I could be running a game in the next week for a group and one of the players that might be attending is blind and hasn't played before, I'm not a very experienced DM and I'm unsure of how I can make the game easier for him to pick up. There is another new player attending as well and two players who have very little experience playing. I have never played with any of these people but I know them, and I want them to be brought in fairly smoothly and enjoy the game.
Does anyone have any tips for the game or recommended adventures?
A good thing to do for any group of players, new or otherwise is talk to them beforehand. See what they want from a campaign and if they have any concerns (“I’m not sure to do with combat,” “I like to role play but I’m really unsure of myself”) and prepare from there. As for your blind player, see what their ideas and concerns are. You can even do a session zero as a warm up of sorts to the main campaign or module you want to run.
A fun session zero that I’ve used in the past is set in a bridge with a horse and cart crossing. One or two of the characters has been hired as an armed escort, another is coming out of the town, and another is fishing in the stream below or something like that. The carriage gets ambushed by whatever set of opponents you want, and then it’s off to the races. I hope you and your players have a good time with whatever kind of game develops.
I would try to play the first game for a blind player as "theater of the mind', i.e. no figures or maps.
Hopefully start at a lower level. The above is great advice, for the first game or two with them, go "theater of the mind" that will help you figure out how best to describe things for all players.
You may also want to run an intro session with just the new players, ie a session 0.5, so they understand some mechanics and the feel of the dice (or their app). Familiarity breeds comfort, so the more you let players experience, the more comfortable they get. Give them a chance to get some basics in without getting overwhelmed and adding to stress.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Depends a lot on what kind of game you're about to play. Theatre of the mind sounds like a good idea for combat, especially since you probably is going to play online those days and miniatures and stuff like that is probably not an option.
The following advice depends a lot on how well you know the person, and actually also a little on how old you are. I would have called him and simply talked about a lot of "issues" I could think about, and what his/her thoughts about them were. How to solve it. Perhaps do a 30 minutes play test just to see how things work. Things like: If you usually are using a chat, will that work? Is dndbeyond user friendly for blind people? Do you use a dice roller app, will that work? At least practical issues could probably be solved in such a way.
Also be very clear that he/she must let you know if you (and the other players) can do anything to make game easier for him/her. And I'm thinking about small things like: should you use names more often when you speak since he can't see.
And as an exercise I would have tried to make ALL my descriptions in the game as little as possible about sight. Instead describing smells, sounds, textures etc. Simply because that would be interesting to try!
I'm actually playing a character who after an inability to check for traps died and was returned blind, and what happened was I gained darkvision up to 60ft. This means they are still aware of their surroundings making it a lot easier to rp the blind guy
I played in the theatre of the mind many times (lack of minis, paper/pencil or so) and it is perfect. The only problem are dices, but you can always ask him to throw and the rest tells him what is the result.
You’re going to have to be very descriptive in all of your environments and everything really. All of the other senses will be very important for the blind player, Smell, touch, sounds, taste. Even when using a map, still think of it and prepare it as if it were theater of the mind for the blind player and you’ll just have to describe their surroundings meticulously.
Honestly DMing for a blind player may turn you into an amazing DM.
There was a company on the Dragon Talk podcast that is trying to bring D&D for the visually impared. They have created some awesome braile dice, if you have access to a resin 3-D printer they can provide you the file for free. Assuming you don't, contact them, they may be able to send you a set.
I could be running a game in the next week for a group and one of the players that might be attending is blind and hasn't played before, I'm not a very experienced DM and I'm unsure of how I can make the game easier for him to pick up. There is another new player attending as well and two players who have very little experience playing. I have never played with any of these people but I know them, and I want them to be brought in fairly smoothly and enjoy the game.
Does anyone have any tips for the game or recommended adventures?
A good thing to do for any group of players, new or otherwise is talk to them beforehand. See what they want from a campaign and if they have any concerns (“I’m not sure to do with combat,” “I like to role play but I’m really unsure of myself”) and prepare from there. As for your blind player, see what their ideas and concerns are. You can even do a session zero as a warm up of sorts to the main campaign or module you want to run.
A fun session zero that I’ve used in the past is set in a bridge with a horse and cart crossing. One or two of the characters has been hired as an armed escort, another is coming out of the town, and another is fishing in the stream below or something like that. The carriage gets ambushed by whatever set of opponents you want, and then it’s off to the races. I hope you and your players have a good time with whatever kind of game develops.
I would try to play the first game for a blind player as "theater of the mind', i.e. no figures or maps.
I would also try to be more theatrical. Huge or larger creature? Bang a wooden table as it walks. Do impressions of movie characters for NPCs.
Hopefully start at a lower level. The above is great advice, for the first game or two with them, go "theater of the mind" that will help you figure out how best to describe things for all players.
You may also want to run an intro session with just the new players, ie a session 0.5, so they understand some mechanics and the feel of the dice (or their app). Familiarity breeds comfort, so the more you let players experience, the more comfortable they get. Give them a chance to get some basics in without getting overwhelmed and adding to stress.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Depends a lot on what kind of game you're about to play. Theatre of the mind sounds like a good idea for combat, especially since you probably is going to play online those days and miniatures and stuff like that is probably not an option.
The following advice depends a lot on how well you know the person, and actually also a little on how old you are. I would have called him and simply talked about a lot of "issues" I could think about, and what his/her thoughts about them were. How to solve it. Perhaps do a 30 minutes play test just to see how things work. Things like: If you usually are using a chat, will that work? Is dndbeyond user friendly for blind people? Do you use a dice roller app, will that work? At least practical issues could probably be solved in such a way.
Also be very clear that he/she must let you know if you (and the other players) can do anything to make game easier for him/her. And I'm thinking about small things like: should you use names more often when you speak since he can't see.
And as an exercise I would have tried to make ALL my descriptions in the game as little as possible about sight. Instead describing smells, sounds, textures etc. Simply because that would be interesting to try!
Ludo ergo sum!
I'm actually playing a character who after an inability to check for traps died and was returned blind, and what happened was I gained darkvision up to 60ft. This means they are still aware of their surroundings making it a lot easier to rp the blind guy
I played in the theatre of the mind many times (lack of minis, paper/pencil or so) and it is perfect. The only problem are dices, but you can always ask him to throw and the rest tells him what is the result.
You’re going to have to be very descriptive in all of your environments and everything really. All of the other senses will be very important for the blind player, Smell, touch, sounds, taste. Even when using a map, still think of it and prepare it as if it were theater of the mind for the blind player and you’ll just have to describe their surroundings meticulously.
Honestly DMing for a blind player may turn you into an amazing DM.
There was a company on the Dragon Talk podcast that is trying to bring D&D for the visually impared. They have created some awesome braile dice, if you have access to a resin 3-D printer they can provide you the file for free. Assuming you don't, contact them, they may be able to send you a set.
https://www.dotsrpg.org/
"Shadow Hide You..."