Questing GMs last blog post..Good advice for starting 4E

I took the natural choices each player made to affect how to build each character. So we would play a scene. then spend about 30 min adding points and traits to PCs, then move forward a few years and repeat until all players were 100 points (Starting point of Gurps) and they were 16.

@Labareda: This is where my non-native English skills do me a disservice… I keep reading ‘Breaking my players’….

@Questing DM: Thanks QDM, hope you get a good group!

Questing GMs last blog post..Playtest the Artificer

That is the simplest way I’ve found.

Dianes last blog post..Showtime’s The Tudors Clothing Featured in Museum Replicas Catalog

In other words, I totally lucked out.

Kavondes last blog post..What I’ve Learned About 4th Edition

While I did teach it with a 15 min primer followed by a sample fight, the teach as you go along of the crunchfest that is 4e also works.

I think it’s worked out better to just learn as you go along and you get to jump right into the action. The first couple combats go a little slower, but I think players pick up things more organically when they put stuff into action instead of just hearing how things work.

@Ninetail: I agree completely with what you add here. Adding story to even the most basic dungeon crawl is simple enough. I also completely buy the competent character concept.

One thing I would add: Try to tell a story. In a short introductory game, it will by necessity be a short, fairly simple story, but a plotline will grab most players’ attention faster than a plotless hack-and-slay will.

That doesn’t mean you can’t send the players through a short dungeon. Just provide a reason for it. Maybe the boss has kidnapped the Baron’s only daughter, and he’s tasked the PCs with rescuing her. Maybe the goblins in this cave have been raiding a local village, and the PCs are going to put a stop to it. Maybe the witch who lives down in the crypt is the only one who knows the cure to a rare disease that’s struck the prince, and the PCs have to fight through her undead guards to get to her — and then convince her to help. Maybe this is some sort of rite of passage or tournament in the PCs’ culture, and they and their enemies are “really” using mock weapons and illusory spells.

Any of it is better than “You decide to kill these things and take their treasure.” Even a player whose main interest lies in the tactical wargaming part of the game will typically be drawn into the game more when there’s a story, and a specific, defined goal. It also makes it easier for you to launch a campaign from there.

Along the same lines, don’t be afraid to give the players capable characters. You don’t want them to be too overpowered, but they should be on the stronger side of average, so that they succeed more often than they fail (at least when they’re doing the job their character is “meant” to do). Don’t penalize the players for trying unusual actions — you want to encourage that at this point. It means they’re getting more immersed in the game. If they come up with a plan you hadn’t anticipated, and it seems even remotely plausible, give them a bonus. You can clarify the usual chances of success later, if you feel the need, but if they’re making the effort in the introductory game, they should have a good chance of succeeding.

My other piece of advice would be to vary the challenges. Don’t make it all straight combat. Give the players a chance to roleplay and use their social skills, give them a chance to deal with a trap, give them a fight with some sort of interesting environmental effect in play. You don’t necessarily need to give them a little of everything the game has to offer — it’s a one-shot, after all — but give them a variety of experiences.

Ninetails last blog post..Skybreaker session 2: Deep as a…

LEAVE THEM BEGGING FOR MORE!

Leave loose ends. Have plot hooks that need resolving. Keep some mysteries mysterious so that the new players WANT to come back to solve them. Perhaps they’ve still got to work out why an elven tribe is aiding the goblins. Maybe the Paladin wants to know who his true father is, or the Big Bad Villain turns out to be a Little Bad Villain who’s working for an even Bigger power.

In other words, treat the scenario like it’s an episode not a movie. This way the new players can’t tick the “I’ve played D&D” box in their mind because there’s still stuff to do.

Get this one right, and even if they don’t understand the rules (and they won’t), even if lots of it didn’t make sense (and it doesn’t) – They’ll Be Back For More.

And that, after all, is what that first scenario is all about.

Matts last blog post..Geeking It Up: D&D 4th Edition