Preparing your first D&D/RPG game

Preparation.

First you'll need a story idea. You don't need to create an entire world or an entire village. Just focus on a simple quest or character goal that can start your story. Offer a few story ideas for your players to choose from.

You can also work with your players to create a story along during session zero.

Start with one "dungeon" or "encounter" and work from there. A dungeon basically means anywhere you will have the players explore with while fighting monsters and role playing with non-player characters. A dungeon could be whatever you want. A city, a forest, ancient ruins, a cave, or anything else you can think of.

Don't over prepare. Just plan on the first session and a few ideas of where the story could go after that. Unless you are playing all day, one 3-4 hour session shouldn't have more than 3 or 4 encounters. Including at least one encounter that involves role-playing instead of combat.

The easiest way to start a story, or create a quest, is to create something the party needs and then put obstacles in the players way. Obstacles like monsters, traps, city guards, pickpockets, or villains who are trying to achieve the same goal as the players.

Here are some more ideas for coming up with a story.

   

Draw a map. Add Some Bad Guys

I think it is easier to start small. Especially when you are first starting. Draw one map of your dungeon, village, or cave. It doesn't have to be a pretty work of art or be to scale, this is for your own notes. Add where the monsters, animals, and traps could be.

Where are the NPC's that the players will run into?

Your dungeon doesn't have to be huge and complicated either. One night of play won't need more than five to ten dungeon rooms. 

Does your game start with someone giving the players a job? Do the players get what they want right away or do they have to go through multiple steps that take up a lot of sessions to finish the story? It can be as long or as short as you want it to be.

Aside from the map, Make a list of monsters or enemies that you might want to use during play. I say "might" because a good role player can talk their way out of some deadly situations. Have you list of enemies with all the stats you think the monsters might need.

This extra list will give you something to add just in case you run out of prepared content and need to insert another encounter quickly. Having this ready will enable you to avoid making players wait while you prepare another monster or the next step in the story.

To keep things simple, just focus on the enemies HP, AC, Attacks, special moves and ability checks or saving throws. I usually don't prepare ability scores or saves, unless they are big important bosses or long term villains. 

Make sure you have lots of extra blank paper to keep track of hit points and other notes during the game session.

To keep things easy, look up the challenge rating of monsters. For your first game it's OK to keep them simple. Challenge rating 1 or lower. For level 1 players.

I hate math and therefore I don't waste time and energy keeping track of experience points. Instead, have characters level up at the end of a session or at the end of a specific quest.

Once you know what classes your players have, you can add class specific details to your map. If you know you have a rogue, add some locked doors or traps they can disarm. If there is a druid or ranger, add an encounter with a mundane animal or horses so they can use their handle animal abilities.

For your magic users, add some runes or a scroll for them to read. If you have a paladin, cleric, or monk, make sure they have a temple or monastery to visit.

Add some NPC's with the same classes that your players might want to interact with, a fellow soldier, explorer, or contacts in a temple or thieves guild.

Add some loot and treasure to your map for the players to find. If you are playing 5th edition, there won't be any magic items at level 1. Always have some healing potions available at low levels.

Host Session Zero.   

Once you have a good story idea, ask your players if they are down with it. Sometimes play styles can get very different and dungeon masters have different styles as well. So make sure everyone is on the same page at first.

Session zero is spent making characters, getting to know play styles, establishing rules and other fine details of the game. 

The most important aspect of a session zero is getting each of the players characters to have a specific goal to work towards. If players start with a specific goal, they have something that motivates them to be a part of your game world. Character goals are a huge help to you as the DM because you can craft a lot of story around what a character wants to do.

This is also good to have the characters backgrounds intertwined. The first session is so much easier without the awkward role-play from brand new characters. I say skip it. Make the party already know each other and have already agreed to work together. 

Characters develop more in game than they do out of the game anyway. The players won't break your game as easily either. If they're already working together, it won't be awkward when one player wants to try to kill the bartender. The other players should help each other out and should jump in to stop some murder-hobo foolishness.

If this is your first time running a game, keep the character creation simple, so your group won't be overwhelmed with too many rules. Have your players start at level 1. Have them only use the races and classes in the handbook. You'll have enough to worry about without having to look up some obscure spells or abilities. More on session zero.

Be Adaptable When Running the Game.

Don't expect the players to do exactly what you want them to do. This turns into railroading and the players will end up with no choices at all. Being adaptable and being able to make stuff up right away is one of the best skills a DM can have.

There will always be something the players will ask about that you didn't think of preparing. Don't be afraid to make things up in the moment. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be something to improvise.

It is totally OK to have traps or encounters that don't have a planned ending. This gives your players a chance to be creative and lets you have fun with the players problem solving. You set it up, they knock it down.

Let your players try ridiculous things. If you are saying "no" to every good idea they come up with, the players won't have any fun and will see that trying to be creative is a bad thing. This destroys the spirit of the game. RPG's group games are designed for people to work together to solve problems. Don't destroy the dynamic by saying no to every great idea that pops up. A good DM works with the players.

Give your players the illusion of choice. Do they want to go explore in the forest? Or head to the ancient ruins? Either way, they will come across the one dungeon you have prepared. Because your job is to put obstacles in their way. You don't need to invent an entire new map just because the players chose to go right instead of left. Make it easy for yourself. Put the players where they need to be to advance the story. Skip travel time if you have nothing planned for it.

More Ideas about being adaptable here.

Running the Game.

This is where all your preparation and over thinking will pay off.

Instead of wasting time traveling, start the players off in front of the dungeon. Start where the action is. Set up the scene and then let them decide what to do. How will the characters get across a moat with no drawbridge? How will they get past the magic stone door blocking the entrance to the dungeon?

Make sure you are sharing the spotlight. If one player wants to do a thing, pause that player and ask what the other players are doing. Make sure every player is involved. Even if it's just to follow what the main player is doing. At least give each player a chance for their ideas to be heard. Let them talk one at a time, make them take turns talking if you have to.

As the dungeon master, you decide when to start and stop the action. If a player tells you that they are doing a thing, then say that the character does the thing. When the DM says it, it lets the party know what's happening and you can describe it in order to move the story forward. It also tells your players that you have heard and acknowledged what they want to do. If the DM doesn't say it, it didn't happen.

Make name tags for the player characters, so you and the group know the characters names. It's also good to have their race, class, HP, and AC recorded so you don't have to ask them every turn.

During battle, have a player keep track of initiative or put the name tags in initiative order. This will speed things up for you.

Have players look up rules so you aren't slowing down the battle. If someone needs to look something up, move on to the next turn so the whole table isn't waiting around.

Tell players that you expect them to know what dice to roll for their attacks and what their spells and abilities do before they get to their turn.

If you want to stay sane, take breaks at least every two hours. Don't be afraid to ask if players want to take a break.

If something comes up and you want to think about what to do next, it's OK to pause, and take a break, and think about it for a awhile. You aren't the computer running a video game. You need breaks too. 

Have fun! 

The most important rule is to have fun.

Don't overwork yourself and turn the game into another job.

Creating worlds and stories is supposed to be exciting. Being creative is the best thing we can do in this life.

Enjoy it.

Take a break if you aren't enjoying the game.

Don't overwhelm yourself thinking about building an entire world from scratch. Steal stories from books and movies. If you feel bad about stealing ideas, read this.

Use published adventures if you don't want to create your own. No one cares that an idea or two is stolen. The players are there for the same reason you are, To have fun!

   

For more insight, information and inspiration please visit gamesmastery.com