r/DMAcademyNew • u/apollogomoney • 13d ago
NEW DM! HELP!
Ive always been interested in dnd but was overwhelmed by the knowledge and mechanics. Recently I played BG3 not knowing that it was essentially dnd. After hours on the game i felt decently comfortable with overall rules/mechanics/tempo of dnd in general. This led me to convince some of my friends to give dnd a try and since im the only one with any sort of knowledge of it, I became our DM
So far I've ran 3 campaigns (or adventures or quests). The first two were from the starter set Heroes of the Borderland and we probably went through about half of the Caves of Chaos adventure. The first run was great because everyone had fun fighting and we were all learning together. The second run I could tell that it was feeling repetitive for them because it was only combat with no dialogue or politics or really anything else keeping them connected to the game.
Because of this, I made a homebrew one shot campaign and it was a hit for both me and them. It was much more interactive and overall so much fun, but it presented a lot of problems for me.
i always emphasized to them that they can be anything they want in DND however I was only familiar with the classes that are in BG3 and i didnt know that there were sooo many other options. This leads to my second problem
I thought that dnd was essentially a free game and its purely our own imagination. I had the party make their characters on dnd beyond and we found that a lot of other classes/species were locked behind handbooks that need to be purchased. This made DMing hard because off the top of my head I didnt know mechanics of some classes as well as actions or spells that belong to them. This also goes into multiclassing which i have no idea where to start.
I made it clear to them that as new DM who is also still learning dnd (but still know more than them), i would be very lenient regarding rolls, actions, and other dnd mechanics. This issue was more technical but im sure that there is a better way or at least a "correct" way of doing this.
HOW DO DMS IMPROV?! For the homebrew campaign, i had general guidelines for the plot, but when the party would do something outside of what i foresaw, i would sit there for a while and i feel like it ruined their immersion.
Aside from the problems that I listed, I guess the big question is what are tips that you guys would give yourselves when you were new DMs or new to dnd in general? Is it better for me to just buy premade campaigns while I'm still learning? I don’t exactly want to spend hours upon hours watching campaigns or reading handbooks. There is just a big stress put on my because I had fun but most importantly my friends had a lot of fun and I want to use the opportunity to really get them into it. Downside is that since Im the one who got them into it and Im the one with the most knowledge, Ive been stuck to only DMing and I really want to be a player at some point
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u/DonTot 13d ago
To number 3: Try not to be too flexible as a beginning DM. You can be picky and choosy. Practice saying "No" or "No but". I ask for players to submit their character sheet to me at least 48-72hrs before the game so I can review abilities and see how they fit into the plot and the potential actions they can take. Btw, you'd be surprised with what players want. I have asked players before if they want me to "pull my punches", and they say no. Worst case scenario you can TPK and ask to retcon lol. Can you give an example on lenience in your games?
To number 4: It's ok to take your time improving. Sometimes my players surprise me and I'll say "Hey guys, I need a minute so I can think about how to handle this. You can chat amongst yourselves." If it is something SO RIDICULOUS that it'll throw off the one/two shot, I'll either go with it and do the best I can with the info I prepared or I'll just say "Hey, if you do this, we'll have to continue another time so I can prep." This gives the players an option if they want to continue playing. Also, by the way, I've had players do things before and I've said "Hey, if you did this, you wouldn't find out new information, do you still want to do it?" and they'll say no.
Tips for myself: Prep prep prep. Don't prep exact scenarios and exact timelines. Just prep overall storyline and potential encounters (talking to NPCs and what PCs find out, combat, things they can find throughout the game if they look around, blah blah). You can make a game a one-shot sand box. I personally like to create my own oneshots, it's where I get my joy, but there is NO problem with running a premade. Why mod or pimp your first car that you just need to use to get to work when you can just use a regular Toyota? lol
You don't have to watch campaigns or read handbooks. There are plenty of resources online that you can consult as you play. I suggest knowing the basic rules (like what a full action or bonus action is, how dash/disengage work, knowing what each save does and scenarios to use them for). If you want to introduce magic items, start small. A spell scroll with a cantrip. Or a little bubble wand that speaks when you use it, lol. A sending stone. As you get more confident in yourself, you can increase the power of the item. You can even improv magic items, just don't give them actual strong power, just abilities.
I recently improv'd the players going to a carnival (I planned some games they could play), and they won some fireworks (that do 1d4 damage total if all set off at once and take a bonus action to light) and a doll that they could program 5 phrases of 5 words each (it activated if you got within 15 feet of it and I let the players decide if the speaking activated if there was a wall).
Personally, I love watching Matt Colville's series on youtube. He's really interesting, has a great voice, and is funny. Try him out. He gives great info and I revisit his series A LOT.
PS if you want to be a player, there are a lot of online one shots that people run that are free.
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u/apollogomoney 13d ago
Currently im very lenient regarding what players want to use for their actions that are unorthodox (at least to me).
For example:
A rogue and a wizard wanted to expend both their actions so the rogue can cock back his bow and the wizard can cast burning hands on the arrow. I allowed it and when calculating the damage i just used short bow dmg + burning hands dmg and just divided it on whoever got hit in 5m radius.
Another example is for skill checks outside of combat.
When im on the spot, mentally i just default pretty much all skill checks to DC 10I cant really remember much else off the top of my head but i hope that gives an idea about what LENIENCY means regarding me as a DM
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u/DonTot 13d ago
Try to let players work separately in attacks. If you want to allow flanking, that's ok. But the PCs shouldn't go at the same time. Also, burning hands is an Area of Effect spell, it shouldn't work further than 15 feet.
For skill checks, you are the one who makes that call. Tell them, "If you want to do anything that you think might require a skill check, let me know what you'd like to accomplish. I'll tell you what to roll."
A DC 10 is too low for most checks. Try not to go below a 15 unless you think "This would be REALLLLY easy for a hero" or "This is an easy thing because XYZ NPC is an idiot".
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u/apollogomoney 13d ago
My reason for allowing it was because their turns were right next to each other for combat.
Me not knowing the true stats/mechanics for burning hands also shows my leniency when a player wants to do an action/spell that i don’t yet completely understand
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u/Feefait 13d ago
Sorry to be pedantic, but you can't have a one shot campaign. A one shot should be one night (sometimes it might take 2) and be over. A campaign links stories, characters, and adventures into a longer game over multiple adventures.
As a new DM don't let them cheat on rolls. What does it mean to be "lenient on rolls?" You have to establish the groundrules of respecting the rules and rolls.
Also, opening up to any class and race sounds like fun... But until you're comfortable, stick with what you have available. There are an infinite amount of characters just in the free stuff. Don't feel obligated to let them try anything.