archmage45
2009-06-25, 08:28 AM
I haven't role-played/DMed in about... 3.5 years. I haven't run a solo game in a decade. I'm trying to play with my wife. She and I have VERY different ideas about D&D.
I've been wanting to play for a while now. I missed D&D day, and free RPG day, and keep a very busy schedule, so I thought if I could get a game in with her, an hour here, an hour there, that it would scratch that RPG-itch.
I want to play 4e, but I have no experience with it, and with a single player... well, I just don't feel comfortable doing that. So I thought maybe d20/3.x, but that is so rules heavy, and she couldn't care less about the rules. I thought maybe going back to basics - Rules Cyclopedia. It's where I started, and it's pretty rules lite. But then I read microlite20. Perfect! A single page of rules!
So I made 3 human characters, a fighter, a rogue, and a cleric for her to chose from. I found a simple adventure to get us warmed up - http://hamsterhoard.blogspot.com/2009/02/microdungeon-understudy.html
We sat down last night to play, and I showed her the characters, and she started by asking why she had to be a human? Ok, no problem, I showed her the m20 options: elf, dwarf, and halfling. She asked why she couldn't be one of the cool races from the 4ePHB? She wanted to play a dragonborn...
Ok... I gave her a +2 to strength and a +2 to communication skills, and changed the character sheet to dragonborn. We went over a basic background, that she was raised in a military temple thing and that she's being sent to check out a recently destroyed wizards tower to make sure there isn't anything bad that will eat the villagers. She makes it down the stairs, avoiding both the traps. Spots the dragonflys, but doesn't protect herself until after they attacked her, then smashes them. Goes down the hall, smashes another.
In rm 3 she "looks around" I have to prod her to be more specific. She finds the books and sits down to read them... She burns through 2 torches reading them. My response, in retrospect not the best, was pretty much "Really?!?" She says "Yes! It's interesting! What did I learn?" I looked at her for a moment, and said (stupid) "I don't know... stuff about dragons." I then asked her what she wanted to do. "Look around." So I go to the bug in the chest and she wants to keep it. Keep it?!? It's a 6" nasty little beetle. I remind her that it's trying to bite her, and she reminds me that a number of her pets bite her (hamsters) in real life. However, being a nasty little bug she ends up squashing it. I tell her about the treasure, and she nods. I ask her if she wants to write it down. She looks put out, and writes down "millions of gold coins" I tell her she's crushed from the weight. She asks what the ring is worth, and I have her roll. She rolls poorly, and I tell her she'll need to get it appraised.
Moving into room 4 she sees the skeleton with the hair, and says "that can't be real." I tell her she's right, and that its a wig. She "looks around" I again describe the room, and she spots the dragonfly. She turns around and walks out of the room. The dragonfly attacks her as her back is turned. She grabs it and smashes it, and then leaves.
She didn't really have fun, and I felt frustrated. I asked her about it, and she mentioned that she just wants to basically move her cursor around the room and see what glows.
I don't think she gets that I want to play D&D, not Diablo II. And I don't know how to explain it. And I'm not really sure how to adjust my style to better fit with hers, especially without frustrating myself.
Help? Please?
I've been wanting to play for a while now. I missed D&D day, and free RPG day, and keep a very busy schedule, so I thought if I could get a game in with her, an hour here, an hour there, that it would scratch that RPG-itch.
I want to play 4e, but I have no experience with it, and with a single player... well, I just don't feel comfortable doing that. So I thought maybe d20/3.x, but that is so rules heavy, and she couldn't care less about the rules. I thought maybe going back to basics - Rules Cyclopedia. It's where I started, and it's pretty rules lite. But then I read microlite20. Perfect! A single page of rules!
So I made 3 human characters, a fighter, a rogue, and a cleric for her to chose from. I found a simple adventure to get us warmed up - http://hamsterhoard.blogspot.com/2009/02/microdungeon-understudy.html
We sat down last night to play, and I showed her the characters, and she started by asking why she had to be a human? Ok, no problem, I showed her the m20 options: elf, dwarf, and halfling. She asked why she couldn't be one of the cool races from the 4ePHB? She wanted to play a dragonborn...
Ok... I gave her a +2 to strength and a +2 to communication skills, and changed the character sheet to dragonborn. We went over a basic background, that she was raised in a military temple thing and that she's being sent to check out a recently destroyed wizards tower to make sure there isn't anything bad that will eat the villagers. She makes it down the stairs, avoiding both the traps. Spots the dragonflys, but doesn't protect herself until after they attacked her, then smashes them. Goes down the hall, smashes another.
In rm 3 she "looks around" I have to prod her to be more specific. She finds the books and sits down to read them... She burns through 2 torches reading them. My response, in retrospect not the best, was pretty much "Really?!?" She says "Yes! It's interesting! What did I learn?" I looked at her for a moment, and said (stupid) "I don't know... stuff about dragons." I then asked her what she wanted to do. "Look around." So I go to the bug in the chest and she wants to keep it. Keep it?!? It's a 6" nasty little beetle. I remind her that it's trying to bite her, and she reminds me that a number of her pets bite her (hamsters) in real life. However, being a nasty little bug she ends up squashing it. I tell her about the treasure, and she nods. I ask her if she wants to write it down. She looks put out, and writes down "millions of gold coins" I tell her she's crushed from the weight. She asks what the ring is worth, and I have her roll. She rolls poorly, and I tell her she'll need to get it appraised.
Moving into room 4 she sees the skeleton with the hair, and says "that can't be real." I tell her she's right, and that its a wig. She "looks around" I again describe the room, and she spots the dragonfly. She turns around and walks out of the room. The dragonfly attacks her as her back is turned. She grabs it and smashes it, and then leaves.
She didn't really have fun, and I felt frustrated. I asked her about it, and she mentioned that she just wants to basically move her cursor around the room and see what glows.
I don't think she gets that I want to play D&D, not Diablo II. And I don't know how to explain it. And I'm not really sure how to adjust my style to better fit with hers, especially without frustrating myself.
Help? Please?