I'm always terrified that I'll come off as condescending when it comes time to explain the rules to newcomers. My actions may very well determine whether a player has discovered a lifelong passion or a dull-as-dirt math problem masquerading as a game. I want them to be excited to play, not intimidated by the learning curve.
And so, in the hopes of getting better at this part of the hobby, I turn to forum. What are your favorite tips, tricks, and techniques for teaching new gamers? When is it appropriate to go into full rules-depth detail, and when should you go for a "just roll that one" approach? Is there a best order to teach subsystem?
I was handed a character left by a player who quit the game, told to "just do what we tell you and you'll catch on." I ended up being the voice of reason and leading the party out of the dungeon, a homebrew that my friend/DM said he'd never run it before without it being a TPK (we didn't use that term back in the day). I was HOOKED.
Since then I think my ability to introduce players to things have gotten better, but I still think they could use some work. I begin with telling them what a TTRPG is (if they don't know), that the mechanics are handled by various dice, and do my best to describe it as a sort improvisational theater/cooperative storytelling game.
I've come to let them ask the questions more than I just blurt out too much too soon, which confuses and intimidates players. I actually haven't had to do this in a long time as my group and I have been together (most of us, anyway) over 30 years, though I have done so when my son was younger and he and his friends played.
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I think it goes by what they are interested in doing and the type of story you want to lead them into. If they want to roleplay and goof around, have them tell you what they want to do and tell them what check to make. Bluff and diplomacy will probably be the first they try out just wandering around town or intimidate or sleight of hand if that is their character's way of getting things done.
You can then introduce scenarios where they need to act more covertly so they can be prompted to buy disguise kits or to stick to the shadows and then all the rules for perception can be laid out as they try and out roll the enemies. Nature scenarios can highlight survival and knowledge, magic machinery can work with spellcraft and UMD, and so on, highlighting one or two skills at a time.
If they are really into combat, start at low levels and introduce enemies gradually that require new rules:
for martials it would be something like, large creatures for AoO, ranged attackers for 5' steps, groups of rogues for flanking, tiny swarms then fine and diminutive, DR bypassed by different types of damage then by different materials, then constructs by increasing hardness
for offensive casters it would be presenting enemies with different strengths in saves, resistance to different elements, immunities to specific types of spells, then SR, scrying, teleport, and wish/miracle (and by then somebody at the table will hopefully have learned all the rules to dispel magic somehow and they can just take over whenever it's cast.)
If each new rule is tied to overcoming a new challenge, the rules are more of tools in their handy-haversack rather than a list of things they have to look up or have explained to them.
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Playing the game.
Telling people it's like improv acting and a strategy board game at the same time.
Really it depends whether it's someone's FIRST TTRPG or if they know a bit from other games. They're not ALL that unique from each other once you strip the built in settings.
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What are your favorite tips, tricks, and techniques for teaching new gamers?
A cheat sheet containing the relevant information while omitting unnecessary stuff. I especially recommend the third sheet in what I linked, which is an example of the sheets I made for pregen characters and that my players love so much they keep updating them. All the relevant class features and feats are spelled out, whereas calculations and passive stuff that you don't care about during a session is absent. Of special importance are the various attack routines, as doing those calculations all the time is what slows down combat the most, and also what putts people off the most. For people struggling with various options, or if you want to have soemoen start without having to read the book, one could add the text (or condensed text) of the different combat actions like charge, withdraw etc.
For caster's, spell cards are highly recommendable.Note that such sheets aren't just good for beginner, every player should have one. It speeds up gameplay so much you won't believe it! The first sheet in the above link was for my Summoner (the sheet was attatched to the character sheet and the numbers automatically update from there), and I legitimately stopped printing out the full character sheet, bringing only this one A4 page (and the Summon Monster sheets also included in the link).
As for the basics... I think the introduction in the CRB ("Playing the Game" on pgs. 8f. and the "Example of Play" on pgs. 13f.) do a pretty good job.
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With newbies, I don't even explain the rules anymore, because I used to do that and it was just "information overload". So now I usually like to run a 2-hour-ish one-shot with pre-gen chars.
We'll start on a ship on our way looking for a mcguffin of some kind they'll have a map with an X that shows where it's supposed to be, you've been employed by some posh snoody rich dude and he stays back on the ship for safety. If children under 13 are the newbies, then the posh rich guy will have an absolutely terrified, skittish, easily-frightened chicken as a pet, and I play up this chicken in such a way that literally invites the PC's to shout "BOO!" or "Feint" at it to frighten it (because I can do a pretty hilarious impression of a terrified chicken-- think Hei Hei the rooster from Moana when he first realizes that he's completely surrounded by water, except my chicken impression is that he's so dumb and terrified that it's frightened of its own shadow -- and this teaches the newbies that they can interact with the world via purposefully terrifying this chicken while the posh rich guy hopelessly chases it around trying to calm it down, and this sets the tone for the next two hours about how they can interact with the world).
They disembark from the ship and make their way towards the X on the map, and on the way, they get ambushed by a dire animal or monster of some kind.
Once they arrive at the X on the treasure map, instead of their prize, they find a cavern leading underground.
It takes them several days of travel into the underdark (and we fast-forward through this travel, on purpose). We make camp a couple times, and deduct rations each day.
After a couple of days, they find an underground structure (abandoned dwarf city, a building that looks like a giant skull, w/e), and they have to cross a sketchy rope bridge (Acrobatics DC 8 or fall 30ft into a river-- the PC doesn't die, but they will have to figure out how to retrieve him... probably with a 50ft rope)
They go inside, and find a small cult, or a small group of undead, or w/e and they're bowing to a deity carving of some kind, and they see their McGuffin is in the Eye of the Deity Carving. There are weapon racks on the wall that are full of weapons, but the cultists/undead are performing religious rites and are unarmed.
A necromancer, cult leader, or w/e comes out, and gives a grand speech "it is time my faithful brothers, for as the prophecy foretold, the stars have aligned and the 4 suns shine as one! Our time in the shadows is no more, and we will have our vengeance!" *cultists cheer*
However the PC's figure out how to get the mcguffin is up to them, they can go in guns blazing, or stealth around and grab it (the cultists/undead are bowing prostrated, and chanting, facing the floor).
Anywho,
If they kill all the cultists and the leader, then we can fast-forward back to the ship.
If they steal it and leave, then the cultists figure out the McGuffin has been stolen (as soon as the PC's re-cross the rickety rope bridge) and will chase the PC's down. This scene becomes a chase scene, or they can stand and fight, or they can cut the rope bridge while the cultists are crossing it. Once this is over, we fast forward back to the ship and you hand the mcguffin to your employer and get paid, and now the story is over.
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Here's the point: they just learned 50% of the rules in 2 hours and had fun doing it.
The PC's learn how combat works. Initiative, attacking, causing damage, Standard Actions, Move Actions, taking turns, going multiple rounds, etc., and they experience the thrill of combat twice, once with a dire animal/monster, and another with multiple cultists/undead.
They roll a whole bunch of skill checks, perception, stealth, knowledge (dungeoneering), acrobatics, w/e.
They also see that their decisions affect outcomes. They see that time is relative, where resolving 18 seconds of combat takes 20 minutes in real time, but traveling 3 days through the underdark took 3 seconds in real time. And they get to see a bit of roleplaying and storytelling, which can help them write their backstory for a real character.
With newbies, I don't even explain the rules anymore, because I used to do that and it was just "information overload". So now I usually like to run a 2-hour-ish one-shot with pre-gen chars.
My best experience with this style was "We Be Goblins." It seems to ease folks into different aspects of the game little by little.
Are there any mechanics that you introduce earlier or later? Is it skill checks > spells > combat (but don't tell them about combat maneuvers yet)?
With newbies, I don't even explain the rules anymore, because I used to do that and it was just "information overload". So now I usually like to run a 2-hour-ish one-shot with pre-gen chars.
My best experience with this style was "We Be Goblins." It seems to ease folks into different aspects of the game little by little.
Are there any mechanics that you introduce earlier or later? Is it skill checks > spells > combat (but don't tell them about combat maneuvers yet)?
This might sound a little strange, but I put heaviest importance on understanding Action Economy. Knowing what options you have for using actions helps you navigate your turn in a timely manner, as well as understanding how all your class abilities/spells can be used in combat. I think if you fully understand Action Economy, like the difference between Immediate, Swift, Free, Move, Standard, and Full-round actions, then everything else in the game becomes easier to learn.
I think one of the most difficult concepts of the game is to figure out a way to consistently use Standard, Move, and Swift every round, regardless of of the class you're playing. There are some classes out there where having a maximized action economy is totally natural, like Warpriests, Wizards, or Druids, but most classes have serious difficulty maximizing their action economy. I think you become a much stronger player if you think in terms of picking up items, spells, and feats that grant you Immediate, Swift, Free, Move, Standard, and Full-round actions where your particular class is lacking, so that you can maximize your usefulness/options in combat.