First time DM general help thread!

[Jarmen4u]

Hey all,

Since I'm preparing to leave my current 3.5 group (which I posted about previously), I am currently setting up a new 3.5 group with some people from my work. I have a very rough plot, and some mechanics worked out, but as this is my first time DMing, I'm really lost as to what I should have prepared before the first session, and what I should leave to improv/player choices etc.

I don't feel like any of the players pose enough of a threat to be particularly cheesy or over-optimized, so I won't bother banning anything.

I'm already planning for a major twist part way through the story, the jist of which I will most likely go over in a later post. Generally though, just any general or (extremely) specific advice you may have from either personal experience or otherwise.

Thanks in advance! :D

[Phelix-Mu]

Alright, here's what I normally work with going into a new campaign:

- General plot for the campaign: Stick to vague stuff, since this stuff is levels away, but maybe leave a hook or two for early levels if the characters are into it or paying attention. Don't force them into this, though, and leave it vague so you can adjust to power levels and the emergent group dynamic.

- Subplots: Usually I go for one in the starting location, but optional if the players decide to have their characters do something else. Also include one for the road/in transit, and one for other important locations where they are likely to travel. Again, keep it vague until it's clear that they are going to follow it up. For each subplot, include a contact npc or two with a highly abbreviated statblock (typically just gender/race/class levels/ability scores/four skills that they are likely to use). If you feel combat is possible, make note of likely encounters/numbers of enemies, and the books/page #s where you can find their stats.

- Individual Subplots: Based on the backgrounds of the characters, these are usually role play-heavy stuff designed to get the players more engaged in their character's mindset, goals, personality, etc. Totally optional, but I find that some of my best memories come from role playing stuff that comes up related to the characters specifically, and not to some grand, sweeping, cosmic drama in which they are only cast members.

- Region map: to scale, if possible, or at least with notes on travel times between major points of interest. Include a handful of settlements, villages, cities, etc, then one or two plot-hook places (the haunted burial site, the abandoned mine, etc) to explore, and some notes on the terrain types, climate, etc.

- Map of starting town: As detailed as you like, but generally don't waste too much time doing it, as the characters may leave immediately and might never find a reason to return. Include notes on shops, locations of important npcs, orientation relative to the larger world, and any other details you deem salient.

Good Ideas:

- Post-It notes in Monster Manuals on pages you tend to use. Can save lots of time leafing through books. Likewise, if using computerss, pm yourself a series of links that you will need, in case you lose them or are using a different computer for some reason.

- If you are totally digital, for the love of the gods, back stuff up. I don't know about you, but when I lose my work, a little piece of me dies, and my OCDometer starts redlining. E-mail yourself files, put it on a thumbdrive, or googledocs, or whatever. But make sure you will always have access to it in at least two forms.

- Find a copying machine and copy out blank monster stat blocks and blank character sheets for npcs. Or print them out yourself; back in the day I made sheets by hand (more OCD there); spare yourself a headache and use some tech. Also, make a blank character sheet for each character, or have them send you copies of what they have. Never hurts to have a backup sheet in case one of them loses theirs, or, heaven fore fend, you suspect one of your players might be fudging their stats.

- Unless the stats for something are really important (like combat-related stuff), then you can sometimes just eyeball it. How many ranks does that npc have in that skill? Well, if they made a point of knowing that, probably 1 rank/level. If they specialized, give them the full 3 + 1 rank/level, plus maybe a feat or masterwork tool to give them a +2 bonus. If it's just something random that they don't have a reason to be good at, probably no ranks at all; most npcs don't have skill points to burn and will tend to specialize in one or two things, leaving them little room for hobbies (unless role play suggests otherwise). The idea is that you don't need full statblocks for everything; as DM, you probably have bigger fish to fry than Johnny the Bartender's total bonus to Reflex saves.

Anyway, good luck. Being DM is probably the most challenging role to play in the game, and anyone that takes it up deserves props for even trying, regardless of outcomes. But here's to your experience being a colorful and positive one.:smallsmile:

[OldTrees1]

Treat DMing as a skill. Start off with an easy load so that you have the leeway necessary for the unexpected. As you get more and more comfortable, add more and more to your load.

Learn what DM style suits you. Are you good at improv or are you best when prepared for several cases? (and other such questions)

Learn about the players as well as their characters. Study them to see what motivates them. What element they enjoy about the game? How does their energy level/engagement change throughout a session? How much do they want to memorize about a session or think about between sessions? What about their short term and long term attention spans? What is their least favorite color?

[Astralia123]

Some things new DMs often feel fancy but should really avoid, cause such things tend to screw up.

1. Split the party.
2. Play a DM controlled PC.
3. Make PCs work against each other - which is potentially even worse than 1.
4. Make dramatic plots but leave little space for accidents - say, the players miss the most apparent hint (which is almost destined to happen).

[OldTrees1]

Some things new DMs often feel fancy but should really avoid, cause such things tend to screw up.

4. Make dramatic plots but leave little space for accidents - say, the players miss the most apparent hint (which is almost destined to happen).

The Rule of 3. If you want the players to get something, leave them at least 3 independent clues. Since 3 is the theoretical minimum and nobody want to push the limits, the real minimum is 4 independent clues.

This works for solving mysteries, finding plot critical information, ways to beat the BBEG, or even motivations for why to oppose the BBEG.

[Jarmen4u]

Wow, thanks for all the stuff so far guys!

As far as making DMPCs or splitting the party, I wasn't planning on any of that; I've had enough bad experiences with both on the receiving end.

To give a general idea of what I want to do, the very very very barebones outline goes something like this:


Insert obligatory cause for party to join forces (working situation right now is a local knight recruiting for either a gladiator type thing, or to join him on a quest)
While on this quest, encounter happens that causes knight to abandon party
Party either suffers apparent TPK or otherwise all fall unconscious
Wake up uninjured in dragon's den in nearby mountains, guarded by legendary (read: old as balls) dragon that saved them from their imminent deaths.
Dragon is senile, mistaking party for its offspring. Explains to party that there are imposters pretending to be its children ravaging the countryside, and asks you to stop them.
Except the 'imposters' are the dragon's actual children, but due to [redacted] dragon doesn't grasp that.
Insert numerous questlines, each involving slaying one of these lesser dragonspawn
Perhaps bring the knight in as a joke character/reoccurring villain
After all the spawn are slain, it is revealed that the dragonspawn were merely seeking revenge against the kingdom for something the king did to the mother dragon, causing her senility.
Boss fight involving the king and/or his elite guard.
Epilogue with mother dragon, if party explains the truth to the dragon, may cause dragon to lose grip on reality and fly into a self destructive rage.
Cue extra boss fight, but not really one they're expected to win outright. More like, run away/fight/don't die for X amount of turns until the dragon manages to kill itself somehow.
Insert happily ever after ending here.


I was having such a hard time thinking of a story to work with, and this just kind of came to me while I was washing dishes at work the other day. On top of more general/specific advice, I'd love some thoughts on perhaps the viability of this plot? Are there any glaring problems with it? It's 6:30 AM and I haven't slept, I wouldn't be surprised if I made a mistake somewhere.

[Alent]

- Region map: to scale, if possible, or at least with notes on travel times between major points of interest. Include a handful of settlements, villages, cities, etc, then one or two plot-hook places (the haunted burial site, the abandoned mine, etc) to explore, and some notes on the terrain types, climate, etc.

- Map of starting town: As detailed as you like, but generally don't waste too much time doing it, as the characters may leave immediately and might never find a reason to return. Include notes on shops, locations of important npcs, orientation relative to the larger world, and any other details you deem salient.

In this vein, Node type maps are useful if you don't have the time/skill to draw a proper map. You don't need to map everything, just how places interconnect, and as Phelix-Mu said, travel times. It answers questions but leaves the lay of the land open to epic theater of the mind interpretations.

It may be more work than it's worth depending on the campaign type, but I've liked the idea of Hexcrawls (http://hexcrawl.net/category/tutorials/) since discovering them.

Random Dungeon generators will help you fill space, but you can also use a nicer, hand drawn map like one of the ones from Dyson's Dodecahedron (http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/). Both are handy for those moments where you say "You see a cave on the hill" and the players say "we go in", and you have absolutely no material ready.

A trick you can do with random dungeon generators is set them to have narrow walls and transform them from a cave into a tropical jungle, dense with fallen trees, abandoned ruins, decaying broken down carts, abandoned camps, the doors become hanging vines and movable plant cover, the list goes on. The map is as vivid as your imagination, and pretty much any random CR appropriate encounter you pull from the monster manual can become memorable with monsters or animals in the trees, something like jungle kobolds protecting the ruins, and animals hiding behind bushes.

If all the advice so far didn't clue you in, your toolbox should be optimized for Ad-lib play. You're not writing a story, you're giving the players lego pieces and telling them to build a story with their actions. They will inevitably take the one action you DIDN'T plan for. A bad DM typically railroads his players here, but a better course of action is to just let the plot react to them. They abandoned the plot entirely? Maybe if they take too long, the plot advances without them and is changed by their absence. They went to the wrong place? Set clues up for where the right place is.

Hmm. Just hit preview and saw the next post from the OP. One insomniac to another, the apparent TPK thing is really tricky to get right and can easily be a point of player upset. I would try to find another way. Aside from that, it's your group and you'd know if they follow plots or derail things, but I'd keep a backup plan in case the party decides to skip the boss fight with the king, go for the mother dragon, and try to collect a bounty from the king after looting the dragon's horde. It seems a more plausible thing to me for players to kill the imminent threat (senile dragon) than go against the King.

[OttoVonBigby]

Interesting plot, good setup. The potential issues I perceive are, first off, "Party either suffers apparent TPK or otherwise all fall unconscious"--unless the attacker(s) are literally pulling punches and dealing nonlethal damage only, this may be tricky to manage without one or two actual PKs. It might be simpler for Senile Dragon to show up when the battle is first turning hopeless and rescue them directly, insisting then that they accompany her. (Presumably they won't have the resources or the inclination to refuse!)

The other potential issue I perceive is in how it all ends. I've come up with plots as unusual as this before, and in those cases I am even more likely than normal to make inaccurate guesses about what the players' motivations will be. For example, "if party explains the truth to the dragon, may cause dragon to lose grip on reality and fly into a self destructive rage"--this could happen immediately after she mentions the imposters, if the PCs are the parleying sort. And if it doesn't, but then she goes nuts anyway after the rest of the hooks, that's kind of weird.

Another route the PCs might go is pretending to accept her quest(s), but once clear of her lair, seeking out some sort of magic or powerful artifact that can restore her mental functionality. (Especially likely if Senile Dragon is of good alignment, which she should be if you want any hope that they'll listen to her.) The kids would definitely need to be wreaking a lotta havoc, right in the players' backyard, to get the players back on track in that event, which might feel like railroading.

Also, you might be better off not calling it senility. Players will think it's a strictly natural consequence of being really friggin' old, and if the king did something to CAUSE her mental condition, then her mental condition should be something that seems causable. The fantasy-dragon version of early onset Alzheimer's, for example, which IIRC can be triggered by disease/infection/toxin (and in a fantasy setting, any of the above is possible). But then you have to be careful that it's not a mere emotional effect (or depravity from Heroes of Horror) that could be removed with a simple casting of heart's ease, the 3.5 PTSD cure.

Still, like I say, I like the setup. It gives them a larger-than-life questgiver whose requests they'll feel uneasy about refusing (and who's perfectly capable of popping up unexpectedly), and it sets up lots of level-appropriate encounters. Better yet, it's ripe for players to get into elaborate discussions of how to deal with this bizarre situation. Just be careful what you expect.

(One more minor thing: Eberron, IIRC, has a feat that allows dragons of types that don't normally assume humanoid form to take humanoid form. Don't remember where it is, what it's called, or what prereqs it might have. But it might free you up to assign Senile Dragon an unexpected color.)

[Jarmen4u]

in case the party decides to skip the boss fight with the king, go for the mother dragon, and try to collect a bounty from the king after looting the dragon's horde. It seems a more plausible thing to me for players to kill the imminent threat (senile dragon) than go against the King.

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I have two ideas to deal with hoard thieves. First option, the self-destructive dragon would also, in its rage, cause its den to collapse, burying its hoard within the mountain. Secondly, perhaps when the king screwed over the dragon to begin with, he also stole its hoard, which is partly to blame for the mental trauma.

As for the TPK, it won't be a full encounter that people would waste time on and be upset about. I'd probably plan it with one extra lackey NPC who gets one-shotted, cue knight running away, and the rest of the party succumbs to the enemy's strength. Still not sure though.

[Phelix-Mu]

I'd avoid forcing or pushing the party to be sympathetic with something they will likely have to kill later anyway (dragons are usually arc-end bosses, anyway). At least some of the characters are going to view the dragon, the crazy dragon, as a threat, and therefor not worth helping, and therefor possibly a mark for stealing from or arranging the death of.

And if they do steal from the dragon, let it play out. The dragon, now missing its children and its hoard, goes around villages and cities looking for its stuff. And coincidentally, even accidentally, laying waste to entire settlements.

The key here is to have a vague idea that, for some reason, eventually, the party is likely to get tangled up with the dragon and its offspring. Maybe if they ditch the dragon and refuse to hunt the spawn, maybe the spawn come after them, angered that their mother has associated with the non-dragon scum. Or maybe the spawn want help, too; somebody screwed around with their mother, and that would make me angry/in the market for revenge.

So set the pieces on the board, but let the players decide how they interact with them. Don't force conflict if they are skilled at avoiding it, and don't punish them for acting in-character and stealing the giant pile of gold (typically right in line with murderhobo motives). At least, not directly. Much of being a DM is about the smoke and mirrors of allowing the players/characters to enjoy the illusion of free will, or a quasi-sandbox feel/not-so-railroady plot. Meanwhile, they gradually get steered toward the broad plot no matter which road they choose.

[Red Fel]

Most of the suggestions I would offer have already been given. Instead, I'd like to offer you some warning flags about your proposed plot. These are not critiques - rather, they are places where the players may deviate from your intended outcomes.



Insert obligatory cause for party to join forces (working situation right now is a local knight recruiting for either a gladiator type thing, or to join him on a quest)
While on this quest, encounter happens that causes knight to abandon party
Up until this point, great start. Give the PCs an in-character reason to be together, set them on their way, then set them loose. As an aside, consider the possibility that your players may have collaborated on backstories, in which case some of them might already have a reason to adventure together.

Party either suffers apparent TPK or otherwise all fall unconscious
Red flag the first: Forced combat outcome. There are a lot of things that can go wrong here, but here's the short version. The PCs, despite your best efforts, could win the encounter. One or more players could become angry that you threw something one-sided at them. One or more players could become angry that you put them through an encounter when really you just wanted to play a cinematic.

Wake up uninjured in dragon's den in nearby mountains, guarded by legendary (read: old as balls) dragon that saved them from their imminent deaths.
Dragon is senile, mistaking party for its offspring. Explains to party that there are imposters pretending to be its children ravaging the countryside, and asks you to stop them.
Okay. Fiat save, but it was planned, so I'll let it slide. And the senile dragon thing is a nice touch and a good quest hook. A word of warning, though: Despite appearing like an affectionate scaly grandma, this is still a dragon; your players (as Phelix mentions) may not be sympathetic. They may even try to kill it. (After all, why would you give them an encounter if you didn't expect combat? And it's senile, right?) So beware of that. They might not take quests from fire-breathing terrors.

Except the 'imposters' are the dragon's actual children, but due to [redacted] dragon doesn't grasp that.
Insert numerous questlines, each involving slaying one of these lesser dragonspawn
Perhaps bring the knight in as a joke character/reoccurring villain
After all the spawn are slain, it is revealed that the dragonspawn were merely seeking revenge against the kingdom for something the king did to the mother dragon, causing her senility.
Boss fight involving the king and/or his elite guard.
Epilogue with mother dragon, if party explains the truth to the dragon, may cause dragon to lose grip on reality and fly into a self destructive rage.
Cue extra boss fight, but not really one they're expected to win outright. More like, run away/fight/don't die for X amount of turns until the dragon manages to kill itself somehow.
Insert happily ever after ending here.

Okay. This requires a lot of twists, but it foreshadows them with the sympathetic granny-dragon. That said, again as Phelix mentioned, it relies on one thing - that the players have more sympathy for the terrifying scaled monstrosities than for the humans. That may be a bit of a leap. Because here's the poop: If your players see dragons as bags of loot and xp, and humans as default NPCs, telling the players that the dragons have a perfectly legitimate reason to rampage, and that it's the humans who were the real monsters, isn't going to sell. They'll just shrug, kill dragons, save the kingdom, and join the elite guard.

Let me be clear. I happen to like a plot with some twists to it. I think you've got a fun story here. These are simply some red flags to warn you where the players might deviate.

One of the pitfalls of writing a plot is to give it a conclusion. I don't mean you can't give it a point of closure, where all the little threads are tied up neatly. You absolutely should. But giving a plot a specific conclusion - kingdom saved, tyrant overthrown, monsters slain - doesn't work, because the PCs might not do what you need them to in order to achieve that end.

I'd go with what Phelix says. Place the pieces on the board. Terrifying senile nan-dragon affectionate towards the PCs. Knight who travels with PCs. Dragons rampaging out of vengeance. Each has sympathetic points, and it is up to the players which one - if any - they choose to ally themselves with. Maybe they negotiate a ceasefire between the dragons and kingdom. Maybe they go in search of a magical treatment for granny-drake's senility. Maybe they plan to bring the dragons home to nan. Maybe they decide this kingdom is hosed seven ways 'til Sunday, and decide to get while the getting's good. It's up to them, and it may not play out remotely like you intended.

[Jarmen4u]

Most of the suggestions I would offer have already been given. Instead, I'd like to offer you some warning flags about your proposed plot. These are not critiques - rather, they are places where the players may deviate from your intended outcomes.

Hey, no worries man, I loved the feedback.

Yeah, I get that these guys will probably run elsewhere with the plot, and railroading isn't cool, so I'd have to figure something else out.

As far as the forced TPK/fiat save etc, you mentioned an encounter played like a cinematic. Would it be better to, say, play it as a cutscene and just tell them that they all got knocked unconscious and woke up in the den? I feel like they might demand a save of some kind, but I'd probably end up putting the DC beyond their capabilities.

Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I was planning to possibly make it so the king had stolen most/all of the dragon's hoard. I was thinking that maybe, since everyone loves shiny stuff, I'd make a small list of like 10 magic items that might be useful to their different classes, and allow them to take one as a gift from the dragon, implying that the items are just about all that's left of the hoard that used to be there. That might also dissuade them from attacking it anyway, especially considering I'm pretty sure none of them are rolling anything south of LN (not due to a restriction, but I just don't see them making CN/Evil characters).

[Red Fel]

As far as the forced TPK/fiat save etc, you mentioned an encounter played like a cinematic. Would it be better to, say, play it as a cutscene and just tell them that they all got knocked unconscious and woke up in the den? I feel like they might demand a save of some kind, but I'd probably end up putting the DC beyond their capabilities.

Well, it's "YMMV" territory. On the one hand, players don't often like having control taken away from them. On the other, if you make it like a cinematic cut-scene, you're painting a very bright line. As soon as you introduce saves or rolls, you're giving them the opportunity to change the outcome; by saying upfront that it's a hands-off scene, you're allowing them to suspend their disbelief and accept the outcome (or at least hoping that they will). It's not the cleanest solution, and not one I'd recommend using often, but done right, your players may enjoy it. And it certainly beats retconning their actions into a hastily-cobbled-together "this didn't happen that way" explanation.


Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I was planning to possibly make it so the king had stolen most/all of the dragon's hoard. I was thinking that maybe, since everyone loves shiny stuff, I'd make a small list of like 10 magic items that might be useful to their different classes, and allow them to take one as a gift from the dragon, implying that the items are just about all that's left of the hoard that used to be there. That might also dissuade them from attacking it anyway, especially considering I'm pretty sure none of them are rolling anything south of LN (not due to a restriction, but I just don't see them making CN/Evil characters).

That's very possible. Everyone likes free stuff. But I see several possible red flags here, too: "It tried to bribe us! It must be a trick!" One doesn't become an adventurer without a healthy sense of paranoia. Free stuff always has strings attached. Your players may be on guard if a dragon offers them free goodies. "We could take one item... Or we could take all of them!" You just told them that the dragon has more where that came from. Why wouldn't they kill it for the rest? It is a dragon, after all. Just because the sheet doesn't say CE doesn't mean the PC isn't CE. I've known players to write LG on a character sheet and then have their PCs murder babies out of convenience. Or boredom. Or, in one case, hunger. Don't assume, just because the players tell you their characters are Good, that they won't wind up in a disturbingly Evil place.
Again, that's not to say that your players are all horrible campaign-derailing monstrous murderhobos with a hunger for baby-blood. I'm sure one of them prefers diet soda. But these are things to be aware of - the harder you try to make an NPC appeal to your players, the more opportunities you're giving the players to mess with things.

[Phelix-Mu]

As for the cutscene, I'd probably opt to run the gladiator arena. Have a hard fight where the characters are just getting by in a team v team fight, reach some kind of crescendo, and then the dragon shows up, lights the stands on fire, kills all the gladiators (aside from her children/the party), and then has a particularly senile moment of dialogue with the party before leading the party back to the lair (if they agree to go...don't have her kidnap them).

Just have the mother dragon act like a stalker, showing up at various times to harass the party while they are doing other stuff. Helicopter Mom, dragon-style. This lets the party do their own thing while giving the impression that big stuff is going down in the meantime. One time, have the dragon show up injured, after several of her spawn try to kill her; the plot moves ahead while the party is doing other stuff, after all. But if they resist the urge to get involved with the dragon, approach the same plot from a different angle.

Like, maybe the characters want to set up a headquarters. Well, let them pick from a list of prospects, do some investigation/scouting, exploration and dungeon-crawling (if appropriate). The make progress, get some experience, and claim an area.

Ten days later, as they are finishing staking their claim, a tax collector from the king shows up. Turns out, now that they have liberated this land from the monsters, it is taxable, and the tax man invites the party to the capital to discuss a taxation regime (READ: pay bribes). There, they get embroiled in [subplots] and eventually discover that the king has come into a huge amount of wealth, which he is mysteriously hoarding for no good reason. What's more, his greed knows no bounds and several areas of the kingdom are being taxed into destitution. Basically, the king screwed the dragon over, and caught a case of Fafnir's curse, and is gradually beginning to behave more and more like a dragon.

So the plot is still the dragon, but this time the PCs led the way into the plot device. The key here is that the plot is like a maze garden; you can enter from many paths, which each lead all over the place. In the end, though, all paths meet in the center. Unfortunately that metaphor reads like railroad-style plot, which is obviously not the point.

Argh.

Anyway, you have some good ideas here. Also, listen to Red Fel, who gives almost exclusively good advice.:smallsmile:

[Astralia123]

Wow, thanks for all the stuff so far guys!

As far as making DMPCs or splitting the party, I wasn't planning on any of that; I've had enough bad experiences with both on the receiving end.

To give a general idea of what I want to do, the very very very barebones outline goes something like this:


Insert obligatory cause for party to join forces (working situation right now is a local knight recruiting for either a gladiator type thing, or to join him on a quest)
While on this quest, encounter happens that causes knight to abandon party
Party either suffers apparent TPK or otherwise all fall unconscious
Wake up uninjured in dragon's den in nearby mountains, guarded by legendary (read: old as balls) dragon that saved them from their imminent deaths.
Dragon is senile, mistaking party for its offspring. Explains to party that there are imposters pretending to be its children ravaging the countryside, and asks you to stop them.
Except the 'imposters' are the dragon's actual children, but due to [redacted] dragon doesn't grasp that.
Insert numerous questlines, each involving slaying one of these lesser dragonspawn
Perhaps bring the knight in as a joke character/reoccurring villain
After all the spawn are slain, it is revealed that the dragonspawn were merely seeking revenge against the kingdom for something the king did to the mother dragon, causing her senility.
Boss fight involving the king and/or his elite guard.
Epilogue with mother dragon, if party explains the truth to the dragon, may cause dragon to lose grip on reality and fly into a self destructive rage.
Cue extra boss fight, but not really one they're expected to win outright. More like, run away/fight/don't die for X amount of turns until the dragon manages to kill itself somehow.
Insert happily ever after ending here.


I was having such a hard time thinking of a story to work with, and this just kind of came to me while I was washing dishes at work the other day. On top of more general/specific advice, I'd love some thoughts on perhaps the viability of this plot? Are there any glaring problems with it? It's 6:30 AM and I haven't slept, I wouldn't be surprised if I made a mistake somewhere.

Mostly seems fine, except that you should leave for the dim possibility that players manage to guess the main plot. It might happen, though very, very rare (unless you keep gaming with the guesser guy, and you may find he/she is really good at this sort of things).

[Jarmen4u]

I mean, plot aside, I think I have a good grasp on the main story.

Also, can I get some pointers as to what I should have prepared for each session planning wise? Like numbers of NPCs, zones, encounters etc.

[SVentura77]

For the love of the gods, take your Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide in with you while you poop. Read the glossary. Read a random page or two. Read up on movement and combat. Read up on encumbrance and the gold values of common items (if you're planning on using those sorts of things or making them important in any way). Read the rules on spellcasting. Read individual spell descriptions. Ask your players what they're planning to play. Read those sections. Ask your players what kind of game they think they might enjoy most. Read up on how to make that possible.

Read. Read. Read. Be mo' better than your players. Know your ****. Keep reading. If you've read it once before, read it again to make sure you understood.

~S~

[OttoVonBigby]

And then read the movement, combat, and spellcasting rules again. I have developed more bad habits by not knowin' that stuff inside and out... :smalltongue: luckily my players are the forgiving sort, and there's not one rules lawyer among them.

[Jarmen4u]

Well I don't own any physical books, I have all the pdfs downloaded. But yeah, I'm definitely studying them hard.

[Trasilor]

Wake up uninjured in dragon's den in nearby mountains, guarded by legendary (read: old as balls)



Why not start the campaign here? It looks like everything before this point is railroading anyway. No matter what the PCs do, this is the outcome. It is not a bad place to start either - classic twist on the ol' conscripted into service plot device.

Remember, D&D is not a video game with a predetermined plot and story.

If you do want them to "fall unconscious" perhaps you could use the house rule I play with: when you fall into negative numbers you automatically stabilize, but you are unconscious. Allows people to be captured instead of killed outright.

[Jarmen4u]

Why not start the campaign here? It looks like everything before this point is railroading anyway. No matter what the PCs do, this is the outcome. It is not a bad place to start either - classic twist on the ol' conscripted into service plot device.

If I do it this way, would it better if I just kind of told them the first bit as an introducing prologue-type story, just to get them immersed? Is that an appropriate thing for DMs to do? Obviously the story wouldn't take more than a few minutes to tell, but I don't know how taboo that kind of thing is.

[Alent]

If I do it this way, would it better if I just kind of told them the first bit as an introducing prologue-type story, just to get them immersed? Is that an appropriate thing for DMs to do? Obviously the story wouldn't take more than a few minutes to tell, but I don't know how taboo that kind of thing is.

It'd be fine, it'd give them context for how they got there and it would have a better chance of putting them in the right headspace than the railroady intro.

[Jarmen4u]

It'd be fine, it'd give them context for how they got there and it would have a better chance of putting them in the right headspace than the railroady intro.

Alright, cool. I'll give that a try then.

Back to the main topic though, I'm having major stress over how much material I should have prepared for the first session(s). By materials, I mean area maps, fleshed out NPCs, dialogues, etc etc. We'll probably be playing through roll20, so any drawn maps would probably be through MS paint or a map generator. I just honestly don't know what to expect, and it's very, very overwhelming. :eek:

[Alent]

It's kind of counter to what I recommended earlier, but you can stress about something until your hair falls out and it doesn't help at all. Seeing your story outline and using that for ideas... all I really have to suggest is that you Prepare your bosses, piece together some CR appropriate encounters using the SRD's encounter CR calculator, write down some character motive rant ideas, and otherwise, just go theater of the mind and freestyle everything.

Just let them know this is your first time, describe what you need to describe, and the players themselves will tell you what they think THEY need through their actions. Then you meet those needs in a way that furthers your plot.

You'll have no way of knowing what those are until you see them. Just relax, go with the jazz, you've got an outline, the game gives you the pieces you need, once you're actually playing, things should fall into place naturally, even if you're doing them wrong and all clumsy like- that's why it's collaborative storytelling. The players will be helping you.

If they're not, fire them and get new players! :smallwink:

Now that I've gotten the inspirational cheer out of the way, some theory stuff to think about as you choose your CR appropriate monsters:

Find out what your party's total average attack bonus is, and choose monsters with AC that is easy for the party average. To me, hitting on a natural 6~8 seems reasonable for unimportant targets, because your players aren't inferior to them. Your most challenging opponent should require no more than a natural 12 for the party average. This should let your bruisers pretty much always get their hits in, and your rogues and bards will still have reasonable chances to hit. If your full BAB high strength 2H bruiser types need a natural 16+ to hit something, you've set the bar too high, the medium BABs are probably going to have a hard time hitting it, if they can hit it at all. (Note that there are some things where abnormally high AC is an expected trait, like wisps, etc.)

You can also average the party's AC and apply similar logic in reverse to choose monsters that can hit the party reliably for when you want them to feel the burn without just saying the monsters hit on everything but a natural 1.

Single large monster encounters are bad. It's pretty easy to get a good damage build that shanks a single big creature, so a fistful of weak creatures that can sting are actually more dangerous than a single big creature that the party can gain numbers advantage over. If you choose creatures that meet the above AC criteria, you will find the mooks you've selected are actually fairly low CR, they'll die fast if not in a single hit, but through numbers they'll get a chance to get some hits in. (And depending on how badly they're losing, they may flee. There's nothing wrong in having a routed group of humanoids or beasts flee.)

Someone else will probably chip in and tell me this is wrong, but I've always felt like this sort of balance makes combat go smoothly while still making the players feel like they're in danger.

[Jarmen4u]

Find out what your party's total average attack bonus is, and choose monsters with AC that is easy for the party average.

Actually, now that you mention it, I should probably mention the party compliment. As of right now, I have a cleric, a ranger, a wizard, and a new guy who doesn't know what class he wants to play, but the way he describes what he wants in his character, he's probably going to roll a swordsage.

Also in semi-unrelated story news, a friend of mine told me that I should consider adding a Beholder to the story as the king could then be played out as a puppet for the creature, and would perhaps explain the dragon's insanity as a failed attempt to be controlled, or maybe just some kind of mind scramble, by said Beholder.


Just let them know this is your first time, describe what you need to describe, and the players themselves will tell you what they think THEY need through their actions. Then you meet those needs in a way that furthers your plot.

That's probably what I'll do. I'll try to draw up a couple maps and NPCs, and if it turns out I need more, I'll improvise and prepare better next time.

[andysowhat]

well as a DM I think its important to make your own DM style. Because you must enjoy being a DM aswell, and that will make you unique and a good DM. Like my strengths are number crunching, making amazing balanced fights and making in depth plots around low tiers classes so the don't feel useless. But I do have some awful flaws however. ask me to make a description of the most things and objects I fall short very quickly. Everyone loves my small plots and made on spot campaigns with super awesome fights, but I never manage to make a long campaign where players get "attached" to their characters, and that is totally my fault because I can't make descriptions of things and objects. and I make it hard for the player to imagine certain situations. one of the worst examples of this was when I got a party to walk in the forrest. and everyone thought this was a dark and old creepy forest... but in reality there was sunlight and talking squirrels. :) I guess you figure out your own style soon enough ;)

Else I would Suggest just reading the Rules. the players usually manage to make silly funny situations of the silliest things (magic door back of the tavern) and if the players are happy you are doing a good job ;)

and yeah give them a solid backround story. like they are bloodbrothers. longlived friends simular. so you negate the silliest PVP situations

[andysowhat]

when giving this some thought best tip I can give is that make your party sit down and make the characters together. bring some drinks good food and have fun. then you can get to know what they will play. also tell them that they should try playing about the same alignement and simular. because I have no idea how to not make a pvp situation without throwing DM lightningspears from a clear sky. when the paladin following a wargod figured out their party rouge chaotic evil is stealing. make them a all neutral, all lawfull or all evil party etc :) that would be the best thing to make a easy first campaign to DM for.