Help me sell D&D to newbies!

[freyar]

Ok, here's the story: My only current gaming action is a very infrequent one-on-one campaign with my wife. But being new in town, we're trying to make friends with our coworkers. One of them and her husband are coming over to our place tomorrow for some board games, and my wife had the idea to try to interest them in a D&D campaign. How do I sell this to them without being too pushy? From my wife's conversation with them today, their big worry (in their limited RPG experience) comes from the perceived large time commitment (an afternoon a week).

Incidentally, if we do end up with a group (with me as DM), what sort of campaign do you recommend for a small group of d20 newbies? I've been looking at the Savage Tide AP and the old T,A,GDQ series recently, but is either of these realistic? Or would you guess them to be too long and complex, rules-wise? From "There is No Honor" (1st savage tide module), I just had a feeling that newbies might get information overload...

Thanks!

 

[Harmon]

When every I introduce new players I like the old- traveling to gether, know each other start, followed by a couple Orc scouts to fight off, find a Hamlet under attack, help fight off an attack, then asked to rescue the kids and save the hamlet. Newbies don't know it, its fun, you get to play the hero, and feel good in the end.

Good luck

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To assuage their concerns about time commitments, I'd drop the gaming sessions to 2x month or fewer. My current group has a bunch of adults who are all experienced gamers with busy schedules- kids, programming deadlines, etc.- gaming every 2 weeks is tough enough. More than that might justifiably be percieved as onerous.

As for adventure type- provide them a bunch of pregens to work with and run a short story arc.

Probably the easiest sell would be running something based on major movie, TV or book archetypes- Star Wars (the originals), LOTR, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Mummy, X-Files, Conan, Ali Baba, guarding a caravan, rescue the princess, Jason & the Argonauts- you get the picture.

They'd know more or less what to expect and how to behave.

If the story arc gets them, say...2 levels of advancement, you'd be able to see if they'd be interested in more, and then you could start something more involved.

 

[MerricB]

Ok, here's the story: My only current gaming action is a very infrequent one-on-one campaign with my wife. But being new in town, we're trying to make friends with our coworkers. One of them and her husband are coming over to our place tomorrow for some board games, and my wife had the idea to try to interest them in a D&D campaign. How do I sell this to them without being too pushy? From my wife's conversation with them today, their big worry (in their limited RPG experience) comes from the perceived large time commitment (an afternoon a week).

Incidentally, if we do end up with a group (with me as DM), what sort of campaign do you recommend for a small group of d20 newbies? I've been looking at the Savage Tide AP and the old T,A,GDQ series recently, but is either of these realistic?

Not realistic. I'd tend for a shorter arc - something like Red Hand of Doom (though I think that's too complex for newbies) or Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde.

Cheers!

 

[Piratecat]

I'd argue that the easiest way to introduce folks to rpgs is to play a game of Spycraft or Feng Shui. Everyone has seen an action movie, and it gives them a feel for the fun without the initial stigma of a fantasy-themed game.

 

[pogre]

Break out a game of Descent and play that first. If they are into it, an afternoon might not seem like as big a time commtment to them.

 

[BullMarkOne]

I'm a big fan of the old marvel superheroes rpg as a newbies game myself. The rules are pretty simple, the games can play pretty quick, plots are stupid simple to produce, everyone gets comic books (especially these days with all the marvel movie franchises), and if the newbies are up for it unique character generation is pretty easy, and lightheartedly goofy.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd go with Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde from what I've heard about it. The introductory adventures for DMing for Dummies get high marks from a lot of people, too. (Ignore the name of the book if it bothers you.)

 

[jollyninja]

here's what I reccomend you not do. Don't dress up as gandalf in chaps, never works out in a good way.

board games such as civilization, age of mythology, and WoW, based on computer games could be a primer for getting people into DnD. If a person is completely against the idea of playing something a bit more thematic then monopoly, they may not be all that into the idea of pretending to be an elf with a bow out to slay evil. If they are all over age of mythology and insist on playing the egyptians, there's a starting point for the style of game you may want to run.

as for the game, you might want to look at the free adventures on the WotC site. they're simple enough for noobs, but a good time for vets as well and there's enough of them to get you by until you select a adventure, if that's your thing.

 

[jdrakeh]

This might sound crazy, but I'd consider running a D&D Minis campaign with roleplay elements. This has the added benefit of introducing them to the very basics of D&D, while allowing for short, terse, story arcs (possibly several of them) that can be resolved in the space of an evening (basically, treat the combats as important plot points and resolve everything inbetween via freeform roleplay). If you're generous, you can buy them each a booster pack of minis (hey, they're cheap) to get the started off right.

Honestly, I can't think of any D&D 3x adventures that couldn't be run in this manner, provided you have the minis (and if you're short on minis, you can always use counters for the baddies). If, on the other hand, you aren't already heavily invested in D&D minis, I'd recommend that you go a similar route with the 2004 Basic Game, which will let you bolt on elements (such as PHB skills and the DMG XP rules) as your game progresses.

For actual adventures, I agree with Merric -- a full AP seems a bit too ambitious. I'd stick with something like Red Hand of Doom, though I'd make my final selection based on what kind of stuff your players dig. For example, if they like horror movies, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft might be a good bet.