D&D 5E HoTDQ - Went way better than expected

[GameDoc]

Too often now players (esp in 4e/pfrpg) are more interested in gaming the system than putting themselves in situation.

OMG - You just summed up the rift in the local gaming community of my small town in the most succinct terms ever. I'm totally going to quote you on this. I see a big split between those who came up prior to 3e and those who came in with 3e, PF, or 4e. Not edition warring here, just an observation and not generalized to all.

Back on topic - I think the OP did a great job. Kids have great imaginations and props for encouraging it in them.

 

[FreeTheWeasel]

Gotta love it when DMs get creative. Brilliant

I wish I had done better and altered events to suit my group more.
It's easy to become a slave to a published module, something I am guilty of this time.

Your game sounds like it's going terrific, love it. Good luck!

Awesome session, OP. When things are going that well, the rules can go jump in the lake.

I'm currently running Phandelver, and it doesn't much resemble what's on the page any more. But the module was a great starting point - it put a lot of the pieces in place.

OMG - You just summed up the rift in the local gaming community of my small town in the most succinct terms ever. I'm totally going to quote you on this. I see a big split between those who came up prior to 3e and those who came in with 3e, PF, or 4e. Not edition warring here, just an observation and not generalized to all.

Back on topic - I think the OP did a great job. Kids have great imaginations and props for encouraging it in them.

Wow. I think I need to roll a constitution check against blushing.

Ok. That was too nerdy a joke even for me.

I do want to point out that I read quite a bit and stole a great deal of fantastic ideas from others. I can't thank them all individually, but hopefully, they'll all read this thread at some point and realize that they were the reason we had such a good time.

FreeTheWeasel

 

[jrowland]

Great job! Glad it worked out well for you.

Little DM secret: You are the wizard behind the curtain. The players don't know the DC's, or anything, really. DMing in many ways is one bluff check after another. You are not trying to kill the PCs, you're not trying to design a mechanically sound encounter such that the dice won't kill the PCs, you are not trying keep them from going "off the rails"...you ARE trying to make it an interesting story that they are invested in. And the best way is to sit back, with a devious grin, and let them sweat the story out. When they come up with something brilliant, don't ever let on you had no idea what to do.

Happy gaming!

 

[Gargoyle]

Nice report, thanks. Love it when the players and the game itself surprises me. Especially when they solve problems that I didn't think they could solve. Many times it takes a few heads together to work through these things and as only one person I can't see the solution before they do.

 

[FreeTheWeasel]

If you are interested, the session 2 report is here.


FreeTheWeasel