Dming Help

[Newbznsn]

Hi. I just finished taking my group of 3 players through my first ever adventure; the "Haunted Keep" at the back of the Basic Rulebook. The only thing is that it took us 3 hours. We had a lot of fun, but i made stuff up on the fly and i felt i didn't use the rules at all. "at all" basically meaning i could have used any ruleset and my game would have been the same. How can i do this better? I just bought a 1e AD&D DM guide on ebay, will that help? I also feel i need to keep my players focused a little more and i need a way to prepare myself better for the encounters. Also, regarding rules, in Basic edition, can you only use a spell once and then it is gone forever? We are going to do Keep on The Borderlands in 2 weeks and i really want to do a better job.

Thanks,

Nick

[Gilladian]

I don't remember the basic rules well enough to answer your rule question, but somebody here will.

3 hours for a small dungeon sounds fairly appropriate. My experienced group, playing with a simple set of rules (I use microlite 20 when I want very basic game rules), can churn through 6-8 encounters in 3 hours, but we move pretty briskly.

Last time we played, using 3.5x rules, we took 3 hours to do 3 encounters (a bit of roleplay, a hike with an ambush, and another hike and exploring and raiding into a big cave with a fight). I expected it to go quicker, but that's life.

The biggest thing to remember is this: if you and your players are having fun, you're DOING IT RIGHT!

Of course, you'll become better at teh rules as time goes by, but your first games are always the best memories...

[roguerouge]

Spells can be used once per day, not once per lifetime. Would you study for years so that one day, you could cast Detect Magic once?

[soulcatcher78]

Fun = Correct. That's the only rule that really matters. Any ruleset can be fun, you just have to allow what makes the game enjoyable for you and your players. 3 hours for a basic/quick adventure sounds about right. If you think that things are to easy, add some additional challenges (i.e. don't replace orcs with dragons but consider adding an additional orc or two to make things tougher).

The (1ED) AD&D DMG will give you some nice guidelines but if you're blending rulesets, just pull what you want from it and hammer it into shape for your game. Try not to get to caught up in what's right or wrong, just concentrate on what is enjoyable.

[El Mahdi]

A ruleset is nothing but a tool. Some tools work better for certain tasks than others. But in the end, the rules are just a tool to facilitate your gameplay (whatever your style of play - strategic, narrative, etc.). If you ran a game where you didn't even really use the rules, and both you and your players enjoyed it, then you have done what I would call Advanced Gameplay and Game Mastery. It sounds like your players have a level of trust with you where they trust you implicitly for fair adjudication. Likewise, it sounds like you have a level of trust in your players where you trust them to not abuse the more freeform nature of your game. That my friend, is a rare and very precious thing. Sounds to me like you and your players did it exactly right.

Now, there's nothing wrong with becoming more familiar with the rules, but I would suggest not losing the base concepts you already have. Learn as much of the rules as you want, just remember, the rules should never get in the way of having a good time. If a rule does get in the way, ignore it or get rid of it. I think you guys are starting at a point that sometimes takes others years to realize, if at all. Enjoy yourselves and keep adventuring.

[Newbznsn]

Thanks everyone. We are having a lot of fun, and i do understand your point, but our group lacks major organization. I guess we don't really need that much because we are having fun, but i think we would maybe have more fun with a little more organization. Also about spells, wouldn't a magic-user or cleric be almost pointless if they can only use one spell (in my case our lvl 1 with magic missile) a day? What do they use the rest of the time?

Thanks,

Nick

[carborundum]

Usually a crossbow. Seriously!



Let them think of it as a rite of passage. If they survive through the weak times they get incredible power.

[El Mahdi]

Well, I personally have never played the basic set, but I have read a bit of it. It is aptly named in that it's a very basic rules set. I'm not sure of the makeup of your group, or where you guys are playing, but if you have access to it I'd suggest maybe trying out 4th Edition D&D. Myself, I prefer 3rd Edition but 4th might be better suited for you guys. From reading the 4th Edition system, and from listening to others here on ENWorld, it seems to be a very easy system to learn and play, and would have a lot more options for you and your players. The 4th Edition Dungeon Master Guide is absolutely chock full of awesome, yet easy to understand, advice for both beginner DM's/GM's (Dungeon Masters/Game Masters - both mean the same thing) and veteran DM's/GM's. The three book box set for 4E would probably cost you around $65 online.

If buying more material or moving to another edition is out of the question, for whatever reason, then this is an example of "if the rules are getting in your way, ignore them or change them". In other words, if the RAW (Rules As Written) of the set you are using doesn't work for you guys, change it. Now I know that may sound easier than it is, I'm sure you don't want to fiddle with the rules and then possibly create other problems. So, here are some houserule ideas for you (houserules are rules that groups and DM's make up for use in their own games).

• Make attack spells (like Magic Missile) an at will spell for Wizards (rather than he "fires and forgets"). In other words the Wizard can cast it whenever he wants, just like a Fighter can attack whenever he wants. But, you'll need to change the spell to no longer always be an automatic hit. Have the Wizard make an attack roll using his Thac0, to see if he hits. If the Wizard seems to be having too hard of a time ever hitting with his Magic Missile using this idea, try having the Wizard use the Fighters Thac0, but only for magical spell attacks. You could even make this not count against the number of spells he has or memorizes, it's just a "Power" that the Wizard always has (this is basically how 4th Edition, or 4E, does it).
• Adapt rules from another edition or ruleset. Unfortunately, spell progression is the same in 1E, 2E, and 3E (1st and 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeon's & Dragon's {AD&D}, and 3rd Edition Dungeon's & Dragon's), however, spellcasters also get bonus spells based on their Intelligence score, and in 3E can also cast 0 level spells (also known as Cantrips). You don't have to buy the books for 3E though, the rules are "Open Content". 3rd Edition rules are all availabe for free as the D20 SRD (or System Reference Document), the best source is here.

There are also some Open Content rules systems for Original D&D and AD&D style play that are supposed to be very easy to use, available at places like RPGNow.com - The leading source for indie RPGs and right here on ENWorld at ENPublishing. Someone else though would have to give you advice on which ones might work the best for you since I really haven't read or played any of them. (I believe one such system is called OSRIC. OSRIC stands for Old School Reference and Index Compilation.)

I hope this helps a bit. For more specific DM'ing advice, just post your questions here. I, and other ENWorlders, will be more than happy to help out (the people on this site are really good about doing this).

[S'mon]

Magic Missile is a poor choice for a 1st level Magic-User. He should have either sleep, which defeats a large group of opponents, or charm person, which gains an ally - with its long duration he can build up an army of charmed followers!

You might like to expand your Basic D&D game with Labyrinth Lord, which is free to download and fully compatible: Labyrinth Lord - also has plenty of good GMing advice.

You may find the advice in the 1e AD&D DMG useful, but it's a much more complex game than Basic.

[Wik]

Can I just say... I envy you. Seriously. Who cares if you're truly following the rules - the first few times you play are pure awesome.

[haakon1]

Originally Posted by carborundum

Let them think of it as a rite of passage. If they survive through the weak times they get incredible power.

Exactly. And the cleric and the magic-user will need to do some hand-to-hand combat if the party is to survive, in my experience with AD&D.

I do advise you to pick up the AD&D PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual. Best game books every written -- better than Basic, much simpler than later editions, tons of great material written for it.

[S'mon]

Originally Posted by haakon1

Exactly. And the cleric and the magic-user will need to do some hand-to-hand combat if the party is to survive, in my experience with AD&D.

I do advise you to pick up the AD&D PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual. Best game books every written -- better than Basic, much simpler than later editions, tons of great material written for it.

Or you can download OSRIC, which clones the 1e rules and is free.

[Betote]

3 hours for an adventure sounds right to me. And don't worry if you feel you're "not using the rules". The rules of the Basic Set are more like guidelines. If you keep your decisions fair, it doesn't matter if it's actually in the rulebook or not.

As some people here suggested, you should have a look at http://goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.htm as it's a very good clone of Basic/Expert, just with a better organization and some useful advice. Apart from that, remember that the most important thing is that you and your players are having fun. Nothing else matters, even us, the interwebs whitebeards

[Mark]

This might help - DMing Advice (Links fixed July 20, 2008!)