Newwby
2014-04-01, 05:06 AM
I've been working on a sci-fi tabletop system for roughly a full year now (on and off) and it's at the point that I've organised a group of testers to playtest it with me at the end of April or during May. My problem however is that I've not actually led a tabletop gaming session before, and I was hoping to draw on the collective knowledge of the playground for the best 'dos' and 'do nots'.
Heres where I'm at/what I've already prepared;
Opening sequence, immediate action (not combat) to force the players to not just sit around
Communal backstory (using predesigned characters for ease of first testing*)
Fleshed out starting settlement plus freely available notes on culture/history
Gaming supplies for everyone in case they don't have them
Free-use sound library for common noise effects that might help immersion
*In part because aspects of the system are still unfinished so it was easier to design characters around the aspects that are finished, and in part because the majority of the players are new to gaming
So what am I missing/what should I definitely consider if I haven't already? The system's closest likeness is probably 3.5 edition DnD or maybe D20 Modern, so whilst I'd appreciate general advice anything tailored to those specific games is probably transferable knowledge.
Heres where I'm at/what I've already prepared;
Opening sequence, immediate action (not combat) to force the players to not just sit around
Communal backstory (using predesigned characters for ease of first testing*)
Fleshed out starting settlement plus freely available notes on culture/history
Gaming supplies for everyone in case they don't have them
Free-use sound library for common noise effects that might help immersion
*In part because aspects of the system are still unfinished so it was easier to design characters around the aspects that are finished, and in part because the majority of the players are new to gaming
So what am I missing/what should I definitely consider if I haven't already? The system's closest likeness is probably 3.5 edition DnD or maybe D20 Modern, so whilst I'd appreciate general advice anything tailored to those specific games is probably transferable knowledge.