Ok so me and my friends have decided to get involved in DnD. We live in a small town so there are not any places where we can go find players who have already played for a while and know all the rules. We have decided that I am to be the DM. So basically my question to you is what is the best way for me to learn all the rules and teach everyone else.
Here is what I have done so far.
I have the 3 4th edition core books. (monster manual, DM Handbook, and player handbook)
I bought a basic Dnd starter set which came with some character tokens, dice, and a basic battlefield. It also came with some character sheets that seem outdated. I have printed out the 4th edition ones for use. It has an adventure in it that I can use. but it seems to not be up to date with the 4 edition but im not sure.
I have read a lot of the character and DM handbook and have basically figured out so far how to create a character. What I am really wondering is what is the best way to continue so I can get my group playing as soon as possible. Thanks in advance to everyone.
New DM and group, please help.
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SkerlockHolmes
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If all of you are serious about it, all the players should also read the Player's Handbook. Then, create a character together, and do some combats. (That's all there is to 4th Edition anyway.)
Reading and re-reading the rules is a very good way to start, and playing the game is necessary: you keep learning.
Reading and re-reading the rules is a very good way to start, and playing the game is necessary: you keep learning.
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SkerlockHolmes
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sounds good. So what do you mean that is all there is to the 4th edition? I don't really know anything about any of this but I would assume the 4th would just be all the other editions with added things. I am assuming this is wrong though according to your comment. Could you explain to me the differences in editions?
4th Edition is less than previous editions, quite literally: the game is stripped down to virtually a tactical combat game. A fun one, but bland. The ruleset supports virtually none out-of-combat interaction. I also think that over the course of 30 levels play of 4th Edition, things get boring, since 85% or such of the action you take are a variant of "X[W] damage".
Think of 4th Edition as Diablo or Torchlight, and previous editions as Baldur's Gate or The Witcher. Note that I love all those games, but don't expect the gameplay from The Witcher when starting Diablo, or viceversa.
Think of 4th Edition as Diablo or Torchlight, and previous editions as Baldur's Gate or The Witcher. Note that I love all those games, but don't expect the gameplay from The Witcher when starting Diablo, or viceversa.
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SkerlockHolmes
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I can't give 4ed specific advice as I'm only vaguely familiar with it, so I'll just give some basic tips that I consider helpful.
Everyone should read the Player's Handbook. No need to go through all the spells feats and skills from the start, but everyone should at least know how to make their character, how their character functions and how combat works.
As DM, go through adventure You plan on running beforehand. Have the books at hand when You play. If You know some complicated or obscure rule will come up during the play, it's nice to have it marked and it's smoother to be at least vaguely familiar with it.
Consider the rules as more of a guidelines than strict laws. Generally, You don't say "No." to players, You just put obstacles to overcome in their way - the difficulty being correlated to the ridiculousness of players' wishes.
When the characters are made, make players make up just a few short sentences that describe who their character is, where does it come from and why does it adventure.
For purely practical purposes a large table and a 2,5cm (=~1 inch) grid sheet of plastificated paper, that can be written on with erasable markers, come in very handy.
Everyone should read the Player's Handbook. No need to go through all the spells feats and skills from the start, but everyone should at least know how to make their character, how their character functions and how combat works.
As DM, go through adventure You plan on running beforehand. Have the books at hand when You play. If You know some complicated or obscure rule will come up during the play, it's nice to have it marked and it's smoother to be at least vaguely familiar with it.
Consider the rules as more of a guidelines than strict laws. Generally, You don't say "No." to players, You just put obstacles to overcome in their way - the difficulty being correlated to the ridiculousness of players' wishes.
When the characters are made, make players make up just a few short sentences that describe who their character is, where does it come from and why does it adventure.
For purely practical purposes a large table and a 2,5cm (=~1 inch) grid sheet of plastificated paper, that can be written on with erasable markers, come in very handy.
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Stormdrake2000
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An added note paper, pencils and take notes. And begin each session with a recap it helps get new players back into the game and refreshes your memory. Beyond that 4ed is very easy to learn though a bit time consuming with the character building. If you want to combine 3ed with 4th it's doable but I find that it needs a lot of jerry-rigging.
I also have no experience with 4e, and little experience with the previous editions, all my gaming and GM experience is with systems you probably haven't even heard of -- yet. Once you have a bit more experience with gaming you may decide to branch out, but starting with a simple system like 4e is probably a good idea just to get used to role-playing and how things work.
Rather than trying to hybridise 3e or 3.5e into 4, a better plan might be to read over some of the older editions once you're fluent with 4e. Then you can pick and choose the elements you like and apply them to a 4e game, rather than trying to merge rulesets. For example, eventually you'll probably want to award xp for non-combat activities like especially good role-playing, puzzle solving, or storyline completion, but there's no point trying that until you have a good feel for how fast your players level, and how the game world scales to that level. If you give xp outside the rules too soon the bonuses will likely either be too small to be relevant, or the characters will quickly outpace the campaign difficulty.
One thing I'd suggest that you think about is whether you want a story driven game or a character driven game. This is a bit of a false dichotomy in that a game can be both or neither, but it is a good starting point for learning what you're doing.
A story driven DM has a specific story they want to tell, and how they want to tell it. This could be the adventure from the book, a ripped off version of a novel or film, or your own creation. In its purest form, individual characters are almost irrelevant. This is the classic evil overlord, trap filled dungeon, high mortality rate sort of game. If a player botches a roll, or a monster gets a good roll, then you go with it even if it means that the character dies and the player creates a new one. In this type of game players become invested in the overall story and the world, rather than their character. This style of play usually works better in combat oriented games.
A character driven DM may still have a specific story or starting point, but shouldn't force players to do things which their characters wouldn't do. Bad rolls should lead to side quests (how do we get out of this jail?), character disadvantages (say, a disfiguring scar for a charismatic character, forcing the player to be more inventive in how he/she uses the skills), and other set-backs, with death and re-rolling avoided if at all possible, unless it is the player's choice to go out in a blaze of glory. This style of play works better for games with less combat and more exploring, puzzle solving, politics, and social interactions.
Both DM styles can be a lot of fun to play, and I'm certainly not saying that you need to choose one and stick with it, but you should have some idea in advance what your rules are so that the game isn't inconsistent. The last thing you ever want to have happen in a game is for a rule or DM decision to work one way for players and another way for monsters, or to work a different way this week than it did last week. GMs make mistakes, change their minds, or forget past comments, but if you make a ruling make a note of it, and if you change your mind later then let your players know that there will be a new rule going forward.
If your players do catch you in a change, or if something just doesn't work the way you expected to, try not to let your ego get in the way. Don't insist that you are right, don't lay down the law, don't make a snap judgement. Take a break, talk things over with your players, and be willing to compromise. Remember that the old jokes about the GM being more powerful than the gods aside, role-playing is a group activity. If your players refuse to game with you, then you are no longer a GM. The game has to be fun for everybody, and part of that is being able to understand the rules and predict the results of actions.
Rather than trying to hybridise 3e or 3.5e into 4, a better plan might be to read over some of the older editions once you're fluent with 4e. Then you can pick and choose the elements you like and apply them to a 4e game, rather than trying to merge rulesets. For example, eventually you'll probably want to award xp for non-combat activities like especially good role-playing, puzzle solving, or storyline completion, but there's no point trying that until you have a good feel for how fast your players level, and how the game world scales to that level. If you give xp outside the rules too soon the bonuses will likely either be too small to be relevant, or the characters will quickly outpace the campaign difficulty.
One thing I'd suggest that you think about is whether you want a story driven game or a character driven game. This is a bit of a false dichotomy in that a game can be both or neither, but it is a good starting point for learning what you're doing.
A story driven DM has a specific story they want to tell, and how they want to tell it. This could be the adventure from the book, a ripped off version of a novel or film, or your own creation. In its purest form, individual characters are almost irrelevant. This is the classic evil overlord, trap filled dungeon, high mortality rate sort of game. If a player botches a roll, or a monster gets a good roll, then you go with it even if it means that the character dies and the player creates a new one. In this type of game players become invested in the overall story and the world, rather than their character. This style of play usually works better in combat oriented games.
A character driven DM may still have a specific story or starting point, but shouldn't force players to do things which their characters wouldn't do. Bad rolls should lead to side quests (how do we get out of this jail?), character disadvantages (say, a disfiguring scar for a charismatic character, forcing the player to be more inventive in how he/she uses the skills), and other set-backs, with death and re-rolling avoided if at all possible, unless it is the player's choice to go out in a blaze of glory. This style of play works better for games with less combat and more exploring, puzzle solving, politics, and social interactions.
Both DM styles can be a lot of fun to play, and I'm certainly not saying that you need to choose one and stick with it, but you should have some idea in advance what your rules are so that the game isn't inconsistent. The last thing you ever want to have happen in a game is for a rule or DM decision to work one way for players and another way for monsters, or to work a different way this week than it did last week. GMs make mistakes, change their minds, or forget past comments, but if you make a ruling make a note of it, and if you change your mind later then let your players know that there will be a new rule going forward.
If your players do catch you in a change, or if something just doesn't work the way you expected to, try not to let your ego get in the way. Don't insist that you are right, don't lay down the law, don't make a snap judgement. Take a break, talk things over with your players, and be willing to compromise. Remember that the old jokes about the GM being more powerful than the gods aside, role-playing is a group activity. If your players refuse to game with you, then you are no longer a GM. The game has to be fun for everybody, and part of that is being able to understand the rules and predict the results of actions.