Is there anything I should avoid to do or be careful as a virgin

>>51402206
Don't sicc two dire wolves on a level one party who has never played the game before.

I would just say that, "no plan survives contact with the enemy." Whatever story you've thought up for your players is going to change at least a little as you play with them, and that's okay.

>>51402255
>a little
Plans will always derail massively, unless your whole group is anxious about doing anything (in other words, new)

Avoid
>making things up on the spot.
Have people, items, plothooks, encounters and places all ready to give at a moments notice, even if everything in between is done on the fly.

>outpacing yourself
Don't give one of your players some stupidly good item because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It's difficult to avoid this initially when you finally run a campaign you're interested in, but stay wary.

>Over/under ruling
A game constrained by the system and the rules is boring but so is one without any semblence of continuity when it comes to when rolls are asked for and when. If a rule doesn't suit your game just throw it out or replace it, but make sure you have at least got rules should you need to refer to them.

>planning out an epic saga and expecting the players to tag along.

As it's the poet's birthday today, it's apt to say the best laid plans o' mice an' men gang aft agley. At one point your players will ask to go east when you want them to go west, and suddenly your entire plot is thrown out the window. If you want players to at least follow some semblence of a plan, make sure you keep them motivated and with direction

>>51402206
You're going to fuck it up no matter what you do, so just do whatever you think is a good idea and then try to understand why it did or didn't work.

Alternatively, play a game with a good GM and you'll figure it all out really quickly.

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>>51402206
Be prepared.

>>51402206
>>51402229
Unless they're being a bunch of asshats then let em fucking have it

>>51402206
Don't start at level 1.

>>51402229
Unless you give them a way to run away, and communicate that not all monsters are meant to be beaten.

Know the system really well, and write down some generic stats for encounters, people, and plot hooks.

I think most importantly, you can't be afraid to say "hey guys, can we stop for 5 minutes?" It IS your first time, and if you need a few minutes to work out an unexpected direction your party took, it's better to take a break than to ad-lib something shitty.

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>>51402206
Don't assume anything about what your players will do. The harder you work on a particular character/story/setting, the harder they will ignore it to chase a dog you briefly mentioned once in the town description.

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Just had a new campaign with a newbie DM.

DON'T change the rules in a significant way and not tell anyone until it's too late to make changes for players. I made a Paladin with a focus on healing (one other player did a healing focused build too) and only in the end of the first game did we get told our healing is basically useless once the character has no HP.

It's alright to change rules to better suit the game, just make sure to COMMUNICATE that with the players.

>>51406017