I'm going to be running my first ever campaign soon (its a homebrew world) and I'd just like some advice on some questions I have:
1) What should I do about currency and gold, rather, how much should my level one PC's have and how should I scale based on background (e.g. one is an ex-noble)
2) How should I handle artefacts and gear, like how should it be given out, what buffs are best, and where is the best place to find some that I can write
3) How should I narrate my players travelling between locations? They'll be travelling long ways across kingdoms (which I know will be intense for a first time DM but this isn't my first time roleplaying, just first time in DnD), so how should I narrate that without them getting bored, but without just going "Cool you're there now!"
4) Is it ok to take monsters/humanoids and essentially re-skin them to fit into the story better? Since I'm so new any changes would be purely aesthetic, such as keeping stats the same but simply calling them something different and having them look different.
Any help and advice would be very much appreciated, dont worry about answering all of my questions, just making sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew here :))
1. This is covered in the PHB character generation. Characters can have gear based on their class. Backgrounds specifically say how much gold the character will start with.
2. The DMG has a chart for recommended magic items by character level. I'd refer to that.
3. At low levels, the travel can be a big part of the adventure. They'll need to gather food and supplies, they can be attacked by wolves, or bandits, or other encounters. As they level up, things like food won't be an issue any more. Once they start flying and dimension door-ing, environmental hazards can be easily overcome. But in general, don't narrate the travel. there's a reason Indiana Jones movies just shows dots on a map when he's going from one place to another. The interesting things happen in the place, not when you're just walking on a road. I'd give them a chance at something. Like, you're traveling for four days, do you have anything you want to do in the woods? In case people want to rp gathering spell components or something. Otherwise, unless there's an encounter, fast-forwarding is a good strategy.
4. It is always ok to re-skin anything. In fact, its great. You know the creature will be roughly balanced for what it's supposed to do, and changing the description can throw off any meta-gaming. As you say you're new, I'd stick with your instinct to not mess with any of the numbers for a bit, until you get a feel for what they do. The math in this edition is fairly sensitive to changes of even 1 or 2 in either direction.
In general I agree with with everything Xalthu wrote, but I will say that, especially in the beginning it’s good to have some stuff happen to them while they travel just to reinforce the dangers of the wilderness. Don’t describe absolutely every mile of the journey, but mention to them how much food to knock off their inventories and the grow some bandits or wolves or something at them at least once along the way. Let them meet an interesting NPC on the road, or throw an obstacle at them to overcome. Something. It’ll build verisimilitude and make them appreciate not having to deal with that stuff more later. Kinda like the little stuff that would happen to Hercules on the road at the beginning of most episodes before he got to town. Nothing serious or lengthy, but something.
Just to chime in with an extra thought, I'd highly, highly encourage you not to leap in with a homebrew as your first campaign without having run an official adventure first. I recommend Dragon of Icespire Peak at the very least before dipping your toe with homebrew.
The reason I say this is that many of the answers to your questions would be answered already if you had.
To your first question, read the Dungeon Master's Guide...it's got a lovely section on currency. Had you run something like DoIP first, you'd already have a read on how much currency is 'enough' or 'too much' based on how the currency worked in that adventure. If you thought it was too much coin, you know that for your homebrew you want to reduce it. If too little, increase it.
To your second, exactly the same rationale. Magic items are around in DoIP, and you could ask how the players, and how you felt about the variety and types of magical items in that adventure. Based on that for my group I don't tend to hand out super awesome items, but items with utility and that might enhance player choice in and out of combat. Things like the Cloak of the Bat, Slippers of Spider Climbing, and Handy Haversack are the types of things I prefer handing out. You may feel differently had you run an official adventure and therefore have something to compare to.
To your third, DoIP is written with some nice descriptions that are brief but engaging and would allow you to see how players respond to narration. If even those single paragraphs are too much then you know they won't be interested. If they are really engaged, then maybe it's about the right level. Seeing how your players react to something 'official' is really helpful prior to creating your own homebrew.
To your final question yes, absolutely reskin 'official' creatures all you like. In fact again using DoIP as a reference, I quickly realised that I needed to either Debuff the Manticore, or reduce the numbers of Oozes.
I run pretty much entirely my own homebrew worlds so trust me when I say it can be heartbreaking when players don't engage with that thing you've lovingly crafted. Running an official adventure like Dragon of Icespire Peak allows you to learn about your players' styles and preferences. It allows you to have a baseline written out for you and decide what works and what doesn't for your group of players. You don't even need to run the full adventure, but I would highly advise you to run at least three or four sessions of an official adventure before introducing your homebrew. You'll be a better GM and a better worldbuilder for both you and your party.
I think you got some solid advice already. I just wanted to add that when running official content or homebrew, I like using a d100 random encounter sheet for travel. It takes some impromptu skills if you roll for it during the session, but you can also roll for a random encounter while planning travel for your session beforehand. It's a lot of fun for my group and I've had several times that a random encounters during travel evolved into one of the major side-quests of the campaign.
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I'm going to be running my first ever campaign soon (its a homebrew world) and I'd just like some advice on some questions I have:
1) What should I do about currency and gold, rather, how much should my level one PC's have and how should I scale based on background (e.g. one is an ex-noble)
2) How should I handle artefacts and gear, like how should it be given out, what buffs are best, and where is the best place to find some that I can write
3) How should I narrate my players travelling between locations? They'll be travelling long ways across kingdoms (which I know will be intense for a first time DM but this isn't my first time roleplaying, just first time in DnD), so how should I narrate that without them getting bored, but without just going "Cool you're there now!"
4) Is it ok to take monsters/humanoids and essentially re-skin them to fit into the story better? Since I'm so new any changes would be purely aesthetic, such as keeping stats the same but simply calling them something different and having them look different.
Any help and advice would be very much appreciated, dont worry about answering all of my questions, just making sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew here :))
1. This is covered in the PHB character generation. Characters can have gear based on their class. Backgrounds specifically say how much gold the character will start with.
2. The DMG has a chart for recommended magic items by character level. I'd refer to that.
3. At low levels, the travel can be a big part of the adventure. They'll need to gather food and supplies, they can be attacked by wolves, or bandits, or other encounters. As they level up, things like food won't be an issue any more. Once they start flying and dimension door-ing, environmental hazards can be easily overcome. But in general, don't narrate the travel. there's a reason Indiana Jones movies just shows dots on a map when he's going from one place to another. The interesting things happen in the place, not when you're just walking on a road. I'd give them a chance at something. Like, you're traveling for four days, do you have anything you want to do in the woods? In case people want to rp gathering spell components or something. Otherwise, unless there's an encounter, fast-forwarding is a good strategy.
4. It is always ok to re-skin anything. In fact, its great. You know the creature will be roughly balanced for what it's supposed to do, and changing the description can throw off any meta-gaming. As you say you're new, I'd stick with your instinct to not mess with any of the numbers for a bit, until you get a feel for what they do. The math in this edition is fairly sensitive to changes of even 1 or 2 in either direction.
In general I agree with with everything Xalthu wrote, but I will say that, especially in the beginning it’s good to have some stuff happen to them while they travel just to reinforce the dangers of the wilderness. Don’t describe absolutely every mile of the journey, but mention to them how much food to knock off their inventories and the grow some bandits or wolves or something at them at least once along the way. Let them meet an interesting NPC on the road, or throw an obstacle at them to overcome. Something. It’ll build verisimilitude and make them appreciate not having to deal with that stuff more later. Kinda like the little stuff that would happen to Hercules on the road at the beginning of most episodes before he got to town. Nothing serious or lengthy, but something.
Also, here’s the best advice I have for new DMs:
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Just to chime in with an extra thought, I'd highly, highly encourage you not to leap in with a homebrew as your first campaign without having run an official adventure first. I recommend Dragon of Icespire Peak at the very least before dipping your toe with homebrew.
The reason I say this is that many of the answers to your questions would be answered already if you had.
To your first question, read the Dungeon Master's Guide...it's got a lovely section on currency. Had you run something like DoIP first, you'd already have a read on how much currency is 'enough' or 'too much' based on how the currency worked in that adventure. If you thought it was too much coin, you know that for your homebrew you want to reduce it. If too little, increase it.
To your second, exactly the same rationale. Magic items are around in DoIP, and you could ask how the players, and how you felt about the variety and types of magical items in that adventure. Based on that for my group I don't tend to hand out super awesome items, but items with utility and that might enhance player choice in and out of combat. Things like the Cloak of the Bat, Slippers of Spider Climbing, and Handy Haversack are the types of things I prefer handing out. You may feel differently had you run an official adventure and therefore have something to compare to.
To your third, DoIP is written with some nice descriptions that are brief but engaging and would allow you to see how players respond to narration. If even those single paragraphs are too much then you know they won't be interested. If they are really engaged, then maybe it's about the right level. Seeing how your players react to something 'official' is really helpful prior to creating your own homebrew.
To your final question yes, absolutely reskin 'official' creatures all you like. In fact again using DoIP as a reference, I quickly realised that I needed to either Debuff the Manticore, or reduce the numbers of Oozes.
I run pretty much entirely my own homebrew worlds so trust me when I say it can be heartbreaking when players don't engage with that thing you've lovingly crafted. Running an official adventure like Dragon of Icespire Peak allows you to learn about your players' styles and preferences. It allows you to have a baseline written out for you and decide what works and what doesn't for your group of players. You don't even need to run the full adventure, but I would highly advise you to run at least three or four sessions of an official adventure before introducing your homebrew. You'll be a better GM and a better worldbuilder for both you and your party.
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I think you got some solid advice already. I just wanted to add that when running official content or homebrew, I like using a d100 random encounter sheet for travel. It takes some impromptu skills if you roll for it during the session, but you can also roll for a random encounter while planning travel for your session beforehand. It's a lot of fun for my group and I've had several times that a random encounters during travel evolved into one of the major side-quests of the campaign.