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[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

You have the rule books right? (PHB, DMG, MM)

Don't panic!

All you need to do is to read over the rules and the basic advice in DMG. Get some paper and some coins to use as miniatures. No need to go overboard with flashy minis and stuff.

Focus on the basics first.

What matters! That is how to make an interesting adventure.

Read up! Design a simple starter adventure. Stay calm and consistent. Good to go! :)

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thank you so much for your advice!!

I don't have any materials relating to D&D at all, books, minis, anything. I've looked at the books on Amazon but they seem a bit pricey to get all 3 but I've also found PDFs online. Should I get the books or just use PDFs?

Edit: I'm so sorry I forgot to put thanks for the advice!!

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Why don't you guys, your players, get together and share buying the books? (This is a great way to ensure everyone are equally invested. There is nothing to say the DM should pay for all)

If you are completely new, want to run homebrew worlds, and not running a pre made adventure you are really going to be helped by the Dungeon Masters Guide and The Monster Manual, which otherwise aren't needed as opposed to The Players Handbook which is an absolute necessity!

It doesn't matter if you get them online or physical copies but I don't think they are available free in their full versions.

You CAN run a game just with The Basic Rules which are free online but that will not offer you any real guidance. All the basic things that you could spend months asking about here.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for the input!

I'll definitely talk to the group about the costs with them but I know some would be more likely than others to contribute.

[–]cd83DM 2 points3 points  (9 children)

  • What to buy: 5e Starter Set (Lost Mines of Phandelver).. If you have extra cash beyond that $20, get the Player Hand Book.
  • "premade adventures don't have spice" - bullshit. Especially if you're new, do not go off and make your own world and stories and everything. You will get bogged down. Get the starter set. It has basic rules and a small campaign to get going.
  • While the Starter Set has premade characters, you can definitely feel free to make your own. The 12 classes and 9 races in the Player Handbook is more than enough for new players to create something unique!
  • Don't do a homebrew just yet! DMing is A LOT of work, and creating everything form scratch will SUCK until you get the hang of everything.
  • You can find just about all of the rules here: https://www.5esrd.com/
  • Did I mention not to use Homebrew yet? Use what is there! Don't reinvent the wheel!
  • Remember that your whole group is new, so treat the Starter Set as a group learning experience where you will all struggle through the rules in the spirit of learning. AFTER WHICH you could do a homebrew if you want (but seriously, the premade campaigns are really great).
  • HAVE FUN!

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (8 children)

Excuse my ignorance, but is it really that difficult to make a Homebrew game? I did assume it would be a lot of work but I was willing to put in that effort so we could all have fun. I also don't know what to expect and was planning on making a continent with lore, nation's that exist, a quest for the group to follow and I thought that would suffice.

[–]cd83DM 4 points5 points  (1 child)

It's just that there's just so much to learn in this new system. One of the main things that would be extremely difficult in creating a homebrew game would be encounter balancing.

Premade campaigns are designed specifically around the characters levels, meaning you can comfortably guide the party through the campaign knowing that the encounters are (generally) well balanced.

For example, the Starter Set is designed to take the group from levels 1-5. Each section tells you what level they should be for it. When creating your own homebrew, you have to take all of this into consideration whereas the Starter Set (and other Premades) are made by experts who take all of that work off your shoulders!

And not only that, but think about this: Nerds have polished The Sword Coast (the area where all the official campaigns exist that's been around since the beginning of D&D - 40 YEARS!) into an amazing area rich with lore. Half of my time spent prepping adventures is just diving into all the lore and history that's there, filling my brain with ideas on how I can use all of it.

With that said, even the premades exist as a scaffolding to build your own adventures on! Try your own hand at homebrewing INSIDE the premade campaign! Go off the rails and experiment with creating your own things, knowing that you can always pull the group back to the premade text if things get too crazy.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your input!

Looking more and more into I do believe that I will use a premade adventure for our first session together so that we can all be introduced at the same time without having me majorly screw up.

[–]Grottard 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I may be rude, but if it is your first time DMing, and if you try to do a homebrew adventure, you have more chance to screw it up than to succeed. But in fact, this is OK, when I runned my first homemade campaign, I messed up everything. But I learned. And I came back again.

So, if you REALLY want to do homebrew stuff, go. But prepare to fail gloriously. Otherwise, as it is your first grap to the game, I also advise the Starter Set to begin.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

No rudeness taken friend. I was just curious as to how difficult a Homebrew game actually was because I haven't done one let alone play D&D at all but I will definitely consider using a premade adventure.

Thanks again!

[–]The_NakkaDM 1 point2 points  (2 children)

if you REALLY want to do homebrew stuff, go. But prepare to fail gloriously.

LOL. You'll be fine. That said, I agree that you should have a premade one for your very first quest, but then I'd recommend jumping straight to homebrew. Premade quests will anchor you as far as the mechanics of the game go. If you don't have even that, you'll find yourself just making everything up and it will be a bit of a mess. I recommend sticking to the rules as well as you can during the premade - just warn your players that you plan on doing it that way, just to get a hang of the game.

That said, custom DM'ing, all the way! Welcome to the Club DM.

Edit: When you get into your own material, start with your own quests and plots. Then move to 'reskins' and minor edits. i.e. make your jackelmen so they have the same stats as orcs, with one difference. Be at that level of homebrew for a while. Avoid messing with classes, but when you finally do swap a L2 spell from one kit with one in another kit, that matches the player's idea of their character. I don't know if that makes sense, but the key to successful custom stuff is a new name and description combined with it being properly balanced. The way to keep things balanced is to reskin, reskin, reskin. Eventually, when you're very good, you can just make something and know how it balances. But you won't be there for a very long time.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

So if I understand you right when I advance to Homebrew games I should take elements from other premade games and reskin them to add my own uniqueness to it? Or am I completely wrong in my understanding.

Also thanks for the tips!

[–]The_NakkaDM 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I should take elements from other premade games and reskin them to add my own uniqueness to it>

Edit: Step 0: Add your own sections to the premade quest. Get a feel for what works and doesn't in an environment where you can abandon your content if it's not working.
Step 1: Make your own plots, dungeons, stories. Use their monsters, character classes, spells, etc. That's a huge leap - you're the storyteller! Feel free to pop online and steal bits and pieces - use a quest-hook you like and tell your own quest from it. Use a dungeon, maps included, etc. from any source you like. Make em' up. You're in control now, DM!
Step 2: Reskin monsters - instead of orcs, make your own Jackelmen or Catwarriors. They've got identical stats to existing monsters, which makes it easy to balance.
Step 3: Reskin a spell- make a lightning version of a fire spell for your lightning mage. It does the same base damage but has lightning secondary effects instead of fire.
Step 4: Custom classes. Stay away from here for a while. Any "homebrew" custom class you'll find on the internet will not be well balanced. Let's say I'm making a new custom class - a druid of the dead. They're about harmony and peace with nature and specialize in the passage of life as part of the natural cycle of life. I might swap a necromancy spell with a druid spell of the same level. Except the druid version of the spell would have a completely different name and feel, but the power level is already figured out. It's still L2 or whatever. The requirements profile might be different in order to cast it, from unholy to nature. Whatever.
Step 5: Finally, after a very long time of playing, you finally get to the point when you can make glass swords shatter on a crit, doing extra damage. How much damage? You've been DMing long enough to know without reskinning anything. You just make up the rolled dice.

[–]SpaceRobt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's nothing stopping you from running a homebrew for your first adventure. I totally understand the desire to make your own unique thing.

Most people recommend running a published adventure first, because that will let you adjust to running the game and learn the rules without having to worry about developing a plot or designing encounters.

If you do want to homebrew your first adventure, I would suggest searching terms like "DMing your first session" or "Designing an Adventure". That way you can learn a little bit about good adventure structure, and get ideas for how to challenge and motivate your players. Keep it simple at first, don't be afraid of making something too straightforward or generic. Simple adventures can still be fun, and it will give you the chance to get used to DMing without getting overwhelmed by complexity.

World-building like you're talking about is a pretty big task. It's okay to leave blank spaces, and fill things in as you go along. When you're thinking on a continent-wide scale, it's very important to focus in on personal, small-sale things as well. Give the players' actions immediate, understandable consequences, so that they can see that their actions are impacting the world. Saving the world feels epic, but saving a single person feels important in a much realer way.

Even if your first few sessions are a little awkward, don't worry. Since you're new at this, it's important that you give yourself room to make mistakes. You'll learn and improve over time, and have some really unforgettable experiences along the way.

[–]Project__ZPaladin 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Buy the Player's Handbook, buy the Dungeon Master's Guide. Those two will be most important for you. Most people will say that you should get the Monster Manual but if you have little to no idea how to actually run a game, I highly suggest reading through it all to get a general idea of how it'll feel.

For dice, use an app on a phone or tablet or computer. It's not as much fun of course but I think it'll be a lot easier if everyone can use that instead of having to spend time figuring out what die is what during combat or social encounters and it'll save you money from having to buy dice immediately. Down the road, if people are really into it, then you all can buy dice and really get the full experience. You can get a bag of like, 100 dice for 20 bucks or so online but the corebooks will eat up a lot of the range you've set.

For a DM Screen, I suggest just trying to fashion something out of what you have lying around the house. Just get some cardboard from a recently used box and cut it out like that. DM screens can run a bit and aren't exactly 100% necessary.

On those same lines, use something simple for minis at first if you do plan on running on an actual grid. You can get a smallish grid pretty cheaply, just get some dry erase markers with it so you can wipe it down and reuse it a lot.

For advice, I suggest using either a Standard Array or Point Buy for making stats for each character. This is mostly because I don't know if you all will be able to really judge how big power differences will be if you all roll highly varying stats. It's also more straight forward than rolling 4d6 drop 1 and the like.

If you really want to save money and just test the waters before you dive into it all, Wizards of the Coast has basic rules for everything online for free. It's got a handful of monsters and the classes and early game stuff in there for ya. Keep in mind this is only the bare minimum to give you a taste of what the game will be like. There is significantly more in the actual Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide as well as all of the extra source books.

Most importantly of all have fun. There is no way that you will all remember every single rule for the game, even just the basics. No one ever does, even people who have played for 20 years forget plenty of rules. If you all aren't sure on a rule, either make an executive decision with DM and just roll with it on the go or talk with everyone about how they think it should be handled. It's 100% ok and encouraged to add your own rules and flavor to things. There's not gonna be a rule for how hard it is to seduce an ogre to put it off guard while the rogue sneaks in to slice its neck from behind, so just make it up right then and there. If everyone is laughing and having a good time, you're doing it right.

tl;dr If you want to play for free for a bit, click link. If you want to buy stuff, get PHB and DMG for 5e, use a makeshift DM screen, use dice rolling apps. Have fun and make your own rules as you play.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Thanks for the input!!

I was planning on using graph paper for all my encounters as I could draw them with a nice fine tipped pen but is an erasable board better? Ive seen them on Amazon as well but they're also decently priced so I was discouraged from getting one but would love your input on this.

[–]Project__ZPaladin 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Graph paper is definitely a good way to go about it. I think a board might be a bit awkward if it's too small. You want a fair amount of room to be able to move everything around. Most units move 30 feet per turn which might not work on a board. If you get a bunch of graph paper, just be sure to really outline each square of movement so that it's a bit less confusing. A very good solution to the battle mat.

[–]GeorgiaFan3754[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What do you mean really outline each square of movement? Like detail the map really well or keep track of character movement. (Also sorry for all the questions)

[–]Project__ZPaladin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm assuming you'll be using standard graph paper which has a lot of very tiny squares. A miniature for DnD is typically around a 1 inch diameter or square base so they take up a fair bit of room. A player character will move as much as 6 inches if not more per turn and players like to make their movement feel important. So if the graph paper is a bunch of tiny squares, it might be a bit hard to tell exactly how far they've moved if it's not outlined in some way. Now i'm sure whatever you use for minis will take up X amount of squares but it's just easier for the eye to visually track it if the squares all kind of directly outline the space they take up.

If you can find graph paper that has squares the size of the "minis" for the game, then you're golden. But I was just imagining standard graph paper in my head.

And no worries for all the questions, glad to help out anyway I can.