Post/Author/DateTime	Post
imgomez 08-17-07, 10:31 PM	I've been teaching D&D to some new players who were having a hard time getting into the role play aspects. They were mostly just rolling dice and relying on me to interpret the results. They also got impatient waiting for each other's dice results. So, to speed things up and make it more colorful, I decided that in combat, everyone would make their roles simultaneously and we'd use the honor system. And we'd address the results in initiative order. I also gave each of them a printed template for describing their hits and misses. "I ____ & hit for (#) points of damage!" And a list of descriptive actions: Swung, slashed, thrust, stabbed, chopped, hacked, clubbed, pounded, hammered, bashed, etc. And examples of more colorful examples: "I slipped to the side, beat down his blade and lunged, scoring ___ points of damage!" "Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks, then my point slid past his guard and struck him high in the chest for ___ points of damage!" "I reeled from his blow, but sprung back at him with a furious over-head swing. I chopped straight down into his shoulder for __ points of damage!" And for a miss: "He ___my ___, taking no damage." "He ducked under my swing, taking no damage." "His armor rang from my blow, but he took no damage." They really liked this and caught on in no time. (It helps that they are mature enough that the honor system is working.) They are now active co-creators of the action, rather than just observers. Now it's a lot more like a thrilling, heroic, adventure and a lot less like Yahtzee.
darkdrgon2136 08-17-07, 10:39 PM	I've been teaching D&D to some new players who were having a hard time getting into the role play aspects. They were mostly just rolling dice and relying on me to interpret the results. They also got impatient waiting for each other's dice results. So, to speed things up and make it more colorful, I decided that in combat, everyone would make their roles simultaneously and we'd use the honor system. And we'd address the results in initiative order. I also gave each of them a printed template for describing their hits and misses. "I ____ & hit for (#) points of damage!" And a list of descriptive actions: Swung, slashed, thrust, stabbed, chopped, hacked, clubbed, pounded, hammered, bashed, etc. And examples of more colorful examples: "I slipped to the side, beat down his blade and lunged, scoring ___ points of damage!" "Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks, then my point slid past his guard and struck him high in the chest for ___ points of damage!" "I reeled from his blow, but sprung back at him with a furious over-head swing. I chopped straight down into his shoulder for __ points of damage!" And for a miss: "He ___my ___, taking no damage." "He ducked under my swing, taking no damage." "His armor rang from my blow, but he took no damage." They really liked this and caught on in no time. (It helps that they are mature enough that the honor system is working.) They are now active co-creators of the action, rather than just observers. Now it's a lot more like a thrilling, heroic, adventure and a lot less like Yahtzee. great, I have to try this on my group