Hey people. To jump off into some more generalized advice, I feel like there are a lot of mistakes that DMs make, especially when they're less experienced in their first sessions. I know I'm more than guilty of committing some of these mistakes and have come a long way as a game master. I thought I could share my experience in hopes of helping others. Enjoy! :)

Session Length

• Problem
  • One problem I see the most often, especially with new DMs, is the case of the never-ending-session. On one hand, these sessions are wonderful. Having an eight hour session means that your players are likely having a great deal of fun and don't want to stop playing.
  • However, you must understand that your players are relying on you to say stop. Even if they aren't enjoying themselves, most players will sit there for hours until you dismiss the game. Additionally, it's a lot less work being a player in a game than a DM. Long sessions will absolutely wear you down much more quickly than they will your players. But remember, your players aren't in control. You are. If you need to stop, say so. If you've got a good group, they should respect you enough as their DM to thank you and be on their way.
• Solutions
  • Defined Length
    • Go ahead and have an idea of your ideal session length and make sure it works for everyone. I prefer somewhere between 3 and 4 hours. Chris Perkins usually runs a two hour game. Others might like that full day event every weekend. Every DM's perfect session length will be different and you should decide what works for you.
    • That being said, don't look at your session time like a countdown timer until the end. Give yourself some leeway for games to go over or under time. I have sessions that are barely over three hours and then others that have almost broken the five hour mark. The amount of content you have planned per session versus what your players will actually do in the session is going to make times vary. Make the ending time flexible, but still manageable.
  • Breaks
    • If you normally have long sessions, remember to take group breaks. In dnd, nobody likes to miss anything. In fact, your players fear missing gameplay more than most anything. Every few hours, announce a bathroom break. Even if your players aren't showing signs of discomfort, it's likely somebody will need one. If your sessions are all day events, plan for a group lunch break. Have everyone stop to order pizza or take turns picking up take out. If you play remotely, give everyone a solid twenty minutes and set time for reconvening. Remembering that your players have human bodies in need of nutrition will go a long way in keeping up that group morale.

Session Endings

• Problem
  • The way your sessions end has a lot to do with the never-ending-session problem. While not entirely the same issue, they tend to go hand in hand. When your players get on a role, it breaks your DM heart to stop them. And, if you do have a defined session time, your designated ending window can come and go without you even realizing it's happening.
  • Loosing track of time might mean your sessions end poorly. There's nothing worse than ending a session on a bad note. And no, I don't mean bad as in something dark and twisted just happened plot wise. I mean bad as in cutting off your players mid role-play or stopping in the middle of some inconsequential battle with a ghoul. Or, worse, having your players stop engaging because they're all so tired. I'm talking about those endings where your players don't really care about coming back next week. When your session ends with a generalized, "Meh," you've already failed.
• Solution
  • Do your best to recognize good stopping points for your sessions. When they pop up towards the end of a session, grab them. That's why you have a window of time to work with and not some predetermined finite stop. Unfortunately, ending your session well is a practice that only gets better with time. But I would definitely recommend keeping your eye out for such opportunities from session 1. If one such opportunity pops up at the end of your time together, use it.
  • Here are some good ways to end your sessions:
    • Cliff hangers. This one might seem a little obvious, but putting players on edge until next week is a great way to keep them coming back. Picture it like the ending of a television show episode. Did something dramatic just happen and the results are reasonable enough to be put off until next week? End the session there. And remember, not all cliff hangers have to be some huge plot changing event. They can be small reveals that happen to leave an impact on your players. The intrigue is what matters, not the actual cliff hanger.
    • NPC Introduction. Striking NPC introductions are great and memorable ways to end sessions, especially if you give the NPC some quote or flair. "You open the door to a darkened, dirty room. The light from the hall illuminates a single bed and no other furnishing. A petite, humanoid figure is curled on the floor in the center of the room. She wears no more than a cotton shift and her hair is a nest of tangles and grime. When she spots you all standing in the doorframe, the girl perks up. "Has someone come to play with Little Kitty?" she says. And that is where we'll end the session!"
    • Plans in Place. Is your party trying to figure out where to go next? Are they laying out their plans for breaking into Castle Ravenloft? Are they trying to steal some random NPC's fancy hat for no reason at all? Let them lay out their plans. And then make them wait to enact those plans until next session. It gives them something to be pumped for and also gives the following session a good running start.
    • Turning Points in Battle. Fighting in dnd takes time. We all know that. Sometimes, big battles can just get out of hand and go on for a ripe long while, eating into the end of a session. Look for interesting turning points in the middle of battle to use as stopping points. Maybe an enemy reveals its true form. Maybe your players finally take down the first of the three vampire spawn they're up against and they feel the tides turning in their favor. Those are great, mid-battle, stopping points.
    • Chapter Finishes. These, metaphorically speaking, tend to feel like landings in the middle of staircases to me. A lot just happened to the players and there's obviously a lot more coming their way and they can see that. But, they just so happen to find this nice resting point to catch their breath. Great. End the session there. A good example of this is in the Death House when the players find the staircase to the basement. They've just finished the enitre house, but they also know they're about to go down into the thick of it. They take a deep breath and stop.

Engaging All Players

• Problem
  • This happens to the best of us. You might have a player that's more assertive than the others. You might have a plot arc that focuses on a couple PCs rather than the party as a whole. And that's fine for the most part. But if it crosses a line and starts making some players feel left out or, worse, like sidekicks, you've got yourself a problem.
• Solution
  • Every so often, make sure and cycle through your players to give everybody the chance to engage.
  • In Group
    • In group discussions and/or role-plays, make sure to keep an eye on all your players. If there's someone who's not talking much, or seems unable to get a word in, politely direct a question specifically to them. A little, "And Andrew, what does your character think about that?" can go a long way.
  • In Plot
    • If you've got a plot line or session that tends to focus on one or two PCs more than the others, make sure to give that same amount of attention to the others later in the campaign. I actually have whole chapters in CoS dedicated to certain players, so that everyone gets a chance to feel like a main character and focus on their backstory. It also helps build the group trust in the mindset that, "You were there for me during my hard time, so I'll definitely be there for you during your own personal battles."
  • In Combat
    • Combat has turn order, so this should be a no brainer. But what if you have a split party? One group is doing battle and another is in the middle of a role play? What if there are two battles? Whatever you do, don't completely abandon one group for another. If someone is in battle, do two or three rounds of combat and then switch to the other group. Let them have some chat time and then switch back. But never leave anyone sitting there alone for too long.

Plan for NPCs, Not Plot

• Problem
  • One thing I am very guilty of is trying to plan for the plot too much. I've sat down and tried to map out every butterfly effect I could possibly think of to ready myself for my players' shenanigans. Let me tell you, that just doesn't work. This shouldn't be new information, but I'll tell you that your players will surprise you. They'll do the unexpected and go against all those different scenarios you planned for.
• Solution
  • Firstly, go ahead and plan the plot, but don't obsess over it. Get yourself a general outline and some notes for each session so you've got a baseline to work with.
  • Secondly, figure out your NPCs. I'll say it again, in all caps. FIGURE OUT YOUR NPCS. Your players can break the plot all they want, but the other characters in the campaign will still have their own personalities. The NPCs will always react to whatever your players do and understanding those reactions is an absolute must for building a living, breathing, believable world. Instead of pouring all your time into understanding possible causes and effects, make sure you know your NPCs. It's a far better way to prepare.

Own Your Narrative Mistakes

• Problem
  • DMing is hard. There's a lot of information to keep track of for any given session and you're bound to mess up. That's not the problem. The problem comes when you admit you messed up to your players. I've seen this happen more than once, where the DM gets so excited hanging with their players that they admit to a major improv moment they made during the session.
  • While on the surface this shouldn't be a big deal and your players will laugh with you about it, it unfortunately breaks immersion and, on a subconscious level, also breaks your players' trust in you. They won't be able to help but question how much you actually plan for in a session; how much is happening behind the screen that they can't exactly trust. A good player won't ever hold it against you, but unintentionally sowing the seeds of doubt is never a good a thing.
• Solution
  • Correct yourself the moment it happens. If you say the wrong thing and immediately know it, it's totally fine to stop and say, "Oh whoops! I mean followers, not cultists. Fiona doesn't call them cultists. My bad."
  • However, if you don't catch your mistake until later, even until right after the session has ended, don't you dare admit it. Your players have already taken that mistake and filed it away in their notes as "true." Forcing them to backtrack and correct their notes, physical or mental, is never a good idea. Months later when that plot arc is long done and over, fine. Have some fun and joke about the mess up with your players. But while that arc is relevant, keep your mistakes and improvisations to yourself.
    • There was one session where I accidentally mixed up the names of the Burgomistresses of Kresk and Vallaki, calling Vargas' wife Anna instead of Lydia. I only realized my mistake hours after the session ended. I've played this campaign with the two switched names ever since. This mistake seems so minor, but at this point it's canon to my players. And I don't want to break anything.Xp
    • If you've watched series like Critical Role or Dice Camera Action, think about it. How often do the DMs actually talk about things out of session or majorly backtrack? They must make mistakes. We all do. But they quietly don't mention them and roll with those mistakes, thus building additional trust from their players and confidence in their own abilities.

Down Sessions are Fine

Instead of a problem and solution, this is just more of a general note. Remember than not every session of dnd has to be filled with excitement and climatic plot events. It's perfectly okay to have a more relaxing session where your players just travel across the land, have a minor encounter with some wolves and then role play themselves into pieces. Sessions like that build PC relationships and give a break from all the drama.

Confidence is Everything

And, as a final bit of advice, I'd like to remind you all to be confident in your DMing. It doesn't matter if you know nothing about farming. If you're role playing a farmer, just spout some babble about dirt and crops and own it. Your players don't expect you to be experts on everything, but if you question your own abilities, they'll be able to sense it. Having confidence in your roles goes a looooonnnngggg way.

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That's a wrap. In general, those are the errors I see the most often amongst new DMs. Most of the DMing questions I get take their root in these problems as well. So maybe having a post about them will help you guys. :)

- Mandy