advice for a newbie DM running a "pick-up" game for slightly newbie players?

nai_cha · Aug 20, 2010

Here's the situation: two of my friends have expressed an interest in playing d&d, but due to scheduling conflicts and other constraints, the only time we've got to try it out together is tomorrow. (And they only told me about this today.) A similar opportunity will not arise again for many weeks, but if they do enjoy tomorrow's experience they would probably be more inclined to work their schedule to fit in future games.

I've never DM'd before, so I'm thinking a published adventure would be best. I have the following (but I've never read any of them, heh):

-Keep on the Shadowfell
-Escape from Sembia
-The Village of Hommlet
-Tower of Maraj

And the Twilight parody adventure "Dusk" from Penny Arcade.

Would one of these be okay, or do you guys recommend I make up a few encounters on my own? The last time these people have played d&d was twelve years ago. They've already told me to make characters for them (one is a bard, and the other said "make me a kick-butt girl with some element of wateryness who has a pet." Er, beastmaster ranger?) some weeks back. We have another player joining us who has about 3 mo experience playing 4e. (same time as me)

Tomorrow isn't to start a long term campaign, more like a way for them to test the waters to see if they'd like to play again. So it would be nice to hear your thoughts on how to make this experience really enjoyable for them so that they would want to, considering the time constraint and the fact that I can't fully customize the campaign to suit their tastes. Like hopefully get them interested enough so that they would be open to a more long-term campaign that we can all prepare for more thoroughly.

Also, general tips about DMing would be nice. I've looked over NewbieDM's website and skimmed the DMG 1 & 2.

Thanks in advance!

Tony Vargas · Aug 20, 2010

Twelve years ago would have been 2e at the height of it's screwedupedness. Still, not as bad as trying to sell a 3.5 powergamer on 4e.

If you're using Character Builder, I'd consider not printing out the power cards. I find that older (older school) players have issues with reading cards for some reason. Stick with the two-page character sheet. If you're just filling out sheets, that's fine, too, don't worry about it. Be prepared to spend a lot of time going over how bonuses are calculated. You will have to explain that, yes, you add you CON score, not your CON bonus to hps at first level, but /don't/ add you CON bonus to hps as you level. That'll really throw 'em.

You're probably thinking "but I'll have done all that math already." Doesn't matter, someone will probably feel compelled to go over it. Though, with only two players, you could get lucky.

Beastmaster Ranger and Bard strike me as poor choices for introduction to the game, but it's generally better to let the player have a character concept they actually like.

If one of the modules is very very short - just two or three encounters, you might go with that. You could go with Village of Hommlet, it's a classic, they'll at least have heard of it. I don't know how good or how different from the original the 4e version is, but I'm guessing it'd be nice just for the familiarity of the name, alone. (I ran an tongue-in-cheek intro game recently set in the 'Hammlet of Villoge').

Statting out a couple of encountes is also an option. It's very easy, and you can keep it simple as it's introductory.

You might even start with a very easy encounter, and just introduce attack and damage rolls, healing, movement and at wills. Then point out encounters, dailies and action points later.

nai_cha · Aug 20, 2010

Tony Vargas said:
Twelve years ago would have been 2e at the height of it's screwedupedness. Still, not as bad as trying to sell a 3.5 powergamer on 4e.

Heh, I should've clarified. They played twelve years ago (or was it thirteen?) meaning they had a few encounters, in which one of them had her character spend all her time hiding in trees then looting bodies. So they don't have any attachment to a particular edition.

They just "want to play d&d."

Actually, I just picked beastmaster ranger because she was very adamant that she have a pet, and be really kick-butt (The watery magical element is not that important for her, thank goodness). Would you recommend any other characters that fulfil those requirements?

As for the player with the bard, she's more flexible with character concepts, so do you have any other recommendations that would be better for someone starting out?

Your points are really helpful, I think I have a better grip on how to organize stuff and help them along with learning the game. Thanks so much!

Ardulac · Aug 20, 2010

nai_cha said:
"make me a kick-butt girl with some element of wateryness who has a pet." Er, beastmaster ranger?)

A water genasi beast master ranger could actually work decently well. It's not the strongest option, but I doubt anyone will notice/care.

DonAdam · Aug 20, 2010

You might try the Into the Shadowhaunt adventure from when the PHB was first announced. If you only get one session you won't get through any of those others.

It should be available online... at least it was once upon a time.

Festivus · Aug 20, 2010

Of the adventures you listed, I am familiar with the first 3:

Shadowfell - Long adventure, gets a bit dull as it's a lot of combats, but has a really great book 1 for explaining how to play the game. You can get book 1 for free from the Wizards site

Sembia - Fun skill challenge, compact game (runs in total about 4-5 hours)

Hommlet - Has that old school feel to it, but the frogs could very well eat the party.

I didn't see it on the list, so I will suggest "HS1 - The Slaying Stone" as an excellent free form adventure if you want something a little longer.

Lastly, I think you would do well to have pregenerated characters for the first time, cover all the roles. If you can find them, get some of the pregens from the material WoTC produces. They aren't standard characters and I found them easy to read and teach from. Some of the newer classes are going to be confusing to new players, unless you really know them I would stay away from them. And finally, I disagree about not printing power cards, I say print them anyhow, so they can be referred to if needed. They can safely ignore them if they don't like them.

Stumblewyk · Aug 20, 2010

Re: the water-magic kick-but girl with a pet...Panther shaman with Spirit of the Healing Flood Daily/other water-flavored powers?

Re: adventure to be run...I'd recommend a Delve/Game Day-style adventure. They're generally very straightforward: someone needs to be rescued, some MacGuffin needs to be found, etc. If you have a WPN membership, you can easily download one of the LFR adventures for free. They require very little prep, and they're easy to run.

Additionally, if you have a DDI membership, you can download any of the Chaos Scar adventures for free. They are what I'd call "Delve"-style as well - 3-4 encounters, simple plot, easy to prep. You can find them here: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (The Chaos Scar)

Also, if you're not interested in running other PCs to cover all the other roles in the party, then be prepared to tone down any adventure or encounter you might run to match the reduced power level of the party.

Lastly, good luck, and thanks for recruiting more potential gamers!

Neonchameleon · Aug 20, 2010

nai_cha said:
Heh, I should've clarified. They played twelve years ago (or was it thirteen?) meaning they had a few encounters, in which one of them had her character spend all her time hiding in trees then looting bodies. So they don't have any attachment to a particular edition. They just "want to play d&d."

Actually, I just picked beastmaster ranger because she was very adamant that she have a pet, and be really kick-butt (The watery magical element is not that important for her, thank goodness). Would you recommend any other characters that fulfil those requirements?

As for the player with the bard, she's more flexible with character concepts, so do you have any other recommendations that would be better for someone starting out?

Your points are really helpful, I think I have a better grip on how to organize stuff and help them along with learning the game. Thanks so much!

Nothing very wrong with a bard as starting character - you can't really go wrong with Vicious Mockery as an at will. And if you have a beastmaster/hunter as the other character (Twin Strike + Fading Strike - the Beast can basic attack) you've got a good range of skills, augmented by the Bard's rituals. That said, between the two characters you've got almost no pushes (even if the Bard takes Blunder as an encounter power).

Edit looking at the above - I would have recommended Shaman, but they can be complex to play - and two leaders out of two PCs would be a bad plan.

Stumblewyk · Aug 20, 2010

Neonchameleon said:
Edit looking at the above - I would have recommended Shaman, but they can be complex to play - and two leaders out of two PCs would be a bad plan.

Yeah, I thought the same thing, but I figured with a generous DM willing to work with them, the character concept was more important than actual game balance or combat viability for the party. =/