im doing a test campaign as a dm any tips

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this is my first time dming anything and i want to be sure my players have much fun

Which system are you using?

Dnd 5E

Assuming that you've read Part 3, Chapters 8 and 9 of the DMG, what specific questions do you have?

Meanwhile, I have a few general suggestions:

• Session Zero: Instead of playing on the first meet-up, you and the players roll up characters (a main and a back-up) and discuss the player's interests and ideas for the campaign.  This can also include discussions of "House Rules" behavioral boundaries (such as sexism and racism) as well as preferred pronouns.  Remember that the game is all about making it fun for the players (even though you are "in charge"), so their input is necessary.  If they are most interested in a "Shoot and Loot" type of campaign, it is wiser to accommodate them than to try to fit them into a "Puzzle Palace" type.  Then, for the next meeting...

• Small Start: Run a single standalone adventure with no more than 3 to 5 players.  This could be a 'prequel' adventure -- "How We All Met" -- that lets the players build their characters' backstories with a little action and maybe some loot involved.  Keep the plot simple, with a simple goal in mind.  (i.e., "Wanted, Dead or Alive", "Raid the Robbers", "Search and Rescue", or even "Keep the Peace" during a local festival.)  Keep the rewards simple, though -- just enough cash to tide them over to the next adventure, a few healing potions (for the cleric), a +1/+1 dagger (for the thief), a +1 buckler (for the Fighter), and a pair of +1 bracers (for the mage).  Maybe one of the players discovers a map where 'X' marks the spot without any indication of what 'X' might be.

• Note-Taking: While all of this is going on, keep notes on how each player acts and reacts.  Then you can tailor and tweak the next adventure (or the entire campaign) around their "modus operandi" -- their methods of operation.

• Channelizing: Don't 'railroad' them; this isn't a linear video game full of tokens and power-ups where the players must follow a single path.  This is an open world, full of choices.  If they "go off the edge" of your carefully-constructed map, just move the edge.

• Above all, make it fun for everybody.


Again, if you have specific questions, I will do my best to answer them.  PM me if needed . . . you never know where your players may be lurking . . .