Joy. It's the Buddy's Girlfriend.

[Cadfan]

Tell her to describe a character from a book or movie or comic book that she enjoyed. Then help her make a similar character.

If anyone says anything like "what? you're playing a clone of Wolverine??? lame..." take them into another room and punch them a few times, then get back to the game.

 

[Stoat]

Everybody else has pretty much nailed it. If you assume from the start that you're going to have a bad time, you'll have a bad time. So, assume that it's going to be fun!

When we were dating, my wife rolled a wizard and jumped right into the game. She still plays when she gets the chance.

Several years ago, a buddy of mine brought his girlfriend to a game I DM'd. She played from level 1 to level 19 across two and half editions. She was a hell of a good player.

So treat the girlfriend like any other new player. Let her pick what she wants to play. Don't let the old hands push her around. Keep her in the game. Have NPC's talk to her. When the table goes quiet, ask her what her character's doing. Send monsters after her in combat.

Above all, don't just begin with the assumption that she'll ruin the game. That way lies misery.

 

[TerraDave]

I syphathize with the OP: as a DM I do not want players who don't really want to be there.

I like sorcerers for new players. Especially for women. The archetype of a sorceress is well-known to most people and has a slightly edgy feel that can make the character exciting. .... Hitting stuff with a sword lacks something in that regard. Warlock also works good in this way.

For 4E this is basically (just) the Warlock.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I syphathize with the OP: as a DM I do not want players who don't really want to be there.

The concept and explanation of D&D don't make many people very enthusiasitc to start off with, but she wants to give it a try. The worst that can happen is that SHE is predisposed to thinking it's dumb, in which case nothing will disabuse her of the notion, and the DM should pick up on it pretty quick (is she sighing a lot when asked what she does? does she appear apathetic about her character's fate?), and let her linger in the background like she wants to do. She's not giving it a fair chance in that situation, nothing will force her to do so, so let her think she's passing judgement and continue to have fun anyway.

Though that's the pessimistic approach. I'm pretty used to introducing new folks to the game, and enthusiasm is contagious. Tell her you're excited to have her along and assure her that even if she sucks, you won't hate her. Even let her know that she needs to be ready to think it's awesome, because no one can convince her of something she doesn't want to believe.

If she wants to give it a try (and REALLY give it a try), the worst thing you can to is assume she doesn't REALLY want to give it a try and so let her sit in the back not having any fun while the boys run around and kill goblins.

And even if she's largely undecided, seeing how much everyone else is into it might sway her.

*shrug* I guess I wouldn't assume she doesn't really want to be there given, y'know, that she says she does.

 

[Umbran]

Any suggestions or ideas?

My suggestion, as already noted by many, is that what class she plays isn't your real issue. By the sound of it, you have a whole lot of preconceptions, most of them negative. Before you go any farther, you should ditch those, and get yourself some real information. That means talking with her, to find out her likes and dislikes, rather than talking to us.

 

[Cadfan]

Earlier, I wrote that you should ask her to describe a character, then help her create a clone.

I'm not kidding about that. And let me add. Give her latitude in character generation that you wouldn't give other players. She wants to play Wolverine, in all seriousness? That's fine. What makes Wolverine Wolverine? Fights in melee, survivalist skills, regeneration, has claws on each hand? Give her the claws. Seriously. Just stat them as shortswords. Make her a Ranger so that she has two weapon fighting and survivalist skills. And if there are no ranger skills that relate to regeneration, train her character in "healing," and then write in a NEW skill on her character sheet labeled "regeneration," with the same stats as her healing skill, and tell her she can use it to regenerate, ie, activate a healing surge.

GIVE HER WHATEVER SHE THINKS IS COOL. She probably doesn't have preexisting experience with the tropes of D&D. That's ok. Adapt to what she likes.

If you can make the character she wants to play, and make it do the things she wants, she'll enjoy playing it.

Your real danger is that there won't be any character she wants to play. Then you're kind of screwed. Sorry.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Ithink, like others are saying, treat her like any other new player. Allow her to have a good time and learn what an RPG is.

I'd add one caveat.
If after three or four sessions she isn't having a good time but intends to keep coming, you will need to talk to politely work out a way to tell her to stop coming. It will be in everyone's best interest and prevent trouble down the road.
RPGs, D&D, are not for everyone. They neither need to be nor should be.

 

[Mark]

Before you suggest it, I've considered keeping her out of the campaign, but decided against it.

(. . .)

So...what type of character should I push her into?

(. . .)

Any suggestions or ideas?

Reconsider "keeping her out of the campaign" if she really is not interested.

 

[deathdonut]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the ideas and feedback here.

The reason why my post lacked enthusiasm was largely because I am concerned over my ability to get enthusiasm out of her. I love getting new players involved and have done so with girlfriends in the past, but this one is a bit more challenging. She played in another campaign (for a few sessions) and largely fell into the background. She never really developed any enthusiasm/interest in her character and was largely relegated to a backseat in just about any encounter type. I attributed this as much to the DM as her own lack of interest and want to avoid making the same type of mistakes when I run things.

I suppose I should be optimistic that she's even slightly interested in giving things another shot, but when I approached her for character ideas, I got nothing from her. I tried approaching it from the "What are some of your favorate movie/book characters?" and got nothing, I tried approaching it from the "What do you like or not like about these archtypes?" and got a little feedback, but nothing major. In the end, I think she was overwhelmed by the unlimited options and she suggested that I make something for her. I ended things with suggesting that we could take it up later and maybe we can work it out with multiple choice.

What I'd like to do is provide her with a series of simple choices that will end up with a character that she feels she is responsible for even if they are rather weighted choices.

3.5 left her a bit in the cold as she was overwhelmed by the rules and tended to rely on others who knew the system. I've been pushing the fact that 4e is going to be new for everyone and she'll probably know the rules as well as anyone. This got a bit of response and I think will pay off when it comes to investing some time in learning things, but the character aspect is still a tough one.

Thanks for the suggestion of sticking to strong archtypes! It's a great one. Characters like the Paladin that have a built-in roleplaying framework will probably be great guidelines for her. I also really appreciate the gut check on my own attitude. I need to be careful how I come across. Even though I want to bring her into the fold, I need to be very careful not to give signals to the contrary. After all, being a GM is about communication and if I cant communicate my own enthusiasm, there's not much hope of being able to send all the other thousands of signals necessary to run a great story.

 

[Armadillo]

GIVE HER WHATEVER SHE THINKS IS COOL. She probably doesn't have preexisting experience with the tropes of D&D. That's ok. Adapt to what she likes.

Along these lines, look to see what interests her in the campaign, then provide her with subplots or other moments in the spotlight where she can develop those interests. Even if she is going to be a casual player, look for ways to draw her into the game.