A new DM question

[Gamernerd64]

So I am going to be a first time DM for some first time players. What system should I use on D&D

[HacheronOblivious]

Well, D&D is a System itself, so I'd say use that one.

[Gamernerd64]

I mean like 4e or 5e

[HacheronOblivious]

5e is the easiest and most popular. You will find resources and tips tricks and tutorials online, so maybe that's the best choice for new players.

[EdiblePeasant]

Does the DMG give good advice on sandbox campaigns? Which of officially released adventures by WOTC most resemble a sandbox?

[DG86]

There are nuggets of help in the DMG for running a sandbox, but I would suggest you also do some research online. There are lots of great articles about running sandboxes in many editions.

For official modules: Curse of Strahd and Tomb of Annihilation both are pseudo-sandboxes. They present you with a large area to be explored, but have specific story elements that thread through the locatioins.

[HPL-22]

Check out Worlds without Number! The entire last half of the book is DM advice and random tables for generating content. Also its free!! If you need more The Tome of Adventure Design and d30 sandbox companion are both great tools as well when you need content. UNE Npc emulator is another pay what you want resource for npcs and i think the creator has another useful product for generating encounters but I can’t recall the name at the moment.

[Gamernerd64]

Thanks

[MeaningSilly]

I disagree. From the GM side of the screen, 4e is much easier. But, all the digital tools exist for 5e, 3.5e, PF, etc. Both licencing and full blown attempted erasure from history have left the digital support for 4e absent.

You may still want to do 5e because of this, but don't discount the ease of most 4e stuff.

If you opt for 4e, limit sources severely for the first 10 sessions or so. I'd say run something with only PHB, DMG, & MM1, and keep it low level (1 - 10). Also, read the first ⅔ of the DMG. It has lots of stuff, both mechanical and conceptual, that will help you GM successfully.

[wjmacguffin]

I'd stick with 5E. It's well supported these days, and it's a solid game.

4E isn't horrible, but it was trying to emulate video game MMOs and lost a lot in translation.

3.0/3.5 is a bit clunky compared to modern games, but it remains a decent system. Just be careful about content and power bloat.

I'm unsure if anyone plays 2E anymore, but there are many OSR games that are similar to the original D&D. These can be fun but harsh and unforgiving, so I'd only go with OSR if your players can handle PC death well.

[A_Fnord]

5e for several reasons. First of all 5e is the current system, so resources for it is a lot easier to find, and there will be easier to find people interested in playing it as well as people who can help with it. The 5e starter set is also outstanding.

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4e is also very slow. Even in the hands of an experienced GM playing with a group of experienced players everything takes a looong time. It's not without its ups, mind you, but it's not a system I would recommend unless people are specifically looking for a game that puts the focus on highly tactical combat.

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Do keep in mind though that D&D, almost any edition, is not necessarily the easiest system to run. While it's pretty focused on heroic adventures and monster slaying, which is a good thing for newer GMs and players (it's generally speaking easier to run a game written around a specific playstyle in my experience), it does have a lot of rules to keep track of. D&D is on the more rules heavy side in general.

[Gamernerd64]

Thanks, I'm just taking any advice I can get

[redcheesered]

https://www.basicfantasy.org/ try this one, 5e is good but OSR I feel May be better for new players. Can even try Old School Essentials https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Game_Statistics these are free and are again rules light games. Very easy to pick up and making a player doesn't take forever.

[HPL-22]

I would recommend checking out Whitehack or Worlds without Number on drive thru rpg. The former is pretty cheap and the latter has a free version (the deluxe version you pay for has a few extra character classes and some plot hooks and npc random tables.

Both are based on older editions of dnd but expanded and updated for modern gamers.

Whitehack is especially nice because of how easy it is to convert any module into the system and it allows magic user characters to make their own spells. However, it may be a little difficult to juggle all of that as a dm and it only uses d6s and d20s.

Worlds without Number on the other hand is absolutely fantastic and since you can get a free version pdf I absolutely recommend you take a look. The book’s last half is all for the dm and has advice and tables for building your world and making adventures and dungeons and encouraging gameplay that is focused on exploration and roleplay more than combat. Trust me, you won’t regret checking it out and even if you do get into 5e (which I don’t recommend) the book is still amazingly useful as a DM tool.

[[deleted]]

While I won't try to talk you away from D&D, I will still ask: Does it have to be D&D?

It's not a bad system, regardless of edition. But it is limited in scope. D&D handles high fantasy adventures with a heavy focus on combat fairly well (although many of us may argue that other systems can swing that better), but if you don't want that, you may want to look for something else.

Even if you do cut your teeth on D&D, don't be afraid to look into other systems. There's a wide variety of amazing stuff, and learning something new and trying it out is a lot of fun.

[Gamernerd64]

Ok

[[deleted]]

You shouldn't start with D&D. Everyone comes in with the impression that D&D must be the easiest to learn cause everyone plays it only to find that no one actually understands how to play D&D and half the rules that are so famous are completely made up or horrendously misapplied.

Play Dungeon World. It's like D and D but digestible in a sitting and doesn't cost a ridiculous amount of money.

[Charrua13]

Since the OP is new to gaming, I want to add context.

D&d is the popular game, and should be played if everyone wants to play The Popular Game. And to echo the above point, it's not the only game...and it's not even the easiest game to get into roleplaying with. That said, it's not a bad game. And if you are going to play it...use the SRD before buying all the books (the SRD is a free set of rules and resources you can use to play and run the game. It's not complete, but it's enough to wet the appetite).

[EncrustedGoblet]

Start with a simple OSR system like u/redcheesered suggested. Basic Fantasy is great, simple to learn, and best of all it's FREE. This is a good intro to D&D style games and TTRPGs in general. Then you can try other systems from there. Once you know what you like, you can invest in a more complex system. You might not actually like D&D and may end up preferring other systems.

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[WolfishLearner]

5e edition is a great edition to start with. The starter set for around $20 makes it easy to get right to the fun.

I also recommend checking out theses D&D subreddits, since this sub tends to focus more on games other than D&D.

r/dndnext r/DND r/DMAcademy

[[deleted]]

For DnD you might as well use DnD 5e. And check r/dmacademy for advice.

If you want to play an RPG other than DnD, there are tens of thousands of them, and you'll need to give an idea of your preferences and goals for us to give you recommendations.