Our group is hopefully getting a new player this week. I haven't met her, but according to my friend that has she's really enthusiastic about trying out gaming.
Now our group is a great bunch of blokes, and the new player will be both the youngest group member by a margin of several years (she's 16) and she'll also be the only girl in the group. I do not forsee either of these facts being at all problematic (as I said, our group is very mature and inclusive), but since this is a chance to bring a new player into the wonderful world of tabletop RPGs I figured it couldn't hurt to ask the boards for advice on how to make our new player feel welcome and included.
As a side note, we will be trying out 5th edition (which seems pretty noob friendly, though I am chafing at the lack of meaningful choice during my progression already!), so it's pretty much a perfect jumping on point for her as no-one's that familiar with the system and the campaign is fresh and new.
(PS: If anyone at Wizards of the Coast reads this, what the hell were you thinking with the staggered release dates for your core books?!?)
Make sure to pay attention to what she does and offer helpful advice, not snarky "Why haven't you caught on yet?" advice. Don't make her feel like the snowflake in the party, but don't treat her like your long term, well versed players. It's a fine balance to introduce a new player. Just last night the 16 year old son of one of my long time players joined us for the first time and everyone pitched in to help him remember which die to roll and when, how to use his feats to his advantage, and in general to just loosen up and have fun.
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A polyhedral dice set makes a great welcoming gift for a new player.
That's what we tend to do. When I first introduced my 14 year old cousin to RPGs I bought him a standard polyhedral set. Later on when we moved on to games that use d10s and d6s I got him a bunch of those.
One of my most treasured sets of dice is a set that one of the girls I used to play in a World of Darkness game with got me when I first joined that group around Christmas one year. Had a nice bag that she'd found, and a set of 5 translucent emerald green and 5 translucent smokey grey d10s in it.They're my lucky dice now, never let me down.
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I was in a similar situation to you, though I had the added problem that the new player was my girlfriend. This led to me not being sure if I was favoring her, so I overcompensated a bit in the opposite direction. While this might not be that much of a problem, it could become one, in either direction. Make sure to occasionally ask your players whether you're too harsh with her (or on the opposite spectrum, softballing her).
Even though you want to start a new campaign you should keep in mind that your group has a long list of insiders and anecdotes they will quote over and over again. "That's awesome, just like when we threw the boar on the..." - "Ha! Yeah, that was great!"
Cue confused newbie.
Keep an eye out for the other players playing her character for her. Tips are alright, but when other players start telling her "Go here and cast this spell on me! No, trust me, that's the best you can do!" it might be going too far.
That said: Just ask her after the game what she thought and what might've bugged her and what she liked.
Cool, all good advice so far. Of course, overdoing it might scare her off and lets face it there's a world shortage of gamers so that would be bad.
Hmm. I have a group of friends who are pretty much all gamers and we actually have too many for one D&D or other RPG game! In fact, one of the games we're in (An Aftermath game) has 3 groups of Six or Seven players! Must be where you live. Sacramento seems to be chock full of gamers.
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I would recommend doing away with the hazing rituals as well. The papercut gauntlet has been dropped by most gaming groups out there, ever since the 4 Litres of '04 incident.
Though a time-honoured tradition, I'd skip the Walk of a Thousand Four Siders. Not only because of injury issues, but it really wrecks the four-siders.
And if you were thinking of doing the Fireball Simulatior... don't. Just don't.
I would recommend doing away with the hazing rituals as well. The papercut gauntlet has been dropped by most gaming groups out there, ever since the 4 Litres of '04 incident.
Though a time-honoured tradition, I'd skip the Walk of a Thousand Four Siders. Not only because of injury issues, but it really wrecks the four-siders.
And if you were thinking of doing the Fireball Simulatior... don't. Just don't.
I have heard of none of these, if these are a reference, please tell me where from, but I love em
Have something to bop the evil player at your table on standby if they get out of line, and don't tell me you don't have an evil player.
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Put away the knives/axes/guns/maces/napalm/cattle prods. Wash the blood off of the tables and make sure that no one can hear the screams of the incompetent players from the torture chamber.
What? Im the ONLY one who threatens players with excruiating pain and death? It works! Your players NEVER forget things or get out of line.
After this, get her some dice, a pencil, an eraser and a baggy to hold it in. Get it in her favorite colour if you can, make sure the players have bathed regularly and are not currently bleeding from any injuries you may of inflicted on them for forgetting that bardic preformance.
Also, if you have any pets that are generally loveable and cute, put them at the table, if you don't, go buy a baby bunny.
I have heard of none of these, if these are a reference, please tell me where from, but I love em
The Papercut Gauntlet (Not elaborated on, beyond using thick cardstock for added injury) and the Walk of a Thousand Four-Siders (No elaboration necessary) are from the comic series Knights of the Dinner Table. These came from a fairly old comic, though it involved re-orientation, rather than hazing. (Reintroducing a member who left the group. They don't follow through, in one of the series' Crowning Moments of Heartwarming.)
The 4 Litres of '04 is my own little joke. Ditto the Fireball Simulator, though one of the earliest KODT comics did have the Game Master pull out a Fireball Generator which ended up burning the hair off of one player.
Put away the knives/axes/guns/maces/napalm/cattle prods. Wash the blood off of the tables and make sure that no one can hear the screams of the incompetent players from the torture chamber.
What? Im the ONLY one who threatens players with excruiating pain and death? It works! Your players NEVER forget things or get out of line.
After this, get her some dice, a pencil, an eraser and a baggy to hold it in. Get it in her favorite colour if you can, make sure the players have bathed regularly and are not currently bleeding from any injuries you may of inflicted on them for forgetting that bardic preformance.Also, if you have any pets that are generally loveable and cute, put them at the table, if you don't, go buy a baby bunny.
Hmm. My generally loveable and cute cat likes to lie on the paperwork, and chase dice, and push pawns around, and is generally just a b@@@y nuisance...
I have heard of none of these, if these are a reference, please tell me where from, but I love emThe Papercut Gauntlet (Not elaborated on, beyond using thick cardstock for added injury) and the Walk of a Thousand Four-Siders (No elaboration necessary) are from the comic series Knights of the Dinner Table. These came from a fairly old comic, though it involved re-orientation, rather than hazing. (Reintroducing a member who left the group. They don't follow through, in one of the series' Crowning Moments of Heartwarming.)
The 4 Litres of '04 is my own little joke. Ditto the Fireball Simulator, though one of the earliest KODT comics did have the Game Master pull out a Fireball Generator which ended up burning the hair off of one player.
Definitely making me feel the need to read this. My first gaming comic was fuzzy knights.
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I've introduced Pathfinder to six people to date. All still game regularly except for one (though she's writing her master's thesis and will be returning in January).
Unless it's a one-shot session, have her make her own character. I think a lot give a new player a pre-gen because they worry about overwhelming the poor novice. But I think what most excites new (and old) players is getting their very own, true-to-their-imagination avatar. Ask her what her favorite fantasy character in movies, video games or fiction and suggest a few races/classes that would fit it. She will have a much better experience if she loves her character.
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Ask her what her favorite fantasy character in movies, video games or fiction and suggest a few races/classes that would fit it.
I wouldn't even go this far, unless she's clearly stumped. "Play whatever you want" is powerful.
While dice are nice, really, just make sure she has fun, and do it by having fun yourselves.
What kept you enjoying the game when you were brand new?
I wouldn't even go this far, unless she's clearly stumped. "Play whatever you want" is powerful.
Agreed. Of the six people I've introduced to Pathfinder, only one needed any prompting at all. Everyone else immediately knew who they wanted to be. In fact, I think getting to be that person is the pull for a lot of players.
Also, I would not try to explain every rule before you get started. I'm a firm believer in learning a game by playing it.
After you make characters (telling her all the while what her character can do and excels at), show her the dice and explain what 2d6 and 1d4 mean, tell her in a few sentences about roleplaying, initiative and standard and move actions. Then get started. Everything else can be learned along the way. If she's jumping in mid-campaign, let the other players explain the plot line and tell their favorite moments. They get to bond and relive the glory days and kinda sell the game.
To sum up, just get to the fun as quickly as possible.