New Game

[Oompa]

In an week time we will play two nights, Saturday night for character creation questions and checking if everythings is alright and the sunday we are going to start playing..

This is the first time i am going to run 4th edition and also my players are first time 4th editioners, we played 3.0 before but we only stayed within the PHB, my players are all 'Bob the gamers'..

So they decided on who is going to play who, 6 players:
- Warlock
- Rogue
- Cleric
- Fighter
- Warlord
- Paladin

Anyone got some advice and tips for firstimers dnd, anything i should look for and prepare?

 

[Rechan]

What's a "Bob the gamer"?

When constructing encounters for them while they're first level:

Encounter XP budget:
1st level Encounter: 600xp
2nd level Encounter: 750xp
3rd level Encounter: 900xp.

Give them a few 2nd level encounters, and one or two 3rd level encounters.

Two leaders, two strikers, two defenders: your party has some serious staying power, and they are going to put a real hurtin' on solo monsters. So don't be afraid to throw tough encounters at them; they can handle it. An elite monster every other fight sounds about right.

Minions, however, are going to cause them some hell. However, it will be a headache because you have 6 players plus however many minions you pour on the table. That's a lot of rolls for one round.

Do not throw swarms at them unless you want to see them hurt severely.

The fighter, paladin and warlord are all melee focused. So on occasion, toss a fight that's got a lot of artillery/controllers who are somewhat out of reach (up high, behind difficult terrain/traps). That will make it a little difficult for the melee guys to run up and womp on them.

 

[Oompa]

Bob the gamers are just regular players.. like my players they:

Dont min/max, munchkin, dont see power combinations, dont see loopholes, dont abuse rules, use common sense..

Ill use those tips and we are used to rolling an lot in an round

 

[gamesmeister]

That's funny, when you said "Bob the Gamer" I immediately thought of Bob in KotDT - not the kind of player you described at all!

 

[ExploderWizard]

Are you running a published adventure or one you wrote?

Do you have any type of battlemat/maps and figures/counters?

If you don't have some already try and scrounge up some different colored/shaped tokens for marks, bloodied markers, ect.

No matter what scenario you are running, prepare a couple "what if" notes for things that might happen in case the party gets off track.
For me this includes a few encounters not really connected to the story in case the party goes in an unexpected direction (at least enough to get through one session). That way you could build on those before the next session and make it appear as if everything went as planned.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Bob the gamers are just regular players.. like my players they:

Dont min/max, munchkin, dont see power combinations, dont see loopholes, dont abuse rules, use common sense..

Ill use those tips and we are used to rolling an lot in an round

I'd reiterate the notes about minions - with no wizard, this group lacks the power to deal with massed numbers compared to other groups.

However, they've got a Cleric & a Warlord, so staying power really isn't a problem.

They're going to make a good solid squad of soldiers - I look forward to hearing about what they get up to.

Might want one of them to play a Dragonborn for some minion-killing power, if you're running the published adventures.

 

[Oompa]

I know ill get 2 tieflings, and i think also 2 dragonborn..

We have an battlemat and an set of miniatures.. Im still thinking how i can make an minitaure look bloodied when they enter that state..

 

[cpendlet]

I know ill get 2 tieflings, and i think also 2 dragonborn..

We have an battlemat and an set of miniatures.. Im still thinking how i can make an minitaure look bloodied when they enter that state..

I made small rings out of pipe cleaners* to indicate the various statuses (bloodies, marked, ongoing damage, etc). I used red for bloodied You should be able to get a multi-colored package from a craft store for around a buck.

* This was suggested in another thread on here some months ago so it is not my idea.

 

[Andur]

I know ill get 2 tieflings, and i think also 2 dragonborn..

We have an battlemat and an set of miniatures.. Im still thinking how i can make an minitaure look bloodied when they enter that state..

Well, if you don't mind "mucking up minis" hit them with a hammer that's splattered with red paint. If you are using the DDM minis, hit them with a red hot hammer and then splatter with paint...

Course, I guess you could just make a "bloodied" set and rough up, bloddy up a matching set of minis for all of your bloodiable NPC's.

 

[Rechan]

Since you have tiefs in the party, I highly encourage you to throw fire monsters a little more often. Since the Tief gets Fire Res 5 + 1/2 level, the player will love it when he gets to showboat.