Are you a new DM feeling maybe just a little bit overwhelmed by all the rules?
Or perhaps you've DM'd previous editions but are new to 5th edition and want to know
which rules to start learning first?
In this video, I'm going to give you a prioritized list of the most important rules you should
learn first.
Hey, Luke Hart here and I've been a dungeon master since high school, and I create weekly
D&D videos with information and resources to help dungeon masters run awesome games.
Okay, here's the deal.
Reading, memorizing, and then applying all these rules can be intimidating as crap.
So, if you're new to DM'ing or just new to 5th edition, where do you even start?
What I'm going to do is give you a list of the top 10 rules you should focus on learning
first from the 3 core rule books.
And I'm going to put them roughly in order of what I consider to be the most important
to the least.
Now, these will be broad categories of rules, so it will require some reading and whatnot.
And, I should mention that this is my personal take on the topic, mostly based on which rules
I've used the most and have come up most often in my games.
So if you have thoughts about which rules are most important, please let us know.
There's probably important stuff I've left out.
Oh, and as always, remember to stay tuned to the end of the video for a special DM Bonus
Tip!
Now, before I jump into the list, I just want to mention one tiny thing.
A dungeon master should learn and be familiar with the rules.
I mean, I don't know, call me crazy, but it seems to me that if you're going to be running
the game, you should probably have a decent idea of what the rules are.
That's not to say you need to have them all memorized.
And, there are whole segments of rules that almost never come up, so they're not worth
bothering over.
However, a dungeon master should strive to learn enough to run a fun and satisfying game
for their players.
Now, I don't believe that one person can learn and know all the rules – though I'm
sure there are some rare specimens that can.
And I'm certainly not one of them.
Furthermore, the more you run D&D, the more engrained in your brain the rules will become,
too.
So, I wouldn't let a lack of knowledge stop you from running the game.
Just make sure you're doing your best to get up to speed.
Now, I bring this up mostly because I've heard other content creators perpetuate the
belief that a DM DOESN'T need to know the rules.
Sometimes they even almost BOAST about not knowing the rules.
That line of thinking is erroneous.
A DM not having a sufficient understanding of the rules is a big mistake for various
reasons that are probably beyond the scope of this video.
And sufficient is the key descriptor there.
Don't go crazy; know just enough.
Anyway, travel the path of not learning the rules at your own risk.
Okay, now let's jump into our list of rules, shall we?
The first thing a DM should focus on learning are the rules around ability scores and ability
checks.
This is chapter 7 in the player handbook.
The reason this makes number 1 on the list is that ability checks come up ALL THE TIME
in the game.
It doesn't matter if you're in an exploration scene, a social interaction, or combat – you're
going to be using ability checks.
You know, things like Persuasion, and Stealth, and Athletics checks.
As a corollary to that, also check out Using Ability Scores in the Dungeon Master Guide
on page 237.
There it goes more in-depth for the DM and explains the Advantage – Disadvantage system
in 5th edition.
And advantage and disadvantage come up all the time during game play.
Number two is combat, chapter 9 in the player handbook.
Come on folks, this is Dungeons & Dragons, which is basically a wargame where players
control characters instead of armies.
So, yeah, you're more than likely going to use combat rules a whole lot.
Now, I don't want to get into a big debate about D&D being a role-playing game and a
story-telling game…
Because I agree that it is.
You are role-playing a character trained to a large extent in the combat arts.
And through the course of gameplay a story is told that almost always involves combat
of some sort.
And if there's any doubt, let's look at the D&D character sheet.
90% of it contains stats that are really only used during combat.
So, yeah, learning the combat rules is number 2 on our list.
And I totally get that some groups rarely have combat in their games, but I consider
those outliers.
They are few and far between.
Number 3 is learning the equipment rules in chapter 5 of the player handbook.
In particular pay attention to the weapons and armor rules.
The other items don't tend to come up quite so often during gameplay, so you can look
those up when needed.
And number 4 on our list is the Spellcasting rules, chapter 10 in the player handbook.
D&D is a game that heavily features magic, unless of course you plan on running a low-magic
game.
But most of the time, the spellcasting rules come up quite a bit during gameplay – so
best learn them.
Now, please note, this DOESN'T include learning what all the spells do.
Because there are a lot of spells.
I will actually address how I handle learning all the spells in my bonus tip at the end
of the video.
And moving on, folks, we have number 5, character creation rules.
So, this is actually chapters 1 through 4 in the player handbook, so that's a LOT
of stuff.
Now, some people will tell you that it's the players' job to understand how their
own characters work.
And I agree to a certain extent.
However, the DM needs to have a clue in this area.
Why?
Because your players will often ask you for help with their characters.
This might be during character creation or during gameplay, but they'll look to you
for guidance.
And another note, some players are better than others at remembering how things work,
so they might need reminding.
AND, some players have a tendency to "misremember" how their abilities work, making them drastically
more powerful than they actually are.
Unless the DM is there to gently correct them.
Yes, just in case you're wondering, I have certain players that "misremember" their
PC's abilities with great frequency.
As a quick tip, feel free to allow your players to use pre-generated characters if they are
new to 5th edition.
Character creation is the most challenging and confusing parts of the game for new players,
I feel.
Oh, and real quick, I want to give a shoutout to Son of a Sofa Man, one of my patrons over
on Patreon.
Thanks dude for joining with me on this video creation journey!
Number 6 is the introduction to the Monster Manual, which starts on page 4.
Now, I'm not talking about reading all the monster entries – though you will need to
learn about individual monsters you use in your games.
In addition to containing rules we'd expect there – such as monster sizes, types and
hit dice, the introduction contains some VERY important
rules that are not found elsewhere in the rule books.
Even though you'd think they should be.
For instance, rules on blindsight, truesight, and telepathy are squirreled away there.
It almost feels like Wizards of the Coast was trying to hide them from us.
Well, Jeremy, Mike, is that true?
Anyway, since I don't really expect an answer, number 7 is the Creating Adventures rules.
You'll find them in chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master Guide.
In particular, I'd pay attention to the Creating Encounters section on page 81.
If you create your own homebrew adventures, these rules are moderately important.
Of course, if you run modules, then you can pretty much skip this.
And by the way, I'm more and more beginning to LOVE modules for a variety of reasons.
Number 8 is Treasure in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master Guide.
Uh, yeah, so it's D&D.
What the heck is D&D if there isn't sweet sweet loot involved?
So, yeah, take a look at these rules.
Just bare in mind that you'll mostly use them outside of gameplay when you're preparing
your game.
So, you'll usually have plenty of time to reference them.
Number 9 is Creating Nonplayer Characters in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master Guide.
Now, NPCs are actually super super important in D&D.
I just don't know how useful I find the rules in the 5th edition DMG to be.
I mean they help sure, but I don't NEED them to create an awesome memorable NPC for
my players.
So, just because I rank the rules low on the list doesn't mean I think good NPCs aren't
important.
And finally, number 10 is the Running the Game rules in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master
Guide.
There is a lot of useful stuff in there that you'll certainly want to check out.
I think an argument could be made that this section should have been ranked higher on
the list.
However, I feel like these rules are rather broad and lack depth to a certain extent.
But definitely on the list and definitely worth reading and learning.
By the way, if you're finding my videos helpful, feel free to check out my Patreon
page.
Not only do my patrons have the opportunity to join me on my creative endeavors, but they
also get lots of exclusive perks.
Link down below.
Alright!
And now it's time for the DM bonus tip!
Let's talk about learning all the spells, because yeah, that's a lot of stuff.
Instead of reading through them all in detail or especially trying to memorize them,
What I do is just try to remember the main ideas of what the multitude of spells do.
And even then I'm not super successful at it.
See, specifics can be looked up when someone actually casts a spell.
Now what I do to try to get a basic understanding of the spells is just read over a few spells
ever so often when I'm bored or otherwise indisposed.
But the most productive moments of learning spells is when I'm preparing to run an enemy
spellcaster.
Then I read their spells over very carefully and decided which ones I'm most likely to
use in a combat and why.
Finally, spells are really going to stick in your mind when players start casting them
and you need to resolve them at the table.
Look a spell up at the table and resolving it really helps them to stick in your brain
the best.
Now, if you want to learn more about dungeon mastering, I recommend you check out my Dungeon
Mastering 101 playlist here.
As always, if you have any questions about dungeon mastering, please let me know.
I'm always happy to help.
Smash that like button if you found this video helpful, click down here to subscribe, and
click over here to watch another fine video.
And until next time…
Let's play D&D! [weird, high-pitched voice] Let's play D&D.
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