Questions tagged [new-gm]
For questions specifically about problems inherent to becoming or tutoring a game master (GM). This tag is not for just saying "I am a new GM": see the full tag wiki for important usage notes.
199
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How can I as a player handle the NPCs in a campaign stealing the spotlight?
To preface this, I'll start by saying that I've been playing D&D for years! I've been a player in plenty of campaigns, and have ran a couple 5e campaigns of my own. My point is, I have quite a bit ...
- 169
21
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3
answers
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New players' characters are not adventurous and are often insulting
I'm a new GM with new players and we are having some friction in our game that I would like some ideas for reducing. We have finished Lost Mines of Phandelver, tried a side quest that didn't go well, ...
- 327
8
votes
3
answers
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How can I make online combat more interesting?
I'm a fairly new GM, this coming Saturday is going to be about my 4th session, I think, and I'm playing a 5e reskin of a video game with a good group online via Discord and the Owlbear Rodeo VTT. So ...
- 89
2
votes
2
answers
292
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How do you handle your data backend as DM? [closed]
I'm a brand new DM with zero experience in the field, though I have played a few campaigns as a player. My first campaign is almost finished, at least for the plot/writing/arc parts. My problem now is:...
- 39
6
votes
3
answers
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What would be a good ruling for "grabbing -> carrying -> dropping" a PC in a battle? (in terms of action economy and tactical drawbacks of such move) [closed]
Some context: We're running Dragon Heist and having an encounter where a slow and clumsy mage must "evacuate" himself to the opposite edge of the map with the artifact.
The DM has purposely ...
- 1,929
12
votes
5
answers
1k
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How can we help our DM to keep things moving?
Our DM started to master for us about two years ago, using published materials. We played Lost Mine of Phandelver, then Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and now Dungeon of the Mad Mage. All of this is good.
...
- 129k
14
votes
4
answers
4k
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How do you handle role-playing NPCs as a DM? [closed]
I DM a 5e D&D campaign. I've been playing D&D for under a year. In this new campaign I'm planning to have a few NPC allies. While I'm able to roleplay less important NPCs, these NPCs feel more ...
- 149
6
votes
0
answers
209
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Should I buy one of the starter sets, or the core books? [duplicate]
I am a new d&d player, who has some research into d&d. I have decided to try it out, but I don't know which one to buy. (I'm deciding to become a dm for the sake of the new players) Should I ...
26
votes
7
answers
4k
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What level, if any, of feedback should players give a new GM?
I've recently started playing D&D with a few friends, most of whom are new-ish to the game. Our GM is running their first world, and while their world building is very impressive, when it comes to ...
- 363
13
votes
5
answers
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New DM on House Rules, concerning Nat20 & Rule of Cool
As a DM making a house rule, am I allowed to grant "Rule of Cool" to Natural 20 rolls in exchange of giving "Rule of Uncool" effects for Natural One rolls? (but all within the ...
- 141
54
votes
5
answers
6k
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How do I prevent myself from freezing up during a game I'm DMing?
I'm a new DM/player with only a few weeks of experience in playing the game at university. My flatmates and I decided that we should all have a D&D game after I explained the concept to them.
They ...
- 533
22
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How to handle wrong application of Spells?
I am a DM for 2 sessions now. This includes a training-montage'esque session 0, so 3 in total. My group is completely new to D&D.
Our Paladin has the detect evil and good spell (a divination ...
- 323
1
vote
0
answers
185
views
The road not taken, or should a GM allow replays? [closed]
Some people say adventures are supposed to be unique experiences that cannot be recreated. What if the player wants to replay the same thing from the beginning, but try a different fork in the road? ...
- 1,713
0
votes
2
answers
325
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I want to try being a DM [closed]
So sadly, after almost two years, our DM has kinda had a burnout, though that was obvious to us months earlier as our once a week game became one every few weeks to months. Long story short, he's ...
3
votes
0
answers
116
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I am a new DM, I need help with monsters and the characters themselves [closed]
I need help dming please help me. I perfer pen and paper gaming. So please help me.
4
votes
1
answer
683
views
What are some essentials to get a first time DM for their campaign? [closed]
My boyfriend has been playing D&D for a few years now but is going to be a first-time DM in his group's next campaign which will be starting late-December. I want to get him some Christmas gifts ...
- 41
16
votes
5
answers
5k
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Starting with D&D: Starter Set vs Dungeon Master's Guide
I have been GMing Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed. for some time and now want to try something different. I would like to go with D&D 5.0 since it will be available in my native tongue in a few weeks - the ...
- 429
10
votes
3
answers
1k
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As a new DM, should my focus when creating a campaign be on developing locations or NPCs?
A group of friends and I have decided to play D&D. Since I was the one gathering everyone and the one with the most previous knowledge, I became the DM for the group. I had never actually played ...
- 211
2
votes
0
answers
55
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Advice for creating character based off of Valiant Comics' Shadowman [closed]
I'm a relatively new DM and one of my new players is wanting to create a character based off of the Shadowman character from Valiant comics and came to me for help. More specifically, he wants it to ...
14
votes
2
answers
825
views
How can an inexperienced GM keep a game fun for experienced players?
Along the same lines as this question from a players perspective, I am interested in possibly running a game for some friends and co-workers, where they have much more experience in gaming than I do ...
- 10.3k
78
votes
7
answers
9k
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As a GM, is it bad form to ask for a moment to think when improvising?
As an amateur GM, I, like many other new GMs, often find myself having to improvise in the wake of unexpected player action.
In the past, my approach to this has been to rush to think of something on ...
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10
votes
3
answers
2k
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How much XP should you award if the encounter was not solved via battle? [duplicate]
I have created an encounter with monsters, with their relevant CR and XP. Normally, when the party kills everyone, they are rewarded the XP. If the party chooses to, and succeeds in, resolving the ...
- 457
5
votes
1
answer
3k
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Which books do I need in order to run a Starfinder game?
I recently got me the core rule book of Starfinder and I really love the setting and the rules.
I want to run a Starfinder game but I don't exactly know which books I need or where to start exactly. ...
- 760
0
votes
2
answers
195
views
Gameplay-to-cutscene ratio: how interactive should I make the introduction to the campaign? [closed]
I'm planning a campaign with a specific backdrop-the characters are employees of a certain organization and this is their first day on the job. The organization and the job will no longer actually ...
- 763
10
votes
1
answer
1k
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What method can I use to properly set expectations for a group of new players with a history in cRPGs?
Background
I have played most cRPGs on the market, but have never player a TTRPG before. I've been reading and watching a lot about D&D 5e for quite some time now, so I think I have a decent ...
- 318
33
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Does limiting the number of sources help simplify the game for a new DM with new and experienced players?
I still consider myself pretty new as a GM. I have been running D&D 5e for about three years now (not regularly which is why I would say still newish). I am about to embark on a campaign with some ...
- 4,323
24
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Am I acting unreasonably or do I rein in my players?
I'm a very new but very eager DM. Me and my friends have long been wanting to play and as always we had no DM so I took up the reins.
My players are very extremely creative and I want them to be able ...
- 261
40
votes
10
answers
6k
views
How can I enjoy being a DM when I have an explorer personality?
I live in a small Finnish town with my wife and we want to play. But we cannot find any GMs there. So I decided to try to be GM myself. The problem is - I love to explore the worlds, story, monsters, ...
- 481
7
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How do I encourage my players to ... play? [closed]
I'm new to DMing. Of the many, many problems I anticipated I never expected to have players not do anything at all, and I'm not sure what to do with that.
Its a small group with only 3 players. We've ...
- 71
4
votes
3
answers
290
views
How do I make my campaign feel less linear? How do I make PC decisions Rewarding? [closed]
This is my first campaign as a GM and I feel that I need to give my players more options, or the ability to make more decisions, and sometimes when they make big decisions, I feel like I am not ...
- 125
7
votes
1
answer
509
views
I have a problem incorporating a player with ADHD [duplicate]
There's a kid in my High School D&D group with A.D.H.D and he has a lot of trouble sitting still and distracts the other players. He's having a lot of fun goofing off, and doesn't seem very ...
- 2,228
3
votes
3
answers
690
views
Is it normal for my players to be this casual about the game? [closed]
I'm a new DM and I'm running a group of new players. We're a pretty casual group and they haven't bought books or dice, and aren't very invested in the game. Is that normal? How much should I ask of ...
- 2,228
4
votes
0
answers
211
views
Freezing system for Arctic adventure [closed]
I will soon DM my first Game. I've created an Arctic story and want to implement a homebrew Freezing mechanic. I want to make a "Freezing status" update about 3 - 5 times per in-game Day. Each ...
- 149
1
vote
0
answers
6k
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Making Deals with Devils [closed]
I'm preparing for running my first campaign (Storm King's Thunder) and I've got most of the basic information down in terms of running the campaign with the information provided but I wanted to add a ...
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
141
views
Starting out with D&D from complete scratch [duplicate]
I'm currently planning to get myself and three other friends into D&D, so I'm looking for tips on starting out from scratch.
To be clear, by from scratch I mean I don't have any dice, any ...
- 3,812
4
votes
1
answer
228
views
Can I create a tree structure to my The One Ring games to help guide the player?
I am trying to be a Loremaster (LM) for a session of The One Ring. Right now the only player is my wife, who loves LOTR series.
I am trying to create a campaign using the Marsh Bell ready-to-play ...
- 247
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How do I recover from an awful DMing session?
Protip to anybody out there. If you're running on little to no sleep and an extremely high fever, don't try to run your game.
I'm running an online campaign on Roll20, and I - in my deluded, slightly ...
user47769
4
votes
4
answers
796
views
Player being far too pushy, but I don't know how to respond [closed]
I’ve been preparing a campaign group for one of my friends who hasn't been able to get a solid group going.
However, one of the people I asked has been... incredibly pushy and forcing me to make ...
- 41
11
votes
3
answers
3k
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Does the Player's Handbook contain anything that would specifically help dungeon masters?
Does the Player's Handbook contain anything that would specifically help dungeon masters?
I am curious about this because I am trying to find out if I can honestly learn a lot about Dungeons and ...
- 119
19
votes
2
answers
1k
views
In what ways will having 6-8 players negatively impact a Powered by the Apocalypse game?
Background
Having previous experience with mostly 3.5e and some 5e as a PC, my friend group is slowly conspiring to install me as a GM for their first TRPG experience.
I have come around to the idea ...
- 457
4
votes
0
answers
248
views
How much can I let the players know about the campaign? [closed]
I was playing "The Lost Mine of Phandelver" with some friends, but this was my first time as GM, and I don't know how much I can let the players decide about the campaign, about the history and about ...
- 49
2
votes
0
answers
25
views
How should I start playing and running Role-playing games [duplicate]
I want to start playing Role-playing games, so how should I start playing and running Role-playing games?
Thanks In Advance!
- 21
1
vote
0
answers
162
views
How do I learn to be a GM? [closed]
I have never played Pathfinder before or D&D. My friends and I started a trial run with various characters that they made and I have been directed into the GMing position. Yet I have no idea what ...
user44624
45
votes
3
answers
11k
views
A player made a 4th-level character for our new game and didn't tell me. Now what?
I started to GM 5th edition D&D a few weeks back; I am running them through the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure.
After a few games I've almost already killed two new level 1 characters but I ...
- 461
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Being an experienced player in a group of new ones
We have recently started playing DnD 5e with a group of real life friends. I have many years of experience with various PnP games under my belt and have also played DnD for a good amount of time and ...
- 527
33
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Is D&D a suitable tool for fleshing out my own fictional world?
So I've gone around on the web, trying to figure out exactly how D&D works, and still I'm befuddled. Let me first start by stating what exactly it is I'm trying to achieve.
So, I'm an aspiring ...
- 333
2
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Starting a D&D game with no experience as a DM or a player [duplicate]
So I'd like to start a D&D 5E game with my friends via discord and Roll20.
The problem however is that altough I have watched a lot of D&D, I nor my players (except 1) actually have ever ...
- 23
7
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Having trouble roleplaying as a DM [duplicate]
So, this is my first time DMing a continuous campaign. I'm finally (after five or so sessions) getting good grips on a lot of the stuff, but I'm very much still struggling with the role-playing ...
- 71
3
votes
4
answers
400
views
Setting up a Dungeon Map
So I don't know if anyone on here has used the 4E Keep on the Shadowfell but when you get to interlude 2 the PCs enter the dungeon, but the map is huge. When we play, I have the characters move over ...
- 151
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to keep a player who wasn't at the previous session from derailing the current session
TL;DR:
How, as a player, can I prevent another player from derailing an encounter that started while his character was on autopilot because the player wasn't there?
Longer story:
I am a player in a ...
- 398