A few DM questions for a new guy. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A few DM questions for a new guy. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Magician_Of_The_Coast
06-17-06, 06:42 PM Im new to D&D, and i have some questions:

1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help.

2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff?

3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend.

Thank You
KJW
06-17-06, 08:38 PM Well as for your first two questions:

1) As long as your group is comfortable with, I would start with three hours and see how that goes with a food break sometime during the session. In my online game we run two hour sessions, but in live games four to six hours was typical for us, but it really varies by the group and the situation. No matter what, a break every three hours is a good rule of thumb.

2) I do everything narratively without map boards for the players and it works fine, I just have hand drawn (or Campaign Cartographer) maps for myself. If I need to have something for the players I hand draw it or use a dry erase board.
Wisedragon
06-17-06, 10:31 PM 1.) My sessions usually run three-four hours, and if we have nothing to do/bad weather, weekends may run as long as 12 hours!! :D :P
2.) I usually don't have map aids, and plot it in my head, but it takes a second or two for detail to kick in. Impromtu is alright if you are using favorites or tried and tested, but I always recommend SOME planning
:mage:
VirgilCaine
06-17-06, 11:07 PM 3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend.

Use another miniature line. Heroscape or Mage Knight or Heroclix or something.

Find a nice B&W picture he likes, size right, print it out, tape it to some cardboard and tape that to a poker chip...Voila! Miniature.
lousywithnames
06-17-06, 11:19 PM 1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help.
That's up to you. I live with my players so we just run a few minutes here and there whenever we're all in the mood, and it works. On the other hand our weekly game at a friend's place goes for 10 hours and it works just as well. So don't stress too much about the "right amount of time" and base the decision on what's convenient and fun for you all. In other words don't force someone to miss work/school/college/sleep just to hit the "ideal time".

If you're only running it fortnightly you'll want enough time that you don't have an entire month with nothing much happening. At least four hours should give you enough time to do a small adventure or a significant part of a longer one. If you're a first time GM don't make the sessions too long, otherwise you'll have a ton of work making notes and creating adventures for your players.
2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff?
Never used boards/models/figurines/etc in my life (heroes quest aside). You can probably buy them wherever you buy your other roleplaying materials, make them yourself out of cardboard or maybe search on the net for ones you can print out.
3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend.
?? Huh ?? Oh, miniatures. Sorry, I don't use them, but I'm sure someone else here could give you some tips.

EDITED: To tidy up the formatting.
tharivol266
06-18-06, 01:03 AM get over the minitures idea. they are unneccissary and they only limit your options to the minis you have. go old school and grab a pad of graph paper and draw your maps on there and if you can be organized enough to do it have little red pieces of something to show eneimes and diff. colored ones to show the players.
ashcat_lt
06-18-06, 01:46 AM Im new to D&D, and i have some questions:

1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help.

2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff?

3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend.

Thank You

1) I can't get enough. I prefer 6-8 hours. I'm not normal.

2) WOTC has the Fantasic Locations (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/list&brand=All&year=All&author=RobHeinsoo) series. In August they will start producing Dungeon Tiles (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/0786943483).

I found this (http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/) with a simple google search.

Most people just draw their own on either battlemats (http://www.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=31580&), white boards with grids or big graph paper (http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=409528&Ntt=grid%20pad&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text)

Or they use a mapping program like Campaign Cartographer (http://www.profantasy.com/Products/cc2.asp) or Dunjinni (http://www.dunjinni.com/) and print them out.

3) Some online stores are still selling the older sets. Game Outfitter (http://gameoutfitter.com) has good prices and they go back to Aberrations. Paizo (http://paizo.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/11/wa/DirectAction/browse?path=store/games/miniatures/tradableMiniaturesGames&wosid=6MwH2QkwnpYda6jyiC4Mn0) has not so great prices, but they sell singles.
Mesraic
06-18-06, 02:06 AM I personally find useing miniatures to be a great aid. Although I dont care where they come from so long as we have some peices that fit the descriptions. And as for maps...I draw with graph paper then as the PC's are exploring the area I use dry erase boards and pens to use for the larger maps. Either use permanent marker or cut grids onto the board.

Length of game sessions, we play 1-2 times a week and usually play about 8 hours a time.
Magician_Of_The_Coast
06-18-06, 03:55 AM Thanks to all of you, this will definately help me. ^_^
Dragonsblood
06-18-06, 05:07 AM 1) My group plays 2 campaigns (I GM Shadowrun, and a friend DMs DnD), which we switch off every week. Sessions usually go from 5pm to 1 or 2am, but a few hours are usually spent setting up, messing around, and eating.

2) We use a battlemap grid for combat and dungeon crawls.

3) We use random Warhammer minis that are rarely appropriate looking for the PCs and NPCs. The only thing that matters is the base size.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Magician_Of_The_Coast 06-17-06, 06:42 PM	Im new to D&D, and i have some questions: 1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help. 2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff? 3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend. Thank You
KJW 06-17-06, 08:38 PM	Well as for your first two questions: 1) As long as your group is comfortable with, I would start with three hours and see how that goes with a food break sometime during the session. In my online game we run two hour sessions, but in live games four to six hours was typical for us, but it really varies by the group and the situation. No matter what, a break every three hours is a good rule of thumb. 2) I do everything narratively without map boards for the players and it works fine, I just have hand drawn (or Campaign Cartographer) maps for myself. If I need to have something for the players I hand draw it or use a dry erase board.
Wisedragon 06-17-06, 10:31 PM	1.) My sessions usually run three-four hours, and if we have nothing to do/bad weather, weekends may run as long as 12 hours!! :D :P 2.) I usually don't have map aids, and plot it in my head, but it takes a second or two for detail to kick in. Impromtu is alright if you are using favorites or tried and tested, but I always recommend SOME planning :mage:
VirgilCaine 06-17-06, 11:07 PM	3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend. Use another miniature line. Heroscape or Mage Knight or Heroclix or something. Find a nice B&W picture he likes, size right, print it out, tape it to some cardboard and tape that to a poker chip...Voila! Miniature.
lousywithnames 06-17-06, 11:19 PM	1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help. That's up to you. I live with my players so we just run a few minutes here and there whenever we're all in the mood, and it works. On the other hand our weekly game at a friend's place goes for 10 hours and it works just as well. So don't stress too much about the "right amount of time" and base the decision on what's convenient and fun for you all. In other words don't force someone to miss work/school/college/sleep just to hit the "ideal time". If you're only running it fortnightly you'll want enough time that you don't have an entire month with nothing much happening. At least four hours should give you enough time to do a small adventure or a significant part of a longer one. If you're a first time GM don't make the sessions too long, otherwise you'll have a ton of work making notes and creating adventures for your players. 2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff? Never used boards/models/figurines/etc in my life (heroes quest aside). You can probably buy them wherever you buy your other roleplaying materials, make them yourself out of cardboard or maybe search on the net for ones you can print out. 3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend. ?? Huh ?? Oh, miniatures. Sorry, I don't use them, but I'm sure someone else here could give you some tips. EDITED: To tidy up the formatting.
tharivol266 06-18-06, 01:03 AM	get over the minitures idea. they are unneccissary and they only limit your options to the minis you have. go old school and grab a pad of graph paper and draw your maps on there and if you can be organized enough to do it have little red pieces of something to show eneimes and diff. colored ones to show the players.
ashcat_lt 06-18-06, 01:46 AM	Im new to D&D, and i have some questions: 1. What is the recomended time for a gaming session, it is going to be held fortnightly on a weekend, but we dont know how long it should go for. Please help. 2. How do i get more boards for making the dungeons and stuff? 3. (off topic a bit) How come WoTC has not made any recent bards or monks, its just my friends want to play as a bard or a monk, but neither me or him have any, our local store does not sell booster from before underdark, except giants of legend. Thank You 1) I can't get enough. I prefer 6-8 hours. I'm not normal. 2) WOTC has the Fantasic Locations (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/list&brand=All&year=All&author=RobHeinsoo) series. In August they will start producing Dungeon Tiles (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/0786943483). I found this (http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/) with a simple google search. Most people just draw their own on either battlemats (http://www.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=31580&), white boards with grids or big graph paper (http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=409528&Ntt=grid%20pad&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text) Or they use a mapping program like Campaign Cartographer (http://www.profantasy.com/Products/cc2.asp) or Dunjinni (http://www.dunjinni.com/) and print them out. 3) Some online stores are still selling the older sets. Game Outfitter (http://gameoutfitter.com) has good prices and they go back to Aberrations. Paizo (http://paizo.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/11/wa/DirectAction/browse?path=store/games/miniatures/tradableMiniaturesGames&wosid=6MwH2QkwnpYda6jyiC4Mn0) has not so great prices, but they sell singles.
Mesraic 06-18-06, 02:06 AM	I personally find useing miniatures to be a great aid. Although I dont care where they come from so long as we have some peices that fit the descriptions. And as for maps...I draw with graph paper then as the PC's are exploring the area I use dry erase boards and pens to use for the larger maps. Either use permanent marker or cut grids onto the board. Length of game sessions, we play 1-2 times a week and usually play about 8 hours a time.
Magician_Of_The_Coast 06-18-06, 03:55 AM	Thanks to all of you, this will definately help me. ^_^
Dragonsblood 06-18-06, 05:07 AM	1) My group plays 2 campaigns (I GM Shadowrun, and a friend DMs DnD), which we switch off every week. Sessions usually go from 5pm to 1 or 2am, but a few hours are usually spent setting up, messing around, and eating. 2) We use a battlemap grid for combat and dungeon crawls. 3) We use random Warhammer minis that are rarely appropriate looking for the PCs and NPCs. The only thing that matters is the base size.