Running a game, haven't DMed in a while (3.5e)

[Shpadoinkle]

I'm going to be running a game, starting at level 2, for maybe five players (the number isn't set yet), many of who have never played an actual game of D&D before, but some of them are familiar with it via stuff like Neverwinter Nights.

To make things easier I've drawn up about a dozen sample characters of various classes (all tier 3 or 4) with explanations of what their abilities do, so they don't have to know anything about the game, they can just choose what looks neat and pick up how the mechanics work as we go.

I figured I'd run a handful of encounters the first time the group meets to help them get the hang of how stuff works, once everyone has a character. This is what I need help with. So far all I've got is that the PCs have hired on to act as guards for a caravan when they get attacked by goblins and spiders. Maybe some of the pack animals run away and they have to retreive them from a troll or something once the first battle is over. Beyond that, though, I'm kinda coming up blank.

Ideas about why they're travelling to the city the caravan is headed to or just ideas for encounters would be great. Thanks.

[Zombimode]

Uh, do you have a campaign in mind?

Why dont you just start the story right at session one? You want your players to be hooked and interessted, right?
So dont give them boring "introductionary" stuff without any form of foreshadowing.

[Kerrin]

The characters could have signed on to guard the caravan simply because they need the money - always a good initial motivator.

I don't know if any of the characters know each other beforehand, but if needed they could get to know each other while guarding the caravan and recovering the horses.

As for links to a campaign, maybe the caravan is transporting something or someone that is important to the larger campaign story. The characters won't know this at first, but information could come out during the trip/fight/recovery that hooks the characters into pursuing your story line. Maybe they characters are somehow left with the thing/person to finish the mission themselves.

[Shpadoinkle]

I'd like to get the players familiar with both how the 3.5 system and P&P games in general- only one of the players has experience with D&D (as far as I know).

No, I don't have a campaign in mind, otherwise I'd have mentioned it. What I'm asking for is ideas to help introduce players to the mechanics of the game (preferably not more than one or two new mechanics per encounter, so as not to overwhelm them.) I plan to spend the first one or two sessions getting everyone familiar with how stuff works, THEN we'll start on an actual campaign, which I plan to work on once I've got a feel for their play style and what kind of stuff they enjoy.

[Machinekng]

I'd like to get the players familiar with both how the 3.5 system and P&P games in general- only one of the players has experience with D&D (as far as I know).

No, I don't have a campaign in mind, otherwise I'd have mentioned it. What I'm asking for is ideas to help introduce players to the mechanics of the game (preferably not more than one or two new mechanics per encounter, so as not to overwhelm them.) I plan to spend the first one or two sessions getting everyone familiar with how stuff works, THEN we'll start on an actual campaign, which I plan to work on once I've got a feel for their play style and what kind of stuff they enjoy.

If you're going to have a few 'training' sessions, you might as well give them a plot. It could kind of be like a prolouge to the real thing.




As for links to a campaign, maybe the caravan is transporting something or someone that is important to the larger campaign story. The characters won't know this at first, but information could come out during the trip/fight/recovery that hooks the characters into pursuing your story line. Maybe they characters are somehow left with the thing/person to finish the mission themselves.

I concur.

[Shpadoinkle]

Okay, let me put it this way: I'm looking for interesting and/or educational encounters for new players, characters are level 2. Don't worry about plot, I'll handle plot stuff.

How's that?

[Kerrin]

Here are some ideas (possibly in a reasonable order):

1) A melee encounter with orcs. Will teach movement and melee rules.

2) A melee encounter with orcs with goblin archers in support. Will teach mixed melee and ranged combat dynamics.

3) A melee encounter with an ogre with an orc or goblin shaman. Will teach reach melee, large creatures, and spells in an encounter.

Perhaps the caravan gets hit three times? Or the ogre is where the horse recovery takes place.

[Shpadoinkle]

Yes, that's excellent and exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, thank you. Any other ideas anyone has to contribute would be great.

[Safety Sword]

Witness a crime
Track baddies down
Slaughter baddies
Find clues to more baddies
Slaughter more baddies


Repeat until satisfied players are familiar. You can also throw in a wilderness encounter or non-combat encounter in the middle to add variety or get a player to use a skill or ability as a way to introduce it and explain what it does.

The more important thing is to be consistent and clear with new players so that they pick up the game and want to learn more about it.

[Curmudgeon]

It might help to have the encounters flow logically from each other. So you've got the initial caravan attack (basic combat), and pack animals running away (use of skills like Survival with the Track feat, Spot, Listen, and Handle Animal). After that you can have them return to the caravan to discover that the raiders have made off with something valuable, and they get tasked with retrieving it. This can lead to the PCs setting up an ambush on the raiders, then interrogating/searching prisoners to find the clue that leads to a dungeon with traps as the PCs sneak about to find the treasure stash.

[Shpadoinkle]

Okay, game is tomorrow and I've come up with a few things. On the off-chance one of my players will read this (I really doubt it, but you never know), details are in the spoilers.

PCs are going to be caravan guards en route to some city or other. Along the way the caravan gets ambushed by goblins, most with spears, some with crossbows. (This encounter will teach basic combat and movement rules.)

After that it will be discovered that some of the animals are missing. The party will be able to find them being led away by a bugbear and a hobgoblin. Upon being spotted the hobgoblin (a level 2 cleric) will cast Enlarge Person (Strength domain) on the bugbear (who dual-wields a whip and a morningstar,) who will then engage the characters while the hobgoblin stands back and fires a crossbow. (I'm throwing the characters headfirst into the trip, reach, and AoO rules. I expect this to be a tough but winnable encounter.)

That's about all the stuff I've got as concrete right now. The raid on the caravan was orchestrated by one of two groups, either a cabal of yuan-ti or one of several rakshasa opposing them (the rakshasa aren't allied or affiliated with each other, but they are all aware of the yuan-ti and their plotting and are working, mostly independently, to foil them.)

The yuan-ti are raising money for some kind of elaborate ritual that they think will allow the greatest of them to ascend to godhood. There's a small city of illithid who are also aware of the yuan-ti and their plans, but they're divided on what to do- about 2/3 of them want to side with the yuan-ti and usurp the ritual at the last moment, while the others think they should oppose them. Beholders and adventurers are employed by all three sides basically as mercenaries, or manipulated into furthering one faction's plans and/or ruining another's.

The PC's are basically wildcards in all this, but all three factions will consider them (and other adventurers) too potentially useful to simply kill outright.

Now here's where I'm having trouble from a gaming perspective: I want the players to feel like they're doing more than just taking random bounties consisting of "go here, kill this/retrieve that." But being pretty rusty on DMing I'm not sure how to do this. Thoughts or advice on this matter would be great.

[Kol Korran]

ok, a few thoughts, i hope they are in time:

- when hiring the PCs, fashion a few NPCs that accompany the caravan. they could be other merceneries, the caravan head, some other passengers and so on. enable the characters to interact with them on the way, before the first battle encounter starts. this is important to start get them roleplaying, getting a bit of a feel of the world, and help them get a bit more feel for their own characters, personalities, and the other PCs. a few suggestions for characters:

a crippled combat veteran dwarf, telling high tales of his days in the army/ adventures, maybe missing a leg or an arm. can try and give tips of fighting in the first encoutner (or after it). the party can befriend him or have him hold a grudge.
a young lass who's off to the city for her... own reasons. (this can be simple or more omplex, as you see fit) perhaps with a sister or two? or an over protecting brother?
a crunchy mumbling old man, quite welathy it seems from his clothes, or perhaps wealthy in the past. his clothes are old and dusted. doesn't speak much
a young cleric of some major religion, trying to "speak the owrd of god" to the people. can be obnoxius or spiritual and so on.
a halfling cooking woman (the caravan's cook) with all the lewd and inappriopraite jokes. laso dabbles on being a herbalist.
about 3 guards, not liking the party much for "stepping on their turf". could be brothers, friends or so on. maybe one has a secret? or is of an interesting/ uncommon race? a hobgoblin itself might do wonders.


- first battle sounds good.describe the battle coming from several places, and the caravan head or someone focusing the party's efforts on one place. after the battle is gone though, the party finds out that something important is missing. i suggest forget the horses (pretty boring, who cares about horses? beside- they are pretty hard to move through thick underbrush. it should be obvious that the "raiding party" was after something special- the caravan's treasure chest was left untouched... what could it be?

the lass i mentioned- she is missing. the brother/ protector might reveal a bit of information, but is generally closed mouth. why is she so special?
the cranky old guy is mad and furious! his box was taken! they must retrieve it! he describes the box, and says it mustn't be opened! hurry!
a letter was taken, a secret letter, to the high magistrate of the city they are going to. it was supposed to be a secret! how did they even know about it?


- allow some questioning in the caravan, but not too much. they may be given some supplies (the "Treasure" for the encounter) in the form of minor potions or other such stuff. the hobgoblin guard might come under suspicion, and so on. (you decide if he's really part of this)

- skill time: allow the party to start trail the remaining raiders. survival to follow tracks, maybe geography to learn the place has many caves some way to the south, perhaps history to learn there are also ruins of an old army post to the south west., spot to find out clues on the way (such as torn fabrics of some strange uniform and so on.
important: the party doesn't HAVE to succeed in the checks. let the checks give them some edge if they succeed, but find a way to continue otherwise if not. (for example, if the party fails finding the trail, they fall into a second ambush from which they learn the whereabouts of the runners, if they succeed they get to the runners with maybe a surprise round)

- second encounter: i actually suggest a trap in conjoined with some sort of enemy. some simple snare (dug hole filled with water and maybe a snake or two, or maybe an ensnaring vine that pulls the character up) the party learns that the enemies are prepared. i suggest to put some other beastie here, not directly connected to the goblins, that might suggest some connection of either of their patrons. really minor devils/ demons might work (lemures for example) or perhaps a fiendish intelligent snake (for Yuan Ti) and so on. i suggest something with either DR or a special ability or both. if you can handle Reach, go for it.
the main idea is to introduce a bit more mystic element, and increase the puzzle.

why do i not favor the enlarged bugbear at this point? well, trip, AoO and size difference is a bit too much at this point i think, plus, a change of pace is nice. if you want to go with the size thing, i'd suggest a straight up ogre.

- reaching the bad guys hideout. i suggest something like a ruined abandond militery or trade post. not too big, not too small. the idea now is to let the party to come with some tactics, give the initiative to them instead of just responding. again skill challenges may come usefull- stealth, perception (how many guards? possible entry points) maybe knowledge skills on the tactics of such creatures, or how these structures are usually built, that sort of thing. i'd let you design the exact details of the place, but a few general ideas:

there shouldn't be that many creatures in the place, but enough to not be oevertaken with one swoop. gaining a tactical location (a small tower? a choke point?) could be crucial.
have some minor fortifications for the badguys. nothing that complicated, a simple cover and ditch are fine.
Kreshnars are fun creatures to add. normal enough, with a scary attack. if the party retreats the goblinoids can send a "Retribution" squad after them, if the party don't hide well enough.
the bugbear challenge might fit here well, though again, i suggest an ogre- feels much more Brutish. he'll be the brute that buys the defenders some time.
you mentioned somewhere on the threads a troll. i highly adivse against it. these beasties are a massacre for an unprepared group.
you could put somewhere some other mostly dumb beastie the goblins are trying to train, and if the party frees it in time, then it attacks the goblins instead. some small dire beastie, or an ankheg, or the like. if the party mistreats it, or if they come late, it is intead unleashed on them
i suggest up to two casters amongst the goblinoids. one lower level and primarily a buffer, one highter level, and either the boss or it's lieutenents, mainly a blaster
if you have a cleric or paladin in the group, have some undead in the compound, maybe guarding a treasure room


- adding a few touches here and there: again, i don't know who you're using as the main contractor of the goblinoids at this point, but i suggest s/he remains quite mysterious. most regular goblinoids won't know nothing if interogated, but maybe the casters (and defineteley the chief) know something: mainly that they were contacted by some (describe humanoid looking low level villain here) who came from (insert name of next investigation site), asking to acquire the girl/ box/ letter/ whatever. they may have given them some trinkets or treasure that hints at their origin (special jewelery, ornate weapons, maybe formula for some thematic spell, and the like. knowledge checks might reveal SOME knowledge, enough to raise curiousity, but not enough to reveal the whole story. perhaps a scholar? or more adventuring)

- big finish: the party gets to the main room witnessing a transaction between the big chief and his "contact" (the minor villain) who has some sort of a durable enough flying mount (manticore? griffin?) the contact says a few farewell words, takes away the lass/ item/ letter, and throws some money/ treasure for the goblin chief to finish off this "distraction". it flees quickly, not wanting to be discovered. (Yuan Ti and Rakshasa are both secretive). hence commences the big battle. i suggest to make the chief formidable, but have minions there, to make the battle interesting. also, don't just make him a goblin/ orc with class levels, give him some extra feature... (fiendish? poison use? and so on)

i know what i wrote for the big finish is a bit cliche, but i think it will work fine for a newbie group.

i hope this helped. good luck!

[Shpadoinkle]

Yes, that was very helpful. I was busy pretty much all morning Saturday so I didn't get to prepare as much as I wanted and had to wing a lot of stuff, but it went pretty well, apparently.

On the way to the city of Ogmore, the caravan the PCs (only two; one human warmage and one half-orc crusader, along with an NPC dwarf dragon shaman/cleric. I buffed the power of DS auras and gave them a couple other minor boosts- she's going to be advancing exclusively as a DS to serve as support and a backup fighter, the cleric level is just so she can uses wands of Lesser Vigor without having to roll UMD.) were escorting gets attacked by goblins (six with spears, four with crossbows), other guards take care of the goblins at the back of the caravan, one guard dies. This battle was primarily to re-familiarize the players with the movement and actions per round rules.

Sadoc (an old noble, approx 70, clothes were obviously once quite fine, but they've grown worn over the years and are starting to show it) discovers that a box he has been entrusted with has been stolen in the chaos, along with some other things. The party brings Sadoc along (I hadn't intended this, but the warmage rolled pretty well on his Diplomacy check. I'm not sure WHY they wanted him to come along, but I've learned to take stuff like this in stride.) Two horses have also been released by goblins. Party manages to retrieve one horse but have to battle a hobgoblin and a bugbear (magically Enlarged by the hobgoblin) to retrieve the other (this battle was mostly to introduce the players to the trip, reach, and AoO rules. They took some damage but pulled through okay, at least in part because they kept outrolling the bugbear's trip attempts.)

Returning the horses, the party tracks the goblins to a series of caverns in some hills to the north. Exploring some caves that have been dug by goblins, they find some minor treasure and a passage leading into a large natural underground cavern. Returning from the natural cavern, they run into a meeting between some goblins and a human-sized cloaked figure (four warrior speargoblins, two level 1 rogues, and the chief, who was a level 2 cleric.) The figure is given the box and disappears through the roof (which was illusionary.) The party killed the remaining goblins, with the exception of the chief, who escaped.

Exploring the warrens again in search of him, they don't turn up anything, and the chief seems to have vanished without a trace. Asking Sadoc about the box, he tells them what he knows, as he has little to lose by telling them: The box has been in his family for generations, and every time it is handed to another generation a stranger (the same person, who does not change appearance) appears and makes certain the box's present owner is informed about how important the box (which doesn't radiate magic) is and that it never be opened, and is monetarily compensated for watching it so defenses can be built and maintained, along with some extra for the trouble. Due to a series of bad business decisions and bad luck, Sadoc has lost most of his money and influence. As he has no heirs, he was traveling to Ogmore to entrust the box to a cousin of his when it was stolen. Though they failed to retrieve the box, he was appreciative of the party's willingness to risk their lives to help him retrieve it, and gave them each 250 GP (originally I'd intended for him to stay with the caravan and offer a 500 GP reward for the return of the box, but as I mentioned the players wanted to bring him along.) This is where we stopped.