I need help in how to approach new players and make sure they enjoy their first time playing DnD.
I finally convinced a few friends to play DnD, with me being the DM. I have been DM-ing for a long time but a have very little experience with new players, Any sort of advise is gladly appreciated!
I think i made the thread too vague for you guys, Apologies.
I'm trying to ask for advise in terms of how i want to play this campaign. Since they're not use to it yet, Will it be better to just relax and let them learn the mechanics slowly by doing small quests for them to do and let them slowly get use to everything? Or just jumping into a "i have a quest for you" character cliche do it right of the bat?
I like the concept of an Adventurer's Guild type setting. They can pick and choose what they want to do. If they are in the mood for hack and slash have a mission that has them clearing out an area of hostiles. If they want more RP then come up with a mission that would be more investigative than killing whatever gets in your way. You could even make a mission more balanced if they want both. It's pretty much a bunch of one shots to help gauge what play style they prefer.
I hope this helps give some guidance.
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Remember that it's a game and the goal is to have fun. So let's go kill some monsters.
Thanks! They actually agreed to make it more RP heavy. So, i decided to start them without a class and they can go around town and maybe do small quests to slowly teach them what class they intended on getting for this campaign. Sort of like a small tutorial setting. Would that be a good idea? or is that a bit too slow?
This seems like it might be a bit slow. My inclination would be to ask the players general questions about the kind of character they want to be, then make one for them to get rolling. ("So you want to cast spells like Gandalf? How is that you can do this? Did you study? Are you a natural? Did you make a deal with some creature to get your power?") In my experience, character creation is really intimidating for new players, and can bog down play if you have everyone role up their character initially.
As play progressed, I would allow them to change anything they want about the character (within reason - not "I get all 18s" but "Sure you can swap your strength and intelligence scores.")
It’s tough to answer without knowing the people. Could go either way. Nothing wrong with easing them into it. You could try a video game style tutorial like go fight the rats in the basement, get past the guard — and make sure they know that unlike a video game , there’s no one right way, they can talk part him, sneak past him, fight him, bribe him, whatever they can think of, also they need to understand that whichever way they choose will have consequences later on.
Id say start them out at 1st level in whatever class they want, but don’t make them stick with it. If they decide the class (or race) is boring, or not what they expected, let them change freely. Last time I played with new people, I sat down with each indidually and we flipped through the PHB together while I gave them a two-sentence summary of each class to see what interested them.
Honestly... for some absolute first-time players who haven't shown interest in D&D on their own... you'd be best off starting with premade characters in a premade adventure. Let each player pick which premade character they want to play as, go through at least a 2 hour adventure to get them used to the gameplay and the concept. And if they like it from that taste then I think it would be good to then move into the homebrewed, RP-heavy campaign. lol and if anyone got attached to their premade characters from that first adventure allow them to take them along.
Have a “Session 0” so you and they can all discuss the game and come together on what everyone expects. IMHO, Session 0 is the most important one of the campaign.
Thank you all so much for the advice! We have already done a simple one shot before, They were the one who wanted to play DnD, i was just able to convince them on a schedule. Sorry for not making that clear. We already did a "Session 0" to get them introduced to the game but i feel they didn't get to fully utilize their characters. So this campaign is to further let them discover other mechanics in the game.
Session 0 is not about playing. The only dice typically rolled during 0 are for character creation.
Session 0 is more of a conversation. You ask questions about what kind of game they want to play (hack and slash, mystery, etc.) and get to tell them about your setting (world at war, high adventure, grimdark, etc.) and among all of you together you will probably discover most of the answers to your questions.
I would have let them start as completely ordinary lvl 1 charactersand don't do the "tutorial". Perhaps ditch a few of the "stranger" races, and just keep the "standard" ones. I would suppose "everyone" knows what a fantasy elf, halfling, dwarf and human more or less is. Same goes for classes. The thing is - it's first time, let them create the "stereotypes" it's completely fine. It works! If someone wants to play a dwarven fighter with an axe - let him do it - it's his first time!
My point is - unless your players have lived under a rock the last 20 years, they have quite a basic knowledge of fantasy. Use that! I think it is much easier for a "newbie" to play a dwarven fighter or an elven ranger, than a "level 0 nobody" where THEY have to come up with every thing. "Everyone" knows what a dwarven fighter kind of should be like, it would rather helpt your players is my guess.
As for session 1 - think of it as your ONE great opportunity to form this group! If you makes it into only hack and slash, that's what they will expect. Since the players have NO expectations, you could also make it completely without violence - or make violence very deadly. Go for what kind of campaign you want, and rather adjust it afterwards.
And finally - a kind of short first session with a little railroading, isn't a bad idea. It helps you get to know the players and they to get to know their characters. Let them get to know a few NPC's, let them have a little fight etc... Make notes, and use that to build your next session/campaign around the PC's.
For newer players: I always recommend making a bunch of pre generated character sheets for them to choose from, and let them know that they have X amount of time where they can switch/change stuff and play around but after X deadline they should settle on what they want to play as their character. Give them options and tastes doing a bunch of diverse situation 1 shots.
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I need help in how to approach new players and make sure they enjoy their first time playing DnD.
I finally convinced a few friends to play DnD, with me being the DM. I have been DM-ing for a long time but a have very little experience with new players, Any sort of advise is gladly appreciated!
I think i made the thread too vague for you guys, Apologies.
I'm trying to ask for advise in terms of how i want to play this campaign. Since they're not use to it yet, Will it be better to just relax and let them learn the mechanics slowly by doing small quests for them to do and let them slowly get use to everything? Or just jumping into a "i have a quest for you" character cliche do it right of the bat?
I like the concept of an Adventurer's Guild type setting. They can pick and choose what they want to do. If they are in the mood for hack and slash have a mission that has them clearing out an area of hostiles. If they want more RP then come up with a mission that would be more investigative than killing whatever gets in your way. You could even make a mission more balanced if they want both. It's pretty much a bunch of one shots to help gauge what play style they prefer.
I hope this helps give some guidance.
Remember that it's a game and the goal is to have fun. So let's go kill some monsters.
Thanks! They actually agreed to make it more RP heavy. So, i decided to start them without a class and they can go around town and maybe do small quests to slowly teach them what class they intended on getting for this campaign. Sort of like a small tutorial setting. Would that be a good idea? or is that a bit too slow?
This seems like it might be a bit slow. My inclination would be to ask the players general questions about the kind of character they want to be, then make one for them to get rolling. ("So you want to cast spells like Gandalf? How is that you can do this? Did you study? Are you a natural? Did you make a deal with some creature to get your power?") In my experience, character creation is really intimidating for new players, and can bog down play if you have everyone role up their character initially.
As play progressed, I would allow them to change anything they want about the character (within reason - not "I get all 18s" but "Sure you can swap your strength and intelligence scores.")
It’s tough to answer without knowing the people. Could go either way. Nothing wrong with easing them into it. You could try a video game style tutorial like go fight the rats in the basement, get past the guard — and make sure they know that unlike a video game , there’s no one right way, they can talk part him, sneak past him, fight him, bribe him, whatever they can think of, also they need to understand that whichever way they choose will have consequences later on.
Id say start them out at 1st level in whatever class they want, but don’t make them stick with it. If they decide the class (or race) is boring, or not what they expected, let them change freely. Last time I played with new people, I sat down with each indidually and we flipped through the PHB together while I gave them a two-sentence summary of each class to see what interested them.
Honestly... for some absolute first-time players who haven't shown interest in D&D on their own... you'd be best off starting with premade characters in a premade adventure. Let each player pick which premade character they want to play as, go through at least a 2 hour adventure to get them used to the gameplay and the concept. And if they like it from that taste then I think it would be good to then move into the homebrewed, RP-heavy campaign. lol and if anyone got attached to their premade characters from that first adventure allow them to take them along.
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Have a “Session 0” so you and they can all discuss the game and come together on what everyone expects. IMHO, Session 0 is the most important one of the campaign.
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Thank you all so much for the advice! We have already done a simple one shot before, They were the one who wanted to play DnD, i was just able to convince them on a schedule. Sorry for not making that clear. We already did a "Session 0" to get them introduced to the game but i feel they didn't get to fully utilize their characters. So this campaign is to further let them discover other mechanics in the game.
Session 0 is not about playing. The only dice typically rolled during 0 are for character creation.
Session 0 is more of a conversation. You ask questions about what kind of game they want to play (hack and slash, mystery, etc.) and get to tell them about your setting (world at war, high adventure, grimdark, etc.) and among all of you together you will probably discover most of the answers to your questions.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I would have let them start as completely ordinary lvl 1 charactersand don't do the "tutorial". Perhaps ditch a few of the "stranger" races, and just keep the "standard" ones. I would suppose "everyone" knows what a fantasy elf, halfling, dwarf and human more or less is. Same goes for classes. The thing is - it's first time, let them create the "stereotypes" it's completely fine. It works! If someone wants to play a dwarven fighter with an axe - let him do it - it's his first time!
My point is - unless your players have lived under a rock the last 20 years, they have quite a basic knowledge of fantasy. Use that! I think it is much easier for a "newbie" to play a dwarven fighter or an elven ranger, than a "level 0 nobody" where THEY have to come up with every thing. "Everyone" knows what a dwarven fighter kind of should be like, it would rather helpt your players is my guess.
As for session 1 - think of it as your ONE great opportunity to form this group! If you makes it into only hack and slash, that's what they will expect. Since the players have NO expectations, you could also make it completely without violence - or make violence very deadly. Go for what kind of campaign you want, and rather adjust it afterwards.
And finally - a kind of short first session with a little railroading, isn't a bad idea. It helps you get to know the players and they to get to know their characters. Let them get to know a few NPC's, let them have a little fight etc... Make notes, and use that to build your next session/campaign around the PC's.
Ludo ergo sum!
For newer players: I always recommend making a bunch of pre generated character sheets for them to choose from, and let them know that they have X amount of time where they can switch/change stuff and play around but after X deadline they should settle on what they want to play as their character. Give them options and tastes doing a bunch of diverse situation 1 shots.