From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd

On Thu, 6 Nov 2025 09:16:43 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

On 11/6/2025 7:50 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Wed, 5 Nov 2025 12:01:59 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

Got to hang out with the only other kid there too, a girl I liked, which >>> of course I ruined by being a bad DM when I introed her to D&D there
having her go through B2. But that's too much tangent.

Hell if it is! I wanna hear about the adventure! Although starting
with "Keep on the Borderlands" as the introductory adventure? That's
risky! ;-)

Especially as it was just her with a starting character. I don't even >remember what she played, but might have been a fighter. I'm about 99%
sure it was 1e AD&D (this was early 80's) because I remember throwing
out the female str & con limitations, which is about the only good thing
I did. I remember something about a horse she bought with starting gold
she named White Lightning, I think she had a horse toy/figure for it,
and may have drawn it as well.

First encounter She got captured by orcs. Well o.k. 2nd good thing,
since that's better than just killing her. Bad things happened, the
end. So maybe not good, there's worse things than death. That whole
debacle isn't part of my fond memories, but it was definitely a learning >experience.

In my defense I was somewhere between 10-12 and it was probably only my >second time DMing if you don't count solo, my first being with my best >friend I DMed a few games (he also DMed for me once.)

[crossposting to rec.games.frp.dnd and alt.games.adnd
'cause its more in topic there and anyway, those groups
need love ;-)]

Ouch. Keep is a complex adventure, and -even if its labeled an
'introductory adventure' is not really suited for new DMs. It's
definitely not suited to a single-player run. You were introducing a
new player to the game. And it's a D&D Basic game, so if you really
were using AD&D rules, you were just adding an extra layer of
complexity. You had EVERYTHING against you on that run! ;-)

But I don't mean that as a criticism. We've all been there, especially
at the start when we first discovered the game. Even more if that
happens when you're young. It's all part of the learning experience.

I was luckier, in that I started playing 'role-playing games' long
before I even knew what it was called; no rules, no dice, just me
describing locations and my friend(s) suggesting actions for the
heroes to take. This let me hammer out the basics of the what being a 'gamemaster' (not that I knew that's what I was!) without worrying
about whether it made sense or abided by the rules.

Once I translated this to D&D, it was also a fairly long time before I
actually started to DM. I wanted to (and god knows I had lots of ideas
and scenarios written) but the I felt the rules so complicated and
intimidating that it took a while before I had the courage to take
that step.

And I was older, and was playing with other experienced players. So I
had, comparatively, every advantage over your attempt.

And yet I still look back at those early days and cringe. My
adventures were both incredibly simplistic ("kill the foozle", or
"rescue the princess" or just "grab the loot" type scenarios with
little subtlety] and overly complicated in what I was trying to do
(like having a sealed dungeon where the oxygen supply time-limited how
long the PCs could survive).

Not to mention an annoying reliance on the rulebooks to determine the
outcome of pretty much everything.

DMing is easy. DMing _well_ is hard. And while I'd like to believe
that over the years I have improved somewhat (and my players were
generally satisfied with my abilities) I'm still not sure I'm a 'good'
DM. God knows what sort of game I'd run had I tried back when I was
twelve!

So I look at your story and, even if I smile, I also admire your
attempt. You may look back at that as your lowest point, but I just
see the love a player had for the game to attempt to share the game
with others.


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