D&D 5E character creation and new players

clearstream · Nov 3, 2017

Tony Vargas said:
Sorry if this is non-responsive, but IMHO, the best thing to do with brand-new players is to hand them a selection of pregens.
With everything already statted out and ready to go - race, class, background, gear, personality, and all - plus a little blurb about their relationships with the other pregens & their attitudes that'll affect the story and a picture & one-line concept, players can pick a character that appeals to them, and learn the system by playing it. Later they can build their own characters if a concept occurs to them, or there's something they'd like to try out for whatever reason.

I feel like giving out pregens is great for getting players into the game with a reasonable character quickly. Because I enjoy making up new characters and (rightly or wrongly) imagine others do, I usually like to let new players roll their own!

Sunseeker · Nov 3, 2017

When I explain to newbies how races and classes synergize, I make sure to explain that I am providing a merely mechanical look at things. If they find a certain combination to be appealing, they should always play that. But I understand that when people ask for mechanical advice, it is absolutely insulting to ignore that and suggest they play what "they think is cool". What they think is "cool" is mostly likely what is mechanically good.

robus · Nov 3, 2017

Tony Vargas said:
Sorry if this is non-responsive, but IMHO, the best thing to do with brand-new players is to hand them a selection of pregens.
With everything already statted out and ready to go - race, class, background, gear, personality, and all - plus a little blurb about their relationships with the other pregens & their attitudes that'll affect the story and a picture & one-line concept, players can pick a character that appeals to them, and learn the system by playing it. Later they can build their own characters if a concept occurs to them, or there's something they'd like to try out for whatever reason.

Generating a character from scratch for a newbie is about as intimidating as a non-mechanic staring at a disassembled car engine and being told to put it back together! There are too many things to juggle that appear to be completely arbitrary (boost this stat by one, choose proficiency in two skills, etc...)

A pregen gets over that hump. Sure, maybe if it was properly tuned it could have more horse-power but it runs OK to get the player into the game right away.

Satyrn · Nov 3, 2017

robus said:
Generating a character from scratch for a newbie is about as intimidating as a non-mechanic staring at a disassembled car engine and being told to put it back together! There are too many things to juggle that appear to be completely arbitrary (boost this stat by one, choose proficiency in two skills, etc...)

A pregen gets over that hump. Sure, maybe if it was properly tuned it could have more horse-power but it runs OK to get the player into the game right away.

I don't know. The last time I saw a completely new-to-RPGs-player, she caught on real quick to building a character. Even immediately picking up on Charisma being a dump stat.

That was 3e. 5e is easier.

robus · Nov 3, 2017

Satyrn said:
I don't know. The last time I saw a completely new-to-RPGs-player, she caught on real quick to building a character. Even immediately picking up on Charisma being a dump stat.

That was 3e. 5e is easier.

Well I can only relate from my own experience. I felt overwhelmed when I first did it a couple of years ago (and I'm still not sure I did it correctly

). I think the fact that the procedure makes you go back and forward in the process doesn't help. Admittedly I was trying to do it with no help whatsoever which probably made things much worse. Having an expert to guide me through would have been a big help

Satyrn · Nov 3, 2017

robus said:
Well I can only relate from my own experience. I felt overwhelmed when I first did it a couple of years ago (and I'm still not sure I did it correctly ). I think the fact that the procedure makes you go back and forward in the process doesn't help. Admittedly I was trying to do it with no help whatsoever which probably made things much worse. Having an expert to guide me through would have been a big help

Oh, yeah. She did have someone guiding her through. I'm sure that helps immensely.

GlassJaw · Nov 3, 2017

Totally agree on using pregens. I ran a brief one-shot last week and used pregens for everyone, even the players that weren't completely new. The brand-new player tried a warlock and wanted to make one for the new campaign. That was when I delved into character creation and synergies. Again, it's just straddling that fence of staying neutral but also providing insight that a new player would miss.

I chatted with some of the players today. It's interesting that two of the players that are still new to the game (dozen sessions) really appreciated the recap during our session 0 last night because they are really starting to understand concepts. One player starting tweaking his ability scores to better fit the concept he had in mind.

D&D 5E character creation and new players

clearstream

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Sunseeker

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robus

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Satyrn

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robus

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Satyrn

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GlassJaw

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