Alphastream
Hero
Doc, it sounds like you rocked it!
My general advice to DMs new to 4E is to see the tools that 4E gives as story-telling tools. The PC powers and the monster powers, for example, are a nice foundation of balance and yield exciting play (damage plus forced movement, etc.). BUT, they are especially cool when we use their descriptive elements. The PC is causing thorny vines to grow from the ground, entangling her foe. The monster is stomping the ground, knocking her prone. Done right, the descriptive cues behind powers can create tremendous scenes.
Similarly, the DM tools for encounter building offer nearly unlimited cinematic potential. You can have fights on swinging rope bridges while stirges pursue her, all while a large ogre slowly moves toward the bridge to cut the ropes. You can recreate every Indiana Jones scene ever - moving vehicles and people falling off, massive spheres of rock chasing after a PC, landing in a temple filled with snakes. Experiment with creating that cinematic and narrative quality - kids love that.
Play with skill challenges. At their worst, they invite the player to just select their best skill. At their best, they are a narrative tool you turn to as guidance. The player drives what they want to do, and you score successes or failures only when it makes sense. Make success and failure the fulcrum for the narrative, rather than a cold behind-the-scenes calculus.
Playing up the story angles is what makes 4E really shine, in my opinion.
My general advice to DMs new to 4E is to see the tools that 4E gives as story-telling tools. The PC powers and the monster powers, for example, are a nice foundation of balance and yield exciting play (damage plus forced movement, etc.). BUT, they are especially cool when we use their descriptive elements. The PC is causing thorny vines to grow from the ground, entangling her foe. The monster is stomping the ground, knocking her prone. Done right, the descriptive cues behind powers can create tremendous scenes.
Similarly, the DM tools for encounter building offer nearly unlimited cinematic potential. You can have fights on swinging rope bridges while stirges pursue her, all while a large ogre slowly moves toward the bridge to cut the ropes. You can recreate every Indiana Jones scene ever - moving vehicles and people falling off, massive spheres of rock chasing after a PC, landing in a temple filled with snakes. Experiment with creating that cinematic and narrative quality - kids love that.
Play with skill challenges. At their worst, they invite the player to just select their best skill. At their best, they are a narrative tool you turn to as guidance. The player drives what they want to do, and you score successes or failures only when it makes sense. Make success and failure the fulcrum for the narrative, rather than a cold behind-the-scenes calculus.
Playing up the story angles is what makes 4E really shine, in my opinion.
