I had the privilege to be asked to guest DM at a local event because the regular DM had been called away for a family emergency. This gaming club had three full tables of teenagers on a Friday night (don't worry, I was asked to run only one table of six players). It was awesome to see the next generation (or in my case the next-next generation) completely enthusiastic about this hobby.
Only one player had an actual physical copy of a character sheet - handwritten all out of order on notebook paper (just like when I started the game in the 80s). The other five were as far from that original experience as possible - running their characters (and rolling their dice) on their phones through D&D Beyond. That's fine - times change, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to use technology. But I had a lot of difficulty verifying die rolls and character stats without asking to look at their phones all the time.
My theatrical background of presenting memorable NPCs with accents (and dropping my usual puns) engaged the players, and everyone was really getting into the game. But something went wrong starting with the first combat encounter. I was going to run the adventure the event organizers gave me - a family-friendly quest to get a pie recipe designed for characters levels 1-4. The characters the teens had been using for this unofficial organized play were at least 5th level and outfitted with magic items well beyond their stations, with homebrewed weapons that would do ridiculous amounts of damage. One player commanded a water elemental and could shoot two lightning bolts a turn. Suffice it to say the encounters with three goblins weren't going to be much of a challenge.
I didn't mind if it was easy, as long as everyone was having a good time. But unfortunately, fights were over before all the players got an opportunity to do something. Even when I was doubling HP, pulling out tougher opponents out of the Monster Manual.
I decided to lean back into my strength with them: memorable NPCs. But the players started going completely "murder hobo." The 3rd level barbarian and gunslinger decided to pick a fight with a friendly Treant and destroyed him in two turns.
Because this was a one-time guest spot DM role, I didn't think I should change the way the organizers run the event. I did call out a few glaring issues and tried to engage all the players and keep them on track the best I could.
The experience at that event did worry me about running for young people overall. This is relevant because I'm going to be running a regular game starting tomorrow night for a large group of teens in my neighborhood who are already asking me about homebrewed options.
Those of you who have run games for Gen Z, does this experience sound typical? Since I'm planning my Session 0 for tomorrow night, how should I lay down ground rules without coming across as a curmudgeon or killjoy?
Only one player had an actual physical copy of a character sheet - handwritten all out of order on notebook paper (just like when I started the game in the 80s). The other five were as far from that original experience as possible - running their characters (and rolling their dice) on their phones through D&D Beyond. That's fine - times change, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to use technology. But I had a lot of difficulty verifying die rolls and character stats without asking to look at their phones all the time.
My theatrical background of presenting memorable NPCs with accents (and dropping my usual puns) engaged the players, and everyone was really getting into the game. But something went wrong starting with the first combat encounter. I was going to run the adventure the event organizers gave me - a family-friendly quest to get a pie recipe designed for characters levels 1-4. The characters the teens had been using for this unofficial organized play were at least 5th level and outfitted with magic items well beyond their stations, with homebrewed weapons that would do ridiculous amounts of damage. One player commanded a water elemental and could shoot two lightning bolts a turn. Suffice it to say the encounters with three goblins weren't going to be much of a challenge.
I didn't mind if it was easy, as long as everyone was having a good time. But unfortunately, fights were over before all the players got an opportunity to do something. Even when I was doubling HP, pulling out tougher opponents out of the Monster Manual.
I decided to lean back into my strength with them: memorable NPCs. But the players started going completely "murder hobo." The 3rd level barbarian and gunslinger decided to pick a fight with a friendly Treant and destroyed him in two turns.
Because this was a one-time guest spot DM role, I didn't think I should change the way the organizers run the event. I did call out a few glaring issues and tried to engage all the players and keep them on track the best I could.
The experience at that event did worry me about running for young people overall. This is relevant because I'm going to be running a regular game starting tomorrow night for a large group of teens in my neighborhood who are already asking me about homebrewed options.
Those of you who have run games for Gen Z, does this experience sound typical? Since I'm planning my Session 0 for tomorrow night, how should I lay down ground rules without coming across as a curmudgeon or killjoy?