Hello, I am looking to introduce my girlfriend to Pathfinder. She has never played an RPG before, and is curious, but also a bit anxious about it. I will be GMing the game, and would like some thoughts on what kind of adventure to run.
I want to do something that will be light on combat, since combat can be a bit confusing for new players. I would also like to have some kind of "mystery" to solve, but I am aware that this might need to be relatively simple, since even experienced players sometimes become frustrated when there is too much they need to figure out. I myself am new to Pathfinder, but have years of experience with v.3.5.
If anyone has adventure ideas, or class recommendations for new players, that would be great! Also, I am wondering whether to invite other players, or have a one-on-one session; she is concerned that she won't "be good" at playing. I have explained that that is not a problem, and the people I play with are very understanding.
In summary:
1. Game ideas?
2. Class suggestions?
3. Is it better to have a one-on-one game or invite a few more experienced players?
Thanks in advance.
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Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.
Or just don't treat your girlfriend any differently than you would any OTHER new player just trying to get into RPGs.
Steer her into one of the classes that doesn't require a lot of system mastery to be good.
Bards, Rangers, Fighters, Barbarians, Heal/Buff Clerics, etc. Keep her away from Rogues (it won't be her fault when she sucks with one) and Wizards (they're a bit complex for a complete newbie).
Have some other fairly new players around.
Being female doesn't really change whether your good at this game or not I don't think... I'd hate to ask something personal like what kind of person she is, but that matters far more for tailoring a game to her taste. As it is with tailoring it to anyone. Just be nice and don't get onto her or treat her like an idiot for not doing something right or know, that's the fastest way to chase someone out of a game. Lots of respect and helping. That's a general rule for everyone I think.
The only thing I can think of that can really suck the fun out of it and chase someone away is if someone really isn't interested, or if someone's giving them a rough time.
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If she is OK with it, you should not make her character for her. Have one of the other players help her make her character, or she could make it herself if she is comfortable with the task. I'd wager she will be able to enjoy the game better if she enters it as a players, instead of the just GM's girlfriend.
Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.
Or just don't treat your girlfriend any differently than you would any OTHER new player just trying to get into RPGs.
Steer her into one of the classes that doesn't require a lot of system mastery to be good.
Bards, Rangers, Fighters, Barbarians, Heal/Buff Clerics, etc. Keep her away from Rogues (it won't be her fault when she sucks with one) and Wizards (they're a bit complex for a complete newbie).
Have some other fairly new players around.
Good call, but my wife needs bribes. She has fun when I get her to play, but still needs bribes, before and after.
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A few points:
First, if at all possible, have some other players. Solo (one-on-one) games don't generally show off the system to best effect, and kind of preclude the use of published adventures. If you do bring in players, make sure they aren't the rushed, madly tactical, munchkin kind. There's nothing wrong with that (I kind of am one), but you want as relaxed an environment as possible.
Second, use the Beginner Box. It does a great job of simplifying things for new players. I can't stress that enough. Don't try to optimize her character for her, and don't try to "front-load" (e.g. planning out all her feat selections to 20th). If she wants to play a Fighter with Charisma her highest stat, let her. After all, what was your very first character like?
Third, make sure she understands that 3.X D&D is one of the hardest RPGs out there to master. If she takes to it, and loves the complexity, great! But, if she doesn't (and some won't), don't let it spoil her on all other RPGs.
Forth, D&D wasn't built primarily for mysteries (see GUMSHOE for that), so make sure that you accommodate that if you're running one. The simplest way? Don't let a "failed" skill check derail the detectives. Instead, make it so the PCs get needed clues automatically, and let difficult skill checks (like Perception or Sense Motive) just lead to bonus, background info. In other words, they should be able to solve the mystery even if they fail every check.
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I don't think one on one for Pathfinder is going to have the right chemistry. Part of the magic of the gaming table is the experience, the chatter, the laughter as well as dynamic play and roleplaying.
Ideally a fighter or barbarian seems like a simple play but honestly invest the time in letting her get excited about the type of adventurer she wants to play.
Tone down the inside jokes and assumed knowledge. For example when combat starts give insights that her character knows that she may not and let them informer her choices. Even if the insights have no mechanical value it will help get into the mindset. If she is a fighter add tactical information about the room with words like, "you notice," "training has taught you," "experience has shown" and so on. This feels like you are describing the room but you are setting the stage for some of the options that a character of her class might normally naturally go for. This prevents the need to coach later. It is so much better when you describe the room and finish off with a statement like, "as an experienced archer you see a table already knocked over off to the right which might be ideal for cover and keep you from aiming around the backs of those who while likely charge into the fray." Or "As a monk light and fast on your feet know that you have a chance of reaching the enemy in the rear who seems to be casting some sort of spell or taking aim at one of your fellows."
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Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.
Or just don't treat your girlfriend any differently than you would any OTHER new player just trying to get into RPGs.
Steer her into one of the classes that doesn't require a lot of system mastery to be good.
Bards, Rangers, Fighters, Barbarians, Heal/Buff Clerics, etc. Keep her away from Rogues (it won't be her fault when she sucks with one) and Wizards (they're a bit complex for a complete newbie).
Have some other fairly new players around.
This. This indeed.
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Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.
Or just don't treat your girlfriend any differently than you would any OTHER new player just trying to get into RPGs.
Steer her into one of the classes that doesn't require a lot of system mastery to be good.
Bards, Rangers, Fighters, Barbarians, Heal/Buff Clerics, etc. Keep her away from Rogues (it won't be her fault when she sucks with one) and Wizards (they're a bit complex for a complete newbie).
Have some other fairly new players around.
He asked for girly ideas. MLP is entirely too manly.
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I mean, you probably know her better, so I'm not completely sure what will work best, but I'd suggest a one-on-one session at first, since there's less pressure. Especially if she doesn't know the other people, but even id she does, the shear presence of more experienced people tends to make people more nervous, since they don't want to do something wrong. Besides, a one-on-one session would let you spend more time settling down concepts. Sometimes people are less likely to ask questions about the rules, because they're afraid that asking about something basic, like what an attack of opportunity is, or how they calculate their AC, or the difference between their BAB and what they roll when attacking, will get them met with ridicule, if more experienced players are there.
As for what type of session, I'd make sure you cover all or most of the bases. This means you should probably walk through making a character. You could either use a character sheet or a program that generates it for you, like with Myth-Weavers' sheets. Using a physical sheet gives some advantages, in that she'll be able to see where all the numbers are coming from, which can be something confusing to new players. However, on the other hand, the plus side is that with something that generates the sheet for her, it's a lot less complicated, and requires less knowledge of the system. Make sure there's a combat encounter, so you can introduce how a combat round works, and also make sure there's some skill challenges, to get her comfortable with that. There should be some NPC interaction, as well, and such.
Probably the main thing to keep in mind is that you have to keep things simple. If possible, encourage her to keep her mind off the character sheet. Sometimes when people are just starting out they can't get out of the mindset of trying to understand what it says on the sheet. Part of the goal should be to make her feel comfortable role-playing with the tavern owner, or investigating what mystical illness has befallen the local carpenter. This is one of the big hurdles I have found with newer players. They become too wrapped up in the stats, and they basically just tag along with the party, and participate in fights or roll a die when they have a skill and the party needs it. This is much easier to prevent by starting with a solo game. With experienced players, new players are more likely to be passive, since they feel the more experienced player know what they're doing, and they don't, where with a solo session, it forces them to be less passive, which makes them realize that Role-playing isn't some special skill that you need to gain experience in before you become good at it.
Also, I'm not sure whether starting out with Pathfinder is the best idea. Other less complicated systems are what I'd use to get people into roleplaying. It basically cuts the work in half, in that with pathfinder, you have to teach her the nuances of the system in addition to getting her comfortable with roleplaying, where with a less crunchy system, shedoesn't need to worry so much about the rules, and lets her get comfortable with roleplaying.
Hey, everyone, thanks for your responses!
So what we have so far is:
1. Pick a class that avoids complicated spells and/or game rules.
2. Invite other people (I agree with this, but she is a bit nervous about it; however, Tholomyes suggests having a one-on-one session).
3. Find people who are understanding/also new (this is not a problem, one of my friends is new to the game, but very enthusiastic, and so are the other people I play with).
4. Use the beginner box (I don't have this, unfortunately).
5. uriel222 also suggests making sure that a skill check does not prevent the mystery from being solved, which is wise advice.
6. Gnomezrule suggests avoiding inside jokes; this is something common at most games, but is something I did not really think of.
7. Tholomyes suggests encouraging her to focus on what is happening in the game, instead of the numbers on the character sheet.
8. Tholomyes also suggests starting with a simpler system (unfortunately, I only have Traveller, 3.5/3e, Pathfinder, Lord of the Rings RPG, and Star Wars Saga). I am most familiar with d20 system.
Also, what level do you think would be appropriate? I was thinking level 2 or 3, since I believe that I will start with a one-on-one game, as this will make her more comfortable.
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I am rolling up a catfolk cavalier right now.
Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.I would totally play in this campaign.
I'd totally make one for you but I know jack about Hello Kitty.
I'd totally make one for you but I know jack about Hello Kitty.Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.I would totally play in this campaign.
I think its Asian. Better just do a bunch of anime things to make sure.
As a side note, pathfinder doesn't do anime that well to my knowledge. As I was saying earlier, tailoring it to a person is based on their interest and entertainment. That's the big thing to think about I think.
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As far as game ideas, you could ease her into the whole fantasy adventuring thing with a mystery or other incident at a king's tournament. That may allow you to introduce some basic combat rules like hitting ACs with ranged attacks for the archery contest, opposed checks for musical competitions, and semi- to non-lethal combat in the melee/joust/brawl that inevitably breaks out between knights' squires.
Suggest starting her out as a young woman fascinated by all of the events of the faire and then help her develop her character class based on the sorts of events she gravitates to.
Hey, everyone, thanks for your responses!
So what we have so far is:
1. Pick a class that avoids complicated spells and/or game rules.
2. Invite other people (I agree with this, but she is a bit nervous about it; however, Tholomyes suggests having a one-on-one session).
3. Find people who are understanding/also new (this is not a problem, one of my friends is new to the game, but very enthusiastic, and so are the other people I play with).
4. Use the beginner box (I don't have this, unfortunately).
5. uriel222 also suggests making sure that a skill check does not prevent the mystery from being solved, which is wise advice.
6. Gnomezrule suggests avoiding inside jokes; this is something common at most games, but is something I did not really think of.
7. Tholomyes suggests encouraging her to focus on what is happening in the game, instead of the numbers on the character sheet.
8. Tholomyes also suggests starting with a simpler system (unfortunately, I only have Traveller, 3.5/3e, Pathfinder, Lord of the Rings RPG, and Star Wars Saga). I am most familiar with d20 system.
My DM's GF started playing in his 3.5 campaign with a druid. We suggested druid because there was no way to F that up as long as she took 1 feat. Over time she developed mastery of the rules and explored more and more of what her character could do. This campaign quickly turned into an optimization race, but our druid never died or rerolled and played her character until the end.
Then we switch to pathfinder and playing a powerful druid requires more than putting a high stat in WIS and picking up natural spell at lvl 5.
Start with Pathfinder in a long and memorable campaign and give her a class that you can't go wrong with (baring minimum suggestions).
In Pathfinder you could still do the druid trick, but starting stats and build are important to be effective, so that's more or less out.
Paladin requires high strength and cha without having negative con mod to be plenty useful.
I suggest paladin with some hand waving on the code and its restrictions.
Basically a disagree with 1. Pick a class with complex rules, but starts off with simpler options.
I disagree with two. A group can help out the noob.
I disagree with 4. She's a smart adult. Give her the crash course.
I disagree with 6. She should learn the inside jokes to feel included.
I disagree with 8. She won't want to learn two systems. Don't start with training D&D.
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I honestly would not do anything different that I would with anyone else. Obviously you want to avoid sore or uncomfortable subjects, but that's true with anyone, I would hope.
As for class suggestions, I know that women tend to go towards the sorcerer, but for a new gamer Cleric, Paladin, Fighter, and Rogue can all be very straight forward options that do well for teaching a person the game.
I tend to find that most of the time doing a one on one game for new players tends to be both a good and bad thing. It does give them a small sample of how it works, but at the same time it gives them, in a lot of ways, the wrong sample of how the game plays, teaching them that the DM will go easy on them from the start, (in the sense that in a 1 on 1, if the only player dies, they don't have a team to get them back up or finish the fight and then get them up), not really including the teamwork and group dynamics of the game as it really is, and kind of setting false expectations, like the focus will always be on them.
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DON'T go one on one.
Better if you can get someone else to GM, so you can be a "team". Besides, you want someone else to take the blame if she dies.
She needs a drink before the game, and some nice face time after the game. The game will give you something to talk about during "face time".
Before the game, tell her that everybody always corrects everybody's math. Tell her that means they're "helping", not criticizing, and that all noobs need and get help, and that, eventually, she'll be the one telling somebody else they forgot a bonus, or that they need to roll a d8 for that.
Help her build a good character, but don't make the choices, just make suggestions. Repeat after me, "What do YOU want to do?", and "It's just like playing 'pretend'." "Pretend your a princess, pretend your Xena, pretend your Rainbow Bright. Pretend your Dora the Explorer. What would she do?" Then show her what kind of Abilities, or Feats, or Skills she needs to do that thing. You may even be able to suggest a Class, based on her answers, but sometimes you have to let the skill set decide where the character goes.
Definitely suggest Druid, the Animal Companion bit is a chick magnet.
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Story.
There's a university in CA that I don't recall the name of offhand. However, in computer science majors, they have something along the lines of 60 percent female enrollment.
The school didn't do this by being negative. It did it towards being positive. That is:
- It made a point of demonstrating that there were other women in computer science. One of the reasons women don't join in these fields is because well, humans are social by nature. No one likes to feel like an outsider, or alone.
- It made a point of encouraging women. There are many 'unspoken' barriers to women in fields such as these that aren't intentional, but are based on culturally-driven assumptions. I remember an interview with one of the Paizo staff reflecting on how when she joined a table, the guys tended to assume she didn't know the rules or how to play. They were nice and would always try to demonstrate--but that basic assumption can get to you after a while if it's continually repeated.
There were some other points, but I can't recall offhand. Based on their findings, you'd do well by getting another female gamer at the table if you can. This helps.
Also, let her make her own character, with you there to answer questions.
Emphasize that it is one of the more difficult games to learn, but that she's intelligent and smart.
Make sure any female NPCs and PCs have depth. It seems obvious, but a female character's main powers shouldn't be wardrobe change, seduction, and scanty-armor.
my wife plays mostly gnome witches (gnomes so her hair matches her clothes, witches cause they're cool and she has had great results using and picking out hexes and spells like Burning Gaze and Baleful Polymorph)
I tend to find that most of the time doing a one on one game for new players tends to be both a good and bad thing. It does give them a small sample of how it works, but at the same time it gives them, in a lot of ways, the wrong sample of how the game plays, teaching them that the DM will go easy on them from the start, (in the sense that in a 1 on 1, if the only player dies, they don't have a team to get them back up or finish the fight and then get them up), not really including the teamwork and group dynamics of the game as it really is, and kind of setting false expectations, like the focus will always be on them.
Honestly, I think it kind-of depends on the person. Most of the people who I've seen, learning how to play (and myself for that matter) work better with one-on-one, simply because we're introverts. The false expectation of having the focus always be on them doesn't really promote "devaism" among players, but instead gives them a safe or easy environment to learn how to role-play proactively, rather than just follow along with what the group says, and only pipe up when asked, or when everyone else is quiet.
But, yes, I can see the opposite being better for more extroverted players, since it lets them get an accurate feel of how a game goes, and how teamwork and group dynamics works.
Again, some of these things might just come down to what type of person your girlfriend is. There are certainly some suggestions other people have posted that can go either way. I've known people, for whom walking them through every single step can be seen as condensation, and I've known people for whom it really helps them get a grip on the system. Same thing for some of the class selections. Some female gamers I know, who, (going under an assumption that I teaching them a system or roleplaying in general for the first time) would clock me for suggesting they play a class that (to quote above) "women tend to go towards," but I also know female gamers who wouldn't want to play the gruff and brutish barbarian and would rather play a sorceress or the like.
You know her better than us. While some suggestions (like avoiding complicated rules or classes) are of general help, a lot of the rest of it is more based on personality.
Ruggs is spot on there; make sure you are there if she needs help with something (and be perceptive, since she might not always want to ask a question, if she thinks it'd make her look stupid), but be careful not to treat her like she's 5 and just learning addition.
Ask her if there is a character in books, tv, or movies she likes, male or female (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena the Warrior Princess, one of the characters from Game of Thrones or Avengers). Help her gen a character similar in style to her favorite character. I like the suggestion to treat it like introducing any new player to the game.
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Yes, or just have her describe who she wants to be, then do it up. Start out with a one on one, where she tells you about her character, you have her talk to some NPCs, etc. Have a little non-lethal combat. That last isn't because she's a girl, it's what you might do to any 1st timer to ease them in. I have played with some Girl gamers who were mad for bloody combat. "Stop with all the blah-blah... I want to kill something!". Others were content to stay in character all nite and never get into combat.
Pretty much, other than the immature "Dead Alewives" school of gaming*, girl gamers just want the same games as anyone else.
As to other players, just have them be grown ups.
New "Girl gamers" are just like any other 1st time gamer. Just remember that. What's special here isn;t that she's a girl, it that she's your partner and she new. Don't scare her off.
Oh, and find some sorta-kinda FRP board or card game for her 1st 'group-game". One where everyone is more or less new to the game. The only problem with her first game being in a group is that they are all going to know the rules better than her, which could lead to frustration.
* and really, even only a very few immature guys like that Beavis & Butthead school of gaming
The question is bad. My group is 3 males 2 females, one of whom is my wife. The other woman is partners with another player, but is a gamer in her own right. My wife is there because she didn't want to be left alone for my second game night.
My wife joined my group for a World of Darkness game, and stayed with us when I took over as GM for a Pathfinder game.
So far, it hasn't gone well. Disengaged, I suppose would be the best word. Part of it's timing since we play on a work night and she gets tired easy, but part of it is motivation.
If your significant other is playing primarily to spend time with you (as mine is) rather than for a love of the game/hobby itself, there's a certain level of finesse in making that work well.
You can't expect system mastery. You have to expect that you may do a lot of the heavy lifting in character creation/advancement. Reading the feats and charting progressions is surprisingly unappealing to portions of the population.
I went with a gnome oracle, starting at level 1, optimized as a heavens color sprayer. It gives a lot of useful, easy to use, flashy specials that are unlikely to backfire on the group, with opportunities to save the day with little tactical experience necessary. She's also the rainbow bridge technician, which the rest of the party has found invaluable in a bunch of combat/noncombat positions.
That works pretty well. When she gets more spells known, I pick 3-4 top choices and she picks what sounds the most fun. She still has no idea what half the stuff on her character sheet is, and mixes up attributes/modifiers on a weekly basis, but I think that will come if I can get her hooked into the campaign.
That's the problem there. I have a handle on what drives the other player. I've got a player who loves being a whirlwind of combat destruction, a player who loves conspiring and plotting, and a player who thrives on opportunities to engage in deviancy. So while it can be tricky to balance combat/rp aspects, I know what they like and can make sure everyone gets something.
Problem is, I didn't know what she liked. I got a clue last session, though. She egged on a flock of fairy dragons into giving a triumphal ghost sound fanfare for the group as they went to meet with an important NPC. She went chasing after pretty illusions into an obvious ambush. When I described another PC failing a perception check as distracted by butterflies, she went over and joined him looking at the butterflies.
I'm taking a guess that she wants to be the lighthearted comic relief, happily-go-luckily getting in minor trouble and committing small acts of airheadedness. So I'm going to make sure she gets more opportunities for that and see if it keeps her attention.
In that, I suppose she's just like any other player. If you want to keep her engaged, you have to pay attention to what she enjoys in your games and add more of it in.
Have a Hello Kitty/My Little Pony crossover mystery about who stole the cupcakes.I would totally play in this campaign.
To OP:
I'd advise the OP to also look at some of the other threads about introducing new players into his group. Most of the tipps should be applieable here as well.
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Good call, but my wife needs bribes. She has fun when I get her to play, but still needs bribes, before and after.
"Bribing" one's wife is ALWAYS recommended, regardless of role playing games.
blackbloodtroll: good luck on your first game with your girlfriend!
Also, as to blackbloodtroll's question, we are both over 18 years of age, so a Dora the Explorer campaign may not be fun for her! Also, I am not really looking to run a campaign, only one game for her. If she likes it, we can play occasionally; if she doesn't like it, I won't subject her to it again.
Thanks again for everyone's posts.
For classes, either bard or inquisitor might be nice because they have balanced capabilities that give them utility in any situation. Both have a ton of skill points, which would help outside of combat, they are spontaneous casters, which can be simpler than choosing spells every day (just guide..but not control.. her decisions in spells known), and they have access to decent weapons, armor and shields. The option to go sword and board would allow her a nice, sturdy character.
A bard would have plenty of CHA, which could help in easing the interactions with the NPCs. They also have a nice focus on buffs that would help her get into the idea of team combat. Sadly... bards have kind of a ...reputation. I mean...you are playing a musician when facing off against demons, dragons, and evil overlords.
An inquisitor would have more focus on combat, especially with their access to medium armors. The ability to discern alignment might also help in social interactions. Domains and judgments are sweet little bonuses that one can get excited about. The bonuses to intimidation, sense motive, and tracking would also allow her to play a gritty, film noir- style detective (or batman). Readily recognizable archetypes from popculture would allow her to get past the rather dense wall of lore for high fantasy.
If you do go inquisitor (I am mostly leaning this way due to how my argument if going), then Cayden Cailean might be a good deity. His general guidelines are loose and tend towards the adventurer lifestyle anyway. He also has the travel domain (that sweet, sweet +10 to movement is a very concrete bonus for a new player) and his favored weapon is the rapier, which is rather nice. The high rate of criticals with that weapon is good because... lets all admit it: we all get that gambler's high when we crit.
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One of the best DMs I know is my brother's wife. I have had 2 girlfriends that jumped in head first, and had a blast. The two serious recommendations I have for you is first...know her. Find out what she's really into...we can't do that for you...and reflect that in the game a bit. She might be into the whole medieval court thing, and a paladin's unrequited romance...or she might be ready for the zombie apocalypse.
The other thing, as I recommend for every new player...go pretty rules-lite. Give her time to get used to roleplaying, not number-crunching. Most people will pick that up at their own speed. Let them.
FWIW, I just GMed the first module of Skull and Shackles with a group comprised of two relatively inexperienced women (each with about one prior low-level PF campaign under their belt), and two women completely new to the system, and it worked very well up until (and again after) the Riptide Cove section near the end - and frankly, the problem there was less the party and more the fact that Riptide Cove is a straight-up dungeon grind that has little to recommend it, and no real connection to the rest of the story. The rhythm of life on the pirate ship, and the task of accumulating allies for the mutiny were a natural fit for the group.
The party was Cleric, Sorcerer, Rogue, Antipaladin.
best recommendations would be a bard or ranger
both get to interact with each facet of the rules
Spellcasting
Skills
Combat
Puzzles
Traps
Social Interaction
ETC
the difference is that ranger starts with less on the plate
while bard gets to interract with all of them off the bat or whichever ones they please
Removed a post. Let's try and keep the blatant stereotyping/sexism out of it, please.
Here's a 1st level module which has a mystery section early on.
It's an older 3.5 module, but it's not terribly hard to update. I ran this for a players first game, and she had a lot of fun.
I would avoid a one on one session. The game doesn't play the same in one on one, and it's nowhere near as fun.
As a compromise for one on one vs. group session, and to keep her from feeling nervous about embarrassing herself, ask her if she wants to go over a short mock session before anyone else shows up, or the day before the game. Try having her make 2 or 3 skill checks and fight a single goblin so she can see where all the relevant info is on her sheet and understand how characters move on the table. This will also get her used to the most basic of mechanics, rolling and adding.
For characters, what I usually do for new players is to show them pictures of the Iconics (I love the Pathfinder GM screen for this) and briefly describe what their class is like and let them pick. This usually works pretty quick; my nephew had made his decision before I got halfway through, for instance. He pointed right at Lini's snow leopard. He's very happy playing his velociraptor, and on occasion, the raptors druid companion.
Depending on how new they are or how little they understand roleplaying, asking them what kind of things they want to do in game can be pretty useless, since they won't really know anything about party roles. One thing that can work is asking them if there's a fictional character from TV or Anime or a book they'd like to try playing as, then make a character to match that.
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I wouldn't do anything different if the new player was another male; I think the important thing here is "new player", not gender (except for one tiny detail, read below*).
-Ask her what kind of character she wants to play and what she'd like to be able to do with her character. Work with the rules of characer creation around that. Using characters from books, films, series and so on... that she likes as examples is probably a good idea.
-Offer advice about feat selection, instead of putting the feats section under her nose which can be pretty overwhelming for a new player look for the more convenient three or four feats that her character could pick at that level. Personal experience: I had a player that told me that picking feats was almost like studing for an exam (and the player was male and fairly nerdy) you want to avoid that feeling.
-*If you normally deal with mature themes or, Urgathoa forbid, realistic treatment of the females in a Medieval era then, tone down! Except if you know for sure that she don't mind.
-And last but not the least: be impartial even if the female player is your girlfriend. This should be obvious but in my personal experience is not. I have been in games with DM being partial towards their girlfriends: giving them the best treasure (the best magic item was for the character class of the girlfriend), having NPCs treat them as if they were goddesses (with no outstanding roleplaying and/or diplomacy check to justify that), etc.
My 2 cents on the subject.
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So, I just had my GF play her first game, ever.
We decided to treat her as a new player, and not a new girl player.
It worked well.
We decided to go beginner box, and that worked well too.
She decided to go with Amiri, and smash enemies.
A lotta women will surprise you...barbarian seems to be a popular class, out of the girl gamers I've known...and they tend to play pretty hardcore, too!
My brother's wife's first character I remember was a Bbn...pretty wicked...and had the hobby of knitting. (yeah...well, hey. *shrug*)
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"Bribing" one's wife is ALWAYS recommended, regardless of role playing games.
Good call, but my wife needs bribes. She has fun when I get her to play, but still needs bribes, before and after.
Bribing ones wife is always recommended, regardless of the situation.
Only thing I recommend is to skip on the male humor and such, otherwise don't try to cater too much to a single player, play the game as it is.
Best thing I can recommend is to create some different options for them to follow up to, different ways to solve an encounter ; RP, combat, creativity or a combination of those, focusing more on 'light' encounters without complicated system mastery required and tending more to creativeness and RP is a good idea for any introduction for new players though (I'd say for veteran players as well, but this might vary from table to table).
Removed a post. Let's try and keep the blatant stereotyping/sexism out of it, please.
I don't know what you removed (nor do I wish to discuss the reasons for it) but I wanted to say one thing on the subject of male/female role playing game contributes: if there were an equal number of female players to male players there would be NO gender discussions
I love having a female player (I have almost always had one consistent player of that gender but have never had more than one consistent player of such. Thank you Darcy!) The addition is the same as having female friends in a male's life. More colorful, deeper, better. I feel strongly about having a girl in the group. Until its a norm, it will continue to be a topic of discussion.
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Removed a post. Let's try and keep the blatant stereotyping/sexism out of it, please.I don't know what you removed (nor do I wish to discuss the reasons for it) but I wanted to say one thing on the subject of male/female role playing game contributes: if there were an equal number of female players to male players there would be NO gender discussions
I love having a female player (I have almost always had one consistent player of that gender but have never had more than one consistent player of such. Thank you Darcy!) The addition is the same as having female friends in a male's life. More colorful, deeper, better. I feel strongly about having a girl in the group. Until its a norm, it will continue to be a topic of discussion.
My gaming club is over half female, there really is no difference i have ever seen