DM'ing new players

[smashbro]

So, I'm starting a campaign (3.5) for some of my friends this weekend, and as it's getting closer, I'm getting more anxious about it. I've run games for them before, where we're all sitting in a circle, I tell them what happens, and then they do stuff (Mafia), so being able to hold their attention won't be much of a problem, as long as things run smoothly. Only problem is, these guys know absolutely nothing about D&D.

I've already looked around online for tips about how to be a good DM, but I still wanted to ask here to see if I can get any other advice. What problems will I have/should be ready for with a group of very inexperienced players?





Also, I'm running this with two groups of 7 (both groups running the same campaign) and we have pretty much every alignment.

GROUP 1: lawful good paladin; true neutral druid; neutral good dual wielding ranger; not evil (i forget his alignment) archer ranger; chaotic good archer; neutral evil rogue; good ???

GROUP 2: lawful good paladin; chaotic evil cleric; true neutral dual wielding ranger; lawful neutral sorcerer; ??? sorcerer; chaotic good rogue; good ???

I've split people into the two groups based on who is better friends with who. But after a couple adventures, I'm going to run out of excuses for the paladins with be with evil people. Should I keep groups like this, or change them so I have a good group and an evil group? Again, these guys are very new and the games are going run on Rule of Cool/Rule of Fun as opposed to following the rules perfectly, so I won't make the paladins fall for adventuring with evil people, as long as they oppose/try to stop evil things from happening. Could an excuse for the paladins be trying to turn the evil people good?

Thanks in advance. :)

[hydroplatypus]

On the issue of Paladins and the evil guys, I generally try to avoid this, but there are several solutions that might work. (just qualifying that I have never had a paladin and an evil guy in same group before).

Solution 1: have them forced together for a common purpose. This depends on the campaign you are running, as there has to be an overriding purpose to the unite the party. If this exist though then a paladin could conceivably put aside their killing of other party members. Consider an example: a wizard is going to destroy the world. The paladin wants to save the world for obvious reasons, and a CE guy wants to save the world because that's where he keeps his stuff. If the CE guy is fairly powerful/useful the paladin might put off killing him until after the quest is over.

Solution 2: although this won't work for CE, LE or NE characters could be in the business of helping people because it pays really well. Thus the aims of the paladins and the evil party coincide, allowing the paladin to justify not killing them.

Solution 3: say that a Paladin can only kill people that they know are evil / are blatantly committing an evil act. An undetectable alignment item/spell (or a lead sheet :smallwink:) solves the detect alignment problem, and if the evil players keep their activities out of eyesight of the paladin there is no IC reason for his to suspect they are evil.

[Ayra]

first i ill just say that i really like your mafia champaign :)

for a group of new players you should expect them to not always know what to do, how to play their role/alignment(if they are new to roleplaying in general like some of my players..) and thus are generally easier to railroad where you want them (well that's my experience anyhow)

new players also tend to need longer time to decide what to do, what spell to cast (what spells does) etc. But seeing that you play with the rule of cool i don't think that will be such a big problem (i once had a new cleric wanting to use purify food/water on an entire lake.. i let him do it and he was happy, as was the rest of the group ;p )
from reading your other champaign id say you should have much problem. as long as you can keep their attention, be creative. I think everyone will have a good time.

playing with people whose new to role-playing games, can be fun, challenging and rewarding! i wish you the best of luck and hope you have fun :)

[smashbro]

@hydroplatypus I'm pretty sure these guys will be acting somewhat evil, so undetectable alignment won't work for long. a combo of solution 1 and 2 would probably work. thanks!


@Ayra First, I think you're thinking of something different when I said Mafia. I play the game where mafia kills someone at night, people lynch during the day, etc. Not too much roleplaying involved. but, you did just give me a new idea... and as for everything else, thanks, good to know

[ZeroSpace9000]

I think your major problem is 2 completely fresh groups of 7 players. I wouldn't attempt 1 group of 7 on a good day! I highly recommend paring the group down, and making it 2 groups of 5, one of 4.

[hydroplatypus]

@hydroplatypus I'm pretty sure these guys will be acting somewhat evil, so undetectable alignment won't work for long. a combo of solution 1 and 2 would probably work. thanks!

You're welcome

[smashbro]

even if it's stupid to do two groups of 7, I'm sticking with it. I don't want playing D&D to take up that much of my time, and having 3 groups would be too much.

Anyway, paladin from group 1 will be gone most of the summer, and one of the people in group 2 is playing mostly cause everyone else is. I expect to be down to at most two groups of 6 after the first adventure anyway, so I'll see who flakes, and then if I need to divide people up more, I will

[opticalshadow]

@hydroplatypus I'm pretty sure these guys will be acting somewhat evil, so undetectable alignment won't work for long.

playing a dread necro i convinced a party from 3rd level to 12th, that i was a cleric, i was playing a NE. i think its possible to explain some things away, brash attitudes or open violence doesnt make them evil, just makes them aholes, my undead commanding and summoning were all things clerics could do, and i saved my more dasteradly deeds for when i was out of sight.

i persoanlly would ask your players to do the same, making up reasons for the party to just work is bland, dosent solve anything, and punihses the pally anyways (because it doesnt restrict the evil guys any, but it does impose of what the palidian can witness before he has to either lose his class or defend his code) its a short cut, and it hurts the pally more then the evil guy. part of the fun of playing the evil guy in a good campaign is the deception, giving them such an easy way out as saving the world and needing each toher help only creates childish drama and when the good deed is done, were back at square one.

[Honest Tiefling]

Are your paladins playing lawful good so they can be paladins, or are they playing paladins so they can be LG?

If your players are unconcerned about the rules and care more about the class then the alignment, allow them to be neutral.

Or you could just ask the paladins why their character is with the evil dude. They might come up with some ideas for you.

[HalfDragonCube]

Are your paladins playing lawful good so they can be paladins, or are they playing paladins so they can be LG?

If your players are unconcerned about the rules and care more about the class then the alignment, allow them to be neutral.

Or you could just ask the paladins why their character is with the evil dude. They might come up with some ideas for you.

If it is the former, go for this delicious selection of new paladin variants! Guaranteed to have an alignment to your tastes! Provided you like being at one end of a scale...

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#paladinVariantsFreedom SlaughterAndTyranny