I am starting my first game tonight!

[CrackedChair]

I just wish to know before I begin; what things should I do for a game when I start?

[RazorChain]

Pray to lady luck that your dice rolls will be good.

Have some prepared content for your players to play through.

Practice your evil grin...because you have to roll dice behind the GM screen and grin evilly

Prepare a flat surface where your players can place their character sheets.

If you live in your moms basement, I suggest showering before your players show up and throw out the pizza boxes.

[AMFV]

I just wish to know before I begin; what things should I do for a game when I start?

Don't be so tired that you don't pay attention. Try not to get sidetracked or take too many sidetracks that take away from the game (unless it's that kind of game, but for a first sessions you probably won't be able to tell). Definitely shower.

[NOhara24]

I just wish to know before I begin; what things should I do for a game when I start?

If you're a player:

*Groom yourself. This includes a shower. (Too many players have showed up stinking when I was earlier in my DM career...)
*Clean clothes. Including underwear. (See above.)
*Bring your dice and have foreknowledge of what type of character you want to play.

If you're the DM:

*Execute the standard blood sacrifice to RNGesus.
*Sumbmerge your DM dice in the product of the blood sacrifice for 48 hours prior to the start of the game.
*If this is "Session 0", have foreknowledge of what kind of characters your players are going to create. Be prepared to answer questions if you're going to have house rules or tweaks to the game.
*If this is "Session 1", have a session planned in which the players meet each other and find the first plot hook.

If you're the host:

*See aforementioned personal hygiene guidelines.
*Clean the bathroom that your guests are most likely to use.
*Ensure cleanliness of the room your players are going to be occupying.
*Have refreshments and light snacks on hand. (Not mandatory, but will go far in keeping distractions to a minimum if people aren't hungry/thirsty.) IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO PAY FOR DINNER. The host hosts, the DM DMs, and those who are neither split costs for dinner for the group if applicable.

Roles are always subject to change dependent on the performance of the person in the role. IE: Steve's basement is full of angry Emus for the 3rd week in a row. Steve's hosting rights should be revoked.

[NeXeH]

I just wish to know before I begin; what things should I do for a game when I start?

How did the game go?

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Steve's basement is full of angry Emus for the 3rd week in a row. Steve's hosting rights should be revoked.

Are you kidding me? Can't we just ditch the game and go emu wrestling again?

(Nope, not even nearly serious, those are some bad ass [some contraction of words], emus.)

[CrackedChair]

How did the game go?

Sit down for a little and listen...

Alright, so we got together on Discord (A voice and text chat app for gamers, although others can use it too) to round up the players. We had 4 players, so it took some time, with one being 10 minutes late. We introduced our characters afterwards.

The characters were a Human Cleric, A Human Sorcerer, a Human Paladin, and a Human Fighter (me). After we got together, we went to roll20 (A Tabletop gaming app that allows games to be played over the web. I don't think it's very efficient, frankly, but I am prob the only nerd in town, so whatcha gonna do?), and established marching order before we went on.

This was but a practice session, so we were given a simple quest. There was this Goblin named Redcap (I honestly thought it was an actual Redcap, and I was like "Oh god" when I heard of it.) and it was holed up in some cave. The cave was inside a hill, with a shed on the top.

The theme of this was 'I was the only one getting good rolls' apparently, cause nobody was getting a good enough perception check to perceive the hill and the cave in it. I rolled a 17 (with modifiers) on the check, and was able to clearly see just what the hill had to offer. After making it up to the top, we found the shed, which was pitch black. Since none of us had darkvision, we had to light one of our lamps to see in it. It had a entrance to the cave, but we ultimately made the decision to go into the other cave proper.

So there was a hole in the cave that went down, and we went down it. It was real cramped though, so the Paladin took the frint, since he was carrying the lamp, and I took the rear. A few steps lead us to a wooden room with a table. The Cleric rolled good enough to make a successful check to investigate, but found nothing. Moved on.

So after walking a corridor, there was a branching path, so we went right. After making it down the path, we come across a room of barrels that smelled awful, apparently. The party was rolling bad on their investigation rolls, so I made mine, and got a 17, which revealed a hidden path. Moving on.

We got to another room at the end of a corridor, and the DM asked for our passive perception scores. Cleric has 15, and thus saw a Giant spider on the ceiling. I inclined to roleplay that I am terrified of the spider, and asked the party to keep going, since it was not bothering anyone. Paladin then said he wanted to kill it (why?) and threw a javelin at it, which missed. Leading to us rolling for initiative.

Sorcerer goes first, and tries to use Shocking Grasp on it. Which the DM rules he can't cause it's on the ceiling. So he opts to just use Ray of Frost, which misses.

Paladin goes up next and attacks again with a javelin. He rolls a natural 20! His attack was stated by the DM to be devastating.

Now I am up, I go up to the spider and ask if my halberd can reach it, which he rules it can. I roll enough to hit, and a high number to bring it down, dead.

Now this was real late at night, so I asked the DM if we can end this right here, which he does.

[goto124]

Looks like it went well!


a Giant spider on the ceiling... Paladin then said he wanted to kill it (why?)

What else would you do with a Giant spider on a ceiling? It's dangerous, it's the first encounter the party has after travelling through a cave, in what I presume is a game of DnD (which edition?), and there's no reason to not kill it.

[Airk]

What else would you do with a Giant spider on a ceiling? It's dangerous, it's the first encounter the party has after travelling through a cave, in what I presume is a game of DnD (which edition?), and there's no reason to not kill it.

Spoken like a true murderhobo.

This is what D&D does to you, people. ;P

[Anxe]

I was going to suggest bringing food and/or drinks to your first game night, but uh... Not for Online stuff!

Bring it anyways and make them jealous...

Roll20 inefficient? Perhaps for what you were doing in the first session but it gets way more useful.

[goto124]

"Please use Push-to-Talk and stop crunching your potato chips over the mic."


Spoken like a true murderhobo.

This is what D&D does to you, people. ;P

Honestly though, when the party has been exploring a cramped cave system for quite a while before encountering a monster, it's reasonable to kill the monster before checking the room to see what's up. What would the alternative be, leaving the room alone to explore the cave some more?

BlackSymphony, sorry if my tone came across as harsh or rude to you. I'm curious as to what you expected to do with the giant spider.

[RazorChain]

@BlackSymphony

Well at least you didn't need to shower! :smallbiggrin:

[Mastikator]

Before the game starts go to the bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror and say "it's showtime".

[Anxe]

https://youtu.be/aDm4L7gjYNs?t=48