Going to DM my first D&D Campaign soon. Any tips for not being a shit DM?

Don't insert yourself as a Mary Sue into the game.
Don't use NPCs as power fantasies.
Don't let NPCs overshadow the PCs.
Don't force the plot on the players; have a rough outline but let them make decisions that guide events.
Also, you can frogpost, it's not a crime.

Thanks man, also I'm completely new, how do you blackout text.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

I bite down on it.

You have to have a Veeky Forums Gold Account

>white
He's right, grandma's are the WORST. Also, why did you only name cool colors?

Because redheads are hot and nobody would voluntarily dye their hair cheeto orange

Multipass?

If you're say the game is open-ended, and someone is roleplaying and has a cool idea just go with it.
If the game is linear (e.g. we are going in this dungeon because X reasons) be upfront about it.
I find it usually goes better if everyone is playing the same game.

Use a premade adventure first. It's easy to fall into "I'll just make it up!" trap as a newbie, and instantly get overwhelmed by everything.

Remove nat1 in saves

>Be 8th level
>Have lowest save in 17
>Have highest in 19
>Player with the second highest saves is like 7 points below me
>GM "Roll Will save"
>Nat1
>Even with a 1 +19 I will pass that shit with a 20 because the DC was like 18
>GM "Lol, you die"
>Rest of players pass their rolls
Fuck this game
Doesn't matter how smart you play this, doesn't matter how much you stack saves, most of the time I end dying due fucking nat1s

>shit happens REEEEEE
Oh grow up.

#1. Learn your adventure (premade or your own) through and through. Copy it's structure and any important elements by hand on index cards if you have to. Forgetting important detail and having to handwave or retcon feels awful.
#1 (also) Learn the rules that will come into play at important moments -- villains, decision points, traps. Looking up anything takes time, spend too much time with nose in the books and players get bored. PUT THAT SHIT ON INDEX CARDS. Or tattoo it on your penis, also works.
#2 Once you are prepared you should focus on bringing the best in your players.
- Give players choices. Never put them into a situation where there is only one thing to do. Railroaded players get bored.
- Reward players making choices. "Say yes or roll the dice" is a good shortcut to have, even for the most retarded ideas. If a player's idea is completely artistic (build a magical weapon out of dragon shit with papercraft skill) and they roll high, give them artistic 'success' (10/10 dragon shit origami crane that unfortunately does not exhibit any magical weapon properties).
- Make shit personal about player's characters. Make NPCs ask for their names then use those names, if met again later have them comment if someone looks different (new scars from combat, new loot, etc). Helps ease players in a bit, feel less like a videogame.
Some dont's
- Don't do any cutscenes. Fuck cutscenes.
- Don't do any DMPCs. If a party lacks a healer, give someone a thinly-statted healbot follower that does nothing but tags along and heals.
- Don't magical realm.
- Don't focus too much on a single player/character. If they are the only elf in the fucking city sure, mention that NPCs stare and make comments at first but then do that less and less and only if someone asks for it ("... and of course you notice kids pointing fingers at Slutloriel, you're so used to this by now it barely registers").

Play Anima, on top of being a better game in everything, you are immune to stuff if your resistance is above the roll needed to pass.

Wow, that's actually really helpful. Thanks.

Yeah, be always crystal clear about your intentions with the game and always ask your players with their intentions with the game. Communication is the key, if some player wants to go full lolrandomidontcarewhathappens and other is going seriousbussiness mode the later is not going to have fun when the former stabs him for funsies

This. Always kill a PC in the first encounter to show them who's boss.

String them along for a few sessions, fudge the numbers and make every battle deadly as fuck leaving them out of resources and health.

Eventually the players will get attached to their characters and may even think that the first encouter was a flukr. They might even think that you won't actually kill them like that again.

Then murder them. A low leveled mook with an insanely poisoned knife always gets the beat of people, really raises questions, makes people paranoid. Also posioned water.

If your players aren't nervouse, shaking/sweating when you roll the dice you aren't playing the game correctly.

That's fucking barbaric

#1. Your job is not to be an actor, or use fancy words, or even know all the rules perfectly. Your number one job is to relay information accurately to your players, in a way they can clearly understand it. Simple descriptions work better than nonsensical complicated ones, people's minds fill in the details.

#2. Don't even begin to ask your players for rolls and checks before you have a very clear idea in your head of what the player is trying to do and how he is trying to do it. Ask him for details. Through his description, you already know what success and failure looks like - use his own words back at him to describe it. This works, trust me.

#3. Do not open rulebooks during play. Make a decision, note it down and look it up later.

The above three are non-debatable in my opinion, and they are essential for any kind of RPG, not just D&D.
Oh, and most DMs get it all wrong. Even these simple, basic things.

Run a module, the starter set module for 5E is great but any low level module will do. Read it all the way through before you start to get an idea.

This will give you an idea of how the beats of an adventure will work.

Read all the core books and gain an understanding of the rules in general. While rules are made to be broken you need to understand how the system works before you change anything and you need to know the rules to play.

In particular closely read the chapters on combat and spells and once you know what your players are playing read up on their races and classes.

Beyond that have fun and accept you'll make a lot of mistakes but that's okay it's all part of the process.

>Spanish weebshit
Lol no tio.

Good.
It's better to suffer than to have middling grindy adventures.

...

One of my best players is a bluenette.

I hate that fucking glue. Super for life.

Huh, I always found it worked pretty nicely with GW plastic stuff. The thin shit Revell make was always frustrating for their kits though.

>put glue on joint
>hold arm in place
>40 seconds later it falls off when I take off my finger as the glue hasn't actually bonded anything
I'm still pissed.

Not to contradict other anons but I strongly recommend against fudging rolls and making things arbitrarily difficult. Players will catch on that you are messing with them and lose interest because you are not playing "fair." Roll in the open and let the dice fall where they will. No handwaving to save players, but not to kill them either.

Also keep a list of things to happen when the action starts to lull. Always be ready to amp the urgency.

That's just you GM being a jackass. Even with rules as written you're not supposed to botch on nat 1s for saves or skills but bad GMs have that happen because of inexperience.

Was hot then still hot now

No DMPCs
No "you can't do that" unless there is a VERY good reason (impossible task, above their skills, magic fuckery, etc)
Put character actions before the story BUT if you must keep the story going, be subtle about it
No playing favorites
No Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies
Make NPCs different from one another
Not every NPC needs a name
Not every named NPC needs a last name
Have fun
If it ain't working that well, there is no shame in stopping and trying GMing some other time

That's all I can think right now.

don't worry about being good because you won't be good
worry about being fun because you can be fun
highlight the text you want hidden then press ctrl+s

bump

Thanks.

In addition to the other solid advice here. Google your major NPC and place names before using them. Nothing worse then mistakenly naming the general or king after a pro wrestler or porn star.

Make or download a cheat sheet for your system You will use 10% of the rules 90% of the time. Take advantage of this.

Success happens when everyone at the table is having fun, including you.

Players should be surprised by the story. Players should not be surprised by the rules or the descriptions. A large part of being the DM is learning to give your players a consistent universe to make decisions in. A large part of "wacky" play comes from players who feel like their outcomes are either pre-decided or arbitrary.

Respect your own time and protect your own time. The DM is already going to spend more time than anyone else in prep. Anything you can do to reskin, re-use, or pre-prep will pay off astronomically, If you're playing in one of the more established game systems, grab all the pre-made adventures you can. They'll provide you with plots, characters, maps, items, enemies, encounter tables, locations, and dozens of other things that can be put together and remixed in dozens of ways. While a custom-made item or baddie can make a session memorable, don't feel you need to invent everything whole cloth all the time.

Not every combat needs to be unique. It's okay to keep a "bandit" or "goblin" stat block on hand and use it often. If anything, an "area" with 3-8 "very common" enemy types and 1-5 "special" encounters will feel *more* realistic than one where every single fight is against a unique gimmick creature in a unique gimmick location unless that's specifically what you're going for.

Good luck, have fun.

"mistakenly"

roll 3d6 in order for ability scores
PCs can only be human
All PCs must be good

Don't DM D&D

>playing D&D
I hope you _________________have fun,
and good luck user!_____________________

A helpful tip I found to break that initial awkwardness at the start of a game is do a simple ice breaker.

I found having members go around the table and discuss at length their views on the Israeli-Palestine conflict to be particularly effective though just general political opinions and beliefs about religion are also good

This but instead smoke weed.

This but instead smoke meth unless you're a pussy

Would it be good for RPGs?

Fuck if I know I'm in prison for doing meth

I been DMing for a little over two years now and one of the things that helped me was listening to/watching campaigns online. Crit Role, Adventure Zone, etc. One of the more valuable lessons I learned is to never say no to the players. Allow them to at least attempt to do something ridiculous and if they crit success, fuck it, guess that's happening.

This guy gets it.
is right about icebreaking. First session could be dedicated to establishing characters and character relationships, having relatively easy trial combats to get everyone in the zone (especially if they are also new).

What a whiner. There needs to be a chance for failure. Otherwise it isn't a game.

In some editions, a nat1 on a save IS autofail and nat20 is auto success.

Know when to say no.
Know when to say yes.
Don't play D&D.
Use coasters.
Thin your paints.
Make sure your players have fun.
Make sure you have fun.