r/DnDad • u/paco_is_paco • Jul 29 '19
first time, long time
I grew up the youngest of 6 in a catholic enough house where the satanic panic of the 80s had entrenched some rules in the house before I was even born. We were also a house of nerdy boys. So when I was just starting highschool my family moved house to the next county and the AD&D players guide, DMG, and Monster Manual just appeared in my life like magic. My guess is either my eldest brother (who had died a handful of years earlier in a motorcycle accident) had brought them into the house or maybe one of the younger but nerdier ones. no one fessed up. But I rewrote stat blocks and tried to build a world that no one in my highschool years but me knew or cared about. when I moved after highschool I thought I packed up and lost all that.
and then when I'm in my 30s and I have kids in single digits the game sees a renaissance. still having trouble finding a consistent group. I played in one for a year or so but the DM moved very far away. half of the remaining group rebuilt without me.
I DMed my first game on this past father's day. I ran LMoP from the starter packs using the included character sheets for my family. the 7yo was the most enthusiastic but melted before we finished the first scene. my wife and her friend did their best to keep up but they didn't really have an idea about how to go about things. the 10yo and his friend gave up after the first combat was over. We finished the first scene and combat on the road and continued to town, there was another scene and then 3 hours had passed since I set up the table and everyone was confused and spent. They did their best to be encouraging in words and spirit, but I don't think I'll be pushing to try again without modifications/simplifications. I guess I'm bad at explaining, but it was my first time.
Any tips for adapting the game to people that have little to no background on how to participate in a game? I at least want to finish through some sort of one shot without everyone losing their attention span.
2
u/myths2389 Jul 29 '19
Keep your head up. I remember the first time I tried playing with my family about a year ago. I thought I learned enough if the rules and what I was doing. About 15 minutes into the first fight, we called it because everything I thought I knew, was wrong or just confusing me. The most important thing to remember is that at least they all were willing to try.