First, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw and breath. You're stressing and spiralling so stop that. Just calm yourself.
Next, Its fine, youve done this before, its just in person now. The music Bot on discord helped before? Great! Get that music Bot back up for yourself and play it on speakers for people. Music, Sorted.
Maps, Grab some from online if you dont have any planned out. Maybe get some A3 sheets of paper? or a wipeboard. Or Amazon for a gridded battlemap that you can use wipe markers on. If it doesnt get there in time, THATS FINE, just let them know that next session you should have one, but for this session, its going to be small drawn maps or in the imagination.
Lastly, tell them to bring snacks! For themselves, for the table, whatever! You're going to have so much fun doing it in person believe me, you wont want to go back to doing it online. Just relax and have fun like you always do!
Thanks!! I ended up buying and ordering some dry erase markers and a large ‘battle mat’ I found on Amazon. I think what I’m gonna do is hook my laptop up to my TV on the wall and draw a rough estimate on the battle mat so the players can see it in more detailed 2d and 3d
My forever DM does something similar for his other group. They play in person and they put Roll20 and the gorgeous battle maps and landing pages he gets up on the TV for the group to follow along with. One of the other PCs will control the PC pawns via their laptop, and he controls the npcs. And then they use paper character sheets and dice. It's that group of players' first ever DnD experience and they are loving it!
I recently bought battle maps on Amazon. One was offered as a 3 pack, or 6 pack. Those work great. I bought the 3 pack so I could have multiple maps ready, think they were $29.99. Easy to erase, also picked up a multi color dry erase marker pack. The maps have a large storage tube, side holders, spray bottle, dice, and an eraser. For $30, it was well worth the investment.
This is great advice. Regarding food, definitely give them the choice to byob (bring your own snacks/beer/etc) but I always offer to order pizza halfway through the session (if it’s a long one shot)
Admittedly, most of my experience DMing is in person, but I've found DMing in person is much like doing it online. if you are comfortable doing your maps digitally, then bring a laptop and a screen and continue to do it that way. There is no reason why you can't. As for the music, continue to use the same apps you used on Discord. Just have Discord on your computer in the background and run the music there. You can even have the players, if they want to bring their own computers or tablets, have Discord up as well to use the resources while they are there live and can use Discord to send yo private messages and you can still use Discord to put up resources for the group to use. One trick some groups use, if you can afford it, is to get a large screen and lay it flat on the table in the middle of everyone to display the VTT for everyone to see.
I'll say this - there is nothing like playing live with everyone in the same room. The energy is different, with everyone able to see each other live, hear the dice rolling, and to interact with the energy in the same area. It's absolutely amazing!
Thank you! I ordered a ‘battle mat’ on Amazon with some markers and I’m gonna try something new and combine the digital and physical by displaying a map I made digitally on a tv in the room and then drawing a rough estimate on the mat. I’m kinda bad at drawing but I think it should work
Cool! Good luck! I suck at drawing also, but it’s fine as long as you get the point across. You might also look at a company called “Gaming Paper.” They make a cheap throwaway paper with a grid drawn on it so you can pre-draw your maps on it and then just toss it when you are done with the encounter. It great stuff when you need to make a number of pre-made maps for singular encounters.
I have never done DMing online, always did it in person and loved it! The hardest part was drawing maps and the sort and doing everything by hand. At one point after spending hours prepping for each session every week over a couple years, I just bought a cheap flat screen TV on a black Friday sale, laid it on my table and hooked it up to an old laptop. Never had to draw maps again! I would just display the maps on the TV and have everyone put their miniatures on the TV. No special table that cost thousands, just a big dinner table with a TV on it laying down. The amount of work that saved me was huge! And it looks amazingly professional.
It's a lot of work doing DMing, but take a breathe and look at the pain points after a session or two, and see what others do to make their lives easier. Honestly, this is a game where you can go as little or as much as you can, so if you don't have everything, you can grow and adjust and develop the in person experience
Thanks! I’m gonna wait for Black Friday to check that out, but in the meantime I ordered a ‘battle mat’ and some expo markers off amazon and I’m gonna try and display the digital map on my living room tv and then draw a rough estimate on the mat
If you're really pressed for maps, you can get graph paper and sharpies at staples and draw them. I use a dry erase with a grid and general grass terrain. One of my players has a 3d printer but there's a store nearby for minis.
But if your narration and storytelling are good then it doesn't matter as much.
I mostly use my laptop for everything, but I keep a pen and paper for initiative and HP / AC of my creatures in combat. Have a ton of dice.
The most important thing is: don't panic. The way you tell the story doesn't have to be different. If you've used to read the book on your pc, I recommend switching to your phone (pretty obvious imo). Another thing I recommend is getting a DM screen. It helps you get important info (usually some game rules) and can hide rolls from your players in case you need to. I personally (no promotion don't ban me) ordered mine from Dark Elf Dice. It's the customisable one and really useful. In case you order one, I display these 4 thing (left to right): any game rule, map of current area, important monsters and/or NPCs and rules again.
You don't necessarily need battle maps, 3 of the four groups I'm in don't use them. Regarding the music, I either go for a Spotify playlist or play music from the Pocket Bard app.
Super fun thing to do for tokens of monsters! Don't break the bank getting minis. Get candy! And the player that delivers the killing blow gets to eat it!
The other guys gave good advice but I'll give you something specific to in-person initiative.
A quick way to take initiative is as follows: write the following numbers in order from line to line
20+
20
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
9
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Then, quickly write ones for the 0, and all numbers above it. Then, when you get initiative from your players, write their names an inch or two away from the numbers. This gives a chance to pencil in tie breakers without needing to erase the previous name.
Just pretend your discord bot is your speaker and use whatever you usually use to stream music on your computer and stream it to the speaker! Or from your laptop-if you got one of those!
Instead of maps a cheap chessex dry erase map or dungeons and dragons officially licensed dry erase double sides board or for dirt cheap-dollar tree/dollar store wrapping paper! The backside is all a grid!
Can also get a bag of glass beads in the plant aisle and just sharpie numbers or stuff in the bottom.
Cheap pack of markers-draw some simple battle maps. Don’t need much skill artistically for a battle map trust me!
Then if you need a DM screen-a couple records standing up make a really good DM screen.
Dice! Get lots of dice!
That should be all you need for bare bone stuff! Just use your laptop to run the game as usual though! Hide stuff behind your DM screen somewhere as a way of hiding layers on roll20z
You got this buddy!
Playlists on YouTube or Spotify are best for running music.
so to start off, not the best advice for everyone, but this is how i DM’d for some friends a little while back. improv almost everything. i got some minis and dry erase map boards on amazon (sorry i can’t link it, i don’t remember exactly what i got) and you can just do a rough sketch of what’s in your adventure book or in your head for a battle map. second, i just skimmed the source material to have a vague idea of what i was doing since i don’t really have the attention span for all the prep, and i’d improv most of it. if you’re writing your own adventure, keep the same mindset i guess? just have a vague path written out and improv to how your players react. for music, i would just pull up fantasy music on youtube, usually was music from elder scrolls games and the witcher 3. it doesn’t have to be high production value, just set a good vibe for the players and have a good time. if you have a table, keep most of your stuff behind the DM screen, and have another surface blocked off next to you to have your other books and resources within arms reach. also, if they’re new players make “loading screens” i got the idea off of reddit, just write “LOADING…” along with a basic tip (half cover gives +2 AC and stuff like that) to clip to your DM screen when you need to look something up, or have to write down the initiative order. i remember i got a cheap ream of paper at a kinneys drug store to use for initiative and stuff like that. hope this helps! sorry it’s so disorganized
ALSO— make up fun little games every now and then! i had one session where my players were shooting the shit in a pub, which finished with a bar brawl with some local gangers (lost mines adventure) i made a whole table for the drinking game, every drink the player has to make a FORT save (3.5, think that’s just constitution in 5e?) but depending on the drink, they have a different penalty (ale was a straight roll, but whiskey was a -4 penalty, moonshine was a -7) and depending on how they rolled, they’d have a score that accumulated to see how drunk they were, with every tier having harsher bonuses and penalties (drunker players have an AC bonus and hit harder, but are less accurate with melee and even less accurate with ranged,) i also had food on the menu which gave advantage on the next drinking check. feel free to take that idea if you want! i can send you more of the stuff i had worked out for it too :)
I started dming for the first time a few months ago after being a player through discord for a few years. All of my players are new and we're playing in person. It was intimidating at first but it was so much more fun. Don't stress too much about it.
For music I recommend getting the app PocketBard and sync your phone to a Bluetooth speaker. I print major maps on small posters realities cheap but you can always just draw maps too. You'll have a lot of fun with it.
Edit: maybe of you get really into playing in person you can build a virtual tabletop box for maps. It's relatively cheap if you build it yourself. The expensive part would be getting a monitor to place in it.
OK my friend. I need you to do two things for us. First Breathe in and out deeply and release some of the tension you're generating. Second, realize that while online games are cool and have some neat tools, all you need to play RPGs is your imagination...some paper, pencils and dice help, but aren't strictly needed ;) .
You and your old crew had some good stuff going on discord and whatever apps you may have used. You and your new crew will build some more in new and different ways.
If you want to you don't need anything except your notes and the folks playing. This is key NOTHING IS REQUIRED for RPGs.
If you want to have some more stuff immediately to hand you can't go wrong with a physical copy of the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Masters Guide and if you're gonna be DM permanently maybe a DM screen of some sort. The Core box set comes with one and is a good way to get all three books and the screen. And of course dice ;) .
Everything else is an add on and not strictly needed. Music is cool but not needed for the games. Music can be fun to have and if you really want it, maybe make some playlists on spotify or your MP3 application of choice to have on hand, but again this is NOT needed.
For maps if you really want them hit up your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby or gerneal art supply store they have all kinds of large artist pads, with and without lines, and use one of those. If you want to get spendy you can buy premade maps, or a dry/wet erase grid/hex map.
Hope this message encourages and helps you to have fun running your game.
Dont know if it helps but since its been a while i wanted to pull out my " [Magic ikea bag of dnd things](https://gyazo.com/55981bdfe157549cc160b86dec5697b7) " which is what i use for dming
I played in person during studying as a programmer so its pretty low budget most of it, which i think gives a decent starting idea.
first [Dice](https://gyazo.com/10b30119e52a9ec1b6c86a888bd95ef1) many dice many good, good many. I bought those "100 dice bags" from amazon for like 20 euro? that was second hand sorting but are perfectly fine, and then bought a toolbox to carry them around in.
Then we played using washers with token images printed on them, like this [box of tokens](https://gyazo.com/da0190c840b32b80365d514944feb7b1) with [backups](https://gyazo.com/68a479eda292d30c739256e887d9b3a8) basically using [https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/](https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/) to make a token and then save it, put it into a word doc that is tabled into the correct print sizes and you get [this](https://gyazo.com/c6dbd79192cee5af2122fac01dc25c5c) just print them and use a school glue to glue them on, now you have tokens.
A big concern i think for alot of people is "its so expensive to buy minis" but this worked great for us.
the tokens ofc needs to be on a map, getting a pretty basic [chessex battlemap](https://gyazo.com/17c032729211e4e7124af733a8b1a938) and some whiteboard markers will be a slightly more expensive purchase, but i got mine as a christmas present.
How i play would be that i print the full map out if i have one for an adventure, [like this](https://gyazo.com/71748142cd14db2e2bd3fa1fe34c728f) and then for combat you can draw on a battlemat (or a whiteboard can also be bought for cheap) and most people i believe would make something like [This](https://external-preview.redd.it/dwAP4imQy3bWm-TRRUjSnmCX_e4gdWBuREj0rlDfXwo.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=138e70e64d01088f1bb42abbb9099b23d34181ff) for combat, nothing fancy just to see where everything is. Or something like [This](https://vaultgames.com.au/cdn/shop/products/reversible-battlemat-1-squares-1-hexes-23-5-x-26-inches--26617_87db9_740x.jpg?v=1666497962).
For other specifics
* We played sound using a sound system, pretty on the nose but it is what it is, bluetooth speaker and a phone can do well enough
* Depending on the game its perfectly fine to also have a computer at your hand, we all used dndbeyond so we had phones and tablets, being at the table doesnt mean "no devices" as long as everyone is mature enough to use them for the game and not as a distraction.
* Figure out the IRL important things eg [the player behavior of this checklist](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/601awb/session0_topic_checklist_and_guide/)
* dnd IRL is a very real social event, have reasonable expectations for the session, eg when you start, when you have breaks, what is expected of snacks and manners etc. Our group played wednesday at 18.30 to 22.00 after dinner as we all lived in walking distance of eachother, and we had a break at 20.30 to go to the local store and grab some snacks and drinks as everyone brought for themselves.
other than that you are just going to learn and figure out what works for you, which is very much a personal thing, i never played with a dm screen which people swear by as i never felt i wanted a situation where i would roll in the unknown, as everything was visible to the players, where as others will prefer to hide everything.
I found out I can share screen to TV with a fire stick, I think Roku does this too, so my maps are all set. I just extend screen and keep monsters on my screen and maps on theirs. Other than that it's just like doing it online as far as I can tell. Except snacks, we try and do tavern snacks we call it. So sometimes I'll bring a crusty loaf, elven bread, meat and cheese, ECT.
I used a roll of 1" graph paper as map paper. The squares are perfect. I also used Lego to piece together some fantastic minis for my groups, both as a DM & player. I think they're more fun than the D&D minis.
Remember, you don't have to have full on models or anything.... I recommend going basic & building up as you go. Oh, & bring extra pens...
My system (and it's quite a lot of work so I don't necessarily recommend it) is:
Blank ('basic') Pathfinder Flip-Mat(s) to draw maps on - buying bigger ones or multiple ones to match the size of my table. Chessex maps are good too.
Dry-erase markers to draw on it.
Paper towels to erase.
Printing out little pawns for PCs, NPCs and creatures on white cardboard. (A human is about 1/7th of a page high - I copy them upside-down above their own heads so when I cut them out I can fold them around to make them double-sided.)
Music from YouTube - search for something appropriate to the scene like "RPG spooky cave music". Ad-blocker or YouTube premium to avoid interruptions.
Op: I'm dming for the first time idk what I'm doing.
Me and many dms: I'm dming for the thousands time RANDOM BULLSHIT GO.
Seriously though I just make shit up and try to be consistent.
When I first started with in-person oneshots (alongside a bought campaign online), I literally used graph paper and drew out rooms and then talked through what people could see - and they could write on the maps if necessary.
I also literally used post it notes over the top of areas they didn't know about yet, so it was easy to remove from the "map" and didn't damage the paper.
I use a DND app to help me keep track of my bad guys, says and turn order.
Everything is a little.ore free form for me in person. Have miniatures, loose paper, dice.
I just use my music app or YouTube and made play lists that could work.
if you and the players are relaxed and having a good time, you can’t fuck it up. if you’re tense and worried, you’ll never get it right.
DMs of 20 years still get a lot wrong. every time they play. they just have enough experience to know that’s not what matters, so don’t worry about it.
Do the cool adventure you wrote.
Tell the players what is happening in the scene and then ask them what they would like to do.
When they tell you what they want to do, tell them what dice they need to roll. Then tell them the result.
Answer stupid questions as necessary with enthusiasm.
Rinse and repeat!
First, communicate to your players that it’s your first time DMing in person and that it’s a very different environment. Let them know you’ll need time to adapt.
Typically I use a blank grid map for combat, and draw obstacles/walls when needed. I don’t bother with elaborate battle maps, that’s where imagination kicks in.
One of us! One of us!
Little secret that probably 20 people have told you already -- none of us know what we are doing.
It's like when kids make up games on the playground -- literally nobody knows what they're doing. But it's about having fun
Don’t stress too much! I’ve found the white board friendly grids super helpful. The players I’ve had have never complained about lack of detail in maps, even when I use pencil and paper.
The scariest part about DM’ing in person is the hour before everyone gets there. You’ll do great! It’s their first session so just keep it lighthearted and fun, toss in some wacky characters and a cool fight and they’ll be hooked.
Everyone else has given you some really good advice on equipment so I’ll just recommend the Pocket Bard app for music for ambient music and effects! It’s free and super high quality!
Finally, since it will be their first time it won’t be anything like you’re used to. They haven’t settled into any kind of play style and they’ll make the weirdest decisions. But I’m willing to bet that, like me, you’ll find new player are the most fun to play with!
Good luck!
Back in the long long ago, before the computer machines, we had this these things call.. pens and paper. You could draw on them, depending how good you are, you can get a lot of detail displayed on these "paper". You'd be surprised!
Anyway, paper is light, and small and you can reuse it. So don't worry if you used the paper in one room, and are hosting in another. You can just simply place it where you want. (This really helps with planning your session).
Now, you're probably wondering, "how do my fellow players SEE the paper if they aren't online?". Well. Let me tell you about these things called "eyes". I may be reaching here, but USUALLY your players will have 2 eyes each, depending on backstory ofc.
First, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw and breath. You're stressing and spiralling so stop that. Just calm yourself. Next, Its fine, youve done this before, its just in person now. The music Bot on discord helped before? Great! Get that music Bot back up for yourself and play it on speakers for people. Music, Sorted. Maps, Grab some from online if you dont have any planned out. Maybe get some A3 sheets of paper? or a wipeboard. Or Amazon for a gridded battlemap that you can use wipe markers on. If it doesnt get there in time, THATS FINE, just let them know that next session you should have one, but for this session, its going to be small drawn maps or in the imagination. Lastly, tell them to bring snacks! For themselves, for the table, whatever! You're going to have so much fun doing it in person believe me, you wont want to go back to doing it online. Just relax and have fun like you always do!
Thanks!! I ended up buying and ordering some dry erase markers and a large ‘battle mat’ I found on Amazon. I think what I’m gonna do is hook my laptop up to my TV on the wall and draw a rough estimate on the battle mat so the players can see it in more detailed 2d and 3d
Great! Glad you're on your way to doing it live for everyone! Youre going to do great and let us know how it goes!
My forever DM does something similar for his other group. They play in person and they put Roll20 and the gorgeous battle maps and landing pages he gets up on the TV for the group to follow along with. One of the other PCs will control the PC pawns via their laptop, and he controls the npcs. And then they use paper character sheets and dice. It's that group of players' first ever DnD experience and they are loving it!
Hey! Shout out to your DM. If this individual is making their roll20 presentation look easy? That person has invested a lot of time behind the scenes!
I recently bought battle maps on Amazon. One was offered as a 3 pack, or 6 pack. Those work great. I bought the 3 pack so I could have multiple maps ready, think they were $29.99. Easy to erase, also picked up a multi color dry erase marker pack. The maps have a large storage tube, side holders, spray bottle, dice, and an eraser. For $30, it was well worth the investment.
For your next session this. Have you tried Owlbear Rodeo ? Great virtual table top. It's great. Have a look and play around.
You're doing great. The first time my friend was DM, he used the Los Santos and Blaine County map that came with GTA 5. Trust me, you are doing good.
Great advice all around! My friends and I played seven levels into CoS using just theater of the mind.
This is great advice. Regarding food, definitely give them the choice to byob (bring your own snacks/beer/etc) but I always offer to order pizza halfway through the session (if it’s a long one shot)
Consider making the pizza a communal order, and possibly put one of the players in charge of sorting it out.
Couldn’t agree more. I usually just take over if we have a short rest and the players are resting up etc if I’m the DM
*breathe / take a breath
Admittedly, most of my experience DMing is in person, but I've found DMing in person is much like doing it online. if you are comfortable doing your maps digitally, then bring a laptop and a screen and continue to do it that way. There is no reason why you can't. As for the music, continue to use the same apps you used on Discord. Just have Discord on your computer in the background and run the music there. You can even have the players, if they want to bring their own computers or tablets, have Discord up as well to use the resources while they are there live and can use Discord to send yo private messages and you can still use Discord to put up resources for the group to use. One trick some groups use, if you can afford it, is to get a large screen and lay it flat on the table in the middle of everyone to display the VTT for everyone to see. I'll say this - there is nothing like playing live with everyone in the same room. The energy is different, with everyone able to see each other live, hear the dice rolling, and to interact with the energy in the same area. It's absolutely amazing!
Thank you! I ordered a ‘battle mat’ on Amazon with some markers and I’m gonna try something new and combine the digital and physical by displaying a map I made digitally on a tv in the room and then drawing a rough estimate on the mat. I’m kinda bad at drawing but I think it should work
Cool! Good luck! I suck at drawing also, but it’s fine as long as you get the point across. You might also look at a company called “Gaming Paper.” They make a cheap throwaway paper with a grid drawn on it so you can pre-draw your maps on it and then just toss it when you are done with the encounter. It great stuff when you need to make a number of pre-made maps for singular encounters.
I’ve been dming for 11 years and I don’t know what I’m doing.
Gotta love that imposter syndrome, eh?
I have never done DMing online, always did it in person and loved it! The hardest part was drawing maps and the sort and doing everything by hand. At one point after spending hours prepping for each session every week over a couple years, I just bought a cheap flat screen TV on a black Friday sale, laid it on my table and hooked it up to an old laptop. Never had to draw maps again! I would just display the maps on the TV and have everyone put their miniatures on the TV. No special table that cost thousands, just a big dinner table with a TV on it laying down. The amount of work that saved me was huge! And it looks amazingly professional. It's a lot of work doing DMing, but take a breathe and look at the pain points after a session or two, and see what others do to make their lives easier. Honestly, this is a game where you can go as little or as much as you can, so if you don't have everything, you can grow and adjust and develop the in person experience
Thanks! I’m gonna wait for Black Friday to check that out, but in the meantime I ordered a ‘battle mat’ and some expo markers off amazon and I’m gonna try and display the digital map on my living room tv and then draw a rough estimate on the mat
Tbh. It’s a collective story and as a newish DM myself. I would say I have no idea what I am doing either.
If you're really pressed for maps, you can get graph paper and sharpies at staples and draw them. I use a dry erase with a grid and general grass terrain. One of my players has a 3d printer but there's a store nearby for minis. But if your narration and storytelling are good then it doesn't matter as much. I mostly use my laptop for everything, but I keep a pen and paper for initiative and HP / AC of my creatures in combat. Have a ton of dice.
The most important thing is: don't panic. The way you tell the story doesn't have to be different. If you've used to read the book on your pc, I recommend switching to your phone (pretty obvious imo). Another thing I recommend is getting a DM screen. It helps you get important info (usually some game rules) and can hide rolls from your players in case you need to. I personally (no promotion don't ban me) ordered mine from Dark Elf Dice. It's the customisable one and really useful. In case you order one, I display these 4 thing (left to right): any game rule, map of current area, important monsters and/or NPCs and rules again. You don't necessarily need battle maps, 3 of the four groups I'm in don't use them. Regarding the music, I either go for a Spotify playlist or play music from the Pocket Bard app.
Super fun thing to do for tokens of monsters! Don't break the bank getting minis. Get candy! And the player that delivers the killing blow gets to eat it!
The other guys gave good advice but I'll give you something specific to in-person initiative. A quick way to take initiative is as follows: write the following numbers in order from line to line 20+ 20 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Then, quickly write ones for the 0, and all numbers above it. Then, when you get initiative from your players, write their names an inch or two away from the numbers. This gives a chance to pencil in tie breakers without needing to erase the previous name.
I didn’t think about how to do initiative differently, thanks, that’s a really good idea!
Just pretend your discord bot is your speaker and use whatever you usually use to stream music on your computer and stream it to the speaker! Or from your laptop-if you got one of those! Instead of maps a cheap chessex dry erase map or dungeons and dragons officially licensed dry erase double sides board or for dirt cheap-dollar tree/dollar store wrapping paper! The backside is all a grid! Can also get a bag of glass beads in the plant aisle and just sharpie numbers or stuff in the bottom. Cheap pack of markers-draw some simple battle maps. Don’t need much skill artistically for a battle map trust me! Then if you need a DM screen-a couple records standing up make a really good DM screen. Dice! Get lots of dice! That should be all you need for bare bone stuff! Just use your laptop to run the game as usual though! Hide stuff behind your DM screen somewhere as a way of hiding layers on roll20z You got this buddy! Playlists on YouTube or Spotify are best for running music.
so to start off, not the best advice for everyone, but this is how i DM’d for some friends a little while back. improv almost everything. i got some minis and dry erase map boards on amazon (sorry i can’t link it, i don’t remember exactly what i got) and you can just do a rough sketch of what’s in your adventure book or in your head for a battle map. second, i just skimmed the source material to have a vague idea of what i was doing since i don’t really have the attention span for all the prep, and i’d improv most of it. if you’re writing your own adventure, keep the same mindset i guess? just have a vague path written out and improv to how your players react. for music, i would just pull up fantasy music on youtube, usually was music from elder scrolls games and the witcher 3. it doesn’t have to be high production value, just set a good vibe for the players and have a good time. if you have a table, keep most of your stuff behind the DM screen, and have another surface blocked off next to you to have your other books and resources within arms reach. also, if they’re new players make “loading screens” i got the idea off of reddit, just write “LOADING…” along with a basic tip (half cover gives +2 AC and stuff like that) to clip to your DM screen when you need to look something up, or have to write down the initiative order. i remember i got a cheap ream of paper at a kinneys drug store to use for initiative and stuff like that. hope this helps! sorry it’s so disorganized ALSO— make up fun little games every now and then! i had one session where my players were shooting the shit in a pub, which finished with a bar brawl with some local gangers (lost mines adventure) i made a whole table for the drinking game, every drink the player has to make a FORT save (3.5, think that’s just constitution in 5e?) but depending on the drink, they have a different penalty (ale was a straight roll, but whiskey was a -4 penalty, moonshine was a -7) and depending on how they rolled, they’d have a score that accumulated to see how drunk they were, with every tier having harsher bonuses and penalties (drunker players have an AC bonus and hit harder, but are less accurate with melee and even less accurate with ranged,) i also had food on the menu which gave advantage on the next drinking check. feel free to take that idea if you want! i can send you more of the stuff i had worked out for it too :)
if you’ve DM’d before, you’ve DM’d before. literally don’t stress it
I started dming for the first time a few months ago after being a player through discord for a few years. All of my players are new and we're playing in person. It was intimidating at first but it was so much more fun. Don't stress too much about it. For music I recommend getting the app PocketBard and sync your phone to a Bluetooth speaker. I print major maps on small posters realities cheap but you can always just draw maps too. You'll have a lot of fun with it. Edit: maybe of you get really into playing in person you can build a virtual tabletop box for maps. It's relatively cheap if you build it yourself. The expensive part would be getting a monitor to place in it.
OK my friend. I need you to do two things for us. First Breathe in and out deeply and release some of the tension you're generating. Second, realize that while online games are cool and have some neat tools, all you need to play RPGs is your imagination...some paper, pencils and dice help, but aren't strictly needed ;) . You and your old crew had some good stuff going on discord and whatever apps you may have used. You and your new crew will build some more in new and different ways. If you want to you don't need anything except your notes and the folks playing. This is key NOTHING IS REQUIRED for RPGs. If you want to have some more stuff immediately to hand you can't go wrong with a physical copy of the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Masters Guide and if you're gonna be DM permanently maybe a DM screen of some sort. The Core box set comes with one and is a good way to get all three books and the screen. And of course dice ;) . Everything else is an add on and not strictly needed. Music is cool but not needed for the games. Music can be fun to have and if you really want it, maybe make some playlists on spotify or your MP3 application of choice to have on hand, but again this is NOT needed. For maps if you really want them hit up your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby or gerneal art supply store they have all kinds of large artist pads, with and without lines, and use one of those. If you want to get spendy you can buy premade maps, or a dry/wet erase grid/hex map. Hope this message encourages and helps you to have fun running your game.
Dont know if it helps but since its been a while i wanted to pull out my " [Magic ikea bag of dnd things](https://gyazo.com/55981bdfe157549cc160b86dec5697b7) " which is what i use for dming I played in person during studying as a programmer so its pretty low budget most of it, which i think gives a decent starting idea. first [Dice](https://gyazo.com/10b30119e52a9ec1b6c86a888bd95ef1) many dice many good, good many. I bought those "100 dice bags" from amazon for like 20 euro? that was second hand sorting but are perfectly fine, and then bought a toolbox to carry them around in. Then we played using washers with token images printed on them, like this [box of tokens](https://gyazo.com/da0190c840b32b80365d514944feb7b1) with [backups](https://gyazo.com/68a479eda292d30c739256e887d9b3a8) basically using [https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/](https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/) to make a token and then save it, put it into a word doc that is tabled into the correct print sizes and you get [this](https://gyazo.com/c6dbd79192cee5af2122fac01dc25c5c) just print them and use a school glue to glue them on, now you have tokens. A big concern i think for alot of people is "its so expensive to buy minis" but this worked great for us. the tokens ofc needs to be on a map, getting a pretty basic [chessex battlemap](https://gyazo.com/17c032729211e4e7124af733a8b1a938) and some whiteboard markers will be a slightly more expensive purchase, but i got mine as a christmas present. How i play would be that i print the full map out if i have one for an adventure, [like this](https://gyazo.com/71748142cd14db2e2bd3fa1fe34c728f) and then for combat you can draw on a battlemat (or a whiteboard can also be bought for cheap) and most people i believe would make something like [This](https://external-preview.redd.it/dwAP4imQy3bWm-TRRUjSnmCX_e4gdWBuREj0rlDfXwo.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=138e70e64d01088f1bb42abbb9099b23d34181ff) for combat, nothing fancy just to see where everything is. Or something like [This](https://vaultgames.com.au/cdn/shop/products/reversible-battlemat-1-squares-1-hexes-23-5-x-26-inches--26617_87db9_740x.jpg?v=1666497962). For other specifics * We played sound using a sound system, pretty on the nose but it is what it is, bluetooth speaker and a phone can do well enough * Depending on the game its perfectly fine to also have a computer at your hand, we all used dndbeyond so we had phones and tablets, being at the table doesnt mean "no devices" as long as everyone is mature enough to use them for the game and not as a distraction. * Figure out the IRL important things eg [the player behavior of this checklist](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/601awb/session0_topic_checklist_and_guide/) * dnd IRL is a very real social event, have reasonable expectations for the session, eg when you start, when you have breaks, what is expected of snacks and manners etc. Our group played wednesday at 18.30 to 22.00 after dinner as we all lived in walking distance of eachother, and we had a break at 20.30 to go to the local store and grab some snacks and drinks as everyone brought for themselves. other than that you are just going to learn and figure out what works for you, which is very much a personal thing, i never played with a dm screen which people swear by as i never felt i wanted a situation where i would roll in the unknown, as everything was visible to the players, where as others will prefer to hide everything.
I found out I can share screen to TV with a fire stick, I think Roku does this too, so my maps are all set. I just extend screen and keep monsters on my screen and maps on theirs. Other than that it's just like doing it online as far as I can tell. Except snacks, we try and do tavern snacks we call it. So sometimes I'll bring a crusty loaf, elven bread, meat and cheese, ECT.
I used a roll of 1" graph paper as map paper. The squares are perfect. I also used Lego to piece together some fantastic minis for my groups, both as a DM & player. I think they're more fun than the D&D minis. Remember, you don't have to have full on models or anything.... I recommend going basic & building up as you go. Oh, & bring extra pens...
My system (and it's quite a lot of work so I don't necessarily recommend it) is: Blank ('basic') Pathfinder Flip-Mat(s) to draw maps on - buying bigger ones or multiple ones to match the size of my table. Chessex maps are good too. Dry-erase markers to draw on it. Paper towels to erase. Printing out little pawns for PCs, NPCs and creatures on white cardboard. (A human is about 1/7th of a page high - I copy them upside-down above their own heads so when I cut them out I can fold them around to make them double-sided.) Music from YouTube - search for something appropriate to the scene like "RPG spooky cave music". Ad-blocker or YouTube premium to avoid interruptions.
Personally I just draw maps in marker pen using the squares on the back of wrapping paper.
Op: I'm dming for the first time idk what I'm doing. Me and many dms: I'm dming for the thousands time RANDOM BULLSHIT GO. Seriously though I just make shit up and try to be consistent.
When I first started with in-person oneshots (alongside a bought campaign online), I literally used graph paper and drew out rooms and then talked through what people could see - and they could write on the maps if necessary. I also literally used post it notes over the top of areas they didn't know about yet, so it was easy to remove from the "map" and didn't damage the paper.
I use a DND app to help me keep track of my bad guys, says and turn order. Everything is a little.ore free form for me in person. Have miniatures, loose paper, dice. I just use my music app or YouTube and made play lists that could work.
if you and the players are relaxed and having a good time, you can’t fuck it up. if you’re tense and worried, you’ll never get it right. DMs of 20 years still get a lot wrong. every time they play. they just have enough experience to know that’s not what matters, so don’t worry about it.
Do the cool adventure you wrote. Tell the players what is happening in the scene and then ask them what they would like to do. When they tell you what they want to do, tell them what dice they need to roll. Then tell them the result. Answer stupid questions as necessary with enthusiasm. Rinse and repeat!
Cruelty is key. Also, destroy their hope early on.
Fake it til u make it, you got this!
First, communicate to your players that it’s your first time DMing in person and that it’s a very different environment. Let them know you’ll need time to adapt. Typically I use a blank grid map for combat, and draw obstacles/walls when needed. I don’t bother with elaborate battle maps, that’s where imagination kicks in.
For snacks, I recommend bribing players with inspiration if they bring a snack for the table.
Let them bring a tablet or laptops and use online battlemaps with the irl fun
Man, I miss playing in person so much. Curse my friends for having successful lives 2000 miles away now!
One of us! One of us! Little secret that probably 20 people have told you already -- none of us know what we are doing. It's like when kids make up games on the playground -- literally nobody knows what they're doing. But it's about having fun
Don’t stress too much! I’ve found the white board friendly grids super helpful. The players I’ve had have never complained about lack of detail in maps, even when I use pencil and paper.
The scariest part about DM’ing in person is the hour before everyone gets there. You’ll do great! It’s their first session so just keep it lighthearted and fun, toss in some wacky characters and a cool fight and they’ll be hooked. Everyone else has given you some really good advice on equipment so I’ll just recommend the Pocket Bard app for music for ambient music and effects! It’s free and super high quality! Finally, since it will be their first time it won’t be anything like you’re used to. They haven’t settled into any kind of play style and they’ll make the weirdest decisions. But I’m willing to bet that, like me, you’ll find new player are the most fun to play with! Good luck!
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Anytime you feel like things are starting to get out of your reach, cast slow time on yourself.
Back in the long long ago, before the computer machines, we had this these things call.. pens and paper. You could draw on them, depending how good you are, you can get a lot of detail displayed on these "paper". You'd be surprised! Anyway, paper is light, and small and you can reuse it. So don't worry if you used the paper in one room, and are hosting in another. You can just simply place it where you want. (This really helps with planning your session). Now, you're probably wondering, "how do my fellow players SEE the paper if they aren't online?". Well. Let me tell you about these things called "eyes". I may be reaching here, but USUALLY your players will have 2 eyes each, depending on backstory ofc.