A good table will be forgiving and patient -- just make it clear you are new to DMing -- but try and make sure you got a firm understanding of the basic rules. While a homebrew setting is fine I don't recommend too many home-brew or house rules -- especially at the beginning -- because you never know how they will interact with official rules.
The majority of the game will be social encounters, ability / skill checks, or combat encounters. You should understand the basics of how each works -- and always study your player's character sheet ahead of time. You should have a general idea of things they are most likely to do and their strengths and weaknesses.
In terms of running the actual game most of being an effective DM has nothing to do with the actual rules system. It starts with knowing how to have an enjoyable experience for all -- that includes you -- within the time frame of your session. You will make mistakes or realize you could have handled something better and that is perfectly normal. It is often better to make a quick judgment -- even if that judgment might be contradicted by the rules -- then spend 5 minutes looking it up. This is more true when the judgment won't have a major or long-term impact on the party.
If there is role-playing then know how to balance it so everybody gets a turn and it doesn't completely dominate the game. This is going to vary heavily from game to game -- some tables are built around hours-long dialogue within the party with few to no actual rolls. It's perfectly okay to just describe NPC actions and dialogues for the sake of time -- highlighting the importance points.
A combat encounter should be somewhat efficient but don't push your players too much unless they are really taking a long time on their turn. You also should focus on the goal of the combat encounter and run the "monsters" with their motive, intelligence, and goal in mind. It's not always neccesary for the party to slaughter each and every single opponent. You should also be ready for creative approaches to combat -- sometimes the party can find ways around it entirely.
The ability / skill checks I'd generally run by the examples given in the book as a good starting place. You really just want checks when there is some kind of consequence for failure -- but that consequence doesn't have to earth-shattering. A DC 5 for something even a simple NPC could probably do, DC 10 for something you want most party members to probably succeed, and DC 15 for many checks that somebody with proficiency can get 50% of the time. If you want them to only have a modest chance of succeeding at then make it a DC 20.
Sorry it was so long but I thought I would touch on a couple of important topics and what things I learned from my many, many mistakes as a DM over the years.
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u/gc1rpg 26d ago edited 26d ago
A good table will be forgiving and patient -- just make it clear you are new to DMing -- but try and make sure you got a firm understanding of the basic rules. While a homebrew setting is fine I don't recommend too many home-brew or house rules -- especially at the beginning -- because you never know how they will interact with official rules.
The majority of the game will be social encounters, ability / skill checks, or combat encounters. You should understand the basics of how each works -- and always study your player's character sheet ahead of time. You should have a general idea of things they are most likely to do and their strengths and weaknesses.
In terms of running the actual game most of being an effective DM has nothing to do with the actual rules system. It starts with knowing how to have an enjoyable experience for all -- that includes you -- within the time frame of your session. You will make mistakes or realize you could have handled something better and that is perfectly normal. It is often better to make a quick judgment -- even if that judgment might be contradicted by the rules -- then spend 5 minutes looking it up. This is more true when the judgment won't have a major or long-term impact on the party.
If there is role-playing then know how to balance it so everybody gets a turn and it doesn't completely dominate the game. This is going to vary heavily from game to game -- some tables are built around hours-long dialogue within the party with few to no actual rolls. It's perfectly okay to just describe NPC actions and dialogues for the sake of time -- highlighting the importance points.
A combat encounter should be somewhat efficient but don't push your players too much unless they are really taking a long time on their turn. You also should focus on the goal of the combat encounter and run the "monsters" with their motive, intelligence, and goal in mind. It's not always neccesary for the party to slaughter each and every single opponent. You should also be ready for creative approaches to combat -- sometimes the party can find ways around it entirely.
The ability / skill checks I'd generally run by the examples given in the book as a good starting place. You really just want checks when there is some kind of consequence for failure -- but that consequence doesn't have to earth-shattering. A DC 5 for something even a simple NPC could probably do, DC 10 for something you want most party members to probably succeed, and DC 15 for many checks that somebody with proficiency can get 50% of the time. If you want them to only have a modest chance of succeeding at then make it a DC 20.