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Thread: My first time DMing
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2008-01-20, 11:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
My first time DMing
And I'm not sure what to do, firstly I have a party of two, a male human Lawful good aristocrat (dont ask me why, it is my first time and I didn't feel like restricting him) he wants to dip two levels as a fighter and then eventually become a sorcerer, and a Neutral evil illumian cleric.
They're both experienced players, vastly more experienced than me, one has played since first edition, the other, I dunno but she's played for a while, so I doubt they'll clash, or I hoe experience as role players has brought them wisdom.
This is a city scape campaign, the NE Illumian worships fascism and has the domination of at the very least a city-state on her mind, while the LG aristocrat wants to regain honor that he lost.
So how do I not show my greenness as DM, keep myself from beginning this in the cliche tavern scene, and what are some good plot hooks for a city scape campaign, I have two, one where buried deep in an ancient dwarven city are the ruins f an older city where an artifact is deep in the center of the mountain, the artifact is an amulet able to control constructs,he other hok is a city is in a drought and has been using water elementals to get there water but nobles have been withholding water from the lower castes and then for some odd reason the elementals have begun wreaking havok on this city.
And before you ask all I have is the d20SRD.org to help me and nothing else really, so any help for a DMing noobie?
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2008-01-20, 11:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- DC
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Re: My first time DMing
I'm a bit of a noob DM my self. If you are ever stuck for plot hooks try tying in the players pasts. I haven't read Cityscape myself but do you want the campaign to be a series of one-shots or a real story with a major villain? A few good tips though are to A)Play to the player's strengths. Give them roleplaying chances they'll enjoy and challenges that match their classes. B) Don't railroad. nuff said. C) flesh out NPCs do good descriptions, the usual. Good luck.
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2008-01-20, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2008
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- Seattle
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Re: My first time DMing
Hm. I'm a bit busy at the moment, what with cooking and organizing an online D&D training session, but at first glance the biggest issue I see is that one player is an aristocrat, and the other is an EVIL Illumian. That's a bad way to start off a DMing "career."
If you're up for it, I'd be glad to talk DMing over PM or IM, but I'm not much for flooding forums with stuff like this.
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2008-01-20, 11:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- UTC -6
Re: My first time DMing
Actually, I think that the two will roleplay a few clashes based on the differences in the characters' alignments, but may be wise enough to avoid getting too caught up in it... watch out for that.
There's nothing shameful or noobish about starting in a tavern... and besides, how else are the characters going to meet each other and get introduced to a plot hook in one fell swoop?
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2008-01-20, 11:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- NC
Re: My first time DMing
For plot hooks, it's often best to let the players build them for you. Why are they adventuring? What significant events have happened in their past? What are their goals? As for generic advice, here is some directed to players and some directed to those running games.
And before you ask all I have is the d20SRD.org to help me and nothing else really, so any help for a DMing noobie?-
I laugh at myself first, before anyone else can.
-- Paraphrased from Elsa Maxwell
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The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you.
-- Paul Graham in Keep Your Identity Small
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2008-01-20, 11:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2005
- Location
- Iowa, United States
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Re: My first time DMing
The Wizards website has some free adventures as downloadable content. It sounds like you've got some ideas in mind already, but you might want to look at these anyway, just to get some ideas on how to plan your own adventures out.
Your greenness is gonna show no matter what you do. You're running a game for a couple of veterans, so they should have the good grace to help you along.
Regarding your plot hooks, the artifact quest sounds like a higher-level one, and the drought adventure sounds pretty low-level. The drought adventure could segue into the search for the amulet somehow, letting you do run adventures.
If you come up with more specific questions, we'll be able to help you out more.
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2008-01-21, 12:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
Re: My first time DMing
I understand why the aristocrat would be a handicap, I know next to nothing about ilumians, can you tell me what I'm getting into here?
I have a friend who i plan on borrowing the Eberron campaign book from, for the sole purpose of making a changeling villain, I like the idea of a nemesis who could be anyone at anytime. Possibly a wizard specializing in illusions, I'm not sure he wouldn't show up until later, possibly when the quest for the Amulet that controls constructs comes up, so he can wait for a good while.
What do I do if my party runs in the opposite direction of my plot hook, one of my DM's in the past had trouble with my arty doing this on multiple occasions.Last edited by blackspeeker; 2008-01-21 at 12:26 AM.
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2008-01-21, 12:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
Re: My first time DMing
Well, if one is an aristocrat and the other a facist, they could both be at a meeting of the cities counsel to present their own ideas on how to deal with a situation in the city. Both want to support the same course of action for their own reasons and end up being pair together to resolve the cities calamities. The one does it to regain said lost honor and the other does it in an attempt to elevate their station within the city. With the two opposing alignments the evil one may see working with the aristocrat as a means to an ends.
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2008-01-21, 12:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- NC
Re: My first time DMing
That's why I recommended limiting source material to whatever you have access to... Any legal help you get online will be limited by copyright issues.
What do I do if my party runs in the opposite direction of my plot hook, one of my DM's in the past had trouble with my arty doing this on multiple occasions.-
I laugh at myself first, before anyone else can.
-- Paraphrased from Elsa Maxwell
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The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you.
-- Paul Graham in Keep Your Identity Small
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2008-01-21, 12:46 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
Re: My first time DMing
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2008-01-21, 12:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
- Location
- Seattle
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Re: My first time DMing
Alas, I am slow to reply!
Basically, Illumians are humans + natural magic. Doesn't mean a fighter necessarily becomes a fighter that can cast magic missile, but they're often seen as outcasts, similar to half-elves and half-orcs. Combining that with an evil alignment, and ally with a person in some position of power, and you have a reason to do something that is completely off topic with the campaign. Which can get annoying.
Don't railroad your players. That is one of the best ways to limit your experience. Being able to come up with events on the fly is a GREAT skill to have as a DM.
And you're really facing a lot of unnecessary details for a beginning DM. I would suggest sticking to just the 3 core books and MAYBE one or two supplemental. Maybe.
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2008-01-21, 01:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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- Elsewhere
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Re: My first time DMing
Sooooo much sympathy from me. I am starting my first DM campaign in a few weeks, and boy, am I going to slip up big time. I agree, try not to railroad, and if worst comes to worst, just pop in a side quest to stall for time. Be sure to tie it in well, though, otherwise it may sound a bit fishy, but the two veterans should be merciful and understanding. Good luck!
Incidentally, I found d20srd.org didn't have anything on how much XP characters need to go up a level, so just watch out for things like that. If you're going to buy DM guides, do, I just read one, and they're helpful like you wouldn't believe.
And if anyone could give me the average XP for a 12th level elf wizard, or reference somewhere I could find out, that would help immensely...Just remember - yelling "Who wrote this ****?!" at the top of your lungs is a normal and accepted part of the editing process.
The wizard who reads a thousand books is powerful. The wizard who memorises a thousand book is insane.
78% of DM's started their first campaign in a tavern. If you're one of the 22% that didn't, copy and paste this into your signature.
Originally Posted by FF Fanboy
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2008-01-21, 01:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2008
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- Seattle
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Re: My first time DMing
Experience is very simply to determine. Starting at 0 for 1st level, it's 1000 to to a level up, then 2000 from that point, then 3000, et cetera.
1 - 0
2 - 1000
3 - 3000
4 - 6000
5 - 10000
6 - 15000
7 - 21000
8 - 28000
9 - 36000
10 - 45000
11 - 55000
12 - 66000
Hope that helps.
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2008-01-21, 02:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2005
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- Iowa, United States
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Re: My first time DMing
Crystalkeep is a very nice reference site. I highly recommend downloading the ZIP file they have available.
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2008-01-21, 12:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2007
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2008-01-21, 12:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2006
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Re: My first time DMing
The rule of thumb is that characters gain a level after 13.333333333... CR-appropriate encounters. So, you reach level two after fighting fourteen CR1 encounters. Of course, you don't actually fight that many straight-up appropriate encounters. There is an encounter calculator on d20srd.org that lets you see how much XP and treasure is appropriate according to the book's guidelines for a given encounter and a given party.
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2008-01-22, 12:29 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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Re: My first time DMing
Thanks, all! Much appreciated.
Just remember - yelling "Who wrote this ****?!" at the top of your lungs is a normal and accepted part of the editing process.
The wizard who reads a thousand books is powerful. The wizard who memorises a thousand book is insane.
78% of DM's started their first campaign in a tavern. If you're one of the 22% that didn't, copy and paste this into your signature.
Originally Posted by FF Fanboy
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2008-01-22, 02:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2007
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- The Imagination
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Re: My first time DMing
I strongly recommend against running a campaign without at least the three core books with you - every single page available and in a form that's easy to find things in. Also, as this is your first time, just use core, and not much else, or you will easily get overwhelmed. Additionally, I concur with those above who said to limit your players to what you have access to - or at the very least get the sources your players are using from them (I made the mistake of allowing Tome of Battle without having looked at it- the mistake can be fixed without saying "no, nevermind, you can't do that" but it isn't easy).
Make sure you study some of the things in the PHB and DMG; I found that very helpful before my first time DMing (I'm running my second campaign, I've been doing this for about a year and a half).
As far as your players are concerned - I don't think that having a LG and a NE in the same party is a wise idea, but if they are sufficiently good roleplayers, it can work; just remember that if it falls apart, you were the one who let them do it.
Well, I wish you luck.
-Fiery Diamond