PAX East: running a "teach a new player D&D" game

V

Vinciente

First Post
I had made contact expressing my interest/willingness to run one of the tables, and even submitted the application. Prior to submitting my application, I had explained in detail about things on my end that would have effect on being able to provide my services as a DM. I explained plainly that we have an infant & only 1 car, and that my spouse needed to know for fact what days I would be running tables 3+ weeks in advance in order to get the schedule to accommodate such. When I went over these things with the Organizer for the event it was almost 2months prior to the event. I submitted my application only days after the last contact regarding what would affect being able to run tables. It wasn't until less than 2 weeks before the event that I finally received the next contact from the Organizer, who then made it sound like I was screwing him over because I posted on the DND forums that I wouldn't be able to run a table due to his lack of getting back to me acknowledging his understanding of the situation within a reasonable time table.

So, for all of you who have friends that missed out on participating due to "not enough DMs"...PLEASE take time to find out the contact info for the Event Organizers & tell them they need to get off their asses & actually organize the DMs as soon as they get them & not put the DMs on the back-burner.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Zephrin the Lost

Zephrin the Lost

First Post
That's great that you did this- you seemed a little hyper-focused when I saw you Sunday Am and now I know why!

This was my first con and I had a great time playing with players brand-new to the game, some very young (yet very experienced players, and highly caffeinated) players and other folks way more knowledgeable than me. Everyone was incredibly courteous and without exception the players worked together. I almost wish I'd sat in one one of the new player games so I could see RPG'ing through their experience.

I kept checking the free-play table-top area for a jenga tower- I really want to try Dread and was hoping you'd be running that somewhere.
 


chitzk0i

chitzk0i

Explorer
Piratecat said:
- Don't explain rules before you need to. Other than explaining the bits of the character sheet, using examples, don't tell the players rules until they come up in the game. It helps prevents information overload.
Click to expand...

As a corollary to this one, be sure you actually explain the rules at some point. If a monster grabs one of the PCs, make sure you actually explain how to escape. Further, if you're handing out pregen characters to the PCs, look over their powers and abilities so the PCs can avail themselves of these things. This sounds like a real newbie mistake, but if a major company breaking into podcasting can pick someone who does this, then it bears repeating.
 

B

BinaryTB

First Post
That sounds amazing. My friends and I tried to get into the learn-to-play games at PAX, but they were packed and the slots were full well ahead of time.

We live in the Somerville area, so if there are more events or just meetups where new players can learn and get into an easy first game, we'd be more than interested.
 

M

mudbunny

Community Supporter
BinaryTB said:
That sounds amazing. My friends and I tried to get into the learn-to-play games at PAX, but they were packed and the slots were full well ahead of time.

We live in the Somerville area, so if there are more events or just meetups where new players can learn and get into an easy first game, we'd be more than interested.
Click to expand...

You might look into D&D Encounters at one of your local gaming stores. Takes place on wednesday nights.
 


T

TheNovaLord

First Post
the boring first adventure is the breaker for me

I do hope when this starter set is released the adventure in it is short, but fun and varied to hook in every (or most) type of 'potential' gamer

the first 4e i played was at a con and was some pre-release thing. the first 4 combats where all versus kobolds, with no rp filler in the middle, so 3 people in our table, including myself excused ourselves and just left and didnt want to do the final encounter.

when i played 4e to new folks i alway tried to write something specific + varied or used one of the 'big fun' LFR mods....the fey temple one for example where elves are the baddies!
 


K

Kitesh

First Post
Don't explain rules before you need to. Other than explaining the bits of the character sheet, using examples, don't tell the players rules until they come up in the game. It helps prevents information overload.
Click to expand...

I was a participant in one of the learn to play sessions at PAX, and I wish my DM had had that advice! We got an hour-long rules lecture before play began, and there were some glassy, glassy eyes at the table.

The other thing that particularly annoyed me- there was a couple at our table, and the guy was sort of a typical domineering nerd who basically played his female companion's character for her. She didn't learn anything because of this, and just looked incredibly bored. To me, that seems like a case where if someone is trying to instruct new players, one could jump in and say "OK, Mr. Fellow, that's one way to play, but hey Ms. Lady, what do YOU want to do?" Instead I felt like the DM just said "oh, she doesn't want to be here because she's a girl, I'll let him play her character" which seemed incredibly unfair to me.

Anyway, now that the negative is out of the way, on to the positive- I had a great time, learned a lot about 4E, saw some other tables that were having a lot of fun, and signed up for the D&D Encounters group at Your Move Games here in Somerville, MA tomorrow night! So, something must work about these events ;-)
 

Similar Threads

PJ Coffey
  • Locked
Teaching RPGs
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
61
Views
3K
Dannyalcatraz
Dannyalcatraz
robowieland
The Wrath And Glory Starter Set Lets You Purge A Little Heresy, As A Treat
Replies
0
Views
4K
robowieland
robowieland
F
How To Teach New DMs (Dungeon crawling, etc.)
2 3
Replies
28
Views
3K
Lanefan
Lanefan
UselessTriviaMan
The Grindhouse Arena: Coming to a Convention Near You?
Replies
2
Views
414
UselessTriviaMan
UselessTriviaMan
robowieland
Take Your Game Up, Up And Away With The Super Powers Companion For Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
Replies
2
Views
4K
Reynard
R
Remove ads

Top