Digital Dungeon Master! Learn How to Become a DM for Dungeons and Dragons

After a long and dangerous journey, three heroes stand at the edge of a mountain of fire. Their final task, to destroy a mysterious amulet with the power to summon the vengeful Dragon God Tiamat, is at last about to be accomplished! But suddenly, the mountain starts to rumble! From the lava below an enormous Fire Titan emerges and swings a molten arm at the adventurers! Will their quest end here? Or will our heroes triumph once more save the world for certain destruction!?

Well that's for your players to decide! 

As a Dungeon Master we craft the framework of a story that we then get to share with our friends, the people we are playing Dungeons and Dragons with! But how do we go from a quiet little farm town all the way to a fiery mountain with an epic final battle? 

Over the last several years I have DM'ed countless sessions for my family and friends, as well as more than a year's worth of games right here on Outschool! I've learned some great tools, tips, and tactics for encouraging players to jump into their characters and chart a course through the many trials and adventures we DMs can throw at them. While it might sound intimidating to be a Dungeon Master at first, there are several ways to make your job a little easier and to expand your creativity! 

In our sessions we will build adventures together, design friendly NPCs, villainous Big Bad Evil Guys (BBEGs), draw out maps both large and small, and most importantly, and craft the framework of a story that you can use on your very next adventure with your own D&D group! 

Our group sessions have a four week cycle during which time we will focus on a series of topics to help students create their own adventure. I will demonstrate some free to access digital tools that each learner can use (though not required) and have each student create their own version during our class period. They can of course continue working on it throughout the week between our sessions. 

The Schedule runs as follows:

Week 1 - Week of March 4th - Adventure Outline
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Week 2 - Week of March 11th - Character Creation
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Week 3 - Week of March 18th - Encounter Builder
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Week 4 - Week of March 25th - Map Making

After the fourth session we will start over for the next month and work on creating new and addition adventures, characters, and maps together. The content need not build and can be taken on an individual, per class basis, however if a student wants to build out a continuous campaign then that is perfectly fine! Occasionally we will have a "Week 5" as we roll through the year and these will be used as Freestyle sessions, we may talk about the rules of the game, how to interact with the other players, brainstorm ideas together, talk about world building or the 'Hero's Journey', or whatever other topics and questions our learners have. 

Session Types:
Adventure Outline
     - Brainstorm a Small Adventure or Quest
     - Choose the Setting
     - Decide the Motivation
     - Problem and Clues
     - NPCs, friends and foes
     - "Victory Conditions"
     - Loot, Treasure, and Secrets! 

Character Creation
     - Choose an NPC to design
     - Background and Skills
     - Looks, Design, Color
     - Plot Hooks

Encounter Builder
     - What kind of encounter? Skill, Social, or Combat
     - NPC Objectives
     - Player Objectives
     - Challenges and Obstacles
     - Picking the right NPCs or Monsters
     - "Victory Conditions"
     - Loot, Treasure, and Secrets!

Map Making
     - What kind of map? World, Regional, Local, Combat
     - Design Themes 
     - Tone and Clarity
     - Text, Key, and Labels
     - When to use Maps

I look forward to seeing you soon! If you have any questions about the class please ask away!