The Nature GM

Hail and well met, courageous soul who dares to take on the mantle of Dungeon Master. It is not a thankless task, as some might suggest, but it is a difficult one, with a great power and responsibility.

This post is for you and others who asked, somewhere in the nebulous web, how to get started.

Well, this guide will take you step by practical step. It links to resources that provide further details, and at the end is a glossary of terms you are likely to encounter on your journey.

For seasoned readers, feel free to comment on any starting essentials I overlooked (or any glossary terms you understand differently).

Choose your starting point:

Stage 1. Has Heard of D&D but Never Played

You have heard some buzz about this Dungeons & Dragons game for a while, and you want to check it out for yourself. Welcome to the community!

The sheer volume of online D&D content can be a bit bewildering. You might even have found a different blog post that answers the same question in a completely different way. Remember the wise words of Douglas Adams, and DON’T PANIC.

There are many different ways to enjoy D&D. You will find what works for you.

Simply take it one step at a time:

1. Watch or listen to an actual play session to understand the big picture. I recommend one with a low production value because it will set more realistic expectations.
2. Read the Basic Rules.
3. Watch this short video on D&D combat.
4. Find pre-generated level 1 character sheets. This is both to get context for the rules and to give to your new players.
5. Get a set of those wacky dice. Yes, you really do need all of them.
6. If possible, play before you DM. See if your local game store hosts D&D sessions.
7. When you are ready to DM, gather your players. Try to find an in-person group—it really makes a difference. Convince friends, meet strangers at the game store or library—do whatever it takes to sit down at a table for 2-3 hours.
8. Proceed to Stage 2.

Stage 2. Has Played D&D and Wants to DM

You have played D&D (or have consumed enough actual play content that you have practically played yourself), and you want to try your hand at being the dungeon master.

My first advice is to just go for it. Do not feel pressured to have a fully fleshed out world, a perfect understanding of the rules, a professional-looking map, or even a complete campaign.

Sketch out a battle map on a sheet of paper and use Sorry! tokens and M&M’S as the character and monster tokens. Seriously. The fancy props are fun, but they are not what makes the game fun. The essence of the game is playing out an adventure together. And for that, all you need are dice and your imagination.

Now that our standards are nice and low, here is what to do next:

1. Watch this video on creating your first session.
2. Come up with your starting town.
   • The starting town just needs a name, an inn, 3-4 NPCs, and a reason the player characters are there. The reason can be totally cliché: the PCs live there, they are visiting for the harvest festival, the town is along the road to the capital, etc.
   • You might find this name generator useful.
3. Come up with your plot hook.
   • You need a simple problem for the player characters to investigate and solve. No grand villains or schemes at this point—just a simple monster or two.
   • Strange lights were seen in the woods, the blacksmith’s daughter has disappeared, a monstrous beast is killing the livestock, a dangerous prisoner has escaped, etc. You need a basic understanding of 1) What happened? and 2) What will happen if the characters do nothing?
4. Choose a few more details to make the world seem real.
   • Select names for the nearest city and the local ruler (mayor, lord, governor, magistrate, etc.). That is enough to extend the walls of the setting beyond the immediate surroundings.
   • If you really want to do more, come up with a rumor. Just keep in mind that this rumor will need to pay out later. It can be something as vague as “the oracle foretold impending disaster” to something as specific as “a new island has appeared near the Silverbay Coast”.

What Happens Next

Now, that you have held your first session, it is time to plan the next one.

Make note of the choices the player characters made during the session and continue adding details to the world and the adventure. It is as simple as that.

I recommend thinking from the perspective of the villain (or monster) and outlining what will happen if the player characters do nothing. This will help you improvise when the characters interrupt the villain’s evil actions.

I do not recommend writing out an entire story, especially the ending. Everyone has a better time if you play together to find out what happens, and if player choice has a meaningful impact on the game.

It is, after all, a game. And a mighty fun one.

Now you must hurry forth, for the sun sets quickly and the road is dangerous at night. If you leave now, there is still time to reach the Crossroads Tavern at the edge of town, still time to hear old Bertrand play his fiddle before the roaring fire.

And, who knows—you just might run into an adventure while you are there.

Glossary of Common D&D Terms

People have been talking about D&D online for years, and there are numerous shorthand terms tossed around quite casually. Here are some you are likely to come across:

3.5e – Three Point Five Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Known for its numerous rules, especially regarding roll modifiers. This and Pathfinder were the most common TTRPGs for many years before Fifth Edition exploded.

4e – Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. A polarizing edition that made the game more epic and best suited for battle maps.

5e – Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This is the current version, and likely the one you are playing. Search online for, say, “5e longsword” instead of “D&D longsword” to get results for the correct edition.

BBEG – big bad evil guy. The top villain at the end of your campaign or campaign arc, and not necessarily male.

Campaign – a complete, lengthy adventure that the characters play out from beginning to end. May contain subplots called campaign arcs.

DMG – Dungeon Master’s Guide.

DnD – D&D, Dungeons & Dragons. Especially on Reddit.

MAD – multiple ability dependent. When a class relies on more than one of the six core ability scores to be awesome (such as a Ranger requiring high STR or DEX for weapons and high WIS for spells).

MM – Monster Manual.

OGL – Open Game License. Wizards of the Coast allows third-party creators to publish D&D content under this copyright license. In early 2023, Wizards tried to put tighter restrictions on the OGL, but they ultimately decided against it due to receiving intense pushback from the TTRPG community.

One shot – a short adventure that can be completed in a single session.

OSR – old-school renaissance or old-school RPG. A style of game that harkens back to early D&D editions of kicking in doors to dungeon rooms, looting the bodies, and probably getting killed in an orc ambush.

Pathfinder – a very similar game system made by the company Paizo. The original Pathfinder is fairly interchangeable with D&D 3.5e, and Pathfinder 2e is essentially an improved version of D&D 5e.

PHB – Player’s Handbook.

SAD – single ability dependent. When a class relies on only one of the six core ability scores to be awesome (such as a Wizard requiring only high INT or a Barbarian only needing high STR).

Theater of the Mind – playing with no battle maps or tokens; all character, NPC, and monster actions and movements are described by voice (or text) only.

RAW – rules as written. Used when arbitrating how to interpret rules, which happens more often than you might think.

Roll20 – a very popular virtual tabletop for D&D. Not produced by Wizards of the Coast.

Session – a single event of sitting down to play D&D. Session length varies quite significantly between tables, usually between 2-6 hours.

TPK – total party kill. Your job as a DM is to brush against the edge of this without crossing over and actually killing the entire party (unless they really deserve it).

TTRPG – tabletop roleplaying game. D&D is the most famous, but there are plenty others. You might even like some of the other ones more.

UA – Unearthed Arcana. Unofficial Wizards of the Coast content that introduced new races, classes, feats, etc., some of which were revised and published in official books. To my knowledge, all official leagues and some DMs do not allow UA content because it can get pretty wacky. I generally allow it as long as it fits the flavor of the campaign.

WotC – (pronounced “Watsy”) Wizards of the Coast, the subsidiary of Hasbro that produces official Dungeons & Dragons content. You might see negative sentiments about WotC online because they are making business decisions to increase revenue from D&D and not necessarily respecting the long-standing culture of the hobby.

VTT – virtual tabletop. Playing D&D (or another TTRPG) online with digital maps, tokens, and dice rolls.

(Post cover image by Siala.)