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View Full Version : Teaching D&D long-distance (and in a foreign language!)



Janus
2010-11-07, 11:13 AM
Hi, everyone.
There's a friend of mine in Brazil that has expressed interest in learning D&D, so I'm thinking of teaching her next month when school lets out.

I haven't discussed with her yet on how exactly she wants to do it, but I'm thinking we'll probably play by email or Skype (or a mixture of both). I'll most likely be teaching her 4e, as that's what I'm most familiar with.

I figure that the best way to teach the game is by creating a simple adventure that requires her to use a variety of skills.
Furthermore, I'm planning on doing this in Portuguese. She does speak English fairly well, though I imagine it'll be easier/more fun for her in Portuguese (and I want to practice the language myself).

So, my questions are:
1) What kind of adventure should I do? What should I include and avoid? I much prefer making my own as opposed to published modules.
2) Anyone know of free, 4e Portuguese material online? The Character Creator would be excellent, though I won't hold my breath for that.
3) Anyone ever had a similar experience to this? How'd you do it?

Thanks, everyone.

Savannah
2010-11-07, 02:52 PM
1) What kind of adventure should I do? What should I include and avoid? I much prefer making my own as opposed to published modules.

That largely depends on the sorts of things she wants to do. If you're doing a solo, you can tailor it to her much better than if you're doing a group game. Keep it simple and short regardless; you can always add more later.

With newer players I tend to find I need slightly more railroad-y games, since they have less of an idea what they can do. Be reasonable, of course, as she may come up with something that a veteran player who knows the rules better would never think of, but she may also need more hints. I'd start with a definite quest to do something so that she's got a direction to go, rather than setting her down somewhere and asking "what do you want to do?".


2) Anyone know of free, 4e Portuguese material online? The Character Creator would be excellent, though I won't hold my breath for that.

No clue, I don't play 4e.


3) Anyone ever had a similar experience to this? How'd you do it?

I've taught 3.5 in person and on pbp. Takes a lot of patience, but it's fun. And I'd suggest doing character creation real-time if at all possible. It takes way too long to explain it otherwise (trust me :smalltongue:).

I generally (secretly) give new players a 1-2 level period where I won't let their characters die, barring incredible stupidity on the player's part. After that, it's fair game for whatever lethality I'm running it at, but I don't think it's a good introduction to the game for your character to die before you get a chance to play him/her.

Jacque
2010-11-07, 03:44 PM
2) Anyone know of free, 4e Portuguese material online? The Character Creator would be excellent, though I won't hold my breath for that.


Millions of people play D&D with English rulebooks and character sheets without it being an issue (if you know English well enough of course). Your issue here shouldn't hamper you at all.

Janus
2010-11-07, 03:57 PM
That largely depends on the sorts of things she wants to do. If you're doing a solo, you can tailor it to her much better than if you're doing a group game. Keep it simple and short regardless; you can always add more later.
It'll be a solo game, for certain. At most I'll throw in a DMPC, though I think I'd rather avoid that.


I've taught 3.5 in person and on pbp. Takes a lot of patience, but it's fun. And I'd suggest doing character creation real-time if at all possible. It takes way too long to explain it otherwise (trust me :smalltongue:).
I was figuring I'd do character creation on Skype. Walk her through it and explain (and translate, if needed) as it goes.


I generally (secretly) give new players a 1-2 level period where I won't let their characters die, barring incredible stupidity on the player's part. After that, it's fair game for whatever lethality I'm running it at, but I don't think it's a good introduction to the game for your character to die before you get a chance to play him/her.
...I'll keep that in mind. :smallbiggrin:


Millions of people play D&D with English rulebooks and character sheets without it being an issue (if you know English well enough of course). Your issue here shouldn't hamper you at all.
Good point. A guy I worked with in Brazil actually learned quite a bit of English from playing D&D. Heck, I learned a decent amount of Portuguese from a 3.5 DMG. Not that I commonly had to use the word "paladino," but I learned a lot of descriptive words from D&D.

Savannah
2010-11-07, 04:03 PM
It'll be a solo game, for certain. At most I'll throw in a DMPC, though I think I'd rather avoid that.

DMPCs are evil. Don't do it. At most I'd let her hire assistants if she feels she needs more people. That way, she's in charge of whether or not to have companions, and she can dismiss them when she no longer needs them.


...I'll keep that in mind. :smallbiggrin:

*shifty eyes* No, no. I totally don't do that.....*marks Janus off her "safe" list*

mucat
2010-11-07, 04:16 PM
Definitely do character creation as a live, real-time session. For someone creating a character for the first time, don't list an overwhelming number of options, but give her two or three choices at every juncture so she will feel like the character is her own.

Focus on "what do you want the character to be able to do?", rather than game mechanics. So the first question might be

"Would you rather play a warrior with armor and weapons, a sneaky sort who survives on her wits, or someone who uses magic?"

If she chooses a warrior, ask if she'd rather play a trained soldier who fights up close, a huntress with a bow and a lot of wilderness skills, or a crusader who channels power from the gods while she fights. And so on until you can offer her the choice of two or three classes that fit her concept...

Similarly, on ability scores, take an approach like "There are three physical scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution." Explain what each one means, and then ask "Which one do you think she's best at? All right, we'll make that one an 18." Explain a little bit of the mechanics and what the numbers mean as you go along, but let a new player build a character mainly from concept, learning mechanics at whatever pace interests her.

Also ask her a few personality details of the character, along with the mechanics. Start to build the idea that your character is not you, and that she should think about what this person would do in different situations, rather than just "what works".

In a solo campaign, you don't have to worry about balancing her character against others, so don't worry about "suboptimal" choices. If she wants to play a highly intelligent fighter, great. Run with that character, and give lots of opportunities for her to outsmart enemies.

Similarly, focus encounters mainly on asking what she wants to do in each situation, and then giving a few options on how to do that in terms of game mechanics.

A solo campaign like this is actually a great way to teach a new player. In a group, she might have to hurry to master game mechanics so as not to be a drag on the others. In a solo campaign, you can focus on what makes the game fun for that player, and let her pick up the mechanics as she plays. (Of course, if she's a born optimization fiend, then "what makes the game fun" will be mastering all the game-mechanical tricks...in which case, that's what you can focus on.)



DMPCs are evil. Don't do it. At most I'd let her hire assistants if she feels she needs more people. That way, she's in charge of whether or not to have companions, and she can dismiss them when she no longer needs them.
True, this. But do give her the option to recruit others if she wants to. She might have more fun if her character has a friendly companion or two to interact with. And you can change encounters on the fly, to provide the right level of challenge for her individually, or for her and her chosen comrades.

Janus
2010-11-07, 09:24 PM
*snip*
Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to pray that she's not a natural born optimizer (I prefer actual characters to just a bunch of stats).


*shifty eyes* No, no. I totally don't do that.....*marks Janus off her "safe" list*
:smalleek: