New DM Starter Guide

DMing is COOPERATIVE STORYTELLING! Which means before you master a dungeon, you have to have a story to tell. And every story has key components that you just can’t leave up to chance.

## THE SETTING

Where does your game take place? Is there a specific city, location, building?

The more specific you can be about this, the easier it is to make a dungeon just for your adventurers when you get them all lined up.

When does your game take place? Does timing matter?

## THE PREMISE

What was your initial big ‘I WANT TO RUN A GAME ABOUT *THIS*’ idea? What excited you and made you need to share this story with others?

Try to describe it in a single sentence.

I.E: Taffy Train’s premise is Four Dorks solve a mystery on a train and become found family.

I.E: Empty Spaces’ Premise is that people are disappearing at a summer camp for kids, and four children have to get to the bottom of it!

## THE CONFLICT

What is the main issue between your party and the bad thing that is happening? What is at odds with their goals/motivations?

I.E: Taffy Train’s Conflict is that Four Dorks discover that their train mystery is fake, and that something sinister is happening in the background. Also, the train is sabotaged.

I.E: Empty Spaces’ Conflict is that Kids who wanna have Fun have discovered that others are disappearing, which is dangerous and needs to be stopped.

## THE IDEAL OUTCOME VS THE WORST OUTCOME

Imagine the best possible outcome for your game. Like, if a dragon is threatening a town, the best outcome could be that the adventurers befriend the dragon, send him to anger management, and the town and dragon become allies. The ultimate happy ending, so to speak.

Now, imagine the WORST possible outcome for your game. The dragon threatening the town kills the entire party, snaps, and burns the town to the ground, becoming chaotic evil in the process. The Ultimate Sad Bad ‘oh crap we pecked up’ ending.

Depending on the party you get and the dice rolls THEY get, you could get anywhere from the best to the worst ending. It’s cooperative storytelling, so no matter what, the story relies both on you AND your players, which makes it fluid. Having the Best and Worst outcomes in mind will help you with writing/coming up with the end of the game on the fly should the players do something you didn’t expect.

## THE ENEMIES

What does your party have to fight against? Are there people who they have to fight/come into conflict with? Who are they? Why are they ‘bad’, so to speak?

## THE ALLIES (NPCS)

Who is helping your party? Are there people who support them or give them information? Who are they? Why are they helping your party on their mission?

## THE DUNGEON

Where is the dungeon? Who’s the big boss at the end? What are you looking for/ looking to do in this dungeon? Do you have a map?

## THE MONSTERS

What monsters are you fighting? Do you have their enemy sheets? What would be the most fitting thing for your players to fight, in the most fitting numbers so you don’t accidentally TPK (Total Party Kill?)

## THE OBSTACLES

Are there any traps? Monsters? People? What is keeping your party from their goal?

## THE REWARDS

So your party WON THE GAME! Or got a decent outcome, and now you gotta give them something. I mean, other than EXP points.

These can be: Minor items! Magic items! Money! Coupons! Basically, anything you could give a character as a cool reward without breaking future games for those characters. OP items are typically a bad idea.

Money is always a solid bet, just like with holiday gifts! Not sure what to give your players for taking a dragon to anger management? Gold works!