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May 20, 2013, 2:15am

Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: OD&D Study :: I'm looking for Aid

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Topic: I'm looking for Aid (Read 569 times)

thyking
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I'm looking for Aid
« Thread Started on Jan 21, 2011, 5:29am »

I have never Dm'd before and i am looking to do so. I have a few friends who have never played before, so i want to start a campaign, what i wish to do is make characters that they can just play to get used to the game. My problem is I am having character building block, can anyone help give me some ideas? It would be helpful.

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Finarvyn
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Re: I'm looking for Aid
« Reply #1 on Jan 21, 2011, 6:35am »

This would be a little easier with more details. How many friends?

The neat thing about OD&D is that character building takes very little time -- just roll 3d6 six times (in order or use the "arrange to taste" variant), pick a class, roll hit points, and so on.

For newcomers you might focus on the "big three" or "big four" classes -- fighter, magic-user, cleric, or the fourth of thief. One of each. If you have more than four players, maybe double-up on fighter or cleric. If you know them pretty well, you could pick which player best "fits" each class. At that point you could expand to other classes as seems appropriate.

Then put together character sheets for them. List off spells for the MU, thief actions for the thief, and so on.

If you want them to experience the potential thrill of death, start 'em out at 1st level. If you want to be a bit more kind, start 'em at 3rd. If you start them too high they may grow to expect it, which could kill some of the low-level-play fun later on.

Basically, don't sweat character generation in OD&D. The game is simple enough to make the play more interesting than character powers in general, so exact details aren't that significant. You don't tend to get gaudy stat bonuses, huge lists of skills, or other factors that slow down character building in other games.

Then focus on the adventure you want them to experience. That will be the part that will "sell" OD&D to them

Good luck, and feel free to ask for more wisdom as you need it!

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thyking
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Re: I'm looking for Aid
« Reply #2 on Jan 21, 2011, 7:02am »

Thank you very much for the advice it actually struck a cord for the mojo of chara development. I have 2 friends and a few more who are interested. I've played a dozen plus campaigns, and i know how it works but when you run one its a bit different. But again thank you.

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Finarvyn
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Re: I'm looking for Aid
« Reply #3 on Jan 21, 2011, 9:21am »

If you have 2 friends, I'd start with a fighter and a magic-user and avoid tossing undead their way for a while. That way they get the exposure to combat and magic.

Some of the early campaigns were pre-thief, and DMs of the day allowed for all characters to try thief-like actions. With a small party I would encourage this, but once you get an actual thief character in the party I'd disallow everyone to do those things so that the thief becomes special.

Again, don't sweat the details. Your friends have never played and will be deciding if it's the kind of game they like, so focus on giving them a fun adventure rather than getting the characters right.

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heartless
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Re: I'm looking for Aid
« Reply #4 on Feb 5, 2011, 12:36pm »

I have tried DM'ing a little. You may like give each player 2 different characters, so they have mix of things to do. So when a magic-user is waiting the whole day to cast an other spell again, his/her fighter is having fun still making mince meat of monsters.

Also as a DM paint a story around the plot so they feel in it and in control, and not forced to following the plot.

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[Hinterlands] Rufus Brandystoe (the quick), Halfling, (Locksmith extraordinaire), Thief 1
[Moria] Lady Éohild (Noble of Rohan), Women, Fighter 3

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Re: I'm looking for Aid
« Reply #5 on Feb 21, 2011, 7:40pm »

I would suggest using just the original books and no supplements and no thieves to begin with. That way you keep it a bit more simple and you can always add things after you have played a while, but it is much harder to subtract things later. I have a current campaign that has been running 20 months and counting with mostly players that have never played before and a few experienced players with later versions of the game, but I was the only OD&D player/DM. There are a lot of children in my campaign also. I have kept it very bare bones and everyone is having a lot of fun so I have not added anything from the supplements yet, except a new write up of paladins which no one has played yet.

My suggestion is a bit different, instead of giving each player two characters, I would give them 2-4 hirelings and if one of the characters is killed, then the easy thing is to elevate one of the hirelings to a character.

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