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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jbear" data-source="post: 5337548" data-attributes="member: 75065">I give new players a 'coaching period'. During that period I give advice and am lenient when they make mistakes. Once they reach a stage where they should know what they are doing then the gloves come off and they are on their own.I don't share the OPs philosophy on roleplay, and I have never had a mentor to influence my Dming style. I do play and look at D&D as first and foremost a game whose primary goal is enjoyment. If I was to invite my friend to come to the gym to play a game of squash, for his benefit and mine I'm not only going to explain him the rules, I'm also going to explain about tactics and positioning on the court. Otherwise we're both going to have a boring and miserable time that will consist mainly of picking up the ball. In my mind, D&D is also a game, and should be treated as such. New players should be explained the game, explained some fundamental tactics, and shown down the Path of Imagination whereby they are given creative liscence to go beyond those rules, and tactics and break and bend them with fun and original ideas that they come up with by themselves. Those ideas are no worse for wear from having a solid grounding in the rules/tactics.</blockquote>