I have been GMing for most of my D&D time (say about 9 out of 10 sessions my group plays), mainly because most members of my group are lazy (to the point where they don't even research their own characters' abilities)...
Next week i will be GMing for a new group, and a group with no D&D experience to this day. Now... the thing is, I want D&D to make a really good impression on most of them, have them get that classic Epic feeling D&D has, and make sure they enjoy the game, to the point where some of them stick!.
I will of course be running this on Pathfinder D&D, but since I've never GMed a group composed of 100% first timers I'd like some advices on the subject.
This Monday we gather to create their characters, I will sit with each one of them during the process, prepare some cofee and snacks, download a movie to enjoy after we finish and explain to them slowly and clearly some of the most basic rules, and their class/racial abilities in detail, I will only allow the corebook for this one since I don't want them to feel overwhelmed with the enormous amount of options available. As for attributes I'll have them either roll for best out of 4d6, or 18-14-10 and roll 3 attributes for best out of 4d6.
As for the adventure itself, It must be quite small (must end in about two 8hours session), I'll also make sure each of them has enough screen/shine time, I'm thinking about heavily editing (according to their background and whatever plot i might come up with), and adjusting to Pathfinder "The Sunless Citadel", but thought that any advice from the paizo community about a classic, fun, and interesting D&D adventure for first timers would be quite helpful. I want them to experience both battle and role-playing on balanced levels, so much of the editing for any adventure will be focused to secure that, and to make their background stories matter of course!.
Finally I'd like to point out that I've Gmed enough to know some of my strong and weak points, I know I'm not as good with oral storytelling,(specially since we play in Greek which is not my native language), I kind of make up with lots of preparations, a few interesting plots (I come up with sometimes), tactical or exciting encounters, and non-lineal npcs, (though most of these give about 50% of the fun it possibly could, because of my oral story-telling problems >_<).
I would appreciate any sort of advice ^^.
Just some general advice here
Don't spend time explaining anything in detail. This can create the impression they can only do things you've mentioned and can kill an imaginative roleplayer before they've even begun.
Your better off giving each of them a brief description (like less than 1 minute) of their class and maybe one iconic cool thing its known for e.g. Paladins can smite evil aka dish out a ton of hurt against evil.
Then just kick off, don't give them boundaries just let them find their own way. present them with situations let them say what their character is going to do and them tell them what kind of roll will be required.
In certain situations you can offer advice e.g. channelling positive energy will be really effective vs the clustered undead.
But I'd refrain from doing that too often, because you don't want to start telling them how they should play.
I'd also be very flexible with the rules to start off, and would give them more leway with what they come up with.
for example level 1 barbarian run into a room and tries to scare 3 people at once, normally you need a feat but for a new player I'd just let them do it and up the DC's behind the scenes.
You want them to leave thinking that was an awesome time as I got to do so many cool things, if they want to learn more then that when they'll hit the books and learn the more detailed rules.
So I say just roll with it and aim to makes things fun and if you break rules as you do it who cares if you want these guys to become repeat players the rules can come later.
Take charge, be organized, and let things flow naturally and everything will kick in like magic. Use lots of adjectives in describing locations to them. Use color in descriptions, sense of smell, hearing sounds etc. That always helps get people sucked in even more. Good luck
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Your better off giving each of them a brief description (like less than 1 minute) of their class and maybe one iconic cool thing its known for e.g. Paladins can smite evil aka dish out a ton of hurt against evil.
I second this. Also 8 hours seems intimidating to me I would try and stick with four hour sessions if possible.
On a side note, to me D&D is a little too complicated for completely new roleplayers. I prefer other systems. The best is Call of Cthulhu in the 1920s. Colorful characters can be whipped up and explained in less than an hour and people are familiar with that era so they feel more comfortably roleplaying. Plus half the fun in the game is screwing up and watching people die :)
You might look into the Beginner Box Set as a starting point for brand new players. That's more or less what it is designed for. Good luck in any case. /salute!
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I suggest three to four hour sessions with a couple of breaks in between.
Things you'll want:
dry erasable markers
dry erasable map
mini's
paper
pencils
snacks(don't make it a feast though. ;P)
dice!
background music(make sure it's quiet)
For new players:
stick to core, apg, um, uc(unless there is some feat of some sort that would fit their character well)
explain skills, abilities, etc.
Explain to them your setting before they make their character.
Ask them how they want to play the game then suggest some classes that are good at what they said they wanted to do.
Walk them through their character as they're creating it.
Encourage them to stay away from summoners unless they have good organizational skills and are good at math.
Also make sure that you watch how they react to certain things such as roleplay and combat. Some groups are more combat oriented, some like to roleplay, and others are somewhere in between. You want them to play how they want to play, but also encourage them to do some things they wouldn't normally do.
Most important thing to remember keep asking yourself this question
"What is my goal in running a game for this group ?"
if your goal is to have them come back to play again then that should be your driver everything else is secondary. If you have to throw the rule book out the window to get them hooked enough to have them wanting more then so be it.
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I'd say, as someone 4 levels into my first tabletop RPG/Pathfinder experience, you want to do a good job of giving them a break down of what they can do but not too much that they feel that's all they can do.
For example, explain the sneak attack rules briefly for the rogue, but don't make him think he's only effective if he's flanking.
Play a bit loose with the rules for now, but state that you're doing it so that if they do stick around they aren't going "Wait, since when do I need a feat to throw a beer bottle at someone?" Explain you're playing with just the basic rules for now.
Reward creativity, and set up options to let them do it. If they roll well on a perception check, let them see the unsteady looking support beam that could knock a few goblins out of the fight.
Something to consider, maybe, and I don't know how DMs feel about this, but maybe start them off with a level or two under their belt, so they get a sense of what great things can come. If it's a one shot, quick introductory, campaign give them a taste of being able to do amazing things. No one plays pathfinder to kill rats with 1d4 shortswords, capture the spirit of epicness.
Have some reference sheets on hand that they can look over on the fly. We have a sheet of what's considered what type of action (move, standard, etc...) and what provokes AoOs. That way if my turn is coming up, I can do a bit of planning and check to see if it works, without having to wait until my turn, asking you if I can do it, and then revising my plan from there. It's also a good way of letting them learn the rules casually on their own without having to stop and ask you about everything.
Just my 2 cp though
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Hey there.
Done this a number of time - introducing new players is great fun. First off - work out what type of learning style the different people have. At the end of the day, as well as having fun, they are learning (some of!) the rules to a game. Making that rule "absorption" as painless as possible will enhance the game, in my experience. Different people learn in different ways, and trying to get people to read the CRB when they much prefer to talk about rules, just will not work. As such, be prepared to use different methods for different people. That said, two of the key useful things I have had are:-
1) Crib Sheet - a nice, large font easy to read note. It explains a) How to hit things, b) how to damage things, c) how things hit YOU and d) how much damage you can absorb. In addition, it covers the basics of the game - (roll 1D20 and add something). Tacked on the end is the comment:- DON'T PANIC!! If you want to do something , but don't know how, DON'T WORRY! Just tell the GM and HE/SHE will tell you what you need to roll! If you can imagine it, you can try it....
2) Character summary, but high level. Kind of "You are a trained warrior, good at hitting things, and absorbing damage (and even better at avoiding being hit....). You stand up to the bad guys and hold the line against them. You are not too subtle(all that metal armour means that sneaking is just not your thing)and tend to tell people as it is. Think Boromir from "Lord of the Rings" i.e. appeal to sterotypes for the first couple of games.
Oh - and have fun!!
Aiddar
Thanks a lot for all the great advice! I'll be sure to take into consideration all of it, and hope for the best! ^^
First off, I've never converted anyone to any system, I'm actually new to Pathfinder myself. Maybe I can help you that way though. I don't know if it gets easier when you are being directed, but compared to the games I was used to, character creation seemed especially daunting, either because of the amount of options you have or because of all the flipping back and forth.
I would personally dispense with character creation, and either roll up some sample characters, or put together some character templates that are complete but for the race selection. That way they can pick the character they want to play without that intimidation factor right from the start.
We did Character Creation two days ago, it went smoothly for the most part, and by the end of the day we got the five characters for our party: Half-Orc Barbarian, Half-Elf Druid, Half-Elf Rogue, Elf Witch, and Human Wizard.
Now, I came home and started preparing an adventure, however, this is the first time I am this nervous during the process, like not so sure of myself. The adventure I'm preparing combines a few elements from burnt offerings, crypt of the everflame, and the sunless citadel, with a plot heavily edited by myself. I'd like some insight on this if possible ~
The main idea is, small village holding an annual festival in honor to four heroes that killed the dragonlord of wrath, a powerful red dragon basically. Now this dragon was a pet to a mighty Witch under the name of Kassandra, over 1000years ago. The evil Witch discovered the runewell of wrath and gained magical powers comparable with those of the runelords over the years, I modified Golarion timeline to work out as I wish as well and had Aroden die 1000 years before he actually died, Aroden died at her hands, and she is also the one who called upon the 3-day storm. However, Aroden did seal her soul and wrath away before dying.
The next part is basically taken from burnt offering, a Giant awakened Kassandra, Kassandra activated the rune once again, the gathering of wrathful souls awakened Ashardon (in quite a weaker state than his previous self of course), now, Kassandra has a similar goal what Kazroug had in Rsotl, however she has been more active and directly involved with most of the PCs - one of the PCs' background has her village being burnt to the ground by Orcs, which made me have Kassandra as the one behind the assault, another one of the PCs' lived in a Druid Kingdom where the King suddenly started sacrificing people under 30 years of age, which one again has Kassandra behind the facts. The half-orc was kidnapped during an assault on his tribe, which I fleshed out to be an assault by Goblins (controlled by Kassandra), and the rogue stole a mysterious magic item in his background which I implemented as "It previously belonged to Kassandra, and she needs it back now".
The Pcs will attend to the festival which is less happy-go than swallowtail but more in line of the everflame quest, only there is no quest for the PC as part of the festival, and everything goes wrong when goblins attack just like burnt offerings. There are also rumors of apples that are similar to the ones in The sunless citadel, given once a year during the festival, but are mainly there to act as an additional Hook for the Rogue. I'll be fleshing out the hooks for each one of them in the following hour and then start writing the adventure.
Don't over-detail the rules (e.g. evading AoOs by making 5ft steps etc.), don't punish the players either for it.
I would go more a "less rules, more play" approach here, also no in deep plot.
A simple Dungeon as the old DnD 3.0 start adventure (Cave of evil or so...) would be fine. Some iconic monster (Goblin, Kobolds, Bandits), one big bad evil guy and a lot of happy tonwsfolk after it :D
For New players the classic "this is your quest" is fine, better this then they miss the hook, because they don't know the history of golarion etc.
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If you're looking for a shorter adventure, you might want to try a Pathfinder Society scenario. These are designed to be run in 4-5 hours and many have a good combination of role playing & combat. For a home game, you will probably want to do a bit of editing (like taking out the faction missions).
Scenarios only cost $3.99 each, and can be purchased here.
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I have run a lot of newbies for our local PFS so I am familiar with the issue.
When running for newbies I make sure and tell them we are here for fun. If they com cup with a great wacky fun thing they want to do, then don't be shy! If it's cool we will find a way to make it happen.
So first thing first, make sure it is fun. Get real excited about whatever they do, no matter how mundane or how many times you have seen it done before. It's all new for them, so get loud, stand up, get all excited and make sure they feel like they are participating in a great group interactive activity. Which is what we SHOULD feel every time.
Next is don't worry about rules too much. They don't know the rules and 16,000,000+ rules are a lot to take in at one time. For something super simple, and if you have the time, you can use someone's action to illustrate how a rule works, but don't be a rules lawyer.
The number one thing to remember is FUN FUN FUN. If they have fun, they are hooked...
Okay, I simplified the plot a lot, kept a few RolePlaying elements, added in a twist or two, and now I'm ready to start the Dungeon Crawl part of the adventure. By following most of your advices, I've been using Beginner Box as a guideline, however it feels like a mix between Beginner Box and full Pathfinder (as I am surely not focusing a lot on rules, but there is definitely a bit more than Beginner Box). I am sadly broke at the moment (Bestiary Box shipping cost to Greece is incredibly high...), so I can't purchase any adventure I don't already own.
Concentrating on the FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, which is of course the most important aspect of D&D - not only for rookies, but for every adventure out there. I want to prepare a few FUN remember-able fights for them, and I'd like your insights on the preparation of said encounters ^^.
This is what I got:
0. I straight-copied the goblin fight from Burnt Offerings, because well it is incredibly FUN.
1. There is a small twist in the adventure, where a seemingly good Sorcerer turn to be a bad guy, they have the chance to get at him in his house, where there is a big table, and a huge candelabrum hanging from the ceiling. I had the sorcerer drink a potion of spider walk, and as soon as the combat begins (after a cool 'cut-scene'), he walks on the wall and ceiling until he gets to stay on top of the candelabrum. The main idea is that the party rogue thinks about climbing on the candelabrum from the table, a check i made quite easy to success at, and keep his balance once he is there fighting with the sorcerer on top of the moving candelabrum (low DC acrobatics checks).
2. I'm thinking that once they leave town to the crypt where the quest is supposed to get them, they will be ambushed by a small group of Orcs in the wild. My first thought was a bridge, however, I'm leaning towards another approach right now: I thought I could have the Orcs prepare a few traps as they are guarding the crypt the PCs are supposed to get at, and have them release a few tree trunks from higher ground once the PCs come in sight, now the Pcs will get reflex saves, a success evades the trunk, a failure results in a small bull rush effect and 1d3 points of damage. Optionally, if any one of them wishes to break any of the trunks I'll allow it with a Str check after a successful reflex. The last trunk that is thrown before the Orcs charge, will have a single Orc on top of it, If any one character wishes to jump on the trunk and fight with it on the moving trunk I'll allow it with acrobatic checks.
My problem up to now, is that while fun, these combats seem like the rogue would get all the fun parts. And while I'll make sure to prepare animal encounters for the druid, etc... I want them all to have similar fun. The third and last encounter I've thought of until now is....
3. Once inside the crypt, there is going to be a room with a pedestal and a gem, they will fight three goblin skeletons here, one round after they defeat the skeletons, i will have the gem shine and raise 4 goblin skeletons, then 5, etc. A spellcraft check will give the answer on how to clear the room, which is basically to hit the gem with an specific Druid Orison/Witch Cantrip (I'll take a peak at whatever the Druid o Witch prepared, and make one of it the solving spell), and then break it with a bludgeoning weapon (The barbarian's weapon of choice is a Warhammer), this will trigger the mechanism that opens up to the next room, plus it destroys any skeleton still on its feet.
I'd like to make a combat where the Druid's Create Water Spell saves the day, or maybe a cool way to make Wild Empathy the key, but nothing has occurred to me as of yet. I feel the Barbarian is kinda left out of the FUN of these encounters...