I DMed for the first time in 15 years!

[blargney the second]

Last night I DMed for the first time since I was 13 years old. It's so much fun to DM this edition!!!

A few things that I found interesting:

1) It's actually not that hard to keep my players on track. I've previously discussed how they tend to lose focus, and I was pleasantly surprised that they were quite ruly with me. I did notice that they would tend towards off-topic discussion if I hesitated for more than 5 seconds. I used this discovery to my advantage by not hesitating if I didn't want them to derail. Secondarily, I suspect that the previous DM frequently needs time to think about how to handle unexpected situations.

2) I had only partially prepared 3 encounters, and the details that I *hadn't* prepared led the players to ask me more questions - they were mysteries to explore! I really enjoyed making stuff up on the fly, particularly when it inspired me to make new connections between organizations. Yes, Mom, I took notes on what I made up.

3) I have 3 good players! I had no idea who my players were going to be, let alone what kind of characters they would play, so I had no particular solution to the encounters I had prepared. They managed to work things out quite well! Three 1st-level PCs took out a CR 3 beastie, then managed to find an unexpected diplomatic solution to a raging 5th level barbarian on the same day.

4) I fudged stuff in the first encounter. I hadn't even considered the possibility or necessity of doing so before I'd started playing, but I realized a little late that I was heading for TPK-ville because I'd misjudged the power of an at-will mass paralyzation effect. So I ruled that the creature could not do the effect again until the previous paralyzation wore off. I'm actually pretty happy with the result though - an evil outsider has been created on the Prime and unleashed on the countryside. Plot hooks, here we go! *happy dance*

5) Templates and unusual creature selection are a great way to liven things up for long-time players. These are the same guys who had permanently sworn off D&D a month ago, and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. I think there's some beginner's luck and a fair amount of indulgence on their part, but overall I'd call that session a success.

I love this game.
-blarg

 

[EricNoah]

Awesome. Always good to hear a success story!

 

[scourger]

It's nice to hear such a success story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Breakdaddy]

Congratulations! May this lead to many successful sessions to come. I have been DMing for about 17 years now, and this edition truly is more DM friendly for on the fly campaigns. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of TOOLBOX by AEG, this may help even more, as it has done for me on those rare occasions when the players ask the "wrong" questions and I need some answers in a big hurry. I end up looking like a brilliant game master instead of an unprepared dolt (most of the time!)

 

[Henry]

Welcome back into the fold; may your plots be engaging, and may your players have reason to call you creative names to your face.

 

[Pyske]

managed to find an unexpected diplomatic solution to a raging 5th level barbarian on the same day.

I always love "unexpected diplomatic solutions". Care to share what this one was?

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[blargney the second]

Thanks for the words of encouragement! EN World has been a huge source of inspiration and advice for me. Any success I have is due in large part to this excellent community!

As for players calling me names, check this one out:

In their first encounter, a thief came falling out of the sky. When he hit, his Decanter of Endless Water burst and ran afoul of a pouch of Dust of Dryness, leaving a little black bead of 100 gallons of salt water. They took it, as well as his pouch of money (~10 gp), then continued on their merry way. (There was more to this encounter, but it's tangential right now.)

When they got to the city that was their destination, they found out the hard way that magic items are taxed upon entering the city. They were charged 10 gp. No-one called me any names, but they were scoffing that the city is called Liberty.

-blarg

 

[Thanee]

Looks like you had a great start and a lot of fun, too.

Way to go!

Bye
Thanee

 

[blargney the second]

I always love "unexpected diplomatic solutions". Care to share what this one was?

The idea for this encounter was nicked from the web enhancement for Speaker in Dreams. When the PCs arrived at the gates to the city, there was a small lineup of people waiting for the guards to admit them.

As they waited, a half-elven barbarian tribesman had a heated discussion with the guards. He refused to allow them to peace-bond his weapon, stating flatly that he will not let them disgrace his ancestors' weapon that way. He eventually got so angry that he attacked the guards.

The PC cleric did his first successful action of the night (he'd fumbled critically twice in a row in the first fight, then once more in the second fight) when he cast command, "Listen". The tribesman failed his saving throw badly, then the cleric offered to mediate with the guards. I found his idea to be very good and well-roleplayed, so I gave him a d6 bonus drama die to add to his Diplomacy roll. One successful check later, the half-elf dropped out of his rage.

The guards understandably denied access to the city, so the cleric then offered to help the tribesman do whatever it was he needed to do in the city. (I hadn't anticipated this far, so this bit was full-on winging it mode.) Shast had a message to deliver to Lord Lukan, the master of the Academy of Arms, that goblins were attacking his tribe.

I was really impressed with the combination of a spell, an offer to help, and excellent roleplaying. I love my players!
-blarg

 

[blargney the second]

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of TOOLBOX by AEG, this may help even more, as it has done for me on those rare occasions when the players ask the "wrong" questions and I need some answers in a big hurry.

Interesting! I just googled it - I'll make a trip to the game store to peruse its pages at the very least.

I had three major undeveloped points that I needed to wing:

1) In the first encounter, there was a sorceress that took a bag from the thief's body. I had no idea who she was, why she wanted the bag, or what was in it. I managed to evade answering the PCs questions by making her have an extremely forceful personality. (A recurring villain who escaped.. woohoo!)

2) The tribesman's reason for wanting to enter the city so badly that he was willing to resort to violence. I managed to come up with an idea that was simple, motivating, and tied in 2 organizations and a character's name that I had not yet figured out how to introduce.

3) In the second encounter, a mounted noble and his retinue galloped past the PCs, telling them to run away. A naturally invisible wolf with DR 5/magic was chasing him, and he lead it straight into the PCs. They could only see it because it was covered in the blood of one of the noble's guards, and the blood was steadily washing away because of the heavy rain. When they got to the city gate a couple hours later, the noble was charging back out with 8 soldiers in tow. The PCs stopped him to tell him the wolf was gone, then they asked him his name! (Undeveloped once again...) To my great happiness, I remembered that I had made a simple relationship diagram of all the NPCs named in my two sourcebooks. I grabbed a cuckolded noble, and decided that his wife was disdainful of his cowardice.

These three situations lead me to believe that I can wing things simply by keeping in mind what campaign material I have that is unused, and introducing it bit by bit. So far I've introduced, directly or indirectly, 3 organizations from Arcana: Societies of Magic, and a bunch of material from my Thieves' Quarter by Green Ronin.

-blarg