Dungeons and Dragons

[Fishking]

So I've just started getting into Dungeons and Dragons recently. I only played a little when I was younger because that was the era of "your kids are going to get demon possessed" or w/e that made parents freak out about it in the 80s. I'm working on a campaign for my daughters, and it's a lot of work but I'm enjoying it so far.

I have a lot of rules to learn, dungeons to build, and some boards to make to get it all going. I have a rough storyline in my head. I'm kinda into painting the miniatures as well. Something about having little game pieces just does it for me and painting them is a bit frustrating as I'm just starting out there too, but very satisfying.

Here are some pictures from what I've done so far, the monk is my player character lined up next to an imp, a quasit, and an ogre. The unpainted one is a pit fiend and will be the final boss of the campaign. I initially bought the pit fiend because he looked like he would be a cool end boss but after research I've discovered that this campaign will have to be pretty long as his challenge rating is 20 (meaning to be on good footing it takes a group of 4 level 20 characters to take him down).

 

[Fishking]

My fingers are pretty thick sausages so those smaller ones were tough! Didn't like how the quasit turned out but the imp (red one with wings) turned out OK.

 

[Felis Leo]

Great job, Fishking! Especially on the monk and his Bodhi necklace. I love painting miniatures for my D&D games, but I have not for the past two months because I paint in my garage and the heat has been Hellish.

Coincidentally, I am going to be running for a friend and his son tomorrow. I am going to be doing the classic adventure "Keep on the Borderlands" for them. I am hoping it will be fun.

By the way, as far as the Pit Fiend being too powerful for low level play (which it certainly is), might I suggest some storyline ideas that would allow your player characters to get a powerful magic item or artifact meant to kill it earlier than they normally would be able to? Perhaps a Holy Avenger or something of the like that opens up the possibility for them to defeat it?

 

[Fishking]

Great job, Fishking! Especially on the monk and his Bodhi necklace. I love painting miniatures for my D&D games, but I have not for the past two months because I paint in my garage and the heat has been Hellish.

Coincidentally, I am going to be running for a friend and his son tomorrow. I am going to be doing the classic adventure "Keep on the Borderlands" for them. I am hoping it will be fun.

By the way, as far as the Pit Fiend being too powerful for low level play (which it certainly is), might I suggest some storyline ideas that would allow your player characters to get a powerful magic item or artifact meant to kill it earlier than they normally would be able to? Perhaps a Holy Avenger or something of the like that opens up the possibility for them to defeat it?

I was thinking about possibly powering him down a little so they could get to him quicker or maybe have this be a longer overarching quest that is interspersed with other, quicker, campaigns to have a sense of accomplishment while progressing to where they would need to be.

There is a big gaming store here in San Antonio and they had a free summer camp that kids could go to and have an experienced DM teach and run a campaign for them. Got my kids hooked and I guess me too.

After doing some research tonight I discovered just how much he had powered down the monsters for them. They took down a giant ape (and it wasn't even the hardest monster) at level 2 and come to find out it's CR is level 7.

Thanks for the kind words about my monk. It was the first thing I painted and just made it up using my wife's acrylic paints. I've since bought some regular paints.

I might be using D&D as an excuse just to paint minis

 

[Captain Adverse]

So I've just started getting into Dungeons and Dragons recently. I only played a little when I was younger because that was the era of "your kids are going to get demon possessed" or w/e that made parents freak out about it in the 80s. I'm working on a campaign for my daughters, and it's a lot of work but I'm enjoying it so far.

I have a lot of rules to learn, dungeons to build, and some boards to make to get it all going. I have a rough storyline in my head. I'm kinda into painting the miniatures as well. Something about having little game pieces just does it for me and painting them is a bit frustrating as I'm just starting out there too, but very satisfying.

Here are some pictures from what I've done so far, the monk is my player character lined up next to an imp, a quasit, and an ogre. The unpainted one is a pit fiend and will be the final boss of the campaign. I initially bought the pit fiend because he looked like he would be a cool end boss but after research I've discovered that this campaign will have to be pretty long as his challenge rating is 20 (meaning to be on good footing it takes a group of 4 level 20 characters to take him down).
View attachment 67349040

I learned about D&D while I was attending college for my very first Degree back in the 1970's. I played it for while, but eventually grew out of it. It was fun, depending on how proficient and interesting the Dungeon Master made the particular quest.

I never got into "painting," but I did buy painted figures. So first, well done with your figurines, you are certainly getting into the spirit of the game. Second, I hope you and your children enjoy the experience. It is very cool that you are finding another way to bond with them.

 

[gdgyva]

Great job, Fishking! Especially on the monk and his Bodhi necklace. I love painting miniatures for my D&D games, but I have not for the past two months because I paint in my garage and the heat has been Hellish.

Coincidentally, I am going to be running for a friend and his son tomorrow. I am going to be doing the classic adventure "Keep on the Borderlands" for them. I am hoping it will be fun.

By the way, as far as the Pit Fiend being too powerful for low level play (which it certainly is), might I suggest some storyline ideas that would allow your player characters to get a powerful magic item or artifact meant to kill it earlier than they normally would be able to? Perhaps a Holy Avenger or something of the like that opens up the possibility for them to defeat it?

no no no

we used to call that monty hall dungeons

do you want your daughter to learn the game the "right" way or the "wrong" way

character development takes time.....adventure after adventure.....months of play with people having a great time

and yes, the DM has a HUGE job to keep his world both exciting and full of stories

As you can tell i played just a tad....i DM'ed for 15 years + with a group of 9-11 people that met at least weekly and sometimes more often when we all had the time

If stuff is gotten too easily it becomes blase.....if everything is too challenging and the party dies no one likes it

Best of luck....have fun

 

[Peter]

I played AD&D 2nd edition for almost 10 years and loved every second.
It's the perfect game for a bunch of friends as everyone can play the role they want and how they want.

I'm currently watching Critical Role which I suggest if you haven't seen it but be warned, your games will not look like that as they're professional voice actors who have a deep passion for the game and the DM obviously puts in a simply amazing amount of time into the games.
There are no groups near me unfortunately but I'd highly recommend getting into D&D as a way to bond with family as it can be really is great for all ages. It doesn't need to be all combat or all roleplay and you can be as serious or casual as you like.

I will caution you though it can become expensive if you get hooked as the books aren't cheap and now you have a vast choice of miniatures and stuff for maps.

Enjoy the ride with D&D.

 

[Peter]

Great job, Fishking! Especially on the monk and his Bodhi necklace. I love painting miniatures for my D&D games, but I have not for the past two months because I paint in my garage and the heat has been Hellish.

Coincidentally, I am going to be running for a friend and his son tomorrow. I am going to be doing the classic adventure "Keep on the Borderlands" for them. I am hoping it will be fun.

By the way, as far as the Pit Fiend being too powerful for low level play (which it certainly is), might I suggest some storyline ideas that would allow your player characters to get a powerful magic item or artifact meant to kill it earlier than they normally would be able to? Perhaps a Holy Avenger or something of the like that opens up the possibility for them to defeat it?

In my time I never played beyond level 7 so my old 6 strong party would have been completely stomped by a Pit Fiend.
I know it may not seem as exciting but I'd say bring in less powerful opponents at lower levels. You also don't need mini's for everything as it's the power of the picture you paint in people's mind that's the main thing. Just try and make sure you have a half decent map (this can just be on A4) with a grid so the players know where they are it doesn't need to be a masterpiece.
It's just good to see people giving D&D a try and I'm sure you'll do great as you seem to be putting in thought and time which is the main thing for a good DM.

Going with premade adventures is a great way to start as you can adapt them as you see fit if you feel you need to.

Have fun and good luck .

 

[Peter]

This is a bit of a sidetrack but D&D has a really good selection of novels as well set in a few different worlds.
I've got well over 200+ novels set in the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance and a few others.

I'd recommend starting with The Dragonlance Chronicles.

Dragonlance Chronicles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[trouble13]

This is a bit of a sidetrack but D&D has a really good selection of novels as well set in a few different worlds.
I've got well over 200+ novels set in the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance and a few others.

I'd recommend starting with The Dragonlance Chronicles.

Dragonlance Chronicles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You know you can save yourself by buying premade campaigns to follow rather than make your own.

 

[Airyaman]

You know you can save yourself by buying premade campaigns to follow rather than make your own.

I think he was just talking about for reading?

 

[Peter]

I think he was just talking about for reading?

Yep, the novels are great with some amazing stories and characters.

I also only ever did pre-made adventures and The Temple of Elemental Evil was my favourite as that took us a few years on its own.
I just like seeing new people enjoy the hobby.

 

[gdgyva]

Creating your own world....bit by bit, character by character, is exhaustive and fun

And when you have a talented group to lead through the world it becomes a real joy....

Taking ideas from movies, books, and life and incorporating them into your made up world with it political turmoil and of course monsters is a blast

But take your time.....let the level ones stay there for a little while and get to know their characters

Let them actually LEARN to play the game....and all the skills every character has at their finger tips

A war party of kobolds is more than enough to keep a bunch of level ones occupied and challenged

 

[trouble13]

I think he was just talking about for reading?

I quoted the wrong person. My comment was @Fishking

 

[Fishking]

I played AD&D 2nd edition for almost 10 years and loved every second.
It's the perfect game for a bunch of friends as everyone can play the role they want and how they want.

I'm currently watching Critical Role which I suggest if you haven't seen it but be warned, your games will not look like that as they're professional voice actors who have a deep passion for the game and the DM obviously puts in a simply amazing amount of time into the games.
There are no groups near me unfortunately but I'd highly recommend getting into D&D as a way to bond with family as it can be really is great for all ages. It doesn't need to be all combat or all roleplay and you can be as serious or casual as you like.

I will caution you though it can become expensive if you get hooked as the books aren't cheap and now you have a vast choice of miniatures and stuff for maps.

Enjoy the ride with D&D.

I have a niece that wants to get in on it with us and I found a website called roll20 that does it all virtually and it's free. I started messing around with it. It includes dungeon building tools and a video chat, so you can see all the other players' faces.

I've also been dinking around in some Facebook groups and there are people who group up for virtual games, so you could probably get back into it, since you don't have to be in person now.

 

[Fishking]

This is a bit of a sidetrack but D&D has a really good selection of novels as well set in a few different worlds.
I've got well over 200+ novels set in the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance and a few others.

I'd recommend starting with The Dragonlance Chronicles.

Dragonlance Chronicles - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I read all the Dragonlance books years ago, and have probably read them a total of about 3 times. It's been a bit since I've read them so I could likely give them a go again. I think I own them all on the Nook app.

 

[Fishking]

You know you can save yourself by buying premade campaigns to follow rather than make your own.

I saw that there were some premades. My niece had one that we ran a little bit at the family reunion I just went to. I think I might throw in some of those in there to mix in with some shorter campaigns as they build up their characters. I'll randomly throw in more things for the long haul campaign and slowly develop that more and more over time until they eventually take on the Pit Fiend.

Final boss' name is Bazathraz.

 

[Fishking]

I'm currently watching Critical Role which I suggest if you haven't seen it but be warned, your games will not look like that as they're professional voice actors who have a deep passion for the game and the DM obviously puts in a simply amazing amount of time into the games.

I started listening to them recently as well. I've Matt Mercer also has a bunch of DM tips short videos that I've been watching on top of it. I keep it going while I paint minis.

 

[Fishking]

Fixed the quasit to look more acceptable to me, got some treasure done, and painted a harpy.

 

[Redress]

I only played a little when I was younger because that was the era of "your kids are going to get demon possessed" or w/e that made parents freak out about it in the 80s.

That cracked me up.

Great job on the figures! They look great!

 

[Redress]

I learned about D&D while I was attending college for my very first Degree back in the 1970's. I played it for while, but eventually grew out of it. It was fun, depending on how proficient and interesting the Dungeon Master made the particular quest.

I never got into "painting," but I did buy painted figures. So first, well done with your figurines, you are certainly getting into the spirit of the game. Second, I hope you and your children enjoy the experience. It is very cool that you are finding another way to bond with them.

That was back when it was just the little booklets?

 

[Slartibartfast]

So I've just started getting into Dungeons and Dragons recently. I only played a little when I was younger because that was the era of "your kids are going to get demon possessed" or w/e that made parents freak out about it in the 80s. I'm working on a campaign for my daughters, and it's a lot of work but I'm enjoying it so far.

I have a lot of rules to learn, dungeons to build, and some boards to make to get it all going. I have a rough storyline in my head. I'm kinda into painting the miniatures as well. Something about having little game pieces just does it for me and painting them is a bit frustrating as I'm just starting out there too, but very satisfying.

Here are some pictures from what I've done so far, the monk is my player character lined up next to an imp, a quasit, and an ogre. The unpainted one is a pit fiend and will be the final boss of the campaign. I initially bought the pit fiend because he looked like he would be a cool end boss but after research I've discovered that this campaign will have to be pretty long as his challenge rating is 20 (meaning to be on good footing it takes a group of 4 level 20 characters to take him down).
View attachment 67349040
View attachment 67349042
View attachment 67349043

You are in good company in the forum. I have a standing game every Tuesday.

 

[Captain Adverse]

That was back when it was just the little booklets?

Yes it was. If I recall correctly there were three "pamphlet" types with hand drawn cover art.

In fact I just found a picture of them:



I forgot about the "reference" sheets.

 

[Redress]

Yes it was. If I recall correctly there were three "pamphlet" types with hand drawn cover art.

In fact I just found a picture of them:

View attachment 67349358

I forgot about the "reference" sheets.

Yup, I had those. Ah, memories…

 

[Fishking]

You are in good company in the forum. I have a standing game every Tuesday.

Are you doing in person or do you do remote? I'm working on trying to do in person plus remote in my niece using roll20.