New Game, New Group - Suggestions?


Gamer Life General Discussion


On Wednesday, I will GMing for the first time in a while, for a group consisting of my two oldest daughters and their respective best friends (two 17- and two 15-year-olds). When I say it's a new group, I dont' just mean it's new to me; three of the four players are new to roleplaying, and for two it will be their first RP experience ever.

I plan to run the 5e D&D Starter Set to keep it simple, and we can get straight to the play without having to spend time rolling characters. It will be my 1st time running a 5e game. Partly because of this, I don't have an ironclad grasp of the rule set yet (another reason I'm presently confining things to the Starter Set).

Partly because of the group composition, and partly because I haven't run a game in some time, I'm a little unsure of myself heading into this, so I'm asking for input from the community. Are there any suggestions/pointers/comments you would care to make? Discussion on anything from table rules to snacks to session length would be welcome. Thanks in advance, folks!


I'd recommend ditching 5e and going with the Pathfinder Beginner Box instead. Why? Well this is the Paizo forum after all.

I imagine there are sample starter adventures for 5e, so just download one and prep it properly. If you were running the Beginner Box, I would recommend downloading the Beginner Bash demos and lining up one or two for your first session.

No matter which system you run, preparation is the key. Know the geography where your players will start and have a variety of local NPCs that they can interact with, learn from and even generate conflict with in some instances.

Hopefully all of the characters will be complete before you play, otherwise, half of your session will be making characters and then not getting to play. Session length should remain around 3 to 4 hours. Keep phones and pads off unless using them for the game to keep everyone's undivided attention on the session.

Just find a fun module to run and everything else should fall into place. For Pathfinder, I always recommend the perfect starting module of Crypt of the Everflame. The beginners box bash demos are very simple and easy to run as well.

Preparation is the key. Have fun. Everything else will take care of itself.


Thanks for the encouragement, Brother Fen. I love PF; I'm running 5e partly out of curiosity and partly because I don't own the PF Beginner Box and the core rulebook has just enough fiddly bits that I don't want to discourage the newbies.

We're going to be using pregens; character creation can wait for now.

I'm curious, why a limit of 3-4 hours, assuming everyone is enjoying themselves?

Anyone else have some advice?


Three to four hours seems to be a good average time. Things tend to bog down after that. People get tired, hungry, or whatever. Starting out, four hours is a good manageable number, but if you feel that you can keep going for more hours, then go for it.

It's worth investing in the Beginner Box. You don't need the Core Rule Book in that instance. Everything - literally - everything you need is in the box. Rulebooks. Character sheets. Battle map. Pawns for characters and monsters. It's all in there! I don't play with the beginner rules, but I have a copy of the Beginner Box because of all of the great supplemental material that accompanies it.

The Exchange

I don't know about Brother Fen, but I'd keep it to four hours just for the whole burnout and or shy factor. People can get pretty fatigued role playing for the first time. Also, its been a while since you GMed and if you aren't prepped properly, that might end up with your story going way off the rails.

I do have some advice of my own. Let it be as silly as they want it. If it's too grim-dark-grim-serious-Tolkien, people might get put off or culture-shocked. Let the jokes fly and the table be free to do whatever.


Readerbreeder wrote:


I plan to run the 5e D&D Starter Set to keep it simple, and we can get straight to the play without having to spend time rolling characters. It will be my 1st time running a 5e game. Partly because of this, I don't have an ironclad grasp of the rule set yet (another reason I'm presently confining things to the Starter Set).

No, dont do this. You need to be absolutely sure about the rules, so you can concentrate on THEM and how they are reacting to the game and adapt the games to that.

You need to know the rules and module backwards and forwards.

Not to mention Brother Fen is right.


DrDeth wrote:
Readerbreeder wrote:


I plan to run the 5e D&D Starter Set to keep it simple, and we can get straight to the play without having to spend time rolling characters. It will be my 1st time running a 5e game. Partly because of this, I don't have an ironclad grasp of the rule set yet (another reason I'm presently confining things to the Starter Set).

No, dont do this. You need to be absolutely sure about the rules, so you can concentrate on THEM and how they are reacting to the game and adapt the games to that.

You need to know the rules and module backwards and forwards.

Not to mention Brother Fen is right.

I disagree, heavily. I started playing 5e when it came out, I started with the beginner box. The rules are so flexible that you are not required to have them mastered. I think people are so used to PF requiring mastery that they can't grasp that other systems aren't that way. Definitely go with 5e, I'm betting you'll be hooked.

Keep in mind that your audience is teenage girls, let them play the way they want to play. My daughter likes to play with her friends because they really do it their own unique way. She tried to play with one of the groups I play with and just couldn't get into all the rules wrangling we do.


Simon Legrande wrote:
DrDeth wrote:
Readerbreeder wrote:


I plan to run the 5e D&D Starter Set to keep it simple, and we can get straight to the play without having to spend time rolling characters. It will be my 1st time running a 5e game. Partly because of this, I don't have an ironclad grasp of the rule set yet (another reason I'm presently confining things to the Starter Set).

No, dont do this. You need to be absolutely sure about the rules, so you can concentrate on THEM and how they are reacting to the game and adapt the games to that.

You need to know the rules and module backwards and forwards.

Not to mention Brother Fen is right.

I disagree, heavily. I started playing 5e when it came out, I started with the beginner box. The rules are so flexible that you are not required to have them mastered. I think people are so used to PF requiring mastery that they can't grasp that other systems aren't that way. Definitely go with 5e, I'm betting you'll be hooked.

I have played with dozens of systems, from Tunnels and Trolls to even yes, 5th Ed. No matter how simple they appear, you still need more than a casual reading to DM them. You need to have played a few times, and with a audience like that- DMed several times.

It has nothing to do with the system. It has everything to do with being confident and being able to cater the game to a new audience.

Perhaps 5th ed may be better for newbs than PF- but you need to run a system you know for that audience or risk losing them forever- and also becoming the "UN-cool dad" in front of your daughters. You need to be "the cool dad" here.


DrDeth, I agree with you that, ideally, whoever is running a game should have solid experience in the system he or she is running. It seems, with the way the 5e starter set is arranged, that they have tried to imagine the possibility of someone buying it and running it with no previous RP experience; the rules booklet is only 32 pages long. I'm optimistic about being able to give the young ladies a positive experience.

For length of session, I understand what you folks are getting at -- leave them wanting more. I'll definitely keep that in mind. As with other things, role playing requires acclimation. I imagine the all-nighters my friends and I had in high school might not appeal the way I remember.

Simon, you mentioned that your daughter's group plays differently than yours. Do you believe that's because of age or gender, both or something else? I've always said that with role playing, if you're having fun, you're doing it right; that's really what I want to convey to this group, is that this is fun. I hear the Dead Alewives D&D skit and think it's hilariously funny, because it reminds me of so many of my role playing groups growing up, but as much as I want to pass the love of role playing to another generation, I don't want to try and push anyone into a mold that won't fit them.


Readerbreeder wrote:

DrDeth, I agree with you that, ideally, whoever is running a game should have solid experience in the system he or she is running. It seems, with the way the 5e starter set is arranged, that they have tried to imagine the possibility of someone buying it and running it with no previous RP experience; the rules booklet is only 32 pages long. I'm optimistic about being able to give the young ladies a positive experience.

For length of session, I understand what you folks are getting at -- leave them wanting more. I'll definitely keep that in mind. As with other things, role playing requires acclimation. I imagine the all-nighters my friends and I had in high school might not appeal the way I remember.

Simon, you mentioned that your daughter's group plays differently than yours. Do you believe that's because of age or gender, both or something else? I've always said that with role playing, if you're having fun, you're doing it right; that's really what I want to convey to this group, is that this is fun. I hear the Dead Alewives D&D skit and think it's hilariously funny, because it reminds me of so many of my role playing groups growing up, but as much as I want to pass the love of role playing to another generation, I don't want to try and push anyone into a mold that won't fit them.

They really focus on a story and use the rules incidentally when they absolutely have to. They're generally cool with no having to roll the dice ever except for in fights. I believe that it's a teenage girl thing, but that's just how I see it and you may get something different. I would suggest starting off loose without leaning on the rules too heavily and see where they want to take it.


Readerbreeder wrote:

DrDeth, I agree with you that, ideally, whoever is running a game should have solid experience in the system he or she is running. It seems, with the way the 5e starter set is arranged, that they have tried to imagine the possibility of someone buying it and running it with no previous RP experience; the rules booklet is only 32 pages long. I'm optimistic about being able to give the young ladies a positive experience.

For length of session, I understand what you folks are getting at -- leave them wanting more. I'll definitely keep that in mind. As with other things, role playing requires acclimation. I imagine the all-nighters my friends and I had in high school might not appeal the way I remember.

Simon, you mentioned that your daughter's group plays differently than yours. Do you believe that's because of age or gender, both or something else? I've always said that with role playing, if you're having fun, you're doing it right; that's really what I want to convey to this group, is that this is fun. I hear the Dead Alewives D&D skit and think it's hilariously funny, because it reminds me of so many of my role playing groups growing up, but as much as I want to pass the love of role playing to another generation, I don't want to try and push anyone into a mold that won't fit them.

Do you know any Female DM;s- you should consult with them. Also- dead Alewives is just the opposite of what you're shooting for. Girls that age will either be RP crazy or combat mad, in my experience.


Darnit, I was going to suggest you kill them all before they can ruin your beautiful campaign, but now it would just be mean, also you don't have one.

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