(3.5 D&D) New to DMing, any tips? :D

matthias00

Hi all,

My friends and I thought it would be fun to run a game of 3.5 D&D (pathfinder) during thanksgiving weekend when we're all back home. There are a couple people who've played before but most of us will be new to the game. The task of DMing falls to me, which I'm pretty much okay with but I had a few questions as I'm not very experienced D&D guy at all (yet). I've gotten most of the rules down and I don't think they'll give me any trouble, at this point I'm just looking for some tips on pacing and encounter creation because I didn't see much in the DM guide about it..

• How many encounters should I plan to have in a given game session?
• How many encounters should I plan to have before a chance for the PCs to rest/heal?
• How much should I be mixing up the encounter levels? As of right now, all of them that I've set up have been EL1, planning on making the "boss fight" EL2. Is this too easy? I worry that having the same general levels of difficulty for each fight will make the dungeon boring after a while, but I don't know what's too much/too little challenge for the PCs.
• How can I mix up the types of encounters while still keeping a general theme for the dungeon?
• If I give out standard XP awards, roughly how long will it take for the PCs to level up? I want to make sure the new players get to level 2 by the end of our session next week, but I don't want to spend hours getting them there. I also don't want to spend 10 minutes.

Basically, if you have any tips on how to properly design a level 1 dungeon, I'd love to hear them. I've been doing some work on it, but it's been a little tough trying to figure it all out by myself. I want to do my best to make sure my friends have a good time with this because for many of them it'll be their first time playing D&D. Please, help me make that first time a good one

TL;DR New 3.5 D&D Pathfinder DM seeks tips on creating level 1 beginner's dungeon. Thanks!

Aegof

I know absolutely nothing about DMing 3.5, but you might want to track down a (good) premade adventure or two and learn from those. Run them, even--they're made to be run, and you'll probably learn enough after one or two or three to figure out how to make your own.

SanderJK

I believe 3.5 is balanced around 13 encounters per level. Time varies wildly, but for my group that was around 1x /10h.

An on level fight is usually won fairly easily, though it depends on build and gear, in 3.5 there is a lot of power difference. l1 is a special case, since misses are common and crits can 1shot.

Advice:
Play a premade.
Restrict # of books at start.
Level fairly fast. (I found 3.5 most interesting between 5 & 11)
Fudge if you think things are unfair or better for the story.

rucdoc

beware of leaving creation open. a halfling cleric that worship's venca might not sound bad, but I can predict that person will try to become a lich. a el1 fight is constructed around having 4 halfway decent pc's if you have more increase the encounter, if you have less decrease. your planned encounters will be thrown out the window after the first one because the pc's will do something totally stupid and go someplace you didn't want them.

Moranica

Starting with a writte adventure is always good. It will contain some rp, hack&slash and puzzles, so you and the group can find out what you like most. Don't be afraid to ask the players how they liked the session and also tell them what you liked. I've had games stop because the group didn't like the DM style or the DM didn't like the group's style.

When you start to design your own stories adjust according to what works best for your group. If they want hack&slash starting in a tavern is ok, if you want lot's of rp and creativity from them, you'll have to be creative yourself and give them tools to work with.

rucdoc

also determine before hand an explain to your players wether or not you allow inter party conflict. My last group had 8 players and I allowed interparty conflict. everyone had a great time and we ended up with 19 out of 20 player deaths was cause either directly or indirectly by the other players.

susan

[*]How many encounters should I plan to have in a given game session?
Regular encounters will usually take 1/2-1 hour apiece (wild exceptions on both ends are possible, of course), so usually between 2-4 encounters is your ballpark. Complexity takes much longer, of course, as do Bosses and the like.

[*]How many encounters should I plan to have before a chance for the PCs to rest/heal?
Wildly varies. Theoretically, your party could rest up after every single encounter unless you create a time restraint. Let the players make this decision for themselves; they should know when they've gotten roughed up enough to call it a day.

[*]How much should I be mixing up the encounter levels? As of right now, all of them that I've set up have been EL1, planning on making the "boss fight" EL2. Is this too easy? I worry that having the same general levels of difficulty for each fight will make the dungeon boring after a while, but I don't know what's too much/too little challenge for the PCs.
For new campaigns/players, always have 1 or 2 low level encounters to teach people the ropes. Then, go for the kill with something that's just a little bit too hard for them and that makes 'em sweat .

[*]How can I mix up the types of encounters while still keeping a general theme for the dungeon?
This is an artform, but as people have said, referencing prebuilt Dungeon delves can give you good ideas. There's a LOT of monsters that live in dungeons; variety is the spice of life.

[*]If I give out standard XP awards, roughly how long will it take for the PCs to level up? I want to make sure the new players get to level 2 by the end of our session next week, but I don't want to spend hours getting them there. I also don't want to spend 10 minutes.
There is no reason you cannot artificially escalate XP growth. At the end of next week, just tell them they level if you think they've earned it.

OptimusZed

Just about everything else has been covered, so;

Be ready to say "no". I haven't DM'd Pathfinder, but the chassis it's built on (d20, 3E) has a laundry list of exploitation points. If it doesn't make sense in your game/group or starts ruining the fun, don't hesitate to axe it. No matter what "it" is.

DevoutlyApathetic

I've only taken a cursory look at it but they killed some of the more common stupid parts.

Grappling makes sense and isn't stupidly overpowered if you can increase your size!

susan

OptimusZed wrote: »

Just about everything else has been covered, so;

Be ready to say "no". I haven't DM'd Pathfinder, but the chassis it's built on (d20, 3E) has a laundry list of exploitation points. If it doesn't make sense in your game/group or starts ruining the fun, don't hesitate to axe it. No matter what "it" is.

Oooooohhh, gotta disagree on this point. Nothing kills player enthusiasm more than hearing 'No', especially when you're just getting your group off the ground. I go out of my way to say 'Yes' to almost everything players ask of me (if they're crossing a line and they know it, of course, then a 'No' is appropriate, but even then try to say it in a funny way). The farthest I try to go is to say "Yes, but consider this..." or "Yes, let's say you do it this way..." or "Yes, but it's gonna be really difficult..."

Wizards actually did a great article on this a couple years ago; it's written with 4E in mind but it's really a universal method that can and should be applied to all Roleplaying games. Here's a link: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dusg/20080721 An excerpt that sums up my opinion perfectly:

I think that most games run into problems when the sense of wonder and surprise is leeched from the game. And usually the leech occurs when DMs try to limit rather than expand their toolbox.

As always, your mileage may vary and the only person who knows what's best for your game is you; just wanted to give the opposing view.

OptimusZed

I'm all about "yes" until there's a direct and immediate threat to the table environment.

Want to play a cat person cleric of the dog god? Sure, why the hell not?

Your Sorceror only picked fireball/flame arrow type spells? I'll.. uh... I'll step back that fire dungeon you were going to.

But when it comes to obvious attempts at rule abuse, or unintentional combinations that wind up hurting the enjoyment of everyone at the table? That stuff needs addressed immediately.

"Yes" should be the default option, but "no" is a necessity at times.

susan

OptimusZed wrote: »

I'm all about "yes" until there's a direct and immediate threat to the table environment.

Want to play a cat person cleric of the dog god? Sure, why the hell not?

Your Sorceror only picked fireball/flame arrow type spells? I'll.. uh... I'll step back that fire dungeon you were going to.

But when it comes to obvious attempts at rule abuse, or unintentional combinations that wind up hurting the enjoyment of everyone at the table? That stuff needs addressed immediately.

"Yes" should be the default option, but "no" is a necessity at times.

Fair points, especially the "hurting the enjoyment of everyone at the table" part. If something is happening where one person is not having fun, soon more than one person will not be having fun, and it needs to be addressed fast even if it means saying 'No' to a player.

But I'm glad we're agreed that 'Yes' is a good default answer and 'No' is saved for special occasions .

matthias00

Just wanted to pop in and thank you all for the responses. Based off your suggestions, I've decided to run with a premade adventure for this first time; it has about a thousand times more depth and life than anything I could create at this point with the time I have. Just reading through its design has also given me plenty of ideas and tips on setting up worlds for the future, too. I don't think my players are going to be too exploitive of the rules since it will be their first exposure to them for many of the players there, but I'll keep what you all said in mind if things start getting crazy.

Right now, I'm just excited to see how this goes, it's less than a week away now Thanks again all.