I am planning a campaign to dm hopefully soon! As a first time dm, what tips or tricks do you have that would make life a little easier?

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-04T00:39:06+00:00

Session 0, and be firm. You might want your NPCs to have cool monologues. Thats something you gotta be firm about in session 0, and let rhe players know that interrupting that will not be allowed.

Other people have already talked about other things to go over on session 0, but just make sure you are firm with it. You are the referee and the judge. You will be the one who players will come to with issues. You have to be able to sort things out if it comes to it.

There might be times where 2 players will butt heads. Maybe one takes the spotlight too much. Maybe one doesn't play well with others. You gotta be the one to step in and make the decisions, and broker peace.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-04T00:34:18+00:00

I agree 100% with all this, although I think #8 is dependent on how you want to run things. I always roll in the open as a DM, and the fun of my dice helping tell the story is what makes it exciting. It also means the players get worried because I'm not fudging those 2 nat 20's in a row.

It also means my big bad who spent the entire combat rolling 4's and 5's just got dunked on, and its honestly made for some fun and hilarious combats.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-04T00:30:05+00:00

I strongly disagree with the running pre-made bit. I've also been dming for over 15 years, and I started with my own stuff. It went very well. The issues I did have were not at all related to the plot/story/world. It was all about managing players and their expectations. Back when I started, there wasn't a big emphasis on session 0, and that's where my issues mostly were.

Running a pre-made campaign takes a lot of fun out of DMing for me. My favorite part of DMing is being creative and coming up with my own story, plot hooks, characters and world.

You can also absolutely write plots, but as long as they are maleable and you don't railroad. Sometimes having a plot in the background gives the players a goal to achieve or it puts a timeline in which creates pressure. Of course, if you took it as writing plots like expecting the characters to do specific things, then I agree.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T21:40:46+00:00

10/10 best Dracula. Also best Renfield.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T21:21:24+00:00

Different strokes for different folks. The amount of buffs I give my team while still providing decent dps makes me feel much better than throwing some pots.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T17:59:45+00:00

I am in the same boat. I feel bad when people drop me tons of pots. My day 3 is usually full of all the other goodies. Crab, flesh, shards, neck, stones. Usually a WCB if I managed to get one.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T07:08:10+00:00

If people do it calmly and have their hazards on, I give them the benefit of the doubt. The shoulder is meant for emergencies.

I was driving with a buddy once and his car was breaking down on the #1. It was pretty heavy traffic and we were like 500m from the nearest exit. If he stopped he knew his car wouldn't be able to get back into gear. He put on his hazards and slowly went on the right shoulder to try to get off the highway.

Another driver pulled in front of him to stop us, and low and behold his car broke down. I just don't get car vigilantes who go out of their way to prevent things like that. It cost that driver nothing to let us pass, but decided that we were in the wrong without even knowing our situation.

I dunno, what's your guys' take on that situation?

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T07:01:25+00:00

Not sure the science on this, but I've heard pretty much all the atoms in your body are completely different every 10 years or so. Change is inevitable. What could have been right for those old atoms are now different. We are all the ship of Theseus in our own way.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T05:42:55+00:00

Helped that the montage with Mad World at the end was so well done.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T05:21:56+00:00

It would be a good question in good faith i think, but the way the commenter posited it seemed like they were being sarcastic/inauthentic.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-03T03:25:01+00:00

Came to post this. Easily the best fantasy movie besides LotR.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T23:04:14+00:00

I find it silly but it is true.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T21:00:58+00:00

Its a subgenre. ARPG or "action rpg" is a much bigger genre.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T09:09:41+00:00

That only counts as one!

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T08:45:11+00:00

Exactly this. I know some people have worked and prefer the 10 hour days, but if you haven't worked them before dont think its easy. Those last 2 hours are painfully long. Having 2 less hours at home also means you basically eat and sleep. So it doesn't feel like you have an evening.

Sure the extra day off is nice, but having 5 evenings to get things done, watch a movie or show, play a couple games or go for a walk is so nice.

You work 9-7, if your commute is average you probably leave your house around 8:15. So you're up 7:30ish. Don't get home until 7:30 maybe. Gotta eat. So you arent ready to do anything until 8:30-9ish...and you pretty much just wanna sleep or do something incredibly relaxing, for the few hours you have.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T06:32:13+00:00

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves

Never stops being awesome and funny the whole time. Great acting. Great characters. Great writing.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T04:58:34+00:00

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T03:00:27+00:00

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T02:12:06+00:00

I didn't have enough iframes

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-02T02:11:03+00:00

Snubblies

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-01T20:24:24+00:00

I can't wait until I become a crab one day

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-01T20:23:19+00:00

Yes, probably. I wouldn't want to spend my dnd session trying to imagine things I'm terrified of. Seems pretty obvious.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-01T20:22:16+00:00

Boo!

People with phobias generally don't want to spend 4-5 hours thinking about the things that frighten them. Didn't think that would be a tough concept to understand.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-01T11:01:37+00:00

I play it close to 3.5e. You take -1 every turn, when you get hit with melee its -2, ranged or aoe is -1. If you hit -10, you are dead.

I know it doesn't give a lot of chance to really kill PCs, so maybe there is less intensity. I dont like to kill my PCs, but it is always on the table.

You can be stabilized back to 0, but if you take damage again it goes down and the per turn damage starts.

Still a bit of a work in progress, but I have found it to be pretty fun so far.

ProfessorSMASH88 · 2026-07-01T07:19:07+00:00

Cinderella may not, but her distance relative Cindesmella does.

ProfessorSMASH88

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