An aspiring DM in search of advise

[Corolinth]

2) ...or best of all, do not run a D&D game at all. Who says you have to play D&D?

This little gem here is possibly the best advice in the thread so far concerning dealing with experienced and jaded players who already know the stats for every monster you're sending at them.

[DoomsdayBadger]

Don't play Dnd... that seems a bit harsh.

I'd rather not be exiled from a game I love.

And the extra feat was less of cheating, and trying to make a character I envisioned into the game. He was in no way broken, and infact underpowered. It was a weak attempt to make two weapon fighting work.

But oh well, I think I know what I'm going to do.

I'm starting them out as you said, at level one. Iron Fist time!

I changed my campaign idea, it's going to be a needlessly complex storyline, with leveling handed out at my discression. Thatway I can keep track of where they're at instead of being surprised.

Thanks again for all the helpful advise.

Cheers!

[Corolinth]

I think you miss the point of that comment. If you want to keep some surprises in store, the best way to do that is play by an entirely different set of rules.

[Damionte]

Not much point in playing D&D if you're not going to play D&D. No one has everythign memorised. Besides you add character levels to monsters in the boko they cbecome completely different.

In this thread though, I mean your test runs are blunted by you guys not using the rules correctly. Chances are if you're using the rules in the right manner, or as close as you can then the stuff in the book will be a challenge.

[Ethdred]

I changed my campaign idea, it's going to be a needlessly complex storyline, with leveling handed out at my discression. Thatway I can keep track of where they're at instead of being surprised.

No, no, no! Don't do that. Keep the Xp rules the same. You keep track of them by keeping track of them. You have to put in a bit of work, but basically you make sure you know what they are doing every time they level up. They shouldn't be able to suddenly say 'Well, since I took that level of sorceror my Will save is much higher'. You will know all the kit they have, so you can make sure they don't have game breaking ACs or anything. It's not actually that difficult - they just have to accept that their character sheets are not a secret from the DM

[Ethdred]

I have 2 experienced players in my game, and they'll often tell one of our new players "I think you forgot to add in your ____ bonus", keeping the new player from accidentally being underpowered.

You actually need specific players for that? In our tabletop games we're always scrabbling around for that extra +1 to hit. No-one needs an invitation to shut things like 'Is the bard singing? Did you count the Bless?' etc etc

[banjo1985]

I have a small bit of advice for the familiar monsters problem....

Our GM (and myself when I run) NEVER use the monster stats fom any of the books that are available, we tend to create our own things, or if we use an existing creature we change its weaknesses and attack style. Also, try not to give the players the name of the creature, if you tell them "it's a Bugbear" it'll be much clearer to them than giving them a rough description of what they face.

I personally don't see any problem with you giving out levels at your discretion, our group doesn't use experience points anymore at all. I'm not saying that using the D&D experience charts is bad, just that they don't suit every game group.

And that's where my last point comes in. Every game group is different. If your powergamers and other players like the way the game currently goes, then it's better to leave it that way. GM's run a game for the enjoyment of themselves and the players, if you bring in a whole new and radically different regime it may meana quick and unhappy end to the campaign.

All in all, I think you probably need to sit down with all your players, one-to-one or as a group, and see what they want out of the campaign. If powergamers are willing to tone it down for a different gaming experience, by all means make all the changes it will take to make you enjoy GMing.

[LotharBot]

You actually need specific players for that? In our tabletop games we're always scrabbling around for that extra +1 to hit. No-one needs an invitation to shut things like 'Is the bard singing? Did you count the Bless?' etc etc

In this case, I wasn't talking about temporary buffs... I was talking about the barbarian forgetting to add in his strength bonus to his base attack, so he has +22 written on his sheet even though he's a level 19 barbarian with a +12 strength bonus and a +5 weapon (+36 to hit), and stuff like that. Everyone reminds the other players of the +1 from bless or the +2 from flanking, but it's nice to have experienced players sitting where they can see every other person's character sheets and notice that some of the numbers on their sheet are off.

This goes both ways. If you have twinky/cheater players, you're likely to have someone with a 30 AC who really should only have a 20 AC. If you have sloppy players, you're likely to have someone with a 20 AC who should really have a 30 AC. Either way, if you have an experienced and trustworthy player in your group, it helps to have them at least glance at the numbers for you.

[Tobrian]

Originally Posted by Tobrian View Post
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[CASTLEMIKE]

DMing is a lot of work. Keep it simple. Have fun but let the PCs have more fun. Level one leveling up campaigns or a few one shot low level games are great ways to familiarize yourself with everything particularly with something like 32 point buy and average or full starting gold. Learn the rules. Be very familiar with the PC character's abilites. DM approval feats are probably a bad idea initially as they are very abuseable in game under the rules.

Since you know and have played with most of the players for a few one shots ask them to play level one lesser optimized PCs. A great fighter player usually doesn't make a great wizard player. Don't let the barbarian PC tell the wizard PC what to do spellcasting wise. At low levels you you make the group roll knowledge checks against new monsters as they have never seen one of these before and picture books were a rarity. Some kind of big scary looking monster is attacking you. Kinda like an orc but bigger or smaller. It looks like some kind of lizard humanoid. It reminds you of a.......

Roll the dice a lot for no reason. Ask the player's their marching order and spacing again out of the blue and where their PC position is in the group again or who is in back or what is your PC doing exactly or how far ahead of the group is the scout again? It keeps them interested and on edge. Give clues to prompt skill checks and keep the PCs on edge. There is an unknown rustling off to the side of the road. Roll a dice your character thought he heard something but can't hear anything now.

Have copies of all your player's PCs and your spellcaster's known and memorized spells for the day.

Make them give you an updated copy you can match against the previous old copy from the last game. This really helps keep them honest.

Track and note the magic and resources used in each battle by the PCs and mark it off magic that they use in game as it happens initially after every combat. You are only one person and generally outnumbered. It is amazing how often spellcasters forget they already used that spell or hadn't memorized it or excede daily spellcasting if it isn't tracked or keep healing themselves with the same scroll or potion.

Don't reinvent the wheel. Creating an adventure is a lot of work. Consider using some of the free pdf adventures from Wizards and tweaking them to taste or borrowing one or two from your old DM and tweaking it a bit. You can always buy some adventures down the road. Spend some time a few hours familiarizing yourself with them and making those personal notes. One reason PCs are so effective is players generally spends hours learning about their PC abilities or are very familiar with that PC type.

I found keeping a few notes or note cards ready helps along with improvising. Fudge a few rolls for the BBEGs and NPCs if things are going wrong to badly as a few extra hit points do not change the CR. You are not really trying to kill the players you are trying to give them a good time.

Give the BBEGs a non PC treasure boost by having them sucking down that temporary potion just before dying or getting boosted with a spell before someone runs aways. Know what random treasure the BBEG NPC had beforehand and have them utilize it in the encounter and Do Not roll it up afterwards. Make it in gear that they can resell for half market price but can be to bulky to transport all away safely. At low levels most of the coinage should be in coppers with a little silver and some occassional gold and gear. PCs are walking treasure hoards compared to most of the populace and should take some basic steps to safeguard their gear. Not leaving a valuable spell book back in the inn unattended or always carrying it with them on their person. Fighters shouldn't clank around town in heavy armor all day or should have that role played. Not being able to get a seat in a fine restaurant. Maybe they leave it with their mentor or hire a temporary watch or party henchmen or have a guard dog.

The Fighter type should not have Wizard treasure he can't utilize and the same for the wizard with the magic sword (Interesting he could be a level 5 wizard working on a paid commission and the PCs have irritated a BBEG who wants it back).