Hi, all, just picked up the starter set and am excited to learn what D&D is all about. I've got a group of a couple people together, none of us have ever played D&D or any other tabletop RPGs. I've been reading through the basic rules PDF, and I think I have a basic grap of the mechanics. Just not entirely sure how to 'jump in' and get started. A few assorted questions in no particular order. Help is very much appreciated!
-I'm kind of torn between wanting to be a character vs dungeon master. I've done most of the reading, so it seems to make sense for me to run things a bit, but I feel like I might be missing out on some of the fun the players would have. Any thoughts?
-Sort of in that vain, is it possible to re-play adventures? Or once you've been through it, is it pretty much 'spoiled' in that there would be no use in playing through again?
-What's the idea on moving beyond the starter set... the pre-made characters seem to be the way to go for complete beginners, but I'd imagine we would want to create our own once we have a handle on the game. Is starting from the first adventure releasing in August at lvl 1 going to be possible?
-Jumping in and out - do you need the full party at all times during the adventure? What happens if, say, one person in the group can't make it to a game night?
Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to playing. I'm sure I'll have tons more dumb questions, but I think those were my biggest concerns at the moment!
1: DM is not for everyone, but everyone should try it at least once, so they can understand the game better. If you read the rules the most, it reasonable for you to start.
2: Yes, it's possible. It's good practice too, since it will make you think "what would this character do" rather then "i ready these spells knowing what fight is ahead".
Plus the DM can change things up a bit.
3: You can download basic rules, for free, here. For more options, you'll have to wait for the books, yes. But the starter set should last long enough.
4: Generally, take out a few monsters, and continue playing. When the person comes back, catche them up. We usually either make excuses "bob is taking care of the horses while we press on, which is why we don't see him", and/or some rewriting "rember last week when bob helped us kicked goblin butt? he took on 4 goblins by himself, around a corner, out of sight". We then roll some dice to determine how much bob got beat up in the fight he was totally in, and spells he totally cast. Just to keep him similar to everyone else.
Some other groups will just cooperativly play bob. He's simply being quiet that day.
Or do a 1-shot. Where everyone makes a character, DM comes up with a flimsy plot, and throw monsters until they die or the night is over. And then everyone wakes up realising it was a dream.
Good for seeing if you like playing different classes, or giving someone else an easy chance to DM. With no long term commitment.
We also have boardgames for nights when too many people are out.
If you don't love being a DM, it can be a chore. If you DO love it (or end up loving it) why would you go back to being a player? You'll end up with your eyebrow twitching every time your DM does something different from how you'd do it. 
A lot of old school D&D involved replaying adventures to see how far you could get before everyone died. The game was about these grind house challenges and less about a collaborative story. But both are fun. Sometimes it's cool to run and re-run a scenario. Sometimes it's cool to watch a story unfold. Do both. Find out what you like.
Melo is is right about the basic rules & more products are on the way. But there does come a time when you want to go beyond what's printed. And that's when it's game goes from good to freakin metal. You write your own scenarios and adventures. Build whole worlds. If you have the DM bug, there's nothing better.
We always play if we have a quorum. Characters whose players aren't there go on a kind of auto-pilot. They're there and not there. Or we let someone else take over for that session.
Really though, whatever you want. Your imagination has an unlimited special effects budget.
Thank you both very much, very helpful advice. It looks like we're going to give it a shot tonight, can't wait!
tucker973 wrote:
=being dm rocks, its fun to be a player after being dm because you get mad creative but dm'ing is the best. the most effort but worth it.
=you can reply adventures but dm'ing that adventure and then playing it i wouldnt recommend, try to get the new dm to add a bit of home campaign flavour or get a new adventure. In short you can re run adventurers but its worth the extra effort to try something new.
=as said free rules are out where you can make your own characters heres a few ive made (pc only, doesnt work on Iphone/pad)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0sb80717wa3idwh/AABNZQLweTJ5B2GuXtsdVQJoa
also the players handbook comes out soon and monster manual so if your enjoying the game alot and players want to build chars i recommend getting them to all throw in $10 and buy those 2 books for your group
=The hardest thing about this game, the very hardest thing is organising games, often you will have players unable to make it. I tend to play if we have 4 (including me) wanting to play. I normally max out at about 7/8 (including me) which can be a very long game. I now have got about 8 players who really want to play, i send out a txt to 4 of them who are the "core" players if one or two cant make it i reach out to the "drop in" players but it doesnt always work and sometimes we have to miss afew. I personally find summer the hardest to sort games and fall/spring by far the easiest
= The last thing ill add is remember its a game and games are suppose to be fun. I know it sounds abit dumb but seriously if someone isnt having fun or not playing well with others its always best to talk to them one on one and you can always ask advice here.
HUZZAH
First off, I want to thank everyone again for all the advice and encouragement! We did, indeed, get together for a first round last night. It wound up with me as the DM, two of my friends physically at the table, and another joining us via tablet. I served as DM for the group. We spent a bit of time in the beginning with the character sheets and clarifying some of the mechanics. Fortunately one of my friends did have some prior play experience (3.5 edition), so that did help confidence of the group overall, and I was happy to have someone help me out when trying to resolve things from time to time.
Overall start to finish (including the setup), we got through the first encounter in about an hour and a half. For the most part, the four ambushing goblins were quickly dispatched, but not before wounding two of the party members and nearly killing the third. The Cleric took an arrow to the face to take him below 0 hit points (goblin rolled a crit), but made a saving throw of a natural 1. The crew was not interested in any sort of goblin mercy, took a cursory glance around, and despite seeing the goblin trail opted to head to Phaladin to rest and recover. At that point we needed to start packing things up for the night, so we used that as a natural stopping point. We'll pick up with the Cragmaw hideout section next time we play.
It was a ton of fun, we really enjoyed it, and I was feeling much more comfortable with the DM role by the end. The quick killing of the Cleric had everyone laughing, as did three complete whiffs in a row by our greataxe weilding fighter, followed by more misses from the halfling rogue's bow. We chalked it up to them being so shocked and distracted by the violent death of the Cleric.
I did learn that I might want to read a more significant portion of the adventure prior to running it (I only read the first part, and didn't realize there was a hook in Part 2 to send the characters into the Cragmaw hideout section even if they skipped it). I also made some minor mistakes when it came to deciding stealth/surprise for the goblins, but nothing that ultimately impacted the group.
Quick question on checks... for things like discovering the goblin trail that aren't specifically assigned a check number, is that discretionary to the DM? Also, when we were done and talking more about how the adventure runs, someone asked if the DM can do something arbitrary and outside the rule - such as throwing another goblin encounter in the mix farther down the trail.
Thanks again to all, I'm really glad we started playing and can't wait to see what else the adventure has in store.
tucker973 wrote:
A quick primer on ability checks (any checks).
1.) Figure out what the players are trying to do (their Intent and their Approach).
2.) Determine whether the action will automatically succeed, CAN Succeed OR Fail, or automatically fails.
2a.) If the action automatically succeeds or fails, don't ask for a check. Just say what happens.
2b.) If the action can succeed, can fail, and there's some consequence attached to it, determine a DC and ask for a check. If someone can try infinitely without cost and eventually succeed, count this as an automatic success - no need to wait for the dice to agree.
3.) Say what happens.
Basically, only ask for a check if you're not sure that what the Players want to do will work or not work.
As for the rest, your DM skills will grow. Don't be concerned with getting it perfect yet. Right now you're growing accustomed to the system, reading ahead, preparing, running a combat, etc. So don't sweat it, it's a lot to do and a weird mindset. After 10 or so sessions, you'll have a better feel for what's working and what needs help.
Last, your game sounds fun. Looks like a lot of exciting stuff happened and the players liked playing - that's the best. The worst offense a game can commit is to be boring. Yours wasn't - so you freaking win!!!
Shogun_Assassin wrote:
Let me start by saying: Welcome to the greatest game on earth! Now, on to the questions:
1) It is extremely fun to play either role, so just decide whether or not you want to be part of an adventuring party, or the mastermind that plots their challenges, and go with it. You can always switch off DMing and Playing at any time as long as someone else wants to give it a shot. Overall, being a DM is harder simply because you have to focus on more than just your one character, but do not let that disuade you from trying it.
2) You can play the same adventure a million times if you want to, just keep in mind that like anything, repetition makes it lose its flair. You'll know who the killer is, you'll know where to look for secret doors, and you'll know how the story ends every time, so it's less and less cool every time you do it. However, if you're going to DM the same adventure several times for different people, that's a different story. You can run the same adventure 100 times, and each time you could alter it slightly based on the previous play-throughs. I've ran the same adventure at three different Con events and it just got better. Of course, each player was new to it every time, so there's that.
3) You will most certainly want to make your own character once you get your bearings. The pregens are nice for pick-up-and-play, but they're not YOUR character. Spending the 20 minutes to build your character is an awesome experience, much like customizing your toon in Elder Scrolls or World of Warcraft. You get to see them come to life and invest your own choices and personalities into them. It can be quite magical.
4) Different groups have different ways of dealing with this situation, but ultimately it comes down to: is everyone's fun and/or immersion going to be ruined if that character suddenly disappears? If so, find a way to make it not be "sudden" and have it make sense that they are no longer there. It's easy enough to hand-waive in and out different characters all the time. Not everyone thinks that's cool though, so check with your group. Ultimately, I'd rather play a game minus one integral part than not play at all!
Either way...just my 2 cp
tucker973 wrote:
Actually it's the other way around. You're the person the group elects as DM, or you volunteer for the job. If you become tyranical in the way you run the table, it is very much so expected for the group to remove you as DM. The whole "I am god" mentality that some DM's use is completely ridiculous. Get off the power trip and come back down to earth. Following Wheaton's Law is also a good idea in general.
When you want to implement a houserule, run it by your players first and see what they think. Spit ball ideas with them. Simply arbitrarily deciding that you're changing the rules or how something works just because you feel like it is the best way to frustrate your players. Just talk to your players like human beings. And never ever houserule something to screw over a player! If you want to do it, always do it to the benefit of your players or make sure you talk to the players first and explain why the houserule is needed at the very least. Open discussion is best.
This is a GROUP game, not DM vs Players.
Noctaem wrote:
The only "charge" DM are in for is having fun.
This can be achieved even by killing players, if they so desire. So, the tactic "DM Vs Players" isn't really always bad, as long as players love to be used as punchbags. Usually they don't, hence the ban on that tactic :D
Nausicaa wrote:
Noctaem wrote:
I've been playing since ~1980. When I was the DM for the starter set I made several rules errors. I suggest being consistent about the rules within the session (so that night) and if you and the players agree to change the rules, do it at the next session, or at least at the next combat. Too much debate during a fight makes things slow down.
Swede1985 wrote:
You can rotate DM's - someone else has a turn at it. Sometimes writing out some notes on how you ran things can help give someone else a rough idea of what is involved (though generally all DM's run things differently than each other). That way you can play sometimes.