Ah, fantasy and reality. Escapism and prison. Imagination and socialization. Newbie and Pro....?
I love fantasy as much as the next person, but being chained to reality really sucks. I have played my fair share of adventures as a PC, but not enough to make me a pro seasoned player. SOooooo, I am still a newbie.
It's been years since I last played, but this past summer I decided to take on a more prominent role, Dungeon Master. With my new family we began a group and I started to break everyone in with an AD&D Starter Set. A little something I bought back in the mid '90's while I was in highschool which never saw a group. Before finishing up the three included adventures, we decided to search for a more current edition to advance our need for fantasy and fun. So after finishing the 2e starter set in Nov., we 6 newbies began our 4e quest on Thanksgiving weekend.
Leave it to me to be the one to do it the hard way. Sure we bought some 4e books; Monster Manual, DM Guide, Player's Handbook, and Dungeon Delve. But I also searched for old edition adventures as well and so I started my group's "campaign" with Something's Cooking and the Melford Murder trilogy. Yes, I know things had to be converted to 4e and I did the best I could, but I had limited time to get two of the adventures started and I didn't do research like I am now. Were mistakes made on my part? Yes, but since we're all basically new to some extent, it all worked out regardless.
Everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend and are excitedly looking forward to Christmas break to continue what we started. This time I will be more prepared than before and I will eventually be perfecting my versions of the old edition adventures for future use and to share with others looking for ideas for their own adventures or campaign. I will also be using the Dungeon Delve and creating my own stories in the future.
