A New Dungeon master (3.5)

[Darkhub]

Well, im new to playing D&D, as in ive played a total of one extremly basic campaign. For the new campaign, I have been "volenteered" (which in fairness, i did) to be the new Dungeon master. I already have a basic outline of what to do, and i just need some tips. Ie-advanced things (i can get my hands on most of the guides, if not all) Im using some homebrew rules, like players travel at the speed of plot, gold and treasure isnt counted as weight unless theres a large almount, or relevant to the plot. any reccomendations would be nice.

The Characters start at level 5, and i belive i am going to mix a horror/kick the door in campaign together. I would also like some help with that. any monster reccomendations would be amazing, or even better a preset campaign.

*also, sorry if i talk to much.:smallsmile:

[Kelb_Panthera]

The only specific advise I have is this: choose between kick-in-the-door or horror. The two don't mix very well.

More generally, don't try to predict your players actions to the extent that the success of your preparations is contingent on them behaving as expected. They will -NOT- behave as you expect. Also, remember that if the group seems to be having fun, you're doing fine.

[Akal Saris]

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine :smallbiggrin:

Here's a huge list of free premade adventures (http://www.dungeonmastering.com/campaigns-adventures/83-free-dd-adventures), see if any of them interest you!

For a kick-in-the-door free module, White Plume Mountain is levels 6-8 and is an update of the classic 1E adventure centering around adventurers inside a dungeon built within a dormant volcano. The dungeon is split into 3 parts, each holding a separate artifact weapon. It's fun in an old school kind of way :smallbiggrin:

[Darkhub]

Thank you! those are really nice pieces of advice, and I love the basic ones. GREAT place to start.:smallbiggrin: I dont know how big the party is yet, by the way. correct me if im wrong, but 5 level 5s should take on one of the level 6, 7,or 8 quests, and and 6 level fives a ninth or tenth level quest?

[Alleine]

This (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76474) ought to be helpful. Can't give any advice of my own since I haven't DM'd yet, but if you can improvise to any degree, you'll do spectacular.

Good luck!

[Acanous]

The guidelines for what your party can take are sometimes off by a crucial margin. Start them off with something challenge-equal to see how they perform, and if they're breezing through it consider upping the difficulty.
Upping the difficulty, by the way, is not always just looking for a beefier monster. Equip the monsters with different gear, or arrange the encounter to the benefit of the baddies... having them be lower level, but on a cliff face raining arrows on the PCs makes for a wickedly difficult encounter, especially if the baddies have cover or there's only one way up. (And it's trapped)

Also keep in mind your group's composition. The books sort of expect you to have a fighter/cleric/wizard/rogue group. If you're missing one of the four, challenges that they would normally breeze through can become almost impossible.

Basically, when you're trying to get the feel for a new group of players, I err on the side of sending them weak, but smart mooks to start with and go from there.

[Yora]

Challenge Rating does not consider certain immunities or special abilities that either the characters or their enemies have. It's possible to have enemies of rather low CR, which the characters simply can not defeat because they lack the neccessary weapons or spells to do so, or because they can't defend against its special attack. When picking enemies for an encounter, always take a look at these things as well, not just the listed CR.

[GoatBoy]

Don't get bogged down in arguments about rules. It's better to rule in a player's favour as long as it doesn't give them an overwhelming advantage. Focus on making turns go quickly so no one has to wait for too long.

If you will have a computer handy, I recommend keeping this site (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/home.html) open at all times, as it has all the SRD content and is arranged in a convenient manner, more so than other SRD pages I've viewed.

Have fun and best of luck to you. :smallsmile:

[Grelna the Blue]

Horror-themed games are great. The only advice I can give in short form is that when running one, it's very easy to overshoot and hit disgusting by mistake. Rather than describing a ghoul gnawing on a dead child, I find it often more effective to show the single ripped piece of children's clothing on the cave floor. Rather than attacking the PCs with swarms of rats (fun, I admit), have the large, well-fed rats show little fear of man and gaze unnervingly at the PCs as they pass. Use an adjective or three when you set the scene, and remember to include the weather (biting cold, murky fog, bright and cheerful day, thin mist silvered by moonlight, etc.)

In combat with undead, make it a slightly difficult for the players to tell how close to dissolution they are until the finishing blow. After all, they're already dead, so they don't look that great to start with.
"Your arrow strikes the creature squarely in its left eyesocket and sinks to the fletching--it is seemingly unaffected ."

"Your fireball drops two of them in their tracks. Charred bits drop off the rest of the creatures as they race toward you with undiminished speed, gurgling incoherent howls of rage at the living."

Also, many players have a lot of game experience that bleeds over into their characters, whether they mean it to or not. By spicing up the occasional monster encounter by making the monsters advanced--more hit dice and maybe an extra ability or two--you can keep those players guessing, which they'll probably enjoy, as it makes the game fresh again. Depending on the extent of the party cleric's Knowledge: Religion score, she might be able to identify the difference (given a little time for observation) between normal skeletons and the advanced sort with 8 HD that can flank and sneak attack (or do cold damage as well as physical and/or have significant fast healing), but after the first such encounter no collection of animated bones can be safely taken for granted as an easy encounter by the rest of the party.

Anyway, have fun and good luck.

[Kelb_Panthera]

When selecting an opponent for your party, make sure that you read its stats carefully. Watch for abilities that will insta-gib party memebers, and special qualities that the party may not be able to overcome. EG: if the party doesn't have anyone that can turn/rebuke and no one has access to a ghost touch effect, incorporeals are gonna be a real pain. Lycanthropes will be difficult if none of the party has any silvered weapons and the spell-casters are sub-optimal. Golems will be a major hurdle for a party that's mostly casters. Etc. Etc.