Help DnD 12 year old DM

[GWolf]

Thanks

Wow. Thanks alot Sammael99 and rounser I'm going to use yer example it is kickin' . Between you all I am almsot ready to start. The only real thing I have left is mapping cities, making shops and inns etc. and I don' tthink I will yet but Will I need a world map?

 

[wolfpunk]

Wow when I was 12, I was just starting to play d&d and we didnt even bother with maps. We did everything off the tops of our heads, and most of the time we didnt even use dice.

So basically like everyone has said, keep it simple. If you feel you need a map use graph paper, keep the scale easy, and the details simple.

A good rule of thumb is to simply think about the key areas your characters might encounter battles in. Have a definite idea of how big that area is, and what is in it, that way if you need to make a quick battle map sketch, you will know what you are working with.

Don't let rules bog you down, if something is giving you problems, think of a quick solution you can handle, or better yet, if you know ahead of time that something is going to give you problems, just get rid of it for the time being.

On mixing plots, and creating ideas. A flowchart or bubble table is always a good place to start. Create the idea for the mission. Say, someone has been kidnapped. Create the tie in that draws the players to the mission, perhaps a bounty is offered and they hear of it. Who is the main villian, make sure you have stats for the villian and any henchmen they have. Create the ways the pc can solve the kidnapping. What npcs have what information, what clues exist, things like this. Work it through in your mind and make sure it is easy enough that the players can follow through on it without stumbling around.

I think you will do fine. It sounds like you want the players to have fun, and just keep that in mind and I am sure you will do great.

 

[Maerdwyn]

You won't need a world map yet. Just start with a small area - maybe a little village and the countryside (a couple mile radius) surrounding it, plus a dungeon, if that's where your first adventure will take place. As your PCs explore that area, you can add more areas as you need them. When you start campaigns in the future, you might want to doi it differently, but definitely start small with this first attempt. Good luck

 

[Holy Bovine]

Re: Thanks

Wow. Thanks alot Sammael99 and rounser I'm going to use yer example it is kickin' . Between you all I am almsot ready to start. The only real thing I have left is mapping cities, making shops and inns etc. and I don' tthink I will yet but Will I need a world map?

I wouldn't worry too much about a world map at this early stage. Concentrate on the first adventure. You can always add details of the world around the PCs later (a few nearby town names might be good though - just in case the players ask about the local area). The thing I remember most from my first few adventures (a VERY long time ago) was worrying about the stats of every innkeeper and stablehand the PCs encountered. Don't make that mistake - just detail those creatures/NPCs that the PCs might actually fight (ie a thief or thug but not a serving maid or the mayor).

Good luck (although it sounds like you are well on your way to being a very good DM.)

 

[rounser]

A world map can be nice, but isn't essential - a map of the wilderness surrounding the player's home base is more useful. Maps of inns and shops can be sketched on the fly, I wouldn't worry about them.

Cities can either be mapped, or made up as you go. The sheer number of buildings means that it's usually a bit silly to try and map them all, just a few streets and a couple of landmarks (duke's palace, marketplace, theive's guild etc.) should do the trick, and if the PCs want to buy something, just make up the necessary shop or market booth. Be sure to include street encounters with press gangs, pickpockets, irate merchants, suspicious city watch, beggars and the occasional monster. City sewers make for excellent dungeons too. City cemetaries are sometimes full of undead that the PCs might get paid to clear out, and there's always the possibility of a wizard's monster creations escaping from his tower and running amok in the streets. Bar room brawls are also useful for keeping things going.

 

[omedon]

If you need some graphpaper for your mapping and combat just scoot over to the Fiery Dragon Productions website where you can download it as a PDF for free in the Downloads & Links section. It is handy because it conforms to the 3E scale (1"=5').

They also have a free adventure called Himrak War Party. Even if you don't plan on using the adventure it should at least help you out with organizing your own. Plus it also comes with counters that you can use with your graph paper. Though, if you have the DND Adventure game you probably have that part taken care of already.

 

[GWolf]

You all rock.

Thanks so much. My last questions for now : What about handling shops and inns, like what characters are found there, what type of mapping good sold etc.

Another Note: I am using the monthly upkeep (or was it yearly) from the DMG but Ia mhaving each character pay 30 gp per time.

I figured this game will be more hack n slash then I wanted but I figured it would be easy this way, and besides most of my players like fighting more then deep roleplaying but they do like both. I myself like deep roleplayign and skil lsue but that is hard to come up with. The only player who is looking for npc interaction and riddles is the wizard (kinda funny he's like the only worthy in the bunch, not that Iwill favor him however)

 

[CRGreathouse]

For shops, inns, and the like, it's mostly done "off the cuff"; the DMG has some advice (pages 139-140, 148-149, and 158) you can use, though.

For monsters, I suggest sticking to the MM creaures for now; changing them is usually more trouble than it's worth at this stage. NPCs can be taken from the DMG directly (pages 47-58), created on your own or with the CD that comes with the PH, or generated randomly (I recommend Jamis Buck's NPC generator, http://www.aarg.net/~minam/npc.cgi ).

The only monsters you might have triouble with are those that aren't really pre-made: animated objects, dragons, and templates. For dragons, I recommend my dragon generator ( http://mwtools.thyle.net/d_gen.html ).

Good luck! I myself started when I was about your age, though I can't say I had that many books - it wasn't until 2E that I got *any* books at all. Ah, memories...

 

[GWolf]

thanks and hehe

Well many thanks to everyone who helped me tonight, I am ready to start. Well 4 books of my collection I downloaded from morpheuse (Sword and Fist,Hero Builder Guide,Defenders of Faith,and tome and blood.) The others were either presents or the use of birthday/christmas money.

2E was awesome, but very different compared to 3e, most things were reversed with lower rolls being better then high rolls, ie strength checks THAC0, etc. and I find Feats and Skills better then weapon and non-weapon profincears (sp?)

Wow thanks!

 

[Regdar]

Bah, with retzin

Regdar has a couple of thoughts for you, one make sure to kill all the characters off at least once to show them who is boss, two, don't come to a message board where Wizards of the Coast people come and announce how you pirated their sourcebooks.