Tools of the Trade and New DM advice

One of the things I really wanted to write about is the tools that I will be using and the reasoning for some of my decisions for the game.

New DM and New Players

So if you are like me then nobody in your group has ever played before. You may all be familiar with RPG video games, but tabletop games are a new thing for everyone in the group. My advice? First grab the FREE BASIC RULES for 5e that wizards of the coast offers online along with pregenerated or blank character sheets.. Everyone can read this with no investment whatsoever and get a feel for the game. The format is simple and is far less intimidating than the player handbook (or the multiple PHBs that previous editions had). At this point a creative DM brimming with ideas could start coming up with ideas and making a campaign. I was not that guy.

That's where the Starter Set comes in. It offers a small level 1-5 campaign with pregen characters, includes a hard copy of the basic rules, a DM screen, dice set, and the campaign is very well made for people new to the game. Whats so great about it? 2 things. It has lots of detail as well as tips for a new DM. The other is that the progression is made to teach players about the game. Try to run a few sessions through it and experiment with theater of the mind, maps, or virtual tabletops like Fantasy grounds or Roll20 - both of which have the campaign available for sale.

Also keep in mind on how your players might play and approach things. Many players are going to start off with the simple motto of killing and looting. Expecting them to pick up on more complex scenarios will take some help and conditioning. In the same way - NPC interactions could be difficult as this is very reliant on the DM and how they play NPC's and certain things may throw up flags for the player but may actually mean nothing. Its something I haven't quite come up with a solution yet for.

Fantasy Grounds

So as you may have learned by now, I use FG to run or augment my games. Its a Virtual Tabletop software that simulates dice rolling, automates the rulesets, and uses visual games.

Let me explain the cost real quick though. There are 3 versions: Free/Demo, Paid($40 or $3/mo), Ultimate($150 or $10/mo) . Free cant be a DM and can only connect to Ultimate license users games, they can connect to Paid but it goes into demo mode, doesn't save, and only 1 Free client can connect. Paid clients can host games minus the free user limitation, and the Ultimate license allows free users to play in your game.

Basically if you want to try a playing a game you get free, paid users always can play and can host games, while ultimate users are serious DMs and can have new free users in their games.

But wait, the $40 cost doesn't get you everything. What it does get you is the ruleset automation and (for 5e) the System Reference Document (SRD) which is a document that contains a sampling of the the full PHB and is meant to the basics of 5e characters/spells and the like, so its more for a basis of creating your own content rather than full 5e material. Now a DM will often share with you a library that you can use to create your characters which contain all the information on the classes/races an the like, but if you want to make characters on your own you would need to buy the D&D Complete Core Class Pack ($50). So at least the DM would need to make a $90 to $200 investment to play with the basics on Fantasy grounds or everyone pays a subscription fee to play and the DM gets the extra $50 pack.

Sounding a little expensive? It is, which is why many play totally free at roll20.net. (granted over there all the cool feature like dynamic lighting are paid). So what do you do? Wait for steam sales. I got a 4 pack of paid licenses for about $80 ($20 per person), the core pack at $25, and later picked up an ultimate license for $87. Also they offer the complete 5e bundle at 25% off FOREVER. The longer you wait, the more the price goes up though as the continue to add content. Once you got the bundle, any new 5e releases are already discounted 25% + whatever the sales is and you don't even have to buy the new stuff to get the discount. Overall though its an investment but the automation is amazing if you are terrible at math or you get bogged down by combat nuances and want to keep a game flowing. Give the free version a try and maybe even join the forums to find a game. Most DM's will have an ultimate license so new people like you can try.

Teamspeak 3

This is my VOIP solution of choice. There is an official channel that you could use, and probably will if you join a group from the forums. I did buy my own on a 2 year subscription and I have a music bot i plan on using.

teamspeak.com/downloads - Client download (server downloads also available)

light-speed.com - TS3 Hoster

ts3index.com - Music Bot

I also use a add-on called Clownfish voice changer. It allows you to adjust the pitch of your output from below Darth Vader lows to above helium-induced highs, and some customs in-between.

Evolve

I run my games from internet tethered to my phone. So i can't really do the necessary port forwarding that is required to run a game on FG. Evolve is a game-centric VPN client that i prefer over Hamachi. It works by everyone joining a party and shows your VPN IP's that you would use to connect to a host in FG. I has some voice capabilities, but i haven't tried them. Warning - It does drop connection every once in a while or the network slows and actions freeze in FG, but it comes back pretty quick. Premium does not seem to help quality.

Tunngle

Evolve died a while back then returned. By that time though I had switched to Tunngle where I can always have private password protected room open and ready for my players.

SL