There’s no shortage of advice for new Dungeon Masters. Most of it is fine. Some of it even works. But a lot of what actually matters never shows up in the books. These are the things I learned the hard way. The stuff that actually changed how I run games.
Not every fight needs to end in death.
The best encounters I have run were not about dealing the most damage. They were about buying time. Breaking a ritual. Escaping the scene. Surviving. Fighting with a goal changes everything. Players start thinking creatively. They stop counting damage and start solving problems. A good objective turns a fight into a story.
Read weird things. Steal it all.
You do not get better by consuming more RPG content. You get better by pulling ideas from outside of it. Read pulp novels and folklore. Watch bad sci-fi and old horror films. Scroll through metal album covers and weird art blogs. Your brain needs off the hook fuel. The best sessions come from mixing strange ingredients and throwing them at your players to see what sticks.
Avoid the DM tool trap.
There is an entire market built around selling DMs stuff they do not need. It is the golf industry all over again. Selling expensive gear to people who think a better driver will fix their swing. It will not. Experience is the only thing that levels you up. Run games. Make mistakes.That is how you get good. Just like the characters in your world, you earn experience.
Learn from other DMs. Do not try to be them.
Watch how other DMs run their tables. Use their good ideas. Drop the rest. Never fall into the trap of thinking you have to run like they do. Their voice is not your voice. Their timing is not your timing. Your presentation will become the style your table remembers. Let it happen. Find your own rhythm.
You will get better. Not by buying. Not by waiting for it to feel perfect. You will get better by running the game.
