Hello! let me start by giving a little information on my situation
I'm a first time DM (i've only ran a handful of sessions so far) completely new to 5e (I played very little of 3.5 so i have a decent grasp on game mechanics) and i'm running a homebrew with a party of 2 that have never played D&D before (which has kept me on my toes so far).
I figured that i would take inspiration from a game that i loved playing as a kid (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time) and flip the story around while injecting as much D&D into the world as i could. I feel like i potentially have a strong story but with how i'm mixing things around, writing the story can be confusing for me at times. However, i always manage to work it out in a logical way that my players have enjoyed.
My problem that i have started to notice for me is that i've started using combat as a crutch. By crutch i mean that, it is the only way that i can really "challenge" my players. I'm hoping that maybe some one will be able to give me some good ideas for puzzles, riddles, traps, or something that i can toss at my players before they come to the same realization that i have come to about my DM skill
Oh man, this is my favorite! In fact, I actually do the opposite. I'm terrified of making combat too hard and killing everyone, or too easy and no one enjoys it. Thus, I tend to avoid it. I DO tend to specialize in moral and personal struggles though. I would stay rather than focusing on traps, puzzles, or riddles, focus on the character's fears. The best part of playing for me is when my character is forced to face their fears. It's such an epic and emotional moment, and as a DM I'm working really hard to set this up for my players. Give them moral dilemmas, make them hurt and make them grow!
If you really need puzzles and stuff though, I'd suggest including props and stuff to be creative. I purchased a three key lock and plan on giving a locked chest to my players and they have to collect the keys( I had trouble with this one because one of my players gained the spell "knock" and I needed to figure out some anti spell field thing that is on this box). Hobby Lobby sells puzzle boxes you can use to hold small items. Riddles are super fun to use, and you can get invisible ink pens for super cheap on Amazon( warning... they dont work well on fabric, so hidden messages on handkerchiefs are not easily workable). Use a small labyrinth or look up D&D puzzles on youtube! There are some great ones! Something I REALLY want to do but haven't worked out yet is a maze map that is cut into chunks and they get pieces for as they explore(hint, this would be a GREAT time to pull out a sand timer and make them panic!*evil DM laugh*)
GM tips was a great source for me, especially this episode. Sorry to run on so long, but honestly this is my favorite part. If you have any tips for me on running combat with a bit more confidence though, I'd GREATLY appreciate it. I ran for two months and only had two encounters so I'm trying really hard to improve this.
As for tips on combat don't stress out about it too hard since you know the stats of the monster and your pc's don't its easy to make adjustments mid combat.
At the start of my first DMing session the first encounter i ran my 2 PC's through was a Giant Bull created with the stats of the giant goat in the DMG or MM don't remember which. The bull burst in through the wall of a tavern while they were gathering info because they were failing intimidation and persuasions checks left and right making the townsfolk upset with them. After the fight when they saved the towns people it made the NPC's much friendlier and willing to give information (at least that is my justification).
Anyways the bull definitely turned out to be too strong so instead of its ram attack doing 2d4's (which its very first attack did 8 damage to a 10 hp total YIKES) i knocked it down to 1d4, took away the +(5?) to hit so it's became much less accurate and shaved i think 5 hp off the creature bringing its total from like 19 to 14. These adjustments made the fight much more palatable and that original hit of 8 made my pc's terrified of the encounter (and much more excited from it when they won)
Since this is also their first time playing and they are a human bard and tiefling paladin (with no designated healer) i always have a back up plan of an NPC that can jump in and save them or i fudge the fights a little bit (i'm about to give them a few items i feel like will also mitigate how much i'll need to help them). Another example when i set them up against 4 skeletons when the bard did i high damage attack i basically described him knocking one of the skeletons head off so that particular skeleton spent the rest of the fight trying to find his head to "see" even though as soon as he knocked the head off he picked it up and put it in his backpack then returned to the fight.
If you have any particular ideas feel free to build a scenario with monsters and i'll help you plan an encounter :)
As for tips on combat don't stress out about it too hard since you know the stats of the monster and your pc's don't its easy to make adjustments mid combat.
At the start of my first DMing session the first encounter i ran my 2 PC's through was a Giant Bull created with the stats of the giant goat in the DMG or MM don't remember which. The bull burst in through the wall of a tavern while they were gathering info because they were failing intimidation and persuasions checks left and right making the townsfolk upset with them. After the fight when they saved the towns people it made the NPC's much friendlier and willing to give information (at least that is my justification).
Anyways the bull definitely turned out to be too strong so instead of its ram attack doing 2d4's (which its very first attack did 8 damage to a 10 hp total YIKES) i knocked it down to 1d4, took away the +(5?) to hit so it's became much less accurate and shaved i think 5 hp off the creature bringing its total from like 19 to 14. These adjustments made the fight much more palatable and that original hit of 8 made my pc's terrified of the encounter (and much more excited from it when they won)
Since this is also their first time playing and they are a human bard and tiefling paladin (with no designated healer) i always have a back up plan of an NPC that can jump in and save them or i fudge the fights a little bit (i'm about to give them a few items i feel like will also mitigate how much i'll need to help them). Another example when i set them up against 4 skeletons when the bard did i high damage attack i basically described him knocking one of the skeletons head off so that particular skeleton spent the rest of the fight trying to find his head to "see" even though as soon as he knocked the head off he picked it up and put it in his backpack then returned to the fight.
If you have any particular ideas feel free to build a scenario with monsters and i'll help you plan an encounter :)
Thank you Jabbs! I'm currently building a campaign for some brand new players and I am starting it with a bang and having an "escape from a prison where all they loved most was destroyed" sort of scene. I was planning on making it super simple and easy, since they are all brand new players and I'm starting them at level one, but if you have any suggestions regarding that please let me know!
I will also respond with an offer of help if you ever need creative help with moral and emotional dilemmas for your characters. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I do have a flair for dramatics, emotions, and plot twists that could possibly come in handy. I am sure you probably don't need help with this for the most part, but anything I can do to contribute! I really deeply appreciate the support you offer regarding combat and would love to repay that however I can!
Thank you!
thechimericalcookie
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Hello! let me start by giving a little information on my situation
I'm a first time DM (i've only ran a handful of sessions so far) completely new to 5e (I played very little of 3.5 so i have a decent grasp on game mechanics) and i'm running a homebrew with a party of 2 that have never played D&D before (which has kept me on my toes so far).
I figured that i would take inspiration from a game that i loved playing as a kid (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time) and flip the story around while injecting as much D&D into the world as i could. I feel like i potentially have a strong story but with how i'm mixing things around, writing the story can be confusing for me at times. However, i always manage to work it out in a logical way that my players have enjoyed.
My problem that i have started to notice for me is that i've started using combat as a crutch. By crutch i mean that, it is the only way that i can really "challenge" my players. I'm hoping that maybe some one will be able to give me some good ideas for puzzles, riddles, traps, or something that i can toss at my players before they come to the same realization that i have come to about my DM skill
Oh man, this is my favorite! In fact, I actually do the opposite. I'm terrified of making combat too hard and killing everyone, or too easy and no one enjoys it. Thus, I tend to avoid it. I DO tend to specialize in moral and personal struggles though. I would stay rather than focusing on traps, puzzles, or riddles, focus on the character's fears. The best part of playing for me is when my character is forced to face their fears. It's such an epic and emotional moment, and as a DM I'm working really hard to set this up for my players. Give them moral dilemmas, make them hurt and make them grow!
If you really need puzzles and stuff though, I'd suggest including props and stuff to be creative. I purchased a three key lock and plan on giving a locked chest to my players and they have to collect the keys( I had trouble with this one because one of my players gained the spell "knock" and I needed to figure out some anti spell field thing that is on this box). Hobby Lobby sells puzzle boxes you can use to hold small items. Riddles are super fun to use, and you can get invisible ink pens for super cheap on Amazon( warning... they dont work well on fabric, so hidden messages on handkerchiefs are not easily workable). Use a small labyrinth or look up D&D puzzles on youtube! There are some great ones! Something I REALLY want to do but haven't worked out yet is a maze map that is cut into chunks and they get pieces for as they explore(hint, this would be a GREAT time to pull out a sand timer and make them panic!*evil DM laugh*)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9kHmwc7jk&list=PL7atuZxmT9570U87GhK_20NcbxM43vkom&index=37
GM tips was a great source for me, especially this episode. Sorry to run on so long, but honestly this is my favorite part. If you have any tips for me on running combat with a bit more confidence though, I'd GREATLY appreciate it. I ran for two months and only had two encounters so I'm trying really hard to improve this.
Hope this helps!
thechimericalcookie
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
As for tips on combat don't stress out about it too hard since you know the stats of the monster and your pc's don't its easy to make adjustments mid combat.
At the start of my first DMing session the first encounter i ran my 2 PC's through was a Giant Bull created with the stats of the giant goat in the DMG or MM don't remember which. The bull burst in through the wall of a tavern while they were gathering info because they were failing intimidation and persuasions checks left and right making the townsfolk upset with them. After the fight when they saved the towns people it made the NPC's much friendlier and willing to give information (at least that is my justification).
Anyways the bull definitely turned out to be too strong so instead of its ram attack doing 2d4's (which its very first attack did 8 damage to a 10 hp total YIKES) i knocked it down to 1d4, took away the +(5?) to hit so it's became much less accurate and shaved i think 5 hp off the creature bringing its total from like 19 to 14. These adjustments made the fight much more palatable and that original hit of 8 made my pc's terrified of the encounter (and much more excited from it when they won)
Since this is also their first time playing and they are a human bard and tiefling paladin (with no designated healer) i always have a back up plan of an NPC that can jump in and save them or i fudge the fights a little bit (i'm about to give them a few items i feel like will also mitigate how much i'll need to help them).
Another example when i set them up against 4 skeletons when the bard did i high damage attack i basically described him knocking one of the skeletons head off so that particular skeleton spent the rest of the fight trying to find his head to "see" even though as soon as he knocked the head off he picked it up and put it in his backpack then returned to the fight.
If you have any particular ideas feel free to build a scenario with monsters and i'll help you plan an encounter :)
Thank you Jabbs! I'm currently building a campaign for some brand new players and I am starting it with a bang and having an "escape from a prison where all they loved most was destroyed" sort of scene. I was planning on making it super simple and easy, since they are all brand new players and I'm starting them at level one, but if you have any suggestions regarding that please let me know!
I will also respond with an offer of help if you ever need creative help with moral and emotional dilemmas for your characters. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I do have a flair for dramatics, emotions, and plot twists that could possibly come in handy. I am sure you probably don't need help with this for the most part, but anything I can do to contribute! I really deeply appreciate the support you offer regarding combat and would love to repay that however I can!
Thank you!
thechimericalcookie