Right on, sir. We need to show patience and give encouragement whenever possible. It doesn't help that most systems are geared to help new players and leave new GMs to struggle.
I didn’t know game modules were a thing when I started back in the 80s, even if I could have afforded them. Coming up with my own adventures was just how the game was played. There was no such thing as a one shot; sometimes you played a session, it ended when it ended, and you started from scratch with something totally different next time. It was cool. If a session connected, you ran with it next time, if not, you started over. That’s what practice is. That’s the creative process. That’s what a new DM needs. After 40 years, it’s what I still do. Easy, fun, reminds me of the creative free world of a child, and my players love it.
I have only watched like 1.4 seconds but just gotta tell you how much you have encouraged me as a DM by making next level game master things sound way more interesting and attainable!
It was great that you mentioned music! I once ran a session in a longer campaign at that was basically "The Lighthouse's Tale" by Nickel Creek. At the beginning, all the players had to make a save vs illusion. I took those aside that made the save and told them that they could see everything I would describe, but all people would be ghostly and hard to hear with the building being decrepit and run down. Then they basically witnessed a condensed version of the story from that song with an encounter with hostile spirits at the end that could be fought or placated. Ideas are everywhere.
I have to respectfully disagree with one point. It's not really disagreeing, but more like a "eh... I'm not convinced". A one-shot for a new DM/GM can be challenging. But only challenging in the pacing. Even as an experience DM, a one-shot can be tough to keep on track. I think a new DM would struggle a good bit to keep a one-shot as an actual one-shot. I think it might be more useful to build/plan/use a one-shot but expect to play it across 2-3 sessions.
I've always agreed that running your own adventure is easier than a premade. I started GMing because one of our boardgame players said they wanted to try D&D, so I learned it and started us off in a prison coliseum fight to get action ASAP and test combat. I always feel like I have to be careful modifying premades but my own stuff I understand so well I know what I can/ should change.
There an advantage to a premade adventure, maps and setup. Start a new DM with keep on the border lands is not a bad step. The downside is most adventures not short and simple, there on going epics.
Starting a Greyhawk campaign for some newbie players in January, even though I’m not a newbie DM you gave me some really great ideas for an opening session! I like the idea of telling the players what the adventure is going to be before they create their characters!
Excellent advice, Daniel. I still remember the first time I've run a game in 1991 - I had dozens of butterflies in my stomach. 😆 All of us were complete newbies and I ended up as GM because no one else wanted the job. But I felt in love with gamemastering and to this day I prefer being the GM than being a player. Just wish I had advice like this at the time.
For the new DM, a "site-based" adventure is probably the better way to begin with [see Keep on the Borderlands]. The adventure should have a short background (elevator pitch) to hook the players into sitting down and rolling up characters. Emphasize that the people around the table are creating those characters to go out on adventures/get into trouble for gold and glory. The stories happen after the dice have been bagged and the books have been closed.
Prewritten campaigns are so wild because one doesn't get what the design choice was a lot of times. Advenures are much shorter but the same problem can apply. I always advise future DMs to make up their own story. They have the whole picture in their mind and don't have to remember a snippet of text seven pages over which interacts slightly with the stuff happening on this very page. I think not much can go wrong with your own adventure. Great advise!
With experienced players, I generally let them look after their skills, and intervene only if there's doubt or disagreement: One less thing for a new or rusty GM to account.
I 100% agree that the first time you RUN a game, it should be something that you've created. By all means, take your time and do your research in reading PRE-BUILT games (one shots, adventure arcs, and full blown campaigns) before hand; but always write your own. But why? Well, to be completely honest, whether you run a game you created yourself, or a fully -pre-written adventure; one of the major hurdles you're going to be faced with is pre-game jitters. You're going to stumble, stutter, skip over half the content, and then find yourself quickly lost in the sauce; and that's alright! However, when you run something you've created... you're already fairly intimate with the content!! And so when you stumble, you're more likely to fall back on all that time it took you to prep it, and recall vital information or even discover a tunnel in which you can run through to get you back on track. With pre-written campaigns, you're either prepped enough to remember the info, or will have to take the time during session to leap back and forth between multiple pages to find the information being sought. That's the major downfall of most pre-written adventures. They're all presented differently, and each has it's own expectations on how you've prepped it. But that doesn't mean ignore them. Quite the opposite actually. Read them, find their pitfalls, what they do well, and take note of each. This is where you'll start building your own internal template on how YOU best prep for your games; what information is vital, and where it's kept is often even more vital. So, expose yourself to these useful, yet painful to use at times, pre-written adventures. But always create your own adventure for your players!
Christmas 1994 I found dungeon and dragons 2nd edition players guide, DM guide and monster manual under the Christmas tree. After that my poor cousins and friends were subjected to my warped imagination and adventure planning! However I understand the merit of using a one shot trifold adventure or five room dungeon to help a new game master get their feet wet and encourage growth.
I agree with create your own story. When I first started DMing I created my own story. I still create my own stories I may have stolen ideas from modules but have never run one.
I feel inclined to think of the "kill" quest as more of a "ditch" quest. You have king tyrant? You want lose king tyrant. They have Superman? Me am find Superman, them keep forev--I mean, we want them to lose their Superman, so we find us a Bizzaro. Your characters were hired to bring someone to safety? Others were hired to help you lose them. Edit: My point here is, killing specifies a solution; ditching specifies what that solution's goal. A wretched exiled prince who wants to become king may hire a party to kill that king, but what the quest ACTUALLY is, is installing the wretched prince as the new king. This makes for a classic "And Now I Have No Use For You" twist just as readily as it lets Zuko become--aaaaand for some reason I am avoiding spoilers for a super-popular show that's nearly drinking age in my country. But there ya go.
Your point about pitching the idea to your players before they make characters applies equally well to a campaign as a one-shot. Make sure everyone is on board with the premise before you begin. In the context of a one-shot, I think it's often better to use pre-made characters to ensure that the PCs are well aligned with the scenario. Is it too much work for a new GM to make the characters in addition to everything else? Maybe. I don't know. Certainly in old school style games making a character isn't all that difficult or time consuming. High level 5e characters might be a different story.
"Another example is that your players are caravan guards and the first scene is that you are attacked by bandits...." I've just returned from the first session of my first Warhammer fantasy RPG campaign' where the players started as caravan guards and they were attacked by bandits literally in the first scene 😅😅😅
I remember my first time DMing. I was 13 and had an hour or two to prep a session. I made it like one of those text based adventures. The party could choose from 1 of 4 quests within certain distance of themselves. Instead they ruined the game, made fun of it and me, and were general bad players -- this coming from long-time (for their age, same as mine) players of D&D 2e. Me, I just started that summer. Well, that never deterred me from playing the game or future DMing.
I agree. My first DMing was all mine. I only started running published stuff 20-30 years later. Reason 1. Just like when you write things down, when you you write your own adventure you will remember it better. 2. Published adventures typically take rewrites anyway so you're not saving much time. with music I would recommend; The Sword, Black Sabbath and Dio
I'm not so sure about the whole anti-"railroading" movement anymore. I feel like muh player agency has gotten out of hand. I frankly think it's Dungeonmaster paranoia. I mean, having some king or wizard non-player character tell your player characters "you must go to the dungeon to get the McGuffin" is no different than starting them off at the dungeon to begin with. Which is what all old-school modules used to do. You were just started at the dungeon. So what difference does it make if there's someone saying you must go to the dungeon?
yeah, creating a sandbox game is already quite a challenge especially for gm recruits. Making it meaningful and maintaining its meaningfulness is hard even for a veteran. So chill sessions with tighter encounters and less agency could be the most optimal choice. But the highest high of seeing your group take initiative and throw you into a compelling whirlwind is still worth all the work if you have the bandwidth to attempt it and luck to pull it off.
For sure, a shorter module actually benefits from being a railroad (or at least starting as such). But I feel like the longer the adventure gets, the higher the risk that having everything written down (to more than a basic 3-act structure, which itself can be dangerous sometimes) creates expectation in the GM of what the characters will do. There are certainly players that like that, that don’t feel the need to make big choices and think too much on what to do and where to go, but often (in my experience and current gaming culture) players like to feel like they have agency, and a railroad removes that. What do you think?
Even though the end result will probably be the same (going to the dungeon), being told to go (being offered the quest) feels a bit more like the players have a choice. (Which of course they do, they could simply refuse)
New players are not likely to understand that they can or should run away from time to time. Be careful what you put them up against, as they won't expect to confront foes they can't beat
I never really understood the first time DM that didn't have a vision of their world and want to start their first adventure within that world. If you're not inspired, why are you DMing at all? No shade to those that started this way. This is an honest question, I've never thought to ask before.
Right on, sir. We need to show patience and give encouragement whenever possible.
It doesn't help that most systems are geared to help new players and leave new GMs to struggle.
Indeed
WOTC isn’t perfect, but the new 2024 DM guide is really aimed at helping new DM‘s!
I didn’t know game modules were a thing when I started back in the 80s, even if I could have afforded them. Coming up with my own adventures was just how the game was played.
There was no such thing as a one shot; sometimes you played a session, it ended when it ended, and you started from scratch with something totally different next time. It was cool. If a session connected, you ran with it next time, if not, you started over. That’s what practice is. That’s the creative process. That’s what a new DM needs.
After 40 years, it’s what I still do. Easy, fun, reminds me of the creative free world of a child, and my players love it.
My advice to new starts would be to not think about it too much, start as soon as possible, expect it to be easy and enjoyable, and have a laugh.
For sure
I have only watched like 1.4 seconds but just gotta tell you how much you have encouraged me as a DM by making next level game master things sound way more interesting and attainable!
Thanks! Hopefully the rest of the video resonates as well
It was great that you mentioned music! I once ran a session in a longer campaign at that was basically "The Lighthouse's Tale" by Nickel Creek. At the beginning, all the players had to make a save vs illusion. I took those aside that made the save and told them that they could see everything I would describe, but all people would be ghostly and hard to hear with the building being decrepit and run down. Then they basically witnessed a condensed version of the story from that song with an encounter with hostile spirits at the end that could be fought or placated. Ideas are everywhere.
That sounds awesome
I have to respectfully disagree with one point. It's not really disagreeing, but more like a "eh... I'm not convinced". A one-shot for a new DM/GM can be challenging. But only challenging in the pacing. Even as an experience DM, a one-shot can be tough to keep on track. I think a new DM would struggle a good bit to keep a one-shot as an actual one-shot. I think it might be more useful to build/plan/use a one-shot but expect to play it across 2-3 sessions.
Which is what I said 😊
I've always agreed that running your own adventure is easier than a premade. I started GMing because one of our boardgame players said they wanted to try D&D, so I learned it and started us off in a prison coliseum fight to get action ASAP and test combat. I always feel like I have to be careful modifying premades but my own stuff I understand so well I know what I can/ should change.
For sure!
There an advantage to a premade adventure, maps and setup.
Start a new DM with keep on the border lands is not a bad step.
The downside is most adventures not short and simple, there on going epics.
Doing my first campaign this friday and it is a homebrew! Lol wild
Awesome! Let me know how it goes
How did it go?
@@PsychedelicLasagna session zero went off without a hitch. So far it's looking like it'll be a good campaign
@BanditsKeep first session was a total success. Story was moving forward and everyone was having fun with the encounters. Session 2 is next week
@ awesome!
Starting a Greyhawk campaign for some newbie players in January, even though I’m not a newbie DM you gave me some really great ideas for an opening session! I like the idea of telling the players what the adventure is going to be before they create their characters!
Glad I could help!
Excellent advice, Daniel. I still remember the first time I've run a game in 1991 - I had dozens of butterflies in my stomach. 😆 All of us were complete newbies and I ended up as GM because no one else wanted the job.
But I felt in love with gamemastering and to this day I prefer being the GM than being a player.
Just wish I had advice like this at the time.
For the new DM, a "site-based" adventure is probably the better way to begin with [see Keep on the Borderlands]. The adventure should have a short background (elevator pitch) to hook the players into sitting down and rolling up characters. Emphasize that the people around the table are creating those characters to go out on adventures/get into trouble for gold and glory. The stories happen after the dice have been bagged and the books have been closed.
Prewritten campaigns are so wild because one doesn't get what the design choice was a lot of times. Advenures are much shorter but the same problem can apply.
I always advise future DMs to make up their own story. They have the whole picture in their mind and don't have to remember a snippet of text seven pages over which interacts slightly with the stuff happening on this very page. I think not much can go wrong with your own adventure. Great advise!
New video! Thanks Daniel.
Thanks for watching
The starter sets for DnD and Pathfinder are excellent
Indeed
I think the book you mentioned may be Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee, an absolutely killer novella.
With experienced players, I generally let them look after their skills, and intervene only if there's doubt or disagreement: One less thing for a new or rusty GM to account.
True
Always great tips
Thank You!
I 100% agree that the first time you RUN a game, it should be something that you've created. By all means, take your time and do your research in reading PRE-BUILT games (one shots, adventure arcs, and full blown campaigns) before hand; but always write your own. But why?
Well, to be completely honest, whether you run a game you created yourself, or a fully -pre-written adventure; one of the major hurdles you're going to be faced with is pre-game jitters. You're going to stumble, stutter, skip over half the content, and then find yourself quickly lost in the sauce; and that's alright! However, when you run something you've created... you're already fairly intimate with the content!! And so when you stumble, you're more likely to fall back on all that time it took you to prep it, and recall vital information or even discover a tunnel in which you can run through to get you back on track. With pre-written campaigns, you're either prepped enough to remember the info, or will have to take the time during session to leap back and forth between multiple pages to find the information being sought.
That's the major downfall of most pre-written adventures. They're all presented differently, and each has it's own expectations on how you've prepped it. But that doesn't mean ignore them. Quite the opposite actually. Read them, find their pitfalls, what they do well, and take note of each. This is where you'll start building your own internal template on how YOU best prep for your games; what information is vital, and where it's kept is often even more vital. So, expose yourself to these useful, yet painful to use at times, pre-written adventures.
But always create your own adventure for your players!
Solid advice and perspective.
Thank You!
Great video Thx!
All of those advices are great, even the controversial one.
Christmas 1994 I found dungeon and dragons 2nd edition players guide, DM guide and monster manual under the Christmas tree. After that my poor cousins and friends were subjected to my warped imagination and adventure planning! However I understand the merit of using a one shot trifold adventure or five room dungeon to help a new game master get their feet wet and encourage growth.
For sure
2:35 Ive been taking notes so long my wife stopped asking me why I am doing so.
Heh...
Notes are your friend 😊
very good video thank you
Thanks!
I agree with create your own story. When I first started DMing I created my own story. I still create my own stories I may have stolen ideas from modules but have never run one.
Cool
I feel inclined to think of the "kill" quest as more of a "ditch" quest.
You have king tyrant? You want lose king tyrant.
They have Superman? Me am find Superman, them keep forev--I mean, we want them to lose their Superman, so we find us a Bizzaro.
Your characters were hired to bring someone to safety? Others were hired to help you lose them.
Edit:
My point here is, killing specifies a solution; ditching specifies what that solution's goal.
A wretched exiled prince who wants to become king may hire a party to kill that king, but what the quest ACTUALLY is, is installing the wretched prince as the new king.
This makes for a classic "And Now I Have No Use For You" twist just as readily as it lets Zuko become--aaaaand for some reason I am avoiding spoilers for a super-popular show that's nearly drinking age in my country. But there ya go.
Really good video
Thank You!
Your point about pitching the idea to your players before they make characters applies equally well to a campaign as a one-shot. Make sure everyone is on board with the premise before you begin. In the context of a one-shot, I think it's often better to use pre-made characters to ensure that the PCs are well aligned with the scenario. Is it too much work for a new GM to make the characters in addition to everything else? Maybe. I don't know. Certainly in old school style games making a character isn't all that difficult or time consuming. High level 5e characters might be a different story.
For sure. I tend to make pre-gens for 1 shots but for a new DM this might be asking a bit much
"Another example is that your players are caravan guards and the first scene is that you are attacked by bandits...."
I've just returned from the first session of my first Warhammer fantasy RPG campaign' where the players started as caravan guards and they were attacked by bandits literally in the first scene 😅😅😅
I’m psychic 😊
I remember my first time DMing. I was 13 and had an hour or two to prep a session. I made it like one of those text based adventures. The party could choose from 1 of 4 quests within certain distance of themselves. Instead they ruined the game, made fun of it and me, and were general bad players -- this coming from long-time (for their age, same as mine) players of D&D 2e. Me, I just started that summer.
Well, that never deterred me from playing the game or future DMing.
Ugh that’s a bummer, glad it didn’t deter you though.
@@BanditsKeep , yeah, it was those "be a jerk, edgelord teen years" it seems. I'm glad it didn't either.
I agree. My first DMing was all mine. I only started running published stuff 20-30 years later. Reason 1. Just like when you write things down, when you you write your own adventure you will remember it better. 2. Published adventures typically take rewrites anyway so you're not saving much time. with music I would recommend; The Sword, Black Sabbath and Dio
Cool
I'm not so sure about the whole anti-"railroading" movement anymore. I feel like muh player agency has gotten out of hand. I frankly think it's Dungeonmaster paranoia. I mean, having some king or wizard non-player character tell your player characters "you must go to the dungeon to get the McGuffin" is no different than starting them off at the dungeon to begin with. Which is what all old-school modules used to do. You were just started at the dungeon. So what difference does it make if there's someone saying you must go to the dungeon?
It’s a vibe more than anything I’d say.
I like the option not to. We can go look up a place and find that we are way over our heads. Then our goal becomes to get the heck out.
yeah, creating a sandbox game is already quite a challenge especially for gm recruits. Making it meaningful and maintaining its meaningfulness is hard even for a veteran. So chill sessions with tighter encounters and less agency could be the most optimal choice.
But the highest high of seeing your group take initiative and throw you into a compelling whirlwind is still worth all the work if you have the bandwidth to attempt it and luck to pull it off.
For sure, a shorter module actually benefits from being a railroad (or at least starting as such). But I feel like the longer the adventure gets, the higher the risk that having everything written down (to more than a basic 3-act structure, which itself can be dangerous sometimes) creates expectation in the GM of what the characters will do. There are certainly players that like that, that don’t feel the need to make big choices and think too much on what to do and where to go, but often (in my experience and current gaming culture) players like to feel like they have agency, and a railroad removes that. What do you think?
Even though the end result will probably be the same (going to the dungeon), being told to go (being offered the quest) feels a bit more like the players have a choice. (Which of course they do, they could simply refuse)
noice
Thanks!
Best first gm session to have? Prison break.
Ah, interesting
New players are not likely to understand that they can or should run away from time to time. Be careful what you put them up against, as they won't expect to confront foes they can't beat
Indeed!
I never really understood the first time DM that didn't have a vision of their world and want to start their first adventure within that world. If you're not inspired, why are you DMing at all?
No shade to those that started this way. This is an honest question, I've never thought to ask before.
Perhaps some players just want to experience the other side of the screen without long term intentions or plans?
11 hours ago, but it's not uarary ?
Building up to it.
@@BanditsKeep Ah