always continue it as a mini campaign, then a campaign! But don't plan to run some 60 session epic on day one.

 

[ccs]

Whatever amount of options you feel comfortable with.

 

[dragoner]

Doing what you feel is comfortable with is good advice, though to keep it simple, is also good. As per complexity, character options are good, extra rules that interrupt the flow of the game, are not good. Mostly one has to do enough prep to do a rough framework that allows for easy improvisation. As time goes by, you learn from experience in how to do it better.

 

[Zethnos]

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate it. All of the advice here has been really helpful.

 

[Les Moore]

I trade DMing for Role playing. The agreement is I will DM, but not constantly or permanently. This only works if you have others willing to DM.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Yeah, understand this: once you decide to DM, it will become increasingly difficult to find games in which to be a player. Especially if people really like the games you run. Being a is awesome and amazing, and I say absolutely do it, but the most common gripe I hear from every single DM I know is that they wish they could be a player more often.

That said: do it. You won't regret it.

 

[GMMichael]

Yeah, understand this: once you decide to DM, it will become increasingly difficult to find games in which to be a player. . .
That said: do it. You won't regret it.

This reminds me of Hulu's current ad campaign: once you go Hulu, you can't go back to regular TV. Or as Joe Manganiello may be implying: once you go Sofia, you can't go back to...non-Columbian actresses.

I don't see this as "your players won't let you be a player" though. For me, it's more like "you'll pick apart everything that other GMs do." Because, well, you wouldn't let a player break this rule, or you wouldn't describe an area like that, or let the plot go there.

There is hope, though. I hear Joe has a gaming dungeon...

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Also, as much as people bash on DMPCs, if you do it right it can work fine. Both me and a friend have run a PC in a campaign that we were DMing, and the group is fine with it. If anything, I've been told that I sometimes needlessly err on the side of not having my character take too active a part when I'm DMing.

You can't really do everything you could do as a regular player though, because you lose some of that sense of mystery and discovery (random rolls for things help that though). Still, if you don't mind that too much, you can give it a try. Just make sure you have some good DMing experience under your belt first.

 

[cmad1977]

Do not have a DMPC. Don’t.