Some notes after DMing my first Dungeons and Dragons campaign
Between October and December, I took on the role of Dungeon Master (DM) for the first time to host a short (lv. 1 to 3) introductory Dungeons and Dragons campaign for two close friends, Germán and Gustavo.
This was not only my first time as a DM, but my first real taste of a Dungeons and Dragons game overall, as my only other time playing was on a 2-hour one-shot tutorial a few weeks before. But the game felt so creative and attractive to me that, after a few failed attempts to find more experienced players to guide our first campaign, I read through the whole campaign and most of the Dungeon Masters Guide and hosted it myself.
We had a lot of fun! Besides the source materials, my only other preparation was watching countless YouTube videos with tips and tricks for new DMs, and browsing some reddit posts for campaign-specific tips. I was nervous at first, but thanks to my friends getting into their roles, each session felt rewarding and fun. It helped that we chose to start with the current Starter Kit, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, which is perfect for newcomes to Dungeons and Dragons.
Now that the campaign is over and about a month has passed, I've had some time to look back and think of a few extra tips that I will take into account for my next campaign as a DM (and that I surely read somewhere but completely ignored!).
In no particular order:
Notes, notes and more notes #
Being a DM means improvising a lot: creating NPCs on the fly, addressing backstory or plot holes with the first thing that comes to mind, remembering whether or not you already mentioned that the statue next to the room is shining...
It's important to actively take notes of what you do, where you're at, what's your next step and what your players have done. You can involve your players in your note-taking process by encouraging them to do so and share important notes when a session ends and / or before a session starts.
Be ready for the unexpected #
You can plan a whole session-long storyline, and the first thing your players do is decide they want to do something else. It's impossible to be prepared for every possible outcome, but you should help your future self by at least considering what other actions could your players do if they decide they don't want to pursue your main story plot just yet.
For example, you can have some campaign-appropriate creatures and maps ready so that, if they adventure somewhere new, you're ready to add an unplanned encounter. This can even help you figure out how to tie what your players are doing with your original ideas!
Help control the course of action #
Tied to my point above: a Dungeons and Dragons campaign is a storytelling exercise where your players take decisions to drive the story forward, but they do so based on your guidance as a Dungeon Master.
Don't be afraid to suggest different ways to solve an incident or address an encounter, to help the players understand all the possibilities they have without taking agency from them.
Players don't know what you know, so help them see #
If there's a suspicious-looking plank inside a room, say so!
If there's five columns but one seems to shine, say so!
If there's some mechanism that depends on the players taking a given action, find a way to let them know without throwing the fact into their faces. Invite them to examine or investigate, or be more detailed describing the things you want to draw them upon.
New players might not have the impulse to investigate every place they find themselves into, so try to bring awareness to what they could do in those places.
Remember to have fun #
Preparing and hosting a session can be stressful. There's a lot of work behind-the-scenes, calculations on the go, plans that can change every second... But remember to have fun! If your players and yourself are having fun, that's all that matters.