Thinking of starting a campaign with a few friends. We're trying to do something short- 30-60 minutes for the first adventure, low fantasy / mystery with 4-6 players, in a tavern. First off, what kind of challenges / obstacles could I include? And how should I format the storyline? I'm a little lost :sob:. And since my party is really inexperienced, should I create a character to help them out? Like a Skyrim type 'you there! dragonborne!' ahh npc? I don't know, I'm a little lost.
Hey there, and congratulations on trying your hand at DM'ing! 30-60 minutes is a pretty short amount of time, however its not impossible to have some fun with it! Something as simple as having one of the Patrons in your tavern be an important NPC, good or evil. Bandits or Guards find out they are there, come to capture/kill them. Your players can try and talk everyone down, get into a fight, or both. And then they can also decide what to do with the important person or you could have them escape in the heat of battle and maybe have them drop something on the way out for the players to find as a cliff-hanger to set you up for a future adventure!
As far as creating characters, its not necessarily a bad idea, but talk to your players about the different classes and what they might be interested in playing. Maybe they like the simple side of bashing things with a weapon and can run a fighter or barb. You might have players who love the idea of magic, but need guidance on how to run a Sorc or Wizard. You might also have a player who doesn't even want to fight and just wants to help keep the party alive, but doesn't know what Cleric abilities to run. Guide them through it, don't do it all yourself, but definitely aid them! I would recommend starting out at at least level 2 or 3, that way they have a bit of power and won't have to worry too much about getting killed off the rip.
With all new players, your 30-60 is going to burn really fast, trying to teach everyone different things, helping them get comfortable with their character, and getting them to engage and open their creative minds! Just try not to overwhelm them with information, do your best not to kill them, and most importantly, have fun!
Advice for you as a DM: Find someone you really like as a DM and see if they're styles match your ideas of what you and your players have in mind! My inspirations are Matt Colville and Anthony Burch (Dungeons and Daddies podcast). My players enjoy the fun but serious tones I bring as a DM to the table, and I haven't had anyone complain or ask me to change anything yet!
If you have questions or want more advice, feel free to message me! Good luck in your adventures and may your PCs never die!
I disagree with the above. For your first time DMing and a really inexperienced party, create a bunch of level 1 characters with very stereotypical personalities and simple 1-3 paragraph backstories with a built-in reason for why they are in the tavern and some kind of relationship to the other characters and let the players choose which one they want to play from those.
e.g. maybe they are all former members of a gang who went their separate ways but then received a letter from their former boss asking them to meet at the tavern. Or maybe they all went to the same school then pursued other careers and have come back to town for their school reunion. Or maybe they all are neighbours who live in the town and have come to the tavern for some kind of festival / celebration. You could even go so far as to make it a wedding party and they are all members of the two extended families.
For a 30-60 minute session don't worry about much in the way of combat, you simply won't have the time for it. IMO the best short sessions are mysteries that the party solves which creates a nice satisfying conclusion. So plan challenges involving more skills / problem solving than fighting, things like: finding something someone dropped (or that someone stole), Figuring out who is lying moving heavy things - e.g. accessing a trap door underneath a giant cask of ale, or shoving aside a rack of wine bottles to open a hidden door, or lifting up a heavy chandelier that has fallen on someone, crossing difficult/hazardous terrain - e.g. a fire starts and need to save a kid on the other side, or panic breaks out and they have to cross to the other side of the tavern while everyone else is running around in a panic, swimming in a giant pool of ale. etc...
My advice would be to run an official starter adventure. Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.
Of these, the best for DMs to get to grips with things in my opinion is Dragon of Icespire Peak. It does a great job of scaffolding and modelling how a DM might run and design individual locations. Though Lost Mine of Phandelver does the best of creating a nice tight narrative arc.
These adventures also include starting pre-generated characters. This makes it the perfect starting point. I'd also as a result advise starting with the 2014 version of the rules, because the 2024 version does not yet have a starter adventure proper.
Starter Set and Essentials Kit are designed exactly for people in your position. I'd always advise starting there.
Thinking of starting a campaign with a few friends. We're trying to do something short- 30-60 minutes for the first adventure, low fantasy / mystery with 4-6 players, in a tavern. First off, what kind of challenges / obstacles could I include? And how should I format the storyline? I'm a little lost :sob:. And since my party is really inexperienced, should I create a character to help them out? Like a Skyrim type 'you there! dragonborne!' ahh npc? I don't know, I'm a little lost.
Hey there, and congratulations on trying your hand at DM'ing! 30-60 minutes is a pretty short amount of time, however its not impossible to have some fun with it! Something as simple as having one of the Patrons in your tavern be an important NPC, good or evil. Bandits or Guards find out they are there, come to capture/kill them. Your players can try and talk everyone down, get into a fight, or both. And then they can also decide what to do with the important person or you could have them escape in the heat of battle and maybe have them drop something on the way out for the players to find as a cliff-hanger to set you up for a future adventure!
As far as creating characters, its not necessarily a bad idea, but talk to your players about the different classes and what they might be interested in playing. Maybe they like the simple side of bashing things with a weapon and can run a fighter or barb. You might have players who love the idea of magic, but need guidance on how to run a Sorc or Wizard. You might also have a player who doesn't even want to fight and just wants to help keep the party alive, but doesn't know what Cleric abilities to run. Guide them through it, don't do it all yourself, but definitely aid them! I would recommend starting out at at least level 2 or 3, that way they have a bit of power and won't have to worry too much about getting killed off the rip.
With all new players, your 30-60 is going to burn really fast, trying to teach everyone different things, helping them get comfortable with their character, and getting them to engage and open their creative minds! Just try not to overwhelm them with information, do your best not to kill them, and most importantly, have fun!
Advice for you as a DM: Find someone you really like as a DM and see if they're styles match your ideas of what you and your players have in mind! My inspirations are Matt Colville and Anthony Burch (Dungeons and Daddies podcast). My players enjoy the fun but serious tones I bring as a DM to the table, and I haven't had anyone complain or ask me to change anything yet!
If you have questions or want more advice, feel free to message me! Good luck in your adventures and may your PCs never die!
I disagree with the above. For your first time DMing and a really inexperienced party, create a bunch of level 1 characters with very stereotypical personalities and simple 1-3 paragraph backstories with a built-in reason for why they are in the tavern and some kind of relationship to the other characters and let the players choose which one they want to play from those.
e.g. maybe they are all former members of a gang who went their separate ways but then received a letter from their former boss asking them to meet at the tavern. Or maybe they all went to the same school then pursued other careers and have come back to town for their school reunion. Or maybe they all are neighbours who live in the town and have come to the tavern for some kind of festival / celebration. You could even go so far as to make it a wedding party and they are all members of the two extended families.
For a 30-60 minute session don't worry about much in the way of combat, you simply won't have the time for it. IMO the best short sessions are mysteries that the party solves which creates a nice satisfying conclusion. So plan challenges involving more skills / problem solving than fighting, things like:
finding something someone dropped (or that someone stole),
Figuring out who is lying
moving heavy things - e.g. accessing a trap door underneath a giant cask of ale, or shoving aside a rack of wine bottles to open a hidden door, or lifting up a heavy chandelier that has fallen on someone,
crossing difficult/hazardous terrain - e.g. a fire starts and need to save a kid on the other side, or panic breaks out and they have to cross to the other side of the tavern while everyone else is running around in a panic, swimming in a giant pool of ale.
etc...
My advice would be to run an official starter adventure. Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.
Of these, the best for DMs to get to grips with things in my opinion is Dragon of Icespire Peak. It does a great job of scaffolding and modelling how a DM might run and design individual locations. Though Lost Mine of Phandelver does the best of creating a nice tight narrative arc.
These adventures also include starting pre-generated characters. This makes it the perfect starting point. I'd also as a result advise starting with the 2014 version of the rules, because the 2024 version does not yet have a starter adventure proper.
Starter Set and Essentials Kit are designed exactly for people in your position. I'd always advise starting there.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.