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Tyrmatt
2007-03-22, 10:13 AM
I am in something of a situation here. I've been tasked by a close knit group of friends to forge a D&D campaign for us all to have a laugh playing. Initially, the style will be "Kick in the Door" but I predict them all getting fairly attached to their characters, since most of them are past or present MMO addicts. The problem? None of us have ever actually played a game.
Wait wait! Come back!!
All is not lost. We're all familiar with D&D in the concepts of dice rolls and making checks etc. I've been tasked with DMing because I'm the known writer of the group and they trust me to come up with a fun story. Their conditions were that it takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting (all of them grew up on Baldur's Gate ) and we take it slowly so that everyone gradually becomes familiar with the rules and whatnot. My conditions were that we go from 3.0 or higher rules (as these are the rulebooks I've managed to procure from old friends) and I am allowed to involve kobolds in their first "adventure".
Everyone will be starting from level 1 and due to their MMO backgrounds, everyone's happy to fill a role. So far I'm looking at 5-6 folks evenly spread between a fighter, a duellist (or something like that), a wizard, a rogue, a cleric (Excuse me if I say priest. It's a WoW thing.) and the sixth spot could go to either a paladin or someone who is undecided. Probably a hobbit rogue though as he's a LOTR fan.
So forumites, ha ha hee hee, answer me these questions three.

1. What should the players know beyond taking a look in the PHB and building a character.
2. What should I know to make it an easy transition for folks who've never played?
3. Any particular rules I should pay attention to and ensure everyone is clear on?

Much appreciated.

Deus Mortus
2007-03-22, 10:20 AM
1. Taking a way deeper look in the PHB
2. The DMG and take your time to carefully learn the game, also perhaps use a premade adventure, I don't know the link, but I know there are some on the wotc page.
3. Nothing in particular comes to mind.

Also you might want to play 3.5, not 3.0, it's a bit of investment to buy the books, but all the new stuff comes out for 3.5 and else you'll have to relearn the rules later on.

Pauwel
2007-03-22, 10:26 AM
3.5 is available for free on www.d20srd.com.

And yes, it's legal. Don't worry.

Rahdjan
2007-03-22, 10:30 AM
The one thing that noobie DMs fall into is thrusting level 1 PCs into an Epic story. Start small. Let them clear an abandoned wearhouse out of the unusually large rats. Let them go out to the farm and ambush the goblin/kobold/whatever raiders. Even if they fall below 0 hit points, they're just unconcious until 3rd level, then introduce the actual risk of death. And for godsakes, don't play an DMPC along beside them, not at first anyways.

Douglas
2007-03-22, 10:37 AM
d20srd (d20srd.org) does have most of the core rules and it's all free and legal, but there are some bits and pieces that it's missing. Almost all fluff and most examples are only in the actual books, the experience required to level up and recommended wealth by level tables are missing from the SRD, and some monsters (Mind Flayers and Beholders come to mind) are also missing. It's great for a reference to look things up in, especially as the administrators of the site are quick to update when errata comes out, but there are still some things you need the actual books for.

Maxymiuk
2007-03-22, 10:44 AM
Good GM's Rule #1: Your enjoyment of your position as a storyteller should derive from the players' enjoyment of the game. No more, no less.

And how to make your players enjoy the game? Remember that they want to feel relevant - that they want to know that what they are doing is having a real effect, and that their success or failure has been earned by their own actions.

Those are mere basics, but altogether too many first time GM's forget, or ignore them.

Tyrmatt
2007-03-22, 10:51 AM
1. Taking a way deeper look in the PHB
2. The DMG and take your time to carefully learn the game, also perhaps use a premade adventure, I don't know the link, but I know there are some on the wotc page.
3. Nothing in particular comes to mind.

Also you might want to play 3.5, not 3.0, it's a bit of investment to buy the books, but all the new stuff comes out for 3.5 and else you'll have to relearn the rules later on.

Apologies, I should have clarified. I do have access to the 3.5 books, it's just some of them wanted to play 2.0/2.5 because they remembered the concepts of THAC0 and such like. Divine intervention prevented this tragedy.

Also thanks a lot for the online thing. This'll be a huge help as we may actually end up playing over IRC. Yeah. I also like whips, chains and hot wax on sensitive areas :p
My initial plan was to have a "DMPC" run alongside them as a safety net on their first foray and to demonstrate mechanics with an actual character and then have her killed off at the end of it, providing a helpful story hook for later on in true "You killed my master, now we must fight" style.

The J Pizzel
2007-03-22, 10:53 AM
3. Any particular rules I should pay attention to and ensure everyone is clear on?

I recruited several new players in the past few months. One rule comes to mind that everyone seems to be unclear on. Attacks of Opportunity (AoO). Make sure they understand everying that causes AoO's. Drawing a weapn in melee, casting in melee (unless you cast defensively), fireing a bow in melee, drinking a potion in melee, moving past an enemy's threatened square, etc.

Douglas
2007-03-22, 10:54 AM
Ugh. THAC0 was a confusing and counterintuitive way to do things and I'm very glad they ditched it for 3.x.

Galathir
2007-03-22, 10:57 AM
I would recommend that at least the DM know the rules pretty well. Nothing slows down combat like having to look up some rule or another ever 30 seconds. Don't worry about knowing everything, I know I still have to look stuff up on occasion, but a solid familiarity is very useful. I would also recommend typing up a single page that contains a summary of all the combat rules and maneuvers your party is likely to use. This way they are on one page right in front of you.

And I know others have mentioned this too, but it can't be stressed enough: The point of D&D is to have fun. The rules and things are a means to an end, not the end in and of itself.

As a final thought, I would stick with core (PHB, DMG, MM) at least until your group is comfortable with the rules. Trying to throw too many options too early will make things hectic and confusing.

Go have some fun!

Variable Arcana
2007-03-22, 10:59 AM
2) Become *very* familiar with the PHB chapter on "Combat". Make sure you know (before it comes up in combat) how to run one, including common "special" attacks like grappling.

Then take time in the first session to educate your players -- the fighters need to understand the basic combat mechanics, as well as their "special" options like grappling; the casters need to understand defensive casting, concentration checks, and what each of their spells does; the rogues need to understand when they do and don't get sneak attack damage, and how all their skills work...

Otherwise.... remember to have fun with it. The mechanics will become automatic, as you go.

And... second what Rahdjan said -- they don't need to be saving the world every week at lvl 1. Plenty of heroism in level-appropriate challenges. (Rescued commoners should be quite grateful.)

Gamebird
2007-03-22, 11:06 AM
1. What should the players know beyond taking a look in the PHB and building a character.

Since they know the general game world and background, make sure they also know that you reserve the right (in fact, that you expect) to change things as the campaign goes along.

They'll also need to know some basic stuff like where the campaign starts - name of the town, if there's any notable local features like mountains or an ocean or a river, any history you plan on incorporating like a long-standing grudge war against orcs, etc.

A lot of that stuff you likely won't have figured out at the first game, so make sure your players know you haven't worked it out and that they're willing to have an open mind when you suddenly mention there's a mountain range three miles away.

And like someone else said, get them to read as much of the PHB as you can.


2. What should I know to make it an easy transition for folks who've never played?

Know the rules as well as you can. I'd suggest not starting it off with their first "adventure". Instead, tell them that the first session will be about making their characters and reading the rules for their character. Do NOTHING else that session. Then the second session will be about time they've spent as an apprentice/learner/whatever. Have the physical types spar with each other, doing subdual damage. Look up the rules for their attacks, damage, feats and different manuevers like total defence, withdraw, feint, etc. If they don't use those other manuevers, then have them fight another 1st level guy (with stats equal to one of them, which saves you from making up a character) who does use those manuevers.

Then have the non-physical sorts who don't want to spar cast their spells - at one another if they don't have lethal affects. Sleep, Color Spray, etc. are all good. Look up Concentration checks and attacks of opportunity. Look up the spells, their ranges, their area of effect and targets.

Split the group into two "teams" who fight each other, using subdual.

You can even say the PC's trainers are old friends and that this is all actual role play, establishing how the PCs come to know each other. The real benefit though is that you get to know the rules better without subjecting the PCs to the danger of "real" combat. Plus, PCs love to fight each other. Often that's a lot more fun than fighting the bad guys!


3. Any particular rules I should pay attention to and ensure everyone is clear on?

Any house rules you plan on using, plus any table rules.

House rules are the variations on the rules in the book and how the game is played. If you've never played before, then I'd suggest banning anything from books you don't own.

Table rules are pretty important too and they don't get much discussion in the forums. Talk about where you're going to play and when. How regularly? Where are people parking their cars (if they have them)? Are they supposed to call you if they can't make it? What happens to their character if they have to leave early? What are you guys doing for snacks? Does the gaming location allow snacks? Is there a bathroom? What are you doing for meals? Is cursing allowed? Are certain topics off-limits in the game (usually this means sex, but can also include drugs or even religion depending on the group)?

Getting the table rules sorted out beforehand can help a lot and save hurt feelings or confusion later on.

Vodun
2007-03-22, 01:59 PM
I highly suggest having them write down or copy off the more important parts of their class features, for example when the rogues sneak attack applies, the powers granted by the clerics domains, the more complex of the wizards spells (just the ones you know are gonna get some use that are a little bit more complex), if the fighters using feats like cleave, power attack, or anything like that it would be cool to just jot down what it does so people arent cracking open the PHB every second.

You are very, very luckyto have people choose simple classes. When I DMed for the first time, (which was about my second time playing, oh joy) I had five players, which were, fromy my memory, a Halfling Rogue (who wanted to wield a morningstar/shortsword combination when he didnt even understand TWF) an elven druid who would not stop trying to use his wolf companion as a mount, a barbarian named bill, who happened to be an orc (The player found the MM, which was probably the worst thing he could have done.) a Human Monk (bad class for a newbie), a an elven ranger that was taking an archery focus and then decided to use a greatclub for rest of the campaign, and then a human fighter who I think actually WAS redgar.

AmoDman
2007-03-22, 02:09 PM
One question from me, what's wrong with a DMPC? I'm planning on learning my buds on D&D soon and so far I've only got two, hopefully wrangle one, maybe two other people into putting together a character and running with is. As you can see, it's a small party, so I was just going to add another support character in there.

Variable Arcana
2007-03-22, 02:13 PM
an elven druid who would not stop trying to use his wolf companion as a mount,
If he played a halfling druid that might work -- or if he wildshaped into a small animal to ride on it -- or if at 7th level he called a dire wolf...

kamikasei
2007-03-22, 02:13 PM
Nothing is wrong with a DMPC such as a Cleric who comes along to provide healing if the party's lacking, hangs back, and does what he's told in combat (say, he's sent along with the party by a patron, and is explicitly under their command). Such a DMPC is just an NPC who happens to travel with the party. The issue is that DMPCs tend to be or become Mary Sue characters who can't be allowed to not look super cool at all times, and who magically know just what to do next at every decision point.

Variable Arcana
2007-03-22, 02:17 PM
amodman-

DMPCs make the DM split his attention. And leads to the occasional (or worse, frequent) moments in combat when the DM is playing both sides and the rest of the people in the room are sitting around watching you play D&D with yourself. And that just scratches the surface of the common pitfalls...

A rookie DM with rookie players should keep things as simple as possible.

Edit: There's nothing wrong with a party of two or three characters -- if you adjust the encounters appropriately. Alternately, particularly with just two players and a DM, you might let each player run two PCs -- but the focus is still on the players that way.

Vodun
2007-03-22, 02:23 PM
If he played a halfling druid that might work -- or if he wildshaped into a small animal to ride on it -- or if at 7th level he called a dire wolf...

They figured that out later on, so he tried to put the rogue on it. I didnt even remember that the ride skill existed back then (looooooong time ago), so I just said that the druid commands the wolf still, and because he had a con of like 6, he kept his companion very close, thus ending any usefulness the rogue had.

LotharBot
2007-03-22, 05:29 PM
I've played a very successful DMPC in my current campaign.

They're pretty good if you use them to demonstrate mechanics ("I'll use the aid another action to make it easier for the fighter to hit") and fill in a background role (any class with "cure" spells on their list can use healing wands for supplementary healing, for example.) Just don't make the mistake of trying to make them super powerful, super cool, the party scout ("I'm searching for traps, oh look, I found one! It's almost like I knew it was there!") or diplomat ("it'd be nice if I knew exactly what to say! Oh wait, I do!"). And be willing to retire your DMPC as the party matures and learns the game.

Tyrmatt
2007-03-25, 06:53 PM
Thanks a load for all the positive input, especially in the face of such a daunting task, but hey, there weren't always veteran DMs right? ^^'
The full story behind my DMPC was that it was to be a veteran soldier (I'm not entirely sure what class, is a Fighter/Cleric combo possible, simply for the sake of demonstrating both spellcasting and fighting to the players) who would be assigned to lead the recruited militia (i.e. the party) to an outlying village to exterminate some kobolds who had moved into the village and driven out the villagers. Not natural behaviour for kobolds...what's causing that...

Anyway, in a dramatic and clichéd scenario, the DMPC would be offed by the recurring evil of my campaign (I'm thinking a powerful undead or possibly just an evil baron-type. The latter appeals due to an idea for an evil bard lackey who would taunt the party with cryptic and awful rhymes. That said, you can't go wrong with a creature of pure evil :) ) and while not as such on a par with the "I have been slain, avenge me my student!", I want to make my players care that what is essentially a tutorial drone dies at the hands of He Who Is Yet To Be Named. Part of my plan is also to have the evil dismiss the party as weaklings, not even worthy of his attention, just to rile them up a bit.

So if you've got any more advice, I'll gladly accept it all. Gods willing, the campaign begins next weekend.

Gamebird
2007-03-26, 12:27 PM
I'd suggest telling the PCs that the DMPC is there only for this adventure/scenario and that you hope to use him to show them some tactics/rules using a character that's more expendable and less cherished than their own. That sort of thing will go a long way towards keeping the PCs from feeling resentful of him.

TOAOMT
2007-03-26, 01:13 PM
Here are some general guidelines both from technical DMing to practical DMing and in no particular order. I'm putting them in tags.



1. Listen. This is EXTREMELY important. Whether it's another DM giving you advice or the players telling you "Dude this sucks" it's EXTREMELY important to take every comment you get seriously and correct it. We veteran DMs know what we're talking about from experience and your players, well... can leave the game at any time.

2. You should understand the rules in your head. For the first few sessions while everyone's learning it's ok to reference the book when a situation you didn't expect comes up. Everyone's new and they'll all learn. However, after a while players start to think that they know everything and it's important to know when to correct them. More importantly, knowing the rules in your head makes for ease of play.

3. Be careful with NPCs. We're all tempted when we start DMing to make Doctor Awesome. He shows up ever so often and shows the players how big your man parts are by owning the enemy who was there specifically for him to own. An NPC like this usually makes the PCs feel like spectators. When you get more experience you'll learn how to do an NPC like this, until then, stay AWAY from it.

4. Err on the side of caution. For now, until you understand CR better and the PCs understand character building better, keep the CR a little below where the players levels are and do NOT go above it. The players probably have no concept of CR right now anyway (if they're that new) and will think the shift from kobolds to that single imp that's been commanding the Kobolds is a big thing, even though the risk isn't that high.

5. Only roll behind the screen if the players don't know a roll is being made. In combat, for the sake of the players knowing that you're being fair, roll in front of their face. It makes them trust you.

6. Always be prepared to explain how a plot device works logically, or give examples of ways it could have worked. How did the guy get out of the room the PCs had him cornered in? Maybe he was a wizard with a quickened teleport. But he was in full plate? Maybe he had a ring or use activated item. Maybe there was a hidden hatch that the PCs can find on a 20 search check, but by the time it's open he's vanished. The players should always feel like they COULD have beaten the plot device if they'd planned for it.

7. The purpose of being a DM is to make people have fun, not to showcase whatever talents you may have. If you're a natural and/or trained writer, that can be helpful but don't make it seem like you're vying for applause. As a thespian who loves the cheer of the crowd, even I'm tempted to this but it's important to restrain yourself or the players will get bored. Use your talent, but don't showcase it (if that makes sense).

8. Never tell a player what his character does outside of "You miss" "You hit" "You succeed" "You Fail" and so forth. "You say this," "You do this," "you attack this guy" are NEVER ok unless the character is under mind control. Repeat... this is NEVER EVER EVER ok (sorry, I see DMs do it a lot).

9. It goes back to number 7 and 8, but NEVER tell a player how impressed he or she is with your performance, story, idea, etc. EVER.

10. Remember that the players are the star of the show. They're also your co-writers. If they don't want to go left, let there be an option for going right as well. Railroading is bad.

11. You're the DM, not the villain. Tell the story, don't compete with the players. If the players aren't having fun, then congratulations, you're a failure and you need to get better.



That should be it. Hope I helped.

PnP Fan
2007-03-27, 12:48 AM
1. What should the players know beyond taking a look in the PHB and building a character.
As a starting place everyone should have read through the combat section, and through rules that apply to their characters before your game begins. It's okay if they don't remember everything, you won't either. In fact, you may even want to keep combat simple. Don't excersize every rule in the combat section just because it's there. Give it time, their will be opportunites for everything. The nice thing about spellcasters at low levels is that their options tend to be rather limited, so you don't have to wait while the player does research on the spell he wants to cast during combat.

2. What should I know to make it an easy transition for folks who've never played?
Patience. Have fun. Make it as much a social event as it is a game event. If you are ambitious and have paper to spare, print out sections from the SRD relevant to your PC's and hand them out.

3. Any particular rules I should pay attention to and ensure everyone is clear on?

Have fun. Don't let the rules get in the way of a good time, write down the things that caused questions, and do your research on your own time.
Attacks of Opportunity can be confusing. Feel free to disregard them completely the first session. Explain to your players that you are simplifying the rules. Then, when you introduce new rules, let them know at the beginnig of the session. This can be annoying for experienced players, but if you are all newbies, it's probably a good thing.

As far as your DMPC, try to build up the relationship with the PCs in a prelude type session. Preludes were one of the best things that WoD games introduced. It's exactly what it sounds like, the prelude to the story you are about to tell. That way, if you can build up some sort of relationship between the PC's and your doomed NPC, it won't feel quite so artificially "painful" when he dies. You might spend the entire first session on preludes, and it can be some really cool RP, with almost no dice involved (after all, clearly the character survives until the beginning of the campaign, right?) That way you go from: "Okay, um guys, . . . Darius the Cleric has been mentoring you all for a number of years, and he tells you what to do. You all like him." to this: Ah yes, Reynoldo the brave, as Darius the Cleric breaths his last breath, you recall the first day you met. You were just a lad playing in the forest when the giant spider had decided to make a meal of you. Not only did Darius give the spider the sound thumping that ended his days, he also nullified the effects of the spider's poison. That day left you with scars though, two scars from the spider's bite on either side of your neck, and an intense hatred of spiders." The latter is much more interesting (in spite of my poor writing and the time of day), and gives Reynoldo the brave a reason to actually like said Cleric.

marjan
2007-03-27, 01:03 AM
3. Any particular rules I should pay attention to and ensure everyone is clear on?

I recruited several new players in the past few months. One rule comes to mind that everyone seems to be unclear on. Attacks of Opportunity (AoO). Make sure they understand everying that causes AoO's. Drawing a weapn in melee, casting in melee (unless you cast defensively), fireing a bow in melee, drinking a potion in melee, moving past an enemy's threatened square, etc.

Drawing a weapon doesn't provoke attack of oprtunity.

Dhavaer
2007-03-27, 01:31 AM
I'd very much recommend getting a pre-made adventure like 'A Dark and Stormy Knight' or 'The Burning Plague' from the Wizards site. I wish I'd had one when I started DMing...