[RPG] How to start DMing a new game after the Red Box

Specific issues with WFRP3 as a novice:

1. everyone needs to be close to the dice. Play at a single table is recommended
2. it helps to have the dice symbol meanings page copied and sitting on the table.
3. use the pregen/sample characters for the first session, as character generation is really helped immensely by knowing the value of attributes and skills in play.
4. The core box only supports 3+GM.

Things you can ignore in the first session:

• stance dice - use default stance for the character only.
• magic - it's not needed for starting players.
• Stress from indecision. - It won't help when learning. Especially for actions.

A couple tricks:

• Make and use "I have gone"/"Waiting to go" markers - business card stock or 3x5 cards are fine. It really streamlines the initiative process.
• photocopy the NPC/Monster sheets out before session, for easier reference (and to be able to make notes on them if you want.)
• play the introductory adventure. It slowly teaches the game!

You're new to RPGs and you're looking for the sign that says "New GM Orientation"… but there isn't one. Most of us learn by doing, or by playing with a more experienced GM. There isn't really any beginner's bible. We do have some already-answered questions around here that should give you some context for your experiments, though.

1. Consider if you actually want to GM right away or if you'd rather learn by playing in someone else's game. (Or if you're open to both.) That will affect how you approach the rest of the process.

2. Find a group. You need one of those either way. It can be online or in person, but it's easier to learn the craft of GMing in person, whether learning by doing or learning by playing in someone else's game. You might have to explain what roleplaying is if you're pitching it as a new activity to friends, so reading up on that might be good. There are some good examples of what roleplaying in D&D is like as well.

3. If you're GMing, figure out how to start the actual game. There are a few different ways you can start the game. Eventually you'll learn that how much and what you want to prepare before the first adventure is just a matter of your taste and GMing style, but until then you have to just get started and see how it goes.

This is just a very high-level overview of the process. Follow those links to the detailed sub-steps of each of those, with their own variety of decisions and possible different paths you can take.

From there it's all a matter of growing in skill and techniques through experience. GMing a game has a lot of bits and pieces to it – plot, developing situations, improvisation, acting, crunching math for NPC stats – and it can feel overwhelming. Greg Stolze has written a good walkthrough of the things that a GM does, putting them in context, giving advice, and presenting them in a not-overwhelming way and order, so that the bits all sort of fit together. It's called How to Run Roleplaying Games, and I highly recommend it. It's not the only way to understand GMing, but it's a good summary of the process of GMing in a mere 13 pages, and gives some things to try. It's worth a look.