Hi everyone. My friends a I are very new to the game. I have decided to be DM (I hope I’ve made the right decision) We’ve played a few small quests and it seems to be going fairly well. I just have a couple of questions that I could do with having answered.
1. I recently made a prison where the PC’s were being kept. They were stripped of their weapons and there was a magic blocker. The Dragonborn melted his leg shackles using his acid breath. An Orc guard entered the room shortly afterwards and the Dragonborn wanted to use his arm shackles as a weapon and strangle the orc. On the day I was unsure if this was something that could be done or how to marshal it. I made both the Dragonborn and Orc roll for a contest with their strength. The Dragonborn won the struggle and so it was decided that he made the Orc unconscious. If he’d failed I was going to get the Orc to throw him aside. Are actions like this acceptable to knock an NPC out without full blown combat to get their HP down to 0?
2. As there are only 3 if us playing 1 DM and 2 PC’s. I wanted to assist my friends with a friendly NPC or maybe even 2. When getting the friendly NPC’s to do actions in combat or in a situation where the NPC’s can help/use their skills. Should their actions be decided by the DM or the players? I feel that it should be the DM because otherwise they just become PC’s but as DM I don’t want to be making decisions for the players if I know what is going to happen.
3. Third and final question. How does everyone narate as DM? Is it best to just give a basic description of a room and what is in it and let the players do whatever they want to in the room or is it best to say ‘your character walks around. He checks inside the dresser before moving towards the mirror’
Sure. I'd have just had the dragonborn make a grapple attack and if he held the grapple for a few turns he could choke out the orc, but how you handled it worked just as well.
It can go either way. Honestly it might be fun for the players to take control of an NPC to help take the load off of you during a fight. Really it just comes down to how much work you want to have to be doing behind the screen.
Letting the players describe their actions is usually the best option. Keep your descriptions pretty to-the-point and use what you say to maybe direct your players to where you want them to go. If you give a boring description of an area, there's a good chance you won't get anyone interested in looking around.
1: Sounds legit. There are numerous ways to adjudicate actions, the stuff in the books is a base line, a way to keep consistency. If you make a ruling, it's your game, it works that way, as long as it is consistent on both sides of the screen.
2: I pick a middle ground between players input and DM control. As the DMPC I will announce my intent, this way the players have a chance to give input and I can adjust my actions accordingly. Other times I'll just have the DMPC ask "Should I..." or "Would you like me to...", again giving the players the chance to influence the decision if they feel the need. When I feel that my actions will not interfere with them maintaining the control of the pace or when they are stumbling around lost, that's the only time I will pick an action without input.
3: Introducing them to a new room, location, person, etc. be as descriptive as is needed. There's no need to go all Tolkein on what a cargo box looks like, however the room they stumbled into where the cargo box is stored, gimme all the adjectives you can muster. Describing a players actions should be nothing more than paraphrasing what they have said with different flowery words. Giving details on how the world responds to the players actions should be as detailed as necessary; describing the killing blow in combat, use those big words, describing how upset the shop keep is at losing a negotiation probably doesn't need too much time dedicated to it.
Thanks Metamongoose. That’s really great. I like the idea of using a grapple and holding out on the choke for a couple of goes to really show the struggle.
The other thing I did consider doing with the NPC’s was deciding on an average figure for damage for each weapon and rolling 1d6. If it was even it would be a hit and if it’s odd it would be a miss but I don’t know how I feel about mixing things up that much.
I think I might just need to start getting extremely descriptive and hope that the players pick up on the things that I want them to look at then. Thanks for all your help.
Hi everyone. My friends a I are very new to the game. I have decided to be DM (I hope I’ve made the right decision) We’ve played a few small quests and it seems to be going fairly well. I just have a couple of questions that I could do with having answered.
1. I recently made a prison where the PC’s were being kept. They were stripped of their weapons and there was a magic blocker. The Dragonborn melted his leg shackles using his acid breath. An Orc guard entered the room shortly afterwards and the Dragonborn wanted to use his arm shackles as a weapon and strangle the orc. On the day I was unsure if this was something that could be done or how to marshal it. I made both the Dragonborn and Orc roll for a contest with their strength. The Dragonborn won the struggle and so it was decided that he made the Orc unconscious. If he’d failed I was going to get the Orc to throw him aside. Are actions like this acceptable to knock an NPC out without full blown combat to get their HP down to 0?
2. As there are only 3 if us playing 1 DM and 2 PC’s. I wanted to assist my friends with a friendly NPC or maybe even 2. When getting the friendly NPC’s to do actions in combat or in a situation where the NPC’s can help/use their skills. Should their actions be decided by the DM or the players? I feel that it should be the DM because otherwise they just become PC’s but as DM I don’t want to be making decisions for the players if I know what is going to happen.
3. Third and final question. How does everyone narate as DM? Is it best to just give a basic description of a room and what is in it and let the players do whatever they want to in the room or is it best to say ‘your character walks around. He checks inside the dresser before moving towards the mirror’
Many thanks in advance. Luke
Here's my take on it:
1) As others have said, you did fine. The grapple for a few turns thing is good as well, but fundamentally there's nothing wrong with the way you handled the situation.
2) I strongly discourage DMPCs, (counter intuitively perhaps) ESPECIALLY if you're new to being a DM. First, you don't need the extra hassle. You already have tons of NPCs to build and make interesting and all of that. No reason to give yourself a time sink in terms of also making a player character. Second, because it's REALLY hard to not cheat, and to execute a DMPC in a way that's well done, and does not intrude on player agency. It can be done, for sure, but it's easier said than done, so I typically consider them best used by very experienced DMs who have a deft touch using them to guide very new or very young players through their first roleplaying experiences, to give them some inspiration on what kind of actions are possible, in the absence of other experienced roleplayers in a group. Personally if you're concerned there's not enough people there and want to have 4 party members, I'd just have the players control two people each.
3) Watch a few episodes of "Critical Role". It offers a great example of "default narrative directive", which basically is a way to say that unless a player indicates otherwise, it's ok to assume they're continuing on the course they've set for themselves. If they went down into the mines to search for a goblin warlord, and they move into an empty room with one exit other than where they entered from, and they don't indicate they want to do anything special after describing the room, it's ok to assume they continue on to the exit and continue searching for the goblin warlord. They don't need to reaffirm their course of action every 5 seconds.
The specific example you gave would be very appropriate, in the event that one or more character had previously indicated they are searching everything around here looking for something. Again after describing the room, you don't need to wait for them to say "yeah, I search the dresser"; it can be assumed. It would NOT be appropriate in the event they were chasing a fleeing assassin- the action would not be consistent with their last stated goal. Nor would it be appropriate if they had just wandered into the room for some unrelated reason which had ceased being relevant.
In the event their listed goal ceases being applicable, or there is a decision to be made, then you want to stop assuming (such as at a fork at the road), and prompt for input. "You've reached a fork in the road- the forest darkens to the left and continues on in a curving path quickly lost to sight, while on the right it appears to leave the forest, and you catch what looks like sun reflecting off of water in the distance. What do you want to do?" Always prompt at the end of the description, or make it clear the time is theirs to do with as they please, don't just tail off at the end of a description. Make it clear it's time for them to do something. If your players are struggling at figuring out what to do next, provide more leading prompts ("which fork do you wish to travel down" rather than "what do you want to do", for example), while if they're doing great open it up a bit more and prompt less. Either way, *always* make it clear that they can jump in at any time if they want to do something different, or in response to what you just said, or need clarification, or otherwise need you to stop assuming.
When I was new to being a DM I just stopped and waited for player input far too often. It causes things to drag on and perhaps unexpectedly decreases player interest (stuff isn't happening regularly) rather than increasing their sense of participation. Moving to the next spot where they have something *important* to do or decide unless they indicate they want to do something differently is better for everyone involved. Hope that helps!
Hi guys. Thanks so much for your replies. You’ve given me a lot to think about and really helped me out. I’m looking forward to my next session and hopefully many more after that. Many thanks, Luke.
Hi everyone. My friends a I are very new to the game. I have decided to be DM (I hope I’ve made the right decision) We’ve played a few small quests and it seems to be going fairly well. I just have a couple of questions that I could do with having answered.
1. I recently made a prison where the PC’s were being kept. They were stripped of their weapons and there was a magic blocker. The Dragonborn melted his leg shackles using his acid breath. An Orc guard entered the room shortly afterwards and the Dragonborn wanted to use his arm shackles as a weapon and strangle the orc. On the day I was unsure if this was something that could be done or how to marshal it. I made both the Dragonborn and Orc roll for a contest with their strength. The Dragonborn won the struggle and so it was decided that he made the Orc unconscious. If he’d failed I was going to get the Orc to throw him aside. Are actions like this acceptable to knock an NPC out without full blown combat to get their HP down to 0?
2. As there are only 3 if us playing 1 DM and 2 PC’s. I wanted to assist my friends with a friendly NPC or maybe even 2. When getting the friendly NPC’s to do actions in combat or in a situation where the NPC’s can help/use their skills. Should their actions be decided by the DM or the players? I feel that it should be the DM because otherwise they just become PC’s but as DM I don’t want to be making decisions for the players if I know what is going to happen.
3. Third and final question. How does everyone narate as DM? Is it best to just give a basic description of a room and what is in it and let the players do whatever they want to in the room or is it best to say ‘your character walks around. He checks inside the dresser before moving towards the mirror’
Many thanks in advance. Luke
Dungeon Master - PBP Lost Mine Of Phandelver (Closed)
Dungeon Master - PBP Out Of The Abyss (Closed)
Dungeon Master - The Chronicles Of Dantia (Home Game)
Forbi & Dorbi - Deep Gnome - Fighter/Rogue - PBP Into The Fire
Vosdred Ironeye - Hill Dwarf - Fighter/Wizard - PBP Game of the Last Chance
In order:
1: Sounds legit. There are numerous ways to adjudicate actions, the stuff in the books is a base line, a way to keep consistency. If you make a ruling, it's your game, it works that way, as long as it is consistent on both sides of the screen.
2: I pick a middle ground between players input and DM control. As the DMPC I will announce my intent, this way the players have a chance to give input and I can adjust my actions accordingly. Other times I'll just have the DMPC ask "Should I..." or "Would you like me to...", again giving the players the chance to influence the decision if they feel the need. When I feel that my actions will not interfere with them maintaining the control of the pace or when they are stumbling around lost, that's the only time I will pick an action without input.
3: Introducing them to a new room, location, person, etc. be as descriptive as is needed. There's no need to go all Tolkein on what a cargo box looks like, however the room they stumbled into where the cargo box is stored, gimme all the adjectives you can muster. Describing a players actions should be nothing more than paraphrasing what they have said with different flowery words. Giving details on how the world responds to the players actions should be as detailed as necessary; describing the killing blow in combat, use those big words, describing how upset the shop keep is at losing a negotiation probably doesn't need too much time dedicated to it.
Thanks Metamongoose. That’s really great. I like the idea of using a grapple and holding out on the choke for a couple of goes to really show the struggle.
The other thing I did consider doing with the NPC’s was deciding on an average figure for damage for each weapon and rolling 1d6. If it was even it would be a hit and if it’s odd it would be a miss but I don’t know how I feel about mixing things up that much.
I think I might just need to start getting extremely descriptive and hope that the players pick up on the things that I want them to look at then. Thanks for all your help.
Luke.
Dungeon Master - PBP Lost Mine Of Phandelver (Closed)
Dungeon Master - PBP Out Of The Abyss (Closed)
Dungeon Master - The Chronicles Of Dantia (Home Game)
Forbi & Dorbi - Deep Gnome - Fighter/Rogue - PBP Into The Fire
Vosdred Ironeye - Hill Dwarf - Fighter/Wizard - PBP Game of the Last Chance
Hi guys. Thanks so much for your replies. You’ve given me a lot to think about and really helped me out. I’m looking forward to my next session and hopefully many more after that. Many thanks, Luke.
Dungeon Master - PBP Lost Mine Of Phandelver (Closed)
Dungeon Master - PBP Out Of The Abyss (Closed)
Dungeon Master - The Chronicles Of Dantia (Home Game)
Forbi & Dorbi - Deep Gnome - Fighter/Rogue - PBP Into The Fire
Vosdred Ironeye - Hill Dwarf - Fighter/Wizard - PBP Game of the Last Chance