D&D 5E [5e] Session One Rundown [Newbie DM]

[Azzy1]

I'm going to begin this post by prefacing a Thank You to the community in the last thread for offering some helpful advice on whom to watch and what to focus on in regards to the game.

I've watched WebDM, MathewCoville, (Some) Unexpectables, HowToBeAGreatGm, Nerdarchy, Taking20, A few other channels and dawnforgedcast in that order in regards to time allotted to each. I really like a middle of the road approach but realize that a good story isn't what I want it to be. In regards to preplanned events to more freeform or randomized events, I'm going to post the highlights from Thursday's session here in brief.

The party started off in a port-side town within a dwarven nation that is militarily active. The abroad party members have found their way to the island by one way or another be it mostly boat or port hopping the distance there. The dwarf, having served on military campaign for the last 20 years has been recalled into the draft and only recently had time off. The Firbolg cleric Wram-ram -is- very wise, and had been floating from his home to travel abroad. Our Tiefling sorcerer had been stranded aboard a ship headed eastbound with unknown cargo and washed ashore on a cliff-side beach connected to the dwarven city dock.

Once the party had made way into the city, the dwarf was visiting old friends, Wramram ate stinky cheese he insisted, and the sorcerer acted out amnesia while sitting in the corner of the same tavern. Introduction to NPCs such as the bar owner and her assistants were done by player interaction in the world and on the spot voices with intermittent planned things such as a thief running through town, the shopkeep she interacted with gets hauled off, the devout religious in town hold their ceremony twice a day and that's about the main focal points of the story. A little later in they give chase, capture the would be thief, get paid, she shows up again and claims innocence and now they're awakening in the dwarf friend's npc tavern.

I've been brainstorming on and off about the situation/what could happen. I know for a fact that we have about 4-6 sessions and I'm planning for this to be as such, prowling through the books and reading advice for what I should do. Make it about the players and not the story, I've asked them what they thought and they are yearning for more combat so that's a definite next time. It's the other things in between to get there that I'm concerned about but not overtly worried by on "What if." I'm thinking of turning it into either a murder mystery, conspiracy plot or similar. What're your thoughts on how this might work?

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

If you have an overarching storyline in mind, then the next session can be used to plant some seeds, and drop some hints. Let the players find some fragments which they cannot piece together yet. And let them have some more combat, if they want that. Allow some of the NPCs that you already introduced to play a small role too.

 

[iserith]

It sounds like you had a lot of color and exposition in this session. "I want more combat" can simply mean the players want more dramatic conflict for which there are stakes they can win or lose. That can also be some meaningful exploration or social interaction challenges. Though combat is generally easier to put together and I've yet to meet someone at my table who isn't having fun in a fight.

 

[aco175]

Character development is good, but something is needed to tie them together. Sometimes you can tell the PCs to come up with ties and go from there, but you can also give them reasons to play nice together. Something like a sponsor that can give them all a mission or even a dead uncle that left each of them a part of his fortune somehow.

 

[robus]

As a newbie DM you’re definitely giving yourself extra work by not only having to learn the ropes of running the game but also trying to create an interesting adventure.

You need some big development to get things rolling. Get your DMG out and roll on some adventure seed tables to come up with a threat that your players can begin to encounter. If you don’t have a couple of big bads in the town causing trouble then the opportunity for adventure is going to be kind of slim.

What did you have in mind when you kicked things off where you did?

 

[BigBadDM]

So I have been DMing for about 15+ years now and here are a few things I learned. Hopefully these bits help you.

First combat. There are really two types of players during combat: those that like the crunchy bits and those that like the puzzle solving in combat. If you can have both--bonus points in making everyone enjoy the game. Combat can have story elements--these are usually the most fun and poise questions for the future.

Here is an encounter I recently ran and how it moved the story forward without my intervention. PCs hear a crashing on the road ahead with shrieks. PCs arrive to overturned wagon. Huge Hill giant and Hill Giant child is attacking an old lady and a small child. The Small child is holding a wicker doll. PCs naturally want to protect the grandmother and child. When the PCs engage Giants, the Giant smashes the wagon and pulls out a string of kids on a long iron chain. Giants start fleeing with 'prisoner' kids. PCs now conflicted--who is bad here? Find out old lady is a Night Hag, but the child seems possessed by doll. Encounter wraps up. Hag gets away, PCs kill small innocent child, rescue 'kid prisoners', kill Giant mother and Giant child. --I gave this example as a fun encounter. The 'crunchy' combat-oriented PCs just love killing hard challenges. The puzzle-PCs like how the encounter changed dynamics mid-encounter. Win-win.

But here is how the PCs start making their own story (just from that encounter). At town the PCs give kids to the orphanage but find out that some of the kid's there have 'wicker dolls'. They have been getting them as free donations. PCs now take upon themselves to find the dolls source or what it means. They also hear about Giants attacking settlements/towns... they are now curious why. Are they evil or just surviving etc.. The point here is PCs feel invigorated to pursue. I don't know where dolls will take them... I don't know where the giants will take them. But dynamic encounters let the PCs dictate the direction of the narrative.

So let's get back to your question about plot hooks and mystery. I would start off with a dynamic encounter right off the bat in the beginning of your next session. Maybe they wake up with the Inn burning down--with people fighting over each other to get out. Maybe you see the 'real' side of people when only so people can get out. Maybe you find out the dwarf was in bad company (reason for the inn burning down). Maybe an encounter arrives with someone outside of town arriving with wanted posters of the PCs faces. One good dynamic is to make various NPCs in town hate each other. Spread lies about each or want to see each other ruined--frame each other--hired assassins. People's children captured as leverage to do 'evil' acts. Innocent people can be pawns of the bad guys You should have a general idea of who is the main bad guy and what is their goal. But make encounters that throw the PCs in different directions but let them come with the outcomes. You might start off with person X being the antagonist in your mind, but realize the clues the PCs are making might make NPC Y being a better fit. Ad-hoc the particular moments but detail the high level view.

Hope that helps.

 

[Rhenny]

You are so right about listening to your players to give them what they want.

I’ve been DMing and playing a long time, and one thing I try to do is to balance combat, exploration and interaction in nearly all sessions, especially until I get a feel for the players. One of 5e’s major strengths is that it is easier to balance the three pillars because sometimes combat does not have to last a long time. To me variety is the key to making sessions that give all players something they like, and also a surprise so that they don’t get locked into repetative patterns.

Use variety all the time, even with combat. Some encounters should be a piece of cake. Others should be really deadly. Be sure to Telegraph the deadly encounters to give players a chance to fortify themselves, or to figure out a way to avoid combat, or devise other plans. My best games are when the players come up with interesting ways to beat the system or use other skills to turn the combat into interaction or a chase or other unexpected outcome.

But, for most players, being able to beat down some bad guys provides an unambiguous joy and a feeling of great satisfaction. Give the people what they want.

 

[guachi]

I think the best way to ensure a good campaign (or even one-shot) is ensuring the players are on board with whatever type of game will be played. It isn't just having a Session Zero; it's the players and DM understanding, agreeing with, and wanting to play what is being offered.

Personally, I'm not really interested in a game where it's "about the players and not the story." That type of game just seems like aimless navel gazing. I want a game to be about the story the PCs tell. Literally the first sentence of the Basic Rules tells me D&D is a storytelling game.

I want events big and small that I can affect and/or have to react to. It could be bad weather, a flood, an escaped circus bear, the local faire, a border dispute. If you make a world where real things happen you will have interesting stories to tell.

I use real weather. I pick a real city to match my fantasy city, pick a year, and then use the real weather that existed. It so happened it was one of snowiest winters ever in a campaign that started January 1. The players didn't take one of the plot hooks and the result was the humanoids in one area were driven out by the heavy snow and sacked the eponymous Keep on the Borderlands.