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Message: <blockquote data-quote="karlindel" data-source="post: 4975800" data-attributes="member: 27103">I have introduced several new gamers to 4E, including some who previously played D&D but hadn't gamed in years, a couple who had once played an RPG or two, and two completely new to gaming.I agree with the others that starting at level 1 is best, as it will keep the mechanics simpler for them. It is important to know your audience.  If they are story oriented people, a more character driven game might be the way to go, and you can try to keep the rules as much in the background as possible.  On the other hand, if they have some background in computer rpgs or board games, they might feel more comfortable with the rules than with the roleplaying, at least until they get the hang of it.  If you aren't sure which way they'll lean, or expect a mixed group, I recommend including a little bit of both.  Try to include at least one skill challenge, or at least an encounter in which skills are useful.  If you don't, they may underrate the value of skills and overrate the importance of combat.Use pre-generated characters.  It can be helpful to walk people through the character creation process, but for most people it's just more rules for them to try to remember, and the character creation rules are ones that are not immediately pertinent to playing the game, so they can learn them later.  It is helpful if you can get some idea of what kind of character they might like ahead of time.  You can get some ideas by asking them about their favorite characters in novels and/or movies, or asking questions based on role or power source.  I recommend making a short blurb for each race and class (the racial descriptions are great for ideas on this), and letting them pick that, and then you create the characters for them.  Power choice shouldn't make much difference, given the retraining options, and you can also allow some stat reallocation later after they understand the game.  Another advantage of pre-generated characters is that you will be more familiar with them to help the players out.  The first encounter should be a softball encounter to get them used to the rules.  Stick to monsters with relatively few abilities, so that the players get used to the core of the rules rather than being confused by the monster's exceptions.Try to use a mix of monsters for the encounters.  I recommend avoiding soldiers or only using one, as soldiers are hard to hit, and constantly missing can be very frustrating for new players.  I recommend using mostly minions, skirmishers and brutes, backed up by an artillery and/or controller.Be sure to hand out a few magical items, so that they can try them out.  Items with daily powers, and a few alchemical items or potions will give them a new toy to play with and let them get used to daily item powers.I also recommend using chips for action points and daily item powers.  It makes it easier for them to keep track of, and cashing in the chip is faster and more fun than marking something down on paper.</blockquote>

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