To start with, I do not plan on DMing for too much longer. I feel that I need much more experience as a player before I try DMing again, and when I do DM again, I want to start with a Module (thinking Tales from the Yawning Portal). I want to finish the first chapter of the story I started and perhaps come back to my main story again when I feel more confident and less stress from out-of-game responsibilities.
Currently, my Level 2 players have discovered a group of Half-Orcs that are disgruntled with how the majority-Halfling farming village is treating them. Some of them want to fight back and rebel, giving in to their Orcish side since that seems to be what everyone expects of them. Some want to try to address the issue in a non-violent way, such as striking. The rest just want to strike out on their own again, leaving the village to start again elsewhere.
The main villain in this chapter is a Green Hag, who has been torturing the villagers in the shadows. The players have encountered Scarecrows scaring a wheat farmer out of his wits. The morning after they destroyed the scarecrows, they were told that the farmer was found dead in his bed. Also that night, they encountered a Gnoll with a pack of five hyenas ravaging a neighboring poultry farm. The idea was that the green hag had been orchestrating the destruction of the village, as it was a significant bread basket for the empire, that she had been stoking the frustrations of the half-orcs to try to get them to act out against the village. She may even impersonate one of the Half-orcs of the community to try to complete her goal.
My players include a Lightfoot-Halfling Folk-Hero Shephard-Druid, a Mountain-Dwarf Guild-Smith Wizard, and an Half-Elf Haunted-One Oathbreaker-Paladin. I also have an NPC Cleric that they have been working with.
They captured the Gnoll from the previous night and are in the process of trying to interrogate him, where I can lay even more threads leading to the hag.
I need to figure out possible solutions for the players to solve the problem with the Half-Orcs and start to piece together that it is a green hag that is responsible, short of flat-out telling them.
The biggest mistake a new DM can make is thinking that they have to tell the story they originally thought of or that a story thread has to see completion. Once you grow as a DM you will realize that there aren't really many corners to back yourself into since you decide when those corners exist in the first place. If your players don't pick up on the crumbs that something is amiss, then let the Half-Orcs give into their darker side and let the Green Hags goals be furthered. Sometimes heroes don't save the day, but make things worse before they can come back and fix things. If your players just aren't interested in this part of the story let your players move on, even if you have nothing else prepared, to something else and practice your improv skills a bit while you think of the next big story element. Don't abandon your story threads though, just let them simmer for a bit and have them progress in the background. Then later on give them a reason to go back to areas where those stories began to unfold without them and let them see the damages of their inaction.
From what it sounds like though, it isn't that you aren't capable of DMing you just haven't built up your confidence yet...In the end though as long as your players are having fun you are doing a fine job of being a DM. You don't have to be able to perfectly write Gary Gygax or Matthew Mercer level stories and worlds, you just have to make sure that your players are having fun and that you are having fun while they do it.
Thank you for the encouragement. For clarification, I am the youngest and least experienced in our group. The person taking over as DM has been DMing for over a decade and I think I can learn much more from him as a player. We had been trading off who DMs on game night and he's running a completely different campaign. I am not stepping down permanently. I love the world that I have created. In fact, the Empire I created has inspired another of my players to DM herself later down the road in a neighboring kingdom. I am excited to show off what else this world has to offer.
We have the Lost Mine of Phandelver from the Starter kit and we've tried to play it before. Maybe I'll try to DM it after we've had some time for the players to forget most of it.
With the Curse of Strahd material, I offered that the players can create a character with the usual PHB + 1 and that player already had this character to hand when he joined the group last-minute, so I allowed it (not realizing the game-breaking effect the Heart of Darkness feature would have, but I am quickly learning how to counter it). Said player is also the DM that will be taking over when I take my break.
Back to the issue at hand.
Thank you for your insight. I'm realizing that perhaps the problem is less with the Halflings and more with the growing population of Humans and Elves. High elf magic-users are mainly the ruling class in this setting, but there is limited autonomy within different regions, much like in Skyrim's holds system. I may start to sow seeds showing that the hag has been impersonating members of the village and antagonizing the half-orc members, or impersonating half-orcs and . The main reason for the hag's involvement is general love of making people suffer. I was considering that perhaps she had been sent in the general direction of this particular village by the Big Bad villain of the campaign.
The next session is tomorrow night and they will be meeting up with the group again at the start of the session. I will start planning out examples of conflicting stories for the players to investigate. I just need to do some research on how to build a mystery session and I should be set for tonight. Hopefully, I can get things set up so they can track down the hag next session and buy myself some more time for planning the rest of the campaign.
If your players don't pick up on the crumbs that something is amiss, then let the Half-Orcs give into their darker side and let the Green Hags goals be furthered. Sometimes heroes don't save the day, but make things worse before they can come back and fix things. If your players just aren't interested in this part of the story let your players move on, even if you have nothing else prepared, to something else and practice your improv skills a bit while you think of the next big story element. Don't abandon your story threads though, just let them simmer for a bit and have them progress in the background. Then later on give them a reason to go back to areas where those stories began to unfold without them and let them see the damages of their inaction.
Thank you for the feedback. The problem was that I had been leaving crumbs for other quests that the players could follow, but this was the one that they picked up on and I was having writer's block on how to structure what was coming up next. While it is true that I need to work on my improv skills, but I am also trying to work and get my degree so I will be getting into a time-constraints soon.
And while I know that I am nowhere near Matthew Mercer level of storyteller, it is something that I aspire toward.
The original deal was that I DM a chapter of my campaign, then we go back to the other DMs campaign for a chapter. Maybe we could go back to that deal once I feel more confident or prepared.
If they have captured an agent of the Hag, why not just make him a coward that try to plead for his/her life? Information for his life.
[…]
For more hits just watch Youtube. Like seriously. Here are a few users you should watch:
I forgot to mention this. My wizard player apparently forgot that he took Comprehend Languages when he levelled up so they could interrogate the Gnoll, and decided to go shopping while the rest of the party went to check on the captured Gnoll in the jail. I have realized that it was kinda my job to remind said wizard that the party kinda needed him, but they seemed much more interested in the Half-orc plot anyway. Once they are able to speak Gnoll, that plot thread will be easily dealt with.
Also, thank you for the additional resources. I have been watching WebDM and Guy's channels (How to be a Great GM and How to be a Great Player and For Your Consideration) for several months, but I have much more success while learning about things in situ than just learning the theory about it. I am also very practiced in character creation, since our group was too busy looking for a GM to play for the longest time, until I stepped up to GM after I realized that it was the only way I was going to get us to play at all.
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To start with, I do not plan on DMing for too much longer. I feel that I need much more experience as a player before I try DMing again, and when I do DM again, I want to start with a Module (thinking Tales from the Yawning Portal). I want to finish the first chapter of the story I started and perhaps come back to my main story again when I feel more confident and less stress from out-of-game responsibilities.
Currently, my Level 2 players have discovered a group of Half-Orcs that are disgruntled with how the majority-Halfling farming village is treating them. Some of them want to fight back and rebel, giving in to their Orcish side since that seems to be what everyone expects of them. Some want to try to address the issue in a non-violent way, such as striking. The rest just want to strike out on their own again, leaving the village to start again elsewhere.
The main villain in this chapter is a Green Hag, who has been torturing the villagers in the shadows. The players have encountered Scarecrows scaring a wheat farmer out of his wits. The morning after they destroyed the scarecrows, they were told that the farmer was found dead in his bed. Also that night, they encountered a Gnoll with a pack of five hyenas ravaging a neighboring poultry farm. The idea was that the green hag had been orchestrating the destruction of the village, as it was a significant bread basket for the empire, that she had been stoking the frustrations of the half-orcs to try to get them to act out against the village. She may even impersonate one of the Half-orcs of the community to try to complete her goal.
My players include a Lightfoot-Halfling Folk-Hero Shephard-Druid, a Mountain-Dwarf Guild-Smith Wizard, and an Half-Elf Haunted-One Oathbreaker-Paladin. I also have an NPC Cleric that they have been working with.
They captured the Gnoll from the previous night and are in the process of trying to interrogate him, where I can lay even more threads leading to the hag.
I need to figure out possible solutions for the players to solve the problem with the Half-Orcs and start to piece together that it is a green hag that is responsible, short of flat-out telling them.
The biggest mistake a new DM can make is thinking that they have to tell the story they originally thought of or that a story thread has to see completion. Once you grow as a DM you will realize that there aren't really many corners to back yourself into since you decide when those corners exist in the first place. If your players don't pick up on the crumbs that something is amiss, then let the Half-Orcs give into their darker side and let the Green Hags goals be furthered. Sometimes heroes don't save the day, but make things worse before they can come back and fix things. If your players just aren't interested in this part of the story let your players move on, even if you have nothing else prepared, to something else and practice your improv skills a bit while you think of the next big story element. Don't abandon your story threads though, just let them simmer for a bit and have them progress in the background. Then later on give them a reason to go back to areas where those stories began to unfold without them and let them see the damages of their inaction.
From what it sounds like though, it isn't that you aren't capable of DMing you just haven't built up your confidence yet...In the end though as long as your players are having fun you are doing a fine job of being a DM. You don't have to be able to perfectly write Gary Gygax or Matthew Mercer level stories and worlds, you just have to make sure that your players are having fun and that you are having fun while they do it.
Thank you for the encouragement. For clarification, I am the youngest and least experienced in our group. The person taking over as DM has been DMing for over a decade and I think I can learn much more from him as a player. We had been trading off who DMs on game night and he's running a completely different campaign. I am not stepping down permanently. I love the world that I have created. In fact, the Empire I created has inspired another of my players to DM herself later down the road in a neighboring kingdom. I am excited to show off what else this world has to offer.
We have the Lost Mine of Phandelver from the Starter kit and we've tried to play it before. Maybe I'll try to DM it after we've had some time for the players to forget most of it.
With the Curse of Strahd material, I offered that the players can create a character with the usual PHB + 1 and that player already had this character to hand when he joined the group last-minute, so I allowed it (not realizing the game-breaking effect the Heart of Darkness feature would have, but I am quickly learning how to counter it). Said player is also the DM that will be taking over when I take my break.
Back to the issue at hand.
Thank you for your insight. I'm realizing that perhaps the problem is less with the Halflings and more with the growing population of Humans and Elves. High elf magic-users are mainly the ruling class in this setting, but there is limited autonomy within different regions, much like in Skyrim's holds system. I may start to sow seeds showing that the hag has been impersonating members of the village and antagonizing the half-orc members, or impersonating half-orcs and . The main reason for the hag's involvement is general love of making people suffer. I was considering that perhaps she had been sent in the general direction of this particular village by the Big Bad villain of the campaign.
The next session is tomorrow night and they will be meeting up with the group again at the start of the session. I will start planning out examples of conflicting stories for the players to investigate. I just need to do some research on how to build a mystery session and I should be set for tonight. Hopefully, I can get things set up so they can track down the hag next session and buy myself some more time for planning the rest of the campaign.
Thank you for the feedback. The problem was that I had been leaving crumbs for other quests that the players could follow, but this was the one that they picked up on and I was having writer's block on how to structure what was coming up next. While it is true that I need to work on my improv skills, but I am also trying to work and get my degree so I will be getting into a time-constraints soon.
And while I know that I am nowhere near Matthew Mercer level of storyteller, it is something that I aspire toward.
The original deal was that I DM a chapter of my campaign, then we go back to the other DMs campaign for a chapter. Maybe we could go back to that deal once I feel more confident or prepared.
I forgot to mention this. My wizard player apparently forgot that he took Comprehend Languages when he levelled up so they could interrogate the Gnoll, and decided to go shopping while the rest of the party went to check on the captured Gnoll in the jail. I have realized that it was kinda my job to remind said wizard that the party kinda needed him, but they seemed much more interested in the Half-orc plot anyway. Once they are able to speak Gnoll, that plot thread will be easily dealt with.
Also, thank you for the additional resources. I have been watching WebDM and Guy's channels (How to be a Great GM and How to be a Great Player and For Your Consideration) for several months, but I have much more success while learning about things in situ than just learning the theory about it. I am also very practiced in character creation, since our group was too busy looking for a GM to play for the longest time, until I stepped up to GM after I realized that it was the only way I was going to get us to play at all.