Assist a new DM!

[Dornath]

Hello Playground!

I'm planning on starting up a Roleplaying Games club for my last year of highschool. I've been tooling around Greyhawk for close to 3 years now, and while I'm no optimization king, I have a good grasp of the game.

The kids I'm going to be running this game for know next to nothing. I've chosen either 3.5 or Pathfinder for them, possibly a mixture of the two to make things a bit easier for them. (The skills mostly, I really like the idea of Perception and Linguistics. And the unlimited 0 level spells)

Now, I have no idea what the characters or classes are going to be. I'm assuming a group of 6 people, because I can't handle more than that (First foray into Gamemastering) and was wondering...

Does anyone have any ideas for adventures?

I've currently got a bit of a story, Starting with the Wreck Ashore adventure(3.5) and leading into the Frozen Whispers adventure (3.5). In between, I've stuck Something's Cooking, because everyone likes Pizza Golems.

I've come to a bit of a halt here. I'm not sure where to go. I'd like to have things planned out in advance, so as to have contingency plans and a base to improvise off of. Where does the playground think I should take my campaign from here?

Note, this isn't starting until September. It's just on my mind now.

[valadil]

I'd like to have things planned out in advance, so as to have contingency plans and a base to improvise off of. Where does the playground think I should take my campaign from here?


I know it feels good to have a safety net, but you're overplanning at this point. Run one of the modules. Familiarize yourself with the others. As you play through the first mod, see what your group likes and finds interesting. They'll probably find something in the first game to attach themselves to. Your job will be figuring out what that is and providing a second adventure that fills that need.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would go a little further. Run a one shot from somewhere. Give the group a bit of actual play under thier belt before they start in on a campaign.

From there I would just pick a theam and run with it. Wizards of great power! Dungeon delving in a laberenth.! Undead everywhere!

When stumped I make a BBEG and run with what he would do. That normaly makes a good plot.

[Dornath]

Hmmm...

I like this oneshot idea. Burning Plague is a good one. I might run with that. Make some characters beforehand and showcase each ones power.

Thanks valadil, I hadn't even considered seeing what the group prefers. *Sheepish grin* I'm still very new to DMing I suppose.

[Jorda75]

Just two quick suggestions regarding new players:

1) Try to avoid anyone picking a druid, if they want to play a forest defender type suggest ranger. With animal companions, wild shape, spells, spontaneous casting and everything else a druid gets they can be a nightmare for a new player to learn/understand.

2) If someone wants to play a wizard try and steer them towards sorcerer. It will much easier to explain picking 4-5 spells and saying, "you can cast any of these spells X number of times per day" than explaining how a wizard works.

Good luck with the game! If you have any questions I'm an experienced DM so feel free to message me.

[valadil]

Thanks valadil, I hadn't even considered seeing what the group prefers. *Sheepish grin* I'm still very new to DMing I suppose.

Don't worry, a great many GMs never figure that part out. They're so set in telling their story they aren't interested in whether or not the PCs are interested. Just paying attention to what the PCs want makes your life easier. If you know what they want you don't have to waste time on other possibilities. I mean, if you're trying to figure out who inhabits a dungeon - orcs, kobolds, or undead - and know your PCs love kobolds, you don't even have to think about the other possibilities.

[Alaris]

From Post-New-DM to New-DM:

Don't overplan/overcomplicate things. You can always improvise is all else fails, but if you plan for the party to do this, that and the other thing, in that exact order, you'll probably be unpleasantly surprised when they decide to go in the opposite direction.

Trust me, it has happened to me.

[Jorda75]

From Post-New-DM to New-DM:

Don't overplan/overcomplicate things. You can always improvise is all else fails, but if you plan for the party to do this, that and the other thing, in that exact order, you'll probably be unpleasantly surprised when they decide to go in the opposite direction.

Trust me, it has happened to me.

This can't be stated enough. My current DM style is about 20% planning and 80% improv. Not everyone can/likes to DM this way but I find it gives me much more freedom. There's nothing worse than designing a huge dungeon build into the side of a mountain and then to have the players walk in the way :smalltongue: