D&D General Where do New DMs Go for Help Online?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Aside from the usual forums like this one, there are Facebook groups and discords if one is looking for an alternative to Reddit.

Facebook groups and Discord are both pretty horrible places to go. Discord isn't set up to have archival information easily available and Facebook groups are only marginally better.

If I were starting fresh today, I'd point new DMs at Matt Colville's Running the Game videos. Heck, I binged them all during lockdown and I found them useful, despite years of play.

And not to pile on, but my dad, who's toying with becoming a DM (they grow up so fast!) purchased Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master first thing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I know nothing of the business model and requirements of Reddit. But remember that Musk took some serious debt to buy Twitter. There it is less hubris, more financial necessity.

Musk is also piling a lot of self-inflicted wounds on top of buying Twitter for twice its value. Driving away advertisers in droves, by his own admission, creates a whole lot of financial necessity that making people pay for API access isn't going to come close to covering.

 

[jgsugden]

Musk buying Twitter is about the next election. Everything else is noise.

As for Reddit: I've never understood why it is considered such an important thing. I find it unwieldy, inefficient, and often more annoying than useful. I found the gaming community was a lot better when gaming information primarily came via Enworld and WotC Forums. When WotC stopped supporting and then killed off their forums, it was a huge step down in terms of quality and consistency of communication. People too often confuse innovation with progress.

 

[AnotherGuy]

The wealth of places new dms can search to gain experience and advice is plentiful.
I find there are a multitude of youtubers, pocasts, blogs and forums. It is fantastic. I'm discovering new ones all the time and its great when you find dudes and dudettes with low subscription numbers but turn out to be actual gems.
You don't like this (a) because of their tone or (b) because of their crudeness or (c) because of their of production value well there are dozens of others who will suit your needs and tastes.

I'm not even on fbook, twitter, mastodon, discord etc but your simple google search gets you everything you need.

I feel DMs (and players) have it good right now

 

[S'mon]

Matt Mercer gives good basic advice. Matt Colville gives good and mostly useful advice.
Justin Alexander is a bit more advanced reading, I definitely find him useful.
I've been enjoying Arbiter of Worlds YouTube and sub stack from Alex Macris (yeah I know, boo hiss) though mostly for confirming my own biases I guess!

I regard Alexander as the top blogger for GMing advice, but I'm unsure how accessible he is for a complete novice.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Matt Mercer gives good basic advice. Matt Colville gives good and mostly useful advice.
Justin Alexander is a bit more advanced reading, I definitely find him useful.
I've been enjoying Arbiter of Worlds YouTube and sub stack from Alex Macris (yeah I know, boo hiss) though mostly for confirming my own biases I guess!

I regard Alexander as the top blogger for GMing advice, but I'm unsure how accessible he is for a complete novice.

For those curious about Justin's musings: www.justinalexander.com

 

[cbwjm]

For me it was the AngryGM who really pulled back the curtain on what a good DM is actually thinking about when running a game. It was a revelation and I devoured every post with gusto. Then he revealed himself to also be an arsehole, so I don’t recommend him as enthusiastically as I once might have (though Kelsey Dionne is a fan I believe so perhaps I’m judging harshly?)

I've heard angrygm has some good stuff but his whole angry gimmick kills it for me.

 

[Odysseus]

If you're a new DM, I'm very interested to hear where you got your help (recognizing the self-selection of EN World posters).

When I was a new DM. ENworld was my first choice.
More recently its been Mike Shea, and Matt Colville. Or any where the search engine leads me.

 

[LordEntrails]

I've heard angrygm has some good stuff but his whole angry gimmick kills it for me.

I usually can't get through his diatribe. The first half of his blog posts are just rants. They waste my time. Not worth it to me.

I find the Alexandrian very useful when on a topic I need, like the DH Remix and others. I'm not a fan of videos (inefficient timewise) so Mercer and Colville are pretty much out for me. But I still point people that way if they prefer videos.

 

[LordEntrails]

For those curious about Justin's musings: www.justinalexander.com

Ah, no.

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