10 Mistakes To Avoid as a New DM

DM'ing can be challenging. And there are numerous pitfalls to avoid when you start as a newbie Dungeon Master. This post will share a couple of ways a new DM can make their life way less complicated than it needs to be. I'm not a smart man, and I made most of these mistakes or witness them as a player. Now, let’s look at a couple of the crucial ones…

1. Bigger is not always better.

Whenever I see a player who wants to become a Dungeon Master, I always implore them to start small and build up their game from humble beginnings. There's a fallacy when it comes to thinking that more is better—one of the reasons why is that players will start to notice underdeveloped stories and characters. I would rather play in a campaign with a small village with well-written characters and a compelling story than a vast, empty world with characters and encounters on every corner with nothing flavorful about them. Before you create your vast worlds with many different factions, I advise starting with a tiny village that over-delivers interesting NPCs, engaging quests, and stories to your players— focusing on quality instead of quantity.

More information on this: How To Create A DnD Town?

2. Avoid segregating conflict.

It might be a weird one, but initially, whenever it comes to creating a world or locations, we might be drawn to ideas such as "Lands of the Elves," "Continent of the Dwarfs," "The Undead Zone," and so on. One thing that comes with this approach is the segregation of conflict between these different species or factions. This leads to a lack of conflict when your areas are homogenous in theme or type of gameplay that could occur. Providing interesting and varied conflict is gold when it comes to DnD. It's more interesting to find different Orcs in different lands rather than one blob of homogenous inhabitants. This creates more conflict between all participants in these locations who want different things and have different motivations for your story.

This is one of my first maps maybe 5 years ago. Basically dwarf lands… Which was across the sea from the main campaign conflict. No bueno. Why did I even develop it in the first place?

3. Failing to improvise.

Any plan you make as a DM will flop face down to the ground during sessions. It's just a matter of time. There's nothing else to do but improvise in these situations, and it’s great. However, inexperienced Dungeon Masters will try to hold onto a plan that they meticulously constructed. This will lead to railroading, which 80% of the time causes the players more frustration than enjoyment in the session, and there is maybe a 2% chance that they will just set themselves on fire and jump through the nearest window to avoid these rigid rails. An antidote to this is being more relaxed with your plan. It's better to follow up in the upcoming sessions on things the players are naturally interested in rather than force-feeding your story if the interest is elsewhere. Sometimes, the most unexpected on-the-fly created characters will become the highlights of your sessions. The same goes for your story points. So, try to improve and focus on this skill, arguably above every other DM skill.

4. Overpreparation.

Overpreparation is a rule that I constantly break since I get distracted by the possibilities of many stories. Still, it usually gives lukewarm experiences when overdone. One of the causes is that the more information you write on a subject, the more you need to remember. It can become overwhelming; organizational skills and tools like LegendKeeper will help you track everything. But even then, it's not a guarantee. Since your players will interact with the story and your world through you, the less clear picture you have during the session, the more likely it will be mid. So, what can help you with this? First, it's limiting yourself to a smaller scale, session-to-session basis. By my rule of thumb, when I prepare sessions, it's good to spend 80% of your time on what's going to happen next session, develop the heck out of that, 15% on what might come up in the sessions after, and then 5% on what's beyond two sessions ahead.

5. Running humongous encounters.

So, big encounters with hordes of armies of enemies might sound epic, pretty cool, gnarly, and radical at first, and they do have a place and time. However, avoid this DM trap first since running might be more challenging and less fun as a new DM than you imagine initially. One of the reasons it sucks to run a big encounter is that players need to fight against usually weaker entities, and it takes a long time until the players get to do anything. There are ways to make big encounters exciting, but if you're new to DnD, follow the rule of no more than your player count +(1~2) max creatures you design for your combat encounter. This will ensure faster combat turns, and your pretty melon will not explode with quick math when running combat encounters. 

More information on this: How To Use Tactics In Your Combat Encounters

6. Having too many people at your table.

Many people might want to play D&D at your table, but be cautious of the amount of people you invite. One of the reasons is that the more people you have, the harder it will be to bring a consistent spotlight to each player during a session. For me, 4-5 players are the ideal party size. I only have up to six players at my table because it's become a session I can control and provide decent entertainment. Anything above six players becomes a job for me, defeating the purpose of a hobby where I want to relax and enjoy it. So it's better to start with 4-5 players and see how it goes for you personally rather than a huge crowd from the beginning.

7. Balance - Losing track of items and gold you give.

D&D is a creative and kinda abstract game with a sparkle of rules. But keeping an eye on your player’s party items and gold amounts that you give could be an afterthought for some beginner DMs. Forgetting about it could potentially break the balance for some characters. And if there’s a balance issue, it is harder to take away a toy than give it to a player. This might manifest where your characters become essentially broken and unbalanced, leading to characters that overshadow others just because you didn’t keep an eye on the rewards that you give. So my advice is to have a list of items the party begins with, and whenever the players get something, also write in the master sheet to keep track of resources/items.

8. Not involving players in your story.

This game is a collaborative story with a lot of improvisation. Start writing a novel if you want a rigid structure and a path. In D&D, it's about writing a book together where everyone reacts to each other's input, which leads to letting go of the control of your narrative for a chance for a collective one. That's the magic of D&D. If you're new to this, I recommend finding as many avenues to explore your player's backstories and focusing on how their stories enhance your world.

9. Hobby creep - the pursuit of additional D&D hobbies.

I've screwed up on this one...

So whenever you start, you may have a book and some dice, but after a while, D&D tends to entice you into different hobbies that are... great but very time-consuming. Other hobbies that could enhance your games include miniatures, miniature painting, and many other things such as terrain building, world-building, etc.

One of the biggest problems is that if you decide to have multiple hobbies, the preparation for your sessions expands tremendously. If you want to have hand-painted goblins and terrain that would perfectly fit your subsequent encounter, D&D becomes the only hobby you can explore. Knowing what to leave to the "theatre of the mind" is good practice and what makes your D&D sessions great. And most of the time, the story triumphs over the props.

10. Rolling with the punches. 

Congratulations if you have already started DM'ing, but as life, we will make some mistakes as Dungeon Masters and Players. What's important is to have clear communication with your players and ask for feedback after the sessions to improve your sessions and have a pulse on what your players think and feel when playing your campaign. It might be uncomfortable initially, but this ensures a better experience for all in the long run. Sometimes, you will need to swallow your pride, and sometimes, you will need to give some hard feedback to the murder hobo in the group. Still, it's better to strengthen your communication with the players rather than to see your game group slowly detach due to unresolved issues at the table.

Here's an article that might have some value about this topic: 5 Quick Fixes For New DM's

In conclusion, keep an open mind, be willing to adapt, and, most importantly, enjoy the journey. May your sessions be filled with adventures that keep your players eagerly anticipating the next roll of the dice. I hope this helps, and happy DM'ing! Now I’m gonna go and find a cure for overpreparation…

If you're still looking for more tips on how to improve as a new DM, check out these articles:

How To Prepare For Your FIRST D&D Session

How Not To Burn Out Running A Sandbox Campaign

Death Saving Tips To Organize Your Game

P.S. Maybe you made a mistake or witnessed one as a New DM that you are willing to share? Comment down below. Cheers!