Interest check/advice on DnD 5e game

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Apr 16, 2020 5:46 pm
So I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to run a game. I’m working on an original world/idea, however since I haven’t really been DMing before, I thought about running a ready made adventure. So my question would be, is there an adventure that isn’t too tricky for new DMs? (Apart from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I see a few people running that already) or is there one that some of you would be interested in trying that you’d like me to run?

Cheers y’all
Apr 16, 2020 5:49 pm
In my experience what works is to grab a setting -- like forgotten realms or greyhawk or harn or just about anything that has a lot of flavor and then pick a small region to focus on -- then use whatever modules (or modules) you would like to use stuff from and go that route -- as that allows you to get the best of both worlds and you learn quicker how to make various semi-on-the-fly adventures to augment your game -- without resorting to the module railroad ;)
Apr 16, 2020 5:54 pm
Can confirm what DeJoker says. It also means you could alter the modules to fit backstories etc. I do find a lot of full on ap;s can be heard to work backstory in.
Apr 16, 2020 5:58 pm
You can go and check DM's Guild or Drivethrough RPG. You should be able to find several modules foe D&D5 or which are system agnostic for free, pay what you want, and/or really cheap. Read through some of them and see which would be fun and easy for you to run.
Apr 16, 2020 6:17 pm
If you have never run a game before, start small. There are many one-shot adventures that are simple and straightforward, designed to be finished in one session at a table. These one-shots are usually railroaded, but it's so that players can finish the game in one short session.

Start at low levels for the players, level 1 or maybe up to level 3. Maybe restrict character classes to the PHB, or even just going with the basic rules. Simplifying the characters means there's less you have to manage and concern yourself with.

The idea is to get your feet wet, to get used to setting up things for the players and making decisions based on their actions. As you become more familiar with running a game, you'll gain the experience to know when to improvise and how to adjust adventures on the fly. As you become more confident, you can expand to larger games and campaigns.
Apr 16, 2020 7:00 pm
If you would like a mentor be more than happy to sit down at your proverbial table and share my thoughts and give pointers as they come up as you run your game
Apr 16, 2020 7:08 pm
I'm not big on d&d 5e, so take this as you will, but I have read a lot of the lower-level adventures. To me, the one that starts out simplest and ramps up nicely is Wolves of Welton, by Winghorn Press. It's short and to the point, with plenty of room for moving into more complicated stuff.
Apr 16, 2020 8:21 pm
Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I’ll try and make a game where I use the skeleton of a module but try and shape it a little into something different. I got some free ones from Wizards this past week so I guess I might as well give those a shot. I’ll check out that Wolves of Weston one as well, Falconloft. Cheers 😁
Apr 16, 2020 8:42 pm
I can also offer DM advice like deJoker. But not dnd5e advice.
Apr 16, 2020 8:47 pm
Thanks to both of you. I’ll make sure to hit you up if I have any questions 👍🙂
Apr 17, 2020 8:22 am
There are several free 5e adventures available right now due to the play at home corona initiative

https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial
Apr 22, 2020 5:32 pm
Bear in mind that most published adventures really aren't optimized for Play by Post. You'll want to give it a readthrough, and just imagine every encounter will have to hold your attention for 2 weeks.

For combat encounters:

First of all, personal bugaboo, ALWAYS roll initiative for your PCs. Waiting for everyone to post to acknowledge a combat started is a silly waste of time. People can post getting ready, reacting to early actions, and fumbling with their bows on their own gosh danged time.

You want to either tune down (or eliminate) the combats that don't matter, or change the context to keep the players engaged. For instance, a bunch of goblins hanging out at the entrance to a cave is supposed to communicate that there are goblins there, and then be resolved in like ten minutes at the tabletop. As a PbP GM, I'd recommend either tuning down the combat so it can be over in < 3 rounds, or making sure the goblins are doing something interesting, like trying to get to an alarm horn hung inconveniently far away, to keep the players doing something more than trying to slap their HP to 0.

For boss-type encounters, you want to avoid hard Crowd Control effects like Hold and Sleep, which basically tell a player they don't get to play. Bosses who rely on these tactics might require you to add a few mooks or change up their stats, or the battlefield. Try to incorporate environmental obstacles (Pushing, grabbing, and spells like Thunderwave and Telekinesis are great tools here), since the battle of attrition is less nail-biting over the course of weeks than the course of minutes, and you want to give not only yourself, but your players some cool fiction to write, and a good, interactive environment really helps keep players engaged in an action scene.

For non-combat encounters:

Don't hold back your adventure hooks and important information too hard. Not every post has to be an infodump, and not every character has to chatter their head off, but the last thing you want is the players to completely spin their wheels with no direction. A productive misdirection that will send them off into some hazard is way, way better than stonewalling and letting the PCs run off looking for the "golden button" that will move the plot. If the PCs can't find the evil villain's lair, lead them into an ambush that they can fight off with minions who have a note instructing them to take the PCs' ears back to some place near the villain's lair.

Be ready for the players to latch on to literally anyone that has a speaking line. If you need them to talk to the butler and have the butler give them a clue on their way to the master of the house, if you don't want them to interrogate the crap out of that butler, you have to almost literally kick them in the ass, or just skip the butler in a passthrough post, and communicate the clue some other way. Dialogue with minor characters can eat up a lot of time in a vibrant tabletop game, which inflates the fact an order of magnitude over PbP. Of course, some people see this as a feature, and not a bug. Read the "table," and make sure everyone's got something going on to interact with if you want to string along some side dialogue. Even if that's more side characters.

You need to balance agency with efficiency in exploration-focused adventures. How best to handle searching a room is fodder for a good fistfight between DMs. I can only advise you be generous with your players, and do your best to judge what hidden information would be most fun and productive for them to know, and to handle as many of those "hidden" rolls in the background as possible.

Other than that, published adventures can be pretty great for pbp, especially the more open-ended and less dungeon crawly ones. You just need to find the ones with the right traits, or the right ingredients, and make sure you take out all the time sinks that will drag a game down. Pacing is a good 75% of keeping a play-by-post game on the rails.
Apr 23, 2020 7:07 am
Cheers. That’s a lot of really good pointers. I’ve decided to move away from using a module and will instead just make my own story, but this would all still apply so thanks 😊
Apr 23, 2020 7:20 am
I would also be happy to join your game and offer any advices or insights I might have. But GreyGriffin did cover most of the pitfalls.

I would like to add that play-by-post dialog can be frustrating. Example:

Post 1: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Post 2: Excuse me?
Post 3: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Post 4: I don't know, why did the chicken cross the road?
Post 5: To get to the other side! LOL

that was 5 days to tell a bad joke. Better that you narrate such an encounter like

Post 1: You meet an odd character, that tries to entertain you with bad dad-jokes

your players can then make a choice to interact with this NPC (including throwing him in the river) or not
Apr 23, 2020 7:40 am
Haha, that’s a great point, basically try to keep NPC dialogue as plot driven as possible so the game doesn’t stall, and thanks I’ll probably take you up on that and send you an invite when I’m ready to launch it.
Apr 23, 2020 4:57 pm
I'd be interested in following it as well. Dunno if I'll be able to play, but I like reading.
Apr 23, 2020 5:34 pm
As far as play-by-post goes, why would that bad joke take 5 days? Do people usually stop at one short post a day? I haven't played a game yet, but I pop by sometimes 10 times a day to check for updates, whenever I have a few minutes. How often do most people post, both players and GMs?
Apr 23, 2020 5:49 pm
It does depend on players and DMs it seems for the couple of weeks I've been here. I might need to slow down in one thread as myself a couple of others are posting more frequently and I don't want to leave others behind.
Apr 23, 2020 5:54 pm
And how does that work? Games could drag if there's one person that only posts once a week.
Apr 23, 2020 6:04 pm
Most games seem more once a day/ 4-5 a week. I have very little to do right now as my work is furloughed but constantly refresh and respond to posts but others who are working from home, or key works can't check as frequently, so likely only once or twice a day.
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