Just thought I would share this long story with everyone.

[LightPhoenix]

Dude, you need to chill the hell out.

<snip>

The main thing is that when I talk about it, I have to be forthright and honest and not let that little squirrelly tone into my voice as if I have something to be ashamed of. You need to do the same -- it's all in *your* head.

While I agree with the sentiment, that is decidedly not the same experience everyone has had, or even still has. It's great that you've come to terms with things and you (and KN) have people around you comfortable with D&D. That is definitely not the case other places.

"What I participate in would be called something like a group storytelling sessions. Everyone gets together, one person creates a story and the other people are the main characters in that story. Each person's actions affect the story. Now there are rules to this group storytelling that everyone has to follow to determine the random elements that come up in the story."

It's like defining the term RPG without actually using the phrase! I'm glad everything worked out.

 

[fba827]

You have advertised it as a "story focused" game, so be sure to have a strong story with combats that are appropriate to the story (rather than random) and are climactic.

Toss in an occasional skill check and such to keep dice rolling even during story parts. Make it descriptive and just keep on the idea of "it's a story" -- that's how you've sold it and that's what they're expecting.

Sure, they may well love the combat aspect of it at which point you can gradually add more and more of that, but they're coming and expecting an interactive story, so that should be the start of it.

Something simple (since they are all new to it), but not necessarily straight forward (so that they feel they can all contribute in their own creative way)...

Go and rescue someone or recover some stolen thing of sentimental value (so it leads options open for direct confrontation or trying to sneak in, etc).
Maybe they have to defend a bridge or a town from zombies (but give lots of oppportunity for setup of some creative way to guard the town so that it isn't just straight to combat)
Maybe they have to protect the prince at the royal ball, but they don't know who the assassin could be so the king hired outsiders to protect his son (but this will take a lot of npc creativity on your part since it will boil down to lots of interaction and trying to give the right mix of regular conversation vs. dropping subtle clues via bluff checks)

the thing is, don't think you need to do something diferent because they are girls. your primary focus should be a) they are brand new RPGers and b) they are hooked by the idea of it being a shared story
(if you sold them the idea of come to kill lots of things then a war scenario or dungeon crawl would be a better thing to do)

there is no need to purposely make it a romance just because "they are all girls" -- only make it a romance if you know that all of them like romance stories.

And no combats for the sake of a combat, every combat should have a reason if they're trying to follow "the story"

And also try and be descriptive with PC power effects (you're not just damaging and pushing the opponent X squares with the thunderburst, but it's a surge of thunderous air that blows them back, etc ...)

 

[Jack7]

Leaving aside the issue of the game you plan to run, my main advice would be to keep the lines of communication open with your wife a bit more. AFTER you are married is generally not the best time for your spouse to find out about one of your favorite hobbies.

That observation also made me laugh.

 

[Aeolius]

AFTER you are married is generally not the best time for your spouse to find out about one of your favorite hobbies.

Hobbies can change. When I met my wife, I had several pet snakes and collected comics. After I got married, I got rid of the snakes and lost my interest in comics. Mind you, that was about the time I became interested in saltwater aquariums and running D&D games online.

 

[Rel]

Hobbies can change.

Can and usually do.

My point was simply that if you have an activity that you like to engage in with a significant amount of your free time, it is a part of your life that you should be sharing with any propsective spouse. Their reaction to this hobby can range from (unfortunately) intolerance, apathy, support or even (thankfully in this case) wishing to engage in it themselves. But, any way you slice it, it's better to know that before going into a marriage.

Here ends my unsolicited marital advice.

(If it matters, my credentials are that I've been with the same woman for 20 years, blissfully married for 14 of it. She's known that I was a gamer, avid reader, hiker, camper and scuba diver the whole time.)

 

[Jack7]

(If it matters, my credentials are that I've been with the same woman for 20 years, blissfully married for 14 of it. She's known that I was a gamer, avid reader, hiker, camper and scuba diver the whole time.)

If you can be married for twenty years, and yet blissfully married for 14 of those 20 years, then you're doing pretty okay.

 

[Aeolius]

(If it matters, my credentials are that I've been with the same woman for 20 years, blissfully married for 14 of it. She's known that I was a gamer, avid reader, hiker, camper and scuba diver the whole time.)

My wife and I recently celebrated 15 years of "having not killed one another". I haven't been SCUBA diving in over 20 years. NC diving is cold and silty with lots of current. My wife did know I was a gamer, but it isn't her cup of tea.

 

[Rel]

If you can be married for twenty years, and yet blissfully married for 14 of those 20 years, then you're doing pretty okay.

Well we've been pretty blissful the whole time but didn't get married until we'd been dating for 6 years. We were high school sweethearts and waited until after college to get married.

Oh and NC diving can be pretty nice (good spearfishing!) but I do most of mine down in the Florida Keys!

 

[Aeolius]

Oh and NC diving can be pretty nice (good spearfishing!) but I do most of mine down in the Florida Keys!

That's where I learned how to dive, Seacamp in Big Pine Key. Now that I have a swimming pool and a new 240 gallon aquarium (both game aids, I swear!! ) I may need to start diving again.

 

[Jack7]

Well we've been pretty blissful the whole time but didn't get married until we'd been dating for 6 years. We were high school sweethearts and waited until after college to get married.

Well, in a way, that's even better. That means about every year you've been up to bat you've driven in a winning run.

My wife and I recently celebrated 15 years of "having not killed one another".

Any year through without a fatality is probably good enough to write home about.