Newb DM Mistakes

[Black_Zawisza]

In your experience DMing or playing, what mistakes have you frequently found with newbie DMs? I'm currently preparing a homebrew campaign setting, I've never DMed before, and I'd like to know some methods by which I could make the play experience more fun and avoid making it less fun.

Thanks!

[VGLordR2]

Don't try to improvise the campaign. Spend a lot of time developing your story, setting, and NPC's. You may think that you can think it all up on the spot, but it's harder than it sounds. The players are very good at doing exactly what you don't want them to do.
Ninja white text!
Try to make the battles more interesting. Add terrain features and descriptions. Also, don't set your monsters to auto-attack; have them move around and give the PC's a challenge.

For your first time, I would limit the material to the core books, unless you are very familiar with various splats.
More white ninja text!
Always take a close look at your PC's character sheets. Talk with them beforehand and make sure they're not doing anything too overpowered.

Be careful distributing wealth. Players like to get a lot of treasure, but don't overdo it. Use the Wealth By Level chart to figure out about how much loot you should be dispensing.

Try to keep a good balance between roleplay and combat. Player's like a good amount of both.

Finally, try to do whatever will make the game more fun. That's the most important thing to keep in mind.

[Tyndmyr]

Rules mods before even using the rules.

Frankly, if you've never DMed, your ability to change the right rules to the right things is...minimal.

Also, biting off more than you can chew for your first attempt.

Nobody starts out a master at things, regardless of the topic. Get your feet wet by taking on one thing at a time...read up on the rules beforehand, make use of prepubbed material initially, ask your players for feedback...and don't sweat it if you make a mistake or two. That's ok. Learn from it, and change so it won't arise in the future.

[Novawurmson]

A few of my own noob DM mistakes:

1. Not reading through monster/NPC stat blocks carefully enough. There's nothing like smacking your head after a session and saying "It had damage reduction 10/silver?! No wonder they killed it so fast!"

2. Try to stick close to the book for your first few sessions; avoid houseruling unless you've played extensively and deeply understand how the game works.

3. Avoid having a large party if at all possible. It's hard enough corraling 3-4 people (even if they're friends), never mind 5-7. Big campaigns can wait until you've got your feet under you.

4. Play in a space that you control and/or feel comfortable in, such as your own home. Playing in your player's homes invites incredible distraction.

5. Make sure every player is engaged in the story and having fun (though what "fun" means changes from player to player). Most people appreciate a mixture of action, RP, and noncombat situations.

6. Look at your player's character sheets! This can help you avoid tons of rules mistakes ("Feats? What are feats?") or open up opportunities for you. Try to see your player's strengths and weaknesses; if a player takes Cleave, make sure some combats have multiple targets. If a player takes Disable Device, make sure there's a trap here and there. Every once in a while, throw something at them that they're not prepared for and will have to work around ("NOBODY took ranks in Swim? Hrm...Can we go around the river?")

7. A follow-up to the above: It's OK to stray outside the core rulebooks for your first campaign, but only if you have time to read over the rules they'll be using and truly understand them.

8. Quick thinking is a skill you'll develop over time. Don't worry if once or twice a session you have to say, "That was a creative way of getting past that obstacle that I'm completely unprepared to deal with. Let's take a 5-10 minute break while I figure out what should happen."

[killem2]

Make a flow chart for the session you are going to have vs the time you have to play.

Once you know the time you have to fill, you can build around that. It is very important to know what your players like to do. If you are lucky you'll get a group full of hack and slashers :D.

If not, there are a billion and half campaigns out there to use.

My first mistake was making this world map of my own, with all these cities, that I slowly began to realize became kind of pointless. Just know what you have to use and prepare for your players to throw wrenches into any plans you might have for them.

Do make sure you do the wealth right as well as expierence. I tend to let them have treasure asap, and experience at the end of the session. I also give the group 30 mins at the beginning of each session to get used to their character again (we only play once a month though).


Miniatures and battle grids, these make combat so much more exciting. I personally think our games would be dull as hell if we didn't have something to show the lay out. Battlegrids are very easy to make, go to a fabric store, get as big as you need, it must be vinyl. Then get a plethora of WET ERASE markers so you can mark up things like auras, or perhaps light sources, terrain changes, ect.

If you really have the money, you can make an amazing grid with an hour in a local hobby lobby or other craft store.

Only allow content you can easily access watch for.

Also it is very good to know your groups characters in and out, so you can make checks they will be subject to with out having to go "ok you and you make this check" sometimes, its fun to spring stuff like that on them so they can't metagame out of it. Use their sheets to mock up battles you will be putting them through.

never just make an encounter with out testing it. It might be too hard it might be too easy. You want it to be awesome!

Oh and despite what others will say, don't be afraid to have DMPC. :smallbiggrin:



Oh and bookmark this:

http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator/

[Telok]

Never assume that PCs will back down from a fight.

I've seen people dis kings, shoot at cops, attack armies, and try to ambush space marines with converted mining robots. It ends badly.

Try to set up situations where characters already respect or like the authority and don't threaten them, no matter how in character or appropriate the threat is. You need to assume that the first instinct of the players is going to be to attack anything that they think might be a threat. Don't count on them realizing that they are out numbered or out gunned, they don't realize that.

[Rallicus]

Don't try to improvise the campaign. The players are very good at doing exactly what you don't want them to do.

... So your solution would be to, what, force them on the rails? Isn't the fact that "players are very good at doing exactly what you don't want them to do" the exact reason why you should improvise?

Best advice, OP, is this:

Have fun, and make sure everyone else is having fun too.

Everything else comes second.

[SSGoW]

Every time I tried to go "by the book" for a game when I first started DMing it lead to disaster...

When I improvised however ... Things went smoother and was a lot more fun.

It all depends on your style *shrug*

[Invader]

... So your solution would be to, what, force them on the rails? Isn't the fact that "players are very good at doing exactly what you don't want them to do" the exact reason why you should improvise?

Best advice, OP, is this:

Have fun, and make sure everyone else is having fun too.

Everything else comes second.

I think what he meant was be prepared for everything because if you think you can improvise your basic concept the payers will inevitably make it really hard.

Regards, its much more constructive than "just have fun". The OP specifically asked for pitfalls he could avoid and WAYS to make the campaign more enjoyable as obviously no one is playing D&D to be miserable and have an awful time.

[Togo]

hm...

Use monsters from the monster manual. They may look less 'exotic' than those from an obscure sourcebook, but they're classics for a reason, and the chances are high that the players won't be all that familiar with them.

Most campaigns go off the rails at the point where the DM assumes that that the players will act in a particular way (i.e. rationally). Make sure, at each point, you have some kind of idea of what will happen if they go the wrong way, or do the wrong thing. Don't throw monsters at them to push them back on track - PCs spend their lives actively seeking out monsters and being attracted to danger, and this will encourage them to go off on a tangent more often.

Look at the players character sheets. Check the really obvious stuff like do the numbers add up (you'd be amazed) and whether you understand all the powers. If not, ask the player to explain. You'll need to work it out some time.

Once you understand the PCs capabilties, try and ensure that there is an encounter or scene that showcases some of those capabilities. Try to ensure at least one for each player. Most of these won't come off, but they'll be fun for the player when they do.

When planning an encounter, work out what you expect the monsters to do in their first round. This saves time during combat.

When designing an encounter, make sure you understand why the monster is difficult. Some are very damaging, but not very tough(e.g.cats). More are tough, but not terribly damaging (e.g.zombies). Some rely on special attacks to be dangerous. The DMG has some interesting classifications here.

Don't be afraid to reuse monsters, particularly if there is a good story reason for them to be there.

Players who claim to only like combat, or only like roleplaying encounters, often enjoy a change of pace. Mix and match your encounters to taste

Create a fight scene that can be 'dropped in' anywhere, either if you get stuck, or to provide a clue as to what to do.

Don't let players save money by roleplaying haggling with employers and shopkeepers unless you want to spend a significant % of the game roleplaying haggling.

[Slipperychicken]

Don't let players save money by roleplaying haggling with employers and shopkeepers unless you want to spend a significant % of the game roleplaying haggling.

Although I don't have experience GMing, I second this. I have watched a number of "haggling scenes" play out for better or worse, and it just doesn't add anything to the game for me. PCs will do anything they can to maximize their yield from shopkeeps, including intimidation and even murder if they think they can get away from it. I have seen one and exactly one shopkeep conversation which added something to the game, but it was absolutely the exception.

On that note, don't let PCs steal from the Magic Mart (extreme magical defenses?), especially after the shopkeep hands them the +5 Epic Sword of Awesome for "testing". It will end badly.

I would go farther and suggest not playing shopkeep conversations, other than maybe a Diplomacy roll or something to see if they saved 10%, as per Complete Adventurer. Also, the following seems to be a good suggestion, written in those very rules.


Complete Adventurer, Haggling
The DM is the final arbiter of any sale of goods and
should discourage abuse of this option if it is slowing the
game down too much.

[GnomeGninjas]

Don't make any invincible npcs for any reason.

[Gavinfoxx]

Don't make any invincible npcs for any reason.

This!

Always have at least a vague idea of what would happen should the PC's successfully kill / obliterate / woo / seduce / co-opt / get on their side / get to give up their plans / join up with any important npc, ESPECIALLY your BBEG.

[rweird]

Don't force the players to take the plot, offer them something interesting, and if they don't take it, deal with it, they'll probably come back after a wild goose chase. Tie it into the plot if you can, or at least make it look tied in. If they just don't want to go back, don't make them, they probably don't like the plot and weren't having fun with it. However, remember, if they abandon something halfway through, the BBEG isn't done with them, and there employer may not be to happy, and depending on moral standings might send someone to stop them from possibly sharing the news, or just make trouble if they have connections. Though if the PCs don't take it after that, forget about the plot, you could try reintroducing it later, or you could just do a dungeon crawl (Get a random dungeon generator, search it you'll find at least one.) until next session when you've planned something else.

[slaydemons]

my personal issue was biting off more then I could chew, if you have been a player before and your with experienced players then you don't need to worry about what I had to worry about.

making sure everyone knew how to take their turns, how spells precisely work (I ruled them to basically just go off on the start of your next turn.)

and while you can prepare for somethings, improvisation can be good as long as you have a general idea of what your story is and can give them good hooks to lead them back into your story.

and last but not least if you are completely new along with your friends and your impatient friend wants to play the wizard for high damage steer them towards other things that involve less book work more smashy fun. because that happened to me and he didn't read anything or didn't even attempt to learn.

[UndeadCleric]

Sorry, I'm not super definitive, but it largely depends on the group and you as a DM.

I personally don't make plans. Ever. It never works out well, and I end up needing to improvise anyways, though that could be because I let my players do whatever they want. They recently even took over the main town they've encountered and befriended all 3 factions in it.

Because of how chaotically my group behaves, I go into each session ready to improvise everything. This technique works for me but very few people can pull it off since it requires good improvising skills and great memory to keep everything in your game world consistent.

[Rejakor]

1. Know your world, not your plot. Knowing a plot leaves you completely out of your depth the first time the PCs think of something you haven't. Knowing the world, that is, the places, npcs, creatures, that the players will or might interact with, lets you plot out their reactions, if necessary add extra elements to keep up that level of suspense and danger that you want, and at the same time give the PCs complete creative freedom.

2. Encourage people to think of the world as real. Nothing will make your players more invested in, interested in, and excited by their PCs and actions than seeing those actions affecting the world. Have everything have consequences, as far as you can go without breaking versimilitude. Have the world react, to the PCs. That said, don't forget, the PCs are the stars of the show, not the world, keep the spotlight on them as much as possible.

3. Keep the spotlight on the PCs. Your NPCs may be epic, but the point of DMing is to create a great game experience for the players. If they like to watch you roleplay or listen to the crazy antics of the npcs, that's great, but you should still strive to keep the focus of the game on them, and their actions.

4. Avoid PC grandstanding, power grabbing, etc. It's an unfortunate thing to have in this list, but some people are *****. And they want their PC to be the best, to the point that they'll ignore rules, try to use social power to get what they want 'but my dwarf would TOTALLY make that jump''can I use the creeper to make a rope? sure. Okay, I bridge the 1000' chasm, and walk across before the magma elementals arrive in a minute's time', or just sit there waffling on and on and on about the lapels of the velvet suit their elf just bought. Move it along, quietly but firmly enforce the rules you've decided on, and move the spotlight onto other people if someone is stealing it too much.

5. Keep the game moving - if the party is stymied, introduce a new element after waiting to see if they'll twig to anything on their own. Never have only one way to achieve any particular goal (a good guideline is 3 sets of 3, which I took from the alexandrian's 3 clue rule). If people are getting distracted by other stuff out of game, either call a break or get them to pay attention. Try to design combats that will be pretty snappy and not long and bogged down (multiple smaller enemies/threats actually does this better than one big monster, thanks to the way HP works). In PbP, this means not waiting for everyone to post before you post the results of what other people are doing/move the scene along. Thanks to the way people check posts and write posts, it is far better to be moving the scene along with a few people than waiting for one or two players until everyone loses interest and the whole thing slows to a crawl and then a halt. In combat, just NPC people after some predetermined time period.

6. Try to get a group of players together who complement each others' playing style. On PbP, you can look at the roleplaying history of people and see the ones who have a long strong history and who work well with others (instead of grandstanding or whatever) and who will work well with you (and the style of game you want to run) and pick those (or invite them if they don't apply). IRL, it requires social engineering skills, but is still very possible. Having good, contributing, roleplaying players keeps games alive while you scrabble around looking for interesting things to make for the players to interact with.

There's more, but i'm sleepy, so you don't get them, sorry.

[robertbevan]

Don't force the players to take the plot,

i'll second this, though i don't personally follow it. (i'm a crappy DM) i once had the party get their beer poisoned in a tavern. someone said something about not drinking any beer. another one said something about a saving throw vs. poison. i said "screw all that. you all pass out and wake up on the deck of a ship."


here's another one. the battle royale. i don't know how common it is, but it's certainly a mistake, and one which i've made more than once. (i'm a crappy DM) the first time i had the party find their way into the basement of this vampire dude. he had like twenty cages containing all sorts of exotic animals. there was a series of levers on one of the walls, which, if pulled in the wrong order (or at all) would release all of the animals at once. in my imagination, it was awesome. total bedlam. in practice, it was the players watching me roll a bunch of dice while all of the animals attacked each other.
so yeah, if you've got a big battle planned out, make sure that most of the turns involve at least one of the players is actually involved in what's going on.

[Fitz10019]

The players will think of things you haven't. Be open to letting them attempt things with a skill role. Always decide the DC of the skill check before the d20 is rolled.
[A mistake I've made is asking for the roll before I've decided, and if the roll is a 1 or a 20, that's not a problem; when the roll is 7-13, and you didn't decide the DC in advance, now you're directly deciding on their success, which is not how this game supposed to work.]

Don't decide on a solution for every problem. Make problems, and be open-minded about the players' solutions.

In your notes, associate each NPC with an actor or character (James T. Kirk, J. Jonah Jameson, Baldric, Sopowitz, Al Bundy, etc.) to help you portray each one with it's own flavor.

[rweird]

Another thing I recommend, don't use rule 0 excepts for messed up rules like drowning, and in those, propose the change and ask the player's opinion, come to an agreement.

[Grail]

It is not the role of the DM to kill the characters. DM and Players are co-operatively trying to build a narrative. If the DM thinks he has to be actively trying to kill off the characters it won't end well. By all means, play the monsters tough, but play them fair.

It is not the role of the DM to give the characters a free ride. Conversely to the first point, as a DM you shouldn't let them defeat every enemy with simple, boring tactics. Make them think.

It is not the role of the DM to protect characters from the players stupidity. If the characters want to try and take on that epic level sorcerer when they're only 5th level, whomp them. You can always have the enemy only soundly thrash them and send them off with their tails between their legs, but don't really ***** foot around it.

Do not be ridiculously generous with magic items. The players won't appreciate anything if it comes too easily. They will also begin to expect every encounter to give them a monty's haul of goodies.

Do not break the continuity of your story for any reason. Players will pick up on it quickly and it will immediately dispel the illusion of disbelief. If you loose the players it will be hard to get them back.

Do not force the players against their will to follow the plot. The more you struggle to bind them, the harder they'll struggle to resist. Give them a plot that they want to follow. This can be hard at first, because it requires you to know your players, but you can often bait them with things that they want.

Do not get upset when players diverge from the game and talk about non-game related stuff. If this happens, embrace it (at least occasionally, tell a joke or an anecdote and then try to steer the group back to the game). If you try to limit out of game commentary/discussions completely from the gaming table, you will risk turning the game into a chore, and then the players won't enjoy the game and then you can lose them, both mentally and physically. By no means however allow the sessions to be completely overrun with tangential or completely irrelevant discussion. If you embrace it occasionally, you can control it.

Hope they help.

[sonofzeal]

Don't try to improvise the campaign. Spend a lot of time developing your story, setting, and NPC's. You may think that you can think it all up on the spot, but it's harder than it sounds. The players are very good at doing exactly what you don't want them to do.
By contrast, you can use exactly the same argument in the other direction. Planning too much impares your ability to adapt as needed, and since the players are so good at breaking out of the box, chances are a whole lot of your plans will be worthless.

I tend to err on the side of improv. I sketch an outline, prepare several encounters I expect the PCs to have, and have the names and personalities of NPCs ready. But if the PCs decide to root around in the forest the whole session instead of talking to the mayor, I haven't lost much and can probably adapt. The goblins that were going to attack town might be camped in the forest with the same stats, and the town healer who has important information might be out drawing water from the well. Whatever. Roll with it.

I know others who literally have hundreds of NPC statblocks. They legitimately enjoy that kind of massive prepping, and it does have its advantages, but I think my way does too. Find the approach that's best for you.

[VGLordR2]

By contrast, you can use exactly the same argument in the other direction. Planning too much impares your ability to adapt as needed, and since the players are so good at breaking out of the box, chances are a whole lot of your plans will be worthless.

I tend to err on the side of improv. I sketch an outline, prepare several encounters I expect the PCs to have, and have the names and personalities of NPCs ready. But if the PCs decide to root around in the forest the whole session instead of talking to the mayor, I haven't lost much and can probably adapt. The goblins that were going to attack town might be camped in the forest with the same stats, and the town healer who has important information might be out drawing water from the well. Whatever. Roll with it.

I know others who literally have hundreds of NPC statblocks. They legitimately enjoy that kind of massive prepping, and it does have its advantages, but I think my way does too. Find the approach that's best for you.

I suppose I didn't phrase my comment well enough. You are absolutely right; improv is essential, and often unavoidable. What I meant to say is that you shouldn't try to improvise the setting, NPC's, and other general things. You should prepare for your campaign enough that any improvisation is supported. I have had three DM's who thought they could come in and improvise everything; every time a combat arose, they had to spend five minutes googling monsters, and any time an NPC was introduced, the name would be something like Person McMan. It's good to at least set up a few things that the players could run into, in order to keep the game interesting.

[sonofzeal]

I suppose I didn't phrase my comment well enough. You are absolutely right; improv is essential, and often unavoidable. What I meant to say is that you shouldn't try to improvise the setting, NPC's, and other general things. You should prepare for your campaign enough that any improvisation is supported. I have had three DM's who thought they could come in and improvise everything; every time a combat arose, they had to spend five minutes googling monsters, and any time an NPC was introduced, the name would be something like Person McMan. It's good to at least set up a few things that the players could run into, in order to keep the game interesting.
I've not run into that sort. Instead, I've seen DMs who plan extensively, and then get furious when players react unexpectedly.

There's definitely a balance to be found.

[sol_kanar]

Never say "no" to player actions. Instead, try to say "yes, but..." as much as possible. One of the several advantages of tabletop roleplaying vs computer games, is that there are no "invisible walls" or "rails". Your players don't have to pick from a limited amount of options, they can do everything! :-) Play along with what your players want to do, try to make them satisfied. If they always hear "you can't do that", they might get a little bit frustrated, depending on the person; but if they hear "yes, you can do that, BUT you know that it's hard and requires a successful Jump check and then a difficult Strength check", normally the response is better, at least in my experience.

Want to kill the king? Yes, but watch out for the bodyguards! You will have to distract and/or defeat them first.
Found a smart way to eliminate the supposedly recurring villain? Yes, but you will find a scroll of paper in his pockets, hinting that he was just a pawn for something more sinister.
Wanna jump over the really large crevice? Yes, but your armor will slow you down. Maybe, if you leave it here...

Prepare to improvise. One useful thing is always having a small sub-quest that can be put everywhere, so the PCs will have something to do even if they get completely off-track. You can find thousands of small ideas in this very same forums.

Background hooks. I found extremely useful asking the players to incorporate a small hook in their backgrounds. For example, "your character might be whoever you like, but he should have an important reason to go to that city". If the characters share a common goal, it's easier to keep them interested and plan ahead the adventures. You could also exploit their hooks to develop the plot of your campaign.

Have fun! :-)

[Greyfeld85]

Never assume that PCs will back down from a fight.

I've seen people dis kings, shoot at cops, attack armies, and try to ambush space marines with converted mining robots. It ends badly.

Try to set up situations where characters already respect or like the authority and don't threaten them, no matter how in character or appropriate the threat is. You need to assume that the first instinct of the players is going to be to attack anything that they think might be a threat. Don't count on them realizing that they are out numbered or out gunned, they don't realize that.

Alternatively, early on you can teach the players that a healthy dose of fear will keep them from getting killed. Throwing them against something they can't kill, and having it nearly 1-shot one of them in the first round of combat is a good way to put the fear into your players.

I'm running a PBP campaign right now, and I made sure to teach my players that sometimes the best way to deal with an encounter is to run away by pitting them against something that nearly tore them apart in the first couple rounds of combat. They didn't die, but they now know that they can't just run in, guns blazing, and expect to pick everything apart.

[Slipperychicken]

Another thing I recommend, don't use rule 0 excepts for messed up rules like drowning, and in those, propose the change and ask the player's opinion, come to an agreement.

This. If you use it too much, your players will quickly get disillusioned and start to say things like "Sure I would try that. I know my skills are high enough, and the rules permit it, but the DM would just bulls*** it to fail because he's an ***", and that kind of thinking kills creativity, and is exactly the reason we have rules in the first place. I spent months learning this ruleset, so my GM damn well better use it, or else declare we're playing another game entirely.

Don't Rule 0 magic wolf-people who can jump 30ft in the air and kill a phantom steed (moving at ~30mph) out from under you without rolling.

Don't give an NPC a homebrew Breastplate of Magic Immunity.

Don't houserule Combat Reflexes to give you a Full Attack for every AoO.

Do not houserule all Critical hits to be auto-hits (only natural 20s are auto-hits). Do not houserule Criticals to auto-confirm. Do not houserule crit-range increases to stack. All these restrictions exist for a reason.

Don't let someone use Fascinate to inspire people to violence against each other. It does not work that way, it never has, and above all, it shouldn't work that way.

Just because people laugh at a rules change suggestion, that does not make it a good idea. Actually, that usually means it's an awful idea. One of my GMs makes this mistake far too often. :smallfurious:

[robertbevan]

Don't houserule Combat Reflexes to give you a Full Attack for every AoO.

Do not houserule all Critical hits to be auto-hits (only natural 20s are auto-hits). Do not houserule Criticals to auto-confirm. Do not houserule crit-range increases to stack. All these restrictions exist for a reason.


so are you opposed to having any house rules at all? i mean, all of the rules in restrictions are in the game for a reason.

my group houseruled that sneak attack damage gets multiplied in a critical hit. we've been playing that way for about three years now, and it's been fun.

[Pyromancer999]

Prepare to improvise Rule of Tabletop Gaming #4(or at least it's number in my handbook): Players will always do unexpected things. Be prepared to adapt.

Going on that,

Be prepared to adapt to the group. I've DMed a few games, and I've had to adapt to my group. For example, while most DMs and groups go for a large overarching storyline, I did mine more episodically for a group I had for a year. Why? Because most of the group was stressed out, and really didn't want to have to remember a huge, or even not-so-huge, overarching storyline. So I did my best to adapt to that.

Be prepared to house rule Things will happen that will not always be covered in the rulebooks or are borderline, so you will have to make a call on at least a few things.

Reward creativity Not in game-breaking ways, but one example I like to use is this:

My group was having trouble facing a creature that I'd put up against them. All of a sudden, the duskblade of the party asked if he could try to climb the walls, if the party would distract the creature for him. I ruled yes, but he would have to make Move Silently and Climb checks the whole way. After he'd reached the top, the party had wore the creature down, but it had almost got them finished. I was considering reducing the creature's HP by a lot so that they could escape when it came to the duskblade's turn. He fell from the top of the ceiling of the dungeon onto the creature, then cast a spell on impact. I decided that since this was an amazing thing I had not considered he'd do, not only did I max out the damage he did, but to also treat it as a touch attack, as he was directly touching the creature. It didn't completely destroy the creature, but the rogue was able to take it down on his next turn, making it a good old 1-2. So, the party escaped and got a memorable experience out of it.

[sonofzeal]

This. If you use it too much, your players will quickly get disillusioned and start to say things like "Sure I would try that. I know my skills are high enough, and the rules permit it, but the DM would just bulls*** it to fail because he's an ***", and that kind of thinking kills creativity, and is exactly the reason we have rules in the first place. I spent months learning this ruleset, so my GM damn well better use it, or else declare we're playing another game entirely.

Don't Rule 0 magic wolf-people who can jump 30ft in the air and kill a phantom steed (moving at ~30mph) out from under you without rolling.

Don't give an NPC a homebrew Breastplate of Magic Immunity.

Don't houserule Combat Reflexes to give you a Full Attack for every AoO.

Do not houserule all Critical hits to be auto-hits (only natural 20s are auto-hits). Do not houserule Criticals to auto-confirm. Do not houserule crit-range increases to stack. All these restrictions exist for a reason.

Don't let someone use Fascinate to inspire people to violence against each other. It does not work that way, it never has, and above all, it shouldn't work that way.

Just because people laugh at a rules change suggestion, that does not make it a good idea. Actually, that usually means it's an awful idea. One of my GMs makes this mistake far too often. :smallfurious:
On the other hand, I'd recommend not feeling too slavishily devoted to the books, especially where monsters are concerned. Orcs may have certain stats, but your Grath'nuul tribe might be somewhat different. Do keep it in reason though, and if you're going to change something to specifically make life harder for the PCs, at least have the decency to foreshadow it first.

[Slipperychicken]

so are you opposed to having any house rules at all? i mean, all of the rules in restrictions are in the game for a reason.

my group houseruled that sneak attack damage gets multiplied in a critical hit. we've been playing that way for about three years now, and it's been fun.

Not at all, there are many houserules I accept. You just have to think about them very carefully. I think the SA damage being multiplied is fine. It's just that the crit-rules I mentioned were severely overpowering in combination with each other. Imagine your NPCs automatically hitting (and dealing x4 damage) on any roll from 12-20. That eats through your hp like a 4-year-old with candy, bringing you from triple digits to single digits with one full attack.

Basically, Rule 0 is there for a reason, but don't abuse it, or lean on it too heavily when you don't have to.

[robertbevan]

Not at all, there are many houserules I accept. You just have to think about them very carefully. I think the SA damage being multiplied is fine. It's just that the crit-rules I mentioned were severely overpowering in combination with each other. Imagine your NPCs automatically hitting (and dealing x4 damage) on any roll from 12-20.

Basically, Rule 0 is there for a reason, but don't abuse it, or lean on it too heavily when you don't have to.

i'm sorry. forgive my ignorance. what is this "rule 0" that you guys are talking about?

[Slipperychicken]

i'm sorry. forgive my ignorance. what is this "rule 0" that you guys are talking about?

Rule Zero is: "What the GM says, goes". Basically, that the GM is the final arbiter of what happens in-game.


Example: If the GM says there's a two-headed bear monster standing in front of you, there is. Don't worry about the logical implications of having two heads, roll with it.

[rweird]

This. If you use it too much, your players will quickly get disillusioned and start to say things like "Sure I would try that. I know my skills are high enough, and the rules permit it, but the DM would just bulls*** it to fail because he's an ***", and that kind of thinking kills creativity, and is exactly the reason we have rules in the first place. I spent months learning this ruleset, so my GM damn well better use it, or else declare we're playing another game entirely.

Don't Rule 0 magic wolf-people who can jump 30ft in the air and kill a phantom steed (moving at ~30mph) out from under you without rolling.

Don't give an NPC a homebrew Breastplate of Magic Immunity.

Don't houserule Combat Reflexes to give you a Full Attack for every AoO.

Do not houserule all Critical hits to be auto-hits (only natural 20s are auto-hits). Do not houserule Criticals to auto-confirm. Do not houserule crit-range increases to stack. All these restrictions exist for a reason.

Don't let someone use Fascinate to inspire people to violence against each other. It does not work that way, it never has, and above all, it shouldn't work that way.

Just because people laugh at a rules change suggestion, that does not make it a good idea. Actually, that usually means it's an awful idea. One of my GMs makes this mistake far too often. :smallfurious:

I mean things like Drowning, EX: A Huge Water elemental pulled the parties rogue underwater, he begins to drown, the party finishes it and the cleric casts Water Breathing on the Rogue, the cleric can heal him up and he'll be fine, right. By RAW, wrong. He begins drowning and even though he can breathe the water in his lungs, he still would drown, once you start, you can't stop. I said don't use rule 0 excepts for cases like that, your running on a phantom steed, the wolf people can't keep up, let them fall behind, let the party escape, if you provoke an AoO, you only get one attack, those rules aren't disfunctional, use them. Don't use make people that get Waterbreathing while drowning drown. (At least not until the duration expires)

I had a DM like that too, I hated it, hence me saying you shouldn't use Rule 0 to do things like what you described, though D&D has disfunctional rules, the famous one being monks aren't proficient with unarmed strikes, don't let that happen.

[Greyfeld85]

I'm going to also put my vote in on say yes to your players, with the corrollary that you know when to say no.

Example: One of my players was in a pinch of a situation where a seacat was getting ready to tear into her. Even though she's a warlock, she didn't have any ranks in Intimidate, but she did have a few ranks in Handle Animal (some misunderstandings during character creation that I decided to roll with, don't ask). Trying to figure out how to deal with the situation, she asked if she could use Handle Animal to make an Intimidate check. Considering the rules already use HA to make Diplomacy checks against animals, I said, "Sure, why not?" It didn't break the game, and the player was happy with the result.

However, one of my other players, being a rules lawyer, decided that he would try to use my goodwill to exploit what I'd allowed the first player to do. I had to tell this player, "No," at least three times before he would drop it.

Allowing a player to do something they couldn't normally do by the rules because it fits the situation and fits the "rule of fun" is why you say yes to your players. But when one of them is willing to exploit that exception, that's when you have to put your foot down and be the rules arbiter.

[Endarire]

Challenging 3.5 and Pathfinder Parties in Practice (http://antioch.snow-fall.com/~Endarire/DnD/Challenging%203.5%20and%20Pathfinder%20Parties%201 %2031%2011.doc)

I also emphasize preparation! When I was writing The Metaphysical Revolution (http://campbellgrege.com/), I had the great urge to skip ahead and try filling in the blanks. Turns out that writing things in a logical order has great benefits, such as having a solid foundation in one part allowed me to have cohesive story and spiffiness in subsequent parts. Also, writing that module took 5 months for 5 sessions, but it got even the most obnoxious player to shut up and listen. Also, the reclusive player was really into the story and history.

[Frog Dragon]

This. If you use it too much, your players will quickly get disillusioned and start to say things like "Sure I would try that. I know my skills are high enough, and the rules permit it, but the DM would just bulls*** it to fail because he's an ***", and that kind of thinking kills creativity, and is exactly the reason we have rules in the first place. I spent months learning this ruleset, so my GM damn well better use it, or else declare we're playing another game entirely.

Don't Rule 0 magic wolf-people who can jump 30ft in the air and kill a phantom steed (moving at ~30mph) out from under you without rolling.

Don't give an NPC a homebrew Breastplate of Magic Immunity.

Don't houserule Combat Reflexes to give you a Full Attack for every AoO.

Do not houserule all Critical hits to be auto-hits (only natural 20s are auto-hits). Do not houserule Criticals to auto-confirm. Do not houserule crit-range increases to stack. All these restrictions exist for a reason.

Don't let someone use Fascinate to inspire people to violence against each other. It does not work that way, it never has, and above all, it shouldn't work that way.

Just because people laugh at a rules change suggestion, that does not make it a good idea. Actually, that usually means it's an awful idea. One of my GMs makes this mistake far too often. :smallfurious:

Might this be personal experience?

I actually have one of those houserules listed. I houserule criticals to auto-confirm. I only do so in real-time games. I recognize that it doesn't much impact balance, and is not a balancing houserule.

I do it because we never remember to roll the damn things in the first place.

Apart from that one, I can agree on the houseruling thing. I used to have a bunch of crappy houserules. I actually abandoned one houserule midgame because I realized that it was a really crappy rule. I still use houserules, but they've been streamlined and altered since then, through 3 games.

So I guess I'm saying that you shouldn't try to "rebalance" casters with spell failure rate rules if you're still in the stage where multiclass XP penalties seem like a good idea.

[Andorax]

Biggest suggestion I have?

Keep coming back. Don't expect to get all the right and true answers here out of this one thread. If you have a specific issue, bring it here and ask us.

To that end, take some time after each session to jot down some notes about what happened, what worked and what didn't. It'll be useful to you, and useful to help formulate questions here.

[WarKitty]

Ask the players what kind of game they want and make sure that everyone knows what they can and can't do - not just RAW-wise. That said, feel free to add in some parts just because you like them.

[Fluffy_1.0]

New DMs plan too much. Gotta go with the flow man.

Fudge HP, saves, etc. Don't stat mooks , just make them appropriately challenging blobs of HP, saves, and the like, adjusting as fits the narrative. Remember it's about the experience of the thing not the substance. So focus more on how they attack, how they act, their motivations, their performance, not on the stats. Do however have a basic plot and stat bosses and challenging encounters. Basically maximize useful work, minimize useless work.

Also, I find a new DM's plots are inflexible. Think of it like a tapestry that you and your group is weaving, you guide the motion and provide the backdrop, but the weaving of the story... well that is for them to do. Sure a nudge here or there is needed but in general let them do the work for you.

Anyways, that's my 2cp.

[robertbevan]

just make them appropriately challenging blobs of HP,

that made me laugh. i think you're probably right on that account though.

[Honest Tiefling]

1) Assume that at some point, your PCs will be run out of town and/or set it on fire. I really strongly urge alternate plothooks for when this happens.

2) Figure out what each PC can do, and what the player wants them to do. A team of 3.5 rogues probably don't want to do an undead crypt. Evil or neutral characters might need more motive to rescue the princess (And to actually return her)

3) If something is obvious in-character, tell the PCs. Not everyone new to DnD is going to assume undead, werewolves, or hags are evil.

4) The PCs will likely only get attached to NPCs you don't want them to get attached to. I've been more moved by a faceless wizard that got named by a random name generator then by other NPCs that I was meant to like.

5) Your ideas of good and evil will vary from your players (And to some degree, law and chaos). Either discuss it, or just roll with it.

[only1doug]

Ask your players, talk to them after each session and don't take any criticisms they may have as personal attacks. (maybe by e-mail)

Find their preffered playstyle and stick to it.

Should you fudge the fights to keep the PCs alive?
Initially you should avoid killing off the characters until everyone has the hang of playing. The best method to achieve this would be to start with small encounters and work your way up, then you'll know what the Players can handle and can balance better for them.

Later on you may find that you want to make the game dangerous, if the players know that you won't be shy about killing off their PCs then they will be much more focused on surviving combat encounters.

You might consider giving every player 1 "get out of death free card", that they can use if they want to.