LansXero
2010-12-30, 05:51 AM
Hello!
First, a bit of an introduction:
This monday, during our regular session at a local gamestore, a guy who I've seen at the store the last couple of weeks approached me and asked if I wanted to DM for him and his groups of friends, at the house of one of them. He knows the owner and many of the 'regulars' there, so it seemed like he was serious; additionally, he offered to cover cab fare and snack money, as well as provide anything needed, namely sheets, books, dice, minis, tiles, etc. (I dont really have many myself and constantly improvise on the fly with bottlecaps, boxes and random things. Its part of the fun to me but maybe it looks weird to others). Apparently their group's last DM took a break from DMing due to work, and now wants to just play.
Since I havent been playing for long (1 and a half years since I learned the game, though I have DMed for most of it) and am not really familiar with the 'scene' here, it caught me by surprise. So I agreed. It seems like a pretty sweet deal and the guy is a decent person.
Anyways, after the session we got to talk some more and as it turns out, he is the youngest of the group, being around my own age (mid 20s). The rest of the group is in their late 20s / early thirties, with two married couples included. They've been playing D&D since 1998 or so, started with AD&D and had a few short runs with other systems, and a lot of 3.5 games, including a 5 years long campaign. They've ran several of the 'classic' modules (City of the Spider Queen, Temple of Elemental Evil, among others) and read many of the D&D related novels. So it was very. . . intimidating and Im now having second thoughts about it.
Its not really the age that is the problem, but the experience. I dont know much about the 'default' setting of D&D; whenever I ran a game I made most things on the spot or a couple of weeks previously; Ive never been a fan of heavily detailled pre-existent worlds, I like to discover it alongside the players, to make up town names, factions, locations, etc. as we go along. I dont really feel my crappy, improvised dramas about 'monster' races being not-so-bad and 'shades of gray' moral dilemmas can measure up to the legendary modules and adventures published by WotC and the D&D novels. Im feeling very small time right now, and I think I may have bitten more than I can chew when I accepted. We will be meeting next tuesday for introductions and character generation, and until before he told me just how much mileage everyone had behind them, I was actually very excited and my mental wheels were already weaving my next story. . . now... I dont know.
The group has had several other DM's in the past, from inside and outside the group. There have been cases of strong disagreement and rapid expelling of some of them, although they apparently did suck very much from what I was told (one of them was running a carbon copy of the Warcraft III campaigns and another had a huge folder of 'apropriate fantasy names, family lines and custom world house rules').
So, finally, to make this more useful than ranty, Id like to ask if anyone has had a similar experience, where the group they joined to DM had a lot more experience than them, and if you could offer some insight or suggestions. I may post my initial adventure ideas later; this board is a HUGE asset and I dont think Id ever entertain the possibility of doing this if I hadnt discovered it. In fact, the idea I was already starting to consider was based directly on some very interesting concepts I found here. So. . . halp? :D
First, a bit of an introduction:
This monday, during our regular session at a local gamestore, a guy who I've seen at the store the last couple of weeks approached me and asked if I wanted to DM for him and his groups of friends, at the house of one of them. He knows the owner and many of the 'regulars' there, so it seemed like he was serious; additionally, he offered to cover cab fare and snack money, as well as provide anything needed, namely sheets, books, dice, minis, tiles, etc. (I dont really have many myself and constantly improvise on the fly with bottlecaps, boxes and random things. Its part of the fun to me but maybe it looks weird to others). Apparently their group's last DM took a break from DMing due to work, and now wants to just play.
Since I havent been playing for long (1 and a half years since I learned the game, though I have DMed for most of it) and am not really familiar with the 'scene' here, it caught me by surprise. So I agreed. It seems like a pretty sweet deal and the guy is a decent person.
Anyways, after the session we got to talk some more and as it turns out, he is the youngest of the group, being around my own age (mid 20s). The rest of the group is in their late 20s / early thirties, with two married couples included. They've been playing D&D since 1998 or so, started with AD&D and had a few short runs with other systems, and a lot of 3.5 games, including a 5 years long campaign. They've ran several of the 'classic' modules (City of the Spider Queen, Temple of Elemental Evil, among others) and read many of the D&D related novels. So it was very. . . intimidating and Im now having second thoughts about it.
Its not really the age that is the problem, but the experience. I dont know much about the 'default' setting of D&D; whenever I ran a game I made most things on the spot or a couple of weeks previously; Ive never been a fan of heavily detailled pre-existent worlds, I like to discover it alongside the players, to make up town names, factions, locations, etc. as we go along. I dont really feel my crappy, improvised dramas about 'monster' races being not-so-bad and 'shades of gray' moral dilemmas can measure up to the legendary modules and adventures published by WotC and the D&D novels. Im feeling very small time right now, and I think I may have bitten more than I can chew when I accepted. We will be meeting next tuesday for introductions and character generation, and until before he told me just how much mileage everyone had behind them, I was actually very excited and my mental wheels were already weaving my next story. . . now... I dont know.
The group has had several other DM's in the past, from inside and outside the group. There have been cases of strong disagreement and rapid expelling of some of them, although they apparently did suck very much from what I was told (one of them was running a carbon copy of the Warcraft III campaigns and another had a huge folder of 'apropriate fantasy names, family lines and custom world house rules').
So, finally, to make this more useful than ranty, Id like to ask if anyone has had a similar experience, where the group they joined to DM had a lot more experience than them, and if you could offer some insight or suggestions. I may post my initial adventure ideas later; this board is a HUGE asset and I dont think Id ever entertain the possibility of doing this if I hadnt discovered it. In fact, the idea I was already starting to consider was based directly on some very interesting concepts I found here. So. . . halp? :D