DnD 5e Learning Quest Request

[Ana-Kitsune]

So a group of my friends gather every Thursday to play games for a few years now. However they are generally the worst group ever because someone (or multiple people) call out nearly every week nobody ever has their characters leveled properly or the DM doesn't have a campaign prepared. I personally have never gotten to play because I work late on Thursdays. Right now they are struggling to even get together once a month because even if some people show up they do not campaign and so nobody even bothers to try anymore. Everybody wants to DM but nobody wants to put in the work. They will have one person running around causing mayhem and another spending 30 minute's talking to NPC's and so some people get completely ignored. We have attempted to introduce "new blood" to the group to rejuvenate interest but the new players get shunted by the fact that no game is ever actually played and they soon leave the group.


So here I am attempting to learn from basically nowhere how to play, and eventually DM a game. So that I can say "Game day is THIS day, I will be there with my campaign and we will play with whoever show's up." or something to that extent. We are all 20 somethings and frankly having a shitty time of life.  ALL OF US. We need this. So help me.


I need someone (or actually a few someone's ideally) to teach me the ropes. I can read the books but without playing the game it all just seems too abstract. I obviously can't DM since I have never played so I have need of a DM and a couple of other players. Help me out someone?

 

[Umbrie]

you don't need to be a GM to set up a dice RP. i know a bit of each D&D System from 1e-5e but not enough to DM. i can offer my assistance as a mentor player, even if not a mentor character.. players can make interest threads for games they want to play in. just remember to state in the thread title that you ned a GM.


my 5e Advice is to have everyone use point buy and coordinate their characters to be connected somehow. i also recommend half elf or variant human as good beginner races


the beginner classes i recommend are fighter for smashing or shooting things, rogue for skills, or warlock for magic.

 

[OnyxReaper]

If you do what to DM, the first thing you need to know, especially in 5e, is that it's your world and your story. What you say goes, and the rules are just a guideline.

 

[Umbrie]

If you do what to DM, the first thing you need to know, especially in 5e, is that it's your world and your story. What you say goes, and the rules are just a guideline.

Some GM Tips


1. a roleplay isn't a story that belongs to any one person, but instead, to all those who put input upon it. each owning their own input. a roleplay is a collaboration


2. always expect player input


3. as a GM, you are the referee, but you must be willing to allow players to propose a case


4. as a GM, if you want to modify the rules, it is recommended you provide the modifications upfront in an easily accessible player's guide handout. you can do this with google docs


5. any agreed upon modifications trump general rules


6. if you ban a particular race, class, item or feat or other character option. you must provide a reason why

 

[IronTaurus]

Hey I am a DM with only about a year experience but I believe to know a few things as ive played rp many years.


First off, what kind of game do you want it to be? Me for example I usually say my RPG is 70% rp and 30% battle, theee are not many battles in my campains but when they happen the players will feel it.  So do you want it to be focused on battle, rp or maybe a balance of the two?


Second, how do you want your world to look like? is magic something common or is it something considered rare? 


When first two topics is done I have a few tips:


1. Immersive experience, make it as immersive as you can with music that fits the location your players are in. I have a list of songs I use which I can share since most of them can be found on yt. Also players that play games or go to smoke everytime they are not in focus are a big no no. RPG is meant to be played as a group so even if that player's character is not there at the moment he should still listen.


2. Rewards and Punishment, The fun thing about rp is to make your own choice as a player and character this however is even more fun if that choice has a consequence. If a character chooses to kill a random farmer then you can later make the town have a murder investigation that puts the players in a tough situation which stalls them from their quest. If a player helps people he might later find out that his deeds has been noticed and if he walks into a bar villagers might pay him a free drink. There are tons of ways you can reward a player.


3. Rolling the dice, often when a gm determines if something is happening (such as wolves attacking) he/she rolls a dice. I found out that a good way to keep my players on the edge is to roll the dice even if I know there is nothing to happen, keep doing it and even ask them about their perception only to tell them "Ok, you see nothing!" it makes them worried which they often should be if they are in a dark forest etc.


4. You are in charge, all the players must understand that regardless of what the rules say what GM say goes. They can help you if you don't know all the rules but they should not argue with the GM. Many times ive ignored rules because certain events needed to happen in a certain way.


5. It is not GM vs Players, the idea of rpg is to cooperate to make a good game and story.


And lastly I can point towards Matt Mercer's GM tips found on yt.  

 

[Ana-Kitsune]

I have several possible worlds that I could try out with stories that are immersive where each character has a deep background and the cultures are defined as far back to the founding of the land and the individual races and species that dwell there. The topography, history, commerce, law, and more. I have filled pages and pages with details of the various aspects of those worlds. Thing is these are my stories and my worlds that I made for novels that I will never write because the stories are so important. I want them to be perfect and I am far from a perfect writer. The problem is that it is cooperative storytelling. It's not my story but the groups story. I could work hard to make it wonderful and someone could just decide to say "f**k it" and burn down the whole village that I've made with my heart and soul just because It seemed like it would be fun.


I don't want to half-ass anything. I want to create something that would be as fulfilling as someone would want it to be. As far as they dig I want to give them treasure in the form of depth. I also don't want to give all my time and effort to create something that get's ignored or destroyed. My group is like this.


1. The one with ADHD. If it's not his turn he will be doing about anything to waste time. When it is his turn you can count on him to do something completely odd.


2. The one with questions. He is the one that wants to know about the sort of things that are mined in the land. If I don't say gold and we are using gold coins for currency he will demand to know where the gold for our currency comes from. And if I tell him from another land he wants to know what we trade for that gold how far away is that land, when did this trade relationship begin. Just in general a lot of basically unimportant questions to try to "poke holes".


3. The sensitive one. She likes a deep lore and fulfilling interactions. She is the type to have read every single book in Skyrim or ESO.


4. The Rules guy. He knows all the rules and demands they be followed to the letter. Even to the point off challenging the GM.                                                                           5. The one that just wants to play. He just wants to play the game so anything that holds up the game annoys him. (see all above people) If it's known there will be no game being played he won't bother to show up.

 

[IronTaurus]

Oh dear that is some group you have. 


It is good to state what you expect from your group as well, A few things to do is restricting your group to something that works. I told my players I did not want any evil characters in the group unless they could convince me otherwise. Restrictions are good and should always exist in rpg according to me, make your group answer a survey of questions related to their character and what choices he/she would do such as moral choices. This is good because it forces them to follow restrictions in their character that they themselves has made.


 As for your group according to what you've said:


1. Try to explain to him that it is rude to other players to find something to do while others are playing it is like going to a poem class and just wants others to hear your poem but listen to music during others. Also if he tries I am sure he can find enjoyment in hearing what others do as well.


2. Give the players a summary of things that a commoner would know in your world/land/city, then say to them "This is what your characters know of this place!" you can state things as The city got it wealth by their fine craftsmanship in furniture. If he asks questions make sure he actually asks someone that would know, commoners does not always know where and how a city gets its wealth, if he really finds his way to get answers it is also likely that the people who know them won't give him a detailed answer and brush it off with "Our craftsmanship of course, what else?". Someone at a higher position would not always tell anyone the details of a city's wealth. Now lets say that he plays a character that is in the postition to know this you can either give him an answer or maybe ask him why he feel it is important to know this.  


3. Now this is the type of player I like, not much to say here, try to give her the lore she wants but as stated with nr 2 some people will really have to look for it since some knowledge is just something not everyone knows. In my world I have placed some knowledge that are false and some that are true, such as the creation mythology of a weapon and the actually creation method of the weapon. You can really go crazy with this, for example; Myth: "And the god gave the weapon smith the nail of his finger and out of it the smith created a sword harder and stronger than any existing material, it radiated of pure energy and would imbue the wielder with gods power!" Fact: "A powerful weapon smith was ordered by the church to help create a weapon worthy of a saint so he used all his knowledge to create his greatest work yet, the high priest impressed by the work enchanted the weapon with a powerful spell making it glow out of holy power". finding out the myth is awesome and learning the truth can be equally so.


4. This guy needs to learn that he cannot play the game alone and need to respect that other players might play differently. It is sad that he won't show if nothing goes his way but if it helps you can have a discussion to hear what everyone expects the game to be like, if it just won't work with him it might be best to play without him. 


Hope this helps, if you want I am more than happy to discuss more, we can share and give each other feedback. 

 

[Ana-Kitsune]

Thank you all for the wonderful help so far, It's really helped me to think about what sort of campaign I will run and how I can create an amazing experience for all of my friends. Here's some things I've developed so far.


The land: Muiya. A land much like earth in many ways (multiple continents, one moon, land and sea) with magic and battle abundant in a medieval pre-firearm pre-industrial setting.


The people: Most DnD races can be found somewhere upon the planet but they are not all encountered or even commonly known to exist.


The story: Captain James Teed gathers a team of desperate people to help him with a mission he alone cannot achieve. He has wronged his mentor, a master of the wormhole magic. The result has left the man who taught him everything... twisted. Inside and out the once great man is warped and mangled. He fights desperately to flee and escape though he knows not what. He is unable to control his own magic and is a danger to anyone who approaches. Captain Teed knows the great debt that is owed and vows to relieve his master of the agony life has now become. However as his student he is not capable of doing what must be done. He has coin, knowledge, and a ship, now all he needs is a crew to aide him.


Pretty bare bones, trying not to be to complicated since I'm a noob.

 

[IronTaurus]

That is a great start, just as you said, if it is your first campaign making a simple one is good. 


What you should think of here is the two characters Captain James Teed and his Teacher. Make as detailed character as possible since these are the characters you want the player to know and talk to. Maybe make up a reason why he has no crew, maybe his last one died or the crew maybe feels their Captain is so determined to help his teacher that he ignores the danger he puts his crew in and they just won't follow him into danger anymore. Giving character depth through someone else is really good as well, let the players talk to someone who has an opinion of the Captain or his teacher, is it a good opinion or bad? 


Here is a character background sheet I use for my NPC's. It is a slimmed down version of the '100q about your character' which is really good but might be overkill for an npc.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pjiOz5zqrfJVuUaoFTDnHLlu65PVebJgRfM3jtw29aQ/edit?usp=sharing