For every group of players, there needs to be someone who controls the story. In Dungeons and Dragons, it’s the Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master runs the game for their players, and it’s their responsibility to be able to think on their feet, and create a vibrant and deep world for their players to explore. The following guide will go over a few pieces of information that is useful for players to know!
The Two Most Important Rules
There are a lot of rules in Dungeons and Dragons, from how to make a character or an enemy, how to design a magical item, and more. However, there are two rules that every DM should remember. The first is “Rule Zero” – The DM has final say. This goes for everything during your sessions, if you want to house rule something to make life easier for you or your players, you can. It’s important to use this carefully, as too much and things can get confusing, but never be afraid to make a judgement on a situation, or make a call and stand by it. The other major rule to remember is what is called “Rule 0-A” – Having Fun is the Most Important Aspect. If people in your group aren’t having fun, they won’t want to play. This is how campaigns wither away very quickly. Keeping people engaged, letting them explore and do what they are going to do is important. Let your players make mistakes – then punish them for it. This isn’t a rule to let your players run roughshod over the world, but it also doesn’t mean make things as bonecrushingly difficult as you can either. It’s a delicate balance and it takes time to learn!
Things You May Need
Much like players, a DM will need pen, paper and dice to play the game. However, because you are running the world, you’ll need some more materials than your players. The first time you DM, it will be helpful to pick a D&D “Module”. Modules are essentially pre-written official adventures for your players to work their way through, and give you essentially pre-designed encounters and worlds to work with. This will take a lot of stress out of planning your sessions, as you can essentially work from the book. Things I would recommend a new DM have are the following:
- Pen
- Paper
- DM Screen (This is to hide your information from your players so everything remains a surprise.)
- Module of your selected adventure
- Dice (A couple sets may be helpful to help you distinguish different enemies with different dice sets, but that is optional).
- A notebook, to jot down notes and help you remind yourself of important info, as well as track order of turns for combat.
- A Monster Manual, just in case you want to add more monsters to an encounter, or change an encounter slightly.
- Dungeon Masters Guide – For Reference
- A dry erase rolling grid square mat – This will allow you to draw out dungeons and rooms for encounters so if you are playing with miniatures, your players can see where they are.
Some more tips…
There are a few more things that you can do as a Dungeon Master to make the experience really pop during a session.
- Be descriptive. The more you are able to put the look and feel of a place in your players minds, or the more you describe a horrible enemy and the sense of dread they should feel, the more your players will get engaged to the action.
- Say Yes whenever you can – No one likes to be told no, especially when engaging in make believe. Letting your players try something is always important, and letting them fail and make mistakes is not bad DM’ing. You don’t need to coddle your players.
- Improv – Improvising is hugely important as a DM. Sometimes the players will do something you don’t expect. They may engage the boss earlier than you intended, and sometimes they might even start winning. Never be afraid to be flexible and change up your plans and improvise. Players will always surprise.
- If you make a house rule, stick with it – Sometimes you’ll make a ruling on something to avoid breaking the flow, and then it may come back up later. Stick with your decision at least until you can go back and revisit it before the next session. If you start flip flopping, it can lead to a lot of issues.
- Finally – Know your players. If your players seem to have more fun with combat, let them lean on the combat aspect, and keep the investigation and political intrigue to a minimum. If theres players that like to roleplay, let them role play. It’s supposed to be a fun experience for everyone, and no one likes to sit around waiting to do the thing that’s fun for them for too long. Find out what makes them engaged, and try and work it in.
Following these tips and learning on the fly will allow you to become a great Dungeon Master, and before you know it, you’ll be writing your own campaigns for your players to enjoy for years to come!