Modern Fantasy for noobie DM and PC - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Modern Fantasy for noobie DM and PC

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
erniesthings
Dec 16, 2008 16:10:53 Other than running the Basic set with my 13 year old last winter and about 20 years ago in high school with a couple of friends, I'm pretty new to the DM thing. We're looking at putting together something that could last a while or maybe a dozen sessions, it just depends on interest and time. Right now she's interested and we'll be having some time during the break soon.

We're kind of agreed on the an Modern/Urban Arcana setting in our home town. Probably just a solo campaign to start and depending on how things go she may have a 1 or 2 friends over for some play time. She wants to play as a Wizard in present day. I have some ideas with Shadow NPC's and creatures to use. I'm thinking learning about her abilities along the way and not starting off as a 1st level wizard right away. Somewhat like Harry Potter but not everyone around her being a wizard.

I would like to keep this as simple for the both of us as possible. From what I've read 4e seems streamlined and pretty straight forward.

-I have an idea for her getting a companion pet, rescues a mother and gets to chose one to keep
-Delivery quest for an elf (shadowkind) bookstore owner to a wizard across town. A couple of the main NPC's
-Her rival at school always coming from behind to win during track meets. Could be a pair of enchanted shoes, but where did the get them?
-Getting a summer job where gnomes work in the kitchen.

Trying to keep it somewhat combat lite, but still have some fight encounters. I would like to keep the tone light and try to get her to focus on some more RPing.

She's a super tomboy, so her character is about her age and also a boy. We'll probably roll the character in about a week.

There won't be any firearms or vehicles to worry about. The character is still living at home so most of the money and equipment will be found around the house or borrowed from her parents. There will probably be a mix of modern and 4e skills, feats, and spells. I'm also thinking of getting her some minor magic items like dark vision glasses or a enchanted skateboard as some rewards.

Any helpful advise and ideas are greatly welcome.

Thanks

Ernie
#2
tema69
Dec 17, 2008 18:16:44 Well, that sounds like some cosy fun.

I'm not really sure what you're looking for on the boards here, since we can't help you with any combat rules, and the skills will be 4th ED, so nothing there either... But I'm sure we can help you with the adventure writing - you just need to ask a little bit more specific questions first. :P
#3
erniesthings
Dec 18, 2008 10:59:57 I'm trying to read over the rules and some of the forum threads and I guess I wasn't sure if one way was simpler or more straight forward over another.

Story ideas and adventure writing help would be awesome.

As a kind of first time GM how much should I have written or outlined out and how much should I attempt to do on the fly?

I wasn't planning on the wizard school type of setting, but maybe a teacher that is a shadow kind to mentor her?

I'll try to get some more of my thoughts on settings and story down, so I can post it here for some ideas and crits.

Thanks
#4
tema69
Dec 18, 2008 15:27:39 Well, I like neither the magic rules or the roleplaying rules for d20 Modern, but that's a personal issue.

Because your stuff seems to be more focused on roleplaying, and less on the traditional combat encounters, writing your adventure in a free-floating note-form should work - keep it simple, flexible, and be ready to adapt whatever you need.

A shadowkind mentor could be a great idea, but I'd introduce it slowly - a hint, a note, a test, etc... The PC will have to prove her worth/wits before the shadowkind reveals her true identity.
Be sure to have the shadowkind be a person she allready knows - introduce him/her before, but without revealing his/her true identity - that should prove more rewarding for the PC than to have a new character be revealed as the person behind the notes etc...
#5
icuall
Dec 18, 2008 15:51:20 If you are staying away from Combat oriented sessions, perhaps you should try to have the theme be more of a mystery type game "who done it", or horror theme (but tone it down to her comfort level), or combo of both. She can be a successful teenage sleuth and trying to keep her powers a secret.

If you search the older board threads, there were horror message boards, mystery, and other types, prior to the 4e boards came online and they "cleaned" them up.
#6
erniesthings
Dec 18, 2008 16:42:27 I think there will definatly be some combat, but not the dungeon crawl where you go from one monster to the next. But yes some fighting will happen.

I'm thinking of a big evil shadow guy working in the background some how, but not sure what he'll be plotting in our town.

Definitly more mystery than horror. Some what Harry Potter like, but like you said so far she's the only kid her age with powers.

I have an idea of introducing a couple of shadowkind npc's more background characters than mentor's kind of early. Give her some hints about what's going on around her. Give her some small tasks to handle, and old wizard might teach her, her first cantrip. Maybe their all a small group of people looking to find the shadow bad guy and they bring her in to help.

Some quick setting info: Towns population a little over 20k. Not huge but not small. All the usual big box retailers towards the outskirts. Home is a couple blocks from downtown. Usual small town business, hardware store, pharmacy, restaurant, coffee shop, library, antique store and such. School is just over a mile from home. The whole town is easily bikeable.
#7
j0lt
Dec 18, 2008 19:47:54 My suggestion for a newbie GM would be to stick with a single system as is. Don't worry about customizing it until you're more familiar with it.

As far as GM notes, The more information you write down, the more disorganized and unmanageable your pile of notes becomes. I prefer to keep things in point form, preferably with all the related notes on a single page, almost like a checklist. Others, like my old D&D DM, never used notes at all, and was quite good at winging the whole thing.

The most important thing to prepare are the NPCs. Without good NPC interaction, it'll be hard to avoid the dungeoncrawl style of play.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 erniesthings Dec 16, 2008 16:10:53	Other than running the Basic set with my 13 year old last winter and about 20 years ago in high school with a couple of friends, I'm pretty new to the DM thing. We're looking at putting together something that could last a while or maybe a dozen sessions, it just depends on interest and time. Right now she's interested and we'll be having some time during the break soon. We're kind of agreed on the an Modern/Urban Arcana setting in our home town. Probably just a solo campaign to start and depending on how things go she may have a 1 or 2 friends over for some play time. She wants to play as a Wizard in present day. I have some ideas with Shadow NPC's and creatures to use. I'm thinking learning about her abilities along the way and not starting off as a 1st level wizard right away. Somewhat like Harry Potter but not everyone around her being a wizard. I would like to keep this as simple for the both of us as possible. From what I've read 4e seems streamlined and pretty straight forward. -I have an idea for her getting a companion pet, rescues a mother and gets to chose one to keep -Delivery quest for an elf (shadowkind) bookstore owner to a wizard across town. A couple of the main NPC's -Her rival at school always coming from behind to win during track meets. Could be a pair of enchanted shoes, but where did the get them? -Getting a summer job where gnomes work in the kitchen. Trying to keep it somewhat combat lite, but still have some fight encounters. I would like to keep the tone light and try to get her to focus on some more RPing. She's a super tomboy, so her character is about her age and also a boy. We'll probably roll the character in about a week. There won't be any firearms or vehicles to worry about. The character is still living at home so most of the money and equipment will be found around the house or borrowed from her parents. There will probably be a mix of modern and 4e skills, feats, and spells. I'm also thinking of getting her some minor magic items like dark vision glasses or a enchanted skateboard as some rewards. Any helpful advise and ideas are greatly welcome. Thanks Ernie
#2 tema69 Dec 17, 2008 18:16:44	Well, that sounds like some cosy fun. I'm not really sure what you're looking for on the boards here, since we can't help you with any combat rules, and the skills will be 4th ED, so nothing there either... But I'm sure we can help you with the adventure writing - you just need to ask a little bit more specific questions first. :P
#3 erniesthings Dec 18, 2008 10:59:57	I'm trying to read over the rules and some of the forum threads and I guess I wasn't sure if one way was simpler or more straight forward over another. Story ideas and adventure writing help would be awesome. As a kind of first time GM how much should I have written or outlined out and how much should I attempt to do on the fly? I wasn't planning on the wizard school type of setting, but maybe a teacher that is a shadow kind to mentor her? I'll try to get some more of my thoughts on settings and story down, so I can post it here for some ideas and crits. Thanks
#4 tema69 Dec 18, 2008 15:27:39	Well, I like neither the magic rules or the roleplaying rules for d20 Modern, but that's a personal issue. Because your stuff seems to be more focused on roleplaying, and less on the traditional combat encounters, writing your adventure in a free-floating note-form should work - keep it simple, flexible, and be ready to adapt whatever you need. A shadowkind mentor could be a great idea, but I'd introduce it slowly - a hint, a note, a test, etc... The PC will have to prove her worth/wits before the shadowkind reveals her true identity. Be sure to have the shadowkind be a person she allready knows - introduce him/her before, but without revealing his/her true identity - that should prove more rewarding for the PC than to have a new character be revealed as the person behind the notes etc...
#5 icuall Dec 18, 2008 15:51:20	If you are staying away from Combat oriented sessions, perhaps you should try to have the theme be more of a mystery type game "who done it", or horror theme (but tone it down to her comfort level), or combo of both. She can be a successful teenage sleuth and trying to keep her powers a secret. If you search the older board threads, there were horror message boards, mystery, and other types, prior to the 4e boards came online and they "cleaned" them up.
#6 erniesthings Dec 18, 2008 16:42:27	I think there will definatly be some combat, but not the dungeon crawl where you go from one monster to the next. But yes some fighting will happen. I'm thinking of a big evil shadow guy working in the background some how, but not sure what he'll be plotting in our town. Definitly more mystery than horror. Some what Harry Potter like, but like you said so far she's the only kid her age with powers. I have an idea of introducing a couple of shadowkind npc's more background characters than mentor's kind of early. Give her some hints about what's going on around her. Give her some small tasks to handle, and old wizard might teach her, her first cantrip. Maybe their all a small group of people looking to find the shadow bad guy and they bring her in to help. Some quick setting info: Towns population a little over 20k. Not huge but not small. All the usual big box retailers towards the outskirts. Home is a couple blocks from downtown. Usual small town business, hardware store, pharmacy, restaurant, coffee shop, library, antique store and such. School is just over a mile from home. The whole town is easily bikeable.
#7 j0lt Dec 18, 2008 19:47:54	My suggestion for a newbie GM would be to stick with a single system as is. Don't worry about customizing it until you're more familiar with it. As far as GM notes, The more information you write down, the more disorganized and unmanageable your pile of notes becomes. I prefer to keep things in point form, preferably with all the related notes on a single page, almost like a checklist. Others, like my old D&D DM, never used notes at all, and was quite good at winging the whole thing. The most important thing to prepare are the NPCs. Without good NPC interaction, it'll be hard to avoid the dungeoncrawl style of play.