Sacrosanct
Legend
My son plays a lot of video game online. He's 16, as are most of his friends. I've played D&D with him a few times, but he's never had the focus to keep playing for more than a couple hours. He would rather play video games. And I don't believe in forcing my kids to engage in an activity that I really like if they aren't into it.
Yesterday he came up to me and asked me for my books, because one of his other friends suggested they play D&D. None of them ever had before. My eyebrows immediately went up in interest. He had forgot almost everything about the game, so it was brand new for him too in a way. And here he was, going to be the DM and teach the other players who have never opened a book how to play.
I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking, "This is a perfect opportunity for me to be the DM and teach these guys." right?
Nope. Even when he'd come out every once in a while and ask, "How do we get our stats?" or "What is alignment for?", I wouldn't give him an answer. I'd refer him to the book. When he asked for an adventure to play, I gave him LMOP from the starter box and he said, "Man, there is soooooo much reading to do, especially as the DM!" The only advice I gave him was, "Don't feel like you have to memorize every rule. Only pay attention to the rules you think are fun. Go ahead and ignore the rest. Don't let rules or lack of knowledge of rules get in the way or to stop you from having fun."
...................
Over the course of the next few hours, I hear a ton of laughter. These guys were playing D&D, with no experience, having a blast just trying to figure things out on their own and going wild. They didn't care if they were following all the rules or not, and in fact I'm pretty sure they were doing a lot of things RAW incorrectly. It reminded me of when I was a kid and learning, because it was the same thing---we all learned together.
It's a reminder that the game is a social game, and not a game where you have to follow all the rules. That their imagination is more important than any one rule.
So that is the best sound in the world: A group of brand new players not brought in by anyone else, but by themselves, laughing and having fun playing a game where they don't care if a rule was followed or not if it meant they had a memorable encounter.
Honestly, I don't remember the last time I saw new players enter the game without someone who was experienced bringing them in or teaching them, but figuring it out on their own like we did in the late 70s early 80s
Yesterday he came up to me and asked me for my books, because one of his other friends suggested they play D&D. None of them ever had before. My eyebrows immediately went up in interest. He had forgot almost everything about the game, so it was brand new for him too in a way. And here he was, going to be the DM and teach the other players who have never opened a book how to play.
I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking, "This is a perfect opportunity for me to be the DM and teach these guys." right?
Nope. Even when he'd come out every once in a while and ask, "How do we get our stats?" or "What is alignment for?", I wouldn't give him an answer. I'd refer him to the book. When he asked for an adventure to play, I gave him LMOP from the starter box and he said, "Man, there is soooooo much reading to do, especially as the DM!" The only advice I gave him was, "Don't feel like you have to memorize every rule. Only pay attention to the rules you think are fun. Go ahead and ignore the rest. Don't let rules or lack of knowledge of rules get in the way or to stop you from having fun."
...................
Over the course of the next few hours, I hear a ton of laughter. These guys were playing D&D, with no experience, having a blast just trying to figure things out on their own and going wild. They didn't care if they were following all the rules or not, and in fact I'm pretty sure they were doing a lot of things RAW incorrectly. It reminded me of when I was a kid and learning, because it was the same thing---we all learned together.
It's a reminder that the game is a social game, and not a game where you have to follow all the rules. That their imagination is more important than any one rule.
So that is the best sound in the world: A group of brand new players not brought in by anyone else, but by themselves, laughing and having fun playing a game where they don't care if a rule was followed or not if it meant they had a memorable encounter.
Honestly, I don't remember the last time I saw new players enter the game without someone who was experienced bringing them in or teaching them, but figuring it out on their own like we did in the late 70s early 80s
