Tips on DMing new players

[RealMarkP]

I've always played with seasoned players. They came to the sessions fully prepared, with a binder full of paperwork and they character spec'd until levels beyond epic. However, I'm put into a new situation and am seeking the wisdom of this community.

I'm starting a brand new campaign with three new players. They are all mature adults with enough education to do complex math and have played RPG computer games. Some are veterans of world of Warcraft and Rift.

1. What tips would you give me when introducing them to 3.5e D&D?
2. How would you go about introducing them to role playing in character?
3. Is there D&D cheat sheet that briefly details the steps needed to do common things like rolling attacks, movements, saves, etc?
4. What types of encounter or campaign would be best to ease them into the fantasy world?

Thanks.

[icthenue]

In my case, having introduced D&D to about 20 people (I tend to DM for noobs) I find the most important thing is to make sure they have fun.

1. If they are new, my biggest tip would be to stick with core. Homebrew is fine, just don't let them choose random races, like a Saurian lvl adjustment +3 monk. True story, my first campaign I let someone do this. He had a blast until everyone had leveled 3-4 times ahead of him and he was no longer powerful... and quit a few weeks later.

2. I find traits or flaws a great way to get new players roleplaying. One of my first players wasn't sure how to act out of combat with his half-orc barbarian. Once i introduced his flaws and traits, he instantly had a backstory, past, and was roleplaying any chance he got.

3. I don't know of any off hand, but I just made one. It had movement, spells, attacking, AAO, a section to help figure out attack bonus (feats, stats, BAB, etc) and the back was special attacks, like tripping, feinting, etc.

4. I start new players in a tavern. Since most noobs don't tie their characters to anything, simple mercs looking for coin in any dangerous line of work tend to meet there and it has colorful NPCs that you can have interact with the PCs. Once they leave, I usually introduce a big bad (necromancer, wizard, cleric) a few game days later by taking something they care about and destroying, killing, or otherwise ruining it. It fuels the character to hate or want to defeat the enemy, which spurs them forward, rather than just doing odd jobs for the local guards. If you wanna be fancy, try a campaign where they are hired by a crew and a captain of a boat. It allows you to vastly change their surroundings every few game days and let them see different enemies and encounter types. Also, if someone is afraid of water (like one of my players characters) it makes for a fun bout of roleplay.

How much do you homebrew? Do you play off core or do you incorporate a lot of different rules that you have made up as you go? Experienced players at your table might know a rule that you made up, but new players might get side swiped if they read the book and then get duffed by a rule they didn't know about. I homebrew a lot, but I tend to let players know of any fancy rules ahead of time.

Also, 'noobs' referred to warmly, not as an insult :smallsmile:

[RealMarkP]

MOAR QUESTIONS!

5. How would you encourage new players to consider prestige classes or dual classing? I want them to know that D&D is more than just leveling to 20 in one class.



If they are new, my biggest tip would be to stick with core.
I was intending to be very restrictive on content. PHB and DMG mostly. I'm still on the fence if I should allow PHB2, only because of the classes introduced therein. There is a large amount of overlap between the classes in PHB and PHB2.


I find traits or flaws a great way to get new players roleplaying.
Definitely, I will do this. I've done it in the past and it was a hoot. We had a character that was Lecherous (wanting to boink every girl he meets). On a failed will save, he had to come up with ridiculous pickup lines. I'm also considering writing out some flaws and traits on paper, and having the players draw a random one from a bag.


I don't know of any off hand, but I just made one. It had movement, spells, attacking, AAO, a section to help figure out attack bonus (feats, stats, BAB, etc) and the back was special attacks, like tripping, feinting, etc.
Could you put this up somewhere on a website? It would save me the trouble of making one from scratch.


I usually introduce a big bad (necromancer, wizard, cleric) a few game days later by taking something they care about and destroying, killing, or otherwise ruining it.
I started writing the first adventure, which is a very linear dungeon crawl. It starts off is the players are part of a caravan of two merchants, a stage coach, and a prisoner transfer cart. Before getting into the campaign, I'll ask each player to describe who they are (in character) and why they are part of this caravan. It would be assumed that they would get to know one another during the trip.

The caravan is ambushed, everyone dies but the players and the prisoner is deemed missing. This will be an encounter where they are overwhelmed and incapacitated through Sleep spells and non lethal damage. Most of their goods are taken by the bandits, leaving them high and dry in the middle of nowhere. If they decide to pursue the bandits, they will have to work together. Else, it's a long walk back to town through a dark forest.

The bandits have a hide out in an old tomb, which they are in the process of ransacking. The freed prisoner is the BBEG, the leader of the band. When they defeat the bandits and retrieve their stuff, they can either keep the tomb's loot or leave it. When they exit the tomb, a contingent of guards will arrest them for grave robbing and trespassing on sacred grounds. At which point they will have to role play their way out of prison, or fight out and risk being a fugitive. Anyway, the point is to solidify the group.

The encounters are mainly hack and slash. I won't expose them to toxic mold, traps, or riddles. Like I said, very linear.


How much do you homebrew?
In campaigns with seasoned players, I allow them to come up with prestige classes and I also use some homebrew rules. The last campaign I did utilized a point-buy system from the book 'Complete Control'.

This campaign I will allow flaws and traits, as per your suggestion, and Age effects. I will use the cloistered cleric variant as a replacement for the standard cleric class. Feats are automatically gained when leveling, however class abilities must be learned from a book or person and spells must be acquired through reading (wizard), seeking a cleric of higher standing (clerics), or by experimentation (sorcerer). All of which require investment of time and/or money.


Do you play off core or do you incorporate a lot of different rules that you have made up as you go?
I stick to core as much as possible. There are some rules that are based on interpretation, mainly spell effects or skills, and if the player can play explain their reasoning, I can usually allow it. Sometimes, I let the dice do the talking.


Your post was enlightening, thanks.

[Pilo]

As they come from MMORPG, ask them to describe what they do and try to make them think outside the box [I don't know how explain this but basically it means that you should push them to ask:"Can my character do that?" and you have to respond positively if it is a good idea even if the game mechanics don't follow. Exemple: One of them: "Can i throw sand at my opponent face to make him blind?". You, "Yes of course!" (and your npc makes a reflexe save against 10+BaB+Dex or be blind 1d4+1 rds)].
Let them know that in a tabletop rpg, fights cannot solve anything.

5) Ask them what they want to become and offer them some tips or build to do what they want to. At the end, they must have the last word regarding wether they pick it or not.

[Bloodgruve]

If your players are coming from wow don't let them try to play the same class that they played online. Paladins in WoW are not Paladins n DnD. I've recently started a game where 2 new players came from WoW. Make sure the players are aware that spells are used up per day and can't be 'spammed'. May want to allow the Reserve feats for casters.

Instead of limiting books I'd be more apt to limiting tiers or giving the players a list of classes to try. Maybe keep it tier 2 or 3ish. T1 casters just have so much available to them that it can get confusing. ToB plays more like an MMO so do Warlocks, Melee and again Reserve feats. Mostly support character concept.

MMO's by nature are railroads, and generally this is looked down on in DnD. Don't be afraid to railroad new players just a little. If the sandbox is too big people can get lost and lose focus.

In a new campaign all players have taken flaws which has really helped to define characters and encourage roleplay. Flaws we're contending with are Curious, Impatient, Hopeless Collector, Narcoleptic, Hallucinations, and Drunk. This is very fun.

GL
Blood~

[Telonius]

Make clear to them that (unless you are a Knight or a couple of random PrC's) there is no aggro mechanic. Make it really clear that XP is awarded for overcoming challenges, and that "killing the enemy" is only one way of overcoming a challenge. Creative thinking is rewarded.

I would suggest doing a short (2-4 levels) campaign to start. Let them make bad feat choices, etc. The players get a feel for what the game is capable of doing, they get to level up a couple times to see how it works, they don't get too hosed if they make choices they'll regret later, and they don't get too attached to a character. When they've had a bit of exposure to the general mechanics of it, that's when you start up the real campaign with a new set of "real" characters.

As far as helping them get into character? I'd suggest that the initial quest-giver, give them something like a job interview. "I have heard of you, but I'm not certain I can trust you with this job. Tell me a bit about yourself, and why I should." That will give the player a bit more of an opportunity to describe the character history to the others, as well as really cement in their minds what the character is all about.

Describe the setting in a fair amount of detail, especially concerning the society's attitude towards the more monstrous races. Are orcs and goblins kill-on-sight bad, or is it a more progressive attitude?

[killem2]

If they are true new players, then I would stay core at least until level 3 or 4, then allow them to look at other options.

If my 7 year old son can hop in to the fray anyone should be able to. :smallbiggrin:

[RealMarkP]

Excellent points.


You should push them to ask: "Can my character do that?" [...] You, "Yes of course!"
Good idea. I should really sell that since this is a social game that uses imagination, everything is possible.


I would suggest doing a short (2-4 levels) campaign to start. Let them make bad feat choices, etc. The players get a feel for what the game is capable of doing, they get to level up a couple times to see how it works, they don't get too hosed if they make choices they'll regret later, and they don't get too attached to a character. When they've had a bit of exposure to the general mechanics of it, that's when you start up the real campaign with a new set of "real" characters.
I've been toying with this idea for the last few days. The only thing that keeps me from doing this is, frankly, my own laziness.

[Siosilvar]

Good idea. I should really sell that since this is a social game that uses imagination, everything is possible.

Yeah, make sure you tell them they can do anything. You'd think it'd be obvious from the way the game is played, but before my first game, the only D&D experience I had was Baldur's Gate. I assumed the weapon quickslots were an actual rule, so I didn't get a shield since I figured you couldn't use a two-handed bow with a shield and it didn't occur to me that you could just pull out the bow later, since in the computer game going into your inventory and switching out got you killed pretty quickly.

It's not one of the things you think about if you've played tabletop RPGs for a while, but new players will tend to assume the restrictions of video games apply to the tabletop ones as well. After all, they're all RPGs, right?

[icthenue]

5. I might hold off on this until they have a firm hold on the game, as some of my players get confused when determining all the skills, attack bonuses, saving throws, etc as they mutliclass.

However, if you wanted to make it clear to them that there is the option of multiclassing, introduce characters that A) are multiclasses themselves or B) NPCs who offer training in their fighting styles, etc, which might spur players to choose classes off of their path. Since they are MMORPG vets, explain that some prestige classes are like choosing a talent tree in WoW. You get a character to a certain level, then you can begin 'speccing' him/her towards a more specific role.


I would suggest doing a short (2-4 levels) campaign to start. Let them make bad feat choices, etc. The players get a feel for what the game is capable of doing, they get to level up a couple times to see how it works, they don't get too hosed if they make choices they'll regret later, and they don't get too attached to a character. When they've had a bit of exposure to the general mechanics of it, that's when you start up the real campaign with a new set of "real" characters. - Telonius

^^^ This. Getting them used to the game with duffed characters and then letting them make more experienced feat/stat/class decisions works really well. I just finished a 8 week campaign with some friends of mine, all new to D&D. Some of them want to keep their characters, because I helped them make good choices off the bat and they are enjoying role playing those characters, others (such as the two rogues that have 8 con and go unconscious every encounter) want to change it up. If this is the case for your campaign, maybe some of their characters escape prison with new companions - which allows them to switch over to their new characters with relative ease fluff wise.

EDIT*: Unfortunately, I don't have the basics doc on me (was a while ago), but I will write one up tonight if you want. I want to do one for my next campaign anyway so its no extra work for me :smallsmile:

[RealMarkP]

5. I might hold off on this until they have a firm hold on the game, as some of my players get confused when determining all the skills, attack bonuses, saving throws, etc as they mutliclass. [...] explain that some prestige classes are like choosing a talent tree in WoW. You get a character to a certain level, then you can begin 'speccing' him/her towards a more specific role.
After some though, I have to agree with you. It's one of those topics that will have to be left for a subsequent campaign where they can build their characters up beyond level 2-4.


EDIT*: Unfortunately, I don't have the basics doc on me (was a while ago), but I will write one up tonight if you want. I want to do one for my next campaign anyway so its no extra work for me :smallsmile:
That would be great! Perhaps a shared google doc?