First time DM

[ratgirl34]

I've been playing with my group for about five years now, and our DM is awesome, but some of us have decided that we want to try writing and running a game (not all at the same time mind you) and our DM agreed. He misses being a player sometimes so he's open to teaching us the ropes and letting us take turns now and then.

So, I've been asking myself what I want to write, and so far... I've come up with some complicated stories for which I don't know where to start on building. So that's on the back burner until I get some experience.

That said, what would be a good campaign option as a first timer? My sister is running one where we are in an area with a bunch of tor's to clear and there are some minor and major quests to find. I don't want to do something too similar, but that still leaves me with not knowing what a good start would be.

My DM would help me with this, except that I find that people, including the DM, often just do things for me. Which is nice, except that then I'm not making a game I'm watching him do it.

So, I guess in extension to what a simple game/campaign would be for a new DM, where should I start in making it? Would I be better off making the dungeon (should one be necessary) first or the city/town they start in?

[Yazram Master Kat]

Personally, I would suggest starting with the city.
I find when I'm building and populating a city, I'm more able to think about possible, and likely, dungeons or encounters that would be near by.
To keep it simple, you can think about placing the city near caves or forests, which are pretty flexible for any encounters that may jump out at you.
Another point toward starting with the city, is you can gauge what your players are going to be like pretty much right away via their interactions with the NPCs. It helps you, as a DM, get a feel for party dynamics right away, which, believe me, is incredibly helpful.
Also, the easiest way to get a party together is to contract all the characters for the same quest posted on the 'Help Wanted' board at the local tavern.
Hope this helps blaugh

[ratgirl34]

Yazram Master Kat

Personally, I would suggest starting with the city.
I find when I'm building and populating a city, I'm more able to think about possible, and likely, dungeons or encounters that would be near by.
To keep it simple, you can think about placing the city near caves or forests, which are pretty flexible for any encounters that may jump out at you.
Another point toward starting with the city, is you can gauge what your players are going to be like pretty much right away via their interactions with the NPCs. It helps you, as a DM, get a feel for party dynamics right away, which, believe me, is incredibly helpful.
Also, the easiest way to get a party together is to contract all the characters for the same quest posted on the 'Help Wanted' board at the local tavern.
Hope this helps blaugh

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

I know that one guy will be bluffing pretty well constantly, but it wont be malicious since we don't play evil characters. If our usual group leader returns, since he only plays in our regular game, he will be a smart a** and try to make a financial takeover or something, but that isn't likely.

Do you roll out your cities or just make them up? Is there a benefit to either method?

[Yazram Master Kat]

ratgirl34

Yazram Master Kat

Personally, I would suggest starting with the city.
I find when I'm building and populating a city, I'm more able to think about possible, and likely, dungeons or encounters that would be near by.
To keep it simple, you can think about placing the city near caves or forests, which are pretty flexible for any encounters that may jump out at you.
Another point toward starting with the city, is you can gauge what your players are going to be like pretty much right away via their interactions with the NPCs. It helps you, as a DM, get a feel for party dynamics right away, which, believe me, is incredibly helpful.
Also, the easiest way to get a party together is to contract all the characters for the same quest posted on the 'Help Wanted' board at the local tavern.
Hope this helps blaugh

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

I know that one guy will be bluffing pretty well constantly, but it wont be malicious since we don't play evil characters. If our usual group leader returns, since he only plays in our regular game, he will be a smart a** and try to make a financial takeover or something, but that isn't likely.

Do you roll out your cities or just make them up? Is there a benefit to either method?

I usually just make them up. I find that when you base a city from a concept as opposed to random rolls, you are more able to involve the players in an immersive environment. For example, the town may have a bloody history from a rebellion or something, which could lead to undead encounters, or an overall malignant energy being drawn to the place.

[Yazram Master Kat]

ratgirl34

Yazram Master Kat

Personally, I would suggest starting with the city.
I find when I'm building and populating a city, I'm more able to think about possible, and likely, dungeons or encounters that would be near by.
To keep it simple, you can think about placing the city near caves or forests, which are pretty flexible for any encounters that may jump out at you.
Another point toward starting with the city, is you can gauge what your players are going to be like pretty much right away via their interactions with the NPCs. It helps you, as a DM, get a feel for party dynamics right away, which, believe me, is incredibly helpful.
Also, the easiest way to get a party together is to contract all the characters for the same quest posted on the 'Help Wanted' board at the local tavern.
Hope this helps blaugh

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

I know that one guy will be bluffing pretty well constantly, but it wont be malicious since we don't play evil characters. If our usual group leader returns, since he only plays in our regular game, he will be a smart a** and try to make a financial takeover or something, but that isn't likely.

Do you roll out your cities or just make them up? Is there a benefit to either method?

I usually just make them up. I find that when you base a city from a concept as opposed to random rolls, you are more able to involve the players in an immersive environment. For example, the town may have a bloody history from a rebellion or something, which could lead to undead encounters, or an overall malignant energy being drawn to the place.

[ratgirl34]

Yazram Master Kat

ratgirl34

Yazram Master Kat

Personally, I would suggest starting with the city.
I find when I'm building and populating a city, I'm more able to think about possible, and likely, dungeons or encounters that would be near by.
To keep it simple, you can think about placing the city near caves or forests, which are pretty flexible for any encounters that may jump out at you.
Another point toward starting with the city, is you can gauge what your players are going to be like pretty much right away via their interactions with the NPCs. It helps you, as a DM, get a feel for party dynamics right away, which, believe me, is incredibly helpful.
Also, the easiest way to get a party together is to contract all the characters for the same quest posted on the 'Help Wanted' board at the local tavern.
Hope this helps blaugh

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

I know that one guy will be bluffing pretty well constantly, but it wont be malicious since we don't play evil characters. If our usual group leader returns, since he only plays in our regular game, he will be a smart a** and try to make a financial takeover or something, but that isn't likely.

Do you roll out your cities or just make them up? Is there a benefit to either method?

I usually just make them up. I find that when you base a city from a concept as opposed to random rolls, you are more able to involve the players in an immersive environment. For example, the town may have a bloody history from a rebellion or something, which could lead to undead encounters, or an overall malignant energy being drawn to the place.

That makes sense, I tried rolling out a random town once and it was super complicated and didn't suit what I wanted at all... I found the city I was making with the DM's guide felt massively overpopulated for what I wanted. Then I got distracted by the realization that I could make a haunted house and I still don't remember what was supposed to happen with that city. I was very easily distracted that day.

[LordChronos]

ratgirl34

Would I be better off making the dungeon (should one be necessary) first or the city/town they start in?

I wouldn't worry too much about the details of the city unless those details would play heavily on your plot. Whenever I get writers block or analysis-paralysis when writing adventures, I pour through monster manuals, pre-made adventures, or watch a really really bad movies (and yes I've thrown a water elemental (tornado) that threw sharks at the heroes). You never know when a great idea will strike you.
After you've gotten that one amazing and sometimes ridiculous idea, like a "mythic orc monk dragons sorcerer lich trying to spawn undead apocalypse" (another idea I've written up) you just start working backwards.
Not all of them will be hits but they can all be fun. Like how I introduced Slenderman into my Pathfinder campaign as a confused Eidolon who had lost it's dwarf Summoner and started ripping kids apart when they screamed at him only to leave the bloody remains in a sack at the edge of the forest. My players really got a kick out of that one.

[ratgirl34]

LordChronos

ratgirl34

Would I be better off making the dungeon (should one be necessary) first or the city/town they start in?

I wouldn't worry too much about the details of the city unless those details would play heavily on your plot. Whenever I get writers block or analysis-paralysis when writing adventures, I pour through monster manuals, pre-made adventures, or watch a really really bad movies (and yes I've thrown a water elemental (tornado) that threw sharks at the heroes). You never know when a great idea will strike you.
After you've gotten that one amazing and sometimes ridiculous idea, like a "mythic orc monk dragons sorcerer lich trying to spawn undead apocalypse" (another idea I've written up) you just start working backwards.
Not all of them will be hits but they can all be fun. Like how I introduced Slenderman into my Pathfinder campaign as a confused Eidolon who had lost it's dwarf Summoner and started ripping kids apart when they screamed at him only to leave the bloody remains in a sack at the edge of the forest. My players really got a kick out of that one.

I think things like 'mythic orc monk dragon sorcerer liches' are a little out of my league at present lol But that also makes sense. I mean, it doesn't have to have heavy detail to still be a useful city...

[ratgirl34]

So, what I've been thinking of, which I will be using these lovely tips on, is having a city that is being rebuilt in a new location after a landslide. So there are not a lot of people there, aside from a tavern and a partially functioning blacksmith as the only permanent structures completed/presently being worked on. Plus a few people out making sure that the landslide is totally natural, leaving it open for me to add more adventures related to that later. But what is readily apparent to their investigation is that the landslide revealed the entrance to an old tomb, that idea being taken pretty much out of the DM's guide.

I'm thinking that the main purpose of the place is as a last stop before going through a mountain pass and the first stop coming out of it. Since there seems to be plenty of things that enjoy living in mountains I'm hoping that that will give me room to expand on the adventure.

[Amorra Aeterna]

ratgirl34

So, what I've been thinking of, which I will be using these lovely tips on, is having a city that is being rebuilt in a new location after a landslide. So there are not a lot of people there, aside from a tavern and a partially functioning blacksmith as the only permanent structures completed/presently being worked on. Plus a few people out making sure that the landslide is totally natural, leaving it open for me to add more adventures related to that later. But what is readily apparent to their investigation is that the landslide revealed the entrance to an old tomb, that idea being taken pretty much out of the DM's guide.

I'm thinking that the main purpose of the place is as a last stop before going through a mountain pass and the first stop coming out of it. Since there seems to be plenty of things that enjoy living in mountains I'm hoping that that will give me room to expand on the adventure.

You might instead wish to make it more of a town or village than a city. Unless most of the people in the city died in the landslide, you would still have a pretty large (homeless) population hanging around. (Travel is not swift and the people would be needed in order to rebuild the city as quickly as possible.) Regardless you are going to want to explain (read that; have a reason) WHY the people investigating have reason to suspect it might not be a natural phenomenon.

A) Things happened prior to the landslide to make them suspect something.
B) Things started happening after the landslide to make them suspect something.

You might have fun with it being a village/town because the players can help cause it's growth into a full fledged city through their exploits.

My early DMing experiences were simple little things, such as clearing a ruined tower of evil, that I eventually tied into a greater plot once I became more comfortable DMing.

[ratgirl34]

Amorra Aeterna

ratgirl34

So, what I've been thinking of, which I will be using these lovely tips on, is having a city that is being rebuilt in a new location after a landslide. So there are not a lot of people there, aside from a tavern and a partially functioning blacksmith as the only permanent structures completed/presently being worked on. Plus a few people out making sure that the landslide is totally natural, leaving it open for me to add more adventures related to that later. But what is readily apparent to their investigation is that the landslide revealed the entrance to an old tomb, that idea being taken pretty much out of the DM's guide.

I'm thinking that the main purpose of the place is as a last stop before going through a mountain pass and the first stop coming out of it. Since there seems to be plenty of things that enjoy living in mountains I'm hoping that that will give me room to expand on the adventure.

You might instead wish to make it more of a town or village than a city. Unless most of the people in the city died in the landslide, you would still have a pretty large (homeless) population hanging around. (Travel is not swift and the people would be needed in order to rebuild the city as quickly as possible.) Regardless you are going to want to explain (read that; have a reason) WHY the people investigating have reason to suspect it might not be a natural phenomenon.

A) Things happened prior to the landslide to make them suspect something.
B) Things started happening after the landslide to make them suspect something.

You might have fun with it being a village/town because the players can help cause it's growth into a full fledged city through their exploits.

My early DMing experiences were simple little things, such as clearing a ruined tower of evil, that I eventually tied into a greater plot once I became more comfortable DMing.

Yes, city/town is what I meant. My mistake.

I'm considering saying that there is a history of wizards/sorcerers in the regions past and that the tomb is one of theirs. So the area occasionally see's magical artifacts popping up, or people seeking to rob the tombs to steal the items and accidentally setting off traps of various kinds and effects. So they tend to check out catastrophes even if they are very sure it's just a natural event.

I'm considering saying that the tomb was robbed before the players get to it, but I'm not sure what kind of artifact I should have stolen... I'm thinking that whoever the robber was knew what they wanted and took only that, so that I don't have to explain why there is loot left behind.

I do like the idea of building on the town as the game goes on.

Edit: I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that though. I know that as a sort of 'border' town along the mountains it needs a tavern, stables and probably some sort of fortification against any monsters that may live in the area. But where would I go from there? It's going to have a blacksmith, but right now the main purpose of that is for making building materials.

[Liquidor]

The primary thing for any new DM is don't overburden yourself. Just create a simple point A to Point B type campaign. Make sure the party can function and is gathered together for a reason. Allow for some flexibility to give the illusion of player choice. Make sure there's enough "stuff" for a 2 to 3 session adventure. After the campaign is done, review the game and critique your DM abilities.

ratgirl34

My DM would help me with this, except that I find that people, including the DM, often just do things for me. Which is nice, except that then I'm not making a game I'm watching him do it.

Falling back and relying on others is acceptable. Players completely taking over the story and forcing the DM out of the game is not.

If your previous DM is bringing miniatures to play with, thats fine.
If he's moving all the mini's on the map, thats fine.
If he's keeping track of combat, thats fine. Like initiative and party hit points. Monster HP belongs to DM.
If he's telling you what monsters should appear, thats not fine. Thats DM territory.
If he's engaging other players on tactics they need to use, thats fine.
If he's telling you a rule that you don't know, thats fine. As long as he's not using it derail the game.
If he's reminding you on what NPCs have done or have reacted to PCs, thats fine.
If he's telling you what your NPCs should do, thats not fine.

In short, it's fine if they want to control / aid in the mechanical aspects of the game. But when it comes to secret, hidden or unknown knowledge about the game, you should put your foot down.

ratgirl34

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

This is a perfect example of how different DM styles actually are. Neither style is going to be better than the other. Its really just a matter of the quality of the DM. This can be said of players as well.

RPGs are about enjoying the company of others and having fun with them. What that means to each person will be different.

[ratgirl34]

Liquidor

The primary thing for any new DM is don't overburden yourself. Just create a simple point A to Point B type campaign. Make sure the party can function and is gathered together for a reason. Allow for some flexibility to give the illusion of player choice. Make sure there's enough "stuff" for a 2 to 3 session adventure. After the campaign is done, review the game and critique your DM abilities.

ratgirl34

My DM would help me with this, except that I find that people, including the DM, often just do things for me. Which is nice, except that then I'm not making a game I'm watching him do it.

Falling back and relying on others is acceptable. Players completely taking over the story and forcing the DM out of the game is not.

If your previous DM is bringing miniatures to play with, thats fine.
If he's moving all the mini's on the map, thats fine.
If he's keeping track of combat, thats fine. Like initiative and party hit points. Monster HP belongs to DM.
If he's telling you what monsters should appear, thats not fine. Thats DM territory.
If he's engaging other players on tactics they need to use, thats fine.
If he's telling you a rule that you don't know, thats fine. As long as he's not using it derail the game.
If he's reminding you on what NPCs have done or have reacted to PCs, thats fine.
If he's telling you what your NPCs should do, thats not fine.

In short, it's fine if they want to control / aid in the mechanical aspects of the game. But when it comes to secret, hidden or unknown knowledge about the game, you should put your foot down.

ratgirl34

Well, I've been gaming with these guys for about five years, so I'm not super worried about how they will be. We aren't heavy into the roleplaying so we don't get too crazy with npc's most of the time. Although we are having some fun with NPC's in my sisters game. Our DM doesn't do much roleplaying himself so maybe that's why we don't get too into it with NPC's in his game, they tend to be rather flat characters. I sort of find it weird that he plays games like D&D and doesn't roleplay, but the combat and overall story is fun.

This is a perfect example of how different DM styles actually are. Neither style is going to be better than the other. Its really just a matter of the quality of the DM. This can be said of players as well.

RPGs are about enjoying the company of others and having fun with them. What that means to each person will be different.

It's not the gameplay he has a hand in, building the campaign is where I feel like he does it for me. I know he's trying to do it like a tutorial, but it feels like he's doing it for me. In game he just coaches, like offering information on rules the new DM doesn't know or page numbers for tables we can't find. He's been coaching my sister through her games that way so I know that wont be an issue.

Thanks.

[Shaddex]

The city is the place to start. What I would suggest having is some key NPCs figured out, and then have a few dungeon layouts ready to go just in case, depending on where they decide to go. The best stories are the ones that develop organically. Maybe have a major villain that you'll work in somehow, but how they work in and why they are acting the way they are may come from the players themselves. The key is keeping it a living story that both you and the players are creating together.