Don't run your first game until you watch this!

[@CrudeConduct666]

My last DM literally told us his view is that "The Dungeon Master is supposed to try and kill the players! It's all of you guys vs. Me" like, dude, no.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Yeah, that's wrong. Maybe send him my video for first time DMs. 😉

[@Phoenixqueen77]

Has he even opened the DM's guide? Just got mine, literally one of the first things it says is "You aren't trying to kill the players"

[@Phoenixqueen77]

Ty for the heart :)

[@CrudeConduct666]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I did :) I show your vids to everyone I know. Except for the Curse of Strahd vids unfortunately, we're still playing that module so I can't fill em in on those :P

[@shanekayat3217]

In all fairness, a lot of combat in 5e seems to be a breeze if you go by the CR system for building encounters, so "trying to kill your players" sometimes just means making the combat more of a challenge, because ACTUALLY killing PCs is pretty hard to do.

[@eneroe6241]

"Don't run your first game before you watch this!" 30 seconds later: "Just jump in and start doing it (dm'ing)"

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The part about “Who’s Line Is It Anyway” level of improv, really has me wondering what it would be like to watch those guys play D&D lol

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Invariably, Colin's character would be awkwardly birthed by Ryan's character. They would LARP the entire process.

[@forestwizard3663]

Wayne - The Bard Colin - The Wizard Ryan - The Tall Freak Aisha - The Dungeon Master

[@shanekayat3217]

@@forestwizard3663 The Guest - poor NPCs

[@hunter2299]

One of them plays on HarmonQuest

[@formula2233]

Jeff B. Davis

[@Hewhowantstoknow]

I remember when I started DMing, me and some friends wanted to play a TRPG, one friend who's an experienced DM wanted to play Waterdeep Dragonheist, so we jumped in, we played 2 sessions and then the DM ghosted us. Me and the other players still wanted to play, so I went Thanos mode, put on the Infinity Gauntlet and said "Fine, I'll do it myself". And now I'm a forever DM QQ

[@IAmMyVeryOwn]

Big respect for acknowledging trauma as a part of life that some people have to deal with, and not talk about how to make your game as gritty as possible without caring for the consequences.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you! It's definitely a big part of making sure that everyone enjoys the game. I myself run an extremely dark game of Curse of Strahd, but only because I know my players come from a place that can handle that.

[@DM_Patman]

I like to run D&D as a more decision-based game rather than theatrical. My players aren't actors or voice actors, and they seem to enjoy me taking the pressure off by asking about decisions rather than asking them to 'speak in character'. Play the game how YOU enjoy it. D&D is for everyone!

[@yodopro6476]

I really liked that part about avoiding topics that some players would not like, that was one of the things I hadn't thought of before.

[@Mr_Morningsloth]

he didnt mention matt mercer cause we all know he is perfect but no joke your curse of Strahd videos have been a lot of help and made my campaign all the better for having watched them

[@BarrengerFynar]

My advice to first time DM's...start small. A quiet little town with a few NPC's, a simple story in that town, only few monsters types to keep track of, simple victory conditions. It's a lot less to memorize and keep track of. Then build on that simple story with further adventures. Consider the Lord of the Rings started with a simple story some dwarves wanting to kill a dragon and get back their gold. and look how that snowballed. :)

[@MaindexOmega]

Me, who's already running a (hopefully) 2 year campaign of pathfinder "ah yes, this should help me, don't wanna rush things am i right?"

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Absolutely! No rush. Take it easy. Fill out the world with all our adventures, why don’t ya? 😄

[@rockycalifornia3385]

Thanks so much. My first time as a DM on Wednesday and I'm really pumped after this😊

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Good luck, Rita!

[@chefrowlet]

im running a cyberpunk red game as a first time gm tonight and this really helped relieve some anxiousness, despite it not really being the same game. thanks!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

It's all good! I hope it all goes well and you have a great time!

[@sparrowhart5613]

I watched this video before I DMed for the first time. I still accidentally party wiped the first time I was DM, and I started trying to not murder the last character. Bright side: everyone had fun. Down side: we only kept two of the original characters. Seriously though, your videos are really helping me run Curse of Strahd and alleviate some of the anxiety.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm really glad I could help, Sparrow!

[@amyconklin937]

Thank you for this video! It makes me feel a lot better about doing this DM thing for the first time. I played some as a player about 20 years ago but my kids and niece are wanting to try and asked me to DM. We're starting with a starter set campaign. I ordered the players handbook, monsters manual, and the DM guide.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Best of luck to you, Amy!

[@DanielRWomack]

I've learned a ton from watching your videos. Thank you so much for what you do and I can't wait to see what more you have to come. On a personal note, you remind me so very much, of a dear cousin of mine who lost his battle with depression. We were very close and while the previous statements remain and are true, very much, there is a part of "home" behind how my heart reacts to your videos and I wanted to thank you for both the "what you do" that you can and do control, and the part of it you were absolutely unaware of, but which is also true all the same. Cheers and best wishes to you and the whole crew!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm sorry for your loss, Daniel, but I'm happy that I could be a reminder of someone so dear to you. Thank you for reaching out and watching.

[@elizah1643]

This is an excellent guide, thank you! I’ve played the game for about 2 years, but I’m DMing for the first time pretty soon. This helped alleviate a lot of my new DM anxiety :)

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I'm glad you found it useful--thank you for watching!

[@epeon-wisp]

As a youtube content maker myself, it's good to hear someone else use the audio library

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

It's brilliant! I love the Tip Toes song.

[@epeon-wisp]

@@LunchBreakHeroes The stings in particular are also very useful. One of my favorite tracks is Orange foot.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Just listened. I really like that one too, thanks! I recently signed up for Epidemic Sound, so I've been exploring their assets with the past couple of videos. Their sound effects library is miles above what I found in the YT Audio Library, and the music's pretty darn good to boot. I love that I can download individual stems (base line, melody, vocals) for tracks and use them in isolation.

[@epeon-wisp]

@@LunchBreakHeroes That's neat, I'll check it out.

[@AHuman4Suresies]

Oh wow, I wish I saw this before I first DM’d. I was not prepared at all

[@mythologicalnomad6520]

Awesome, watching ton of videos as my first session is tonight as DM. Already did session zero. Pretty nervous but hopefully it goes well

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Let us know how it goes!

[@mythologicalnomad6520]

Lunch Break Heroes so I just finished up session one. 3am currently and we started at 7:30 pm. I was only expecting 1-2 hour long session with what I wrote going through 2-3 sessions but we finished it in one. I ended up having to improvise a ton of stuff as I wasn’t expecting them to get as far as they did (due to how long we played) but time flew and it was a ton of fun. Guess those years of theater in high school came in handy 🤣

[@mythologicalnomad6520]

To give some details I am DMing for my wife, her twin, her older sister and her twin brother. (In laws have a ton of twins) but it was a lot of fun hahaha the party was Tabaxi Rogue (Wife), Changling Wizard (Wives twin), Aasimar Paladin (Her older sis) and Aarokocra Warlock (her older brother) Interesting party dynamic but they really played well together. We are all playing for first time (Me first time DM and never played before)

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

@@mythologicalnomad6520 that's great! I'm happy it went well for you all. Best of luck in your future adventures!

[@mythologicalnomad6520]

Lunch Break Heroes i actually have a question now, I just finished my third session with my party but I’ve run into a problem. They seem really uninterested in combat. I can’t get them to want to pay attention if it’s not their turn. They were on their phones at first and after I asked them not to I guess they went to lala land and one even started doodling on their notepad. I tried to make it intense and even made sure to not pull any punches (almost kills two players twice) but they just were uninterested. How do I get them into combat more? Out of the three sessions they’ve only been in combat 3 times.

[@CristianoTavaresMisticspell]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I really enjoyed it.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

You're very welcome!

[@Cryoutious]

Gonna have to go listen to You Earned It after these transitions

[@yellow_sprouts]

Ahh I'm so worried I'm doing a first time DM (I've never played the game before)with a bunch of beginners who have never done anything then one person who's played a tiny bit (a few scattered sessions with her uncle) And I'm still worried that I'm gonna bore them to death or stutter my way through it or have to be corrected on every rule even basic ones

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Being nervous is perfectly normal! But you're going to be just fine. As I said, DMing is a craft that you just have to practice to become better at. I've had sessions that were boring, but the key is to not dwell on them. Make a mental note of what you want to improve on from that time and focus on it for next time. Take it slow, have fun, and don't sweat it if you don't remember a rule. In those cases, rule with your gut and look up the official rule later.

[@yellow_sprouts]

@@LunchBreakHeroes Ty It was kinda overwhelming to feel like you had to have handmade or 300$ terrain you had to provide a extremly interesting story and prepare for every Unexpected choice So this is a BIT of a relief so ty

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Oh goodness no! I've never used terrain. My first game had a hand drawn map and a DM screen that was really just the top flap of a cardboard box. This hobby's as inexpensive as you want it to be.

[@yellow_sprouts]

@@LunchBreakHeroes I didnt know that was an option until recently and it was a bit overwhelming to see how expensive everything was I'm planning on doing Whiteboards and some books I borrowed from my cousin besides that nothing

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

@@yellow_sprouts sounds like you've got all the materials you need. Good luck to you!

[@momqabt]

For new DMs I'd whole heartedly recommend running prewritten modules. Work on divers expressions, you don't need to be Matt Mercer but there's always room for improvement. Same with gesticulation, confidence, learn to say no OR yes but. Reading aloud/monologuing/vocalising and gesticulating in front of a mirror helps. You'll slowly build up the skills required to slap your knee and put a monster there cause why the fuck not. It's not instantaneous but you Can get there. I mean I've taken creatures for modules, said ain't good nuf, and monkeyd around a bit to make them setting/module/campaign appropriate, started combat damn that's too many hit points not a problem I'll just make a mental note that it has less; damn the party is killing this lieutenant/bbeg too fast ok time to do a misty step, spring a trap, reinforcements just appear, shit hits the proverbial fan. Whatever. Running modules can be a good training avenue. Getting to the point where you're running the module and at points just go fuck it imna do this shit cause it's fun is a pure reward in itself. The books state: the stats are of A typical specimen. Some might be stronger or weaker, they may be totally different in your world. You're the DM ;)

[@HowtoRPG]

I think you mean kill the characters not the players. Killing players is illegal ;)

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I think you might be right. Then again... That's what I would say anyway, right? 😈

[@HowtoRPG]

@@LunchBreakHeroes lol

[@gekko890]

Great videos. Thanks so much for the practical advice!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

You're very welcome!

[@grothesk80]

Great video, thanks for the tips!

[@woolsweater6489]

“Nobody’s perfect. Not me...” uh yeah I’d like to refute this claim LBH is the boss

[@dseray9494]

One of the hardest things to do can kill a pc convincingly if a player wants to play a new one. I had to kill off a warforged paladin a few weeks ago and the player did not make it easy for me. The problem was I had to make it look like it happened naturally, without killing off any of the other PCs

[@recowabunga7200]

very good quality content videos!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you!

[@SpectreWulf]

First to comment!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Thank you very much!

[@HowtoRPG]

That's alot for a first time or new Dungeon Master to deal with.

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I have faith in you! ;-)

[@HowtoRPG]

@@LunchBreakHeroes lol

[@xfoxgames]

When we last left our heroes...............

[@deanfletcher4962]

whats the bank note on the whiteboard? Looks like an old UK £1 note. Or a Waterdeep goldsmith bond!

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Ha! It's actually a £50 note magnet that someone gave to me after their trip through Europe.

[@jacksonamodeo8810]

Is that an Ender's Game shirt?

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

Why, yes it is! Dragon Army, the enemy's gate is down!