Saturday afternoon saw my first D&D game as a DM.
As long time sufferers will know this had been in the planning stage for a few weeks now.
Overall I think the session went ok. I think that the players had a good experience. They’d like a campaign and to create their own characters. That’s a positive sign?
What follows now is how I think I did, areas I can work on.
I was a little apprehensive before hand. Let’s face it I’m not Matt Mercer, so there was not going to be any dramatics and voices.
A few days earlier in the week Jonathan kindly printed off my notes for the session (see the link below). The notes worked really well. I found having the D&D spell cards on hand was useful too for finding what spells did quickly.
I think the initial inn and getting the party hooked could have been better. That definitely wasn’t as smooth as it could have been. Nor as role play as it could have been. Describing the occupants of the inn could have been better, especially the other patrons. Which didn’t get introduced at all. I was hoping the players would mingle. It was then I’d describe them.
I also think the travel to the dungeon could have been better. My descriptions could have been more descriptive, and vivid. Bringing the travel more to life.
Once we hit the dungeon I was happier with the way things went. I revealed the goblins too earlier in the first room.
Also once again the description of the tunnels although dark, could have had reference to noise, and smells.
I felt that the dungeon up to the “big” boss room had been maybe on the easier side. Although the surprise attack by the goblin patrol straight after they thought the combat had finished worked well. They were due to appear at the end of the second round of combat. Which just so happened to be the point when the goblins in the room had been defeated.
The riddle worked really well, and the players solved it opening the secret door. The players nearly didn’t discover the riddle. If they hadn’t searched the statue they wouldn’t have found it.
Having the player stats handy was useful. As was tracking their HP. It meant if need be I could fudge the damage rolls. Which I did do once or twice.
I tried to keep a hands off approach, and let the players discuss and plan without me adding my two pennies, or push them in particular directions.
The Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated were affective and helped the players a lot.
Hopefully some useful links for those thinking of doing the same.
Was a really good introduction for someone as completely green as me.
The amount of stats confused me at first, and still do if I’m honest. I was hoping for something along the lines of Skill, Stamina and Luck (the classic Fighting Fantasy stats). I think those familiar FF stats are put to good use in the Fighting Fantasy RPG (which I’m going to look into; I might even have a go at a DM using this system one day). Perhaps as I get more involved, the D&D stats, and how they’re used, will become clearer.
I really liked the use of the tiles and models to enhance the experience and I’m hoping for more of that in future sessions. Lovely paint job on the model Scrying Pool – there I’ve said it.
I think the venue is not idea for an RPG as one is less likely to get into character in a public forum. To be fair though, I wasn’t quite sure how these things worked and perhaps the charcter acting was less when you’ve chose pre-generated characters and not ones of your own choosing.
I’ll be looking to get a Players Handbook next month and have a read to get a better understanding of the game. But for now, thanks for a great introduction and I’m looking forward to carrying my haversack, securing my sword in my scabbard and joining you for further adventures with Valhorn Longdance (albeit, he won’t be a Bard next time) :)
The basic rules are free as a pdf from the official site if you want to read them before hand.
Glad you had a good time also.