20 Tips for First Time DMs

Do you dream of trying out being a dungeon master, but are unsure of yourself or your abilities? Do currently DM but wish some parts of it weren’t as hard or complicated? Today’s episode is filled with 20 tips to help you skip some of the mistakes that we’ve made in our DMing journey. With these tips, you can gain the confidence to DM like you never have before. More importantly, with these tips, you’ll know that you are a good DM right now and that with some practice you can get even better.

TLDR:

The tips can be boiled down into a couple of META tips:

• Relax and Play the Game (It’s just a Game)
• Everything you Do can be improved even just 1%
• Practice is what will improve your game.

Feel free to read the tips below, or read the full episode transcript if you want to dig in deeper.

The tips:

1. Intro
2. Go Slow and Deliberate
3. Follow the Fun
4. Let your Players Do Some of the Work
5. Do Homebrew Early and Often
6. Read Everything You Can
7. Spend Some Time Everyday Writing
8. Foundation First
9. Details Make It Incredible
10. Always Be Meeting People
11. Make Your Player Characters the Stars
12. Know What You Are Good At
13. Don’t Try to Have Your Best Session Ever
14. Steal Ideas (Except When Making Money)
15. It’s Ok to Look Things Up
16. Success Is Measured by People’s Enjoyment
17. You Will Get Better
18. You Make the Rules
19. Commit
20. Listen to Podcasts and Watch Youtube Videos