DnD Dm'ing
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So, now I have to admit my dirty little secret. I started DnD THIS YEAR! Because my old friend asked me if I could join their group and that was like a little demo. I was ultimately blown to death by the awesomeness of DnD! But since I knew only a little about DnD i shamefully bought 4th ed (you can`t blame me, It was shiny!)
I am still not so confident of me, because I still don`t know a lot about DnD. I still can`t figure out the advanced combat (pinned me down, that tricky bastard). Since my friends are pro DnD`ers, they just do the stuff for me. By the way, I was chosen to be DM only because of my creativity and ablity to invent "shit on the fly".
So to resume everything I have to say I still haven`t studied the whole three books form A to Z (and its really hard). I want just a easy-to-follow guide for new Dungeon Masters. Any luck finding something like that?
I am still not so confident of me, because I still don`t know a lot about DnD. I still can`t figure out the advanced combat (pinned me down, that tricky bastard). Since my friends are pro DnD`ers, they just do the stuff for me. By the way, I was chosen to be DM only because of my creativity and ablity to invent "shit on the fly".
So to resume everything I have to say I still haven`t studied the whole three books form A to Z (and its really hard). I want just a easy-to-follow guide for new Dungeon Masters. Any luck finding something like that?
ReverendJ said:
That is excellent advice as any, except of point 7. I would highly recommend 4th ed, especially for new players. It has much nicer balance and set of tools , so you can alternate as DM in difficulty easily and players can concentrate more on role-playng, so for example having un-normalized fighter with a pole-arm, can still be very useful, instead of a wizard at level 14 being the only thing your party will ever need. Basicly, my biggest problem with 3.5 and under, is sheer fact that some classes (such as fighter) become increasingly more useless as you go through the game. 4.0 allows your players a lot more freedom to think in character - What their character is, story, why is he doing it, rather than looking for excuses to become a wizard, a cleric or on rare occasion a barbarian.
Combat is easy:Sviests said:
Make it challenging, but not exactly impossible... If u are slaughtering your party, it will be their fault, because they probably can run away. If your party is steam rolling your monsters, you can always find excuses to add monsters into the game... For example: my signature in DM'ing is constructs climbing out treasure piles, while in big showdown or secret room finding, group can go more screaming if its animated suit of enchanted armor so party can kill it by destroying their own loot... Also, if u think you gave them too much stuff, there is always an excuse for a party to stumble upon gelatinous cube, or 2 =P
The man makes a very good point.ma55ter_fett said:
Make the campaign actually be a challenge. Don't be afraid to put the players into situations where they might die. It should compel the players to really focus and think about what they want to do before they attempt something.
Oh God yes! This, all this!ma55ter_fett said:
One of my favorite campaigns. Sci Fi thingie. I had it all planned out. Then the players took a hostage and left the planet. Sold hostage for body parts. I made sure it all came back to haunt them. There's nothing like a pissed off cyborg to use to chase players as they run around while you're making up a new planet with horrible things on it on the fly.
Mwahahahahaha!
Check this book out.Sviests said:
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Master-Dummies-James-Wyatt/dp/0470292911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264791610&sr=8-1
I don't recall if it's the one I flipped through or not (mainly I don't recall if the one I saw was 4th edition or not) but it was full of some good practical advice. I've been DMing for 17 years basically and it definitely had some good pointers.Sviests said:
Okay... I'm sorry for sneaking my own little prejudices in there. I am personally bothered by quite a bit of the 4th Edition, but this is neither the time nor place. Apologies to all. It's possible to have fun with any rules set as long as the story is good. (GURPS, anyone?)
Ultimately, the rules should serve the story, not force it. It's ok not to have encyclopedic knowledge of the books. When in doubt, have the players roll a die, make a big show of carefully scrutinizing the results, shuffle some papers behind your screen, and tell them whatever you think the story needs to happen is the result. They may not even notice. Most game systems will tell you to modify the rules to fit your needs, and a reasonably imaginative GM should be able to referee most situations without needing to resort to dice rolls.
Ultimately, the rules should serve the story, not force it. It's ok not to have encyclopedic knowledge of the books. When in doubt, have the players roll a die, make a big show of carefully scrutinizing the results, shuffle some papers behind your screen, and tell them whatever you think the story needs to happen is the result. They may not even notice. Most game systems will tell you to modify the rules to fit your needs, and a reasonably imaginative GM should be able to referee most situations without needing to resort to dice rolls.
Want to make a session memorable? Bring out memorable monsters.
For instance, Tucker's Kolbolds. [http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/] Although that specific example mostly applies if your players are using higher level characters, it never hurts to try it out anyway.
For instance, Tucker's Kolbolds. [http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/] Although that specific example mostly applies if your players are using higher level characters, it never hurts to try it out anyway.
If all else fails, remember: Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies, now let's try this again and stop being dicks.
Once upon a time (2nd edition!), our DM got sick and tired of an idiot horn dog trying to fuck everything even remotely female, so he finally said "You just got crotch rot. The girl was an asymptomatic carrier of crotch rot. You got gangrene on your dick."
"Well, can't I make a saving throw against disease?"
*roll behind a screen*
"Natural 1. Now your balls have gangrene. And your hand from when you jacked off. And your head from when you scratched at your lice. You're gangrenous. And you die. Permanently. Turn in your character sheet, I'm going to burn it."
Once upon a time (2nd edition!), our DM got sick and tired of an idiot horn dog trying to fuck everything even remotely female, so he finally said "You just got crotch rot. The girl was an asymptomatic carrier of crotch rot. You got gangrene on your dick."
"Well, can't I make a saving throw against disease?"
*roll behind a screen*
"Natural 1. Now your balls have gangrene. And your hand from when you jacked off. And your head from when you scratched at your lice. You're gangrenous. And you die. Permanently. Turn in your character sheet, I'm going to burn it."
Make sure to add story and intrigue, you don't want to have a game with only combat (well unless your players are like that.). If there is no background stories, plots, etc, then the game is one big pen and paper grindfest. Make it as immersive as possible; one way I like to do this is to get my players to write background stories for their characters. You can then incorporate events from their characters past into your campaign, making it more of an interactive experience. This has limits though; for example, if a player's started out with, "From the day that I was picked as one of Mystra's Chosen (well, she doesn't exist in 4th ed. but still)," or "From that day I took the +5 vorpal keen longsword that has been in my family for generations etc etc" I'd just throw it out.
My advice, besides from what everyone else said? Include a clifftop, bridge, or fast moving river. Once your players find out they can do shit like throw people over bridges, the games get a lot funnier.
If you don't conduct the enemy fights with the same amount of intelligence the players exhibit, the encounter becomes rather boring. I run a narrative, sure, but I also make the enemies actually challenging and clever. If you want to tell a story so badly go write a book.LimaBravo said:
Don't be a dick.
No one likes to play D&D if their characters (who they have put a lot of time into) struggle to survive every moment of the game. Sure, its good to have a challenge, but living shouldn't be a challenge. Give them some time to breath, don't have every door trapped with a Power word kill spell.
My approach to DMing is "Give the players a story to live in, Challenge them and have fun".
Try not to put roleplaying over action or vise versa, a good ballance makes for a good game. If you have an RP heavy session, follow up with a bit more action next game.
A bit more specific advice
Try to switch up where the challenge comes from, a few games ago we had to fight some 'nightshades' not so much of a problem for level 7 characters, but in the middle of us and them were a group of children playing in the feild. Snap!
Overall have fun and personally I don't find having to make saves vs death at every corner fun.
No one likes to play D&D if their characters (who they have put a lot of time into) struggle to survive every moment of the game. Sure, its good to have a challenge, but living shouldn't be a challenge. Give them some time to breath, don't have every door trapped with a Power word kill spell.
My approach to DMing is "Give the players a story to live in, Challenge them and have fun".
Try not to put roleplaying over action or vise versa, a good ballance makes for a good game. If you have an RP heavy session, follow up with a bit more action next game.
A bit more specific advice
Try to switch up where the challenge comes from, a few games ago we had to fight some 'nightshades' not so much of a problem for level 7 characters, but in the middle of us and them were a group of children playing in the feild. Snap!
Overall have fun and personally I don't find having to make saves vs death at every corner fun.
I felt pretty justified since it was a boss fight. Let me spell it out. There was a necromancer. He could cast exploding runes. He had zombies. It was a one shot. A good time was had by all. Get it?LimaBravo said:
DnD is not serious. If you play DnD without exploding zombies, wear tiger fighter/sorcerer/rouges, and adolescent dragons with a penchant for cheese, then you missed the point. Kick in the door, and to hell with storytelling unless it is intentionally ridiculous. I once had a plot hook descend from the sky to transport my players to the dungeon. That's much better that than some contrived story involving a shady man in a bar, a damsel in distress, and an evil oppressive vampire lord.
And this is okay how? Because you didn't like him?LimaBravo said:
So... there's two RPG schools. #1 says the hell with it, it's a game, let's kill stuff and have a good time. #2 is about crafting a story, replete with richly detailed characters and lots of dramatic dialogue. Which you choose is ultimately something you DON'T choose, it just kind of happens, depending on the players. I've seen serious WoD campaigns turn into Malk-happy weekly goof-fests, because the players didn't particularly care to get engaged in high drama. I've also witnessed players take what was intended to be a friendly, relaxed and, yes, silly campaign and transmogrify them into tense explorations of character and plot. Neither is inherently better. It's like movies- if it's all Requiem For a Dream, you kill yourself. If it's all Ben Stiller, you kill yourself. The best games, much like the best movies, have that perfect blend of drama and comic relief.
Oh, dear Gods...this is my 20th anniversary of RPGs and I'm not even thirty. I've turned into That Guy...
Oh, dear Gods...this is my 20th anniversary of RPGs and I'm not even thirty. I've turned into That Guy...