First Time Dungeon Master

[maxpendragon]

Hey Everybody,

So I've only DM'ed once before. I'm now going to be Dungeon Mastering more and will be running two campaigns. As a way to get me more comfortable, I wrote a Guidebook for my Technical Writing class to get me more comfortable with writing the campaign and running the gaming sessions. I made agreements with a client that I would distribute printed copies at his gaming store.

Before I send the book off to the printers, I want to improve it and look to other experienced DMs for advice. Here is the PDF of the guidebook I created.

Would love both appreciative and constructive input.

Thanks,
Stephen

[Matt James]

Welcome to Loremaster. I'll check this out later. There are plenty of others here that will help out as well.

[Sanishiver]

I like the graphic for combat on page 12. It's like a one-page DM's screen, but for players.

I don't play 4E D&D, but I'd print out that page times the number of players in a group (including the DM) if I joined a 4E game.

The content in the appendices is something I also appreciated, in particular the 83 free adventures link on page 17.

[Scrivener of Doom]

It's good.

My only suggestion is add a couple of paragraphs very early in the guide with a title along the lines of, "Confidence is king." I think mastering the psychology of DMing is about 75% of what it means to be a DM (OK, 75% is an arbitrary figure but I hope you know what I mean... otherwise I have to type more!). I think this needs to be called out before any of the more technical issues of being a DM.

I like the graphic for combat on page 12. It's like a one-page DM's screen, but for players.

I don't play 4E D&D, but I'd print out that page times the number of players in a group (including the DM) if I joined a 4E game. (snip)

It wouldn't be much use for 4E as it describes 3.5E combat.

[maxpendragon]

Yeah, I did focus on 3.5 mostly. I got no issue with 4E really.

I think it's ironic you mentioned confidence. It's the one thing I didn't mention and the one thing I must be lacking in publishing my guidebook.

Thanks for all the comments.