New to d&d and starting a group and DMing

[MonsterMash]

1)Do i need minitures when i start out?The gaming store is 40mi away or i would have to buy online. (S&H = evil)

No you do not need miniatures - if you want to use a battlemat (there is one free with the DMG) then you can use poker chips, card counters, spare dice, etc to represent characters and creatures.

2)How many players do I need?

Generally 4-6 is ideal, but as a new DM it can be easier with less characters - the modules like Sunless Citadel are usually set up for four characters in the iconic classes (cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard)

3)Any Advice for a n00b DM

Learn the rules is useful - though all that matters is knowing them better than the players.

There are some DM advice threads on these boards which do give good advice and there will be some others I'm sure posting to the thread with these. My main one will be don't be afraid to make mistakes as all of the DM's here have done it, just try to keep things moving and fun.

 

[TheYeti1775]

Rule One

Just remember Rule One.
HAVE FUN - everything else is optional.

No you don't need mini's to start, they are addictive so be careful.
Don't choose a campaign setting right away, different people have different taste. Remember you can't go wrong with your own Home-brewed one.
As far as numbers, my first game was me, another player, and a DM. Sometimes there was only two of us.

Yes the B2 Keep on the Borderlands is the perfect starter for new players.

 

[eternalprosper]

Is it bad for me to suggest what class they might like? I have a feeling everyone will want to be the uber warrior and not the helpful cleric (the backbone of the party i belive) I really not too fond of minatures because I am horrible at painting and really small detailed stuff like that where i can mess one up very very easy. I got $20 for the MM and was waiting till i get the Basic game to buy it. I mod a forum rpg so that would also help with that ( the fourm also helps me get descriptive and help my imagination) I know i keep saying this but thanks alot i really appreciate it. I keep having a feeling its going to be a total disaster -_-

 

[deltadave]

Rule #1 - Have Fun!

Rule #2 - refer to rule #1 if in doubt.

DM advice - keep it simple, especially since you are new to the game. Try one of the little booklet type adventures they are usually about $4. Dungeon Magazine is great too. If you can borrow a couple of the magazines try to get one of the series style adventures...

If your players want to all play uber fighters, let them.... when everyone is down to 2 hp and crying about how much trouble they are in perhaps you could point out that it would be helpful to have a cleric.

BTW - Corollary #1 of rule #1 is Get all the players involved. If someone is sitting on the sidelines reading a book, they aren't having fun in the game.

If you want to get everyone involved right away, do something horrible, but non deadly to one of the characters. The others can rescue him or they may be in line for that thing to happen to them, in which case they will be highly motivated to escape. I started a game one time with one of the characters tied to a spit over a roaring fire, the orcs were whipping him and having loads of fun until they started getting dropped by the other PC's come to rescue the first one. Orcs scattered in every direction and it was mass chaos for the rest of the game. Great fun was had by all and it was one of the most memorable campaigns I've ever had the pleasure of running.

 

[punkorange]

I have to say number 1 is have fun.


Don't worry about it too much either. first time I DMed I stopped by my FLGS and bought a quickstart module and ran a friend and his brother through. They both died by the second encounter
Pregen characters are good for new players to get started quickly without worrying about making their own characters.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

[Imperialus]

Only thing I can see that I can really add is that a good starting group is between 3 and 4 players. Much more than that and things can get complicated when combat rolls around and especially if you are referencing the books a lot combat gets a great deal slower and some of the players can get bored if they have to wait too long for their turn.

 

[eternalprosper]

Well I DMed my first session, we didnt get very far. They just killed some kobolds. I think I helped them a little too much though (after a min *whispers * hmm that cage over there looks interesting.....you could hide something in it >.>) But we are at a 2day lan party and they didnt have any sleep so they werent thinking correctly. It went pretty good, they were supposed to read this one booklet amoungst themselves while i prepared. I ended up reading it outloud and have to rush to prepare. lol highlight of the night was *Fighter rolls a 1* me:"You trip and slash Lidda for 3hp" and liddas and redgars mouths dropped since the cleric just used his cure light wounds and she was being flanked (rushed into battle without backup)

 

[Sanguinemetaldawn]

beginning campaign advice

1)Do i need minitures when i start out?The gaming store is 40mi away or i would have to buy online. (S&H = evil)
2)How many players do I need?
3)Any Advice for a n00b Dm?

Thnx

First, for your money and budgeting...assuming your situation was like mine, you will have to get by for quite some time on this birthday budget....here are my recommendations:

-Players Handbook, Monster Manual, DMG
absolutely necessary...and don't worry about any other core rulebooks...

-minis
I'll second or third the statements made previously...you can easily spend thousands on minis/3D displays....not worth it. Stick with basic simple representations

-Adventures, setting, and supplemental material
First, subscribe to Dungeon...I guarantee you will not regret it
Second, do not subscribe to Dragon...while it has some nice stuff, its not worth it on your budget...let your players subscribe if they get into the game and borrow it from them. You will find that by DMing you spend 5-10x as much money as your players. Also, if you can encourage one or two players to buy a PH as well, this will make things MUCH easier on the group. However, you should not feel obligated to buy more than one.

Third, for your optional purchases I would recommend a good campaign supplement and a good standalone city supplement.

With the 3 core rulebooks, a subscription to Dungeon, a campaign supplement and a city supplement, you will have enough to run a heavy campaign for a good 6 months if not for a year.

The way to construct your campaign is with the city as the "center"(you can buy good stuff here, meet any type of person here, etc), with several outlying villages and towns (and adventure locations ). The towns and villages you can create from your own imagination and the DMG and from Dungeon magazine material.

You will want to make a map, and have a reference sheet for each town, in addition to the city supplement.

Specific recommendations for the supplements:

Campaign Supplement: Lost City of Barakus (this is a bit pricey, but a great value), if you can get it...T1 Village of Hommlet is excellent too, however, it has been out of print for 2 decades, so it will be difficult to find probably, but if you can find it easily and cheap, don't hesitate

City Supplement: many good ones, Bluffside is popular; City State of the Invincible Overlord is interesting...but probably not what you are looking for; I want to recommend Freeport but budget-wise I don't think its a good idea; Sharn (for the Eberron setting) and the impending Waterdeep (for the Forgotten Realms setting) are possibilities, but they are probably too strongly overshadowed by their settings....

So I guess quick summary:
-3 core rule books
-Dungeon subscription
-no new minis
-City supplement: Bluffside, Freeport, or City State (whichever one YOU like the most)
-Campaign supplements: Lost City of Barakus, and T1 (if its easy to find)

General advice...
Have fun is the most important rule
You are the DM....try to be fair with out favoring the players...my first campaign basically ended because my players were bored because I would never kill their characters, so it lost any real tension and excitement.
Learn the rules, and don't let your players bully you using the rules...but again, try to be fair


Welcome to the hobby. You'll learn just fine from here.

 

[Alzrius]

Don't forget that there are roughly two hundred monsters or so published throughout Wizards of the Coast's website. They're catalogued by name and challenge rating for your convenience here.

 

[deltadave]

Glad that you had fun! Have you talked to the others involved and seen if they are interested in doing something like that again?

BTW - if you are going to do critical fumbles, I suggest following a similar procedure to the critical hit - first roll a crit fumble then a confirm roll.