Post/Author/DateTime	Post
killfacer 03-11-08, 12:47 PM	I'm gonna come clean. I'v never played D&D, I'v never seen anyone play D&D and none of the people i wish to do it with have ever played D&D. We had a sudden impulse, one that could only be filled by D&D (i know its not the same but i used to play stuff like Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter nights alot). We have the three most important books (monster manual, players handbook and the DM thingy) and iv even started desiging a first adventure for my players. As you probably know it can be tricky to get your head round the rules to begin with but iv plowed through the DM book and most of the players handbook so i have a fairly basic understanding of the less complicated rules. I was wondering if anyone could help me: A. Understanding the passing of time... sounds stupid i know but i cant find it anywhere. Is there a real time ratio? or do certain acts take certain amounts of time? If these were the case it would be really un realistic cus people would just go out killing things everyday, why would they want to hang around and do nothing when they can go kill ghouls. B. If anyone could give any advice it would be greatly appreciated. p.s Sorry if this is on the wrong board, if it is please let me know and i wont make the same mistake twice.
LeeAlucard 03-11-08, 12:58 PM	Welcome to the seat behind the DM screen! We hope it's comfortable for you. If you could watch someone else play D&D before you try it yourself, you can get a good feel of the game. As far as the time thing goes, one round of combat = 6 seconds, but real-world time and game time are not synchronized with one another. A single round of combat might take two minutes out-of-game, while you might jump the story ahead by several hours by saying, "Later that evening..." Certain actions take up a specified amount of time; that's why we have "standard actions."
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:01 PM	Welcome. A. Understanding the passing of time... sounds stupid i know but i cant find it anywhere. Is there a real time ratio? or do certain acts take certain amounts of time? If these were the case it would be really un realistic cus people would just go out killing things everyday, why would they want to hang around and do nothing when they can go kill ghouls.Time is measured in hours, minutes, days like normal, but also in Rounds. A round is 6 seconds long. For the most part, Rounds are used in combat. Every person, normally, can act every round. There is a special Dexterity Check called Initiative (You use the d20, and add your Dexterity modifier.) to see who goes in what order. In general, you can in any one combat round make: 1 Move Action and 1 Standard Action and one Swift Action and however many Free Actions the DM will allow. OR You can make one Full-round Action. I want to keep it simple, for the moment. So I won't bog you down with examples just yet.
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:08 PM	Move Action: Generally, is to move up to your speed. Your speed is listed has part of your size/race with some modifications. See the Human (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/races.htm#humans). His speed is listed as 30'. So, as a move action, a human can move 30'. There are also Move-equivalent Actions. Basically, these are other actions that by themselves, take the same time/effort as moving. Examples might be redirecting a spell or drawing a weapon (for characters that aren’t good with weapons, i.e. they have a Base Attack Bonus of less than one.) Is this kind of breakdown helpful?
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:11 PM	A Standard Action: This is your "main action" in a round. Examples of Standard actions include making a single attack with a weapon. Many spells have a casting time of One Standard Action. You can only make one Standard Action per round.
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:15 PM	The Full-Round Action: This is an action that takes your whole six seconds. Making two move actions is a full-round action. Anytime you make more than one attack per round (for any reason, a high attack bonus, fighting with two weapons, with a feat Like Rapid Shot) it is a Full-Round Action. This is an often confusing distinction. You might already know that a level 5 fighter can, if he wants, make two attacks in a round. A single attack is a Standard Action. But making two attacks is NOT two Standard Actions. It is one, Full-Round Action.
new_fashion_guy 03-11-08, 01:17 PM	My advice, start slow. Design at most a small town and a small dungeon outside of it that the characters don't have to travel far to get to. I don't know what version of the books you have, but I'd only allow classes from the PHB to start with. There are all sorts of supplements that add additional classes players can use, but learning all these rules and how to balance them will only confuse you at this stage. Making rules judgments can be complicated; try to be fair and play according to the rules as written until you understand enough to make judgment calls and house rules (which almost certainly will happen at some point). However, DON'T let the rules bog you down. If you don't understand something mid-game, make the best judgment you can at the time and continue on. After the game, look it up.
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:20 PM	Swift Actions: Take almost no time, but a little. Examples include certain spells. You can take a Swift Action in the same round as a Full Round Action. There are also Immediate Actions. They are like Swift Actions. The difference is, a Swift Action must be done on your turn. An Immediate Action can happen at any time. As long as you are using just the core (3 main) books, you won't deal with many Immediate Actions.
LSMFT 03-11-08, 01:22 PM	Free Actions take no real time. They include things like speaking, within reason. Dropping something you were holding. You can combine Free Actions with Full Round Actions.
Silver.Lynx 03-11-08, 02:28 PM	First of all if you'd like to make combat run smooth, read and fully understand the chapter on Combat (Chapter 8 in 3.5 edition) in the PHB (players handbook). It goes through what most players can do in 6 seconds, which actions provoke attacks of opportunity, What the action types are (standard, move, swift, free, or full-round as LAMFT described). It also gives information on special (but common) attacks like charging, bull rushing, and waiting. If you can, get your players to read that chapter as well. If you can you'll save yourself a whole lot of work when the time comes to play. killfacer, I'll let you in on a few common pitfalls that many DM's, experienced and new, can fall into. When your playing as a DM one thing you should prepare for is every player wanting your attention all the time, especially if they don't know the rules. Also expect the PHB to be needed all the time. The dangers of combat: First of all combat takes much longer than non-combat. So if you have several fights planned out, prepare for it to take multiple DND sessions. Secondly, somewhere in the corebooks it says that players will use up about 25% of their resources (spells, hp, items etc.) to defeat an encounter. 25% of a 4 person party could mean one person's life. dying although can be fun as a DM, if your interested in keeping your players alive then keep this in mind: One ogre is appropriate for 4 level 3 PC's (player charcters), however his attack will likely hit any PC (even an armored fighter) and land a hefty amount of damage, possibly killing him/her. On the same token, 4 lizard folk are also appropriate for 4 level 3 PC's. However when a lizard folk attacks, they won't likely kill someone before they have the chance to a) heal b) defend themselves c) retreat, while the other characters are successful. As a general guideline for helping PC's stay alive, for general encounters use multiple lower level creatures, and for Bosses use equal or one higher CR (challenge ratings). What you tell your players is important! Example, If you tell your players they are walking through the woods and they see a branch on the ground they'll think it means something. The more you skip over, the more you emphasize what is important and unimportant. The danger of this is when say they walk into a tavern and see a beautiful female in the corner wearing pale leather armor it means she's part of the story. However if you were to say: A fireplace glows brightly at the far end of the tiny inn, with a longbow and a quiver next to it. Standing over you is a hulking man with grizzly black hair, and a rotound gut. At his side is a long falcion with a Jet fixed into the hilt. The bartender, sitting on a chair reading a book, is a tall thin old man with grey hair hanging around his shoulders. A group of men, seated at a table next to the fire, are banging mugs together, shouting and jeering (sense motive check to see they are drunk, expectional checks notice the armored one is not drunk). Most of them are dressed in shaggy clothes except one dressed in dirty brown studded leather, with a black bear skin draped over his upper body. In one corner, opposite the bar, a female with long blonde hair and pale leather armor has her back turned to you. Sitting across from her is a cloaked figure with a dark hood covering most of his face (spot check to see if they notice him watching). A young girl, with short red hair tied back in a bun, carrying a pitcher of ale walks by you and says "please be seated, i'll be right with you". You can never underestimate how important the 'unimportant stuff' really is. Good luck DMing
skrap-san 03-11-08, 03:21 PM	I have developed a word dokument that should help with this. Its quite simple actually and I have tons of help from it. Because basicaly I cant fitt all the info into my head. So I need keywords to spin from. so the document looks a bit like this: column 1: important stuff/story points. column 2: not so important stuff/rules. culumn 3: Background: sounds, light, smell, (ambidience so to speak) then splitt them into as many encounters/story points as you need. PS: Feel free to PM me with your mail adress and I will send you the word file.
sakuradm 03-11-08, 03:52 PM	Welcome! First off i'd like to mention for any quest ideas, feel free to look at my site (in my signature) for any ideas. Second, since movement was well explained above, ill mention books you may want: DUNGEON MASTER GUIDE, PLAYER'S HANDBOOK, MONSTER MANUAL. Also going to need the good ol' 4,6,8,10,12,%, and 20 sided die :D. Being a DM means taking a lot of time out of the session to put things together, so make sure you have some free time :D. You may want to watch or listen in on a gaming session so you know what to do. Really, you narrate what is going on, and the players take turns doing things... it becomes clear in the books... They have specific amounts of things the can do in a 'round'. It is your job to keep the game running smoothly and steadily. If it seems confussing or putting you on the spot, don't worry, you'll get used to it and you'll love it soon. PM me for any specific questions.
Ventus_Frago 03-11-08, 04:22 PM	Keep things moving as well so you and the players don't get bored. If you don't know a rule for how something works, or if it should work roll a D20. Can I break that door DM? Roll a d20 and get better than a 15 (rule would depend on what was used, hardness of door, str of char. etc.) Can I do a double flip over that table DM? Roll a d20 and get better than a 15.(rule would be tumble check). Play to have fun, and learn the rules together. You'll get it.
Frizko 03-11-08, 07:02 PM	I havent seen this posted yet, so ill toss out one good piece of advice too. One or two people advised watching someone run a session, and this would be ideal(if you have a local game shop, they probably would be able to help you figure this out - many in fact host groups all the time). If this isnt feasable, id advise planning to use a couple throw-away sessions to get everyone used to the basic rules. Of course, for this to work you have to have a good grasp on the rules. First, read the players handbook chapter on combat. Read it again, and possibly a third time. You dont have to have it memmorized(to this day i still cheat and look something up for the rules that dont get much use - for instance: sundering), but you do have to have a good feel for it. Once you understand what happens in a combat round, go back and read the character classes. Get a feel for what it looks like theyre supposed to do in a fight. Id also read the chapter on how magic works(but not the chapter that lists every spell - you dont need to know what every spell does, just the ones that are actually going to be used). Once you know this and can explain it to your new players(id get them to read it too, but if it comes down to it someone needs to be able to explain), you are ready to start those throw-away sessions. You might first arrange for your friends to meet for a couple hours one day to practice making characters. Everyone has to make 3 or 4, no one can make the same character twice(thats copying not creating). Keep all the characters you make up here. The next time you get everyone together(or now, depending on how much time you have to devote to this), have them randomely grab the pre-mades and fight various monsters out of the book. If a character dies, grab another one and announce that they stumble on the scene and join the fight. Id run at least 3 or 4 practice fights, and get the players to try different characters and tactics. This should also get you looking at the monster entries and hopefully understanding at least a bit what to expect from them - obviously you should prepare for this ahead of time. Once everyone has a feel for this its time for the tricky part. Assign everyone a basic personality(maybe put 20 adjectives in a hat and everyone picks out a couple at random) and have them practice talking: to each other, to a merchant, to the captain of the guards, to a bartender... basically getting them to practice thinking and acting in character. This whole time, dont use any of the ideas you plan for your first real session. Once everyone can make a character, you can use the information in the monster entries, everyone can run a character in a fight, you can manage a fight, and theyve been introduced to the idea of being "in character", you are ready to go. Arrange your start time for the real thing, have the players make the characters they really want to play(make everyone write at least a paragraph of background information - this helps you and them to understand the characters better... plus it can give you some ideas to "borrow"), and have fun!
Etarnon 03-11-08, 08:02 PM	I'll toss in some tips, too. When I run my Birthright Campaign, I use the passage of time as 1 Game session is equal to 3 months or so, more or less... to allow time to pass. That way, adventures happen only a few times a year, such as a great flood or a major fire, or some monster appears, so that the town doesn't have bad things happening once a week or every few days. Zmbies this week, with bandits the week before, people will just move away. The party typically levels up once a game year, around once every three adventures. Or a bit faster if there's a lot of action. I suggest get a map, and write some history. The Worldbuilder's Guidebook (2e) is great for that.
killfacer 03-12-08, 12:19 PM	You have all been so bloody nice. I'm used to people just shouting at me for being a noob on game forums. Thanks alot for the answers and the advice it has been alot of help in understanding DMing. I have one more question (sorry!): Food. Do people need to eat every day? do they buy their food? If they do need to eat all the time, how much do they need to eat? Is eating even that important? (obviously im refering to the game not real life! :P ) Thanks once again! Killfacer.
LeeAlucard 03-12-08, 12:39 PM	Unless it states otherwise, they need to eat every day or start taking penalties. Players should reasonably consume one unit of trail rations per day.
WilliamTanner 03-12-08, 01:58 PM	I suggest you keep it as simple as possible. Forget food or other logistics. Assume they have backpacks with common adventuring supplies that they've forgotten. Don't get bogged down in details for the first game. Last night I copied down some level 1 NPC statistics from the DMG for all character classes on a single index card. I plan to have the same basic information on individual index cards corresponding to each player .. namely their hit points, armor class, melee attack bonus, ranged attack bonus, and saving throw bonuses (or penalties). When it comes to do battle, I will sort their index cards by initiative order, mixing in index cards for their opponents, and resolve combat order by who is on top of the stack at the moment, rotating them to the rear after their turn is over. That way nobody gets skipped, and if someone holds their action, they are placed to the side and go back in the stack based on when they act. For the first night I'd plan for no more than 2 battle opportunities. They'll probably take about 2 hours to resolve each, judging by the cumulative experience of the group.
LSMFT 03-12-08, 02:06 PM	I suggest you keep it as simple as possible. Forget food or other logistics. Assume they have backpacks with common adventuring supplies that they've forgotten. Don't get bogged down in details for the first game.Yeah, unless you want to make the antagonist the environment, a struggle for survival sort of thing, it is better to just let them buy a waterskin and a pound of rations, call it good. There are too many other things to work on at this point. I would recommend the same thing with lighting. For now, just assume that they can see whatever is seeable. Later, as you get more advanced, you can have goblin rogues firing arrows from outside their torch light.
sakuradm 03-12-08, 03:38 PM	You have all been so bloody nice. I'm used to people just shouting at me for being a noob on game forums. Thanks alot for the answers and the advice it has been alot of help in understanding DMing. I have one more question (sorry!): Food. Do people need to eat every day? do they buy their food? If they do need to eat all the time, how much do they need to eat? Is eating even that important? (obviously im refering to the game not real life! :P ) Thanks once again! Killfacer. To answer you question: they DO need food, i just include rations in my players' starting quipment... usually about 15gp a week i believe... a CLEAR IOUN STONE (found in the back of the dungeon master guide) can support a player without food or water.... it costs either 400 or 6000gp.. i don't have my dmg with me atm... i will in a few minutes so expect an edit... if the players are in a forest or other place with high game population, they can hunt, or send a hunting dog, hawk or some other animal that is a carnivorous hunter out to hunt for them.... for quest ideas, look at my website (found in my signature :D) OK.. a Clear Ioun Stone goes for 4000gp Food: Ale: gallon=2sp mug= 4cp a banquet (per person)= 10gp bread=2cp cheese=1sp Inn Stays- good=2gp common=5sp poor=1sp Meals PER DAY good=5sp common=3sp poor=1sp Meat= 3sp trail rations per day = 5sp WINE pitcher (common)=2sp Fine (bottle)= 10gp **This is comming from a 1st edition Player's handbook, and a 3.5 edition dungeon master guide, and a 3rd edition player's handbook** PM me for prices of animals and such or look at my post in general forums ' DOES ANYONE KNOW THE COSTS OF LIVESTOCK??'
Frizko 03-12-08, 06:56 PM	Quickie answer to the food question. The chapter in the Players Handbook(PH for short) on equipment provides your answer. After the price lists for mundane weapons and armor they provide info on all the other non-magical equipment you can buy(everything from backpacks and chalk to horses and wagons). This includes the food prices given above. The clear ioun stone allows one to live without eating, as does the Ring of Sustanence(in the DMG, its like 2 or 4k gp). The Magic Item Compendium has a couple lower level alternatives for the adventurer on the go. I dont have my books, so i dont remember exact names, but theres a bottomless trail ration, an automatic refilling waterskin, and even a mug that magically creates cheap wine or watery ale if you say the magic word. If memmory serves, each costs like 250-500 gp. Another option, is the survival skill. In the PH chapter on skills, read up on survival. While travelling in an ordinary setting, it gives the DCs for finding enough food to sustain yourself. If memmory serves its like a DC 15 check once per day(success by 5 allows you to feed an extra person, by 10 two, etc). If your group has a ranger, druid, or barbarian who buy the skill, they can easily provide for the group while on the road. A player with the right kind of pet could teach it(via the Handle Animal skill) to hunt for the group instead of just itself. The skill use is explained in... Complete Adventurer i believe, but basically its just the "Hunt" trick(DC to teach is 15 or 20). Or, as WilliamTanner pointed out, just abstract it. They eat enough to be healthy off-stage, and only make an issue of it if they travel through a harsh environment(think desert) - and id personally warn them of this before they make that trip("Remember guys, this next trip is through the desert. You cant be sure you'll find the food you need on the road, so make sure you pack enough."). The bookkeeping of trail rations and waterskins... some groups really enjoy that level of minutia, but from my experience most people would rather worry about dying from an orc attack then worry about bringing enough rations to make it to the next town. Realistic? No, but more fun.
arjomanes 03-13-08, 03:30 PM	When I run a game I think about a movie. I prefer pulp action-adventure stuff, so I think of something like Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean. So in my games I don't get too bogged down in amount of food/water, lighting, how much your gear weighs, etc. I just fudge on stuff to make sure the game is moving on and fun. That's just my style, but I think that's a good place to start for beginning players. There's gonna be a lot to remember between AC and hit points and damage and hit bonuses that this extra stuff can be added in later. I also play my game in scenes mostly. If there isn't anything interesting going on, then I skip to the next scene. "Later that night you're camped out by the edge of the forest, Jorillin on watch. Give me a listen check. . . " This way I don't worry too much about how much time elapses between major scenes. Sometimes it's a few minutes if they're exploring a ruin, or a couple hours if they're outside a gnoll camp, or a few days if they're traveling to a city. I might just sprinkle in some basic descriptions now and then to refelct passage of time. "Your trek across the vast desolate sands of Glothiria has finally led you to the Slave City of Aarkandaris. You're tired and filthy, and your feet sting from scorpion bites."
Etarnon 03-14-08, 04:19 AM	I'm all for 2 pounds of food, and 10 pounds of water a day, for an active adventurer. In normal terrian, Food from hunting,water from streams, not a problem. Going into the desert, plan well or die. I loved the 1e Wilderness Survival Guide. Good stuff.
sakuradm 03-14-08, 03:11 PM	agreed on the 1e stuff... but i prefer to go with RL common sense,logic and real survival techniques :D its quite simple... are they in a gamed region? if so, they can hunt, there should be a body of water so they can get water... if not, have them pack a bit of stuff to live off of, i have my players carry around a waterskin and like at least 2 day's of rations...
Ekkoe 03-15-08, 09:33 AM	I'm an experienced player, so I can't be bothered reading the entire thread (no offense to anyone), but I'll just give my advice. I think its very relevant you undertake an example. You take two creatures, say a human skeleton and a goblin, and have them face off. Do you understand everything? Do you know at which speed the goblin could run away? Do you know his options? Once you get a hold on the basics, leave the rest to the PCs (Playing Characters). Stuff like tripping, grappling, charging are details that they will engage you with, not the other way around. When mentioned, look it up. The advantage you have is that none of the players really gets the game either, so whenever you don't understand something, chances are they won't either, and you can just look it up withuot feeling noobish. Other than that, you'll find that the game is actually quite a simple play, because (depending on the way you play, but assuming its a RP concept) most of the game doens't even require mechanic, more immagination. Good luck and welcome to thousants of worlds. Peter aka Ekkoe EDIT: I was refering to mastering the rules, in case that was unclear for some unapperant reason.
sakuradm 03-15-08, 11:13 AM	???? Err.. that had nothing to do with this thread...
Etarnon 03-15-08, 01:31 PM	Ah, I think it might apply to b. Give advice, in the OP Post.