Running Your First Game: DM Tips

Practical advice for first-time Dungeon Masters: prepping in 20 minutes, running combat smoothly, improvising, and using the DM Screen.

Prep in 20 minutes, not 20 hours

1. Pick a simple hook: missing villagers, a stolen relic, a monster in the woods. One sentence is enough.
2. Prepare 3 scenes: an opening action scene, a middle exploration or social scene, and a boss fight. That's a full session.
3. Pick 4–6 monsters from the DM Screen roster that fit your hook. Note their hit points and one cool ability each.
4. Prepare one twist: the goblins were hired by someone. The "monster" is protecting its babies. Twists make sessions memorable.

Running combat without the slog

• Roll monster initiative in bulk — or let the DM Screen's tracker handle ordering.
• Know whose turn is next and say it out loud: "Mira, you're up — Ben, you're on deck." Keeps everyone ready.
• Monsters act simply: move toward the nearest hero, attack. Save clever tactics for the boss.
• Describe hits and misses. "Your sword glances off its scales" beats "you miss." Kids stay engaged when combat feels like a story.
• End fights early. When one goblin is left at 3 HP, it surrenders or flees. Nobody needs round 9.

Improvising when they go off-script

They will. A kid will befriend the goblin, set the tavern on fire, or interrogate a random farmer for 20 minutes. Your tools:

• "Yes, and…" — accept the idea, add a complication. They befriend the goblin? It knows where the treasure is but it's terrified of its chief.
• Steal from your prep. That boss fight you planned for the cave? It can happen on the road instead. Players never know.
• Ask them questions. "What does the village look like to you?" Kids love inventing details, and it buys you thinking time.
• The 3-clue rule: if they need to find something, plant three hints. They'll miss two.

Using the DM Screen

Open the DM Screen on a tablet or laptop behind your DM screen (a literal cardboard barrier earns you +10 mystique). Randomize encounters when the party wanders, click monsters into the battle tracker, and let it handle initiative order and hit points while you focus on voices and descriptions.

The golden rule

Your job isn't to beat the players — it's to make them feel heroic while keeping the outcome uncertain. Challenge them, cheer for their clever plans, and when the dice tell a great story, get out of the way.