First time DM, need help.

[xBlackWolfx]

I've been collecting various free tabletop rpgs on the net for years now, well I finnally found someone to play with me. Though of course I have a few issues.

One being that I've never actually played a tabletop rpg before, and I'm going to be the dungeon master, which I know will be vastly more complicated.

Oh, and just so we know, I'll probably be running basic fantasy, a retro-clone that borrows a few things from 3rd edition. I figured it would be the easiest to teach and run, for my first games ever.

The other problem is I only have one player, but all of the modules they have for basic fantasy are for a minimum of 2 players. I could create my own adventure, but I have no idea what would be a challenge for a lvl 1 character. My only DnD experience has been through the neverwinter nights games, and in those games you don't technically start the game until lvl 3, and even then you have an NPC or two following you around. Should I start my sister off at a higher level, or have an NPC controlled by me following her around to make thing easier for her? Note I have no idea yet what she's going to be playing.

I was thinking about a goblin-focused adventure, but looking at the math, it appears a single goblin is equivalent in power to most lvl 1 PCs, so that would obviously pose a few issues.

What should I do to prepare here?

[Toofey]

You can let the person play two characters. Or play one in fights and use them as an NPC to 'help' them along, but IMHO it'll be much better for you playing as the DM if there's more than one other player.

Focus on having fun, try to have read the PHB etc... all the way through, and that you're clear on how things will work, but it's not the end of the world if you need to figure some stuff out on the fly (that gets easier with experience)

Also, (and this is another my opinion of how things work thing) maintain control of the rules. You are the decider of HOW THINGS WORK. I think rule zero is a powerful tool but you have to remember it's there to make sure you can keep the game moving. This is not you are in control of what the players do, just how it gets resolved.

[xBlackWolfx]

I'll probably just have an NPC following her around that I control, she has no experience with tabletop rpgs what-so-ever, infact I dont think she's ever even seen one. I'll have an NPC following her around and play it out so it'll give her an idea as to what she's supposed to do.

My only player is my sister btw.

[DonEsteban]

You should probably have asked this question in the Roleplaying Games section. You system doesn't matter much anyway and you would likely (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264736) get (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195092) more (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256570) responses (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197044) there (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292254).

As you said, a single, weak enemy still has a chance to knock out the whole party and you want to avoid that. I suggest to keep fights to a minimum. The standard fight should be really easy (give opponents 1 hp or something) and only the boss fight should be tough. And make that clear to her, so she doesn't get overconfident.

Make sure that your NPC doesn't outshine her character. Make him somehow dependable on her's. Maybe he or she is a servant, or a bodyguard who is socially challenged or something. Just make sure that she's the one who decides where the action goes.

Welcome to roleplaying, btw! ;)

[Rhynn]

Retroclones assume a lot of things that are not always made explicit, and are no longer part of the paradigm for most other RPGs (especially D&D post-AD&D 2E), primarily that the party size regularly exceeds the number of players (which is assumed to be more in the 6-8 region than the more typical 3-5 region). Henchmen and hirelings are expected to round out the numbers (and to provide backup PCs when PCs inevitably die, especially at levels 1-3).

Also, in retroclones, combat is not the object, nor is it mandatory. It's expected, but not the point of the game; challenges can be overcome in many other ways. This is reinforced in OD&D/BECMI, and in most retroclones, by lethality and by awarding XP for treasure (something that, bizarrely, appears to be absent from the Basic Fantasy rules, at least on a glance at page 42). Treasure XP awards usually far outstrip potential combat XP (by 3:1 or 4:1), which means that cheating, sneaking around, distracting, scaring, bribing, fooling, recruiting, etc. the monsters is a much better idea than fighting them.

With a single player, you're pretty much going to have to start them off at level 3 or so; that gives some survivability and lets you use things like 1-2 orcs as an encounter. OR go heavy on the retainers OR on non-combat approaches to problems.

[Hopeless]

Make up a couple of npc's with one a cleric or carries a bandolier of healing potions.

Adventure wise:

1)Standard enter a catacomb encountering a goblin who flees inside revealing there's a lair of ghouls inside and an evil wizard who charmed the goblin as his servant.
You encounter a cleric whose killed in the fight with the wizard (showing how dangerous it is) and the PC will either kill the wizard or be charmed by the wizard to carry his gear outside before casting sleep on the PC and walking off.
The PC can return inside to recover the cleric and take them to the nearby church and receive a reward for their action or if they kill the wizard take the cleric back and learn what the wizard's loot consisted of.

2) Accompany a couple of npcs' on a rescue mission after a band of raiders kidnap some villagers. The PC tracked them to a lonely hilltop and using a hidden trail one of the npc's knows about clambers up to the top only learning as they reach the top that the raiders have broken into the casks they stoel from the village and are mostly drunk.
Provided they don't draw attention to themselves they have a perfect chance to reach the captives, free them and escort them back down the hill before the raiders (those not drunk) realise anything is wrong.

The plus with this one is that you can have the PC go back a couple of days later to discover evidence that the raiders' were apparently taken in recompense for losing their captives and the hilltop hides and underground catacomb worth taking a look at.

3) Your PC is hired to accompany a courier making a delivery to a remote monastery, during the trip they discover they're being hunted by a band of goblins with a couple of wargs.

During the trip they encounter a giant spider and an abandoned farm with evidence something dreadful happened there.

Depending on their actions they could spend several sessions on this until they reach the monastery to discover its been raided and investigating inside discover some of the monks have been reanimated as undead with evidence that someone freed an ancient evil hidden underneath the monastery and the group have to return home to pass on the warning with not only the goblins, that spider and maybe an ogre standing between them let alone the undead horde following after them...

The key to this one is ensure they know running away is always an option and sometimes two different enemies doesn't mean they'll team up against you although using them fighting to get away also works!

[Lorsa]

I don't know much about the system in question; but having one player can definitely work. Make sure the opposition isn't too strong if you "force" combat on the character and try to help her use things like stealth tactics. I once had a player who was a ranger in D&D 3.5 who by himself took down 8 orcs (two was out scouting, then he moved to their "base") by sneaking about in the woods and taking them out with the bow.

It's hard to give much specific advice as a lot has to do with experience and knowing how to set the right challenges. Having companion NPCs is definitely not something bad though, but you shouldn't force them on your player.

[xBlackWolfx]

Perhaps what I should do is stat out a character of my own, then just have it go 1v1 with various monsters a few times to see how the character handles.

I was thinking of just doing some mathematical equations to figure out how likely a PC is to beat a certain monster, but that would quite difficult to do so maybe I should just test-drive things myself, see exactly what my sister will be up against.

[Lorsa]

Perhaps what I should do is stat out a character of my own, then just have it go 1v1 with various monsters a few times to see how the character handles.

I was thinking of just doing some mathematical equations to figure out how likely a PC is to beat a certain monster, but that would quite difficult to do so maybe I should just test-drive things myself, see exactly what my sister will be up against.

Sounds like a plan!

[xBlackWolfx]

I'm going to have to ask her what she wants me to do about this, but I'll probably just start her off at a higher level, and recommend that she hire a retainer (aka mercenary). Not sure what lvl I should start her at though, I'm guessing 2 or 3 (3 seems to be popular in the neverwinter nights series).

[SomeRandomNPC]

I'd encourage you to not skip the lower levels. Don't make the first few sessions about the monsters. Low level is about self discovery and survival, Don't cheat yourself of the opportunity to feel out your world with simple exploration. Not all encounters need be lethal. Think of all the fun you could have with a hungry thief looking for her next meal or a novice cleric being used as a political tool by her superiors. How about an apprentice wizard tempted by his masters alluring son/daughter? Allow good decisions to pay off down the road and bad decisions force them to react to mellow consequences (aka chased by the town guards only to escape, booted out of the tavern, etc). No need to hurt or humiliate the player or character (you are here to have fun).

Never forget that you are telling a story and the player is a central character. Start with your player at the center and build around them. Create "prefabricated blocks" such as a list of NPC names (that you can pronounce), building layouts, the random clothing descriptions, weather conditions, ya know flavor stuff. Draw them in, allow them to build and them proactively challenge them. All of the important details will start to show up on their own. Just weave the story with the thread your players give you.

[xBlackWolfx]

I was also kinda wondering just how much I would have to flesh out the world before hand. From what I've heard, most DMs just make things up as they go along. But at the very least, I'd imagine I would need a map of the country and some pre-made NPCs.

I also thinking about having her play out her character's training, as in having her spar with someone, just to give her an idea how just how lethal the game can be. But I don't like her doing nothing really useful for the first two or three levels, I imagine that would get rather boring.

[Hopeless]

Pick something you know and more importantly familiar to her.

Like for example some place you've both gone to like a park or mall and convert that into the site of your adventure, feel free to add anything that catches your eye since at this stage it doesn't have to be set in stone only that it make sense to you.

For example I take the train to work and could use that to dream up an Orient Express game which culminates in a fight atop the train to prevent it heading into the station and detonate a bomb in the engine cabin (Eberron Comic special is where that idea came from!).

Does she has some favourite toy or pet?

Introduce that as a character make it a little pony if you want and state its now her mule or horse, perhaps the toy assumes the role of one of the npc's so it means something more to her and can relate to making the game more enjoyable for her.

Sorry I'm probably wandering all over the place at this point how about you suggest what you'd like to run specifically the background you fancy for your game setting?

[xBlackWolfx]

A highly generic fantasy setting, since this afterall is NOT my system. If I were to make my own system though, the setting would be mostly recognizable, but with a few quirks, mostly to replace things that I don't really care for about most other rpg fantasy settings. But for right now, I'm basically going to stick with the book.

The system I'm using is basic fantasy if you don't know that. It's available for free online, so you can take a glance at it yourself. I'm not going to use any of the supplements, that would make it a bit too complicated. Perhaps after we do this for a while, we may switch to DnD 3.x or pathfinder, or perhaps my own system if I ever finish it...

[Hopeless]

Create 5 or so characters, let her select one or create her own with 2-3 of the others as npcs working with her but leave those left unselected to serve as recurring nemesises (if they survive!) so they can spare her character if and when her group is defeated.

The original red box first game involved a test fight against a single goblin which fled inside once hit leading to an encounter with a giant snake that led to the first treasure found before meeting an npc cleric.
That would lead to the revelation of the ghouls lairing in the catacomb which the cleric turns so they head on to confront the goblin and his Wizard Master (Bargle for those of you who remember Mystara) and the cleric is killed fighting the wizard who either falls to the PCs sword or he succeeds in charming the fighter and leaves him unconscious once they leave the catacomb.
The PC ran back in to recover the cleric's body and returned her to her church who rewarded the PC with a healing potion (if they defeat the wizard they identify the potion the wizard carried as a potion of growth which was before anyone realised a Wizard meant a spellbook qualified as loot given how much those are worth!).

How about she's asked to retrieve a relic from an abandoned shrine however when they reach the shrine they find a couple of zombies wandering around but far enough apart that they can sneak in unseen as long as they don't pick a fight since that would draw the others.
Inside they discover a pool with a shattered statue partly submerged in the pool, approaching the statue's upper part animates asking them why they're there, if your Pc answers truthfully the statue hands them the scroll its holding which turns into a normal scrollcase once they accept it as well as an attached ring tied to one end on a string (make it clear the ring can be detached from the string).
However one of their comrades steals the scroll case and alerts the zombies as the unused characters come into play with them also fighting the zombies but fleeing as soon as they can.

Usually potions or rings are usually the first magical item found and depending on what you want in your game it could be a standard +1 ring of protection or something more obscure like a ring with protection from evil or bless that works only whilst its worn, although your player doesn't need to know what it can actually do!:smallwink:

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Try it, understand that you're both gonna get stuff wrong, and have fun. That's the most important set of instructions for playing. :smallsmile: I can honestly tell you that you'll figure out the rest as you go, and that a lot of stuff you wind up worried about isn't as big a deal as you might think.

[xBlackWolfx]

For loot, I was planning just rolling on the random loot charts for everything, unless she decided to play a magic-user, in which case i was going planning on her finding a spellbook with a few low-level spells that she could learn. But I guess it would help her out more if I gave her an item that would actually be useful to her.

[xBlackWolfx]

I got a question: how big should I make the world map? And I don't mean the actual of the map, I mean more how much distance should there be between cities and such? I'm planning on drawing the map on a hexagonal grid, with each hex representing a day of travel (which seems to be popular), but exactly how far apart are cities? In the modern age you can easily drive to another city in less than half an hour, though it may take you hours just to walk across a small 2,000-something population city like mine. I have no idea how long it should take for the PC(s) to get anywhere...

[Toofey]

Cities etc... are more spaced out than they used to be, also you don't need to play every day of a march (and like the strip jokes, most journeys end up being 1 random encounter long) I'd imagine that small town are a few days apart from each other but cities could be about a week from each other (iirc I tihnk phily to NYC is 5 days)

[xBlackWolfx]

I'm actually thinking that running basic fantasy may not be such a great idea.

People here keep telling me to not focus on combat so much, well that's pretty much all characters are in the system, hit points, attack bonus, AC, and wealth. Not to mention the system doesn't seem to have any rules as to how you're supposed to handle stealth skills for a character who ISNT a thief. I mean if you were just to do an ability check, a lvl 1 character can easily beat a thief as his own game in most cases (a lvl 1 character with no dexterity bonus would have a 15% chance of succeeding at a dexterity test, but the thief would only have a 10% chance of successfully hiding).

If I'm going to do this, I'm thinking I need to run DnD 3.5 or pathfinder, or just make my own game. Bc i'm finding basic fantasy to be far too limited.

[Rhynn]

OSR D&D retroclones are all about not having rules for most things; just the fact that Basic Fantasy includes thieves and thief skills means it's "extended", as OD&D didn't include those until one of the supplements. Your characters aren't defined by numbers for skills, traits, etc. (in OD&D, your ability scores had very little effect on anything; their importance steadily increased through the editions), but rather by decisions and deeds.

FWIW, stealth is easily handled by surprise checks. (ACKS does a great job of formalizing a system from this that is really nothing except explaining what the checks mean in context.) Move Silently and Hide in Shadows are not "sneaking" and "stealth". Every character can try to hide (in BECM, for instance, halflings are better at hiding in undergrowth than most thieves can ever hope to be), but thieves can hide in mere shadows; anyone can try to sneak and move quietly, but thieves can move silently. (Failing a MS or HiS test shouldn't mean being discovered, IMO; a regular surprise check should be made. Meanwhile, success at either should mean automatic surprise, where appropriate, or a chance at a backstab in combat.)

The other way to handle stealth - really equally important, IMO - is to just make it about decisions. Do you sneak along the walls or go straight across the courtyard with guards walking the walls? Do you think to leave back your heavy pack, sack of gold, and metal armor? Do you use a distraction or choose an opportune moment?

There's nothing wrong with skill-based systems - most of the games I play are skill-based - but ultimately skills exist to fairly settle arguments between people at the table over who can succeed at what. (Not that they do this unambiguously, especially in systems with circumstance modifiers or, worse, ad hoc modifiers or difficulties decided by the GM.) If the group has sufficient trust, and no one's trying to prevail over one another, such fair resolution isn't exactly necessary.

[Drakefall]

If you are looking for a new, easier system to try out might I recommend Warrior, Rogue & Mage?

It's a terribly simple system. Characters in the system have three attributes (Namely Warrior, Rogue and Mage). To accomplish a task you roll a d6 and add the relevant attribute, +2 if you have a skill that applies to what you are trying to do. That's about the gist of it. The core rulebook itself is only 40 pages long, and it's free, much like Basic Fantasy.

Admittedly, it doesn't have much in the way of rules for social interaction, assuming roleplaying without mechanics for such, but it is a rules light game and such is part of the design. If you feel you need such rules though, it's quite easy to make such a Mage roll and allow social focused skills such as Bluff and Negotiate or what have you.

Relevant Link (For I know not how to do that thing where you turn links into text. Woe unto me.):http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/warrior-rogue-mage/

[Rhynn]

If you want something fairly simple, self-contained, yet more robust, you could try RuneQuest 6 (http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/runequest.php), Mongoose's Legend (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/legend.html), or OpenQuest (http://d101games.com/books/openquest/). (That's pretty much their order of excellence. Frankly, OpenQuest would only be worth it if it were free... it's not bad at all, but if you're paying, you might as well pick the more robust and professional games.)

Skill-based, straightforward yet deep (with awesome emergent gameplay), with several different kinds of magic (common magic, sorcery, shamanism, and divine magic), and a lot of customization - you could run anything from Vikings to Ancient Greece or Rome to the Renaissance or beyond, all with any degree of magic and fantasy you want to put in.

[Hopeless]

Ditto on Legend and if you really want your own map might I suggest checking out drivethru rpg which has a free section and for example For Glory! (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/121861/FOR-GLORY-%28Print-%26-Play-Demo%29)