So my girlfriend wants to learn how to play D&D...

[malcolypse]

Yay for nerdy girls!

Looks like you may have a keeper there.

Pretty much going with the party line of give her an adventure with a little of everything, in whatever system you're most comfortable with teaching.

Congrats, and good luck.

 

[saskganesh]

I created a new player last week in my BFRPG game. She came with our MU to watch, I said she may as well play, and tossed her the character sheet of the NPC party cleric. She spent the first hour or so watching the table and listening, then she got to roll some dice when the party fought some ram skeletons and a ghoul.

Then they came to a wizard locked door. She was right in there, trying to solve the puzzle. The party couldn't crack it, got distracted by potential shinies in an underground stream and left it for later. Then they ran into the Big Bad, his spells went off first, the fight went south and the group had to surrender.

But they lived because the Bad needed them to. Negotiations, threats and bluffs followed. New player was right in there, saying her 12 charisma meant she was a better spokesperson than much of the party. And she was.

A dungeon, some fights, a puzzle, a now recurring villain, some roleplaying ... a whole package. She had a great time.

 

[SlyDoubt]

Go with whatever you're playing currently.

My girlfriend and my friend's girlfriend both like RPGs and play pretty regularly. If someone is interested enough to want to learn or play, whatever version you're actively playing is the one you should go with. As long as other players have a modicum of patience and acceptance everything should go along just fine.

 

[Nebten]

As a guy who turned to girlfriend into D&D players, I have a few recommendations.

1) Teach her which ever edition/RPG you plan on playing for a long period of time. Starting her off with the 1986 Basic Rules won't be any good if everybody else is playing Pathfiner or 4th edition. Each edition is a different game with regards to mechanics. One imagination is never limited by rules though.

2) Take things VERY slow. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT just drop her into a current game with a quickly created charcter. I have been in too many games where girlfriends where brought along to hang out and had no clue what they were doing. It dragged the game down and no matter how understanding everybody else was the girl didn't have a good time.

Without looking at the books, ask her what type of character she wants to play. Elven archer? OK, show her the section on elves, half-elves, & humans then show her the sections on fighter, ranger and rogue. She'll look at the other classes and races too, but that is a good starting point. Go through each chapter in order. Make some suggestions to a number of different feats and skills (or NWP), but in the end let her decide what to choose from. It may not be "optimal" but it is what she wants to do. This may take a couple days since they will read and digest each part. Of course, with the Box sets, they have quick build rules. You can use these and even a pre-gen to delve into a game right away. But I still feel you will need to go through the process above to build a character that she will feel is her own.

3) Go through a practice/intro game either one on one or with a friend or two that you trust to be patient and is "a good representative" of the game. This would be great if it is a mutal friend of both of you. Mysteries seem to be a good start for games (steal something from Law & Order) or use a beginner module from the RPG of your choice. Make her the center of the story. Get her involved. Role Playing is probably one of the harder aspects of the game since it is kind of weird to "act" in front of a small group of people, espicially your friends! Make her comfortable and try to include the little things of her class & race.

Remember you are going to provide a first impression of the game. If you get her hooked, then you will have another aspect that you can share together. It is kinda cool when your girlfriend will ask over dinner, "What can I do to make my ferret familiar stronger?"

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Nightson]

Yeah, from her experience I don't foresee any trouble, just tosee her the rulebook of the game your gaming group is playing and say you're available if she has any questions or needs any help.

 

[fireinthedust]

I am a veteran newb-trainer. I've designed my own system to help this, but it's d20 based (almost ready for the public), and so far it's loads of fun. However, most training has been done with D&D/PF

1) Rules light is your friend. Just ask them WHO they are, and describe a scenario. They will fill in the blanks. They don't need rules yet. What rules you'll want are

ABILITY SCORES: the shape of the character.

HIT POINTS: enough that she can fall out of a tree and not end the game.

DEFENCES: Do 10+modifiers, do not do THAC0 or inverted anything. They're great for a later game, but the community has been doing fine without them, and they screw up the math later on. IMHO.

2) Your girlfriend, however, is likely smart enough to dominate the rules. Really, while 99% of newbs I'd start on the game sans rules, you could be romantic and get her a copy of the PHB or three. She's got a custom vampire MTG deck, so the only reason you'd hold back the rules is because you FEAR HER WRATH (mwah-hahahahahhaaaaa). Don't be a wimp, suck it up, and unleash her inner power-gamer upon the world.

3) The difference between rpgs and the games she knows, however, is that RPGs have the strength of going outside the box. You can get away with not having rules, and she might even have more fun.



Here's an example scenario I like to use:

The PCs start in a village. They hear a cat has gone up a tree and a little girl asks them to help get it down. They figure out a way to get up there, convince the cat to get down/grab it, and get down with the cat. You can even have them see a glint of silver and find (gasp!) a magic dagger in the tree with a fiery glowing gem in the hilt (plot device and instant treasure to get them hooked).
The PCs then hear that a woman has dropped something down a well (i used a healing potion for a very sick man). If they climb down, they discover the entrance to a dungeon. If they explore they find it has a set of old tests for a now long-dead adventuring company that will get them up a level. Lots of skill tests in the dungeon, with one or two combats with stray creatures, and some treasure (a couple dead adventurers from ages ago, their gear still on them, plus a map to the next adventure site)

Before they can just jump in, however, feel free to have them go about town, talking to NPCs and buying their equipment. That will cut down on character creation: they make their ability scores, pick a class, put clothes on their back and shoes on their feet, and give them a bag of gold to suit up. After that, the adventure will write itself.


Make sure to make her/newbs the hero: don't let a GM-pc do all the work. You want them feeling empowered, or else you're ruining the fun. Reward creative thinking: it's an investment to future game sessions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Careful- she's not a true newbie, so don't treat her like one.

She's already played CPRGs: going from those to a TTRPG will be like going from driving an automatic to learning how to drive a stick. She'll be familiar with 90% of the concepts, but will be unused to doing the damage tracking, etc. that computers automatically handle.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

It seems like there are a lot more nerdgirls these days than when I was getting started - there was only one in my first game, but four out of six players in my teens game.

My gel has never been interested in gaming. Our shared activities lean more toward folk music and religious discussion (we don't agree on religion, which is why it is a discussion).

I'd suggest describing the choices to her, let your tastes influence it, since if you are enthusiastic about a given game then it may be contagious.

If she likes the sound of Pathfinder then the Beginner's Box really is a good starting point. If she likes the sound of 4e then try her on Essentials.

Maybe True20 to give her a feel without nailing her to either side of The Great Edition War (TM) Plus, it is easy to learn, and very flexible.

The Auld Grump

 

[Saint Mac]

When my wife showed interest after listening to me play for years, we started with Pathfinder and did small self-made senerios. I got the Beginer's Box and she was showing my 12 yr daughter how to move and what things meant on the stat sheet.

If you don't dig or know PF, go with what you like, it will show. If you are a 4E player, my buddy really likes esentials better than 4E core (I have not played it) so give that a look over and you can learn together!

 

[Vegepygmy]

I not only found a hot nerd girl...

Pics or it didn't happen.

A bit about her: she is 27 years old, and is a history major here at Portland State (with a minor in literature). She is a fan of console and computer RPGs...especially Skyrim, Fable, and Diablo...but she is relatively new to the world of tabletop gaming. She taught me how to play Magic: the Gathering, and routinely beats me with her custom vampire deck. She's a fast learner, and quickly develops strategies once she learns the rules. You don't want to play chess with her.

I'm going to echo what several others have already said: teach her any version you like. I doubt she's going to throw up her hands in confused frustration and quit. Give her a year and she'll probably be schooling you in D&D.