D&D 4E A Satisfactory game of 4E

[hbarsquared]

I just got back from playing an extremely mediocre, not half-bad, okay-ish game of D&D 4E.

I've been keeping up with every little bit of information released by Wizards, and have been wanting to really play some 4E.

A couple weeks ago I managed to get into the last hour or so of a Demo at my FLGS.

Today was a local Meetup D&D group.

Last night I decided, "What the hell? I'll cobble together a game and DM it."

So I did.

I printed out the character sheets, the Info sheets from D&DXP, and the compiled monsters PDF last night, and ran a 3-hour session today.

Everyone had fun, though not the greatest of times. Some people were a little frustrated, and things did not progress as fast as they liked. Overall, it was just an "okay" experience.

But...

• I only prepared for about one hour before game time. Half of that was choosing which miniatures I would use, the other half hour actually planning the adventure.
• I still maintained a "3E" mentality when it came to running some monsters: the move and attack shtick. For example: I forgot to use kobold "shiftyness" much of the time, and I could have been a lot more creative with tactics.
• We had all six players. None had seen the 4E preview sheets or rules before. One hadn't played 3E.
• I am an inexperienced, and not a very good, DM. I'm horrible remembering things, not that great when describing action, and often misremembered the rules. (Note: Shifting is not a standard action.)

Given that, we managed to...

• Have one skill encounter in which everyone participated (Convincing the townspeople at a town meeting to send themselves (the adventurers) out to find a kobold den).
• Have a combat encounter with two skeleton warriors, and four ambushing kobold minions outside the ruins of a temple with trees, crumbling masonry, and cemetery headstones.
• Have a combat encounter with the kobold wyrmpriest, kobold dragonshield, kobold archer, and five more kobold minions, within the ruins of the temple with a dais, pillars, and lots of rubble.

Strangely enough, this left me even more hyped up for 4E. Given how incompetent I was, how little time I spent preparing, and having to deal with six people, all newcomers....

We still managed to have fun and accomplish a lot.

 

[Spinachcat]

Don't be too hard on yourself. You demo'd a brand new game to 6 new players with near zero experience yourself and only the fan cobbled 4e lite to use. If everyone had fun, then count it as a win.

But you could have screwed the pooch by not taking the time to prepare. You are asking for trouble when you walk into a demo without real prep. Worse than running a bad game, you risk turning the players off the game with a badly prepped presentation. Remember, your event is now their first taste of 4e. When I do demos of new games, I spend at least 1/2 hour prep per 1 hour play. That's 2 hours for a 4 hour game.

All the DMs who "run stuff on the fly" do so because they call upon their past successes and past prep work. I can run whole OD&D campaigns on the fly, but that's because I call upon 30 years of gaming experiences. But even with that depth, I still prep because my absolute best "on the fly" stuff happens because I prep.

Inexperienced DMs can become great DMs. DMing is storytelling via a set of rules. It is a skill like any other. The more you train, the more you do, the better you get.

 

[hbarsquared]

Spinachcat - Thank you for the encouraging words. I hated not having the time to prepare, but like I said, I only decided to run a demo at the very last minute. Considering the reactions from the players, I definitely consider it a win.

I was just so surprised that it even turned out as a win, despite all the speedbumps and obstacles we had going into the session. I can honestly say that if I had tried to run a 3.5 game under similar circumstances, or even better ones (players and myself already familiar with the rules), the session would have been an absolute disaster for everyone.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

He's right - It sounds like you did fine all things considered.

I've run several 4E session on-the-fly sofar, but I'm using 20 years of experience running games to do the story stuff, and hours and hours every day of reading everything I can get my hands on online to know the rules stuff.

Fitz

 

[Nathal]

When I do demos of new games, I spend at least 1/2 hour prep per 1 hour play. That's 2 hours for a 4 hour game.

That's interesting...I find your ratio of prep time to game time to be spot on. Do others find this to be true? What's your experience?

 

[ZetaStriker]

I tend to over-prepare a bit, so that seems like a very small amount of time... but then again, I generally don't plan small adventures. I plan from start to finish, rather than planning just enough for one session, which has worked well for me so far. The stuff that doesn't get used can also be saved for future adventures, which helps future prep time.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I don't do a lot of prep, so that seems long to me. I think I spend more time handing out the character sheets and grabbing pencils, dice, and miniatures then I spend prepping a session.

Fitz

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

That's interesting...I find your ratio of prep time to game time to be spot on. Do others find this to be true? What's your experience?

It depends if it is a prewritten adventure or one I am making up/writing myself.

If it is prewritten, I like to have about 30 minutes-1 hour for my 4 hour long session. If I've read it at least once before, however, I'll run with 0 prep.

If I'm making it up, I likely will go in with nearly 0 prep. Unless you count thinking about my adventure while driving home from work.

 

[Frostmarrow]

My first game wasn't stellar either but, like you, it made me even more curious of the 4E. I've learned that all I know of D&D must be re-learned. There are a whole lot of D&D wisdom that only serves to jar the mind, in the new game. That wisdom need to be replaced with new insight, fast.

 

[drjones]

Yeah my first game was pretty incompetent rules wise, little role playing and my funny voices were bad.

Still everyone had fun and wanted to do it again so who cares?