So a few of my friends and I all want to play d&d for the first time. The problem is we don't have a DM. Is it possible for one of us to take on the roll and still have a good time? I feel like none of us have a good enough grasp of the rules or how to play.
DM does not need to know the rules perfectly, he just need to know them better than the players.
DM doesn't need to know any rules, because
>rewrite what you don't like
>rule 0
>you don't even need the books
Yes, there's no DM lineage of passing on the ability to DM from one guy to the next. The first people to play DND did not have Gygax come to their house and teach them the game.
That's why the GM Manual exists, it's a gyuidebook for how to run a game. Don't use it as a reference material, literally read it like a book.
>Yes, there's no DM lineage of passing on the ability to DM from one guy to the next. The first people to play DND did not have Gygax come to their house and teach them the game.
>he doesn't know
Always sad to see one of the uninitiated deluded into believing that they're actually playing real D&D.
It's sad that they call it Matt Mercer or Critical Role syndrome now, when it used to be learning from the best and initiating others.
It’s actually called aids
That's how it's supposed to work. If you aren't ungrateful shits, one of you will DM the next arc or the next game. And then someone else, and so on. Usually one person will realize they like it more than the others.
This is actually great advice that I didn't think about. I'm so locked in to figuring out our first game that I completely forgot about the idea of everyone taking a turn being DM.
A lot of new players may feel burdened to make their first campaign an epic adventure of legendary history. This is not the case. Keep it small. Keep it manageable. And talk to your players when you're confused. Let them know you're figuring shit out. It's fine. If you're having fun you're winning.
Pick someone, then rotate him out after a few games.
When someone new joins my table, they aren't given human rights until they run at least one session.
Go read Moldvay Basic. It'll teach at least one of you to be a DM
>. Is it possible for one of us to take on the roll and still have a good time?
Yes, but also,
Don't play D&D for your first game. Its overly complex and awful.
Get something like FATE.
Might as well be recommending Thirsty Sword Lesbians
sounds kino
it's the opposite
It was a mistake to place too much special emphasis on the Dungeon Master.
>literally all you need is a map and some stat blocks
>if you want more, it's not too hard to find or make more
>even if you frick that up it can still be fun
>you get to make shit up and pretend to be the bad guy
>everyone should be thinking about how they can make the session fun, not just the DM
This is more or less true for every RPG. Many GMs want to pretend that they're special but they aint shit, just a guy with a 3-ring binder.
Don't paint D&D as something special. It's a fine game for slaughtering orcs or killing a Dragon in a Dungeon, and it isn't particularly complicated or unique.
>it was a mistake to place too much special emphasis on the guy who does the vast majority of the work for everyone's benefit and enjoyment
Damn, nogames.
Yelling at the mirror again, anon?
If you put in the effort, yes. Some of the most entertaining campaigns I've played were by first time DM's. My own first campaign was one of my best. I'm currently in a first time DM campaign, and it's been pretty good so far. The caveat being that, yes, all of them played first. When we started one of my friends tapped a guy he knew from work to DM two short campaigns for us. He's still with the group today as a player.
But really, the only way to learn the rules is to play the game. And the DM has the advantage of knowing, roughly, what's going to happen. And nothing stops you from just looking up what the rules for a given situation are when it does arise. Yes, that might slow the game down, but that's kind of to be expected when you're just getting into it. You can also just engage the table, and ask a currently less active player to maybe look up that rule while you go ahead. That also has the benefit of the players learning the rules. It's all a lot easier when it's not all on the DM to know everything.
That's basically how it has always been done. Sure, you'll make some mistakes but so what? It's still fun.
Whoever ends up DMing should look through the DMGs for older editions or other games such as Call of Cthulu. I remember 3.5e having a lot of useful DMing advice that for some reason seems to be missing from the 5e DMG.
This guy has some good advice too https://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101
This definitely makes me feel better about it. It all seems so daunting but I have come to realize that my big issue is just having a lack of imagination and storytelling ability.
I picked up copies of the player's handbook, the monster guide, and the DM's handbook, all 5e, as well as that cheap starter set from target with a pre made campaign.
Choose the guy who is more willing and make him read this. https://5e.tools/adventure.html#lmop,0
It's a very simple adventure for newbie DMs and players. Give him time to read it. Only he should read it beyond the introduction. Then, meet up and have a session 0, where he will help you make a character sheet. You guys can read stuff from the player's handbook. It sounds super complicated but it'a not really.
I will look into it, thanks
It's important you guys can edit the story as you see fit at the beginning. You can decide how and when your characters met and made a party, why they travel together etc. The only thing that matters is that you all agree
My friendgroup and I took turns doing it at first. I ended up being relegated to their perma-DM because I was substantially better at it, but I at least had a chance to try the other side a bit beforehand.
Read the books together. If you're all serious about actually playing, you'll put in the effort and learn how to play together.
Just send one of you to a year of DM-courses. Only costs about 10k$ so should be decently cheap if you all pitch in. Make sure they are accredited though, don't cheap out and get yourselves scammed. Afterwards you will have a professionally trained in-house DM that if you want to you can rent out to recoup your initial investment.
>This is how useless all professional training is
My God, at last I truly see
>you'd rather have an computer dm than an actual dm
You should go check out Ganker, sounds more your speed
It's generally better to have someone who played the game once DM, but it ain't a deal breaker.
my call would be to run a premade adventure, and adding flavor to it as you go along, since game balance is what alot of first time DMs struggle with.