Help, My players don’t know how to play.

Help, My players don’t know how to play.

I have 6 players. Two understand how to play. The others have been playing from between two years and four years. I think that is adequate time to get a grip on the most basic rules. I still find myself reminding them how to calculate attack bonus when it is printed on their character sheet. Even helping the figure out saves and damage. I should be collecting a check from them for the extra work beyond running the game. Any advice will be read and appreciated.

Wow. Sadly, I too have suffered from something like this in the past. I eventually found better players to game with. Your solution might not need to be as extreme, but you should at least keep it in mind. If they aren't willing to put in the minimum level of effort, they really don't want to play IMO.

You have two players who understand the game; they should be able to help the others during the session, but you'll probably need to help with leveling. Highlighters might be useful to remind people where the information is printed on their sheet. Other than that, I have no idea...

Time limits. Put some pressure on them. When they announce an action, when they make a roll, whenever they express the desire to do something, start a countdown (mental or otherwise) and when they haven't announced a result by the end of it, declare that their character just stands around fumbling for that round.

Wiseblood said:

I have 6 players. Two understand how to play. The others have been playing from between two years and four years. I think that is adequate time to get a grip on the most basic rules. I still find myself reminding them how to calculate attack bonus when it is printed on their character sheet. Even helping the figure out saves and damage. I should be collecting a check from them for the extra work beyond running the game. Any advice will be read and appreciated.

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Are they actually playing twith a character sheet or is this about the changes when they update the character sheet on leveling?

People play for different reasons, of course. For some it’s the social activity, and the game is just the conduit for that.

Are you playing with very young children? Or the legitimately disabled?

If not, are you sure that these 4 even care if they're playing D&D?

Have you considered simplifying the rules for these 4?
Saving throws:
All saves for these people are DC:15. No math, no type (Con, Wis, etc), no more wasted time with rules explanations of how to make a save. They either roll a 15+ or suffer the effects. If they want bonuses? Then they can learn the rules like everyone else.
Attack Rolls:
Base their chances strictly on their Lv/Prof bonus.
Lv.1-4 = 18+
Lv.5-8 = 17+
Lv.9-12 = 16+
Lv.13-16 = 15+
Lv.17-20 = 14+
No options, no further explanations. Again, if they want better chances to hit? Hand them a PHB & point out that they can have them by learning the rules like everyone else.
Damage:
Until they bother to learn the rules, they do a flat 7 damage.

Are the other four players genuinely interested in learning the rules but are struggling with them? If that's the case, you might want to run a couple of sandbox games or quick one-night games until they get the hang of it. We all get rusty, especially if we aren't gaming on a regular schedule and it's been several weeks between games. But if they genuinely want to play, they will genuinely want to learn how...you won't need more than a couple of games of "practice" to get the hang of the basics. The rest will come naturally as the players learn from each other. It'll be bumpy for a few weeks, but then it will be smooth sailing.

But if they aren't genuinely interested in learning the rules? That's tougher. If these players just want to sit at the table, talk about their characters, and let other people "worry about the math" on their behalf, that's fine---if everyone else is fine with it. If not, you need to take them aside and have a chat. D&D isn't a very good spectator sport, and it can be really taxing on the other players and the DM to constantly have to carry them.

If that doesn't help things, and if other players are getting frustrated, you'll have to take a hard line with them.

The first thing you can do is insist that everyone buy their own copy of the PHB, and bring it to the table every time they play. This can help them feel more vested in the hobby...and it's a good way to weed out the players from the spectators.

The second (and most painful) thing you can do is stop helping them. Insist that everyone does their own math, looks up their own spells, and calls their own actions...and when they screw it up, tell them its wrong and try to again. Don't help them, or let others help them, even if the game has been at a standstill for twenty excruciating minutes. Be gentle about it, and be encouraging, but you gotta be firm. You have to drive the point home that learning (and using) the rules is non-negotiable, for all players.

I hope it doesn't come to that, because when people get frustrated their tempers get short, and things can get heated quickly. Be ready to calm people down, remind them it's a game and everyone is there to have fun, maybe call a break every now and then.

The last thing you can do is adapt your game. Maybe those four players aren't looking for a strict, by-the-rules style of game. Perhaps they are more interested in a looser, storytelling kind of experience. The rules should support the framework of the story, not the other way around, so if all the focus and detail on the rules is tripping up two-thirds of your players, maybe you should get rid of some of the rules.

EDIT: I was a little more short than I should have been earlier. [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] is right: people play this game for any number of reasons, and there is no "wrong" way to play it. The point is to have fun, always.

Wiseblood said:

I have 6 players. Two understand how to play. The others have been playing from between two years and four years. I think that is adequate time to get a grip on the most basic rules. I still find myself reminding them how to calculate attack bonus when it is printed on their character sheet. Even helping the figure out saves and damage. I should be collecting a check from them for the extra work beyond running the game. Any advice will be read and appreciated.

Click to expand...

Have you talked to them about it?

Before implementing any of the restrictions or DM-side strategies some other posters have suggested, you ought to let your less capable players know that you find it frustrating to be memorizing their stuff as well as running the game.

Your players are clearly irritating you, but my intuition is that they are oblivious to it. If they are your friends or, at the very least, decent humans, they probably aren't doing this deliberately.

A polite request that they keep better track of their characters along with an offer to provide them some assistance via cheat sheets, highlighting, etc. may help. Alternately, you could ask the two more capable players to jump in. It doesn't always have to be you that explains their saves, attacks, or damage, and the implicit suggestion that its not your job to manage everything might also help them get the hint.

If, on the other hand, they aren't decent humans, fixing this issue may not be worth your effort.

Here's some advice from both sides of the table:

1. I've played with a few groups of younger players learning the game. I explain things for a while and slowly give them the reigns. Talking to them and letting them know that the game moves faster if they get to know their own characters is the best approach. The faster you can get the mechanics out of the way, the more you can accomplish in a single session.

First: I find new players just yell out the number they rolled on the dice - before adding any modifiers. I start by asking them if that's the result INCLUDING modifiers. Eventually, I tell them that, for the sake of keeping the game moving, that I will take whatever number they announce as the result of their roll. So, if the first thing they yell out is "15!" and they didn't add any modifiers, then that's is their result - even if a miss would have been a hit with the modifier. It doesn't take long before they start doing their math in their heads before they announce the results.

Second: spells are hard to memorize but at low levels you, literally, only need 2. I recommend that new players doesn't read up every spell right away. Take a couple, learn how they work in game and then try a couple different ones.

Third: Math. I don't hide DCs with new players. I let them know AC and skill difficulties. I do this because, while they are waiting for their turn, they can do math in their head to figure out what number on the dice they need to hit the target number. "AC 15? ok, I'm +6 so I only need a 9 or higher to hit." It helps to tell them this strategy in advance.

2. I've played with a very serious DM who liked to keep the game moving and he didn't coddle us. He was an amazing DM, so we were able to tolerate his foibles. The point is, We learned fast:

- If you wanted to cast a spell but didn't know what the spell does (area or effect) by the time your turn comes around, you aren't allowed to cast it.

- On your turn, He would wait for a bit but if you started to waffle or take to long, he'd count down from 5. If you didn't make a decision, your character went full defense and play moved to the next person.

- Dice towers were not allowed at the table. He'd hit the table to knock them over. (this has nothing to do with your problem. I just found it odd...)

- If your math was bad, he didn't linger on it much or care. But it went both ways. If you didn't add all your bonuses and missed, that was your own fault. Count better next time. If you math was bad but always went in your favour too often, he'd correct you - but if figuring it out took too long, you lost your turn and went full defense.

TaranTheWanderer said:

2. I've played with a very serious DM who liked to keep the game moving and he didn't coddle us. He was an amazing DM, so we were able to tolerate his foibles. The point is, We learned fast:

- If you wanted to cast a spell but didn't know what the spell does (area or effect) by the time your turn comes around, you aren't allowed to cast it.

- On your turn, He would wait for a bit but if you started to waffle or take to long, he'd count down from 5. If you didn't make a decision, your character went full defense and play moved to the next person.

- Dice towers were not allowed at the table. He'd hit the table to knock them over. (this has nothing to do with your problem. I just found it odd...)

- If your math was bad, he didn't linger on it much or care. But it went both ways. If you didn't add all your bonuses and missed, that was your own fault. Count better next time. If you math was bad but always went in your favour too often, he'd correct you - but if figuring it out took too long, you lost your turn and went full defense.

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This wasn’t the AngryGM perchance?