DM Rowan
Adventurer
The DM Renaissance is in full swing!
Posts: 96
Favorite D&D Class: Bard/Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Half Elf
Gender: NB Lesbian
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Post by DM Rowan on Apr 3, 2016 15:58:31 GMT
Recently, one of my friends has shown interest on becoming a Dungeon Master. She ran a few home brew one offs with her sister and our mutual friend, focusing on story. She didn't use any stat blocks and for her first game, they didn't even use character sheets. Still, her players had a lot of fun and she expressed interest in learning more.
I want to teach her, but she's very tentative about doing and doesn't feel comfortable to come on the forums yet. How should I go about teaching her the basics of DMing? She saw a brief description on the improv aspect but she doesn't know really anything in the mechanical aspects.
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Post by friartook on Apr 3, 2016 19:50:52 GMT
First, a question: has this person played D&D as a player? That's important because playing D&D gives one context for the rules and norms of a TTRPG.
If the answer is "No." then I'd say the first step is to have her in one of your games as a player.
If the answer is "Yes," then I'd suggest getting a very small group together, with yourself included as a player. Help her with prep, encourage a one-shot or a shorter story that will only last a couple sessions. Help her prep up the mechanical aspects; the stat blocks, pre-gen characters, traps, etc. then act as a game facilitating player.
I think the only way to learn to run D&D is to play it.
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DM Rowan
Adventurer
The DM Renaissance is in full swing!
Posts: 96
Favorite D&D Class: Bard/Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Half Elf
Gender: NB Lesbian
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Post by DM Rowan on Apr 3, 2016 20:24:13 GMT
Yes, she's played one session with me and we're going to play again on Saturday. she also watches a show called critical role where some voice actors play 5e
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Post by friartook on Apr 4, 2016 4:47:22 GMT
Sounds like a solid start!
If she's nervous about leading a group, setting up a small game seeded with people she knows and trusts is probably a good way to break the ice. Make it her, you, and one or perhaps two more players she really knows well and feels safe with. Being a DM can be nerve wracking at the best of times. Knowing you can trust your group to be supportive goes a long way.
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Post by joatmoniac on Apr 4, 2016 7:39:44 GMT
The other option is to co-DM a game with her, or have her be your co-DM. I know that's how I did it for someone who wanted to try DMing at my table. Actually, I had someone else at the table help them so I could play, but the co-DM idea worked out great!
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DM Rowan
Adventurer
The DM Renaissance is in full swing!
Posts: 96
Favorite D&D Class: Bard/Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Half Elf
Gender: NB Lesbian
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Post by DM Rowan on Apr 4, 2016 21:45:10 GMT
how would co dming work?
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Post by joatmoniac on Apr 5, 2016 6:12:03 GMT
For my personal experience it was that the more experience person handled more of the crunch side of things. The story was left to the new DM so that they could focus on that aspect and not get bogged down with the balance, or numbers. The more experienced DM also helped a lot during combat. The more generalized advice that I realize this implies is that the more experienced DM should help with what the new one is least comfortable with. In my case it was the numbers side of things for the new DM. Hope that makes sense and answers your question.
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