ACGalaga
First Post
Hello all, I've yet to introduce myself but I'm sure there's a thread for that. So in short, my name is Alan and it's nice to meet you
I've had experience playing D&D, Shadowrun, and Vampire in the past and very little experience as a DM (if any). Recently I've had the urge to play D&D again so I've invested in some 4E books and gathered a group of potential players. Even though I played D&D before, it was such a long time ago and I still didn't gain enough knowledge to be comfortable with all the rules. So, I'm hoping to discuss a few inquires with this community about 4E and DM'ing.
First: Is the 4E caracter creation more complicated than I remember?
See, when creating characters in the past, I often had help. Someone who knew what they were doing would walk me through difficult parts of the process. It could be that I'm unfamiliar with the rules, looking at a blank stats page is entirely overwhelming. There also seems to be huge debate over whether 4E is any good or not, and is this complication one of the reasons or am I just a newb and it will get easier once I get use to it? (honestly I think 4E is neat so far)
Second: I'm totally new to DM'ing (aside from a few rocky attempts in the past where I guest DM'd).
The reason I'm the DM is because I'm the one who said "Hey, let's play D&D" as well as seem to have the most (recent) experience. I'm going over everything I can before we start our adventure and I'm ready to take on the challenge. Still a lot to catch up on in these books (which can be a little intimidating at times), but what are some "important need to know's" I should look over before we begin? Otherwise, I'm pretty excited to DM a game.
Third: Two of the group members aren't as committed as the others.
They seem to want to joke around (which is ok to an extent) but are much less serious than other players. Also, they seem to be on the verge of bailing due to the complication of the rules. One said "It's too much 'work'. I'd rather not get off work just to work more."
...I've been helping two of the more serious members work at their characters so I've a better understanding of the process now, so... My thoughts/suggestions for the less serious two are; 1. Help walk them through the process of making a character (this is an ideal since they can really personalize and understand their character), 2. have them run the solo red box "choose your own adventure" mission, or 3. give them a pre-made character that either I make or snag from the net (all they'll have to do is name it).
They're still on the fence since it's all new to them. Once they get past the 'rules' bit I know this game could be really fun for them. Any thoughts or suggestions on this? If they really don't want to play, then I guess there's nothing I can do about that. (they'd rather play settlers it seems... It's a lot harder for them to "flip the board" in D&D, which makes it loose a bit of intrest for them.)
Well, that's all for now. I'm sure that once I get more into this game I'll have more I'd like to discuss, but thank you in advance for any input you could give me on the above.
All the best and "Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" (^_^)v
I've had experience playing D&D, Shadowrun, and Vampire in the past and very little experience as a DM (if any). Recently I've had the urge to play D&D again so I've invested in some 4E books and gathered a group of potential players. Even though I played D&D before, it was such a long time ago and I still didn't gain enough knowledge to be comfortable with all the rules. So, I'm hoping to discuss a few inquires with this community about 4E and DM'ing.
First: Is the 4E caracter creation more complicated than I remember?
See, when creating characters in the past, I often had help. Someone who knew what they were doing would walk me through difficult parts of the process. It could be that I'm unfamiliar with the rules, looking at a blank stats page is entirely overwhelming. There also seems to be huge debate over whether 4E is any good or not, and is this complication one of the reasons or am I just a newb and it will get easier once I get use to it? (honestly I think 4E is neat so far)
Second: I'm totally new to DM'ing (aside from a few rocky attempts in the past where I guest DM'd).
The reason I'm the DM is because I'm the one who said "Hey, let's play D&D" as well as seem to have the most (recent) experience. I'm going over everything I can before we start our adventure and I'm ready to take on the challenge. Still a lot to catch up on in these books (which can be a little intimidating at times), but what are some "important need to know's" I should look over before we begin? Otherwise, I'm pretty excited to DM a game.
Third: Two of the group members aren't as committed as the others.
They seem to want to joke around (which is ok to an extent) but are much less serious than other players. Also, they seem to be on the verge of bailing due to the complication of the rules. One said "It's too much 'work'. I'd rather not get off work just to work more."
...I've been helping two of the more serious members work at their characters so I've a better understanding of the process now, so... My thoughts/suggestions for the less serious two are; 1. Help walk them through the process of making a character (this is an ideal since they can really personalize and understand their character), 2. have them run the solo red box "choose your own adventure" mission, or 3. give them a pre-made character that either I make or snag from the net (all they'll have to do is name it).
They're still on the fence since it's all new to them. Once they get past the 'rules' bit I know this game could be really fun for them. Any thoughts or suggestions on this? If they really don't want to play, then I guess there's nothing I can do about that. (they'd rather play settlers it seems... It's a lot harder for them to "flip the board" in D&D, which makes it loose a bit of intrest for them.)
Well, that's all for now. I'm sure that once I get more into this game I'll have more I'd like to discuss, but thank you in advance for any input you could give me on the above.
All the best and "Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" (^_^)v