Over the weekend, I started a 4E campaign for Nolan and his friends. The plan is to take them through the entire Keep on the Shadowfell module, and then probably into Thunderspire Labyrinth, with possible detours into various level-appropriate Delves, or something from Monte Cook's awesome new project, Dungeon-a-Day, if it makes sense to incorporate it into the campaign. If my memories of running campaigns are any indication, they'll find some way to go storming into some tower or sewer or whatever that isn't in the actual module, and I figured I should have at least one Delve prepared, just in case.
I haven't DMed anything in ages, and I haven't DMed 4E ever, so rather than start them out in Winterhaven with the events of H1, I started them out in Fallcrest, and planned to run them through a slightly-modified version of the first level Dungeon Delve. I thought this would be a good way for me to remember how to ride the bike, and a good way to introduce them to the new combat mechanics in 4E. And I'll be honest, here: I love a good dungeon crawl as much as anyone. Because I'm running this campaign for teenagers, I didn't think it was wise to dump them into serious roleplaying right away, and I'd use a play session that was primarily combat-based to get them comfortable with each other as players, and with me as a DM.
We had a lot of fun, and played for just under five hours. I had
planned for about four hours, but I had to spend more time than I
thought I would refreshing my memory in the DMG.
We sat around the table, and I began…
"You've known each other for some time, and train together at a small adventuring school founded by your friend and mentor, Douven Staul.
"For weeks, Spring has struggled to pull the Nentir Vale out of Winter's icy grip, and on this day, it just may have succeeded. The sky is cloudless and the Sun spreads warmth wherever there is not shadow.
"Douven Staul gathers you in his small office, and says, 'One month ago, my good friend Bekar Copperknight learned that a small nearby tower, abandoned for an age, had actually been built by his ancestors. Bekar, like all Dwarves, is proud, and he took a small party of prospectors with him to examine the ruins, before he reclaimed it for his family.'
"Douven pauses, and gives you all a very grave look. 'I have heard nothing from him or his party, and I fear that foul work is afoot. I am needed…' He looks uncomfortable for a moment '… elsewhere, so I have selected you, my brightest and best students, to discover his fate."
I looked up at the three of them while I spoke. One of Nolan's friends made notes as I talked, another grinned back at me. Nolan spun a d20 on the table as he listened. I kept a straight face, but inside I was bursting with joy.
"He gives you a map. On the banks of the Winter River, about a day's journey from Fallcrest, he's drawn a small building. 'The tower is here,' he says, 'you must leave immediately, for I am beginning to fear the worst.'"
"This is what you've been waiting for," I said. "You return to your rooms and gather your gear."
Continued in Part 2…
I have two sets of the old Hero Quest board game from forever ago that I cannibalize. I had painted most of the monsters when I was younger and the doors, chests, tables and other items are already scaled for a 1″ square based map. If I didn’t already have that I’d probably be using tokens of some sort for the most part.
Of course, because I *did* have it, I felt justified in getting a few boxes of random minis as well as the Gargantuan White Dragon Icingdeath set. The dragon just sits in the back of the room, staring at the party. They know I’ll put him on the table eventually……
Did you ever listen to that episode of my podcast? I have a bet with my husband on it. š
3clipse, thanks, I’m glad you liked Plague of Spells! And, sounds like you egineered a cool encounter with the cube. Who knew such a simple little mini could add so much? š
Yeah, I pretty much agree that they are sucking our wallets dry. I was thinking of using Warhammer fantasy stuff myself, but I don’t like painting them (and I’m bad at it :D) so that kind of put a stop to that.
Oh, and btw, I found that paizo.com (and some other shops but they weren’t stocked as well) sells a lot of singles from d&d minis, and the common ones seem quite affordable.
Hey, whatever works š
When you’re bringing in a bunch of new / young players you’re not going to be aiming for a long and detailed background explaining why their character came to be the way they are, just enough of an explanation that will make sense. Adventuring school ticks the boxes without being entirely implausible (If I was to DM on this approach I might be tempted to say the school teacher’s fee would be something like requiring 5% of loot for the next x years or similar.)
Leave it up to them to develop a back story should they be that way inclined. Personally I love to do that, and given Wil’s description of building his 4e character for the Jim Darkmagic event, and indeed some of his recent blogs it would appear he does too. I guess that’s fairly natural for someone who now beginning to realise that he’s actually an author who happens to act to help pay the bills.
One of my spice and I drive 3 hours 1 way once a month so he can DM a 4th ed campaign with his brother, two teenage nieces and two guys he played with in high school in the 80’s. That’s 6 hours on the road, plus gaming from 8am (yeah…we get up at o’dark ugly so we can start at 8am) till anywhere from 6 to 11pm. The family that games together….games together (and it makes memories that are golden.
(My youngest, who is now in his 30’s, still recalls the character he played in high school in a Traveller campaign his dad ran back in the early 90’s. He played a brick named Stump and his talking cat Furbutt. They had their own action figures.
Hey, adventuring school, tavern, inn … it’s all just part of the MacGuffin, and after they get to Winterhaven, I don’t think it’ll ever come up again. Not that it matters, but I wasn’t that crazy about it, either, but I ultimately decided that it was about as important as what color paint they use for the starting line of a race, you know?
I’ve instructed the kids to spend a much time as they want crafting their backstories before our next session, though, so we’ll see what they come up with and how they incorporate the school into their work.
Thanks for sharing this, Wil. I was too busy being a full-on drama nerd to get the chance to play any D&D (my entire exposure was limited to a handful of devoted player-friends and that ancient Saturday morning cartoon…remember it?). Anyway, getting to read about this campaign is a treat.
I think you’d be shocked to learn how many of us drama nerds were also gaming nerds. There’s a lot of crossover there.
Hey, Bruce. Another longtime fan.
Is it bad that every time I see your name, my brain automatically re-parses it as “Ucec Ordell“?
I ran games for my son and friends for a while. It was some of the best times ever. He’s off to school now (sigh) so we only get to play every once in awhile. Enjoy these times.(Cue: Harry Chapin)
My group (all over 40, all playing since the grey box edition) finished Keep and are into Thunderspire now. Great stuff and really easy to modify when necessary to fit your story line. I actually split a section of the Keep off to the dig site and that worked well.
If you are not already familiar with Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventures, I highly recommend you check them out. Great new 4e adventures with old school feel!
I’m already hooked! What happens next? Huh? Huh? HUH?
TypePadI was kinda thinking that was his reason. I just thought it kind of a funny concept.
add me to the list of those now jonesing for a real D&D session. WoW is fun, but I’m really missing the feel of a hand fulf of dice.
Ahhh I miss the days playing under my dad. He doesn’t have time anymore, being on so many boards and committees and whatnot. I are jealousz.
Wil, I’m looking forward to reading about how your campaign goes. There’s nothing quite as exciting as getting ready to start a new campaign. Well, OK, there are other things as exciting, but it’s still pretty good.
Monte Cook
*happy sigh* That photo brings back so many good memories of campaigns past! Your son is very lucky indeed to have a Dad who DMs for him. There is so much that can be learned playing this game, from basic problem solving to integrity and the handling of difficult situations and moral issues, if handled well. Not to mention all of the creativity it sparks!
Have fun, man. And don’t forget to snap those photos for the family album. š
Wow, you sound like a great dm. I am so jealous!
A couple sessions into Keep after making my own crude “K1” counters, I found these counters (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=56039&it=1) on DriveThruRPG for free! They are perfect and I think add a lot, but one of my players still insists on minis, even though they’ll have to stand it for other things a lot. Thankfully he has a friend who has a treasure trove of minis and is supposed to be sending us some. I really like the counters though, and I think you will too!
You can get miniatures on Ebay, but who’s ever used miniatures? When I started playing D&D, miniatures were NEVER used. I don’t like the board game feel of miniatures. I might as well just play “Risk”.
If you’ve played WoW, then you’ve played 4E D&D. It’s like a video game with straight line linear modules to follow. I don’t like to be “told” where to go as a character and I hate having to run something that is preordained as a DM. If the characters go off track you’re whole “campaign” is ruined. That’s the problem with conveyor belt modules which 4E relies on most of the time.
I have played 4E about five times and I did have fun twice, but those times the DM had taken out all that crap and played it like the old days with a piece of paper a few dice and our imagination. It was a good time, but he basically turned 4E into 2nd so I felt it would be a waste of my money to buy it. I do own 3.5 and I thought that was a giant turd and I have never cracked the books since that first week of trying to figure out what the hell they were thinking. I know what they were thinking, “Hey we could make some more money by changing up our whole system, we could sell ALL new source books and modules” No thanks, I already gave all of my money to WoTC when Magic: The Gathering came out.
Great post though. I really enjoy others having a good time playing D&D. I can’t wait for my son to get old enough to play. I bet WoTC will be on version 5.0 by then and it’ll come with a series of giant grid maps and a CD for my laptop and force you to buy three hundred mini’s. I can’t wait.
Michael
Michael
Man, I can’t wait to be a dad like you.
As for minis, I truly understand your peeve with WotC on this one. Truly. Descent will provide some really good generic minis. Also, take a glance through that amazing garage we’re always hearing about and see if you have a copy of heroquest for goblins, orcs and evil knights, all things Descent lacks. FLGS are good if you have one. If not (I have a ULGS), I usually use IconUSA and get singles from them.
Another solution that’s cheap and mildly nicer than tokens are cardstock minis. Hop on google image search, find pictures or sketches of what you want, rescale them to a one inch base (or larger), copy and invert the picture. Print and fold. Double-sided standing cardstock minis a la the old Cardboard Heroes that provide at least a little better visual cue as to what will block whose line of sight.
Hope some of that helps.
I’m so jealous. I REALLY need to get a group running up here. I look forward to reading more about how this one goes.
Minis were always a part of the game as Gygax intended. However, most of us when we started playing never used them in 1st edition.
Going back now from 1st/2nd edition and a 15 year absence directly into 4th that has changed.
The minis are adding an amazing degree of depth to the combat tactics used by the players.
***CHEAP MINI ALTERNATIVE TIP***
I spent a few hours on the Wizards of the coast website copying the pictures of the minis. I then sorted the minis in photoshop to 1″ or 1×2″ scales etc depending on creature size. I then printed out the resulting images and glued them onto cardboard. I then used HomeDepot clear vinyl adhesive to coat the pieces…
Voila, monsters and player minis that fit perfectly onto the battlemaps (I use dry erasable on a large vinyl covered battlemap.
Wil you are a great dad to so this for Nolan and his friends. I remember when I got the first white box back in 1978. It was almost a full year later before I could find anyone to play with. My mom saw me struggle with finding anyone and tried to play it but none of us really understood the game fully. It was fun but kinda crazy. She was awesome to try.
I got to return the favor last weekend running her through the 4th edition starter set “Under Harken.” We had a laugh out loud great time and I hope you and the boys do as well. BTW if you ever need a map of Harken I made one in the same style as the Falcrest map because I couldn’t find one anywhere.
Harken map link.
http://img1.putphoto.com/images/main/3/7306240679-orig.jpg
Dude, thank you, Monte.
Dungeon a Day is awesome, by the way. The incredible amount of awesome stuff you keep creating for us gamers is just staggering.
Nice opening. You definitely have set the stage well for the campaign, and it sounds like its going to be fun. On a side note, it doesn’t look like you have enough dice behind your DM screen. Unless of course these are the “sacred DM dice”, stored in hibernation over the years, just waiting for the opportunity to land 20s on unsuspecting players. I usually have to resort to at least one extra set. Because as we all know, there really is such a thing as “hot dice” and “cold dice”. There’s only so many nat 20’s to go around, after all. Its been scientifically proven. Really.
That’s a great map. Thanks!
-5 for the dice bag not being a purple crown royal bag.
+5 for it being a SJG illuminati bag.
It all works out in the end.
Hey Wil,
A friend linked me to your post because he said it reminded him of me. I, too, play 4e with my stepsons (15 and 11). We’ve been playing for a while now and it’s a pretty great experience and the opportunity to spend lots of time with them having fun is pretty great.
We play in a semi-regular campaign with 3 of my older son’s friends which sometimes has it’s challenges. I am a player and Daniel (15) DMs. I try very hard to be just a player and not a parent, but it’s a tricky line. A group of teenage boys is VERY difficult to keep focused sometimes! At one point I drew up a manifesto so we could keep a lid on the table-talk and actually focus on playing D&D instead of talking about World of Warcraft and quoting Southpark. The game should be fun and they seemed to be having fun but we ALL should! We don’t actually adhere to the manifesto anymore, but it was a good way for me to present to them my frustration at their lack of focus. We seem to have managed to get it back under control and we are adding a couple of adults into the mix which will make for a nice dynamic, too.
I just thought I would share with you some of my experience doing a similar thing. Let me know if you want a copy of the manifesto ;)! Seriously, I love playing with my boys and wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s pretty cool when they get to the point where they want to DM for you, btw.
Pat
When I played, it was Monty Python and Airplane quotes. I love it that your stepkids quote South Park.
Good on ya, for playing with your boys! Cherish it as long as it lasts.
Oddly enough my 15 year old crew quotes Monty Python, too! We have a rule: If you quote Monty Python you must take a bite of your character sheet. We toned it down from “eat your character sheet” as it made gaming for the rest of the session a bit problematic.
dang wil, wish i was there, it’s been years since i’ve had a good battle, if you ever need 2nd edition ravenloft ideas let me know.