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View Full Version : D&D 3.5 For Nubs: What to Do?



Deth Muncher
2009-07-30, 12:37 AM
Heyo. So, a friend of mine and I have both discussed teaching our girlfriends how to play Dungeons and/or Dragons, and both of the girlfriends seem willing to learn. Basically, what our plan is is to have me DM, with my friend being the more experienced PC, and having the two girls be the, well, noobs. The issue, however, is teaching the girls how to play. We have two ideas:
-Start at the very beginning, teaching them how to roll a character, and how each little eensy bit of everything works, or
-Premake a tank, a healer, and a DPS (apologies for the WoW terminology) and let the girls pick which ones they want to be, and have my friend play the other.

Other issues we have:
- What level? Starting at level 1 is a novel idea, but high mortality rate is fail. Likewise, we don't want to start too high, as high levels have lots of complex abilities.

- What to use? And I don't mean which books - we're not dumb, we're keeping this Core 3.5. What I mean, though, is what to do for the adventure? Should we run a premade? If so, which one? Or should I write one up, horribly plagiarizing from popular well known fantasy so that the roles of the players might be more familiar to them?

- Just how to go about introducing mechanics and such? Should we explain everything up front and then as it comes up? I know ideally, we'd give each girl a copy of the PHB and let them devour to their heart's content, but we don't have the luxury of all those books (them's 'spensive, yo).

So really, I'm asking for your help, Playground. What do I do? And those of you lucky enough to have ladyfriends interested in tabletop gaming, how did you go about explaining it to them?

Pharaoh's Fist
2009-07-30, 12:39 AM
Well, there's a few brief summaries of DnD I have lying around. I'll see if I can find you some.

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-30, 12:44 AM
I'd talk to them about the sort of class and race they would both like to use before walking them through making the characters in addition to giving them optimization advice (I class this as important due to not wanting new players to get frustrated due to poor mechanical choices). I'd also custom make a simple adventure where you guide them through basic mechanics as they apply to their characters when they are needed. It may be necessary to go outside of Core for some character concepts, but I don't think that would cause problems as far as learning how to play is concerned.

Pharaoh's Fist
2009-07-30, 12:46 AM
The free ToEE computer game demo was useful for getting me to understand basic DnD mechanics.

Dunno if it's still around though.

AstralFire
2009-07-30, 12:49 AM
My ladyfriend was already interested in D&D and has a much wider breadth of experience than I do, having played most of the major systems at least a few times (while I've specialized in homebrewing for d20 spinoffs and my own work.) Zuki's level of familiarity with a diverse range of concepts puts mine to shame. :smallredface: I really should know more than I do.

Regarding premade versus letting them make it for themselves - prepare and use premades if their eyes start glazing over very fast when you try to explain any of the simple mechanics. If they don't, begin character creation, and make it a social activity rather than an instructive one.

RTGoodman
2009-07-30, 12:50 AM
Definitely let them make their own characters. If each step along the way lets you explain something, you've taught them stuff that keeps from having to keep stopping every 10 seconds when game time actually comes. For instance: "Now we're going to point your points/rolls onto your sheet. If you want to be stronger, put your high score in Strength. It lets you beat people, deal damage, and all that. If you want to be Intelligence, put a high score there - for Wizards, it makes their spells better." And so on.

Once you get characters made and make sure they have a few basic points down pat (your attack bonus, skill modifiers, hit points, etc.), or at least know where to find those thing, start with an easy low-level adventure. Now, I usually start at 3rd level in 3.x, but I think 1st is fine for first-time players. I'd suggest a grabbing "Scourge of the Howling Horde" if you can get it cheap, since it's a 1st-2nd level adventure with some RP, some puzzles (I believe), and some good dungeon-crawling. And hey - what better way to end your first session of D&D than by fighting off a dragon (albeit a small one)?

If you can't get that, then A Dark and Stormy Knight is a pretty good introductory adventure. You can get it for free (along with a bunch of other stuff) HERE (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1).

Deth Muncher
2009-07-30, 01:08 AM
As a minor update, my ladyfriend has said she wants to be an Elven Druid.

AstralFire
2009-07-30, 01:12 AM
Druid is a great class for beginners because:
1) They frequently have no idea how to optimize its offensive abilities
2) Has a great amount of safety nets
3) Has a lot of toys so they can play with almost every basic class feature in the book as their mechanical growth grows.

I recommend starting around level 3-5. Those levels keep numbers low, tend to have something anticipated at a nearby level, and give the players a fair amount of survivability.

I say use a premade module in this case. It makes the whole thing look a little neater since most of the mechanics are already there and can be referenced quickly.

Pharaoh's Fist
2009-07-30, 01:13 AM
Hm. Con penalty is bad, but the PHB2 variant gives a bonus to Con and Str, s more balanced, and simpler as it gets rid of wildshape and the animal companion.

Or you could go regular Druid and still do fairly well.

Yeah, pretty good class for new players.

Milskidasith
2009-07-30, 01:17 AM
Y'know, I was actually considering starting DMing; I have a few friends who want to play, one of whom has experience, and me (with my limited experience from these boards). I don't know if I'd be a great DM, but I know I could at least teach my friends how to play.

Zuki
2009-07-30, 07:53 AM
I'd definitely agree with Astral, Druid's a solid beginner's class choice. The other reason I like playing them so much besides all that great nature-and-animals flavor is I don't have to try too hard to be effective. The flexibility of role is also a good plus. Since it'll probably be a couple levels before Wildshape even comes up, and you expressed an interest in keeping this core-only, I'm not worried about it's potential brokenness. If she spots the power of Natural Spell, good on her!

As for the worries about the -Con bonus, I say don't fuss about mechanical optimization with newbies. I've made that mistake before with people, and some will get upset and defensive, as if you're telling them that you're playing the game wrong. Point out that that's going to be a genuine weakness as you go along with character creation, and let her use that Dexterity and some solid Hide armor or what-have-you to pump up her AC, etc, etc.

I'd go with group chargen, as a social activity, rather than premade characters. Done well, chargen can be fun because you get everyone's imaginations on the same page and fired up. Ask them questions about what they'd like their character to be like/be capable of, and then translate that into the game mechanical equivalents, with a brief explanation of how those things match up. If they're stumped for an idea (I had a hard time picking out first-level feats when I was new to 3.5, f'rex.), offer suggestions.

"Combat Reflexes is nice, because it lets you take advantage of other people's mistakes in battle and get a couple extra hits in. Improved Initiative is cool, because you tend to be the first one to do something in a fight," etc, etc.

If they've got a hard time picking out skills or spells because they've only got four or so, that's another time to chime in with your experience and wisdom, and help them prioritize. But above all, make sure their input and decisions are more important for the character as a finished product.

As for custom adventure versus premade, well....I'm biased towards original content. As you point out, it gives you the flexibility to make the roles and game tropes a bit more obvious, and to tailor them to fare your girlfriends will be more familiar with. They're also easier to adjust, I feel.

I'd do what you're more comfortable with as a DM, however. If there's a premade you've already played through that you like, or if you're comfortable with picking one up and running them out of the box, then that'd be all right.

I'd favor something with comedic and silly/light-hearted elements for the first adventure. Alternatively, (or at the same time!) something that really gets the heroism and make-a-difference-in-the-world of the game across. Save that town from the tyranny of its ogre warlord and his bandit mob!, etc, etc.

If they take well to chargen, do the extra work and start them off at level 2 or 3. If their eyes are glazing over and they'd like to get into the real meat of the game, then have something prepared to run at level 1, just in case.

kamikasei
2009-07-30, 08:21 AM
My recommendation:

- Help them make some starting characters themselves, but with the expectation that they won't necessarily be long-term. They can use these characters to get the hang of the game and a feel for what they do and don't particularly enjoy, as well as seeing the in-game consequences of chargen decisions. Then, if they want, they can roll up more in-depth characters which they're better equipped to fine-tune to what and how they'd like to play.

- Start out with original content, with what are effectively tutorial missions. Say, start them in a small trading town surrounded by various problems, and they can troubleshoot for the locals. You can tailor each adventure to familiarize them with a different aspect of the game. They get to be heroes, they get a base of operations and a place where they can form ties to NPCs and a community who come to appreciate them, they get to deal with one novel aspect of the rules at a time to avoid overload.

TheCountAlucard
2009-07-30, 02:28 PM
I was actually going to suggest avoiding the casting classes from the core books, as that makes up about 65% of the broken-ness and complexity in the game. From my experience, Warlock is a good "arcanist for beginners."

Then again, Druid's not a bad one to begin with.

I second the suggestion to start at levels 3-5.