ZapGM Tutorial: Run Your First D&D Game, Step by Step

Want to be the Game Master for your friends but have never run a game? The ZapGM Tutorial walks you from zero to your first battle, one small step at a time. You tell the story; ZapGM helps you prepare the world, keep your notes, share the game with your players, and run the fights.

How new are you?

Pick the level that fits you and the tutorial adjusts how much it explains:

Brand new: you have never played D&D. The tutorial starts with how the game works and explains every step.
Played, never run a game: you know the rules as a player. The tutorial skips the basics and focuses on running the table.
Run a few games, new to ZapGM: you know how to run a game. The tutorial sticks to how ZapGM does each part.

The steps

Learn how D&D works (brand new players only). What the Game Master does, what the players do, the d20 check, and how a session moves between exploration, conversation and combat.
Set up your campaign. Pick Dungeons & Dragons 5e or Pathfinder 2e (both free to use in ZapGM with the open rules, SRD), then give your world a name and a one line idea. Zap, the ZapGM assistant, brainstorms the setting with you in the Forge.
Build your lore. Make at least one Plot, one Setting, one NPC, one Adversary and one Player Character card, with AI help or by hand. A player can make their own character later.
Plan an encounter. Ask Zap to turn your cards into an encounter: a short list of scenes you can edit, then narrate to your players one at a time.
Learn how to run a session. Read the walkthrough of a game night in ZapGM, from sharing your game with players to narration and dice.
Broadcast a session. Send pictures, lore cards, the battle map and narration to your players' screens.
Run a battle. Start combat on a battle map with initiative tracking, tokens, fog of war and dynamic lighting.

No sign-up to start

Choose your level, read the basics, pick a system and fill in your campaign without an account. ZapGM only asks you to create a free account when you press Forge World, and everything you typed carries over.

Help when you are stuck

Ask Zap is built into the tutorial and answers questions about using ZapGM. Members also get Rules Questions, which answers rules questions from the open D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e rules.

Who this is for

The tutorial is for people who want to run a tabletop RPG for a group of friends, online or at the table. You are the Game Master; ZapGM is the toolkit that helps you prepare and run the game.