New to d&d and starting a group and DMing

[eternalprosper]

Ive wanted to play d&d alot and one of my aim friends told me to join this site because he said it would be really helpful for me (so far it has) I havent played d&d before and I hope to soon. Im in highschool and do not currently have a job so money is hard to come by. So far i own d20dice,Phb 3.5,DM manual,Just ordered Basic game on amazon,The sunless Citadel module, and an imagination.
I was wondering if some of you could anwser my questions.
1)Do i need minitures when i start out?The gaming store is 40mi away or i would have to buy online. (S&H = evil)
2)How many players do I need?
3)Any Advice for a n00b Dm?

Thnx

 

[akchf]

I'd suggest the MM, unless you get the SRD and run the creatures out of there. Just take your time, get to know your players' styles. Also, I think the #1 rule to DMing, expect them not to do what you want/expect, you're gonna be surprised on a regular basis, just try to keep the game moving, even if that means prolonging your plans for the adventure and letting them approaching it in a different path.

 

[William_2]

Best of luck! It is a fun game.

1) You definitely do not need miniatures to play the game. Even if you do represent combat to scale (which does work very well with this game), you can use anything -scraps of paper, whatever- to do this. The three dimensional quality of miniatures is nice, but has no impact on playing the game effectively.
2) Any number is possible- if you only get one player, play anyway. Three to five seems to work really well. More than that may get complicated and crowded.
3) Learn the rules as well as you can, but concentrate on providing a fun game to start- make mistakes, and figure them out later. It isn't a card game- getting the rules perfect while also learning to DM is not a reasonable expectation, so make sure players know that.
Look at yourself as working with the players on the story of the characters, not playing a game against them. At the same time, let the characters die if that is what happens- the challenges in the game are no fun if they are not genuine.

 

[The_Universe]

A decent amount of monsters (and a good collection of most of the rules) can be found here: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html

But, I'll second the recommendation to pick up the Monster Manual - it's probably the most fun to read of the DM oriented books.

The basic game is a good start, but it's really not necessary if you're in High School - you can probably figure the PHB out relatively easily.

Start with published adventures. Read them through. Run a few friends through them - pay attention to how different people can approach the same obstacle in widely differing ways. This is one of the best things about DMing.

Then, when you're ready, try your hand at writing your own stuff.

Ask questions as they come to you. This is a fine place to look for answers, but work to find people in your area to game with - they'll have answers, too.

Good luck!

 

[Whimsical]

1)Do i need minitures when i start out?The gaming store is 40mi away or i would have to buy online. (S&H = evil) No, you do not. But I would recommend to at least have something with a 1 inch grid and some markers to represent the players and their opponents.

You can use a large sheet of paper that you have marked lines across it for a battlemat, and coins or game tokens from board games for "minatures."

2)How many players do I need? Theoretically, you could simply DM yourself, but the game is not set up to do that. You only need at least one player, although having around four is best.

3)Any Advice for a n00b Dm? Start with the Basic game that you have ordered. It is designed for people just like you: gamers who are just starting out. After you run through all of the scenarios in the basic box, you can run the Sunless Citadel for your players. There is a problem with Sunless Citadel in that the adventure was written for D&D 3e and you are using D&D 3.5e. I don't know if there is a conversion document somewhere on the web for you to pencil in the changes you would need to make to the adventure, but maybe you could update it yourself.

 

[eternalprosper]

The part about me getting the Basic Game is that none of us have jobs and I dont think the PCs are to fond of buying a $35 book for a game they havent played. My birthday is in two weeks, throwing a LAN party at a friends house (probly try out the basic game there) and will most likely get 100+ and spend it on d&d or whatever. Thnx again.

 

[eternalprosper]

Should I get a campain settting right off the bat or just run my own setting? I was planning on buying the MM and a subsciption to Dungeon with my bday money.

 

[Whimsical]

The System Reference Documents link is an excellent resource for cash-free gamers, as it has all of the rules of the core books, but not the explanations that may be necessary to understand them.

Hold off on choosing a campaign world. Just use the generic greyhawk setting described in the core books for now while you master the basic fundamentals of the game. Monster Manual, Dungeon, and Dragon Magazines are good buys. Dungeon provides a lot of adventures for your dollar. Even if you don't run them, they can be very informative and inspirational on how the game works and what you can do with it. Dragon is especially good for newer gamers, although I subscribe myself.

Plus, if you hook your friends on the game, I'm sure they will find the money somewhere to get their own Player's Handbook.

The basic game works especially good as a party game. It has easy-to-read pre-generated character sheets and the adventures in the book gets them into action quickly.

 

[eternalprosper]

Ive been talking to the LAN center owner and he is considering we doing at his store. Should i just hold it at my house? All night or just maybe 5hrs on a weekend?

 

[kenobi65]

By the way, the Basic Game contains a nice assortment of pre-painted plastic D&D minis, so you should be all set, from that standpoint.