[Cerek]

Originally posted by VulcanRider: Would your dad be willing to run a game or two for the both of you? Also, have you talked to your dad about his DM'ing methods? Maybe you can run a solo game with your dad as a player, so he can help you practice being the DM.

You beat me to the punch, VulcanRider. I was going to suggest the same thing.

Enwareth - VulcanRider and I learned to play PnP AD&D at the same time from a good friend of ours. After playing for awhile, we both wanted to try our hand at being a DM, so we took turns "sitting in" on a game without playing. Instead, we sat with the DM and he showed us some of his "tricks of the trade".

I also agree with Luvian and Larry that you don't want to be too overbearing. Unless there is a specific reason you don't want your friend's fighter to have a rapier, then allow him to have it. However, you DO need to explain to him that he can't just open the manual and pick out whatever equipment he wants. Give him specific amount of gold to start with and tell him he has to "pay" for any equipment his character gets. That way, he won't come to a game and suddenly have a Bag of Holding full of magical items and weapons he decided to give to himself (we had this happen with one of the players in our group). It will also give you lots of opportunities to send him on jobs around town to earn more money, or to go on short adventures that are relatively easy, yet rewards him with enough gold to purchase better items when he returns to town.

The best advice I can give you is - BE STINGY WITH MAGIC ITEMS!!! Yeah, every player wants to be armed to the teeth with magical items, weapons and armor - but games where they really have to work for the magic they get makes the items much more rewarding. You also will have a player getting "bored" with items that are "only +1" when they are used to getting better stuff. On the other hand, I STILL remember the very first +1 weapon my original character got. Man, was I THRILLED! And the mage in our party actually got a +2 dagger in the same dungeon. We thought we were in high cotton after that game.

The bottom line is for you and the player (or players) to HAVE FUN! You do need to be restrictive on some things, but you also have to be flexible and allow the players to have some input too. Talk about what each of you wants from the game and decide what rules you should establish to accomplish this.

And I definitely agree that you should get your dad involved as an "assistant DM" or a player to help both of you learn more about the game as you begin your campaign.