Adventure for young teens?

[Ceresco]

A good friend of mine has a 13 year old son who is interested in D&D. This young pre-gamer wants to invite some of his friends to play and will be forced to DM without the benefit of having played a game himself, let alone experince to take on the daunting task of running a game for other new players.

So I'm wondering, is there an adventure out there geared toward the brand spanking new young teen DM? Something that gives a great tutorial for the DM, advice on how to handle being a new DM and a fun adventure that would capture the interest of 13 year olds?

If not, does the EN World community want to write one? A community written adventure to be used as a primer for young DMs that not only gives a plot and setting, but also advice on how to role play the NPCs and keep the adventure moving forward sounds like a much needed DMing aid.

Any advice or adventure ideas wold be greatly appreciated.

edward kopp-

 

[Mark]

I would suggest this -

http://paizo.com/store/paizoExclusives/v5748btpy7xpy

Scroll down for a free download but do yourself a favor and buy it, too, to have a $5 color copy in print. If they like it, they can continue with the adventure path they are producing (the next one is aready available).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's a good suggestion. Orkfest is also supposed to be good for a first-time DM.

 

[Ceresco]

That's a good suggestion. Orkfest is also supposed to be good for a first-time DM.

Who publishes Orkfest? What makes it good for the first time DM?

 

[Peni Griffin]

Bear in mind that a lot of people here started DMing cold at about this age. It's a mistake to think that this generation is any less creative, capable, or intelligent than previous ones, or that the mistakes they're going to make will be any less enlightening or more discouraging than the mistakes we all made.

If he has never played, then you can volunteer to run him a few times just so he knows what the people on the other side of his screen are experiencing, and you can drop tips like "Don't worry about the rules too much; run with what makes sense and you won't do anything so wrong it can't be worked around" and "Remember, the main thing is for everybody to have fun." Otherwise - make yourself available and butt out until called on.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Who publishes Orkfest? What makes it good for the first time DM?

Fast Forward Games (look at places like Noble Knight to find it, since it's no longer being printed), and it's designed as an adventure for new DMs.

A four-star review.

It's also available as a PDF from RPGNow and the like.

 

[Ceresco]

Bear in mind that a lot of people here started DMing cold at about this age. It's a mistake to think that this generation is any less creative, capable, or intelligent than previous ones, or that the mistakes they're going to make will be any less enlightening or more discouraging than the mistakes we all made.

I have kept that in mind, but thanks for mentioning it. This young lad is very bright and I don't underestimate his creativity or capability. I just know that it can be frustating and intimidating to run a game cold and I wanted to give him as much ammo to do the job as well as he can as possible.

If he has never played, then you can volunteer to run him a few times just so he knows what the people on the other side of his screen are experiencing, and you can drop tips like "Don't worry about the rules too much; run with what makes sense and you won't do anything so wrong it can't be worked around" and "Remember, the main thing is for everybody to have fun." Otherwise - make yourself available and butt out until called on.

This would be ideal, except he lives in Nashville, TN and I'm in Lexington, KY. :\

I did talk to him a bit about not letting the rules get in the way of a good time, and I told him to email me with any questions he might have. Thanks all for the insight and suggestions.

ed-

 

[olshanski]

I thought NeMoren's Vault was very good. I believe it is in the process of being released for 3.5.

I personally cut my teeth on B1 back in the latter 70s.

 

[Ceresco]

I would suggest this -

http://paizo.com/store/paizoExclusives/v5748btpy7xpy

Scroll down for a free download but do yourself a favor and buy it, too, to have a $5 color copy in print. If they like it, they can continue with the adventure path they are producing (the next one is aready available).

Thanks for the link Mark. I've decided to reccomend this adventure.

edward-

 

[funkysnunkulator]

I thought NeMoren's Vault was very good. I believe it is in the process of being released for 3.5.

I personally cut my teeth on B1 back in the latter 70s.

yeah. same here.

a real good idea for building experience is a small adventure that doesn't really rely on any plot advancement.

a race. the characters have to transport a box or person or something overland from one town to the next. simple contest. goal is to arrive first. there are checkpoints, teams can cheat, teams are equiped identically.

this gives the dm and players a chance to experiment with the rules, nothing is terribly urgent or critical, opportunities about for comic relief and the dm get to introduce the players (geographically) to the local area of the campaign world.

it is simple, can have as many or as few as the dm cares to include, and no matter what, it always works. since the idea is a race, it is finite. but, if the players or dm need to iron out some details, include another leg of the race. each leg of the race can have a little reward. it can be like the show amazing race. it could concievable go around the world.

or not.

when creating the first adventure for our group, it was a simple concept. beer run. it was fun, short, frenetic, wacky and allowed for the testing of v3 rules. maybe the kid might like to try something like this. a simple contest or race or errand. it's quick, cheap and can be great fun.