Even as an inexperienced DM one early skill I think is important for a DM to develop (especially if they are running a homebrew campaign of some kind) is to know when to not reinvent the wheel.

I enjoy the creative process that being a DM exposes you to. Coming up with a world, story lines, adventures and all that each entails. They all have their own creative challenges.

However if like me your spare time is a precious commodity that is in short supply. Then how you spend it between sessions preparing is pretty important. You want to get as much done as possible for as little effort.

That’s where knowing when to reinvent the wheel comes in handy.

The first thing I do when I have an idea is research it. For example I had no idea how to run gladiator combat in an arena. I would have been surprised if it hadn’t been done during the 45 odd years of the games history.

My googling turned up a recommendation for an Adventure League module that had the perfect encounter for me to base the encounter I was planning on. All I’ve had to do is work out the changes I need to make to fit in with my campaign. Which is mainly location and characters.

It’s also worth as you read D&D or general RPG material squirrelling away stuff that may be of use in future. Such as those generic lairs that are part of the Lazy DM Workbook. Or as I’ve identified in the D&D Essentials adventures a couple I can repurpose for my campaign. This goes for towns as well. For Mintarn I’m using the map for Alhaster that was created for a Dungeon magazine adventure.

Not everything has to be 100% perfect for you to use it. Even if what you have found is only a 60 or 70 percent fit. That’s still a lot of work you have saved yourself.

Having a folder whether it’s digital or physical of all these snippets is a great resource you can call upon to help stop you reinventing things.

But there will be times when you do need to create from scratch. And being able to tell when that time is, allows you to spend that time productively.