I have been debating trying to run either a 5th Edition D&D game or a Basic Fantasy RPG game, but ive never GM/DM. Any advice? Maybe some resources? Anything would be apreciated

im not very confident TBH, but i want to try and run either a 5th Edition D&D or Basic Fantasy game. Any DM/GM's have some advice for me? I can put together a campaign well, but when i present it it comes out like shit lol. Any advice would be apreciated.

I'm running the Lost Mines of Phandelver for the second time and I can say that the Roll20 module for me was well worth the $20 purchase price.  Bottom line is you just got to do it till you feel comfortable.  DM's are a rare commodity so unless you are deliberately awful you'll be appreciated.  Besides looking for advice here also try the   DnD  and  DnDBehindTheScreen  subreddits,

Everyone starts somewhere. You can do it, especially with the support of friends / players. I recommend take your time, ask questions to the group, and listen long and closely to the player's responses. Let the players guide your imagination a lot.

Death by Dice, I'm putting together a tutorial game together that is using BFRPG system. If you want to chat, drop me a pm and we can schedule a time but be warned that I'm on at a late time.

Pat S. said: Death by Dice, I'm putting together a tutorial game together that is using BFRPG system. If you want to chat, drop me a pm and we can schedule a time but be warned that I'm on at a late time. Pat, is that more of a tutorial for Roll20 and GM'ing that happens to use BFRPG to keep it simple, or is it more of a tutorial about how to play BFRPG specifically? Either way it sounds super-cool but if it is specifically a Basic Fantasy RP Game-teaching tutorial then I would like to join it to and see how you would approach that.  Of course it's a fairly easy game to learn anyway from the Core Rules publication, but if you have a Roll20 setup towards teaching it, I'd be intrigued of your methods.

It is actually both. I was planning on just running through the basics of roll20 with a laid back pace while using a module and teaching the basics of the d20 mechanics so that players will understand how to roll dice, how macros work and possibly build, etc... I really don't have setup specifically for teaching other than relying on my experience. It is also to play test the beta features on the dev to provide feedback and knock the rust off my voice skills. As this is geared to those just entering the hobby and have no or very little experience, you might be bored but it might pick up the pace if everyone gets comfortable with the basics and I do have plans to run more than just one module but have not expanded on what I have planned at the moment.

Death by Dice said: im not very confident TBH, but i want to try and run either a 5th Edition D&D or Basic Fantasy game. Any DM/GM's have some advice for me? I can put together a campaign well, but when i present it it comes out like shit lol. Any advice would be apreciated. Practice and perseverance will see you to victory. Don't expect to be the best DM ever straight away, you learn just as much as the players do and have more pressure on you than they could ever understand. Be flexible and fair, admit mistakes and learn from them. I've been running a 3.5e game for nearly 2 years now and it has evolved in complexity and professionalism a thousand fold in that time. My DM'ing style has also changed dramatically, from over planning and wasting valuable prep time to a much more responsive and improvised style that can only really come with practice. Running one shots is a great way to build up your confidence and improve your presentation style too... most of all, have fun because if you aren't then you are just working hard to entertain others for no gain and that just sucks!

Thank you guys so much for your answers, they are really valuable input, and i think  i will give it a shot. Its funny, basic fantasy is actually the game i want to run. its my favorite game. ive onlly gotten the chance to play once but i loved it. I really apreciate the answers and pat i will take you up on that. thank you (:

*round of applause for Pat S.* Thank you for doing this Pat.  People like you help the community grow and inspire others to try DMing.

If you want to know what end up happening, I was one of the players in his campaign, and the test session went really well. However, everything related to the campaign has now been deleted, (an hour before the first session was gonna start) and a couple of the players have banded up and gone looking for him. Please come back, it was fun :(

Basic advice... 1) Don't play the enemies of the party any more stupid or foolish than their abilities. 2) Weak enemies using things to their advantage become quite dangerous.  Nothing should scare a low level party more than chasing Kobolds in a forest. Every footfall could be a trap, and the kobolds will know where they all are.  So people are at serious risk of dying. 3) Steer the party as little as possible and do it with soft hands. Railroading them is sometimes needed, but rarely. 4) Don't be worried about not having the answer and if someone wants your opinion on a rule get them to do the legwork of getting the rules information first.