I’ve played in a company of total newbs(I too). I was DM. We were playing Lost mines of Phandelver. We used premade chars. They were too lazy to read at least basic rules from starter pack, so i had to tell them rules in brief. The game was boring for them. They didn't roleplay. In their first dungeon they just were going ahead, killing goblins on their way. They didn't try to invent something, they even didn’t think about tactics, so mage was killed by bugbear in this dungeon. They didn't react on this loss. I was asking them to do more roleplay, to think about tactics, to talk, but it was useless, they were still emotionless and simple in actions. We did't finished that campaighn. Now I'm going to add 1-2 members, because one of them doesn’t want to play anymore and start playing Curse of Strahd. But I just don’t understand what should I do to make the game interesting and full, how to make them roleplay and invent something unusual. What should I do as DM?
Sounds like you are into it and want to play, and they don't. (Based just on what you said) So first would be to try to find out if they want to play an RPG. Obviously you all met up and played, probably more than once, so hopefully there is some interest, but is it just a time killer/ spending time with friends, or does everyone genuinely want to play more now that they got an intro into the game?
I ask because there is a ton of advice out there on how to improve your game, and a lot of great advice in this forum, but most will be general pointers to enhance the experience. Nothing said here can answer the question you need to directly ask your players: "Do you want to play this game?" (And try to get a real response, not just "Yeah, sure, whatever.") The last thing you want is to keep pushing along with people that aren't into it and end up getting frustrated to the point that you stop playing because you sound like an invested DM that wants to enjoy the game.
Start with a good session 0. Get everyone together and make characters. Get your players to build in relationships with each other. Tell them a little bit about what you have planned for the game and get feedback on what the players are interested in doing as well. Basically you need to get your group invested in the story, and an easy way to plant that seed is to give them a bit of narrative input on things that may happen along the way.
If it's everyone's first session, then nerves, fear of the unknown and "what do i do" are all factors that come in to play. Also, while premade characters are great in that they simplify rules, it's easy for new players to have no attachment to those characters. Did folks choose their roles or was it random? Do they even know what the roles are?
Very few, if anyone, starts as a great RPer. It takes a bit of time for folks to adjust from how they interact in a crpg (ie skyrim type world) vs a real gaming world.
Without knowing more, here's what I would consider.
1) Next time ya'll get together, or even in between, chat with everyone and see what they are interested in. aka a session 0. You phrase it as, "now that you've seen a bit of how the game works, talk to me about things that you think would be interesting."
2) If you use premades, let the players have some customization for them, and perhaps ask if they can put in some background, or history for their characters. This can help them get into the characters heads as well as create attachment.
3) In the beginning, start with a few simple combat encounters then move into other social encounters. The lost mines sets this up well with a goblin ambush, which then leads to a social decision by the party, "do we follow the goblins, or do we go to town?".
4) Create a hook based on the characters' backstories to give them a reason to be going to Phandolin. In one of my games, 1 character was escaping another town, 2 characters were broke and a fourth character was delivering a keg of beer from neverwinter to phandolin on Gundren's cart. So the characters started with escort duty, knowing Gundren, and knowing that Gundren would be one to finish paying them.
Hope some of the above helps.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Playing a role playing game isn't for everyone. I personally have a issue with anyone that won't try and understand the basic rules. So maybe this isn't for your friends
The above said I will assume that your group is interested, if not just end the game and play a board game or video game it will save time, and headaches.
What I would do is have a session 0 with everyone of my players individualy. In that session explain the world, and help them to make a character. Answer questions individually and help them to understand the rules and what cool things their character a can do. If they invest time into character creation they are far more likely to get into their character.
Also you got to figure new players to role playing won't jump in head first to the roleplay aspect. Give them time and easy roleplay moments. The wizard died and no one got upset? Don't let it bother you. Think of it as a tv show. No one cares if somebody dies in the pilot episode. If you continue to run that adventure have the npcs of the town engage the players and ask them questions. Basically you as the dm will need to push the story along until your players become more active and engrossed in the story.
Good luck
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I’ve played in a company of total newbs(I too). I was DM. We were playing Lost mines of Phandelver. We used premade chars. They were too lazy to read at least basic rules from starter pack, so i had to tell them rules in brief. The game was boring for them. They didn't roleplay. In their first dungeon they just were going ahead, killing goblins on their way. They didn't try to invent something, they even didn’t think about tactics, so mage was killed by bugbear in this dungeon. They didn't react on this loss. I was asking them to do more roleplay, to think about tactics, to talk, but it was useless, they were still emotionless and simple in actions. We did't finished that campaighn. Now I'm going to add 1-2 members, because one of them doesn’t want to play anymore and start playing Curse of Strahd. But I just don’t understand what should I do to make the game interesting and full, how to make them roleplay and invent something unusual. What should I do as DM?
Sounds like you are into it and want to play, and they don't. (Based just on what you said) So first would be to try to find out if they want to play an RPG. Obviously you all met up and played, probably more than once, so hopefully there is some interest, but is it just a time killer/ spending time with friends, or does everyone genuinely want to play more now that they got an intro into the game?
I ask because there is a ton of advice out there on how to improve your game, and a lot of great advice in this forum, but most will be general pointers to enhance the experience. Nothing said here can answer the question you need to directly ask your players: "Do you want to play this game?" (And try to get a real response, not just "Yeah, sure, whatever.") The last thing you want is to keep pushing along with people that aren't into it and end up getting frustrated to the point that you stop playing because you sound like an invested DM that wants to enjoy the game.
Start with a good session 0. Get everyone together and make characters. Get your players to build in relationships with each other. Tell them a little bit about what you have planned for the game and get feedback on what the players are interested in doing as well. Basically you need to get your group invested in the story, and an easy way to plant that seed is to give them a bit of narrative input on things that may happen along the way.
If it's everyone's first session, then nerves, fear of the unknown and "what do i do" are all factors that come in to play. Also, while premade characters are great in that they simplify rules, it's easy for new players to have no attachment to those characters. Did folks choose their roles or was it random? Do they even know what the roles are?
Very few, if anyone, starts as a great RPer. It takes a bit of time for folks to adjust from how they interact in a crpg (ie skyrim type world) vs a real gaming world.
Without knowing more, here's what I would consider.
1) Next time ya'll get together, or even in between, chat with everyone and see what they are interested in. aka a session 0. You phrase it as, "now that you've seen a bit of how the game works, talk to me about things that you think would be interesting."
2) If you use premades, let the players have some customization for them, and perhaps ask if they can put in some background, or history for their characters. This can help them get into the characters heads as well as create attachment.
3) In the beginning, start with a few simple combat encounters then move into other social encounters. The lost mines sets this up well with a goblin ambush, which then leads to a social decision by the party, "do we follow the goblins, or do we go to town?".
4) Create a hook based on the characters' backstories to give them a reason to be going to Phandolin. In one of my games, 1 character was escaping another town, 2 characters were broke and a fourth character was delivering a keg of beer from neverwinter to phandolin on Gundren's cart. So the characters started with escort duty, knowing Gundren, and knowing that Gundren would be one to finish paying them.
Hope some of the above helps.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Playing a role playing game isn't for everyone. I personally have a issue with anyone that won't try and understand the basic rules. So maybe this isn't for your friends
The above said I will assume that your group is interested, if not just end the game and play a board game or video game it will save time, and headaches.
What I would do is have a session 0 with everyone of my players individualy. In that session explain the world, and help them to make a character. Answer questions individually and help them to understand the rules and what cool things their character a can do. If they invest time into character creation they are far more likely to get into their character.
Also you got to figure new players to role playing won't jump in head first to the roleplay aspect. Give them time and easy roleplay moments. The wizard died and no one got upset? Don't let it bother you. Think of it as a tv show. No one cares if somebody dies in the pilot episode. If you continue to run that adventure have the npcs of the town engage the players and ask them questions. Basically you as the dm will need to push the story along until your players become more active and engrossed in the story.
Good luck