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Message: <blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 4597452" data-attributes="member: 25619">Agreed.  I've introduced people of both genders to D&D before, and I've discovered two things that seem to help complete newbs who never seen the game played before:1) Setting.  Let them create the character, but give them a place in the world.  Using a detailed village setting with a variety of NPC's -- the Village of Briarton D20 supplement, or the homebase for classic adventure -- the Keep on the Borderlands, the village of Hommlett, etc. -- and give their character a place in the village.  Make the fighter or ranger a shepherdess, the mage an apprentice, the cleric the choir director serving under the mail priest, stuff like that.  Then maybe give them the idea that the FIRST party to try to deal with the threat against their little home setting has gone missing.  They have to rescue their old brothers/mentors.  "You killed my father, prepare to die" is always a good motivation for a PC.2) How to do it.  This is where it helps to seed the group with a player who's experienced and willing to help them learn without being bossy.  A DM looking to be a player might be good for their role.  If no one is available, using a DMPC might help.  The alternative is to act as the help advisor would in a computer game, or to do like you did and show them a demo.  Beyond how to fight, good tactics, etc., newbie players often REALLY have trouble with open-ended role playing.  For example, walk into a room at the tavern, and they don't know at all what to do.  If they've played CRPG's, they might "click" on a NPC, but they'll be surprised that it's an open-ended conversation and the NPC may not be the one to send them on a quest.The weirdest thing I saw with a complete newbie player was someone who killed orcs and then was camping out in an abandoned house of some dead peasants.  They weren't sure how hostile the environment was, and whether they'd be able to make it town, so they wanted to fortify the house and go with cannabalism to survive . . . this after a gentle orc highwaymen encounter, like 3 miles from a town . . . To give another example, when I first played (aged 12, 1981), I knew we might go underground for a long time, so I was worried about vitamin deficiencies eating just hardtack and jerky (as iron rations were explained to me), so I tried to buy some oranges in the market at the Keep on the Borderlands and ended up paying 1 gp each . . . OK, I guess, but a little guidance would have helped!</blockquote>

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