If you’ve been interested in becoming a dungeon master for the first time - whether you’ve played Dungeons & Dragons before or not - it’s understandable that you might be nervous. From the outside, the DM role looks to be a big responsibility: planning campaigns, running sessions and generally keeping their players in check. 

However, anyone can be a DM - no matter their background or experience level. Being a good DM is more about having the right attitude, than being super knowledgeable about DnD’s lore and rules. If you’re getting ready to take that step into the dungeon master chair for the first time, then be sure to put yourself in the best mindset possible before rolling a single die. 

Be organised, but don’t overplan

Perhaps one of the most common mistakes first time DMs make is to overplan for their first session or campaign and railroad their players (or push their players towards certain action). Feeling prepared can definitely take the edge off some of the pressure that newbie dungeon masters face, but it can also result in a whole load of that work going down the toilet, once players inevitably spent two hours talking with a random character instead of exploring your minutely designed dungeon. It’s important to remember that Dungeons & Dragons is a roleplaying game that’s primarily driven by its players, not the DM, which is exactly why overplanning is such a bad move: it’s hard to anticipate what your players will do.

At the same time, you’ll want to make sure that you have at least something ready for your next session, you can’t improvise everything. The best approach is to create a collection of resources for your d&d game- locations, characters, potential enemies and obstacles - that you can use fairly flexibly during the game, which you can do digitally with Legendkeeper. Creating a general place for players to explore, some key characters they could talk with and, most importantly, triggers for potential tabletop rpg storylines should be enough. You can then bring your group together and see which hooks they bite - then perhaps do some more specific planning, once they’re invested in a certain storyline. 

Work with your players, not against them

As the dungeon master, it can be tempting to adopt an antagonistic relationship with your D&D players - especially considering the fact that you’re the one putting the obstacles and enemies in place. However, this is a bad attitude to have going into dming, as it will likely result in a lot of arguments and a generally unhappy player group. Instead, think of yourself as the enabler of the story, whether the narrative is happy, sad, funny, scary etc… 

Playing Dungeons and Dragons is about telling a story together, as a group - sometimes that story sees the player characters finding success, whereas other times will have them suffering defeat. This is all part of the same engaging story and the best D&D 5e groups will be on board with this. At times, you might have players feeling frustrated if their characters have been taking a lot of blows: you can respond to this by providing a moment to calm things down and find some positivity or resolution. You’re not winning if your players are losing, you’re winning if everyone is having fun. 

Don’t overdesign or overact your characters

In many ways, your NPCs are your most important resource as a new DM - they’re often the catalyst for your D&D campaign storylines, they serve as the conduits for your ideas and players can get really attached to them. Which is why it could be tempting to put a lot of work into creating and roleplaying them. Nevertheless, this is not the best idea - not only can you not guarantee that your players will find them and want to interact with them, but they could also come across worse if they’re overwrought. 

Instead, consider creating a rougher, looser outline for your characters. Figure out their overall personality, make a little backstory to give them some richness, and give them a purpose in your world, one that the player characters could potentially connect or conflict with. Your Dungeons and Dragons campaign should be about the player characters, so let their interactions and conversations be the very element that further fleshes out the characters you’ve made. This also goes for how you play your NPCs - it’s less about giving an Oscar-worthy performance with incredible voice acting (though you can do this if you’re confident) and more about giving the player characters something to invest in: whether positive or negative.

You can’t control everything

It’s okay to not feel in 100% control, 100% of the time as a beginner Dungeon Master. DMs are not players’ parents and they are not the only ones responsible for the current feel, pacing and quality of the game. Dungeons & Dragons is a collaborative tabletop game, meaning that everyone has a role to play in making things entertaining and enjoyable.

Communication between yourself and your players is important: be open about suggestions, as well as any subjects or elements that your players might be uncomfortable with (safety and sensitivity tools can help with this). If there are any players that are repeatedly disrespecting the others or generally behaving badly, you - or someone who feels more comfortable doing so - can take them aside to discuss problems and potential solutions: though hard lines should also be set for any particularly bad behaviours. 

Playing DnD should be fun for everyone, including yourself. Relax, enjoy yourself, and be willing to embrace some rulebook flexibility for the sake of a more narratively engaging scenario - where it feels like it makes sense to. 

Run a session zero before a full D&D campaign

Before jumping into a full-on Dungeons & Dragons campaign, it’s a good idea to run a session zero: which should take place before or outside of the main narrative. This session zero should give both yourself and potentially new players the opportunity to practice roleplaying, and feel out what it’s like to play 5th Edition together. It’s also an ideal chance to identify any possible issues your group might have - in terms of their characters, the dynamic of their party and their general behaviour - and learn the basic rules in a safe environment without serious consequences. This session zero could be a precursor to your upcoming pre-built or homebrew or a one-shot (a single story, rather than an ongoing narrative) and should be low stakes, with plenty of opportunity for character interactions.