Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
A (very green) Newbie DM Question
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="subgeniuszero" data-source="post: 5674466" data-attributes="member: 6682099"><p>Okay, so here's the deal:</p><p></p><p>I haven't done any RPing in over 11 years . . . back then my friends and I played Middle Earth, from ICE games, which was way-old even then. Before that, I hadn't played D&D since AD&D 1st Edition and the original Red Box D&D essentials game. So, it's been quite a while and things have changed -- a lot. I have only ever been player -- have never DM'd before in my life, and have little clue as to how to go about it.</p><p></p><p>Two weeks ago I purchased the new D&D 4E core rulebook set, looking to get back into gaming after all these years. My friend, Tonya, and her two teenage sons Mikael and Ricky, approached me about maybe playing a D&D game with just the three of them (and maybe one other person, to be determined later), and since I am the aspiring SF/Fantasy novelist of the group, I was nominated to design & DM the adventure and/or campaign.</p><p></p><p>Stupidly, I agreed. Now, I have no idea what I'm doing. I've read through the DM Guide from the core rulebook, but it seems to assume that you know the nitty-gritty mechanical details of what you're doing; it doesn't assume total ignorance, as I find myself in. I've gotten so far as to have sketched out a basic narrative, established "who" various NPCs will be, when and where the DM's character (me) will come into the story, a few basic ideas of the terrain and/or locations that the adventure will take place in, and I've made a list of possible encounters the characters will face (but have not chosen any specific monsters or set up any specific challenges). But I've no idea of how to approach the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of running the encounters or the skill challenges -- or the adventure itself, really -- or of what to ask of my players (or how and when to ask it), etcetera. The DM Guide has been very helpful in the general sense -- i.e., it covers that last question fairly well -- but it's lousy on specific mechanics and procedures to use whilst DMing a game.</p><p></p><p>I'm sorry to appear to be such an utterly naive n00b, but I really would like some help here. Doing this with Tonya and her boys really means a lot to both them, and me, both in terms of recapturing past nostalgia for the medium as well as just plain having a good time. And they're all pretty stoked about doing it, too -- so I can't really back out now. Does anyone know of any (preferably detailed and exhaustive) "Newbie DM" resources on the web? Or, can anyone help me here? If so, I'd be ever-so-appreciative.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="subgeniuszero, post: 5674466, member: 6682099"] Okay, so here's the deal: I haven't done any RPing in over 11 years . . . back then my friends and I played Middle Earth, from ICE games, which was way-old even then. Before that, I hadn't played D&D since AD&D 1st Edition and the original Red Box D&D essentials game. So, it's been quite a while and things have changed -- a lot. I have only ever been player -- have never DM'd before in my life, and have little clue as to how to go about it. Two weeks ago I purchased the new D&D 4E core rulebook set, looking to get back into gaming after all these years. My friend, Tonya, and her two teenage sons Mikael and Ricky, approached me about maybe playing a D&D game with just the three of them (and maybe one other person, to be determined later), and since I am the aspiring SF/Fantasy novelist of the group, I was nominated to design & DM the adventure and/or campaign. Stupidly, I agreed. Now, I have no idea what I'm doing. I've read through the DM Guide from the core rulebook, but it seems to assume that you know the nitty-gritty mechanical details of what you're doing; it doesn't assume total ignorance, as I find myself in. I've gotten so far as to have sketched out a basic narrative, established "who" various NPCs will be, when and where the DM's character (me) will come into the story, a few basic ideas of the terrain and/or locations that the adventure will take place in, and I've made a list of possible encounters the characters will face (but have not chosen any specific monsters or set up any specific challenges). But I've no idea of how to approach the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of running the encounters or the skill challenges -- or the adventure itself, really -- or of what to ask of my players (or how and when to ask it), etcetera. The DM Guide has been very helpful in the general sense -- i.e., it covers that last question fairly well -- but it's lousy on specific mechanics and procedures to use whilst DMing a game. I'm sorry to appear to be such an utterly naive n00b, but I really would like some help here. Doing this with Tonya and her boys really means a lot to both them, and me, both in terms of recapturing past nostalgia for the medium as well as just plain having a good time. And they're all pretty stoked about doing it, too -- so I can't really back out now. Does anyone know of any (preferably detailed and exhaustive) "Newbie DM" resources on the web? Or, can anyone help me here? If so, I'd be ever-so-appreciative. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
A (very green) Newbie DM Question
Top