Help Needed

makonendrak

Channel: dungeons-n-drags

Okay, so I've played a bit of D&D before, and a couple of friends are interested in giving it a try but I've lost contact with my old DM. I rather foolishly said I'd DM it if they wanted and I've honestly no idea how to do it. I've got a bunch of 3.5 rulebooks handy which I'm reading through, but I'd really appreciate some pointers

Views:	2883
Favorited:	1
Submitted:	04/02/2015

Share On Facebook

+Favorite Subscribe to makonendrak Subscribe to dungeons-n-drags

Comments(11):

Leave a comment Refresh Comments Show GIFs

Anonymous comments allowed.

11 comments displayed.

#1 - inertgas (04/02/2015) [-]

Keep things simple to start. Its tempting to start higher level, but for new DMs and players, I'd recommend struggle busing it at Level 1. Also, for a first session, it seems cliche, but do something super generic so everyone can get their feet underneath them. One of the ways I introduced a few folks to DnD their first time was having them meet a tavern keeper who promised the five of them 25 gold for clearing his basement of rats. Make sure to keep in mind your more social classes, and give them a chance to put that high Charisma and Diplomacy to good use. Not everyone will be a murder machine.

Also, make sure that you keep the CL (Creature Levels) appropriate for the fights and always keep in mind when designing an encounter what kind of party you have. I don't know about other DMs, but I like to design them to be hard enough so that its challenging, but not so hard that someone goes down every single time. Now, its nice to vary that, as some fights should be easier than others.

Making sure to populate your world with NPCs that don't give quests is fun too. Taverns are only the tip of the iceberg as far as interesting places go in a town. The Town Hall, Brothels, General Goods Stores, Black Smiths, Churches/Chapels/Shrines, ect. Not everyone needs to be important, or give some sort of quest. Sometimes, the funniest and most memorable moments are with the Jenkins' family, who own an Apple Orchard.

I usually make it a point to also be really involved in the character creation process (by this, I mean just watching and answering questions and helping where I can. Never tell them what to do.), because it can be so overwhelming at times. Knowing how classes work on a basic level is a good thing. Another good point is to limit them to the books that you own. I was in a game once a year or so back that allowed us to use everything in the SRD and I swear to you, we spent half the time in combat checking people's ridiculous-ass abilities. If you can, keep it core. For the first few levels, as well, I'd recommend that you be present for the entirety of the level up process, so that you can offer insight.

Make it a good point to enforce the rules diligently where appropriate. Don't let the paladin become Chaotic Stupid and keep his magic, enforce fall damage, make an unreal place feel as real as the backyard. But that doesn't mean that you should 'rules lawyer' it up, and keep fun and fantastic things from happening in your game. Sometimes, the most ridiculous hair brained ideas turn into the best stories. And I'd recommend encouraging them to roleplay their characters at critical points, encouraging party conflicts, and the such as a chance to stretch out the imagination and let the character's grow fluidly. Its awesome when you get a group together that's really invested in the story and their character and everyone else's.

And if you don't have your BBEG in mind yet, or know where the apex of their story lies, just give them small quests that slowly scale. Give them a plethora, with different factions asking them for their assistance, as they grow in fame. Level 1 characters are hardly known throughout the land, so they may get their first work just killing rats, wolves, and small goblin troupes.

I guess the only thing you really need to do is make sure they have fun. At the end of the day (and I'll probably catch some flak for this) its not about having a super tight, roleplaying experience where everyone is the hero the world needs. Its about getting together and having a good ******* time.

If there is anything in specifics, just ask and I'll help as much as humanly possible.

#2 to #1 - makonendrak [OP](04/02/2015) [-]

Well the first few sessions are going to be, as you suggest, basic on-the-fly type stuff you can just make up as you go along until I have an idea of where their characters are pulling the story; and I always liked the idea of there being a diplomatic solution to almost any problem so I'll be rolling that kind of stuff out as well.

I plan on keeping the 'prologue' so to speak confined to the capitol city for a little bit and I've thrown together a few basic concepts for story arcs that they can latch onto if they so wish, and I've gotten together a load of fluff for businesses etc. and a list of random NPC names to give the place a bit of life.

One of the things I'm trying to work out is how far I'm willing to punish brazen stupidity (which I'm almost certain is going to be a thing).

I've given the player handbook to the players so they can read through that as much as they like but for the purposes if keeping my own sanity I'm probably going to restrict it to human-only for the first set of characters

#3 to #2 - inertgas (04/02/2015) [-]

Stupidity should be punished, but don't always make things seem like a punishment. To only real type of stupidity I punish religiously is Chatoic Stupid, or that one character that insists on stealing from children and killing the elderly because 'lol i unno is game'. And races aren't to difficult to keep track of. I wouldn't restrict just human, just so they have the option of branching out. Just make sure they keep note of all the racial attributes that they have if they do take other races. The different races are what add the spice of variety to the party and lead interesting places.

#5 to #3 - ventruss (04/02/2015) [-]

Honnestly having dmed for now five years i have to agree with inertgas, fun should be the priority. I mean build the campaign to your players play styles, and of course keep in mind your story telling style. If you want to tell a dark gritty story then make sure your players know thats the mentality youre going for and make sure they are okay with it as well. If you want to play a more fun loving and carefree style the same still applies. You get the best results when its a dm running the story they feel most comfortable with and have players in the style they play best. For me that is a right down the middle serious but fun loving star wars setting, group says that despite the effort i put into my fantasy stories and everything else star wars is where i shine through and become a master story teller

#6 - froot (04/03/2015) [-]

psychologyxplain knows his stuff, and obvs dndexplain knows stuff too

#7 - sketchE (04/04/2015) [-]

just have fun really. if your good at ************ great, but if youre not have a bunch of contingencies planned. some players like being railroaded but others hate it and will actively branch away

#8 to #7 - makonendrak [OP](04/04/2015) [-]

I'd like to avoid railroading as much as possible. I'd much rather give someone a concept and let them **** with it in their own way

#10 - bulbakip (04/09/2015) [-]

Get the dm guide

#11 to #10 - makonendrak [OP](04/09/2015) [-]

Bro read the post, I have the DM guide

#9 - themightykamina (04/07/2015) [-]

You can get them to do ANYTHING if you steal their **** . Even if it's a pair of boots they will likely hunt down the theif to the ends of the earth, and you can send then anywhere with it.

Also fudge rolls every now and then.