4th Edition D&D Adventures for 12-yr-old GM?

[chomiji]

So our nephew has proved that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree: he's running a D&D game with his friends.

His mother (my sister) says he would really love to have some more scenarios to run.

I've found a couple of things on Amazon, but I'm wondering which modules you think would be the best for a novice GM who's in middle school. He's

Comments

[reynardo]

So wonderful to hear! I tend to make up my own scenarios, because the ones you buy can be quite unrealistic... look, I know, magic and dracons and such and then the players have the nerve to complain when there's 60 foot high sewers under the city...

Anyway, I agree. When my son was playing at 11 and 12, I made them up. It wasn't until he was about 14 that he started making his own.

What level are the party, and do they have min-maxers in it, and do they have rules lawyers?

Screens, I like, but it also depends if you're playing at a table or around a lounge room.

[chomiji]

I used to make up my own scenarios back in the day ... even published some of them, but my system was not D&D, and I had a lot more free time back then.

I don't know the details of his player-friends. He himself would probably be quite the rules lawyer, on the basis of playing board games with him in times past.

My guess would be that they play around a table, because that's how we always used to do it when his parents were among my players.

[cygnia]

Honestly, it depends on the group when it comes to screens. My current tabletop GM doesn't use one and is honest with his dice rolls being in the open. On the other hand, I use a screen for 7th Sea, 'cause I like rolling dice Just Because it keeps my players paranoid (it helps that my players trust me and vice versa).

Screens can have a nice amount of shorthand rules info for a beginning GM to keep track off, so they do have their uses.

[chomiji]

Yes, it was the helpful rules material that I thought might be good for him. Thanks for the input!

[beccastareyes]

I mostly like screens since they let me keep my rules handy; I don't really feel the need to hide my rolls from my players. Depends on the players, though: the ones I've GM'd for are the sorts who will gleefully jump into danger even after they failed their Spot checks, but I've known sorts who will immediately get paranoid if they know I'm plotting trouble*.

* I mean, more so than normal 'GM plays the trouble the PCs get into'.

[chomiji]

Thanks, it was the rules info that I thought might be useful to him especially. I don't really know much about his players. He's a bit shy around his relatives! (I was the same at his age.)

[apestyle]

http://1d8.blogspot.com/2011/09/free-4e-adventures-from-wotc.html?m=1

[chomiji]

Oooh, lovely - thanks very much!

[apestyle]

You're welcome, I live to give.

[winghead_melly]

DM screens have been pretty useful in the 4e games I play in, just because it cuts down on the amount of time looking through books for the appropriate rule when someone uses a move or status effect that doesn't come up much. It really makes the rules part of the game run more smoothly, so we can focus more on what's actually happening IC. If you don't want the 'hiding from the players' aspect, it could work to copy the kind of info on the screen down onto a cheat sheet that serves the same purpose.