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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 4506275" data-attributes="member: 40961">Honestly, DMing 4e isn't that different from DMing 3e.  Once you're familiar with the 4e rules, including the places where they're almost but not quite the same as 3e, you should be fine.I mean, if you can track effects in 3e, you can track effects in 4e.  If you can avoid grindfest fights in 3e, you can avoid grindfest fights in 4e.  Etc.My personal style is to require players to track who they've marked or quarried.  Then I narrate out loud as I move the monsters.  If I do something that provides a PC with a benefit (such as a fighter's free attack against a marked foe I forgot was marked) that I didn't mean to give, I'm allowed takebacks.  The same is true for PCs, to keep everything fair.We're a casual, friendly group, so this works just fine.The biggest issue I found was gently ushering the players into the game.  A group that works together is much more than the sum of its parts.  Sometimes, when a player is frustrated, the "problem" isn't the player or the player's character, its the rest of the group.  For example, a ranger who's frustrated that he never hits with his favorite at will might be best off talking to the cleric about setting up a system where, if he asks for help, the cleric gives him an attack roll bonus of some kind so that he can do more damage with his next round of attacks.You may also need to massage your player's expectations a bit.  Area of effect damage, for example, is lower in 4e- but the number of targets you can usually hit with an area of effect attack is higher.  Players who are used to launching a fireball and roasting a bunch of orcs may be shocked and angered when their fireball merely toasts their enemies a bit.  A DM who's on top of things can fix that- when our hypothetical player launches his fireball and looks dismayed that he didn't even bloody any of the targets he hit, you can point out that the total damage dealt by the fireball was whatever it was- generally a very high number, given the number of enemies usually caught in the blast.  If the character's first thought is "wow, no one was even bloodied by my coolest spell," he will be unhappy.  If his first thought is "wow, I did 57 damage in one attack!  No one else has even done close to that!" he will be happy.  You can determine which thought pops into his head first, if you pay attention and massage egos where necessary.</blockquote>

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