Where to start?

[Dread Cthulhu]

So, I've been wanting to DM a game of 3.5 DnD for ages. I have storyline ideas, I have the dice, I have the manuals. I have some other people willing to try it out.

The one problem is that none of them knows anything about it.

Where would you recommend I started them? The whole thing seems so complex that there's no real obvious place to begin. Should I get them a Player's Handbook? Should I just set them down and have them read OotS?

Thanks in advance.

[Asheram]

Well... A good way've always been; Hype -> Borrow them a players handbook -> scripted battle where they barely win.
After that I'll wager you a platinum that they're hooked.

After that you can ease them into what D&D is Really about. ;)

[Eldariel]

Showing them OotS is a good way to get 'em interested, but you need them to read SRD (http://www.d20srd.com) or PHB to understand anything.

Maybe run a quick hack'n'slash dungeon on level 3 with all multiclassed characters just to drive home how it all works out as a sort of "training game". Then get the real game on.

[kamikasei]

They should each eventually read the PHB - the character creation and combat sections, at least. They need to know that much to come up with their own characters. Ideally they'd each have their own copy, but they could all work off one borrowed one, or off the SRD once the missing information (WBL and XP, mostly) is explained to them.

However, to start with, I'd recommend something along the lines of what Eldariel suggests. Come up with a painfully standard party of pregenerated characters, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, and run them through a straightforward dungeon to show them how skill checks, feats, spells, combat etc. all work (and of course, just how the game itself flows). Encourage them to play their characters and come up with personalities, attitudes, in-character talk etc., but make it clear that this is an introduction and it'll go more smoothly if they play the classes according to their assumptions (i.e. make sure the cleric does some healing, the rogue sneaks and flanks, etc.). Then when they've had a taste of the game get them learning enough to make home-grown characters they'll have a real stake in.

[Tsotha-lanti]

I've introduced my players to something like 30 RPGs over the years, and I've never made them read the rulebook before playing. We get together for the first session, and I - having already created something like 10 characters to get the hang of it - run them through character creation, explaining everything to them, and taking everybody through the stages at the same time.

Recently, I've begun using pregen characters just in order to save time; we play so rarely it makes much more sense to just give them a sheet and throw them into a pre-written scenario than to spend one, or at leats half of one, of our monthly or bi-monthly sessions creating characters!

During play, I explain everything as we go along. If I have no clue, I refer to the book (or, these days, a rules summary .rtf I've written up for myself) quickly; if looking the rules up is taking too much time, I just make a ruling on the fly. After play, I look up problem issues and explain them next time we play.

Once the players get into the system, they'll read the rules on their own - most of the time. In many games, it's not really necessary; a lot of games don't have defined actions you can take in combat, for instance. In games that do (D&D 3.X and 4, Twilight 2013, The Riddle of Steel, Shadowrun 4, etc.), players should read the combat rules (or, again lately, a summary I've written up and printed) so they know what actions exist and learn to use them. In the case of D&D, players will read available supplements on their own time (my players usually use downtime or breaks during play to read the books) and find stuff they like and want to use, and will run it by you.

[Starscream]

I remember back when I got started with 2nd edition basic. They way they explained what a Role-Playing Game was in my set was pretty clever.

Basically it started out like a Choose Your Own Adventure story, with just a few options available, but quickly branched out to having you roll dice and determine how strong/smart/etc your character was to determine what happened next.

Before you knew it you had an entire character sheet constructed and a pretty good understanding of just how the game worked.

[Tsotha-lanti]

I remember back when I got started with 2nd edition basic. They way they explained what a Role-Playing Game was in my set was pretty clever.

Basically it started out like a Choose Your Own Adventure story, with just a few options available, but quickly branched out to having you roll dice and determine how strong/smart/etc your character was to determine what happened next.

Before you knew it you had an entire character sheet constructed and a pretty good understanding of just how the game worked.

The one with the evil wizard who magic missiles the friendly cleric at the end, then charm persons you?

[Tempest Fennac]

My approach would be to ask them about the sort of class and race they would like to use, while asking about they they want to be able to do, before making some very basic characters for them (eg: if someone wanted to play as a fox who could shoot fireballs, I'd use my homebrew Vulpine race before making a Sorcerer with Lesser Orb of Fire as one of the spells). My logic is that letting them play as something that suits what they want to do is more likely to keep them interested then just picking characters that they don't want, and it would start to introduce them to the sort of choice which is available.

[bosssmiley]

OP's question goes to Say Yes or Roll (http://www.story-games.com/codex/index.php?title=Say_Yes_or_Roll_the_Dice).

Set up a cool situation. Throw the players into it and ask them what they want to do. Unless they've been hiding in a cave for the past 30 years they'll know the basic tropes of fantasy (Star Wars, LOTR & HP have been good for that).

Note to the DM: Use the simple rules to begin with. Add complications only as comfort level increases. You don't need all those hundreds of pages of verbiage, just remember "+/-2 to the roll per pos/neg factor affecting the situation."

If all else fails, see if you can't find a cheap copy of the D&D Basic Game (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17804) somewhere. That's written for a reading age of ~10 and explains the basic mechanics of the game well.


The one with the evil wizard who magic missiles the friendly cleric at the end, then charm persons you?

That was the BECMI Basic box. Bargle - I hated that SOB!

[Starscream]

The one with the evil wizard who magic missiles the friendly cleric at the end, then charm persons you?

I don't think so. There was an evil wizard, though. I think he was called Zanzer Tem. And at the end you began another dungeon with a white dragon called Kamro. The DM was supposed to stock that one himself.