I’d say read through the first few pages and make sure you know what the characters will be doing, and what the monsters can do. And with a 2-character party, you should either give each of them a sidekick, or be prepared to make the encounters a little easier.
Yes, you should prep! First, its fun to immerse yourself in the adventure. As you read it, imagine the story, the places, the creatures, coming to life. Make notes about the ideas you have, like how an NPC might talk or how you might describe a scene that doesn't have explicit text. Then go back and really nail what you think will be the first session's content. You'll be much more confident and give your player(s) a fun and engaging game!
Being the DM does require more time and effort than what a player goes through, obviously, but ultimately the amount of effort is up to you. I believe that this is very important, one should look forward to the preparations, rather than see it as a chore that must be accomplished before the fun can begin. If not, then one might wish to reconsider taking on the job.
One thing for sure, practice makes the prep stage easier, more fluid. Every time one preps for a session, they get a better idea of how to go about it the next time; less time and effort involved, and an engaging session to boot.
I don't know icewindale starter set specifically but here are some start points.
the main point of prep is to just keep the game progressing. to make play time focused around gameplay and keep administration and tracking to a minimum.
know the general outline but only focus on the parts that players will potentially interact with next session. also getting to know your players characters. what are they good at? what are they weak to? you want at least a general idea (surprises will always happen) and it will let you gage weather you are giving a hard or easy encounter. It will also let you guess at the most probable approach your players will take. A mix of experiences is best I prefer most to be normal difficulty with a sprinkle of "show off encounters" and "hard times" mixed in.
don't feel stuck to follow to exact to the story, so prep is required for any thing you need or want to change. have a few possible leads or encounters available so you have at least something to do to finish out a session. then prep for the next session by finding the bridges to the next part of the story.
as a dm Watching one or two Live plays of icewindale on youtube never hurts if you have the time. you don't have to watch it all just enough to see how other dms might handle things, like starting or specific encounters.
Check out this video for some budget ways to prep specifically for this starter set. It can easily be translated to not only other pre-written adventures, but your own adventures, specifically cheap and easy maps for the players - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BklZZyKGfZ4 He also has other videos on how to adapt it based on his own run through.
I'd also look up Bob World Builder and Matthew Perkins, who have both also put out videos on not only prep, but some suggested changes to what's written to make it not only easier on you, but make more sense for the players.
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I recently got the starter set. I skimmed through the campaign. But, I don't really understand what I'm supposed to prep for a 2 player game.
I’d say read through the first few pages and make sure you know what the characters will be doing, and what the monsters can do.
And with a 2-character party, you should either give each of them a sidekick, or be prepared to make the encounters a little easier.
Yes, you should prep! First, its fun to immerse yourself in the adventure. As you read it, imagine the story, the places, the creatures, coming to life. Make notes about the ideas you have, like how an NPC might talk or how you might describe a scene that doesn't have explicit text. Then go back and really nail what you think will be the first session's content. You'll be much more confident and give your player(s) a fun and engaging game!
I agree with both of the above recommendations.
Being the DM does require more time and effort than what a player goes through, obviously, but ultimately the amount of effort is up to you. I believe that this is very important, one should look forward to the preparations, rather than see it as a chore that must be accomplished before the fun can begin. If not, then one might wish to reconsider taking on the job.
One thing for sure, practice makes the prep stage easier, more fluid. Every time one preps for a session, they get a better idea of how to go about it the next time; less time and effort involved, and an engaging session to boot.
I don't know icewindale starter set specifically but here are some start points.
the main point of prep is to just keep the game progressing. to make play time focused around gameplay and keep administration and tracking to a minimum.
know the general outline but only focus on the parts that players will potentially interact with next session. also getting to know your players characters. what are they good at? what are they weak to? you want at least a general idea (surprises will always happen) and it will let you gage weather you are giving a hard or easy encounter. It will also let you guess at the most probable approach your players will take. A mix of experiences is best I prefer most to be normal difficulty with a sprinkle of "show off encounters" and "hard times" mixed in.
don't feel stuck to follow to exact to the story, so prep is required for any thing you need or want to change. have a few possible leads or encounters available so you have at least something to do to finish out a session. then prep for the next session by finding the bridges to the next part of the story.
as a dm Watching one or two Live plays of icewindale on youtube never hurts if you have the time. you don't have to watch it all just enough to see how other dms might handle things, like starting or specific encounters.
Check out this video for some budget ways to prep specifically for this starter set. It can easily be translated to not only other pre-written adventures, but your own adventures, specifically cheap and easy maps for the players - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BklZZyKGfZ4 He also has other videos on how to adapt it based on his own run through.
I'd also look up Bob World Builder and Matthew Perkins, who have both also put out videos on not only prep, but some suggested changes to what's written to make it not only easier on you, but make more sense for the players.