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View Full Version : New players in a group of experienced ones. Help! (3.5/3.P)



peacenlove
2011-01-11, 08:19 AM
Hallo all! I have been resuming a campaign as a DM that I discontinued at November.
I had 4 players all experienced with D&D in varying degrees, 2 of them were in my gaming group for 3-5 years.
They just hit lvl 7 now and choosing their abilities and the game is under Pathfinder rules although all material from 3.5 edition allowed (Tome of Battle, vestige magic and shadow magic play a prominent role in my campaign). Also I endorse T2-T3 level of power.

Current party Barbarian, Oracle, Warlock
Also a sorcerer but he won't be attending my game anymore.
Wall of text describing current party spoilered

-Barbarian with the Fax celestis ToB update (http://wiki.faxcelestis.net/index.php?title=Tome_of_Battle_Core_Class_Update). Mage slayer line of feats, Power attack, rage powers that boost his defenses vs magic and allow him to use more attacks of opportunity per round.
VERY experienced player, and has been attending my games for 4 years, very clever use of his abilities and generally a professional in and out of combat.

-Battle sorcerer, aberrant bloodline, touch attack specialist (Pathfinder offsets the spells known loss, and i rule that he will have a d10 for hit points), Stacks hit points, currently at 80+ ( A clever tactic since the barbarian is the only melee and he can't hold yet all the enemy creatures).
Posseses good crowd control (stinking cloud, ray of enfeeblement, web) spells although he was dissapointed that his invisibility and mirror image was completely useless against the creatures I present.
The player is also experienced (4 years in my table) but he is in the army currently and he will not be attending the campaign

-Oracle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle), Healbot, dedicated dispeller and team buffer. She is somewhat inexperienced but catches up quickly. Only 2 years of experience, however they make a killer team with the barbarian.

-Warlock, dedicated scout/party face, Invisibility, fly, see in darkness (which is very frequent) and beguiling influence. Minimal contribution in battle, however once or twice per day can dish out some good damage with the use of items, and when he finds cash he will also be the problem solver (with scrolls). Many years of experience but he was used to low powered games, but catches on with my game just now.

Now two new players (a girl and a guy) will be entering our group (since i am the only active dm in our small town :smallannoyed:).
As a DM i always was a fan and could handle high powered campaigns. However the 2 new players have never played Pathfinder before. I got some problems.

FIRST: the new girl asked for a barbarian. Since we will have a barbarian in our party (and a very dedicated one) i fear if any conflict will arise or if she feels that she isn't contributing much as the existing barbarian.
So i would like alternatives for a barbarian, that is simple to play and gives the "raging" and wild sense.
She knows nothing about D&D in general, and i had only 2 hours to explain about it all (she picked the barbarian for the nice image and because she smashes things in rage)

SECOND: the guy has some knowledge about D&D, mostly 2nd and 3rd edition. He loves playing rogues. However my game is geared towards high powered hack and slash and rogues are very fragile. The presence of 2 additional melee guys will help him but still...

A good thing (I hope) is that I will build their characters so i have free reign over what i will build).
Also i pointed them at the Pathfinder SRD so they can reference it.
Lastly i am preparing some introductory combats, however i fear that the more experienced players will just walk over them, not giving the others the chance to participate effectively.
What i need from you is some general advice in how i will integrate those new players as smoothly as possible, and how the new girl will not freak out by the experienced players.
As a note I allow any good homebrew (currently my players are in the Nation of the Dead (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38868) campaign setting by Krimm Blackleaf, it is simple enough for my tastes), and my campaign is a sandbox style, where the players, by their own actions, have been plane shifted in the Plane of Shadows.

Galdor Miriel
2011-01-11, 08:40 AM
How about you let them play what they want, and maybe adapt your stories a bit so that the rogue contributes more, perhaps via skills, and the second barbarian has a roleplay theme which is strong. If people have fun, then they will get into the rules and figure out the mechanic. If they do not have fun they will not hang around.

Lets face it as a dm your story changes anyway, because those darn players do the unexpected.

GM

Bundin
2011-01-11, 09:00 AM
I'm with Galdor Miriel on thisone. If you want the two new players to stick around, you'll need to have them get attached to their character. That's unlikely to happen if it's built by someone else.

For the guy it's quite simple: he loves rogues and wants to be one. There you go as DM, the party now has a rogue. Go find that niche for him to fill.

For the girl it's a tad more complicated. Seeing your character being very much less effective than the other can be disheartening. Maybe go through an overview of classes (and races, those can be interesting departure points as well) again to see if there's something else she might enjoy.
If she really wants to play that barbarian though, let her. At least she won't start off feeling that her own idea wasn't good enough to play.

peacenlove
2011-01-11, 09:02 AM
How about you let them play what they want, and maybe adapt your stories a bit so that the rogue contributes more, perhaps via skills, and the second barbarian has a roleplay theme which is strong. If people have fun, then they will get into the rules and figure out the mechanic. If they do not have fun they will not hang around.

Lets face it as a dm your story changes anyway, because those darn players do the unexpected.

GM

First of all thanks for the response.
Since its a sandbox campaign my story basically follows the whims of my players. I would have it no other way. I just give them a starting point so as not to get confused.
The rogue is easy then. Once they get into Balefire (one of the metropolises in the Plane of shadows the rogue (and the warlock) will shine. Probably at the second session if they are lucky.
However a roleplaying theme for the barbarian... For me barbarians are a gray and alien area, thats where i ask for your advice. I hardly know the girl (met her only 2 times) and I don't know her tastes, nor does she have time (I think) until sunday to learn d&d and build her character, thats why she asked me to build one for her.

EDIT: First session will be the union of the party and their trip into Balefire (i hope)

sana
2011-01-11, 11:51 AM
Uh but the answer is easy,

Talk to the experienced Barbarian and ask him to take the new girl under his wings. Now you have a nice RP story-arc.

Even if she isn't so "strong" as the old barbarian she learns from him in-game and out-game, maybe they even learn to team up and find good tactics to work as a real strong team.

peacenlove
2011-01-11, 12:16 PM
Uh but the answer is easy,

Talk to the experienced Barbarian and ask him to take the new girl under his wings. Now you have a nice RP story-arc.

Even if she isn't so "strong" as the old barbarian she learns from him in-game and out-game, maybe they even learn to team up and find good tactics to work as a real strong team.

Nice, Simple, Devious.
I like it :smallbiggrin:
Also talked to the girl, she wants a claymore typed character (never seen the anime show), with a demon blooded barbarian style. So character generation just got simpler.
Thanks all for your opinions!

Leon
2011-01-11, 09:57 PM
A) Let them play what they want to and don't force them into something they don't.

Also if you are making the PCs let the players in on the process to a degree - they are the ones that are going to be playing with them and should have some idea of what is going on and how they are made - after all if you don't get to make a character at some point how will you learn to make one in the future - reading about how its done only goes so far.

B) Accommodate them into your plans as a DM and Group.
You want them to experience some combat without the others overpowering then ask them to ease off for these intro fights.