Game Master, Conrad500

Session Zero: Setting Expectations It doesn't matter if you're new to D&D or a veteran, every game needs a Session Zero. What people get wrong is exactly what that means. "Tell your players what they should expect." That's it. That's Session Zero. You can do it during a "session," over Discord, or even write it into your setting outline or recruitment form. It doesn't have to (and honestly probably shouldn't) be a formal meeting where everyone sits around a table for two hours answering questions from a checklist. So, what does that actually mean, and why is it important?

How to Make Your Own Campaign So you want to make your own campaign. That's good! Despite what many people will try to tell you, you can 100% start out D&D by making your own game. There is no requirement to use a starter set or a pre-written adventure first. If you're new to D&D and you really want to run your own custom campaign, you can just do it, and I'll tell you how! If you're not new, maybe you've dabbled in a starter set or another module and think you're ready for the "big leagues" of a homebrew campaign. That's great too! My advice applies to people of all skill and game knowledge, beginners or vets. We're going to start with the only thing that really matters.

Your Character Has Reasons, Not Excuses When you make a D&D character, you need to make a character who actually wants to play D&D. I mean, any game really. You can't make a character who fundamentally doesn't want to participate in the premise of the game. Don't bring your knight to a cyberpunk game. I don't mean that your character has to be excited about the adventure or even fit into it well. They can hate it even! They can be afraid of adventuring. They can be socially awkward, cowardly, paranoid, selfish, pacifistic, or just generally miserable about the situation they've found themselves in. That's all good stuff. That's golden roleplay material. What you can't do is make a character who has no reason to participate in the game and then use that character as an excuse not to participate in the game. Make a character who wants to play the game they are part of. Your Backstory Is For You When you're making a D&D character, remember t...

You Don't Need to Know How to Play D&D Before You Play D&D Don't ask for advice. I can tell you how I run the game, he can tell you how he runs the game, they can tell you how they run their game, but nobody knows how you run your game! The best way to learn is by doing. I like to give advice, and I give it confidently. Do you know why? Because I've made enough mistakes to learn for the both of us. You can learn one thing from success: what worked. Failure can teach you a hundred things about what didn't. I see a lot of people asking how to get started with D&D. They want to know what books they need, what they need to learn first, what adventure they should run, what everyone at the table needs to know, and whether "they're ready" to be a Dungeon Master. The fact is that you're overthinking it. You can just start playing make believe with your friends and have a fun time. If you need help, though, there are resources made for you!

Before You Try to Fix It, Talk to Your Players You don't "make" players do things. Players do things because they want to. This is a game we play together. The DM is one role in D&D, and the players are another. They're different roles, but neither one is more important than the other. Without the DM, there isn't really a game. Without the players, there definitely isn't one. The DM is not "in charge" just like the players aren't. The DM's job is to run the game, but that doesn't mean they're dictating what happens. The players might be following a carefully written adventure, exploring a sandbox, or murder hoboing them through your world. The DM can be the referee, the facilitator, the storyteller, or whatever works for their table. The DM needs to run a game the players want to play, and the players need to play a game the DM wants to run. Both sides have to want the game they're playing, and neither side is obligate...

Welcome to my D&D/TTRPG Blog! I've been considering starting a podcast, but then I remembered that Blogger is a thing still, so this might turn out to be much better of a place to post stuff. I plan to use this space to talk about Tabletop RPGs, mostly Dungeons and Dragons. I have a lot of homebrew and even more opinions. I search Reddit by New in hopes of helping people before the normal Reddit people can get on and give them the worst advice ever. FYI: GMCD/DMCD = Game/Dungeon Master Conrad500 (500 in Roman Numerals is D) A Little About Me I started D&D around 2012 with 4th Edition, playing online with my friends. Soon, though, I got bit by the Dungeon Master bug. I was running my first (super cringe) session soon after with my roommate and (at the time) girlfriend. I seriously love 4e, and I don't think there's a better edition to get started with. It was such a great departure from all other D&D versions and honestly most other TTRPGs. Balancin...