Can Anyone Help Me Out ? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can Anyone Help Me Out ? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Shadow20074
08-13-07, 09:09 PM ok, firstly I'm a bit confused so I'm sorry if i posted this in the wrong section :weep:
but i am really confused.

my friends and i are very interested in starting dungeons and dragons.

we currently have The Player's Handbook, The DM Guide & The Monster Manual and have read them quite well if not fully.
We are confident in the rules and how things work, and we have each created a character properly and i am to be the dungeon master for a while.

we were unsure what to do first to be honest, we have the basic game for dnd, and a lot of models from booster packs (such as Underdark etc).
we also have the first tileset

We played through the basic game with the characters set out for us, and we enjoyed it and decided to take up dnd as a hobby.

there was alot of discussion over creating our own stories and adventures etc.
but we know we are not ready for this yet

we found the downloadable adventures section on the dnd website.
we knew we had to play a 1st lvl adventure so we decided to play:
Owen Stephens: "A Dark and Stormy Knight"

so, here i am printing this out and it all seems fine it has a tile map that looks like we can make it with out tiles.

so then i went on to look at Robert Wiese's: "Wreck Ashore"
and this is when i got confused.:confused:
everything seemed straight forward, until i realised there is no tile map or any indication of what we use to play on.:eek:
so by now im going completely mad, because we were all set to play for tomorrow and its now.. 2:07...great :weep:

so if anyone could tell me what we should play first, or whats going on with the tiles and maps and square grids and stuff.

Sorry for such a long post, but i couldnt explain it any easier :weep:
bear in mind we know all the rules and everything we just dont know where to start.

thanks,
shadow

EDIT: both adventures say i only need the dungeon masters guid, player handbook, and monster manual to play :(
Prator_the_Legendary
08-13-07, 09:19 PM Don't panic. Your DM guide should contain a blank battle map/tile-sheet/grid-board. You can use that to simulate positions of players and monsters.

If the module you've downloaded doesn't give a picture description of the rooms, or doesn't write out "10 ft by 10 ft." on it somewhere, feel free to make up whatever seems appropriate when you're designing the dungeon on the blank board.
Shadow20074
08-13-07, 09:23 PM right. okay, is there anything out there you can buy that is a full adventure that comes with a sheet or map to use?
shadzar
08-13-07, 09:26 PM on being the first one to DM and being a new player,,,,DON'T DO IT....don't be afraid of DMing.

fear only leads to self doubt.

just try to keep the encounters something within the range the players can handle without completely killing them.

you will find at first that a TPK (total party kill) will happen until you get the hang of it. so what. create new characters and keep learning or hit the magic reset buton that all new DMs have.

remember that magic reset button has only limited uses so make the best of it so your players don't fel you aren't learning something from your screw ups.

yes they are screw ups. all DMs screwup. if it was just a mistake it wouldn't have caused the player characters to all die. be confortable with your screw ups and learn from them. ask your players what they think went wrong.

don't be afraid to stop in the middle of the game and discuss with your players what is going right and what is going wrong as you go along. you are all learning here. both learning the game and how each other likes to play it.

other than that just have fun with it.

the DM isn't the only one that will screw up the players will do it often as well.

try to find some common ground you can play in that makes everyone happy while you all choose the way you like to play.

remember you can change anything that doesn't make sense, but keep consistent. if you rule something to work one way for the players, then it should always work that way for them as well as your NPCs.

you have all the books you need to play. just make sure your adventures are for the level of characters you have created. being new you may want your player to create characters a level higher sicne they do not know all the tricks to make the characters work as they are expected to in the prewritten adventures.

you don't need any maps or tiles or minis.

if you want tiles you can photocopy them from the back of one of the books. i think maybe the DMG has them.

or you can use regular paper and just make 1 inch squares. that is all there is to the grid.

make your own maps for battles if you need them.

as to where to start with your adventure, start at the beginning. if there is no introductin then just pick somewhere in it to start from.

you can use the cliche start of having them all in a tavern waiting for something to happen and just tell them.
shadzar
08-13-07, 09:29 PM right. okay, is there anything out there you can buy that is a full adventure that comes with a sheet or map to use?

most now don't include all those things. the tile sets you can buy from a hobby store. a blank mat you can get from Chessex (1 inch square) or find an old one. the basic game should have a mat with blank 1 inch grid in it...., for maps you can try fantastic locations.

none of these will be exactly what goes with an adventure unless it says for use with XX adventure.

older versions had boxed sets that came with maps in them for use with that wrold.

you really don't need a map so long as you can describe the world well enough for your players and they don't need to do battle.
Prator_the_Legendary
08-13-07, 09:30 PM ^He kinda meandered a bit, but he's right about one thing: Unless your players or your monsters are prone to using some advanced tactics, maps tend not to be really necessary as long as you've got a good enough idea of where people are in relation to everything around them to know whether or not they'll be caught in the blast of a fireball.
Shadow20074
08-13-07, 09:41 PM ah right, its just i had an old board game style dnd that came with reversable tiles and was alot less confusing lol :D
Baernwulf_of_Nor
08-13-07, 09:41 PM DON'T BUY ANY NEW BOOKS FOR A VERY LONG TIME! Most of them bring nothing new to the table, besides, you guys seem to need a grasp on the rules before you look at more advanced books.

First off, welcome to D&D. You have chosen one of the best hobby games available to occupy your time. Secondly, I really don't know anything about pre-made adventures, but if you know the rules as much as you think you do, you should make your own dungeon on a piece of graph paper, to get the hang of it. Nothing fancy, just some simple essentials..here's an example of a quick dungeon.

- Three rooms. 1 entry hall, 1 boss room, and 1 treasure room (there shouldn't be anything worth more than 500g in this room).
- Monsters, if your players are level one, throw some goblins, maybe 5, in the entry hall. And a CR 2 creature in the boss room. Maybe a bugbear or something?
- A lock and a trap. Lock the treasure room and trap the door, this will give any rogues in the party some practice, or teach the other players to let the rogue open the door;)
- A lead to another adventure. Nothing complicated, maybe just another dungeon raid. But try to link your short trials together, so the players feel like they are doing something.

That's pretty much your basic dungeon encounter. If you guys are actually looking for an adventure, have them meet someone in town that needs the goblin road-raiders disposed of, the lead in the other adventure could be that the players find orders on the bugbear to meet up with another raiding group x Miles to the northwest and attack the town.

Personally I think you should start creating your own stories and adventures ASAP to start getting the full experience. For example, even though we had NO idea how to use the rules, the first adventure I was ever in was my favorite.

Another good idea is to NOT give the players any magical items for a while. Because it can be tempting for a new DM to give the party paladin a Holy Avenger at level 7. Its happened WAY to many times in my gaming group, lol.

Best of luck in you adventures,

BoN
primemover003
08-13-07, 09:41 PM I understand your dilemma, my players and I have been using mini's and a battle board for so long it's hard to play D&D with out them (though once in the dark ages we did it).

Even if you're using pre-made adventures you need to be comfortable with drawing out your own maps. Get a grid that you can use dry erase markers on and draw out the terrain, the buildings, the rocks, the trees, etc. The more you do this the better you'll get at it. Try to use description to detail your maps. These two things can set the scene for great encounters.
Shadow20074
08-13-07, 09:54 PM hey thanks alot guys, seems like a very freindly community here :)
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8618/tilemapmm1.png
this is the thing iv got to make :(
any tips?
shadzar
08-13-07, 10:00 PM ah right, its just i had an old board game style dnd that came with reversable tiles and was alot less confusing lol :D

Hero Quest squares ae too small for D&D miniatures. they are less that 1 inch per square.

otherwise i would play the heck out of it for all buidings.

i would love to see a proper board game come out with 1 inch squares that was compatible with D&D where it included things like the tiles for interior areas.

if nothing more than a collection of tiles and a gridded board that is better than a flimsy map.
shadzar
08-13-07, 10:05 PM hey thanks alot guys, seems like a very freindly community here :)
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8618/tilemapmm1.png
this is the thing iv got to make :(
any tips?

other than the fact that i hate having my computer infected by imageshack i would say it isn't that hard to take regular paper and just draw it out. you probably want to have it sectional anyway rather than show the entire area to your playes at once.

just have the sections where you can add more to it as needed when they can see it.

as for furniture you could try Hero Quest furniture from http://www.aginsinn.com/

or anywhere else you can find picture of furniture to print to scale you need them to be on your "map".
StormPoet
08-13-07, 11:35 PM Just an idea... we are using some of those paper and styrafoam boards that they advertise stuff with (like special seminars at colleges, hotels, etc) but that has at least one blank side on them... if not we strip the paper off and either write out what they are or (and I plan on doing this later) printing out the tiles and glueing them to the foam tiles. Because they are styrafoam they are very light weight and they cut real easy with scissors or a box cutter. You can cut them to whatever size you need. If you can find a nice board like that (you might be able to buy one) you can use a yard stick and a permanent marker and make your own grid. Then put a piece of plexiglass over it so you can draw on it with dry erase markers and you have a very versatile map!

Good luck,
Poet
primemover003
08-14-07, 06:18 PM That's not bad... it's big, but that shouldn't be a problem. My group uses a sheet of glass over a grid and we use dry erase to draw out the maps. It's cheap and easy to clean. Now we got lucky and managed to snag a 4 x 9 x 3/4" sheet of glass for $7, but I'm sure you could find a more reasonable sheet of 2 x 3 for pretty cheap.
ccerose
08-14-07, 07:03 PM I recently started using a Flip Mat (http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy7l5e&source=search) to draw out maps for encounters. Its relatively cheap and very portable.

It really not necessary to draw out the entire map for your players. Your description should be enough for them to imagine it. You only need to draw out a map when combat is going to take place.
Ultima0071
08-14-07, 07:29 PM DnD isn't just about placing a detailed lego/chess-like piece on a board with squares on it. DnD is abour RP (ROLL/ROLE PLAYING). DnD is basically a book with many, many decisions to make and some bad guys here and there. In fact, the party I DM doesn't use a board, minatures, and sometimes even no map. The only reason we can still hold on to that DnD feel is because we are all extremely good at role-playing. So, just describe the scene. Most people in this world have a good imagination =P

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shadow20074 08-13-07, 09:09 PM	ok, firstly I'm a bit confused so I'm sorry if i posted this in the wrong section :weep: but i am really confused. my friends and i are very interested in starting dungeons and dragons. we currently have The Player's Handbook, The DM Guide & The Monster Manual and have read them quite well if not fully. We are confident in the rules and how things work, and we have each created a character properly and i am to be the dungeon master for a while. we were unsure what to do first to be honest, we have the basic game for dnd, and a lot of models from booster packs (such as Underdark etc). we also have the first tileset We played through the basic game with the characters set out for us, and we enjoyed it and decided to take up dnd as a hobby. there was alot of discussion over creating our own stories and adventures etc. but we know we are not ready for this yet we found the downloadable adventures section on the dnd website. we knew we had to play a 1st lvl adventure so we decided to play: Owen Stephens: "A Dark and Stormy Knight" so, here i am printing this out and it all seems fine it has a tile map that looks like we can make it with out tiles. so then i went on to look at Robert Wiese's: "Wreck Ashore" and this is when i got confused.:confused: everything seemed straight forward, until i realised there is no tile map or any indication of what we use to play on.:eek: so by now im going completely mad, because we were all set to play for tomorrow and its now.. 2:07...great :weep: so if anyone could tell me what we should play first, or whats going on with the tiles and maps and square grids and stuff. Sorry for such a long post, but i couldnt explain it any easier :weep: bear in mind we know all the rules and everything we just dont know where to start. thanks, shadow EDIT: both adventures say i only need the dungeon masters guid, player handbook, and monster manual to play :(
Prator_the_Legendary 08-13-07, 09:19 PM	Don't panic. Your DM guide should contain a blank battle map/tile-sheet/grid-board. You can use that to simulate positions of players and monsters. If the module you've downloaded doesn't give a picture description of the rooms, or doesn't write out "10 ft by 10 ft." on it somewhere, feel free to make up whatever seems appropriate when you're designing the dungeon on the blank board.
Shadow20074 08-13-07, 09:23 PM	right. okay, is there anything out there you can buy that is a full adventure that comes with a sheet or map to use?
shadzar 08-13-07, 09:26 PM	on being the first one to DM and being a new player,,,,DON'T DO IT....don't be afraid of DMing. fear only leads to self doubt. just try to keep the encounters something within the range the players can handle without completely killing them. you will find at first that a TPK (total party kill) will happen until you get the hang of it. so what. create new characters and keep learning or hit the magic reset buton that all new DMs have. remember that magic reset button has only limited uses so make the best of it so your players don't fel you aren't learning something from your screw ups. yes they are screw ups. all DMs screwup. if it was just a mistake it wouldn't have caused the player characters to all die. be confortable with your screw ups and learn from them. ask your players what they think went wrong. don't be afraid to stop in the middle of the game and discuss with your players what is going right and what is going wrong as you go along. you are all learning here. both learning the game and how each other likes to play it. other than that just have fun with it. the DM isn't the only one that will screw up the players will do it often as well. try to find some common ground you can play in that makes everyone happy while you all choose the way you like to play. remember you can change anything that doesn't make sense, but keep consistent. if you rule something to work one way for the players, then it should always work that way for them as well as your NPCs. you have all the books you need to play. just make sure your adventures are for the level of characters you have created. being new you may want your player to create characters a level higher sicne they do not know all the tricks to make the characters work as they are expected to in the prewritten adventures. you don't need any maps or tiles or minis. if you want tiles you can photocopy them from the back of one of the books. i think maybe the DMG has them. or you can use regular paper and just make 1 inch squares. that is all there is to the grid. make your own maps for battles if you need them. as to where to start with your adventure, start at the beginning. if there is no introductin then just pick somewhere in it to start from. you can use the cliche start of having them all in a tavern waiting for something to happen and just tell them.
shadzar 08-13-07, 09:29 PM	right. okay, is there anything out there you can buy that is a full adventure that comes with a sheet or map to use? most now don't include all those things. the tile sets you can buy from a hobby store. a blank mat you can get from Chessex (1 inch square) or find an old one. the basic game should have a mat with blank 1 inch grid in it...., for maps you can try fantastic locations. none of these will be exactly what goes with an adventure unless it says for use with XX adventure. older versions had boxed sets that came with maps in them for use with that wrold. you really don't need a map so long as you can describe the world well enough for your players and they don't need to do battle.
Prator_the_Legendary 08-13-07, 09:30 PM	^He kinda meandered a bit, but he's right about one thing: Unless your players or your monsters are prone to using some advanced tactics, maps tend not to be really necessary as long as you've got a good enough idea of where people are in relation to everything around them to know whether or not they'll be caught in the blast of a fireball.
Shadow20074 08-13-07, 09:41 PM	ah right, its just i had an old board game style dnd that came with reversable tiles and was alot less confusing lol :D
Baernwulf_of_Nor 08-13-07, 09:41 PM	DON'T BUY ANY NEW BOOKS FOR A VERY LONG TIME! Most of them bring nothing new to the table, besides, you guys seem to need a grasp on the rules before you look at more advanced books. First off, welcome to D&D. You have chosen one of the best hobby games available to occupy your time. Secondly, I really don't know anything about pre-made adventures, but if you know the rules as much as you think you do, you should make your own dungeon on a piece of graph paper, to get the hang of it. Nothing fancy, just some simple essentials..here's an example of a quick dungeon. - Three rooms. 1 entry hall, 1 boss room, and 1 treasure room (there shouldn't be anything worth more than 500g in this room). - Monsters, if your players are level one, throw some goblins, maybe 5, in the entry hall. And a CR 2 creature in the boss room. Maybe a bugbear or something? - A lock and a trap. Lock the treasure room and trap the door, this will give any rogues in the party some practice, or teach the other players to let the rogue open the door;) - A lead to another adventure. Nothing complicated, maybe just another dungeon raid. But try to link your short trials together, so the players feel like they are doing something. That's pretty much your basic dungeon encounter. If you guys are actually looking for an adventure, have them meet someone in town that needs the goblin road-raiders disposed of, the lead in the other adventure could be that the players find orders on the bugbear to meet up with another raiding group x Miles to the northwest and attack the town. Personally I think you should start creating your own stories and adventures ASAP to start getting the full experience. For example, even though we had NO idea how to use the rules, the first adventure I was ever in was my favorite. Another good idea is to NOT give the players any magical items for a while. Because it can be tempting for a new DM to give the party paladin a Holy Avenger at level 7. Its happened WAY to many times in my gaming group, lol. Best of luck in you adventures, BoN
primemover003 08-13-07, 09:41 PM	I understand your dilemma, my players and I have been using mini's and a battle board for so long it's hard to play D&D with out them (though once in the dark ages we did it). Even if you're using pre-made adventures you need to be comfortable with drawing out your own maps. Get a grid that you can use dry erase markers on and draw out the terrain, the buildings, the rocks, the trees, etc. The more you do this the better you'll get at it. Try to use description to detail your maps. These two things can set the scene for great encounters.
Shadow20074 08-13-07, 09:54 PM	hey thanks alot guys, seems like a very freindly community here :) http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8618/tilemapmm1.png this is the thing iv got to make :( any tips?
shadzar 08-13-07, 10:00 PM	ah right, its just i had an old board game style dnd that came with reversable tiles and was alot less confusing lol :D Hero Quest squares ae too small for D&D miniatures. they are less that 1 inch per square. otherwise i would play the heck out of it for all buidings. i would love to see a proper board game come out with 1 inch squares that was compatible with D&D where it included things like the tiles for interior areas. if nothing more than a collection of tiles and a gridded board that is better than a flimsy map.
shadzar 08-13-07, 10:05 PM	hey thanks alot guys, seems like a very freindly community here :) http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/8618/tilemapmm1.png this is the thing iv got to make :( any tips? other than the fact that i hate having my computer infected by imageshack i would say it isn't that hard to take regular paper and just draw it out. you probably want to have it sectional anyway rather than show the entire area to your playes at once. just have the sections where you can add more to it as needed when they can see it. as for furniture you could try Hero Quest furniture from http://www.aginsinn.com/ or anywhere else you can find picture of furniture to print to scale you need them to be on your "map".
StormPoet 08-13-07, 11:35 PM	Just an idea... we are using some of those paper and styrafoam boards that they advertise stuff with (like special seminars at colleges, hotels, etc) but that has at least one blank side on them... if not we strip the paper off and either write out what they are or (and I plan on doing this later) printing out the tiles and glueing them to the foam tiles. Because they are styrafoam they are very light weight and they cut real easy with scissors or a box cutter. You can cut them to whatever size you need. If you can find a nice board like that (you might be able to buy one) you can use a yard stick and a permanent marker and make your own grid. Then put a piece of plexiglass over it so you can draw on it with dry erase markers and you have a very versatile map! Good luck, Poet
primemover003 08-14-07, 06:18 PM	That's not bad... it's big, but that shouldn't be a problem. My group uses a sheet of glass over a grid and we use dry erase to draw out the maps. It's cheap and easy to clean. Now we got lucky and managed to snag a 4 x 9 x 3/4" sheet of glass for $7, but I'm sure you could find a more reasonable sheet of 2 x 3 for pretty cheap.
ccerose 08-14-07, 07:03 PM	I recently started using a Flip Mat (http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy7l5e&source=search) to draw out maps for encounters. Its relatively cheap and very portable. It really not necessary to draw out the entire map for your players. Your description should be enough for them to imagine it. You only need to draw out a map when combat is going to take place.
Ultima0071 08-14-07, 07:29 PM	DnD isn't just about placing a detailed lego/chess-like piece on a board with squares on it. DnD is abour RP (ROLL/ROLE PLAYING). DnD is basically a book with many, many decisions to make and some bad guys here and there. In fact, the party I DM doesn't use a board, minatures, and sometimes even no map. The only reason we can still hold on to that DnD feel is because we are all extremely good at role-playing. So, just describe the scene. Most people in this world have a good imagination =P