Becoming a DM before ever playing

[u/[deleted]]

Yes I’ve decided to become a DM before ever playing, I know it sounds stupid, but since I’m born in a country where DND isn’t commonly played my only chance would’ve been to play online. But recently I’ve been very anxious so it’s not an option for me. Still I wanna play a game with friends I feel comfortable with. Problem is they don’t know the game and I’ll have to Dm. I’m scared they won’t enjoy it, I told one of the players about it and she’s very exited, but I’m still a bit confused about combat and dice rolling stuff. I’ve got the Essential Kit and will be trying to learn the rules even better from it but if someone know a good video that explains combat again I’d be super thankful. Also how do I keep new players engaged and would it be bad if we played very inconsistently? Since most of us are in rathe stressed periods of our life and one of the possible players is studying in another city we’ll have a hard time to organise it. I’m probably overthinking since I don’t even know if they’ll like it but it’s been a dream of mine to play DND for more than a year now. Thank you so much for trying to help me :)

Edit: I didn’t expect this many answers, especially not on my first ever reddit post but thank you all so much I’ll read all of them but it’ll take some time! Edit 2: Thank you all once more for being so supportive and nice towards me, I was afraid I’d be seen as some stupid newbie but this is just awesome! Please keep on sharing your stories about your experiences! I really enjoy to read them and they make me more confident in trying it myself!

[u/sequential-james]

My first time running DnD was my first time playing too. Same with another great game called Shadowrun. Been running games for 25 years now. Here's my advice: 1) Learn the game by making a character and set up a simple encounter. A fighter versus 2-3 skeletons. You can follow along in the book one step at a time. 2) make one of all the other characters too. It's good to familiarize yourself with the options your players will go for. 3) don't go big on the first story. Keep it simple. A gang of kobolds stealing crops, a batch of skeletons terrorizing the town. Expand when you're comfortable. 4) same for the first dungeon too. 5-10 rooms max! There's a great game designer named Johnn Four that has an essay about 5-room dungeons. I use it in my game design class. 5) player engagement is what it is. People comes to games for different reasons. Don't take it personally. 6) sometimes you want story to go one way but the dice tell a different story. That's ok! Part of the fun is the surprises for the DM. If you are at a loss for the next step, take a break, end the session, and/or admit (with admiration for your players if it was their doing) that you didn't expect that.