How to DM a table top game

[Zanniej]

So, I once started the idea of starting a table top game with a couple of buddies. We didn't get much further than drinking a beer and talking about how we'd like to start playing. But, I'd still like to start this up sometime.

However... I've played actual D&D only once, when I was about 10 years old, and the rest of my buddies barely know what it is. Since I do know something of D&D (by far the most of all of my buddies), I guess that would make me the designated DM ... But I don't really have a good clue on where to start. I figured I'd do 3.5, since I'm most familiar with it, but perhaps by now D&D 5 might be just as easy to get into?

So, in short:
Can someone point me in the right direction to start DMing a campaign with a group of nitwits (myself included in the nitwits )?

[ZestyDragon]

https://geekandsundry.com/tag/matt-mercer-gm-tips/

I would suggest watching a few of these videos, Matt Mercer is a pretty great DM (Critical Role) and he has a few useful tips. I would recommend 5e forgotten realms, the setting is what most people are use to so it's a lot easier to get into. 5e is a lot simpler to play then 3.5 and it's the only one getting content updates. so if they are newbies i would just jump into that and learn together. While i love older editions more they are not noob friendly.

[Zanniej]

Oh nice! Thanks. I know that guy from D&Diesel, he's epic!

[chad878262]

My personal opinion is 5e is where to start for many reasons...

1. The simple, bare bones rules are available for free, so you can decide if you like it before you start buying a bunch of supplements and what not. http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

2. The rules are WAY simpler than 3.5, the character classes are far better balanced (though there are still many holes/loopholes, etc.) Now, regardless if you go 3.5 or 5e in a tabletop setting you do have the benefit of just disallowing game breaking stuff, there is far less you have to worry about in 5e.

3. If no one has ever played before, the leveling process/character creation/etc. is also much easier to follow... There is no more BAB and AC getting to the 60's, the numbers stay low throughout and thus are far easier to manage without needing a calculator in your sessions.

No expert as I only played 3.5 PnP for a couple of sessions maybe 15 years ago and have only DMd maybe half a dozen sessions and been a player in 3 sessions for 5e over the past year and a half. However, IMHO 5e is really a lot more fun to role play with buddies around a table. There is far less time spent looking up rules, calculating bonuses, etc. It's just easier to play when you aren't a computer. Game speed is a thing with sitting around a table because if you are only going to play every other week for a few hours considerations need to be made for how much you can actually get through story wise. If you spend an hour and a half on every encounter due to needing to look up all the various rules for abilities, classes, etc. you won't get much done.

[Progressive-Psy]

If you have the time I'd watch Critical Role, careful though its addicting.. But its the show Matthew Mercer DMs, I'd start at season 2, mostly cause I never got into season 1.

Oh and check out roll20.

https://roll20.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byva0hOj8CU&t=9s

[Passiflora]

I would actually suggest looking into Dice, Camera, Action, with Perkins as a DM on Youtube.


It's WAY closer to what a real D&D game is.


Matt Mercer is like what no DM can ever aim to be, and it's why I don't like geek and sundry.

They're voice-actors, and sometimes, their shit seems scripted. They say it's not, but... I'm not convinced.


I've played D&D since over 15 years and truely I've never seen a DM like Matt Mercer.

[Grendunor]

How dare they be good at what they do. The nerve

[Ichabod]

Passi's not wrong. Critical Role is what you get when you have a perfect confluence of talent, time, funding, and a rabid fan base. It's aspiration and entertaining, but don't measure your success by it.

5e's a great starting place. Super simple. Just remember - rules only matter if you need them to. The rules are only useful to you if they promote fun. Don't be afraid to throw them away or modify them, so long as you and your players agree. You're entering into a social contract with your players - they need to understand that it's a group storytelling hobby, not passive entertainment. Give them jobs, and make them own it, too. They should be working at least as hard as you creatively. That's something new DMs often do wrong which kills them - you don't have to do all the work.

Also, don't be afraid to just make stuff up or cannibalize from things you are very familiar with =) The rule books are the starting point, not the end-all, be-all. They're a skeleton to build on, not a boundary to play inside of. Your players will love being surprised, so long as they trust you. Again, group storytelling exercise =D. It's much more fun to make up something cool to fit a situation than it is to spend 10 minutes looking through indexes.

Last piece of advice before I go back to being a lurker - read your audience and skip over what they consider tedium. Over the years, I've had groups which found combat tedious...so we skip inconsequential fights and only play out the story-related combats. One of my current groups finds world-building tedious, so I cover that with Facebook posts, and we skip from big story point to big story point during our sessions. It's hard to find 2-3 hours of free time as an adult, so make sure you're all spending that time doing whatever you find the most fun in the hobby. Value your's and your players' time.

If you have any other questions, please post =) I'll check back here and offer whatever help I can. Once you get fluency with it, DMing is SOOO much more fun than playing. You're in for a rewarding treat =)

[Zanniej]

This is great stuff guys! Thanks all!

I can see where you guys are coming from concerning Matt Mercer. The video I saw from him really is on the level of voice actors, and I doubt me and my group will ever get that level

I'll dive into the rules from 5e then, since that seems to be the consensus, and only as far as I need to get started
I'll also watch some of the videos you guys posted. Great stuff! Thanks a lot!

Also:

How dare they be good at what they do. The nerve

[Fury_US]

Gonna give my honest bits here- the single most important factor is that everyone's having fun. Is it great if you're 100% on your game and know the rules inside and out? Sure. But is it a necessity to have a great game session? Newp.

I have never DM'd before, but some of us wanted to do a Serenity game using the Cortex system because, well, we're Firefly nerds. A DM was needed, and I decided "What the hell, I've never DM'd, and I've never touched this system before- how hard could it be?

The answer is that you have just had a great game if you and your party have spent an afternoon laughing, and otherwise enjoying the experience and each other's company- regardless of how ungraceful the execution might be.

Expect high points and lows as you learn each player's preferred style and willingness to participate, and rises and falls in interest as you flounder about trying to figure out the sort of story and action combination that will captivate your group.

Then crush them with an iron fist. >.>

[Zanniej]

Gonna give my honest bits here- the single most important factor is that everyone's having fun. Is it great if you're 100% on your game and know the rules inside and out? Sure. But is it a necessity to have a great game session? Newp.

I have never DM'd before, but some of us wanted to do a Serenity game using the Cortex system because, well, we're Firefly nerds. A DM was needed, and I decided "What the hell, I've never DM'd, and I've never touched this system before- how hard could it be?

The answer is that you have just had a great game if you and your party have spent an afternoon laughing, and otherwise enjoying the experience and each other's company- regardless of how ungraceful the execution might be.

Expect high points and lows as you learn each player's preferred style and willingness to participate, and rises and falls in interest as you flounder about trying to figure out the sort of story and action combination that will captivate your group.

Then crush them with an iron fist. >.>

TPK! TPK!


But yeah, thanks! That's great advice. Having fun is probably a lot more important than following rules to the letter

[chad878262]

https://donjon.bin.sh/
This link is something I recently found as a gigantic helper... See, much as I don't get in game on BG often as I'd like, I also don't play with my D&D group very often. Recently I was able to play for the first time since October of last year and the following week I invited the group to my house Friday after work for another session (knowing that now football season has started, coaching will make it impossible for me to make it to the bi-weekly thursday night sessions). The guy who took over DM'ing due to my lack of ability to make it to sessions asked if I would DM at my house so he could be a player, which gave me roughly two days to come up with an adventure. The tools from this site were really awesome and I only really had to come up with a unique boss and the background story for why the party was on this particular mission. A few google searches will come up with a dozen other helpful (and free) sites/tools for building adventures as well, but this one allowed me to do in a couple hours the work that would have taken me several days to create, research enemies and treasures, etc. The random creation tools alone save hours of creating a believable dungeon, cave system, tower or whatever from scratch.

[Sun Wukong]

If you are going to DM, why not also livestream it on youtube or something?

I mean... if these guys can do it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... tpuXjLcbkH

Why not you?

[Zanniej]

https://donjon.bin.sh/
This link is something I recently found as a gigantic helper... See, much as I don't get in game on BG often as I'd like, I also don't play with my D&D group very often. Recently I was able to play for the first time since October of last year and the following week I invited the group to my house Friday after work for another session (knowing that now football season has started, coaching will make it impossible for me to make it to the bi-weekly thursday night sessions). The guy who took over DM'ing due to my lack of ability to make it to sessions asked if I would DM at my house so he could be a player, which gave me roughly two days to come up with an adventure. The tools from this site were really awesome and I only really had to come up with a unique boss and the background story for why the party was on this particular mission. A few google searches will come up with a dozen other helpful (and free) sites/tools for building adventures as well, but this one allowed me to do in a couple hours the work that would have taken me several days to create, research enemies and treasures, etc. The random creation tools alone save hours of creating a believable dungeon, cave system, tower or whatever from scratch.

Awesome! Thanks!!

If you are going to DM, why not also livestream it on youtube or something?

I mean... if these guys can do it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... tpuXjLcbkH

Why not you?

Because they're way better than I am, fo sho!
That, and we'll probably be playing in Dutch

But, if we won't, I'll think about livestreaming specially for you

[Sun Wukong]

Because they're way better than I am, fo sho!

They are entertaining yes, but... How to say it... they have their notable flaws. You shouldn't sell yourself short!

That, and we'll probably be playing in Dutch

But, if we won't, I'll think about livestreaming specially for you

Reminds me when I first heard Dutch in real life, it was a pair of old ladies, I thought they were spitting with throat sounds. The way we stared at each other, and they were just speaking Dutch!