| Nicolaz |
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
My daughter (13) and I are new to PF and PFS. I played 3.5 in HS a few times. I don't know the d20 system. Optimized and power-build characters really took much of the fun out of it for my daughter. That, and the b&$++ing about technicalities over rules made her not to want to come back. I made mention of this and was told in a rather condescending way that he wasn't at fault but that our character build was. Excuse me? Maybe many want only life-time players with extensive experience in the gaming world around (and often they seem to get it) and not play with nubbies, but really?
I do look forward in the Core games to being able to learn the game without too many low level PCs with static hit point damage in multiple of tens. My daughter would like to play her Elven Fighter with her rapier and have fun. Why the hell should she not have fun? Damn the aismer barbarian who somehow has damage potential of I think upwards to 60. He gets initiative and my daughter might as well not show up. Which has happened, her not showing up because she wasn't allowed to play. PCs saying I got initiative, f*+! you. I rolled and confirmed and add bonuses and the level 4 or 5 NPC is silly putty and your 6pts of damage meant squat. Buhwahahahaha! So, she decided not to come back for awhile.
People like that may very well play core, but at least we will be on a more level playing field and my daughter and I may very well see some cool things from experienced players that we emulate. All this, without reading more than a couple of resources.
Want people to come and play? Give them reason to stay and come back. Overwhelming them with power-builds and saying all you have to do is read the following resources (which would equal a 4 hour college course) is bull-shit - especially for a 13 year old girl who sees many gamers as fitting the stereotype. (Fortunately, we have identified several regulars who aren't creepy and who understand boundaries when it comes to females, and especially to children.)
What will we not miss is the question, though. Many of the situations that lead up to the above b~@*+ session, I hope.