DM Notes
| Hey now that your players are setup, lets get the ringleader of this operation ready. Yes, you the Dungeon Master control the narrative of the story to a certain degree. As a DM you must understand 2 things. The first is that while you might plan certain events and npc characters, the exact story is a result of the interactions and consequences of player character actions. The other most important thing, as the Dungeon Master is that you have the final say. Your word is law and the rules are a guide for how to play. As stated right in the first few pages of the book, the Dungeon Master has the power to change rules as necessary to provide a fun environment for everybody at the table. If a player asks if they can do something be prepared to say yes, no or roll for it while mentally setting a difficulty level (DC) that they would have to beat. As the story teller of the adventure be prepared to put in a decent amount of free-time into preparing before everyone sits at the table whether it be in-person or virtual. As a first-time Dungeon Master the Essentials Kit will have some nice simple pre-made short adventure campaigns as well as basic monsters for you to throw at your party. However many people recommend getting the Monster Manual since it has so many monsters of many varieties to truly mix things up for combat. Honestly I could go into a lot of details about being a Dungeon Master but even if you just spend an hour reading through the books to understand the mechanics and what to do, you will be alright. Being a player or a Dungeon Master is a learning curve, if something does not make sense look it up in the book. Do not be afraid to say "wait I need a second to prepare the next piece" because you are scrambling to make sure things are in place for the party as they arrive at the story's checkpoints. The next big piece of notes I can give you is just try to work on acting skills. Nobody is going to care if you can't pull off a voice perfectly but at least it gives players another thing to note about your npc's. Acting will also help you fudge the rolls or hide your intentions from the party without hopefully them noticing. Everything takes time and practice so just have fun and get ready to make a story with your players that everyone will remember even after the campaign ends. Bonus points if you can make them paranoid. Should you need a more visual process of what is happening click to my videos as I methodically work through character building and explaining how things work. |
