doomdragon6
Staff member
Alright, so it wasn't really a session, as we're not scheduled for a real game until the Friday after next, but one of my players and I had a practice session so he (and I) could learn some.
Just for a little beginner's combat, I drew up a small room with some pillars, braziers, rubble, and a small cavern pool that led to another area, along with 3 goblins.
I started him in an "unspecified room" that I didn't even draw out and placed him outside the door leading into the goblin room. I told him how perception checks on/through doors might work, and let him do that. He asked if it was locked. I originally had no plan for it to be locked, but I said, "For the purpose of this tutorial, sure. It's locked. What would you like to do?"
"Well, I guess I'll try to pick it."
So he makes his check and rolls like an 8 total. So I say he just can't get it and actually ends up making a lot of noise tinkering with the lock. The big goblin warrior then yanks the door open and glowers down at him, causing the PC to take a step back. So guess what? I have to draw the room that didn't exist. So I map out a rough cave-like room with a bed in it, some torches, and a straw mat that "seemed somewhat out of place."
So the -entire- combat takes place in this room, the PC only stepping into the "planned" room at the end.
So yeah, the adage that "PCs will always do something you didn't plan for" came true IMMEDIATELY in my very first DMing test session. So I definitely know that a lot will have to be done on the fly.
As a fun note, he cast Light on the straw mat in an attempt to "shock" or "surprise" the goblins (didn't work), but I noted that "the light doesn't disperse on the floor like it seems like it should.. It seems like maybe a lot of the light is being absorbed or dispersed downward," which led the PC to surmise (correctly) that the mat was covering a hole.
He never got a chance to utilize the hole to his advantage, but it was interesting to me, because I fully expected the only way he'd find out for sure was if he either stepped on the mat himself or pushed a goblin onto the mat.
So yeah.
It was fun.
Just for a little beginner's combat, I drew up a small room with some pillars, braziers, rubble, and a small cavern pool that led to another area, along with 3 goblins.
I started him in an "unspecified room" that I didn't even draw out and placed him outside the door leading into the goblin room. I told him how perception checks on/through doors might work, and let him do that. He asked if it was locked. I originally had no plan for it to be locked, but I said, "For the purpose of this tutorial, sure. It's locked. What would you like to do?"
"Well, I guess I'll try to pick it."
So he makes his check and rolls like an 8 total. So I say he just can't get it and actually ends up making a lot of noise tinkering with the lock. The big goblin warrior then yanks the door open and glowers down at him, causing the PC to take a step back. So guess what? I have to draw the room that didn't exist. So I map out a rough cave-like room with a bed in it, some torches, and a straw mat that "seemed somewhat out of place."
So the -entire- combat takes place in this room, the PC only stepping into the "planned" room at the end.
So yeah, the adage that "PCs will always do something you didn't plan for" came true IMMEDIATELY in my very first DMing test session. So I definitely know that a lot will have to be done on the fly.
As a fun note, he cast Light on the straw mat in an attempt to "shock" or "surprise" the goblins (didn't work), but I noted that "the light doesn't disperse on the floor like it seems like it should.. It seems like maybe a lot of the light is being absorbed or dispersed downward," which led the PC to surmise (correctly) that the mat was covering a hole.
He never got a chance to utilize the hole to his advantage, but it was interesting to me, because I fully expected the only way he'd find out for sure was if he either stepped on the mat himself or pushed a goblin onto the mat.
So yeah.
It was fun.
