First time DM Help

[SingingLotus]

Hey guys,

This is going to be my first time Dming coming up and I want to make sure i do it right lol. I have only ever played 3.5 for reference. I have a pretty good story lined up but I am mostly worried about coming up with good dungeons for my party. I would love some puzzle help. I am by far the newest to D&D so I want to do well with monsters and such also. If you have any other advice I am totally open too!

Thanks!!!!

 

[Dandu]

Put a lever in the middle of the room. Have the door be ominous. The lever doesn't do anything.

See how long it takes the players to figure that out.

 

[SingingLotus]

Interesting... My group is pretty seasoned though, they might either get pissed or figure it out right away lol

 

[Jackinthegreen]

I'd suggest playing some games in the Exile series, found at Spiderweb Software's Older Games

The grid system will help you set up and get used to dungeons, plus there are some pretty interesting plotlines and so forth. One flavor thing in particular that stands out is a sign from Exile 3: "Authorized Personnel Only. Violators Will Be Toad."

 

[SingingLotus]

I already have a storyline going I am going to base everything off of the fallen angel story from the bible and the book of Enoch. Mostly the characters are going to be Nephillim (half human half angel). I'm always good with story its the traps and dungeons that get me.

 

[Dandu]

One thing to consider is the trap trap.

 

[Jackinthegreen]

One thing to consider is the trap trap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYeZ6zA5gEKim Possible a trap trap *snipped the extras off*

Just make sure none of the characters are based of Admiral Ackbar.

 

[SingingLotus]

Lol, I love me some Admiral Ackbar

 

[Visigani]

A Flowchart, a Rollercoaster, and a Wal-Mart. Just about every dungeon can be summed up as being a version of these things.

The flowchart reference is obvious... a dungeon IS a physical flowchart... you make X choice to move in y direction.

Rollercoaster a little less so. A rollercoaster isn't just "nonstop thrills and spills"... it has luls and then screaming craziness and then the loop and screaming craziness and lull and screaming craziness and so forth. The "flow" of the rollercoaster is what you want to mimic... seriously. Visualize a rollercoaster when you're determining the "path" your adventurers are most likely to take... when they enter room X will it be screaming craziness, lull, or curved loop? Too many lulls in a row? Too many thrills? You get my point.

The final means to describe a dungeon is "wal-mart". Even if a dungeon doesn't have a variety of eco systems (though some certainly do)... they're frequently broken down into "departments".

This is the Kobold Management Department, and this is the Kobold Arts and Crafts Department. This department is where Kobolds buy their shotguns made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. See what i'm getting at? Treat it like a department... and then determine what where and who would be found there.... and why it's put there. Is this the Medusa lair? Well why the hell is there a medusa living here? Is it because she's taken command of the nearby trog den and they do her bidding and bring her "food"? What sort of things decoarate this department? Why would she choose that?




That's the "basics"... what you want info on are "puzzles". One of the best "puzzles" I've ever encountered in fiction was in the Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass.

SPOLERZ, YO... MAHFAH SPOILERZ!!!

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The Gunslinger and his companions must board a monorail train that is both sinister and sentient. The monorail... named "Blaine the Mono" strikes up a bargain with the travelers. He agrees to take them across the wasteland to their destination, and the cost of passage is "Riddles".

While traveling the companions must continuously riddle Blaine the mono... who possesses all the evil intelligence of a vast and centuries old computer network. There's a catch, however. Blaine is not only evil, he's both insane and suicidal. This run will be his last.

If the companions want Blaine to stop at the end of the track they must, using their riddles, stump the machine. No mean feat as Blaine the Mono has endless recorded data and row after row of lightning fast dipolar processors.


While traveling the leader of the group, Roland, tries to remember every Riddle he can think of, from his youth until now. None stump the machine.

And here's where things get important.

In the end it is the groups jokester and prankster of sorts... Eddie Dean... who fells the machine. The machine, quite capable of processing the logic of the Riddle is completely unable to process the connections found in jokes.

And this is how Eddie Dean fells Blaine the Mono... through jokes.


Good "dungeon puzzles" are like good riddles. And I don't mean they're just riddles... I mean they bear the characteristic of a good riddle.

The above example illustrates how the riddle is in the action itself. The ultimate need for the group is to kill blaine the mono because even if they "win" he's going to kill them anyway. Consequently the 'answer" to the riddle of How does one survive a trip with Blaine the Mono during a riddling contest? is "tell him jokes"... which is entirely NOT obvious in the beginning.


Stage your dungeon 'puzzles" in a similar fashion. Simply having a collection of levers to pull sucks.... but let's take that premise.


We'll start with "Must pull levers"... well, why are they pulling levers... what's something interesting those levers could be attached to.

Robot immediately springs to mind, a mechanical construct of sorts.... well, what does the Robot DO... it could be anything from walking "through" a wall, to stacking blocks to performing a complex series of movements at the correct time. That's all for you to decide...

 

[Gilladian]

When designing puzzles, riddles and traps, one of the most important things to remember is this:

If the PCs FAIL to answer the riddle, solve the puzzle, or dismantle the trap, will they FAIL the dungeon? Generally, that's an unacceptable outcome.

Always plan a way around the obstacle. Imagine that the obstacle is a door blocking further passage into the dungeon. If they don't tell the door the correct answer to the riddle, the door cannot be opened. Fine. But what if, after failing (or without trying) to answer, they try to force it open, chop it down, burn it up, dismantle the hinges, etc...?

Or dig a tunnel around the door. Or some other devious alternative? Will you let that work? If so, what happens? If not, why not?

You don't have to provide EVERY answer, but do be AWARE that they may try them. OR, make it plain that this door, while a cool trick, is NOT blocking the ONLY way of advancing. There's a secret passage somewhere else, or another way past (find the ID bracelet?)...

Nothing is more frustrating to PCs than an obstacle with only ONE way around it. Especially when they cannot figure out what the DM was thinking when he chose that one way.

For constructing riddles, tricks and traps, I suggest trying to find some of the third-party 3rd edition books. Traps and Treachery I and II were decent. For 2nd edition, there were the old Grimptooth Trap books (very deadly).