Tips for Switching from an Experienced to Inexperienced Group as a GM

[innerdude]

So a couple of weeks ago I started up a second gaming group running Savage Worlds (I'm currently a player in a GURPS group as well).

And, well, the first encounter went a little differently than I expected. My other group are all seasoned RPG vets, having played various systems for over 20 years (2e, GURPS, Pathfinder, Rifts, Vampire: the Masquerade, etc.).

My new group?

With the exception of one player, almost totally inexperienced. Once player has some 4e and Pathfinder under his belt, one has maybe a grand total of 3 sessions of Savage Worlds ever. The other two, no experience at all. Zilch.

And I almost screwed up the very first encounter because for some reason, I forgot I WASN'T playing with the other group.

All of the tactics, bonus conditions, and extra damage I would have fully expected my other group to utilize? The new group just wasn't quite there yet. As a result, what I thought was a fairly routine battle between 5 mooks, 1 full-fledged Wild Card, and one slightly-beefed-up mook ended up being quite a contest. Everyone but one player blew through their bennies in this single fight. One player was incapacitated by the end (but rolled well on his Vigor check to stay alive, and someone got a raise on their heal check to get him back up and running).

Needless to say, afterwards, one of my good friends who is one of the players had some constructive criticism to offer, namely--"Dude. We're all newbs at this. We're not going to roll in and make totally optimized decisions. Plan your battles accordingly!"

Obviously beyond just lowering the average enemy difficulty, I'm wondering what other GMs do when they suddenly go from "Super Optimizer Player Bonanza" to a group that's still feeling their way out.

One suggestion my friend had was to not "lock down" character builds for at least two or three sessions. Meaning, if they try something out and it's not working for them, don't strait jacket them into those choices.

Another, obviously, is to ask players a little more "in depth" time with the rules, but it's unrealistic to expect them to memorize every rule in the system (even one that's far more on the "rules lite" than "rules heavy" spectrum like Savage Worlds).

Are there things I can do, or emphasize in game that will be useful, without unnecessarily slowing down gameplay?

 

[Herobizkit]

Pretend you're playing D&D any time pre-Pathfinder.

First level characters - they move, they swing (or shoot). Either they hit the gobin/kobold and it goes down, or it likely goes down next round.

This your best opporunity to teach a new group of players how to play the game. Slap on that "TUTORIAL" sticker and, for the next couple of games, just play it kid gloves.

• Instead of asking a player "what do you do?", advise the character of a few things he COULD do... then let HIM decide.
• Let the players talk across the table, let them take as much time as needed to formulate a strategy (within reason - if you see indecision starting to freeze the whole table, give the enemies a free action just to stir the players up).
• Explain how the die rolls work and how some actions are more beneficial than others (such as holding actions, assisting others, good times to use Edges)
• Introduce combat tactics slowly (He hides behind a tree? What does THAT do? Ah, I'm tied up with a lasso! What do you mean, he pulls me down? Help, I got pulled into a horse trough!)

Honestly, after playing D&D for 25 years, I fell into a newb game with a newb DM and I am loving it... because everything is so refreshingly simple. I can assist the DM or players if they need help, and while I am the 'vet', I give the floor to the other guys. In fact, I generally play "old" races for this very reason... I can feign a 'wisdom beyond my years' with my characters and it comes off well.

 

[radja]

ease them into it. Keep encounters simple at first and slowly increase complexity. Something like first encounter: simple: these monsters have just basic damaging melee attacks. second combat.. these monsters might have bows, introducing ranged combat. 3rd combat, some mobs may lay down conditions, like Dazed or Immobilized (dont know savage worls myself... but you get my drift).
Don't stick too much to the character build... let them switch around some things if they find it doesn't work as they liked.

 

[Rune]

Needless to say, afterwards, one of my good friends who is one of the players had some constructive criticism to offer, namely--"Dude. We're all newbs at this. We're not going to roll in and make totally optimized decisions. Plan your battles accordingly!"

Do this. But don't just make all enemies mooks (although that's a good idea for a while). You should make an effort to streamline combat by doing things ignoring options that the enemies might have, and, of course, reducing the time it takes to eliminate them. Don't be afraid to have the enemies make their own mistakes--in fact, you should play them up! Have them make arrogant mistakes and the players will be all the more satisfied when they deliver comeuppance.

Are there things I can do, or emphasize in game that will be useful, without unnecessarily slowing down gameplay?

Why don't you make a private list of options you consider to be advanced (these need not be of equal complexity--you'll probably want some that are only slightly advanced, so that the players can discover them pretty quickly). Every time someone uses their own initiative to try one of these options, grant that player's character a bennie. Then, cross that option off your list.

Once the players figure out that you're doing this, they'll probably search that rule-book cover to cover on their own. Be sure not to tell them up front, though. It's important that they don't feel pressure to do the learning, but, instead, get rewarded according to their own pace of learning.

 

[Rune]

Double, double posts and trouble...

 

[timASW]

When I'm playing with a new player I try to have my enemies use a more advanced option like tripping, bullrushing, grappling, etc at least once a battle on them so they get a little first hand experience with it. I make it a point to do that sort of stuff fairly often though.

I've its a lot harder for some players to get out of the "i swing I hit, I swing I miss, rinse repeat" mode if thats all that the GM is doing on his own turns.

 

[Umbran]

Remember that your players are not just new at mechanics and combat. They're new at *gaming*. So, some of the things that veteran gamers might do by nigh-instinct may be missed - that includes clues to mysteries, plot hooks, and so on. They may not think to interact with parts of the game world, because they don't understand those parts exist to interact with, or how to approach it if they did think of it.

 

[Storminator]

Crank the "say yes" philosophy up to 11. With veterans you say "yes but . . . " and add some new problem to the end. With newbies you say "yes AND . . ." and make their idea even better than before.

I would also talk thru everything your NPCs do in combat "he's moving over here to get cover, taking this turn to aim. That'll give him a +2 when he shoots next round." If you fully explain all the rule parts as you use them, the become more concrete in players minds. You can even editorialize like adding "this is usually a good option if you have a bad attack bonus but do a lot of damage when you hit" to the above example.

PS

 

[innerdude]

Remember that your players are not just new at mechanics and combat. They're new at *gaming*. So, some of the things that veteran gamers might do by nigh-instinct may be missed - that includes clues to mysteries, plot hooks, and so on. They may not think to interact with parts of the game world, because they don't understand those parts exist to interact with, or how to approach it if they did think of it.

Great point. I'm trying to think of some specific things I could do that would work for this . . . maybe scene exposition (where they are, who they're interacting with, expectations of what happens if they DO or DON'T do certain things, etc.).

Maybe have a few random, non-combat NPC encounters, just to remind the players, "Hey, this is a LIVING world. Look outside the box of your character sheet."

 

[innerdude]

Crank the "say yes" philosophy up to 11. With veterans you say "yes but . . . " and add some new problem to the end. With newbies you say "yes AND . . ." and make their idea even better than before.

I would also talk thru everything your NPCs do in combat "he's moving over here to get cover, taking this turn to aim. That'll give him a +2 when he shoots next round." If you fully explain all the rule parts as you use them, the become more concrete in players minds. You can even editorialize like adding "this is usually a good option if you have a bad attack bonus but do a lot of damage when you hit" to the above example.

PS

Another two excellent ideas. I've definitely done the whole "Yes, BUT" thing with my experienced group, but I need to re-adjust for the "Yes, AND."

And talking through the exact combat options is a great idea, one that would've made the last session infinitely better out of the gate. =)