Best ways to help a New Player

[Stuvius]

Greetings Playground,

We have a new player joining our group this month. We are starting a new 3.5 campaign at level two. Permitted sources are the core books and the ‘Complete’ series. This person has zero experience with tabletop RPGs. I have put together a basic rules primer for him covering the essentials (stats, movement, actions, saves etc.) I also aided him with character creation and set him up with a character generator. Is there anything else the experienced DMs out there would recommend?

As always, any advice is appreciated.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I would physically sit down and talk him through character creation. Don't just hand him a character generator, but help him every step of the way-- character creation can be overwhelming to newbies, especially in something as enormous (and unbalanced) as 3.5. Make sure he has a sheet covering what his abilities are and how to use them in plain language as well.

[GilesTheCleric]

I follow the approach outlined by Magic the Gathering: teach only what's necessary right away. 3.5 has a glut of rules and exceptions, and trying to explain all (or even some) can be overwhelming, and make it difficult to learn/ memorize the things that do need to be memorized. Also, try to trust in your player. Anyone who wants to learn and play 3.5 is either intelligent, a grognard, or stubborn, and any of those things give them a leg up on learning.

[ksbsnowowl]

What adventure are you planning to run this Level 2 group through? Or are you making up your own adventure?

If you are looking for an adventure, even just inspiration for how to build a good adventure for new characters, The Sunless Citadel is a WONDERFUL adventure. It has a varied myriad of encounters and situations, intended to teach new players/groups many different aspects of the rules.

It makes sure players are exposed to the following skills & rules:
Climb
Jump
Diplomacy
Cover
Concealment
Surprise rounds
Traps/saving throws
Poison
Dealing with damage reduction
Large creatures with reach
Turning undead, and alternate uses for it

The foes also use good tactics, so the PC's can learn by seeing it done to them.

[Flickerdart]

I would run the player through a tutorial gauntlet that builds up on his guy.

Encounter 1: Give him his hit dice, and have him fight a Warrior. This gives him the basics of combat.
Encounter 2: Have him use some skills he has. Lockpick a door, climb on a ledge, Spot the enemy, that sort of thing.
Encounter 3: He gets his class features and fights a brute. Make sure the opponent is one that the class features are effective against.
Encounter 4: He fights a spellcaster. This is when saving throws and attacks of opportunity come into play.
Encounter 5: He fights a Monk. The Monk attempts to disarm him and then grapple him. This introduces him to combat maneuvers.

This should not take very long, so have it before session 1.