MageofMyth's page

One of the ways that I have gotten people, mostly women, to game is to find out their interest outside of the game. What types of books do they read? Movies and TV shows watched? Then try to do something that is based off of that media. A lot of people find it hard to game in a world where their character knows lots of things and they (the player) know very little about the place. One of the reasons that many people like White Wolf is because they know the modern world just like their character does. Sure it is different but their character is also finding that out.

Are any of her friends into fantasy or sci-fi?

I ask about her friends because if you could start a new game with her and another friend, only, then she wouldn’t feel so much in the fishbowl.

If she likes to watch Buffy then buy the rulebook and run Buffy. In fact this will help because then you can say that you are learning the rules with her. If she likes the Warehouse 13 series then have her and a friend roll up either fighters or rogues, from Pathfinder. Then run a game based around Warehouse 13. She likes Law and Order then they roll up fighters or rogues and follow the clues. In love with the Harry Potter stuff then they play first level mages starting with no spells in a modern magic school. If her favorite book is the Nanny Diaries then she is a nanny fighting the big-bad parent for a child's sanity. Anything can be a RPG you just need to think about it.

The point is to play to the person’s interests. Once they are comfortable playing then move them into a more traditional game. This will also let you find out what her favorite parts of gaming are.

Oh and I am both a woman and a DM.

I use a different method that I came up with, mainly because I had a player who in front of two DMs rolled two 18s and the rest 17. She had stats like this all the time and could do it using your dice, and a dice-cup.

I give four players each a d6. I then hold a box up over their heads and have them all drop the d6 into the box. I reroll any 1 or 2s. I continue this until I have six scores. If there are more than four players then they switch who rolls the d6 into the box.

I then tell the players the scores, and they place them however they want and use the racial modifiers.

My players like this method because it allows everyone to have comparable stats, and no one can cheat, or be very lucky.

Personally, I think the feat as written is too circumstantial, important in campaigns where GMs are likely to single out the wizard, otherwise, not important enough and not powerful enough to compare it to, say, Silent Spell or one of the really good crafting feats.

Although I think the Vancian system needs a complete overhaul, here are my recommendations for Spell Mastery compatible with PF/3.5e gaming:

Spell Mastery
Your significant intellect allows you to master spells you have studied for a period of time. You can prepare most spells without referencing your spellbooks.
Prerequisite: 1st-level wizard, Intelligence 15+
Benefit: Every spell you know with a spell level less than the highest spell level you can cast are now mastered. From this point on, you can prepare these spells without referring to a spellbook.
Normal: Without this feat, you must use a spellbook to prepare all your spells except for read magic.

I would recommend another feat to make it a tree:

Spell Savant
You have an eidetic memory when it comes to spells you have learned. You can prepare spells by picturing your spellbooks in your mind.
Prerequisite: 1st-level wizard, Spell Mastery, Intelligence 17+
Benefit: You can prepare any spell that you know without referring to a spellbook.

I really like this method.

You are a mage. Make a helm of opposite alignment, make sure to place great spells on it that he would want to use so that he demands to have the item.

You could even research a spell that just makes anyone that wears the helm turn to LE.