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Beginning Players Q&A, Prep, & Short Game (2-3 Hours)
Two to three hours (your choice) devoted to your questions & problem areas as a new player, then wrapping up with a 90-minute adventure!
About the adventure
Are you a "first-time player" or someone who is "still new to D&D" and looking for a coaching session and a short game where you can learn the ropes? You’ve come to the right place! Whether this is your first time playing or you’ve had a little experience and want to expand your knowledge, I enjoy working with new players to help them understand the game I’ve loved for 40 years. Each session will include discussion and Q&A, as well as a live play one-shot so you can get comfortable with the game at your own pace. I can run beginner sessions for groups of 2 to 6 people. What we'll do: BEFORE WE PLAY: After you've booked your SPG session, if you are interested, I'll be happy to give you 30 minutes of free character creation coaching on Discord to work through some of the issues you might be having creating a character on D&D Beyond. DISCORD: Please use https://discord.gg/EdC6SWU6xv and the "dnd-for-beginners-general" channel. D&D BEYOND: Join my my D&D Beyond Beginners Campaign: https://www.dndbeyond.com/campaigns/join/63453783540188701. HOUR 1 1) WHERE ARE YOU NOW: I'll spend a few minutes getting a feel for where you are in your process of learning how to play D&D (never played, played once or a few times, etc.) and what aspects of the game you are most interested in learning about. 2) CHARACTER PREFERENCES: I'll help you spin up a character that suits your sense of how you want to play (spell caster, tinker, fighter, high-priest, shifty rogue), or if you're not sure, I'll guide you through some Q&A that will help you understand what it's like to play each each type of character. 3) PLAY PREFERENCES: Next we'll talk about what kind of game play experience you think you want to have. What interests you most? Exploration? Combat? Interacting with NPCs? Solving puzzles? Facing monsters? Navigating dangerous city politics? Finding treasure? What would you like to try first or next? HOUR 2 & 3 For the 2nd and 3rd hour, we'll dive into a short adventure crafted by me to suit your wants, goals, and needs. 4) PLAY + Q&A: We can either play straight through for 90 or 105 minutes and leave 15 to 30 minutes for Q&A at the end, or we can allow play to pause any time you have a question that you feel is preventing you from playing as effectively as you'd like. I have done both and am comfortable with both.
Game themes
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Saturday – 2:00 AM UTC
Jul 26
2–3 Hour Duration
2 / 2 Seats Filled
GAME MASTER
Fungeon Master Justin
he/him
5.0
(21)
Schedule
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Report Adventure
Meet the Game Master
Less than a year on StartPlaying
81 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Knows the Rules
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Greetings Adventurers and fellow DMs! I'm your friendly GM/DM Justin Donie, known here as Fungeon Master Justin. I specialize in D&D5e games for parties ranging in size from 1 to 12 people (1-6 online, 1-12 in person), with ideal party sizes ranging from 3 to 5 players, comfortably managing an eight-person campaign at the moment. I've run over 700 D&D/RPG sessions in my 40+ years of playing (590+ of those in D&D 5e in the last 10 years), including a good mix of in-person and remote sessions of D&D (AD&D, 2e, 3e, 5e), Star Trek, Star Wars, Shadow Run, and other RPGs, but my focus is definitely D&D. I was fortunate to spend over 10 years working at Wizards of the Coast, and while I was there I got the chance to write the D&D Adventurers League module 09-03 Hungry Shadows (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Hungry_Shadows) and to be a contributing writer to Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. I offer a range of session type and length options including One-Shots (2-3 and 4-5 hours), Marathon One-Shots (5-6 and 7-8 hours) and Campaigns with serial 1-2 hour or 3-4 hour episodes. In addition to the One-Shots and Campaigns I currently offer, feel free to message me about doing a Custom One-Shot for you and your party! I enjoy running both published content and my own homebrew one-shots and campaigns. I am available for both private individual/group events as well as public events, and if you'd like me to run something you've written, I'm open to discussing that too! Please see my GM Style notes for more information about me and what I do! PARTY COMPOSITION: Recognizing that you might be contacting me as an individual looking to play in a game OR as one person representing a group of people who want to play together, please mention in your contact whether you are looking only for 1 slot for yourself or if you have friends who are planning to join the same scheduled event. I normally only run Neutral and Good characters, but I will run Evil's IF the group playing the Adventure agrees to it and we discuss play style well before game time. So if you want to play an evil character, please contact me before booking. SPECIAL REQUESTS: It's always OK to ask me about shifting dates, times, player counts, etc. to better suit your purposes. If I can make it work from my end, I'll be happy to do so!
View Profile →Reviews (21)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Rule of Cool
Knows the Rules
Geary
Played 30 sessions
This GM sets the mood beautifully, and does a great job of preparing the scenario and having maps, pictures, and combat grids ready to go. He’s very experienced and adaptable, and was able to quickly accommodate the story-line to the decisions we had made while keeping us on the path toward the conclusion. Also, we were all having so much fun that the story was going long, and he was willing to extend the playtime well past the scheduled end time so we could reach a solid conclusion. Highly recommended!
Kat
Played 23 sessions
Super chill, fun and knowledgeable. I've played with a few different DMs through this service so far and had a great experience with a one-shot with Justin. New favourite!
John
Played 20 sessions
Very good and lots of fun! It was my very first Dungeon Crawl and Justin made it easy to understand and smooth to plug in. There was plenty of action (which I really like) and interaction with my party members was fantastic. Justin really made the adventure run smoothly and kept it going. Would definitely recommend, not only for starters but also for experienced adventurers if you love the action!
Dani
Played 11 sessions
Dungeon Master Justin was truly FUN. He led our group of 5 new players on their first session of DnD and was a great teacher who made sure there was enough time to answer ALL our questions. Justin expertly guided our crazy ragtag group when things got off track. His storytelling was fantastic and he really nailed the timing and twists. We had a blast and will be turning our one shot into more fun with our DM ☺️
Ryn
Played 10 sessions
Justin is a great GM who clearly has a lot of experience; no matter what the party does, he doesn't miss a beat reacting to it, and strikes that important balance of providing enough direction and keeping the session from meandering (especially important in one-shots), while not making the players feel railroaded. He speaks clearly and has a voice that is nice to listen to while he gives detailed descriptions of the players' surroundings.
Lucy
Played 8 sessions
Justin is a great GM His prep is thourough even for a one-shot, he stimulates players' creativity, has an interesting story written out and is simply the one if you need a game full of fun and adventure. I really enjoyed it and hope to play some more in the future (and the party was also amazing which contributed to the incredible impression as well!).
Character creation
Creating your character
I'll work with you to create a character that suits your understanding of what you want to enjoy in this session. We'll use D&D Beyond as the Character Creation Tool and when we've created a character you're happy with, we'll connect it to my campaign in D&D Beyond so you have access to everything you need. My only restriction is I don't support evil Player Characters in my beginner sessions ... it tends to lead to real-world complications and stress that's not fun for the group as a whole.
In the first part of the session, we will focus on the aspects of the game about which the players most want to learn, talking freely about any and all topics of interest. In the second half of the session we will run a short live game session with the participants that features opportunities to exercise the areas you want to learn more about and/or get more comfortable with.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
1) WANTS: Think about what kind of experience you WANT to have from your play / learning session. Make some notes about what you think you want, based on what you know so far. 2) DON'T WANT: Make a list of any things you know for sure you do NOT want to try or experience during this session. 3) QUESTIONS: Make a list of things you want to learn more about so you can ask the DM questions. 4) WHY D&D: Be prepared to tell me a little bit about why you want to learn more about D&D.
What Fungeon Master Justin brings to the table
As your GM, my primary goal is to make sure everyone has a great time, including me! I recognize that every individual and group is different and that the preferences of each group also vary. That's why we'll spend plenty of time in the first hour making sure I understand the group's likes and dislikes, preferences and boundaries, and what they are looking for from the adventure. This one-shot will be designed to suit your situation, your goals, your preferences for what you want from your learning experience. THE BASICS VIRTUAL/REMOTE: I use D&D Beyond and the D&D Beyond 2d map and grant all player characters assigned to my campaign full access to all relevant materials. I also provide custom story content, original (my own) and AI-generated NPC, location, and item illustrations, and lots and lots of detailed big and small maps, as well as PDF post-game session notes for every episode. Video recordings and transcripts may be available if we play in Zoom and the group is open to it and interested. IN PERSON (groups living in the Puget Sound area only): For those of us lucky enough to play together in person, I also provide battle maps, a huge collection of minis from which to draw, an awe-inspiring selection of dice (if you forgot your own), memorable handouts, eye-popping props, and other additional features which are negotiable based on party/group preferences (music, lighting, etc.). Minimum 2 weeks advance notice for in person games. NPC VOICES I love doing a wide range of compelling NPC voices and sound effects, but if you happen to be a group that prefers that I don't do that, I'm OK either way. Just let me know what you prefer.
Homebrew rules
TABLE RULES CRIT PC’s: Nat-20 damage = (1 full damage die value) + (1 rolled damage die value) + (normal bonus) e.g., D12 = (12) + (rolled value) + (normal bonus value) 25% SUPER BLOODIED Target creatures that have 25% or less of their hit points remaining make all attacks at disadvantage. 3 BAD ROLLS If a Player rolls 5 or less 3 times in a row on a d20 roll, they can re-roll the next 3 rolls at or below 5. SPELL SCROLLS Can be used with a casting ability check =10 if the spell is one your class can cast.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Mobile Phone
Platforms used
Safety
How Fungeon Master Justin creates a safe table
All listed safety tools available to players at all times during the session. It's MOST important that you feel safe and comfortable learning and playing the game.