WonkaMania said:
I'm kind of new to DM'ing and I'm going to be starting a new campaign shortly.
*snip*
I'm going to make these characters keep track of encumbrence of their character, and make them eat food and drink water every day. They'll need to hunt for new food, or pick it off of a branch, and they'll need to cook their food.
Hi, Wonka!
I'm not going to candy-coat this, not because I want to discourage you but because (as you say) you're new to DMing, and, well--we've all been there. You're able benefit from the mistakes we've already made--and I'd prefer to not see you make one!
The hunting/gathering/eating & drinking thing is certainly immersive, and I don't claim to know your gaming group (maybe they'd enjoy that level of role playing). In my experince as both a player and a DM, I find that having to role play the daily, mundane necessities of life can get real bland, real quick. It's sometimes easier to gloss over the little things and get right to the "meat" of the adventure.
DM: The orc attacks.
Hrothgar: I step up to him and swing my mace.
DM: No, I'm sorry, you don't. You pass out on the ground.
Hrothgar: Whaaa--?!?!? What are you talkin' about?
DM: You failed to mention that you woke up and hunted for any kind of victuals. Worse, you specificly neglected to tell me that you ate breakfast this morning or drank from the stream near the party's camp. Now Hrothgar is going into hypoglycemic shock and suffering severe dehydration. The orc gets a +8 for hitting a prone figure, plus you're half-unconscious....(rolls dice)....OUCH. That's gonna hurt. By the way, how long has it been since you role played taking a bath? Peee-wheeew!
Now, doesn't that sound terribly exciting? Nah, I didn't think so.
If we want to role play doing the daily life activities of fake people, we can boot up The Sims and get all geeked-out on them. Hook your players with a great story. Role play your heart out via your NPCs--lead by example by staying in character in front of your players. And (as was already mentioned) keep a relatively brisk pace: when things get slow, have two or three guys burst into the room swords drawn and aiming to take down the PCs...as the fight progresses, you can create the reason why these swordsmen are targeting the PCs.
I like the suggestion someone else made a few posts ago: during character generation, tell the players you want
them to come up with the reason why they know each other....takes a load off your shoulders, makes them feel that they're contributing (just don't let 'em suggest something too horribly imbalancing--"I'm the Crown Royal Prince. Obey me."), and often leads to additional backgroud hooks (which are adventure hooks in disguse)!