I've just started dating a woman in the last few weeks, and after hearing about the Superstar contest, she expressed some interest in trying out Pathfinder. It's been years, however, since I've been involved in introducing someone with no RPG experience at all to gaming, so I thought I'd get some feedback.
My feeling was to write up a basic character -- probably a rogue or fighter, as I think they're the easiest to get a handle on initially* -- and then run a little solo adventure to teach her the basics of the rules.
I know there's the "Intro to" box, but I kind of want to hold off on that until she can decide whether she is interested in getting into the hobby (it's also a little early to just be giving her random gifts, I think).
Any thoughts on if this is the best way to do it (or should I get my whole gang together for a small adventure, which would have the benefit of having more ROLE playing)? Also any thoughts on a good very first adventure, or should I just whip one up myself (and if so, thoughts on what that should include)?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
* I remember about a decade ago a guy joined my gaming group, and brought along his wife, who clearly was far less interested in gaming than he was. This was compounded by the character he made for her (granted, we were playing at 10th level). He'd have her go invisible and mirror image'd (yup) and then spider climb onto the roof. Poor woman had no clue what was going on, I don't think.
find a friend with the beginner box? I think the easiest way to introduce Pathfinder to someone is the solo adventure in the Hero's Handbook.
K.I.S.S.
A 4-room cave with 2 kobolds, a wimpy spider, and culminating in a ferocious single orc will do the trick.
Help her make a fighter or a rogue (her choice), and walk her through perception, movement and attacks. Let her have a potion or 2 of CLW, and for more fun, a potion of vanish.
Make it so she gets a chance to understand movement economy, and ranged and melee attacks. If she has fun with that, maybe she'll enjoy "actual" roleplaying sometime with your friends. Let her try it as a "guest" player, and if she likes that, maybe she'll want to join in again.
Keep it light, fun, an if it isn't her thing, let her know that's fine. I know it's hard to believe, but some people just don't like the game as much as we do.
Benicio, we're all about K.I.S.S.ing but I don't know how that'll help teach her game ... Oh, wait, I see what you meant there. : )
Have her watch an active gaming session?
I bought the Beginner Box for myself so that I had a copy on hand for any new players I try to bring into the game. I also bought another for a friend because he was introducing a bunch of new players. It has been indispensable. You don't really have to buy it though. You can simplify the game quite a bit for a few sessions.
Download Hero Lab for the Beginner Box. It's free and will allow her to have a quick and easy character that isn't overloaded with options and penalties.
Download the free adventures for the Beginner Box here at Paizo. They are each meant for 4-5 characters of level 1 and are supposed to take about an hour to run. You can have her run through the adventures with a few other friends without much trouble.
The beginner box does have a "choose your own adventure" style solo adventure at the beginning to help a new player become a little familiar with the mechanics. I was able to work on helping four adults with their characters while at the same time helping a 9 and 11 year old run through the adventure themselves. They each had a copy and did things very differently from each other. The adventure is easy to follow and explains things well.
I would also make sure that your group has a good mix of classes. Make sure that there is close to the iconic four (cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard). The reasons are two-fold. First, the adventures are often written with those classes in mind. Second, it will allow her to see how other classes play.
There are several free downloads for the Beginner Box that you may find useful as well.
K.I.S.S.
A 4-room cave with 2 kobolds, a wimpy spider, and culminating in a ferocious single orc will do the trick.
Help her make a fighter or a rogue (her choice), and walk her through perception, movement and attacks. Let her have a potion or 2 of CLW, and for more fun, a potion of vanish.
Make it so she gets a chance to understand movement economy, and ranged and melee attacks.
I think this is good advice. Something simple but with lots of action. I'd add a bit of background and some roleplaying to give her a sense of why she'd go into that cave.
For example:You're the daughter of the only soldier your small village ever produced. Most everyone else is a farmer or craftsman. Your father is dead now, but while he lived he taught you how to hunt with a bow and gave you some lessons on swinging his old long sword. He even let you try on his chain shirt just to show you how it felt to go into battle in armor. Since his passing five years ago (Your mother died earlier)you've been the village hunter, and on occasion dealt with wolves that come too near the livestock.
Now something terrible has happened. First there were rumors of something moving about the old mine a few miles from town and some livestock went missing. But yesterday, a farmer didn't return who went looking for a lost cow. Today villagers found blood and his old crumpled hat beside a trail within a mile of the mine. And a footprint that was small and humanoid in the blood. They're sure whatever has moved into the cave killed him and took the body or maybe even captured him.
As the closest thing to a fighter the village has, they're asking you to do something to protect them. You've told them you'll need a little time to think about it and, while they wait, you've entered your little cottage to make up your mind. You've laid out your father's chain shirt and sword on the bed and stand staring at them. You're not a soldier like he was, but you are his daughter. And your people are begging for your help...
K.I.S.S.
A 4-room cave with 2 kobolds, a wimpy spider, and culminating in a ferocious single orc will do the trick.
Help her make a fighter or a rogue (her choice), and walk her through perception, movement and attacks. Let her have a potion or 2 of CLW, and for more fun, a potion of vanish.
Make it so she gets a chance to understand movement economy, and ranged and melee attacks.
I think this is good advice. Something simple but with lots of action. I'd add a bit of background and some roleplaying to give her a sense of why she'd go into that cave.
For example:
You're the daughter of the only soldier your small village ever produced. Most everyone else is a farmer or craftsman. Your father is dead now, but while he lived he taught you how to hunt with a bow and gave you some lessons on swinging his old long sword. He even let you try on his chain shirt just to show you how it felt to go into battle in armor. Since his passing five years ago (Your mother died earlier)you've been the village hunter, and on occasion dealt with wolves that come too near the livestock.
Now something terrible has happened. First there were rumors of something moving about the old mine a few miles from town and some livestock went missing. But yesterday, a farmer didn't return who went looking for a lost cow. Today villagers found blood and his old crumpled hat beside a trail within a mile of the mine. And a footprint that was small and humanoid in the blood. They're sure whatever has moved into the cave killed him and took the body or maybe even captured him.
As the closest thing to a fighter the village has, they're asking you to do something to protect them. You've told them you'll need a little time to think about it and, while they wait, you've entered your little cottage to make up your mind. You've laid out your father's chain shirt and sword on the bed and stand staring at them. You're not a soldier like he was, but you are his daughter. And your people are begging...
Excellent! I'd roll with that. Sweet and simple. If she doesn't end up needing a potion or two for herself, she could find the farmer just barely alive and give one to him. Then, she returns a hero, and the farmer can perhaps make her a MW item or give her a horse or something to show his gratitude.
Is she a more social gamer, or a more game-ist gamer? A solo adventure that focuses on mechanics could totally turn off somebody who's into the social aspects.
Assuming your group is easygoing and newb-friendly, I'd say much better to do a short, low-level, one-shot, seat her next to somebody who can gently advise on options as the game progresses, and be willing to do a bunch of handwaving: Rule Zero and the Rule of Cool are the first rules a new player needs to grok, especially if you want her to stick around. Just keep things moving, watch to see what works, and focus on those parts of the game.
"We Be Goblins" is actually a really great intro adventure, in my opinion: fast-based; good mix of combat, roleplaying, and skills; a little(?) silly; and, generally, encourages people to get in character and ham it up a little more than they might do with a more "serious" adventure. Besides, since there's no expectation of continuing the game/characters after the adventure, it makes it easy for your experienced characters to roll with a little more looseness in the rules than usual.
Let her pick a character (either from a set of pre-gens or by playing 20 questions about the options), so that she feels like she has some investment in it -- don't worry about char-op or even survivability, just about what she wants to play. (Besides, you know you're not going to kill her character so early in the relationship, right?)
Get her a set of dice as a "first game" present. Another little piece of building a sense of ownership and investment over the game, rather than just being there.
Really, none of this is gender- or relationship-specific...just that you might be a little more motivated than usual to make it work. :)
I think Kantrips idear sounds good,nothing to complex but something to catch her imagination a solo game would probally be best as she will be less self conscious.
And if all goes well pick a friend or two(who you trust to take a bit of a back seat so she dosen't feel left out) for her next adventure so she gets used to being in a group then just go with the flow .
And dont be to upset if she decides it's not for her , a girlfriend of mine tried gameing and could'nt get into it but she understood how much it ment to me so had no problems with me dissapearing off twice a week to play.
and we have been married now for four years so not being a gamer is not a deal braker in a relationship.
I had a friend whose GF played a session with us. She thought it was okay, but wasn't into it like we were, and didn't play anymore. I think she was just curious how it was played.
I thought she was a good sport for giving it a try. They're married, now. He still likes to play, and she doesn't mind a bit.
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K.I.S.S.
A 4-room cave with 2 kobolds, a wimpy spider, and culminating in a ferocious single orc will do the trick.
Help her make a fighter or a rogue (her choice), and walk her through perception, movement and attacks. Let her have a potion or 2 of CLW, and for more fun, a potion of vanish.
Make it so she gets a chance to understand movement economy, and ranged and melee attacks. If she has fun with that, maybe she'll enjoy "actual" roleplaying sometime with your friends. Let her try it as a "guest" player, and if she likes that, maybe she'll want to join in again.
Keep it light, fun, an if it isn't her thing, let her know that's fine. I know it's hard to believe, but some people just don't like the game as much as we do.
This! Perhaps throw in a trap, tell her she noticed something "fishy", find and disable it.
Hmm... I checked that link Bob Loblaw posted. It comes withe FREE downloads of a beginner's player's guide and four basic adventures. I shall use this for my own players.
That player's guide is NOT the same one that comes in the box. It is an additional guide with more options. You would still need the original box.
That being said, it is OGL so someone may have already posted it somewhere.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm thinking I might get a chance to introduce the game on Sunday before the Super Bowl. We'll see how it goes.
Saltmarsh, definitely won't be upset if it's not for her. I figure it's golden that she even expressed interest in giving it a try.
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I would still recommend considering the begginer box, not as a gift to her, but as a thing you bought for yourself to use to teach new gamers. The way the characters are laid out in the begginer box really is great for new players and it makes the game far more accessible then any other format I have encountered.
Thanks, Kolokotroni. I've been considering it. Going to take a closer look at it if it's available at my LCS when I stop in for books today (it's an Avengers Academy week, so have to find some way to get there despite a crazy schedule today).
If anyone cares, we haven't gotten a chance to play yet, but she seems excited. She was apparently talking about it with a co-worker friend who games (though I couldn't quite tell WHAT game she plays).
More amusingly (at least to the two of us), she was REALLY excited to remember the name of Pathfinder. She'd been having trouble getting it to stick in her brain, having previously called it both Plantation and Paradigm (I have to admit, I'm now kind of calling it P&P, for Plantations and Paradigms, in my head).