New DM Advice

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Ome

Molten Core Raider
717
772
I'm curious how some of you experienced DM's handle player deaths. I play with a group that gets together for a game night maybe once or twice a month, if that. On the rare occasion we have time to do a big five hour game night, it feels like we're immortal because our DM doesn't want to kill anyone off and have the rest of their game night "wasted". As a player, I feel like it takes away from the game knowing that there's almost no risk. I can send my level 3 character into a dragons cave and the DM will say something like the dragon isn't home right now just to avoid killing off a player.

As a DM I don't like killing people off unless they do really stupid things or its heroic in nature. Big fight going badly against the party I can fudge monster hit points, or attack rolls if rolling behind a screen, or introduce something to help the party out. Now this doesn't always happen and deaths do occur but if the players are playing well and just rolling badly I'm not interested in killing them off unless its a one shot. As a DM I'm just as interested in seeing them develop their characters and watching their stories unfold. Thing is my players don't know this about me. The illusion of choice, death, etc is very real to them and that's all that matters in our game and I would say most games.

As for your situation do the rest of the players or most feel the same way you do. If so this might just be a case of everyone getting together and talking it out with the DM. You guys will get the thrills you seek and your DM might feel liberated to start bringing the hot sauce.
 
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Locnar

<Bronze Donator>
2,711
2,993
I've been asked by my local growing group of 1st edition D and D players to help as a DM for a new group of interested players. Mind you I have not DMed in 20 years so I feel a little overwhelmed but one of them suggested West Marches style campaign and after reading about it, it really meshes with my personal style of by the book play and letting the dice be in control of the risk and reward.

ars ludi » Grand Experiments: West Marches

I'm actually considering basing the overland map on some previous MMO from out of my past, like maybe Vangaurd or Island of Kesmai and then plugging in appropriate premade classic modules when and where they fit.

Speaking of classic modules, are they all avalible online free? Is there a way to get batches of the originals? I'd much rather have the originals in my hands anyways for nostalgia sake.

Anyways hope it goes well. I'm enjoying being a player, but like we know sometimes we have to step up and DM even though its a lot more work, for the sake of the game community. This is all IRL btw, I'm not yet down with Skype play or whatever the new kids are doing. Old school only.
 

DirkDonkeyroot

Blackwing Lair Raider
853
1,382
I've been asked by my local growing group of 1st edition D and D players to help as a DM for a new group of interested players. Mind you I have not DMed in 20 years so I feel a little overwhelmed but one of them suggested West Marches style campaign and after reading about it, it really meshes with my personal style of by the book play and letting the dice be in control of the risk and reward.

ars ludi » Grand Experiments: West Marches

I'm actually considering basing the overland map on some previous MMO from out of my past, like maybe Vangaurd or Island of Kesmai and then plugging in appropriate premade classic modules when and where they fit.

Speaking of classic modules, are they all avalible online free? Is there a way to get batches of the originals? I'd much rather have the originals in my hands anyways for nostalgia sake.

Anyways hope it goes well. I'm enjoying being a player, but like we know sometimes we have to step up and DM even though its a lot more work, for the sake of the game community. This is all IRL btw, I'm not yet down with Skype play or whatever the new kids are doing. Old school only.
You looking for the og Dungeons and Dragons modules or 1st edition AD&D stuff? I can probably get pdf of either and pretty much everything else just let me know what you need.
 
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Locnar

<Bronze Donator>
2,711
2,993
You looking for the og Dungeons and Dragons modules or 1st edition AD&D stuff? I can probably get pdf of either and pretty much everything else just let me know what you need.

1st edition is what we run, I would love every 1st edition module there is so I could plug and play them (with maybe some modification)! Actually the original pre-advanced, D&D modules should work too right? with a little adjustments.
 

a_skeleton_02

<Banned>
8,130
14,248
I know people here have said otherwise but I personally stay away from all those popular tabletop shows as a DM and I'd doubly suggsst that as a new DM.

Watching critical role then starting a 5e campaign as a DM is the same as getting your sex Ed from pornhub then going to the prom with your girlfriend.

Read the books, twice.
 

Smithy

Trakanon Raider
43
86
DMing is easy, if you are good at bullshitting you are good at DMing. Don't listen to the people telling you to read the books, books are for nerds, just make shit up and act alpha and your players will accept it. You'll end up doing the same anyways, since 5e is so fucking vague for the sake of promoting 'muh homebrew'.
 
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a_skeleton_02

<Banned>
8,130
14,248
DMing is easy, if you are good at bullshitting you are good at DMing. Don't listen to the people telling you to read the books, books are for nerds, just make shit up and act alpha and your players will accept it. You'll end up doing the same anyways, since 5e is so fucking vague for the sake of promoting 'muh homebrew'.

Don't listen to this retard
 

Dalven

Saor Alba
<Donor>
235
265
DMing is easy, if you are good at bullshitting you are good at DMing. Don't listen to the people telling you to read the books, books are for nerds, just make shit up and act alpha and your players will accept it. You'll end up doing the same anyways, since 5e is so fucking vague for the sake of promoting 'muh homebrew'.

You can absolutely get away with this - the ability to think on your feet and have an immediate answer to just about anythng is invaluable as a DM. However there's a lot to be said for planning and knowing how the mechanics work - how many you use and how strictly you adhere them is pretty much dependent on what your players like.
 

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,632
1,925
Sure. You can get away with it if you are DMing for elementary aged children. Normally functioning adults will pretty quickly realize your campaign is a waste of their time and move on. Dude is probably trolling, but just in case someone takes him seriously.
 

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,632
1,925
Throw it all out and do 1st edition!

I started with 1st ed back when I was in my early teens. The DM for our group started playing D&D when he was in the Navy. Basically told us that he was in the middle of the ocean for months at a time on an aircraft carrier with nothing to do (this being the mid 80's), so a lot of the guys played D&D to pass the time. I think the group had maybe one or two Player's Handbooks between everyone and only the DM had the DM Guide.

It was an amazing experience going from the pretty limited video game RPGs of the early 90s to a world that was only limited by your imagination. It didn't take long though before we realized there were lots of inconsistencies and the way he was running the games. A lot of us never bothered reading the book and just relied on him to explain how shit worked.

Came to find out he had only a passing familiarity with the rules himself and mostly just made everything up as he went, but he did it with confidence and he was quick on his feet, so we all had just assumed he knew what he was doing. It worked for a while, but it got old pretty fast when he started to change the rules whenever it was plot-convenient. He also never wrote anything down, so the campaign storyline kept changing week-to-week depending on what he remembered and what he forgot.

I'll always appreciate that guy for bringing me into the tabletop RPG world, but our whole group outgrew that style of play pretty quickly. Nobody likes a DM that has a complete inability to be flexible and improvise when needed from the rules, but going the opposite direction and having everything in the game, from the system itself to the campaign, being predicated on the whims of a lazy and forgetful DM is way worse.
 

Hatorade

A nice asshole.
8,155
6,508
I picked up Herolab online for starfinder. It is basically for making/printing PCs so if you want a clean character sheet link me to your filled out sheet and I will send it back your way in PDF version.
 

Smithy

Trakanon Raider
43
86
Don't listen to this retard
Go to talk about D&D on Stormfront or wherever dumbasses like you hang out then, since you're so stupid you actually need to read books multiple times to know how to play a game apparently.
 
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a_skeleton_05

<Banned>
13,843
34,508
Any DM that professes to know the "right way" to DM and doesn't know that it is always dependant on the personality of the DM and their players, is a pig headed fool that doesn't know what they're talking about. D&D is just a framework for social interaction which is always variable based on the participants.
 

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,632
1,925
D&D is like any other game: if you're having fun, you're doing it the "right" way. I think you can pretty safely assume that. Certainly, some groups don't give a shit about rules or consistency or anything like that. But in my experience, most groups want a DM to be pretty familiar with the rules and apply them fairly consistently.
 

Grabbit Allworth

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
1,365
5,796
I decided to put looking for an online game on the back burner in favor of looking for a live game. I have an 'interview' for a game this week. I haven't played in many years and sold everything I had when I quit (massive mistake as I had some really old shit that I don't even want to know the value of now).

Anyway, last night I spent close to $900 on essentially every 5E book there is, minis, and tileset/dungeon accessories.

I've also been digesting dozens of hours of YouTube information at 2x speed. My body is ready.
 

Grabbit Allworth

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
1,365
5,796
I've probably spent 85% of my D&D time as DM, but I have very rarely had the opportunity to pick the brains of other DMs at length. YouTube has provided an invaluable resource for D&D players; especially DMs.

There are a ton of quality channels to learn from. Per the recommendation in this thread, I'm going through Colvilles channel right now (on video #23) and I love it. I could do without his intermittent and obvious SJW remarks, but I've still learned a few tricks for mechanics that I used to handle in a less elegant way.