Hang out here for a couple weeks. You'll pick it up quick.

But in all seriousness there's no easy way to do it. Be patient, know your own style. Buy or steal a book off the internet then sit down and read it. Make sure you know the rules backwards and forwards. Get inspired by reading related fiction. Write down your ideas, and create a world, not just a series of encounters.

Start with a small group of people you know well. Don't stress yourself out by trying to do something big or with people you don't really know.

Run a premade module your first time, just to get the hang of it.

I've never DM'd, but the couple I have, have been pretty good.

I like to think about it as if you were making a video game, but removing all of the restrictions a video game can provide. ( Aside from things that HAVE to be in like levels, skill checks, etc.etc.etc.)

If there is something they need to stop, or something they need to do, or choices they make, remember to make it change the world they are in.

I.E. They show up in the same town several times and something bad always happens those nights ( PC is evil and murders people, or is a thief and steals). Tell them they are being watched like hawks or flat out denied entry to the town deemed "trouble makers".

Participating in and watching (at least before you think to start one of your own) Quest threads to see how to roll with essentially random input. If you see something another poster in /tg/ has said that sounds like a cool or interesting idea to expound upon, do some impromptu writefagging (cunts are generally pretty good about this sort of thing unless it's REALLY shitty, and even then, fuck 'em).
I've found that in this sense, /tg/ can be useful for building up your storytelling skills, and some of /tg/'s posters are WAY worse worse than any roleplayer I've ever met in real life, so at least you're prepared for the worst.
I don't know if that's what /tg/ is for (and I don't really care), but it should be. So, do that.

It's good...isn't it......

Encourage a relaxed atmosphere. Snacks help. Remember, roleplaying is a game and method of socialization, if your not having fun then your not doing it right. Think of it like a cross between improvisational theater and group storytelling. Rules are just a form of structure designed to encourage creative thinking by presenting obstacles. Do what is fun. Have a good time. This is the most important thing.

Second, be prepared. If your not prepared, be ready to bullshit. Try talking to yourself in the mirror a bit before hand, having conversations with yourself as though you were an important NPC or something to help with that aspect.

Never say no. Just say "yes but" or "yes and". remember, you want to encourage creativity, not stifle it.

Do your best to incorporate the characters into the setting and story. Encourage them to go find their own adventures and chose goals that they, as players, actually want to do. This is easier if you have good players, but the important thing to remember is that your players are going to have more fun doing something they want to be doing than just charging headlong into the next dungeon. Not that they don't enjoy dungeons, just that they should have a good reason to do so. Bonus points if each party member is doing it for seperate, contradictory reasons.

In my experience it helps to use accents too. Funny accents and overly dramatic gestures bring NPCs and monsters to life, they make the encounter memorable.

Part of the reason I want advice is because my first DM for D&D (my first tgRPG ever) had a highly railroady game, with nigh-unkillable DM NPCs, special magics that don't follow the rules for these DM NPCs, magic items that he just handed out because we were about to enter a dungeon with incorporeal creatures in it and because some of our stats weren't broken, HOMEBREW RADIATION AND HEALING MAGIC THAT HEALED PERCENTAGES THAT HE GAVE TO THE BARBARIAN, and other bullshit. Probably the only part of it that I liked was playing peekaboo with a dragon and a storehouse at level 3.

I want to capture the wonder of the last part, without the bullshit of the first.

>>6516213
This man speaks truth. Let me tell you as a DM, when I did my first campaign in nWoD, I hadn't accounted for so much shit. I didn't think to tell why the party was tied up in a prison cell, or anything. I had never even witnessed a game played before, so I was thinking like a video game, I ended up railroading the party without realizing it and I hated it.

I'll help ya the best I can though.
First, you'll need to foresee EVERY POSSIBLE action the party will want to do. Or even better, get really good at making shit up on the go. This will be the best thing you will learn, because the players WILL think of some shit you hadn't planned for, and you WILL have a moment of "Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......" as you think shit up, and that looks bad.

When they say avoid raildroading, the best thing to do is to have a general endgame for the players and start them and just ask, "So what do you want to do now?" and roll with it. Don't limit them, if they say "I want to find somewhere to get fucked up," think of something, don't say "No, you can't do that, stay on track,", the best thing is if they are facing immediate peril, just hint at "Are you sure? The army's on it's way now, and not leaving soon could be disastrous," or whatever the situation is. And if they still want to do something silly, roll with it, some of the most epic win moments of my existence happened in situations of "Are you sure? The man just said his backup was coming," and through impossible odds and quick wit, the party escaped with a story to tell.

When you're up to planning your sessions, have a vague idea of several different ways each 'encounter' could go down (not just combat encounters, but it helps to think of any situation that the pc's have to interact with something in this sense).
Always consider the most asanine, juvenile and psychotic responses to each encounter also. The pc's are meeting the king to discuss a treaty with some foreign land. It's not reasonable to expect that your pc's might just decide to off the cunt for shits and giggles, but sometimes players are unreasonable like that, and you're going to look silly if you're caught with your pants down because there are no contingencies/nearby guards/wizard viziers ready to rain hell on the would be assassins and get that king out of there.
By the same token, if your pc's *really* want to kill him, and they come up with a way of doing it in a scenario where the king is aware that some people want him dead and has taken all necessary means to protect himself, then go with it. Just don't let it happen because you weren't prepared for your players to snap and kill someone important.

Lots of good advice thus far in this thread.

>>6516369

Also, don't be affraid to elaborate things, for shits and giggles I read the "Dungeon masters for dummies book" at my local barns and nobles, and it actually gave examples like instead of saying "You do 3 damage to the dog," try something like "You hit the dog hard, it reals for a moment and howls in pain," or instead of "You enter a room, there is a table and a door here," try "The air in this room is thick with the smell of moss and mold, the stone walls are dimly lit with the light of a single torch in here, there is a finely crafted table with eating utensils. There is an ogre on the far side of the room growling at your intrusion in front of a solid oak door," It can be really freakin tough sometimes to have that awesome of descriptions for everything you do, but it REALLY makes a difference, it immerses your party into the game, and they're more likely to stay in character that way.

Try to avoid larger parties for your first game, I did a group of 6 guys, and I failed miserably to describe all the rooms they were in, but when I did a game with only 2 people, I was able to keep shit flowing nicely, and they loved it. And on a side note of narration, narrate EVERYTHING, if they say, "I want to pick up the chair and throw it at him to distract him," after the "Roll to see if you hit," describe HOW it hit him, not "You hit him for 2 damage and distract him," but instead "With grace and finese you glide to the table and lift a chair while moving toward the orc, in a fluid movement you toss the chair across the room and hit the orc, breaking the chair into pieces, the orc recoils and glares at you, it roars threateningly while staring you down,"

Just remember your role as a DM, you are the narrator. Think of the game as the novel, you are the print in the book, and the players are what make it happen.

I'm going to post a story on what NOT to do.
I did not do this.
This was, hopefully, never actually done.

Back when my D&D group was just getting off the ground, there were talks of a fellow who we will call jeff to protect his identity. Jeff kept getting invited to the games, but never showed. I found out that he does a lot for his church, so I couldn't find the time.

I was not amused. Why should he have to run off and pretend god instead of having fun with a few people who needed him?

When he first finally showed up, he rolled a cleric (OH GEE, I WONDER WHY?) of pelor. My players know me as a DM that throws a lot of odd hooks into the plot and plans ahead a multitude of different plot branches. I already had a big set of adventures ready, but decided to change plans at the last minute for a special plan.

>>6516386

In the first game, he attempts to use Divine strike. I tell him "nothing happens". He asks why not and I tell him that pelor works in mysterious ways. When he pressed for more information I reply "Your character doesn't know".

Throughout the game, I don't record damage for his divine attacks and manage to hide the fact that he is contributing nothing. He knows his heals don't work, but that is the full extent of his knowledge.

At one point, he blows his daily and it hits a creature that the party knows can only have around 6 HP left. The monster lives. Jeff absolutely FUMES. He asks why it didn't do anything and I reply "You can't prove it did nothing". He goes on about how a 18 should hit the monster and I remain a stony visage.

>>6516388

He starts ranting an raving about why I won't let him do anything and I tell him that he has done a lot in the story. He then says that his prayers aren't working. I reply "You can't simply test pelor. You must be patient and your prayers will be rewarded in unexpected ways".

He blows up pretty badly, causing everybody on the table to give him an odd look. I start trembling and say "Please jeff, calm down". He is still royally pissed. I told him that being a cleric wasn't a waste because his character learned quality moral values He says "My character has values whether he's a cleric or not!" I ask him if praying did not have any effect on his characters morales or made him a better person and he flips out even more. He demands to see my notes and reaches over the DM screen, knocking it over.

>>6516393
I thought fast and had a beautifully terrible idea. Behind the screen, I knocked my beverage into my own lap. I put on a look of pained embarrassment and emotional vulnerability, gazing iinto my lap and upon Jeff in horror. I ran out of the house to sulk and waited a couple minutes. Some of the players came out to see me and asked me how I was. They said they were sorry I was treated that way and invited me back inside, promising they wouldn't let Jeff yell at me again.

I walk up to my coke-soaked DM notes that were planted for such a reveal. I handed these notes over to Jeff and informed him in a submissive voice "I really worked hard on this hook. I thought you would really enjoy it". I included fake damage logs of all the past encounters that falsified how much damage he truly dealt and had some notes about monsters with a bonus defense against divine powers.

>>6516395
One of the players suggested that today was a rough day and everybody might benefit from a rest and a fresh start next session. Everybody leaves, not sparing Jeff from several "douchebag of the century" looks.

When everybody was gone, I took a moment to reflect. This scheme had taken me three weeks to prepare, conditioning Jeff for his final stand, but it could not have gone more perfectly up to now.

The next saturday I meet at my FLGS where three of my players were doing another game. They all apologized again and said they would not play with him again. These players are in so many of the games at this store that it was practically a house ban, and Jeff had come to this store before.

I put on my troll face and joined their now faithfag-free game.

>>6516386
>>6516388
>>6516393
>>6516395
>>6516403

Again, AVOID BEING A PRICK LIKE THIS.

Don't let your emotions or preferences get in the way of making fun for others... or having fun.

>>6516181
I think the main thing is just to be really interested in the world you made. Since bringing it to life is the thing that makes everything else work, it's really vital. Maybe there are other ways to do it, but for me, it means making games in a setting I've been thinking about and writing about already, in fan fictions. I've made two games so far my brother and his friends. One was a mix of Twilight and Kingdom Hearts, and another was based on Coraline. I'm really interested in both settings, but my brother and his friends hate them. So, if I had told them in advance they were playing Twilight werewolfs that would get drawn into the KH world, they would have just stared in disbelief. But I drew them into it slowly, and they really liked it.

Oh, and a little thing I found that helps, it may seem silly, but really get in character when you play. If the players see you really get into it, it lets them know it's ok to get in character and they will do the same. This can be done by changing your tone based on the situation, if you have a monotone, the game will be boring, but if the party is creeping and you talk in a low... tone... and veeeeery.... slowly... it will engage them, and then when shit gets real you yell and talk loudly, you get up and explain things quickly, then even quicker put the players on the spot to make a very quick decision, it will get real very quickly.

Hell, when your NPC's are talking, instead of "The bard says he's seen someone nearby," look at the player who asked and in a different voice, talk like the bard and address the player individually, "Why yes young fighter, I have seen a hooded bald man, he came through the other day and left quickly, he seemed to be looking for something," in a deep manly voice. Little shit like this will make your game SOOO much fun for everyone.

Read this. Written for Dark Heresy, but much of what's said there applies to GMing in general.

>>6516378
Good stuff man. As a side note, you are the sensory conduit between your world and the players. Sight is the most important sense, and that's often the only one dm's go with when describing a place, but things like distant sounds of dripping in the cavern, the sickly sweet smell of fungus and mildew and the slippery feel of it in the rocks as your hands find purchase add immeasurably to immersion. Don't go overboard, obviously, these are bytes of information that stimulate the imagination and encourage immersion and too much of it will slow things down and actually bore players.
Peripheral descriptions of non mechanical things are the garnish that bring a location or encounter to life.

>>6516386
That copy pasta was mildly amusing, very dickish by the end. Hopefully it is a joke.

>>6516386
>>6516388
>>6516393
>>6516395
>>6516403
Oh my God. That was painful to read. I had to keep telling myself it had never actually happened

Always be open to the possibility that being a DM/GM/Storyteller/Whatever the fuck they're calling it this month may just not be for you. You might just not find the hoops a GM has to jump through and the extra work to be fun, or be at least outweighed by the fun of hosting. Should this be the case please, please, PLEASE, for your sake, don't be a GM. Some people decide that they're willing to shoulder the burden of the host as no one else wants to, and what usually happens is a few sessions in they get tired of all the "work" and quit. It's much better in the long run to be honest with yourself, even if you decide to be a GM then with what parts you genuinely like and don't like. If you aren't having fun and you aren't into it then there's no way your players are going to be for any length of time.

With all that said though if you find a good group of guys to play with who are understanding, and you do your best to understand what they want out of the game, you'll do awesome. You might commit a few faux pas here and there, but you don't have to be perfect. It can get easy to forget that in order for everyone to have fun, you really don't need to come up with super amazing intricate plots, surprising twists, kick ass npcs, amazing battles, or anything like that. At the end of the day you're just having some fun with your friends.

I don't know how much the above will apply to you or anyone else on here, but when I first started I was worried about being a good DM to the point that it stopped me from being a good DM. At a certain point you have to just breathe out, relax, and allow yourself to have fun.

One thing I find that helps me is not planning out what you want to happen. Don't have a series of events that you want to take place, don't have a conclusion for your story that you want your players to get to. Instead, have locations prepared with versatile shit in them that the events can take advantage of. if it's a modern game, have a few generic offices and stores ready, so if you ever end up needing one it looks like everything is JUST AS PLANNED to your players.

This connects to part 2, NPCs. Don't have things you want your NPCs to do, have motives. Have your NPCs desire things, and then make sure that whatever actions they take with your players are furthering their motives. That way all of the shit they do to the players seems like it's what you _wanted_ to happen, even though your are pulling shit out of your ass. I hardly ever go into a session with the plot ready, I just have character sheets for the NPCs and I have maps, and it usually works out very well, but I'm pretty good at spinning bullshit, so YMMV.

>>6516521
Yeah, I've heard this called 'quantum preparedness', leaving some variables up in the air so that whatever the pc's do, it looks like that's what you had planned. A timeless example of this is that the pc's arive just as the BBEG is finishing the spell that unleashes hell on earth... whenever they arrive.
If your players are traversing a dungeon to reach the BBEG in time, the number of rooms the dungeon has is enough to delay them until it's almost too late, but not quite. If they finding it slow going, the dungeon has less rooms than initially planned, if they're blazing ahead, more. You just have extra rooms planned that can be discarded. Another example is schrodinger's hitpoints. If it would be epic for the monster to die from a player's awesome plan of attack when that specific attack would have left it on one or two hitpoints, just have it die (or, alternatively, have it act like it's ACTUALLY on it's last legs rather than "Haha, close but no cigar. FULL ATTACK ON YOUR PRONE FORM"). You get the idea.

Two caveats.
NEVER EVER EVER tell your players that you are doing this. Ever. Cannot be stressed enough. If the players are aware that you are fudging they will feel a lessened sense of danger and a diminished sense of achievement in victory, which is bad news.
Secondly, do not use this too often or they may well figure it out on their own.

Runaway bride subplots are great.

In one campaign I was playing, we could swap out and host sessions to give the regular GM a break. I decided to include a character I've used for some of my stories to help with the PC's problem and get them acclimated in their environment. But once the introductions and brief help was concluded, she had other things to do. They had their mission to take care of. Of course they ran into her in certain parts as they progressed but it was very much "their" story with a guest star.
Was she able to be a bad ass? Hell yeah. The players saw it, but it didn't need to be jammed down their throats every three seconds.

On the other hand, another player decided to take that same character and run an adventure where our PCs run into her again. She was played perfectly, yet This time there was absolutely no question- we were along for the ride. No choices were made, no spotlight was really given to the players. We just killed crap and helped her get to the end boss.

Point is: if you're gonna introduce allies, have them help the players a bit and keep em busy. Maybe they can hold up a gear with super strength but everything else to disengage the trap is up to them. It's their show.

Make your wants and house rules quite clear from the beginning. If you need to change them for whatever reason, allow players that use those rules to adjust their characters accordingly without punishment.

When I say "wants", express your themes and what kind of loose outline you'd like players to follow, like not making lone wolves or amoral jerkwads who go shopping when other players are completing the mission at hand with a huge handicap. If they really wanna try making "the grizzled and untrusting merc", let them even if it goes against your line, but make it clear you'd like the character to grow (and you give enough reasons for the players to do so) away from that. Don't be afraid to call them out or say the character just isn't working out with the style you were hoping for.