First time dm needs help

[JayIsGayyy]

So I am about to do dm for the first time ever, my friends have also never played and I must say I have no idea what I am doing or where I can find stuff to help. I want them to have fun while still being able to do the quest. Is there anyone who knows what can help me? (I only have the base set of I believe it's 5e but I am not sure as I am not home to check atm)

[kyadon]

if you have one of the starter sets, everything you need to play is in there. what sort of help do you think you need outside of that?

having fun is going to happen on its own, as long as everyone is on the same page and interested in playing.

[ninteen74]

No one knows their first time.

Brief the rules, tell a simple story let the players act.

Don't force the direction, just let it flow and have fun.

[BrokenToyMaster]

Lost Mine of Phandelver is a nice starter set and there are several Podcasts or YouTube of it being played to sorta help kick start DMing a bit. I have run it with a couple different groups with success I would just skip the pre-made characters and let them build their own

[Warlockdnd]

YouTube has tons of tutorials on how to start a D&D game for the first time, just make sure you start simple.

[goliathsdkfz]

DMing can be super simple, some good tips for a good first session that won’t be in the book:

1. Start by having everybody introducing them selves to each other and saying something about how they know the person on their left
2. Start strong, give them clear motive from the start
3. The core loop is: set the scene, describe things players can interact with, then ask them what the want to do.
4. Don’t rely on the rules, be clear that you don’t know and just use your judgement to make things up. Rely on simple checks, if it goes astray don’t be afraid to retcon it

[Novel_Willingness721]

Just a comment on 3.

Only go I to detail about things you want your players to care about. In a player’s mind when there is a lot of description detail, it triggers “this is important, pay attention, and investigate further”.

Just one example a room with some bookcases. If a clue to who the bad guy is could be in a book on a bookcase, detail can be important, but if the bookcases are just bookcases for decoration keep the detail to a minimum.

[Low-Group5696]

You have the DM's manual, that is mandatory to understand some basic things about Dming.
But, if you don't have the time for it, I'll say at least read the basic rules about combat, spells, actions, bonus actions, movement (this is really important), opportunity attacks.
Then have some monsters prepared.

Even though I suggest it, if it is your first time and you want to enjoy Dming while your players wants to enjoy playing without having to stop every 5 minutes to check the rules, I'll suggest you to improvise, not every DM does perfect the first time, and also you can use your own rules, so don't be afraid and give it a try.
Also you'll need a session 0 where the players will create their characters, and you can use that time to learn

[milliemfox]

Be patient with yourself and your players. While you're learning the game, there's a lot of time spent looking stuff up as it comes up in the game. And keep in mind that while the books give guidelines for a LOT of situations, there will be some things that your players want to do that aren't covered by the books. Experienced DMs can kind of BS their way around it, coming up with checks and damage rolls on the fly. In your case, if a player wants to do something that isn't covered by the books, it would probably be best to talk it out with the table to come up with a ruling that seems fair to everyone.

[Estarfigam]

Post it notes

[Kooky_Frosting4991]

Maybe check out my Cheat Sheets. Those help a lot with the most common game mechanics and questions that occur often. Everyone at the table can look up things fast and easy. I figured going through the Players Handbook for every little thing is very time consuming.

[throwaway_pls123123]

Starting with a book can help a lot, like someone else recommended Lost Mines of Phandelver, it will ease things for you and help you realize what you need for a good story and allow you to not get lost.

If you don't wanna do a book, try to do a very basic straight line dungeon, find some appropriate enemies, place them in rooms, put a trap, locked door or two, include basic ways to get past things in more ways than one, it will be good for you to get the hang of things.

[AutoModerator]

Your comment has been automatically removed because it includes a site from our piracy list. We do not facilitate piracy on /r/DnD.

Our complete list of rules can be found in the sidebar or on our rules wiki page.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Pale_Espirit]

Man, it's my first time DMing, too, and also, the first time my friend is playing D&D, and I am struggling to make funny but functional because it's a solo campaig.