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Hi
Recently I've been playing with a newcomer to rpg's. He proved to be very good at roleplay but when it came to character sheet and mechanic he falls flat. My job is teaching so I'm trying to tutor him on how the game is played because the good old method of "learn by playing" didn't work and he had to stop playing his bard in favour of something less complicated.
Just now I started writing him daily small chunks on what is a Base Attack Bonus, Abilities, Feats, Ac etc.
When I finish with the absolute basics, which i named A1 level, I will go into combat maneuvers and specific feats.
I believe that if he gets something specificly from GM to read he might take it more serious.
If you developed some other method of teaching Pathfinder/D&D please share it.
Or maybe opinion about this method?
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I'll offer two options:
1. A game that is lighter on the rules. My personal pick would be either Swords & Wizardry: Complete Rules (for D&D style fantasy) or Basic RolePlaying (for a universal system).
2. If you MUST play Pathfinder, then click here
For a complete novice here is some advice. First be prepared to do some homework.
Your first character should be a simple one, and have someone experienced help you create him. Fighters are probably the best to start with. Other possibilities are Barbarian, Sorcerer, and Oracle. Prepared spell casters should be avoided especially divine casters. Skill Monkeys are almost as bad.
Read in its entirety all racial and class rules. Also read over the basic combat section, and if playing a caster the magic section. If playing a caster (No prepared casters yet) read all of your spells. Also read all of your feats. Once you are familiar with what your character can do it will be a lot easier.
Look through the bestiary to see how monsters are described. Pay attention to real world creatures, or at least the ones you are somewhat familiar with. This will help you become more comfortable with stat blocks.
Last but not least have fun.
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I'd try the Beginner's Box if you want to stick to Pathfinder. I haven't played it yet but it looks pretty good.
Otherwise, bring him/her to D&D Encounters. I run that all the time and it's tailored made for new players. I have them pick out a pregen, catch them up on the story. When its their turn I tell them what options they have. Of course, it depends on the DM.
Color code the sheet. When I last did this, I made skills green, attacks yellow, and player defenses red (ac and saves)
Remake the sheet. There's a lot going on. New players do not need to know how things are calculated just yet.
I would wait on AOs and combat maneuvers for quite a while. My rule is that new players cannot use, or be affected by those things.
Then, introduce one new thing a session, like the trap-filled dungeon of skill checks, or the cave of poisonous things.
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Hi
Recently I've been playing with a newcomer to rpg's. He proved to be very good at roleplay but when it came to character sheet and mechanic he falls flat. My job is teaching so I'm trying to tutor him on how the game is played because the good old method of "learn by playing" didn't work and he had to stop playing his bard in favour of something less complicated.
Just now I started writing him daily small chunks on what is a Base Attack Bonus, Abilities, Feats, Ac etc.
When I finish with the absolute basics, which i named A1 level, I will go into combat maneuvers and specific feats.
I believe that if he gets something specificly from GM to read he might take it more serious.
If you developed some other method of teaching Pathfinder/D&D please share it.
Or maybe opinion about this method?
First, I'd pick a system and stick with it. Starting with an "easier" system (like 4e or Swords & Wizardry) and then asking him to play Pathfinder would probably just confuse him. If Pathfinder is your campaign game of choice I would go with that.
Second, I would start with the core mechanics of the game (which in Pathfinder is combat actions) before going into feats, magic, class abilities or any other more complex subsystems. When I've started new players the first thing I ask them to do is read chapter 8 (Although maybe the Beginner Box might be your best bet now). After that I run them through a practice combat where they have they learn how to use move, standard, and full-round actions with a 1st level fighter type. At this point I wouldn't bother with explaining where the numbers come from (e.g. attack/damage bonuses, AC, etc). Just give him a pre-built and play. Once someone discovers the joy of slaughtering a bunch of goblins you've got them hooked.
Next is probably skills which I explain as a d20 plus the appropriate number that needs a certain target number. Once they have the core basic combat actions and skills down everything else starts falling into place a lot easier. When you boil it down everything else in the game just provides exceptions or extra complexities upon these base rules. From there you can start folding in the rest of the stuff as appropriate and I think a learn by approach might work better then.
Finally, amongst all these rules don't forget to roleplay. It requires zero knowledge of the rules and is the best part of the game for a lot of people.
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Unfortunately it is too late for pre-generated characters and mini sessions.
There is one player that is lacking with the rules even though there were other players who where starting the game with no knowledge.
You could say that I am doing extra lessons with him.
It's not that we are playing a very difficult game. I just want to make him concious so that he can make decisions not based on what other players say.
Have him play NWN 2 (never winter nights 2) on D&D hardcore difficulty and have him read the tips bar showing, it's how i learned playing*.
*Actually i learned by playing a little bit of ice windale and baldur's gate 2, and then a lot of NWN 1 but those are going way back into editions.
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Get him a pocket notebook and ask that he jot down a note for every thing done/said at the table that he didn't understand. Then cover that in detail.
This has two benefits:
A) He'll likely learn the answers himself during play, just because he's identified them as something he wants to learn.
B) You'll be able to tailor your instruction based on his interests.
2. If you MUST play Pathfinder, then click here
This.
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I'm actually gonna deviate from the masses and say that, in response to the thread title:
Don't teach Pathfinder as quickly as possible.
I know, it seems like an odd thing to say, but Pathfinder (and, really, any 3.5 based system) is REALLY complex, and it can take a while to learn all the rules. I've found that slowly teaching individual rules is the best way to go, but teach them through the gameplay itself, not one after the other in a big smorgasbord of rules-talk.
Try teaching things one at a time, maybe with two major rules points per session.
Example: Perhaps, during one session, the player gets challenged to a duel. The point of the duel is not lethal combat, but rather to humiliate the opponent. This is a great chance to learn about Combat Maneuvers IN GAME. The player wants to learn them, and they are directly related to what is happening in the moment.
It may take a while, but patience and little things like that go a long way towards keeping someone interested in the game.
A few short one on one adventures.
Make a 2nd level vanilla Human fighter. Run through a very simple 1st level adventure. doesn't matter if he succeeds or dies. Make suggestions and point out options continually. When he makes a choice show how the actions is resolved in detail. Should only take an hour or so.
Make a 2nd level vanilla Dwarf barbarian with different skill choices. Run through the same 1st level adventure. Tell how you would make different suggestions with this character or the different choices possible (rage and darkvision).
Make a 3rd level Elf ranger. Run though a slightly more complex 2nd level adventure. Don't make as many suggestions or point out as many choices this time. But show where could use tracking, how the twin short swords gives more attacks on a full attack action, how the wolf can flank for him.
Make a 3rd level Human sorcerer. Explain the small number of spells (use the common/simple spells) in detail. Run through the same 2nd level adventure. Show how having spells gives different options than twin short swords.
Again, doesn't matter if he suceeds, dies, gets rewarded, etc... This is to point out what he can possibly do with a character and how it is resolved. If you keep the mini-adventures short and simple should be able to do all 4 in a long afternoon.
Color code the sheet. When I last did this, I made skills green, attacks yellow, and player defenses red (ac and saves)
Remake the sheet. There's a lot going on. New players do not need to know how things are calculated just yet.
I would wait on AOs and combat maneuvers for quite a while. My rule is that new players cannot use, or be affected by those things.
Then, introduce one new thing a session, like the trap-filled dungeon of skill checks, or the cave of poisonous things.
I just gotta say, as a teacher, Rkraus is using a lot of best practices. I second this in a big way. Gonna use it with my newbies later on this fall.