I usually just copy paste historical (flawed) stuff I find interesting.

While I like goofing around with stuff like “modeling functioning government”, I believe it distracts from the PC’s stories (and leads to ideological discussions at the table.)

In particular I really like the episodes that deal with interacting with other civilizations, diplomacy, and exploration more-so than say, an anomaly episode.

In light of this, and since you were able to work through the not-so-stellar episodes of ST, I’d strongly argue that Babylon 5 should be your next stop.

It has a slow start, some more mixed episodes, dated special effects and both main characters (they switched after season 1) are plain “heroic American leader” types, but virtually everything else is top tier even today. An excellent political plot, humor, great characters with genuine growth.

Just be aware that it is different from DS9 (personally, I like both).

Battlestar Galactica (the new one) and The Expanse are probably worth pointing out, too. To me, they’re the best high-production-value sci-fi shows that didn’t sacrifice their plot. Nevertheless, both are far more grim than the shows you’ve mentioned and overall “feel” different.

It’s the quiet part that’s (usually) not said aloud.

Just take a look at the statistics of how i.e. criminal law is applied much more aggressively to conservative out-groups (PoC, poor, etc.) than conservative in-groups (white, wealthy, etc.). Then have a look at who is proposing politics intended to fix that imbalance an who’s talking about “taking a hard(er) stance on crime”.

Another, rather specific example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8769269/Former-abortion-clinic-worker-recalls-pro-life-women-justify-procedures.html

Once you look our for the pattern, you’ll see it everywhere.

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Option 1: Take the plunge as a DM, announce before hand that you’re new at this. Everyone who thinks they can do better is free to give it a try.

Option 2: Local Game Store.

Option 3: reddit /r/lfg. Google how to turn a search into an RSS stream, set up a search, be ready to jump into worthwhile-seeming posts quickly. Be ready to go through a few bad/mediocre groups until you find something that clicks.

I literally ran this for my group just now.

Background was a cave system with very limited resources (previously few dead bodies to spare) and the Lich was both rather low on the power scale and Artificer-themed (so no "just spellcasting the party to death) and a Kobold.

So he fought/thought more like an engineer, not a powerful necromancer.

Highlights included:

• Lair filled with Carbon Monoxide (I let the party notice symptoms and retreat, it was more of an area dental tool than a trap)

• freezing the flooded exit tunnel so the party had to tunnel through ice, making them vulnerable to an ambush

• installing an artifact that would flash-freeze said flooded tunnel with the party inside

• a “main entry” labyrinth to the lair that was rigged to collapse

• a side entry with a hidden, massive door that tried to crush the party and did manage to separate them

• one-time sigils that would create a zone of Web, Darkness and, again, flash-freeze the intruders (and the undead defenders delaying them)

• a remote body with his true body walled off in a tunnel behind the wall it can escape even if it loses

• a few, highly upgraded undead

A smart player will try to keep the owl out of LoS during most of the round, so sacrificing action + reaction for “I attack it once it comes out of cover” is the best most NPCs can do.

Fly-By helps against opportunity attacks, but not against readied attacks.

Which, to me, is fair, because readying attacks requires the foe to sacrifice their main action and reaction.

When I DM, I always keep the idea in my back pocket that an enemy that has been distracted by a familiar too often will ready an attack to get rid of it the next time it is in range.

It’ll still eat their action, might miss, and I telegraph it sufficiently that an attentive player might adapt their familiar’s behavior, but it’s a thing that can mix up combat and keeps players on their toes.

I don’t know about you, but to me, the fact that he showed genuine humility and willingness to step beyond his initial chauvinism (after some hands-on lessons about fighting women) had a lot more to do with that than his charm.