First time DMing

[Mandarb34]

I'm getting ready to DM my first game in a few weeks, and while I've been a player for years I have no idea how to be a good DM. I figured this was the place to come for advice on how to be a good DM.

Also, I'm stumped for ideas. The game is in a fallout world and I'd reather not redo the whole going to find something thing from the games and could use advice on this as well.

 

[LostSoul]

Start with action.

That will gel the party together.

 

[Xarlen]

Is the world a world you've created? Or just something you're working on? If it's the latter, check out the Scarred Lands. Lots of good 'Fallout' stuff there.

Check out Here for ways on getting PCs together.

Only build in the world what you think will be importatn for the next 3 gaming sessions. So, don't make NPCs and legends and stuff that will never get used.

Start small. Dont' go epic quests and thus right out of the box.

Here's what I did when I first began DMing: I put the PCs on an adventure that was pretty much static; didn't matter who they were, what they were, it was pretty much a 'Go Fetch This' adventure.

A wizard hired them to go bring him some live, young, breeding stock Winter wolves. They went north, got side-trekked (I'll get you the wolves, if you do this for me an abandoned dragon egg, to get the abandoned dragon egg you have to help save these gnoll sorcerors from being sacrificed over the eggs by some zealotous lizardfolk worshiping the dragon egg), and so forth.

This allowed me to get to know the Characters, how they reacted, and worked together. That way, I could tool adventures to work for Them, and involve them more; less static, and more about them personaly, their modivations, etc.

Dig up some threads; there's lots of Tips on DMing, somewhere 'round here.

 

[Nightfall]

And if you're clueless as to what the Scarred Lands is, please check with me.

 

[Ave Rage]

after re-reading his post, none of my idea's would work


I'd say: go for a module. After finding out which, get advice on how to run it :/

 

[Xarlen]

If they're advanced players, then give us an idea of the campaign, what they want to play, what kinda game you want to play, and we can offer suggestions for plots and stuff, if you want.

 

[Nightfall]

Not to mention any campaign world suggestions we might offer, or at least stuff that might work FOR your campaign world.

 

[Xarlen]

No doubt Nightfall is looking to convert another to SL with his mighty Pimping.

 

[Nightfall]

Yep I got a sword of divine prowess all ready to go. Even so I'd prefer a unwitting...erh I mean willing subject.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Well, usually I'd recommend cutting your teeth on a published module either as a one shot or slightly adapted to whatever campaign world you want to run. That gives you a chance to learn the system and get organized without worrying about balancing encounters and developing a plot at the same time.

One other suggestion (assuming a d20 style cyclic initiative): Use index cards to keep track of initiative. Put the characters name in the upper left (landscape orientation) and the init score in the upper right. Fill out cards for monsters before the game and keep a hit point total on the lower left (I find it helpful to put all their combat stats on the card--AC, Attacks, damage, saves, special abilities, etc--that way I don't need to refer to the MM or adventure).

When combat starts take down the initiatives in the upper left corner of each card and put them in order. That way, you'll have an easier time keeping track of who's going when than most other systems I've used. And if someone readies an action, you can just turn that card to portait orientation (like tapping a card in MAGIC). That will enable you to grab the card and easily move it in the order if the trigger occurs but the card's still in order if the trigger doesn't happen.

However, just to clarify: a fallout world? As in the video game Fallout?

If you're starting new characters, you could have everyone start out as prospective NCR Rangers. Give them their initiation assignment: raid a slave caravan on its way to Vault City.

On their way, they could run into a pack of geckos or rad scorpions or they might even run across a squatter camp outside of an abandoned (and broken) vault. They might decide to explore the vault on their own or you might have the squatters be starving now that the vault's food synthesizers have stopped working.

In either event, the players would find the lower section of the vault overrun by mole-rats, etc. If they fight their way through them they might discover some water chips or if you used the starving squaters intro, they could discover some wires the rats chewed through. When they fix the power, the food systems come back online. If you want to introduce a plot hook, some other systems could come back online and the party could find a clue to something important in the later storyline (a map to an enclave helipad or another vault or a working enclave communications system (TK 421, your systems are back online but I'm not getting any visual. . . .) or even a map to Vault 0.

After that, the players find the slaver caravan they were sent after, free the slaves and escort them back to NCR. Maybe one of the slaves or slavers has another piece of the puzzle--a radio tuned to pick up Enclave frequencies or a proposed alliance between the Bishops of New Reno and Vault City.

That will probably take a few weeks and by the time you've got that far, you can decide where to take the plot next.