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First time DMing a campaign

Discussion in 'Dungeons & Dragons + Other RPGs' started by Alavin, Dec 8, 2003.

  1. Alavin

    Alavin If I wanted your view, I'd read your entrails Veteran

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    Having played D&D for about five years, I decided it was time to give DMing a go. The first session wasn't bad I thought, considering. However, it wasn't up to the standard set by my previous DM, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice?
     
    Alavin, Dec 8, 2003
    #1

  2. Muumli the Wayfarer Gems: 7/31
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    Ah, i've been there. I'm not that experienced myself, but I can tell you some rough spots to avoid. First and foremost, Don't Get Too Lofty. No one wants to sit there and listen to you blather about so and so's history, or the intricacies of the such and such (unless, of course, they can kill things with it. If so, make this clear, and they should be quite attentive for a bit). Roleplaying is great, but my crew loves to have a good scrap, so have a few hordes of weak-medium foes to turn loose on them (ie, skeletons, goblins, better yet kobolds, you get the idea). Secondly, if you're using random tables or something, don't hesitate to pick out the monster you want from the random encounters, because the players dont want to sit there while you reroll the herd of oxen that turned up in castle greyhawk. Tables are fine, but always be ready to wing it. The third thing is that you can never expect what your players are going to do, so don't try. If they're going to a castle for a magic crown, have a castle map, the crown's stats, and a pyramid of enemies (on the bottom you have multiple hordes of the aforementioned fodder, above them, have harder...lieutenants or something, then fewer, harder guys above them, and lastly a boss). Don't place any of these things in any particular place in the castle, be random, and never let the players fluster you.
     
    Muumli the Wayfarer, Dec 8, 2003
    #2
  3. Rotku

    Rotku I believe I can fly Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Here and here are two threads with some great tips in them. Well atleast I found a lot of useful information in them.
     
    Rotku, Dec 9, 2003
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  4. Oaz Gems: 29/31
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    Check out a bunch of published modules. I'm sure they're available wherever you got your D&D books. A bunch of them (at least 25) are on the Wizards website (Wizards.com). Be sure to check the Cliffhangers section in the D&D Archives: that's like another 25 adventures as well. If you're playing in FR, there's a whole bunch of portal stuff you can incorporate into your adventure.

    A lot of these adventures can easily be extended into a larger plot (although some of them are very nice by themselves; I LOVE that adventure with the Calzone golem! :D )
     
    Oaz, Dec 9, 2003
    #4
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