What advice would you give to beginning GMs? What is something you wish you knew when you were a beginner?
Don’t feel bad, this is a common question. Luckily, I’ve complied my list of my favorite tips for new DM’s!
If I had to pick one thing that I wish I’d done a lot sooner… See Tip #6. Seriously, I kick myself daily for not thinking that one up sooner.
Chaotic Neutral Inc.’s Top 10 quick tips for new DM’s
1. Have a plan. Thisis the most important part of DMing. Having a plan for your game can be assimple or complex as you want it to be. The first thing to think about is this:What do I want my players to do? Usually this involves a quest. Since this isyour first session you can start with a simple quest that leads into a muchmuch larger quest. It’s a very simple and straightforward approach to running agame. A simple problem turns out to be a much bigger problem, and your playersare right at the center of it all. I recommend a good ol’ fashioned “Dungeoncrawl” as a good first mission. Something like exploring a long abandonedcastle in search of a treasure of legend. Along the way the players canencounter monsters, traps, puzzles, and clues that lead them to the item,treasure, or person(s) (living or dead) that they seek.
2. Resources. Onceyou have a plan (even a very basic one) you need to flesh it out. This can beaccomplished in a number of ways but always remember that your Player’s Handbook(PHB), Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG), and Monster Manual (MM) are always therefor you. While I don’t have any experience with 4th Edition Ido know that both the 3.5 and 5E DMG both have tables so you can simply rolldice to determine what your players will encounter in a dungeon or whatever youwant. Below I’ve also catalogued some other great resources that I use forrunning games that come in really handy:
a. DonJon - http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ - This is a coolwebsite. Donjon has everything you need to pretty much create an entire fantasyworld all in one convenient website. Donjon has a random dungeon generator thatmust be seen to be believed. It comes with a detailed map, monsters, andtreasure all pregenerated based on the level you want. Not to mention that youhave options for creating worlds/dungeons/etc. for D&D Editions 3.5, 4, and5! That’s a lot of content! Oh, and did I mention it’s all FREE? Double the winfor you.
b. Pyromancer’s Dungeon Builder - http://pyromancers.com/ - Once you’ve mastered the finerpoints of DMing Pyromancer’s offers a whole new level of dungeon building.Render huge, stunning, and highly detailed maps of everything to city streets,to castle walls, and even build the deck of your own warship. All of this is atyour fingertips, for FREE!
c. D&D’s homepage - http://dnd.wizards.com/ - While Wizards of the Coastdoesn’t have a ton of help to offer they do have some resources that you canlook into as well as forums for new or veteran DM’s and Players that are morethan happy to help their fellow gamers. Again, more FREE stuff!
3. Dice. Ok, we allknow you need dice to play/run D&D. However, there is something to considerhere in regards to what dice you have. I have a set of dice that I thought wasconstantly cursed to roll low numbers. I’ve gone through a few dice sets thatlooked cool but always rolled very poorly. Then I found the YouTube video I’velinked below. Apparently, you can end up with off-centered dice that favoreither high or low numbers. Following this train of thought, it’s probably bestto to get a few sets of Chessex fully translucent dice. While this isdefinitely not required I recently found this and wanted to share theknowledge. I’ll soon be swapping out several sets of my dice for the completelytranslucent because they’re more balanced and therefore not weighted. (Thoughfor hard boss fights I keep a couple of sets that are weighted for rollinghigh.)
4. Be creative. Thisis one of the most sacred tenants of D&D. Don’t settle for the same dungeontype/story arc/ quest type that you’ve always played. There is a world ofopportunity out there. You can do anything from high adventure, to cloak anddagger intrigue, all the way to comedy in D&D. There is no limit to what youcan do.
5. The “DM Rule.” Therules are there to help you. All of the books that are available to you forrunning a game are great and they’re always there to clarify when things getmurky or confusing. However, oftentimes you don’t want to break the gameplay tolook up a rule. That’s a common thing. Sometimes you need to look one up, othertimes you need to use “the DM rule” as applicable. The DM rule is simply: “I’mthe DM, here’s how I say this works.” Or “…here’s how I say it happens (orhappened). Sometimes you need to be a bit draconian and take control of thegame as sometimes your players (who are looking out for themselves or theircharacters) will find a ruling not to their liking. Sometimes you just have toremind them that you are running this game and not them, politely of course.
6. Record your sessions! Thisis a huge thing. If you want to improve yourself as a DM, or even as a player,get an audio recorder and set it up in the center (or as close to as possible)of your table and have it recording your entire session. True, a session can belong but recording the session is an excellent tool. After the game hasconcluded go back and listen to the session. Think about it and feel free toquestion your actions at this point. “Did I make the right calls?” “How couldthis part of the sesson have gone better from the DM’s perspective?” The pointis, that use this as you would any other tool in your gaming arsenal. It canalso be a great tool for remembering little things, plot hooks, or just keepingthe story’s continuity straight. Also, you have a great little gem of futurenostalgia. I’ve got sessions recorded from years ago that I still lovelistening to and remembering games long past. Memories will fade over time, butthese recordings will last forever.
7. Designate one of yourplayers as the party’s Record Keeper. While you are running the game youneed at least one person to keep track of everything from loot to plot points.This is a very important thing. As the DM you need to be able to run your game.Getting bogged down with how much loot was scavenged two fights ago orremembering what the quest ‘s main objective is is up to your Record Keeper.Again, don’t be afraid to get a bit draconian at times to let them know towrite things down. Even after years of playing and being a DM I still will getto an important plot point and tell my Record Keeper, “You might want to writethis down.” As the DM you have enough on your plate already. This will take ahuge load off your mind.
8. Dealing with unrulyplayers. This can be a really hard thing to do. Especially if this playeris a friend. I guarantee you’ll have one and it’ll be your hardest challenge asa DM. You have to be able to deal with difficult or unruly players. At thispoint you just have to do what is best for both you and what’s best for thegame. Sometimes that does mean asking a person to leave. Usually, though, youcan just take this person aside and just talk to them and let them know thatthey’re hurting the game. Be sure to reiterate that you want everyone to havefun and work with them. Sometimes that’s all it takes to take back control froman unruly player without things getting nasty.
9. No “meta-gaming.” Forfirst-time gamers this can be tricky. Mega-Gaming is quite simply defined as “any strategy, action or methodused in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors toaffect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by thegame. Another definition refers to the game universe outside of the gameitself.” (From Google) Quite basically, know when a conversation is“in-game” or “out-of-game”. As confusing as that sounds it plays out moreeasily in-game.
a. Example: Players, 1,2, and 3 splitoff from players 4, and 5. Players 4 and 5 go down a path that leads them to afight with a nasty creature. Meanwhile Players 1,2,3 are further down theirtrack but haven’t encountered anything and are beyond earshot or eyesight ofPlayers 4 and 5. As such, one of the 1,2, and 3’s group can’t just stop andsay, “Maybe we should help the others.” Why? Because, logically, theircharacters cannot hear or see the others to know they are in danger.
10. Have fun! Thisis the most important of all the ideas I’ve given so far. You and all of yourplayers are there to have fun. So keep things fun. Take note of how your partyplays and what kind of game they prefer from fun and exciting to dark andgritty. See what they like and don’t be afraid to play to that.
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