General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
This is my very first post on the Enworld forums, and I'm relatively new to the world of dungeons of dragons. I love the game, and it's become my favourite way to unwind from the stress of university.
At the moment, I'm very comfortable playing a character, and wouldn't normally undertake the task of running a game myself. My brother and his friends, however, have expressed repeated interest in playing. I don't know anyone back home who plays, and so they've asked me to run a game for them.
Being a creative writing student, I'd rather tell my own story than turn to published content.As a result, I've read the core books, along with Dungeon Master 4th edition for Dummies and some 3rd edition supplements.
I have a great story idea in mind, and a general plan of how the adventure would play out.
Before I put the effort in, however, I'd like to know if it is practical/feasible for a first time DM to start his career by making his own adventure? Am I getting myself in over my head?
Speaking as someone who started D&D by DMing self-created adventures for his younger brother (yes, I was a DM before I was a player), I think it's entirely feasible.
One word of warning, though: the story you want to tell might not be the same as the story that your players want to tell. I would advise against getting too attached to the story and outcomes you have in mind, to the extent of making your players' decisions (and luck) irrelevant.
In addition, you might want to ask a moderator to slide this into the General forum, as you are likely to get more replies there. You can post a request in the Meta forum to do so.
From the sounds of it you have the right background and attitude in being able to run a game.
In many ways it is easier to run with your own material as you will understand the plot a lot better, and you have a lot more ownership of the world. When you run a published senario it can straight-jacket you into one way of thinking and if you stray from the published material (for any reason) it can cause continuity problems.
My main advise for a first time DM with a first time group is to start with a very simple situation/adventure. This will help everyone bed in and get a basic understanding of the rules and how to work as a team, it will also give you an insight into what sort of things interest your players.
From this simple beginning you can then build up the complexity and plot opportunities from there. The game should grow with your players, they might not be ready for high intrigue and political wrangling from the get go, they might be happy just killing a few goblins.
Try not to "plan" your whole story, just concentrate on the "chapter" you are currently in with one eye on the next. Try to remember that the D&D world is open ended and your players may want a different sort of story than you originally thought.
And most of all have fun! If you need any specific advice I am sure you will get plently of help (or at least opinions) here.
I've moved this to General Discussion, as it isn't especially edition specific and deserves a wider audience.
Back in the early days most games started with someone being DM and sorting out their own adventures from scratch. By all accounts 4e is one of the easiest versions of the game to do this with (probably barring the very earliest versions, of course!).
I wouldn't worry about it, have fun with things. Personally I'd be inclined to start small and let things build from there.
Some classic DMs advice from earlier versions of the Dragon by Ray Winninger are still available out there somewhere, and for an interesting example of a beginning campaign by someone who really knows his stuff, check out Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign
Cheers
__________________ Plane Sailing
(Enworld Admin)
If you need to email me click here
"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
If all else fails, you can all hop in a car, road trip down to Calgary and enjoy an open invite to my group!
But yeah, it sounds like you have everything good going your way to start your own adventure.
The best advice I can give is start things simple and rules-lite, and work your way up to more complicated rules. If done properly you don't even have to ignore rules in the book, just don't run things that bring them up.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott_Rouse
"You called Master?"
Amateur Writer trying to break into the RPG buisness.
Works in progress:
Level 1-30 D&D 4E campaign
D&D 4E Campaign setting
Other minor works
Pre-made adventures often take an experienced DM to handle from what I have heard. Inexperienced DM's often have issues with the "big picture", if they haven't made it by themselves.
Besides, as someone else said, the best gaming comes from making your own stuff.
Being a creative writing student, I'd rather tell my own story than turn to published content... ...I have a great story idea in mind, and a general plan of how the adventure would play out...
Any advice?
As FireLance said, just beware of those words "my story"... The players have a hand in this too. Look at DMing more as setting the scene, and presenting the conflicts in the plot. It's up to the players to figure out how to resolve those conflicts. Then, you can figure out the consequences of that resolution and present the next piece of action.
But you definitely need to give the players a chance to direct the outcome of the story through their actions, otherwise there's no point in having the players there and you might as well be writing a novel on your own.
Good Luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plane Sailing
Some classic DMs advice from earlier versions of the Dragon by Ray Winninger are still available out there somewhere...
An archive Ray Winninger's essays can be found here.
__________________ The Pbartender
"I don't believe it. There she goes again! She's tidied up, and I can't find anything! All my tubes and wires and careful notes and antiquated notions..." - Thomas Dolby
This is my very first post on the Enworld forums, and I'm relatively new to the world of dungeons of dragons. I love the game, and it's become my favourite way to unwind from the stress of university.
At the moment, I'm very comfortable playing a character, and wouldn't normally undertake the task of running a game myself. My brother and his friends, however, have expressed repeated interest in playing. I don't know anyone back home who plays, and so they've asked me to run a game for them.
Being a creative writing student, I'd rather tell my own story than turn to published content.As a result, I've read the core books, along with Dungeon Master 4th edition for Dummies and some 3rd edition supplements.
I have a great story idea in mind, and a general plan of how the adventure would play out.
Before I put the effort in, however, I'd like to know if it is practical/feasible for a first time DM to start his career by making his own adventure? Am I getting myself in over my head?
Any advice?
Thanks!
First of all, welcome to ENWorld!!! You'll have a great time here.
As I remember when I started DMing, I must say that creating your own adventures is much better, and rewarding than using somebody else's. However, what I found very helpful was to expand on the ideas of others first. This allowed me to be creative, but still have a safety net that I could rely on.
You are not getting in over your head. However if this is your first time, you definitely want to start small, or you might end up feeling overwhelmed. You might want to take a look at some short adventures, and use those as a springboard for your creativity.
Hey, if you have the DMG, there is already a sample adventure in the back, though it is arguable if it is the best example to highlight the good points about 4e...
Let the players explore, let them discover. That is what is really fun about this game. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, and don't be afraid to improvise. When you improvise something keep track of it so you can give your "narrative" a consistent feel.
Keep the players on their toes, and above all have fun.
Good luck into your foray into the world of Dungeon Mastering.
First off, thanks for the great replies everyone! I'm sure I'll love it here if everyone is so helpful. Plane Sailing, thank you for moving the post to a more appropriate spot.
I absolutely understand what everyone is saying about letting the players create the story. What I like so much about D&D is the ability for a group of friends to create and share a communal story. As a result, I've only figured out the plot of the first adventure, and I've sort of created three possible endings based on choices the characters make. Once I've hammered out the details, I'll post a more fleshed out idea on the creation board.
I'll try to keep the first adventure simple. I'm going to make an encounter based map, with the movement of the characters determining plot development.
Lord Xtheth, I might actually take you up on your offer! I study at the University of Alberta (and that's where my group meets). My brother and his friends live with my parents in Calgary. While I'm still into running a game of my own, I certainly wouldn't mind having a group to play with when I'm visiting the family.
Last edited by Stormsparrow; 3rd April 2009 at 06:36 PM..
Reason: spelling
Don't shy away from being upfront with your players. Tell them that you have some ideas with how the story should go and that you want them to be as free as possible with their input. You might also want to note that, as a beginner, you may have to limit their options because of what you're able to handle. Things will definitely improve over time.
You also want to clear up the issue of the tone and style of the game early. You don't want any surprises in the form of players taking the game into a place darker than everyone is comfortable with. Similarly, you don't want players ticked off because things are more flippant than they thought it would be.
__________________ Dark God of Facetiousness and Vaguely Lobsterlike Things
Welcome to the forums, Stormsparrow, and good luck! It's great advice that I've seen given so far.
__________________ "Conversely, I'm amazed at the number of people queueing up to tell people that don't like 4e that they are wrong. Why can't people just agree to disagree, and get on with actually playing the game?" --Delericho
If there's one dragon, it's a solo monster.
If there's five dragons, they're standard monsters.
If there's a dozen dragons, either most of them are minions or your DM is tired of the campaign.
--Lizard
Sounds like you're on a pretty good track so far. I think part of the fun of D&D is learning what works through play, so some tiops I have?
1. Never stop being open to change. Especialy as a DM, I think it's important to never get so stuck in your ways that you never try something different.
2. Don't be afraid to mess up. All of us mess up, but it's just a game with friends. If you screw up, note it, and fix it later.
3. Remember it's all in fun, so so are rules arguments. People argue about rules at the table. It happens. Everyone tries to minimize it, but I still say sometimes those are the times you remember because in the end, it's a game, and we finally remember how silly the argument was to begin with. (My best man and I still to this day talk about an argument we had about wether tht spectre really could have "punched" through his characters chest to kill him...)
4. Don't be afraid of going with your gut. DM's sometimes have to improvise. (DM's have to improvise a LOT actually.) Go with your gut. Sounds like you're a creative person, so don't be afraid to use that creativity at the table. Even when it comes to rules. If you can't remember the specifics of soemthing, go with what works right now. Again you can always fix things later.
D&D I think is one of the most creative group activities out there. I like to think of it like a group of wriers coming togetehr and tellign a story.
As the DM you get to mainly set the tone of the work, the basic plot, and you get to think up actions for the bad guys and the bacground cast members.
The players get to think up what the heros would say or do.
The dice are the silent partner that don't make any suggestions, but ultimately tell the other authors if their idea is accepted or not.
Pre-made adventures often take an experienced DM to handle from what I have heard. Inexperienced DM's often have issues with the "big picture", if they haven't made it by themselves.
Besides, as someone else said, the best gaming comes from making your own stuff.
Back when I first started DMing, I exclusively created my own adventures simply because I found modules somewhat intimidating to run (but I was also 10 years old). I also was really into world building, and had specific sites and places that I wanted the players to go to--and often times I tried to force them to go there because I didn't want my efforts wasted.
One piece of advice that I've seen repeated over the years in various articles and books is: "Start small."
The classic example of this is having a small village, with some ruins nearby. You'll see this in Winniger's article and elsewhere.
Another piece of good advice comes from Stephen King that applies to both creative writing and DMing: "Read a lot, and write a lot."
The more you read, the more ideas will get deposited in your brain's "compost heap" and who knows when they'll come to fruition. And the more you write adventures and DM, the better you'll get at both.
Oh yeah, and make sure you and you're players are having fun! For advice on how to do this, consult the 4e DMG--which, IMO, contains the best advice out there for running a fun D&D session.
__________________ "Farewell, Friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!"
--Stormbringer
Before I put the effort in, however, I'd like to know if it is practical/feasible for a first time DM to start his career by making his own adventure? Am I getting myself in over my head?
Welcome!
Making up your own adventures in D&D is a fairly straightforward process; you should have no trouble coming up with fun and balanced encounters using just your DMG and Monster Manual. The DMG's advice is really excellent, and I seriously recommend reading it thoroughly before you start.
In addition to the excellent advice upthread, you'll find spot-on tips on *running* your game in this discussion.
I'm with all the other posters with saying that writing your own stuff is a great way to go, for all the reasons cited above. One reason I didn't notice in the above was that writing your own adventures is fun in and of itself. And as a creative writer I'm sure you'll enjoy doing it.
cheers,
Glen
__________________ Just making it up as I go along.
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
