Question for ya — I just started dming for the first time with my friends, and we’re all new to dnd. I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on aspects of it via the PHB and DM Guide. I’m starting to read Curse of Strahd and we’ll start that up here soon. Did we jump in right before we should have? Should I buy this book and ignore some things I’ve learned from the ones I just bought, or does it really matter?
If you guys are all just starting out then I think you're fine. These rules are all additional, I wouldn't say you are missing out on anything by not playing with these rules. Since you're the DM maybe you can present these rules to your players at a later date when everyone is comfortable. Most of these rules are character-creation side anyways.
Ah that’s great to hear, thanks comrade. I’ll have to check this new stuff out sometime soon. Do you DM by chance? If so I was also wondering to myself what’s the best way of going through reading Strahd to prepare the story for the group? It seems like there are just so so many small details within each different area on a really granular level to all keep track of, and I can already imagine probably disrupting the flow of scenes because I need to reference things. If maybe there’s a certain mindset or style of notes/system of things to call out that I should keep in mind, or just any advice at all, that’d be super helpful!
I do DM, though I don't often run premade campaigns. My notes for when I do though are to make sure you have the broad strokes of each area. I like to give the campaign a read through like a novel before taking a second pass at it, going through and noting which parts are plot critical. (Often times a lot of it isn't in the official lore quests, it largely is atmospheric details which you can set however you want.) If you are using maps and miniatures then you should make sure that all the plot critical elements are on the maps.
I don't blame you, especially when working off of a rigid story parsing which details are and aren't important becomes a pain in the ass. Some people do find they help though, maybe next time you do an episodic or one-shot you can give them a try.
Question for ya — I just started dming for the first time with my friends, and we’re all new to dnd. I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on aspects of it via the PHB and DM Guide. I’m starting to read Curse of Strahd and we’ll start that up here soon. Did we jump in right before we should have? Should I buy this book and ignore some things I’ve learned from the ones I just bought, or does it really matter?
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If you guys are all just starting out then I think you're fine. These rules are all additional, I wouldn't say you are missing out on anything by not playing with these rules. Since you're the DM maybe you can present these rules to your players at a later date when everyone is comfortable. Most of these rules are character-creation side anyways.
Ah that’s great to hear, thanks comrade. I’ll have to check this new stuff out sometime soon. Do you DM by chance? If so I was also wondering to myself what’s the best way of going through reading Strahd to prepare the story for the group? It seems like there are just so so many small details within each different area on a really granular level to all keep track of, and I can already imagine probably disrupting the flow of scenes because I need to reference things. If maybe there’s a certain mindset or style of notes/system of things to call out that I should keep in mind, or just any advice at all, that’d be super helpful!
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I do DM, though I don't often run premade campaigns. My notes for when I do though are to make sure you have the broad strokes of each area. I like to give the campaign a read through like a novel before taking a second pass at it, going through and noting which parts are plot critical. (Often times a lot of it isn't in the official lore quests, it largely is atmospheric details which you can set however you want.) If you are using maps and miniatures then you should make sure that all the plot critical elements are on the maps.
Gotcha that’s interesting, I hadn’t planned on using maps and miniatures. Seems a little daunting at the moment haha
I don't blame you, especially when working off of a rigid story parsing which details are and aren't important becomes a pain in the ass. Some people do find they help though, maybe next time you do an episodic or one-shot you can give them a try.
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Awesome, doing it this way. Thanks for this and your other note on room descriptions. Really appreciate it