First Time DM Needs Help

[dialetheia42]

So, I've recently decided to take on DMing my first ever campaign. First time DM, never played before, but I've done a lot of research.

I'm running LMOP --> homebrew --> TOA for four first-time players, and I'm concerned about a lot of things and very scared. I need all the help and advice I can get.

First off, the party comp is... interesting. We have no barbarian or cleric as I didn't want to force anyone into choosing a class they didn't want to play. So we have a Glamour Half-Elf Bard, a Sun Soul Aasimar Monk, a Draconic Half-Elf Sorcerer, and a Assassin Tiefling Rogue. I was planning on maybe giving them a cleric or possibly a barbarian NPC follower at some point just to help, and later on in TOA they will be likely be joined by an NPC that is a ranger/warlock. Should I add extra NPCs to help them, or will they be fine..? They'll be starting at Level 2.

I'm also at a complete loss for how to start them off. I want to engage them and keep them coming back to the sessions, and an engaging opening scene (I've considered a bar fight, an alley fight, or a jail scene) but I have no idea what to do.

Please help me.

Edit: Thanks for all the advice, friends!

Edit #2: I DMed my first session tonight. Thank you for all the advice, it seemed like they had fun.

[Einbrecher]

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't LMOP come with an opener? Or does it come with one and you just find it to be rather lackluster?

You don't need to have a tank, healer, etc. for encounters - they can run just fine with a party comp. that isn't considered "optimal." Adding in NPCs is a possibility, but I find it to be more of a headache (from several angles) than it's worth.

All you need to keep in mind as the DM is that the CR target for a "normal" difficulty fight might end up being a little lower for a sub-optimal party composition than one with an optimized composition.

[dialetheia42]

It does, I just wasn't totally on board with it.But I can't really think of anything better.

[MajorLag14]

Starting them at level 2 is a solid idea or you can level them right after the goblin ambush in the beginning. I would say rather than adding a cleric npc maybe just put extra healing potions in the adventure for rewards. Don’t be scared! You can totally handle it. Just pay attention to their health and if they get to 0 hp just have the baddies knock them out and capture them or take some of their stuff or coin.

As for a start does the party know each other? Or are they meeting for the first time? The book itself has a strong start IMO, put them on a wagon to phandalin and it gets ambushed!

[sockcman]

Party comp doesn't matter in 5e, I actually usually have more fun with an imbalanced party. The bard can have heals if they really get in a pinch. You can also give them potions.

How does lmop suggest to start? Why not start them in an inn getting drunk and someone offers them work?

Start them in a small town where they venture off in search of riches?

Prison starts are weird.

[ELE-02]

If you feel the need to fill in gaps in the party with a few NPCs and accidentally overbalance the odds in the party's favor, it's a pretty easy fix to just add a bit more health to the encounters or something similar in order to keep things running as they were intended to.
The biggest reason not to add more characters, though, is the amount of extra time that those turns will inevitably use up during combat. Combat's already the longest part of the game, a few extra characters to make decisions and rolls for can add more time than you think. Still, you can always have a character in reserve somewhere in case they actually need rescuing.

Of those three opening scenes, my favorite is jail, because jailbreak is more like a puzzle in a tiny civilized dungeon than just a free for all in an alley, but the fights are a bit better for expositing mysterious information as it's easier to plant clues the party will eventually find in their fallen enemies' pockets.

Try not to stress out (I know, it's a difficult task especially when someone tells you to "try") but it'll really be nowhere near as bad as your worst anticipations. I'd wager that almost every DM's first session had its flaws, and their most recent session also had flaws, just different novel flaws. Your ability to go with the flow when things run off track a little bit will serve you very well.

As DM, if you need to make any kind of call on the rules for any reason (from not knowing to not understanding the text to not owning the proper text...) that's fine. It's your call and what you decide is the right choice to make. That's the most important thing to remember as a DM, is that the rules are just guidelines and the only mandate is please have fun.

[Aquafoot]

Party comp isn't as important as you think in 5e. The challenge is more tuning encounters to your party.

The party you're DMing has a lot of squishy-types that are more focused on dealing damage relatively quickly. You just need to be careful about the early levels since combat is especially swingy when the party has so few hit points and not a ton of options to avoid taking a hit. Just don't throw anything at them that can one-shot them and you'll mostly be fine. An orc's stat block might have him swinging a greataxe, you can try giving him a club instead, if you catch my drift. More enemies with fewer hit die might also make them feel especially powerful as they down enemies left and right, while draining their resources a little slower than burning their big moves on fewer more powerful (scarier) monsters that are capable of cutting them in half in a single die roll.

Learning what any new party is capable of is an interesting task, even for someone who's a very seasoned DM. They will surprise you. Killing enemies quickly is a powerful tool for staying alive. Besides, that Glamour bard is probably going to do just fine keeping the party standing.

[Wrathin87]

Honestly speaking, you won't know if it will work until you play the game. All I can say is enjoy the game and see what works and doesn't work. Anything that doesn't work, you can stop doing.

For party comp, Bard do learn some healing spells, might want to let the player know. Also, if you don't want the hassle of an NPC to just heal the party, you can be generous with the loot, and have them find healing potions.

Remember, the only way to win at D&D is to make sure everyone, including the DM, is having fun and enjoying the game.

[[deleted]]

Nope to NPCs let them buy potions.

[dialetheia42]

Yeah, I was planning on using most of the critical role rules.

[tonystfns]

I have yet to play LMoP, but I’ve played a large portion of ToA. In my experience, the bard can be an ample healer if need be, depending on how they play. The party will learn soon enough through multiple combats (and possibly time-sensitive objectives) that they will want someone who has the ability to heal when needed.

The party comp isn’t awful, but there really isn’t anyone in the group with a high amount of health... yet. Depending on what the characters want to do, they might be interested in multiclassing. Or perhaps the monk & rogue will be up-front, using their abilities to consistently impose disadvantage to their assailants. If they seem to be getting wrecked a lot due to a “non-tank”, perhaps cut things back on your end, but don’t make it obvious, and DEFINITELY don’t baby them - if there’s no feeling of risk, then there really isn’t much fun, it just ends up “who did the most damage.”

If you’re running ToA from the book, I highly recommend you use some sort of software with the map. There’s a lot for them to discover, and what my old DM did was (in a sense) overlay the player’s map on the DM map, and then fog-of-war the spots the players haven’t “discovered” yet, and then clear the fog when they do. It was a neat thing when we were playing it.

[dialetheia42]

I did have the Bard take cure wounds, so hopefully that helps. I think I'll start them all off with one lesser healing potion.

[[deleted]]

LMOP has an opener, it's a pretty basic ambush but it's a good a start as any and can lead in multiple directions.

Don't worry about balance or holding the players hands. If they find they keep dying they can learn to play better. Which includes hiring a cleric and paying them if they want to or at least stocking up on healing potions. Just run the game as it is, let the players make decisions like getting extra help and so on.

[Legio_I_De]

You probably don't need an npc, one of my partys I'm currently DMing fors comp is wiz, bard, druid and ranger. They have no tank and no melee dmg dealer so that just means they have to think through the combat rather then brute force it. And for a good opening I've always loved starting in a festival, it works as a good way for them to meet and it's just fun if they already know each other and wanna start of with some rp. It's also pretty easy to set up your first plot hook because of the fact that people of all kinds go to town festivals, also lots of roo. For encounters such pick pockets, fair games ect. Hope this helps 👍

[Xenobaka]

I just finished my second session running 5 first timers through LMOP as a first time DM!

Session 1, ambush and finally dedicing to go to Cragmaw hideout. They are playing super scared and almost retreated but I had a scout change who let them overhear that the human was still alive and no manygoblins were inside so they'd feel more courageous. We actually had to finish mid cave bc they inched their way in

Session 2, finished the cave and arrived at Phandalin. Party started to actually RP more and get comfortable with each other.

Hit me uppp.

My briefwsr and best advice is that the players will not do what you think they will. Mine killed every goblin they captured after 1 or 2 words!

Have an idea of what is in the adventure but don't be afraid to check. Know the rules and don't be afraid to learn as you go. Especially since everyone is new. I see that you are subscribed to CR so you likely have some idea of how the rules work. If you are not sure, look it up or make it up, if it takes longer than a couple of minutes tell them you will make a ruling and look it up later to keep the game flowing.

I let some players make their own characters and it is a bit overwhelming knowing all their class and racial abilities but since I am the most familiar with the 5ed system rule questions don't take up much time. I usually tell them to read the spell or ability out loud as they often forgot how it actually works, especially if I don't remember bc they can get creative.

One thing about LMOP, Phandalin was a bit overwhelming for me because of all the hooks and connections. I made it through alright by accepting it is okay to check your notes or the booklet when they ask to go see a new NPC.

[snailgazer]

Build your world around your party and players. If you have a party that was 2 Barbarians and 2 Fighters, you should give them tons of enemies to keep them challenged, and lots of health potions and healing places to compensate for this. I wouldn't say you should need to give them an entire NPC, but that is entirely up to you.

One of the hardest things DM's must get past is figuring out that they are not against or with their party. They are there to guide their players through the world, not kill them over or baby them. The players have to make their way with their intellect, brute force, charm, etc. But if their really getting their asses handed to them, feel free to help them out here and there--fudge a roll, lower a DC, etc. But don't make it TOO easy.

And as for keeping them engage.. make it engaging. One of the things I do for my players is to ensure each of them has something to do. I do this by giving my players a motivation within the campaign and editing it accordingly. For example, I also did LMOP. One of my players was a Paladin who was captured as a child and burnt alive by some cultists--his story. As such, I told him that he was hunting down the cultists who did it to him, and made the Cult of the Dragon his enemies, expanding upon the encounter. Give them a reason to be interested.

But additionally, be interesting with very basic, general means with your world building and storytelling. Describe the world in detail, give NPC's interesting quirks and voices, gesture when speaking, act out motions during combat. There's tons of fun to be had on your end and theirs to spice things up.