[Play Report] DMing for Middle/High Schoolers

[TheAuldGrump]

I welcome any suggestions for the Abandoned Church Exploration.


Hee hee. There's a type of eagle that will drag mountain sheep off cliffs. And of course eagles do it to turtles...

My thinking is that the dragon wasn't strong enough (or didn't have a good enough grip) to handle a cow, and lost it.

Seagulls do it with crabs and clams. They will also try it with the plastic packets of sauce from fast food restaurants....

The Auld Grump

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If the prey is too big or awkward a load for a dragon to grab and drop, I have them use boulders instead. Works just as well.

Better, actually since they're smart enough to try other angles of attack. Like diving and doing a strafe while dropping the boulder...which means it comes at the party like a massive bowling ball. (And ones that practice this can pick up the 7-10.)

 

[Rechan]

Guys guys we're getting off track. The cow-drop thing was off-screen, just a young dragon making a mistake and alerting a village that 'whoa flying monster danger danger'.

 

[Rechan]

Anyways I'm wondering how many things I should put in.

So far: Two combat encounters, a little bit of exploration and fiddling with. I'd like a puzzle, too, and something to talk to, but I'm not sure what/where to put it/etc.

Ideally I want this to be able to fill 4 hours, and be Interesting enough to satisfy.

 

[buddhafrog]

Is this going to be an every Saturday game, 4 hours each week? Have you decided to make it more episodic until at least you know if/how many kids will be consistent shows? This is probably a good idea, although tougher to run. One of the problems you'll have is that if it isn't exactly a normal story path, you'll have to find clearer points to stop the game day. However, since it's through the youth center, you'll pretty much have to use the full four hours (but not much longer b/c parents might be waiting, etc). Because of this, it might be easier to have the normal story path and just magically "this player has been here all along" approach to accommodate new people from week to week - assuming you have at least some people who are consistent.

Clarify this first, will you? Thanks....

 

[nedjer]

Anyways I'm wondering how many things I should put in.

So far: Two combat encounters, a little bit of exploration and fiddling with. I'd like a puzzle, too, and something to talk to, but I'm not sure what/where to put it/etc.

Ideally I want this to be able to fill 4 hours, and be Interesting enough to satisfy.

Pressure puzzles such as flooding chambers, burning buildings, worm-eaten floorboards and advancing lava flows can have plenty of solutions, allowing new players to be as effective as someone who knows the solutions offered through knowledge of the rules.

Maybe the dragon's a bit of a magpie and picked-up a few plot hooky objects along the way - an ivory tube containing a compromising scroll, a body part from a murder victim?

 

[Rechan]

@buddhafrog

My plan is to have 2 sessions with pregens. Partly yes, to catch any people who didn't make the first game, but mostly I want to separate the "interested" from the "Merely curious" or "not serious" crowds.

Once I've established who had enough fun to keep going, then I help them make their own character.

Unfortunately I can't carry this out until after I return to NY; I am detained in my current location until after a family emergency is resolved, which may not happen until February at the latest.

 

[Lwaxy]

Lots of good advice, but I think, unless I am too tired to read straight this time of nigh,t no one has mentioned one thing crucial with players up to about 13 years or so.

Limit their environment.

I had cases where there was arguing over where on the map they wanted to go adventuring or wanted to go and do long travels when it wasn't exactly in the concept.

Have a relatively small map, not larger than a valley or city. I ended up designing an island for the youngest group (up to 12 years) so their initial adventure(s) had to be there. That worked like a charm, and it was all the more fun exploring the world later.

 

[buddhafrog]

Limit their environment.
.

Good advice. I'd also recommend you show any map of a small area - if you might use Reavers of Harkenwold, use Harkenwold map so they feel they are a part of some "place', but then pull out your village map with the barn and go from there. You very well might find players want to keep the character they've been playing. Thus, I think it would be good to make at least a minimal connection to the story they've already been playing. Again, if you go with Reavers, any character that doesn't continue the story could be killed in the initial invasion of the the Iron Circle.

I think your plan to have two tight one shots and then go into a more continuous story is good.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Even today there are two adventures that I consider the best introduction to D&D - The Village of Homlett (not Temple of Elemental Evil) and Keep on the Borderlands. Both have a nice mix of wilderness and dungeon crawling. Both should be easy to convert to 4e (KotB definitely converted to Pathfinder with no hassles.)

You can still find them cheap on eBay and elsewhere.

The Auld Grump