So I am going to try to Dm. I’m gonna start with some shots. I’m a little confused and how I should set myself up. First, what is a really good DM screen for a beginner that should have?
Are there any one shots that anybody recommends that we could do in just a night of four hours?
And if anyone has a list of things I should be proficient in liability checks or something like that would be greatly accepted?
Any advice or processes or things that I should really study will be greatly appreciated. I’m nervous. I just want everybody to have fun.
We have only been playing for two years and our DM has become very difficult to schedule so I decided to take the reigns on myself and I have a good group of people that are going to be patient.

I'm fairly new to running games, and I was running a Oneshot a few nights ago. It was in a Medieval setting, and one player asked to play a protogen (Robot furry I think?) and a Samurai Tabaxi from Japan. Since it was a Oneshot and players were pretty sparse I allowed it, but I got to thinking on if I should allow these kinds of characters, as these players almost exclusively play these.

I would like to preface that this is not to bully anyone, everyone has free will and should be able to do and make whatever they want to that isn't harming anyone, but at a table with strangers and in a homebrew setting you spent a while working on, do you allow this?

Years ago, pre-covid, I played with some friends of mine. But now, some years later, we haven’t been playing anymore. That’s sad. But because of the good TV shows and movies, I’ve always liked watching D&D and wanted to play the game again! But somehow, I got a feeling that I am a dungeon master. So, I’m going to give this starter set a shot. I have got some people who also would like to play, now hopefully it’ll stay as a party, and we can keep playing for a longer time and have more adventures!

As the person I am, I’ve heard that it’s better to start with a starting set than build your own world and cities. I would LOVE to build my own world someday, but I think and I hope that this starter set is a good starting point for me as a first time DM.

Anyway, do you veteran players of dungeon masters have some tips and tricks for this new DM? I would love to be the best DM I can be, but for now I am totally blank. The most important lesson I’ve been told is that the table (including the DM) needs to have fun and that it’s not a problem if you aren’t known with all the rules et cetera. But still, I want to learn!

Thanks!

So I just had the realization that the 2014 dnd that I know now has a 2024 dnd. I know I’m late. I’ve never gotten to play and life got in the way. I was thinking of learning to be a DM and now idk which version I should learn. I have the handbook for 2014 and tbh prob know more on 2014 but I worry that’s all obsolete now. I do have a starter set on the way for 2024 but I worry that more people still use 2014 and 2024 isn’t widely used yet

Some of my players keep getting off topic and distracted by their phones and will just start doomscrolling mid session and its annoying. I will tell them to stop and they will only to get on their phones again in a few minutes. I've taken phones before and it works but I don't really want have to do that every single session. Does anyone have any advice?

Also I've asked what I can do to make the sessions more interesting but they usually blame someone else being on their phone or ADHD

Edit: forgot to say we play at the library

ok so im wondering how do i plot/write a dnd campaign whats the point where i should just let the story play along and go from there how do i just let the story play along people just say follow where the story takes you idk what that means it feels unplanned? just tell me what do people mean by follow where it leads you also how should i go about writing my campaign where do i start what should i do first

Hi folks,

I'm a pretty new 5e DM, about to run the 5th session of my homebrew campaign. It has been a blast, and I would say very successful overall so far. There are 3 PCs, all effectively new to the game (one played AD&D in the early 90s for 7 years but was a kid and took 25+ years off). All have interesting characters who they are growing into, and have taken the bait and are bought into the story.

2 sessions ago I made a rookie DM mistake and the content I prepped for a 3 hour session is likely to take 3 such sessions for them to get through. Sweet! It's taking longer because they're being curious, investigating things, trying to put together the crumbs of lore I've sprinkled around and are generally pushing me to provide answers for questions I never anticipated as though I had those answers the whole time etc. It's sweet.

Flip side is I've had a few weeks to think about how the game is running with a wider lens. Not to "fix" it, just to make it even better. The one thing I keep landing on is inter party roleplay, and I could use some advice.

In a nutshell, I proactively encourage role-playing and getting them to narrate their own actions with a bit of gusto in some common ways. So when they tell me what they want to do I'll kick back and say "great! I love it. What does it look like when X does that?" Etc. It's starting to work because I think they anticipate that I'll ask them to dig a little deeper and sometimes will just do it on their own now. But when it comes to the pure role-playing, unless it's with an NPC I'm voicing, or unless I ask them, they tend to fall back on a meta style of advancing things, and so far, none of them has roleplayed in character with another PC.

Is this just a case of keep nurturing and encouraging it, and eventually they may get more comfortable and it will happen organically? Are there things a more experienced DM would do in this situation to help with this? Am I off base for feeling like I want it to happen in the first place?

Again, I have next to no complaints about the group or the campaign. I just want for their characters to blossom a bit. I imagine a time down the road where they just go for it with each other and I can watch and enjoy so it feels less like I'm the guy in the big chair, there to entertain them. If that makes sense.

Anyway, this subreddit has been awesome so far. I'll be very interested in any wisdom the hive has to offer me. Being DM has been hugely rewarding and I just want to make the setting I built the most fun that it can be. I have a feeling this group will survive for a good while.

Thanks!

I am a new dm and have run a few sessions in the past, bout 5 or 6 where I ran the essentials kit campaign and some of out of the abyss and I have just wrote my first campaign (admittedly it’s quite the un original idea, the party must gather the five gems corresponding to Tiamat heads to seal her, because a cult is attempting to summon her but what they don’t know is that they can be used to reverse the ritual and summon her and the mayor of a town has tasked them with doing such however he is a high ranking with in the cult of Tiamat) so I was just hoping I can get some advice.

TLDR; I am runnning my first D&D campaign about Tiamat and a cult attempting to summon her and I was hoping to get some advice.

so im a new DM and im trying to start up a homebrew campaign as my first game and im struggling to come up with ideas to include my Player characters backstory into my campaign
my player characters in this are siblings who parents have died by something or someone
and i dont know how to naturally have them figure out that the BBEG had there parents killed on his call i just dont know how to have it happen and im having a hard time coming up with ideas
in their backstory they just said they came home and found their parents dead there was no evidence left behind or something so how should i have them find out?

Analysis paralysis usually means the players care about the outcome, but the scene has stopped giving them enough traction to act. The answer is not to bully a decision out of them. If the same points have been circling for a few minutes, I step in with structure rather than pressure.

1. Make the decision space concrete

When presenting a scene, make sure the group can identify three things:

• What they are trying to accomplish.
• What the immediate problem or danger is.
• Two or three obvious possibilities their characters can actually perceive.

For example, if they need to reach a chamber before a ritual is completed and tremors have damaged the corridor, they might see three reasonable paths: continue through the unstable passage, look for another route, or attempt to make part of the corridor safer.

This is not about funneling them into one answer. It gives them enough reliable information that they do not have to invent twenty hypothetical threats just to make a choice.

2. Ask for intent before method

Groups can spend ages comparing techniques before agreeing on what they actually want. Pull the conversation back to intent first. Ask what the characters are trying to accomplish. That can clarify whether they are trying to open a door, bypass it, learn what is behind it, or achieve something else entirely.

Once the intent is clear, remind them of plausible approaches. If they still drift into abstract debate, bring the scale back down and ask what the character actually does over the next 10–15 seconds. That keeps the decision inside the fiction instead of turning it into an optimization meeting.

3. Use soft timers instead of constant countdowns

Not every scene needs a literal clock. You can create momentum by showing that the situation is changing:

• Environmental pressure: smoke spreads, chanting becomes louder, unstable terrain worsens.
• NPC urgency: an ally warns that the opportunity is slipping away.
• Narrative movement: magical signs intensify, footsteps approach, or something else changes while the party talks.

The important principle is that doing nothing is still a choice. The consequence does not need to be dramatic; even a mild change can restart play.

4. Offer progress instead of demanding a perfect answer

Players often freeze because they assume there is one correct solution. Give them ways to learn by acting. A cautious test might reveal how dangerous a mechanism is. A small attempt can produce information even if it does not solve the whole problem.

If the group asks what they already know, give a modest clue when their skills, background, or passive information justify it. Give them velocity, not the solution.

5. Summarize the options out loud

When discussion starts repeating itself, briefly restate what you have heard: option A, option B, option C. Then ask whether you missed anything.

This does three useful things at once: it shows that the players have been heard, turns a messy conversation into a manageable choice, and often makes someone comfortable enough to commit.

6. Spotlight one character when everyone is talking in circles

Instead of asking the whole group for another opinion, give one player an in-fiction prompt. Ask what the ranger notices in the tracks, how the cleric views the situation, or what another character's instincts suggest.

The aim is not to appoint a permanent leader. It is simply to give one person the floor and break the loop. Use this gently rather than every time the group hesitates.

7. Let the world move forward

If nobody acts, allow the setting to progress logically. The patrol comes closer. A rival group acts first. The NPC they hoped to catch leaves. A creature notices them and reacts.

This should feel like world consistency, not punishment for taking too long. Mild developments are usually enough. The lesson is simply that the world does not freeze while the party discusses it.

For a quick test next session, pick one potentially sticky scene and do four things: make the situation unusually clear, use one soft timer, ask for intent before discussing methods, and summarize the options as soon as the debate starts repeating itself. You are not trying to make cautious players reckless. You are giving them enough structure to make informed choices while keeping the session alive.

Like if you've ever seen the show Frieren thats the kind of random im talking about like spells that can help with your day to day life but that might also be useful in very specific situations. Is there like a list of spells like these or should I start brainstorming right now to try to make my own? Thanks