D&D 4E 4E campaign help

[flamingbunnys]

well two problems. i have dial up and there is no other type of internet available exept hughs net, which is not that great. also, there are 3 shops that might play dnd one of which is a card shop and the other two ive tried. same thing. but that is beside the point. in need alittle help being a new DM with no previous help. can someone help me? so far everyone has been very helpfull and nice so maybe alittle more help?

 

[Katana_Geldar]

Congratulations, you have just taken your first step into a larger world!

I started very much like you, a GM who had no playing experience. I had a few mentors who could tell me things, but I was pretty much on my own behind the screen.

Here are a few things that helped me out then:

1. Get to know the game well and gradually. There is no rule saying you have to follow all the rules to begin with, and to temporarily house rule away certain books and rules is no biggie. Tell this to your players and promise when you learn the rules more, you will use more of them.
When I started, I was running Star Wars Saga and no one was allowed to be a Jedi as I was still mastering the rules for Jedi. Now that rule is only in place for new players.
Don't be afraid to pre-roll characters up for your friends either. These will help you with the rules. This is another house rule of mine, incidentally. Your first character is always one I give you.

2. Play-test a lot. The experience of DMing is not something you can describe to someone who has never sat in the chair. Before you're serious about a campaign, practise. Practise with yourself and practise with some people who are willing to be very patient with you.

3. Go slow and start small. Other people in this thread have said that don't start with a big custom campaign. I agree with this and I'll tell you why: chances are you won't know how they work and what they need. Until you have experience, there's nothing wrong with running modules or doing something very simple (like video gamge style fetch quests) until you get the system more.
You also need to realise that the first encounter with any new group is going to be the longest and most awkward. Keep it short and keep it easy! Gelatinous cubes can wait until after those kobold minions.

4. Research There are many gaming blogs and articles on the Interwebs to offer advice to first time DMs. I read above you have dialup, but if you get the chance listen and watch the Chris Perkins games. He had a podcast with Penny Arcade and PvP on the official site, as well as some videos of him and Robot Chicken you can find on Youtube. The man is a mster and explains everything so well. If I ever meet him I will shake him firmly by the hand.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

More than anything, don't be a stranger!

There are a LOT of experienced and friendly gamers- some who are actually designers- on this site who are full of good ideas and willing to share them.

Got a question, post a thread. Odds are good that if its in the right forum, you'll get a lot of help.

As for being a newbie game master...take it slow, take it slow, take it slow. Make sure your players understand that you're trying stuff out. If you make a mistake, don't be afraid to admit you made a mistake: you can either make it into a house rule, replay the events or just accept what happened and say that it won't happen again.

Because first and foremost, we're talking about a game, and gaming is supposed to be fun!

 

[renau1g]

Oh, another thing is maybe start small, if you spend a couple bucks and grab a 1 month subscription to the DDI on Wizards site, I'd suggest downloading a few of their "Chaos Scar" adventures to run. They're pretty simple, fairly short, and a good way to get used to the rules. Of course, with dial-up it might take a bit to download them, but they aren't that big so you should be ok. Another side benefit is you get their electronic character generator, which is a big help making PC's.

Danny's got it right though, any questions, post'em here if you don't have any other resources, the members here are helpful.

 

[pemerton]

I agree with the "start small" advice for your campaign. I would encourage you to talk to your players about the sort of game you want to play - what sort of "tone" or themes are they interested in? (Chapter 1 of the DMG talks a bit about this.) This will be easier if they are friends of yours already, rather than strangers you are gaming with. Once you know what your players are looking for, it can help you prepare and run your game.

With the books you've got - esp DMG, DP and PHB - you've got a lot of information about the D&D gods. That can be useful for getting ideas for adventures - using gods and priests and cults and ghosts and angels and so on can be a good way of getting a lot of fantasy flavour into your game from the get-go. A simple example: the temple of Erathis wants an old road reopened, and hires the PCs to clear the way, but cultists of Vecna want to protect some secret hidden in the ruins, and so will try and stop the PCs.

If your players are new to the game like you, they will want their PCs to do all sorts of things that there aren't rules for, or that you're not sure about. As a general rule, don't tell them "no". Use the guidelines in chapter 5 of the PHB, and on p 42 of the DMG, to adjudicate these actions.

(The chart of page 42 has numbers that are a bit too high, by the way. Revised numbers are available from the WotC updates page. In summary: an Easy DC is 5 + half level, and a Moderate or Hard DC is 10 or 15 + 2/3 level.)

For example, if you have a PC priest of Erathis, and the player want to use his/her Religion skill to learn about any curses on the road, don't say "no" just because there aren't rules for it. Set a DC for the check (probably Hard, because using Religion for divination sounds like a tricky thing to do). If they succeed, tell them something interesting and also intriguing, to lead them further into the adventure. If they fail, tell them they learn nothing - or, if you think it will add a bit more edge to the game, tell them that they suffer a backlash from dark forces and lose a healing surge!

Following your players' leads, and letting them explore the possibilities for their PCs and for the gameworld, is (in my experience) one of the best ways to GM a fun game. Getting the technical combat rules right is important too, but most players will be reasonably forgiving of a new GM still learning the ropes. (I would suggest - if something bad happens to a PC in a fight, and you work out that if you'd followed the rules properly the PC would have been OK, then be prepared to "wind back time" a little and undo the mistake.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've never done it myself, but I know some people who swear by just having everyone sit around with some random PCs- all made by you or having everyone bringing their own- and just running some free-for all arena combats to get a feel for the game. That way, EVERYONE- you included- gets to put the pedal to the metal, looking up this rule and that.

 

[On Puget Sound]

There is one page in the PHB (I think it's either 275 or 285, I don't have my book handy) that lists all the "conditions" a character or NPC can be afflicted by. Most essential page in the whole book. Bookmark it, or even photocopy it and laminate it; you'll be looking for it in every single encounter.

Which brings up another point: Don't try to memorize the rules! Just know where to find them when you need them. Let players be responsible for knowing the rules that pertain to them. If you are not using the Character Builder, make sure your players have their formulas for attack and damage already figured on their character sheets for each power, so they don't have to do the math each time.

For a first campaign, you should not allow anyone to play evil characters; learning the game system will be challenge enough without dealing with intra-party conflict.

Have each player describe one or two connections between their character and other characters that exist before the game starts; e.g. Bob's dwarf fighter and Jane's human barbarian were chained to the same oar in a slave galley that sank in a pirate raid; they swam to shore together and have been friends ever since. Fred's elven shaman has the face tattoos of Jane's tribe, which she will recognize when she sees him; he visited them to study their spirit lore. If this is too much work, just have them all start as members of the same organization - give them a reason to work together right from the start.

 

[Katana_Geldar]

There is one page in the PHB (I think it's either 275 or 285, I don't have my book handy) that lists all the "conditions" a character or NPC can be afflicted by. Most essential page in the whole book. Bookmark it, or even photocopy it and laminate it; you'll be looking for it in every single encounter.

If you can, get the DM's screen. Even if you don't use it all the conditions are listed in detail.

 

[flamingbunnys]

I have the DM screen ! lol i guess i forgot to put that in the large list at the begining ok well last night i finaly got 3 of my players together all in the same place. i had them all create characters and run a tiny game. it was just "you were hired to investigate the happinings at these riuns". They go up to the ruins and get attacked by some small kobolds and minoins. anyway, it went ok but it takes me forever to check AC and add the modifiers and on top of that, making sure the players are too because they dont know what there doing either *sigh*. but in time i know it will come. but at the moment im having trouble keeping my monster tokens straight as to what they are and what there health are. any suggestions? and how many people should i have in my group?

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

but at the moment im having trouble keeping my monster tokens straight as to what they are and what there health are. any suggestions?

Each token should be individually identifiable. They don't have to have pictures or names, even something as simple as colored numbers or letters works (green A,B,C for the three kobolds, blue A,B for the stirges, etc.)

Everyone has a different way to do it. Here's what I do.
1. Write down each player and each monster (kobold 1, kobold 2, kobold 3, etc. corresponding to their token identifier) on their own line in initiative order.

2. Whenever a monster takes damage write the sum of damage taken so far after their name, crossing out previous damage totals.

3. Compare the monster's current hp to their bloodied or max hp. When they've taken enough to kill them, cross out their whole line.

Example:

Eric
Stan
Kobold A 4
Kobold B 6 13 21
Kobold C 8 12 18 22
Kyle
Stirge A
Stirge B
Kenny

Another thing to note: the very back of the DMG has player and monster tracking cards. They are a bit too fiddly for me, but you might find them useful.

and how many people should i have in my group?

4-6 players is standard. It's still fun if you are only playing with 2-3, but you will need to scale down published adventures. I find more than 6 gets to be too much chaos for my taste, though I've known DMs who don't think it was a real session unless there were 8 players.