| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| charger_ss24 |
Posted - 14 Jan 2017 : 23:11:09
I'm more of a novel kind of a guy, but I've always had somewhat of an interest in starting up some sort of campaign. I'd like to get my girlfriend's 10-year old son into it (I currently have him reading the Erevis Cale Trilogy) to curtail his video game playing a bit. He's into dragons and magic just like I am from a novel standpoint.
Where do I begin, or what's the best for a beginner? I've done a bit of research into it and it just seems so vast that I have no idea to know where to begin. Any help would be greatly appreciated! |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 15 Jan 2017 : 22:24:26
For young kids just starting the game, the one thing I'd stress is keep it simple. The plots shouldn't be complex to figure out, but they should be more than "go here and kill these things". They should also have some humor content to them.
A good example, if you can find the PDF of dungeon magazine #41, there's an easy to modify adventure in it called "Old Man Katan and the Mushroom Band". Its all about meeting this old coot, smoking cigars, and who is taking a bath in an old tub with a bunch of mushrooms singing to him when he's found. The adventure was written 1st edition D&D, but is easily adaptable. The creatures it uses are a giant crocodile (see Monster Manual), giant mosquitos (use swarm of insects <treat as wasps> from MM and have it be a swarm of kinda big mosquitos), random encounters with snakes (see MM), big spiders (see MM), giant leeches(replace with say a giant frog), yellow musk creepers and yellow musk zombies (just use zombies), will o'wisp (see MM), and a "bog monster" that has some ability to control giant mosquitos. Maybe throw in some encounters with say giant rats... goblins... lizard men.. The "bog monster" is the only really unusual thing, You could adapt say a "Myconid Sovereign" stat wise, have it look different, and have it be able to spray out some kind of modified rapport spore that allows it to control insect swarms. With its ability to animate corpses, you can then add some additional protectors to it, and maybe it only comes out at night (effectively, this bog monster may be what animated the skeletons in the random encounters... or not... you could also have some old lizardman shaman in the swamp).
Anyway, the story is the key in this adventure. Its FUN, but you as the DM have GOT to be willing to use voices with it. The old coot needs to sound like an old coot. You have to single like the campestris... so make high, squeaky voices. If you throw in goblins, you should have them muttering in goblin squeaks. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 15 Jan 2017 : 21:31:13
For new players/DM's I would pick one of the Realms' iconic areas. Something that's well documented to give you plenty to work with, and that have published adventures (in older editions) to help out. That means probably Shadowdale (or one of the other dales), Waterdeep, or possibly Silverymoon or Cormyr.
Which you pick depends on what kind of game you want to run. Obviously Waterdeep would be better for city-related adventures, while the Dales are rural. Silverymoon would be more frontier city style. Obviously those are huge generalities.
That gives you a well-defined base to start your adventure, and allows you to completely ignore the rest of the setting while you get your head wrapped around that location. Then, as you and your players start figuring out more of the setting, you can expand the adventure either through travel, or handy gates. |
| KanzenAU |
Posted - 15 Jan 2017 : 01:31:33
You can also download the Basic Rules for 5th edition for free from the D&D website. They keep it to 4 classes and 4 races from memory, nice and simple for new players. To be fair, you don't even need them for the Starter Set, which is totally self contained - but if you want to make your own characters, that might be the way to go. |
| KanzenAU |
Posted - 15 Jan 2017 : 00:45:11
I agree with the above posters - I've run Lost Mines of Phandelver three times now, tweaking the location and NPCs each time for different groups, and it always runs great. It's a really open adventure,but it still provides strong hooks, which is great for new players (and DMs) learning the ropes. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 14 Jan 2017 : 23:53:19
Yeah, I started my 5e campaign with the starter set - Lost Mine of Phandelver - and my boys enjoyed it.
Word of advice - don't let your kid burn down the rope bridge. We still make jokes about how its still burning two years later.  |
| Irennan |
Posted - 14 Jan 2017 : 23:17:24
I was at a loss too when I started. I bought the 4e starter set (I began towards the end of 4e) and started running the adventure in it, while I was reading up FR stuff (since I already knew the setting from VGs). You could do the same with the 5e starter set, and then craft your own story from there (we grew bored of the starter adv story quickly, so I had to tie it to other larger stories while I took inspiration from the Realms to add more and more to the world).
In short, go for the 5e starter set. If you like it, then either craft your own story/sandbox, or go for other adventures, whatever you fancy the most, from any edition (WotC has put up quick conversion rules for NPCs and monster stats from previous editions).
If you don't like D&D, then there are other systems out there which you may try out, depending on your taste (I suggest FATE if you want a narrative/story-focused system). |
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