It’s Game Day!!!!

It’s Game Day in the Geek house.  In more ways than one.  We are football fans.  Football rules this house from September through the Super Bowl.  But, today, it was D&D Game Day.

Back in June, I had asked for tips to learn to DM for my girls.  We started playing Lost Mines of Phandelver at the end of August.  The first game, I had three girls at my table.  Pink, Panda, and a 10 year old girl, Abby.  Abby has her own challenges that she faces, just like Panda.  We were short a few people for the opening game so I handed two of the pregen sheets that came with the set to Geekdad and Abby’s dad.  Both of them have played.  It was a Daddy and Daughter D&D sesson.  It was very helpful for the girls as they got to play with two experienced gamers.

Next week, we were joined by one of Pink’s friend Gabe.  The next by another girl, Lily.  So our group is the opposite of the old norm.  Female DM,  four female players, and one male.

I ran into the problem that we had missing players here and there because of school and family commitments.  These are outside of a preteen/teenager to control.  I worried about XP and some gaining too far ahead.  I went to the 5th Edition Facebook page and asked the Hivemind there.  The consensus was to give Milestone XP.  Loot still only goes to those that were there that day.

We finished Part 1 rather easily.  They went right away to Cragmaw Castle in Part 3 to rescue Gundren, but then moved back to Part 2 to deal with the Redbrands.  Now, the Redbrands have been neutralized.

Today was challenging as it was only three of the players, but I was able to have them go and run Wyvern Tor.   This will hopefully save Thundertree for next week when we have more players.

Our playtime is dragging the module out.  We only play for 2 hours.  Panda cannot handle more than that.  Actually she needs a break about halfway through the session to go outside or in the basement to stim.

I made some adjustments to help Panda and Abby.  Their handwriting is hard for them to read.  So, I give a sticky note for them to track damage on so that it does not make their characters sheets messy.

I use initiative cards on the top of my DM screen with their names and AC.  I then add the monster initiative cards with AC/HP to help me track.  they love when I take down a defeated monster.  There are cheers all around.  I also give Spell cards to each caster.  One for each spell slot that they have.  When they cast a spell, they hand me the card.  It helps them keep track.

Right now, we are playing in my kitchen.  We got a serving cart when my inlaws sold their house.  It makes an AWESOME DM cart.

We are having a blast.  The dads are jealous now.  Geekdad is starting to jump at the bit a little and wanting to DM again.  Lily’s dad’s three groups have gone on hiatus.  My brother is hounding me to DM on Fantasy Grounds or Roll20.

So, thanks for all the tips and support.  The DMing have been going great!!!