Dungeons & Dragons: How To Help A New DM As A Player

A DM might be new to D&D but still have experience with other systems or similar improv exercises. This means they won't need help on narrative portions but might struggle with certain mechanics.

You can remind them of relevant rules as they appear. Alternatively, you can work together to make a cheat-sheet with the mechanics they need regularly.

A DM with player experience will know most of the fundamental systems of the game but not know the tricks for balancing encounters and designing sessions.

Offer to help them with assembling encounters, navigating a virtual tabletop from the DM screen, or planning out session narratives.

Some rookie DMs are fully capable but need to practice using their skills and prep work.

Suggest a test session with a reduced player count, where they can practice their skills prior to running a full game.

Be a rubber duck they can bounce ideas off. It doesn't feel like helping but makes a big difference.

A DM might have a clear vision of what they want the session to be but not have a full concept of how to keep players within that vision.

Offer to be their inside man in the player group. Ask them beforehand what they want the players to do and then advocate for that in-character.

Most skilled Dungeon Masters are effective at making on-the-spot rules decisions or prepared ahead of time with a session zero that covers any exploits or class combos they are banning pre-emptively. A rookie might forget some of these or not list them ahead of time.

You might need to quickly change your spell list because they forgot to ban Create Food in a survival game.

Sometimes a DM will give a ruling that contradicts the books or errata. They're allowed to do that, and you don't want to undermine them by pointing it out in the middle of play.

A mystery or puzzle might rely on a misconception of how a spell works. The spell works as the DM says it works.

It can be poor form to assume the game follows a specific interpretation. Even if both you and the DM have played previously at the same table, you shouldn't assume they're running the same house rules and optional mechanics that you've both played under before.

Just because you both previously played in a game that allowed criticals on saving throws doesn't mean that rule is still in effect.

Feedback is always important for DMs but one's without experience are going to be more reliant on player testimonies to find what they're doing right and what they can adjust.

Make notes over the course of their session of points they did especially well at. These points where the game flows smoothly are easier to forget in hindsight, since they come across naturally.

A new DM is likely to have their hands more full than usual, meaning players will be reliant on each other for guidance.

You can take a moment to help a player navigate their character sheet while the DM is getting set up.

Most DMs know better than to allow certain combinations of material in character building or gameplay. New DMs haven't yet memorized the entirety of RPG stack exchange and the various rules debates held there.

It is questionably legal to use the Rope Trick spell to clip through floors, ceilings and walls, but nobody is prepared for that in their first time running a game.