Heya, new DM here also. Just a quick question for the more exp players though. I need help sorting out a puzzle for the players.
So far it's all been fairly basic stabby stabby, killy killy.... And one of the players said they'd like to have a few more puzzles in there.
Now, unfortunately im not the brightest tool in the shed and for the past week and a half I've really struggled to come up with any idea of a puzzle for them.
Could anyone at all give me any advice on what to try? It'd be much appreciated
I was thinking of something that's optional for them to complete. Like a series of pulleys that when pulled in the correct order cause something to happen that allows them access to a potion.... The scenario is kinda complicated but the players are kind of in a game. And each of the doors are timed to 1 hour.
So something that could be compleated to give them an edge in the last few rooms (they're on 7 out of 12).
Book of Challenges is a link for the book, forgot to include that there.
Here's an idea I just thought up.
One of the rooms could contain a box with a candle in it. The instructions to the party would be to put out the candle's flame. A wall of force prevents the party from getting close enough to blow the candle's flame out. Fanning the flames makes it flicker, but it only relights itself. The flames on candle are an illusion, they need only make a will save to disbelieve it. detect magic wouldn't be too effective, since the wall of force would stop its line of effect to the candle.
Also, make the walls cave in on them or something.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
heh, I love the sound of that
problem is there are like 8 party members. So unless I split them up somehow it should be fairly easy for at least one of them to disbelieve it.
very very simple puzzle i made for my first dungeon, just to give them the heads up that puzzles and triggers will be in place is this one:
a basin on the wall, with inset notches inside, 12 of them, numbered as such. nearby, but not next to it sits a bucket, and there are several water sources in the dungeon, and on the wall around it are numbers like a clock, with certain numbers filled in with some kind of white rock so they appear different, and others blue rock. they then have to fill the basin up to the number of notches that matches either the white or blue numbers going clockwise, and depending on which they choose, the door opens to different rooms.
I've been reading about DMing games, and i think that interests me more than being a player.
I'm trying to choose a system first and then figure out story and background but i keep getting story ideas and my search for a system i like is dwindling.
whatever system I end up choosing it's going to be either a modern or fantasy based role playing game with more puzzles than enemies to fight and it's going to have a weird Japanese setting.
I'm thinking of using these to represent some of the puzzles they'll find along the way and be encouraged to solve, because coming up with word puzzles isn't my forte and I'll just end up stealing from Professor Layton extensively.
We need a quick question thread here or something...
I goofed on scripting the plot relevant portions of my game for this week and I'm left with a campy monster-of-the-week type fare. Or, I want to do one instead of spinning the plot directly out of my head, but w/e.
Since it would be helpful to a new DM as well using the 3.5 system to know anyway since dealing with monsters of CR < 1 is a pain (I just use class'd humanoids and monsters, etc), the CR for a pack (20) of 6 HD (Medium sized) Dire Rats (CR 1/3) is equal to 6, correct?
The fights will be pretty stupid, but it's mostly the NPCs specific to this one-shot that will make the thing amusing.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
actually wow, I forgot they had the CR calc there (I posted that link earlier =P)
I don't know. a dire rat shouldn't be all that hard to kill, even @ the max advancement available on their stat block. What would you set the CR for an individual for them? Bearing in mind I'm using the "pack" organization.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
An individual 6HD dire rat I would probably put at CR 2.
That's 30-something hp with a +4 BAB if I'm not mistaken. And you're bumping it to medium size so it gets a strength and con increase and does more damage with its attacks. Plus another feat. This is a rat that can easily kill any normal person it came across and eat their face.
i did my first dming the other day, with fights and all, and oh boy did i fumble around a bit, but hey, so did they and we all had fun ahaha
Grats and well done! as Jakob said. Having fun is the most important part
My game on Saturday got called short =( kinda upsetting as one of the players is going away for three months and we may not see her again =((
But..... most important thing is that we're gunning for a game this Friday =p
That's pretty awesome to know... welcome to the world of dming. ;p
between giving out XP and plot-related character conversations, I didn't have to use the rats one-shot. but I've added it to the list of stand-alone episodes that I can run later down the line if I need to... the joys of writing episodic adventurz.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
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PunkBoyThank you! And thank you again!Registered Userregular
edited June 2008
Late to the thread, but I want to thank everyone for the tips that were given. I might want to DM myself someday, and these suggestions seem very helpful. Also, the Crystal Keep is an awesome resource. Thanks for pointing it out!
PunkBoy on
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If in your books you have an adventure module, like one that has monsters and maps and stuff already in it, probably it would be a good idea to play that just to make life easier on you, the new DM.
If you're going to whip up the whole thing yourself...
I would start the players with 1st level characters. If character generation in the Player's Handbook makes you and your players' eyes bug out, they have sample first level characters in the Handbook under each class section that you can use. Strongly suggest that someone plays a cleric.
If you have any maps in your DnD stuff, those are very helpful. Where your players and monsters are standing is important to know who can do what. Having a map with a one-inch-square grid for spacing works very well. Often my group will just use Legos for characters and monsters. At any rate miniature things can help you keep track of what is going on.
Also, drawing the map can be a lot of fun, too! The Map-A-Week Archive at the official site may give you some ideas if you would prefer to make your own map.
As for what they'll be fighting... maybe start out with a small number of weak bad guys. Goblins and Kobolds are good for this. One of the tough things as a new DM can be figuring out what is an appropriate challenge for your party. There is an online encounter calculator that can help out with this... you enter the number of party members and what their level is, and the number of monsters and what their Challenge Rating (CR) is, which is listed in their monster manual entry. This calculator will tell you how relatively difficult the encounter will be.
As the DM you have to do a lot more work than anyone else. Keep a pad handy for taking notes because you'll have to track how many hit points the bad guys have left and stuff like that.
Have snacks and drinks on hand. Always helps.
Oh wow this stuff is really helping the ground work of my experimental engine thanks for the links.
i did my first dming the other day, with fights and all, and oh boy did i fumble around a bit, but hey, so did they and we all had fun ahaha
That's the most important part. If you've got it, you're gold, and if you don't nothing else matters.
Congratulations! It sounds like you guys are in for a good time.
Man, the first (and only) session I GMed, I did my usual shitty rolling shtick and managed to not even hit the players in the first encounter. Even with spells. It was bad. It is still legendary among my friends. Also I was running a module, so I had not as much familiarity with the event and little attachment.
I'm doing a PbP with my group from college though. It's actually a pretty damn large group for a PbP, but I'm going to be keeping them separate for much of it I think to keep from being dependant on one person for the game to move on. The PbP format gives me a lot more time to plan and get stuff done. I've liked the pre-game stuff much more so far anyway.
Setting: Post apoca or anything contains abondoned settlements.
Suburb Remains, the whole block is decimated leaving few delapitated houses piled on each other and forming wierd environmental formations. There are a few rivers running through the block, dividing the first half of the "dungeon" from the second. One noticeable river crossing is between two backyards of houses facing away from each other, each side being blocked by fences but not entirely. Some fence has been stripped off to see to the other side , and on your side, a 5 foot wide gap allows you a straight shot to the fence on the other side if you choose to grapple the edges and bring yourself up.
On your side of the house , going to the rickety second floor allows you to see two things passed the 7 foot high fence that blocks your view of the other side-
-.The River is 5-8 feet wide, and is dangerously deep, rhebar puncuating its path of travel that leads to lower parts of the neighborhood and possibly a lake in a park.
-. Behind the fragile looking fence of the other house are a stack of bricks and cement bags so plowing through the fence with the hopes of crashing to the other side is gonna break the fence off but knock the player back into the river along with bits of broken fence to reveal the stack of bricks. However, there are parts on the other side that isn't walled with a stack of bricks. But the 5 foot gap of fencing on your side is nowhere close to there.
and if they roll a high enough spot, they could see that there are sleeping hostiles at the second floor of the other house.
Possible solutions.
1.Test of Str: Players with high enough strength can strip off the fencing on their side and then crash through the fragile fencing on the other end. On the other side, they can find planks of lumber and create a makeshift bridge that can hold up to 150pounds. And an added 20 pounds with each new layer of lumber. Pros to this plan is its speed and accessibility however you run the risk of waking up the residents of the house.
2. Test of Lightness: Players who weigh less than a hundred pounds can leap towards the fencing presently available through the 5 foot gap, shimmy the edges, and get up on the other side, find rope on the other side, tie it to the heavy wall of brix and throw it to other party members. Who can then brace it on rhebar on the second floor and slide down the the rope using a smooth , sturdy object with a good hand grip. Those who weigh more than 120 pounds run the risk of possibly breaking the fence they are on. If there are more than 200 pounds of tension on the rope it runs the risk of breaking and causing fall damage. Pros to this plan is silence and it doesn't rouse the residents on the other side of the house awake. Cons is it's one way solution and doesn't provide a quick enough exit.
3. Test of Forces: Freeze the water, but this will cause a slippery floor that will soon overrun with surface runnng water. Be sure to break off the fence strips quickly before the ice breaks. Cons: Too dependant on your caster having a proficient control of freezing water. Their caster level could decide how many pounds the ice can take before breaking off and how long it will last.
I love making open ended "puzzles" that require intuitive common sense to beat rather than fuck-you-up magic quiz shows even though they are fun and mystical and charming as hell sometimes. But sometimes you have to wonder- why the fuck would they build this here ? How do they get to the restroom ?
But the fun part about this was that players got frustrated that a common "problem" took them 40 minutes to beat and didn't really see it as a "puzzle" or dungeon room of any sort. I suppose presentablity was to blame but I was pretty surprised that common problems like this one wasn't so common in a dungeon setting.
So one of my players got frustrated, because apparently we didn't tell him how Int affected skill points.
He'd played a couple white wolf games, but had never done D&D before. We built with point buys, so he cranked his dex higher than he would have had known about the int thing. He could have gotten his int 2 points higher, and started with his wisdom as high as he wanted it.
We're already a couple encounters, but no one has leveled yet. Should I let him adjust his stats?
I've always been lenient about tweaking characters, I say yes.
If a player is wanting to change things just so they can cheese the mechanics after they've leveled and want to dump stuff that is no longer useful but was at lower levels? Uhh, well no. But if they just made a mistake, or didn't understand the system at the time, or have a weak character because of it, I almost always let them change things.
Most definitely yes. If it's early in the game and they've made a mechanical mistake and want to change it right away? Let 'em! It won't hurt anything, and they'll be happier.
What I've done in the past is to let new characters have a 'breaking in' period. Say 5 games. After those five games they should have a pretty good idea of how a character is playing and where they may want to go from there. After the breaking in period I let people make minor adjustments to their characters, it helps the player not worry so much about screwing up a character in creation.
It turns out I've probably got 6 players for when I run Keep on the Shadowfell. Bearing in mind that on one hand the module is designed for 5 but on the other it is apparently pretty damn difficult as is and I'm expecting my players to suck, do you reckon I should add monsties or leave as is?
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
It turns out I've probably got 6 players for when I run Keep on the Shadowfell. Bearing in mind that on one hand the module is designed for 5 but on the other it is apparently pretty damn difficult as is and I'm expecting my players to suck, do you reckon I should add monsties or leave as is?
You can leave it as it is IMO. That module is actually fairly difficult and you shouldn't need the extra monsters.
Posts
So far it's all been fairly basic stabby stabby, killy killy.... And one of the players said they'd like to have a few more puzzles in there.
Now, unfortunately im not the brightest tool in the shed and for the past week and a half I've really struggled to come up with any idea of a puzzle for them.
Could anyone at all give me any advice on what to try? It'd be much appreciated
Thanks in advance.
What kind of puzzle do you want to do?
I was thinking of something that's optional for them to complete. Like a series of pulleys that when pulled in the correct order cause something to happen that allows them access to a potion.... The scenario is kinda complicated but the players are kind of in a game. And each of the doors are timed to 1 hour.
So something that could be compleated to give them an edge in the last few rooms (they're on 7 out of 12).
Book of Challenges is a link for the book, forgot to include that there.
Here's an idea I just thought up.
One of the rooms could contain a box with a candle in it. The instructions to the party would be to put out the candle's flame. A wall of force prevents the party from getting close enough to blow the candle's flame out. Fanning the flames makes it flicker, but it only relights itself. The flames on candle are an illusion, they need only make a will save to disbelieve it. detect magic wouldn't be too effective, since the wall of force would stop its line of effect to the candle.
Also, make the walls cave in on them or something.
problem is there are like 8 party members. So unless I split them up somehow it should be fairly easy for at least one of them to disbelieve it.
But thanks! I'll deffinately give that a go
a basin on the wall, with inset notches inside, 12 of them, numbered as such. nearby, but not next to it sits a bucket, and there are several water sources in the dungeon, and on the wall around it are numbers like a clock, with certain numbers filled in with some kind of white rock so they appear different, and others blue rock. they then have to fill the basin up to the number of notches that matches either the white or blue numbers going clockwise, and depending on which they choose, the door opens to different rooms.
(white numbers- 12, 5, 7, 10)
(blue numbers- 3, 6, 11)
just the first puzzle i have tried to make, i'll see how they accept it, whether it was too hard, or rather easy.
I'm trying to choose a system first and then figure out story and background but i keep getting story ideas and my search for a system i like is dwindling.
whatever system I end up choosing it's going to be either a modern or fantasy based role playing game with more puzzles than enemies to fight and it's going to have a weird Japanese setting.
I'm thinking of using these to represent some of the puzzles they'll find along the way and be encouraged to solve, because coming up with word puzzles isn't my forte and I'll just end up stealing from Professor Layton extensively.
it's free and very new-people friendly
if you like fiddly bits you might not like it though. it's very narrativist-leaning
the upside is it's a generic high-action system so you can plug in whatever you want
I goofed on scripting the plot relevant portions of my game for this week and I'm left with a campy monster-of-the-week type fare. Or, I want to do one instead of spinning the plot directly out of my head, but w/e.
Since it would be helpful to a new DM as well using the 3.5 system to know anyway since dealing with monsters of CR < 1 is a pain (I just use class'd humanoids and monsters, etc), the CR for a pack (20) of 6 HD (Medium sized) Dire Rats (CR 1/3) is equal to 6, correct?
The fights will be pretty stupid, but it's mostly the NPCs specific to this one-shot that will make the thing amusing.
In other news, the d20srd.org site is a very very useful tool for DMs.
But a 6hd dire rat is in no way shape or form a cr 1/3.
I don't know. a dire rat shouldn't be all that hard to kill, even @ the max advancement available on their stat block. What would you set the CR for an individual for them? Bearing in mind I'm using the "pack" organization.
That's 30-something hp with a +4 BAB if I'm not mistaken. And you're bumping it to medium size so it gets a strength and con increase and does more damage with its attacks. Plus another feat. This is a rat that can easily kill any normal person it came across and eat their face.
Improved Natural Attack~
At this point yea, CR 2 and less of them.
I've finished designing that trick/trap room with the candle and everything.... I'm hoping the players will like it
Next game is tomorrow =p
Now I just gotta find my cloak >.>;;
i did my first dming the other day, with fights and all, and oh boy did i fumble around a bit, but hey, so did they and we all had fun ahaha
That's the most important part. If you've got it, you're gold, and if you don't nothing else matters.
Congratulations! It sounds like you guys are in for a good time.
Everyone fumbles a bit when they start GMing, you'll pick it up as you go.
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Glad to hear it! Like any other skill, as you do it you will continue to get better at it.
Grats and well done! as Jakob said. Having fun is the most important part
My game on Saturday got called short =( kinda upsetting as one of the players is going away for three months and we may not see her again =((
But..... most important thing is that we're gunning for a game this Friday =p
between giving out XP and plot-related character conversations, I didn't have to use the rats one-shot. but I've added it to the list of stand-alone episodes that I can run later down the line if I need to... the joys of writing episodic adventurz.
Oh wow this stuff is really helping the ground work of my experimental engine thanks for the links.
Man, the first (and only) session I GMed, I did my usual shitty rolling shtick and managed to not even hit the players in the first encounter. Even with spells. It was bad. It is still legendary among my friends. Also I was running a module, so I had not as much familiarity with the event and little attachment.
I'm doing a PbP with my group from college though. It's actually a pretty damn large group for a PbP, but I'm going to be keeping them separate for much of it I think to keep from being dependant on one person for the game to move on. The PbP format gives me a lot more time to plan and get stuff done. I've liked the pre-game stuff much more so far anyway.
The River behind the Fence
Setting: Post apoca or anything contains abondoned settlements.
Suburb Remains, the whole block is decimated leaving few delapitated houses piled on each other and forming wierd environmental formations. There are a few rivers running through the block, dividing the first half of the "dungeon" from the second. One noticeable river crossing is between two backyards of houses facing away from each other, each side being blocked by fences but not entirely. Some fence has been stripped off to see to the other side , and on your side, a 5 foot wide gap allows you a straight shot to the fence on the other side if you choose to grapple the edges and bring yourself up.
On your side of the house , going to the rickety second floor allows you to see two things passed the 7 foot high fence that blocks your view of the other side-
-.The River is 5-8 feet wide, and is dangerously deep, rhebar puncuating its path of travel that leads to lower parts of the neighborhood and possibly a lake in a park.
-. Behind the fragile looking fence of the other house are a stack of bricks and cement bags so plowing through the fence with the hopes of crashing to the other side is gonna break the fence off but knock the player back into the river along with bits of broken fence to reveal the stack of bricks. However, there are parts on the other side that isn't walled with a stack of bricks. But the 5 foot gap of fencing on your side is nowhere close to there.
and if they roll a high enough spot, they could see that there are sleeping hostiles at the second floor of the other house.
Possible solutions.
1.Test of Str: Players with high enough strength can strip off the fencing on their side and then crash through the fragile fencing on the other end. On the other side, they can find planks of lumber and create a makeshift bridge that can hold up to 150pounds. And an added 20 pounds with each new layer of lumber. Pros to this plan is its speed and accessibility however you run the risk of waking up the residents of the house.
2. Test of Lightness: Players who weigh less than a hundred pounds can leap towards the fencing presently available through the 5 foot gap, shimmy the edges, and get up on the other side, find rope on the other side, tie it to the heavy wall of brix and throw it to other party members. Who can then brace it on rhebar on the second floor and slide down the the rope using a smooth , sturdy object with a good hand grip. Those who weigh more than 120 pounds run the risk of possibly breaking the fence they are on. If there are more than 200 pounds of tension on the rope it runs the risk of breaking and causing fall damage. Pros to this plan is silence and it doesn't rouse the residents on the other side of the house awake. Cons is it's one way solution and doesn't provide a quick enough exit.
3. Test of Forces: Freeze the water, but this will cause a slippery floor that will soon overrun with surface runnng water. Be sure to break off the fence strips quickly before the ice breaks. Cons: Too dependant on your caster having a proficient control of freezing water. Their caster level could decide how many pounds the ice can take before breaking off and how long it will last.
I love making open ended "puzzles" that require intuitive common sense to beat rather than fuck-you-up magic quiz shows even though they are fun and mystical and charming as hell sometimes. But sometimes you have to wonder- why the fuck would they build this here ? How do they get to the restroom ?
But the fun part about this was that players got frustrated that a common "problem" took them 40 minutes to beat and didn't really see it as a "puzzle" or dungeon room of any sort. I suppose presentablity was to blame but I was pretty surprised that common problems like this one wasn't so common in a dungeon setting.
He'd played a couple white wolf games, but had never done D&D before. We built with point buys, so he cranked his dex higher than he would have had known about the int thing. He could have gotten his int 2 points higher, and started with his wisdom as high as he wanted it.
We're already a couple encounters, but no one has leveled yet. Should I let him adjust his stats?
If a player is wanting to change things just so they can cheese the mechanics after they've leveled and want to dump stuff that is no longer useful but was at lower levels? Uhh, well no. But if they just made a mistake, or didn't understand the system at the time, or have a weak character because of it, I almost always let them change things.
You can leave it as it is IMO. That module is actually fairly difficult and you shouldn't need the extra monsters.