Like a baby bird falling from the nest to learn to fly, every adventurer must take a stab at becoming a Dungeon Master.
Some gravitate toward it sooner than later, but it is inevitable. I first tried it out after being a player for less than a year.
…I may not have done great job, but here’s what I learned, anyway:
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Remember the Golden Rule
I have had the absolute pleasure of being the best man at two weddings. In general, I am a pretty extroverted people person. Yet, I dreaded giving the speech at both occasions. That is, until I got a piece of advice that applies to not only day to day life, but specifically DMing… “The audience is on your side.”
The number one rule of D&D is to have fun. You are most likely playing with people you know and want to have fun with playing this game. Remember that. Everyone at the table wants to see you succeed and have fun.
Over prepare!
This is your world, realm, or land, so own it. You are going to be asked questions you may have never thought of even answering, but that is okay! As long as you know what your realm is about, you will be able to answer it adequately.
You do not need to plan everything out, but it is important to have tentpoles and milestones for the party to keep things on track. You are going to be the authority on everything so make sure you know what you are talking about.
Also, under prepare!
“Okay you can do anything here but go to the east.”
“…I go east.”
You can write and plan out a whole session for it to just get completely derailed in 5 minutes. There are few times where things go exactly according to plan, and you need to anticipate that.
I wrote specific dialogue for an interaction that never even happened, and it was a waste of time.
If your players are anything like my crew, they will improvise a solution you have never even thought of ,and if you are too strict with your planning, it can be a real piece of sand in the microchip. Keep the big picture in mind and let the characters create, because it’s their story too.
Good writers borrow, great writers steal
For your first time starting out it might be in your best interests to be a thief. I know I am biased because I am usually playing a rogue, but it is true.
My best skill is in making puzzles and incorporating pop culture into them. I have made a room based on Hogwarts, the Stormlight series, and the seven deadly sins. None of those were an original idea, but I tweaked them to fit the narrative and it paid off when the players figured it out. Some might call it copyright infringement, I call it Inspiration.
The Monster Manual and DM’s Guide are your friends, but they’re not strict rules
You make the rules.
“It’s called dungeons and dragons, not dungeons and kobolds!” a player screams as their low level barbarian knocks out a small lizard. Or an experienced player knows exactly how many HP is left after a hit on a mimic.
These things are predictable and can make a session boring. Relying on the Monster Manual or the DMG is useful, but they are not the be all end all. Maybe the dragon is incompetent, or this Troll is secretly a lich. You’re the DM, so be sure to throw a few curveballs if you suspect some metagaming is going on.
Know your players
I admit I messed up.
I split the party up (rookie mistake), but I thought I could counteract that by having the rooms interconnected. A rope pull in one room triggered a trap in the other room. I ignored one set of players as another group got more attention.
This burden will always fall on the DM. No party is going to be exactly the same as another. One might love the combat, another the roleplaying aspect. It is a tough balance sometimes, but if you know your players, you may be able to mitigate that.
Have fun!
Don’t ever forget that you’re here to have fun, too!
– Cloak
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