New Game. New Players. Core only?

[pogre]

I'm not really one for "We're using X books only". Instead, every game is core only. If someone wants something made up, or something from another source, I approve it individually. Much simpler IMO.

Yep, I agree. Core only - add stuff as characters develop if they can justify it in game.

 

[Graf]

I would allow core plus DM approved. Still I would be active about approving stuff if it works for the character and isn't imbalancing. Adding stuff in later has the weird effect of rewarding characters created later and encouraging players to junk their old characters to get access to the new cool stuff.

A bigger trick with newbies is which class they play. If they play a wizard or a cleric they can get confused easily. Combat classes with simpler abilities are easier to grasp.

 

[Oni]

While all the geehaws and doodads from all the splat books and whatnot can be cool, you really can't go wrong with just the core rules, they pretty much everything you like, especially if your flexible (i.e. I want to play such and such type of character, so can I swap the feat for a couple extra class skills). Not only that, some of the stuff that has come before doesn't mix well with 3.5 so you save yourself that headache.


On the otherhand if you have your heart set on using all the extra stuff, then there is nothing stopping you from asking the new players what exactly they want to do with their characters, and then using your extensive knowledge of the splatbooks to make that a little easier by giving them a helping hand.


Of course I think the first is the better of those two options.

 

[Li Shenron]

For your own sake, don't mix core 3.5 with splatbooks which are still all 3.0

Ok, it's not a big deal really, but if you start by declaring default the FRCS, you will have to sort it out for a conversion. Can't you just hand out the core books for the newbies, and allow the 2 veterans only to use whatever they want at the same time (obviously they propose but you alone approve)?

Our DM when we started his campaign just brought the PHB for us to choose, but if everyone wanted a race from MM it could just be suggested by the players himself. The newbies didn't know about anything outside the PHB and used normal races.

 

[Buttercup]

The problem I see with that method, Li Shenron, is that it immediately sets up an us-vs-them dynamic among the players, with the n00bs on one side and the veterans on the other. This is bad, bad, bad. The DM must never appear to be playing favorites, for any reason. The PCs are supposed to be a team, and if their players have been given different options during character creation, there may be hard feelings that jeopardize party cohesiveness.

No, stick to core rules for everyone. You can't go wrong that way.

 

[S'mon]

I'm not really one for "We're using X books only". Instead, every game is core only. If someone wants something made up, or something from another source, I approve it individually. Much simpler IMO.

I agree - works for me. Occasionally I suggest stuff - eg Fighting Styles from Quintessential Fighter.

 

[Li Shenron]

The problem I see with that method, Li Shenron, is that it immediately sets up an us-vs-them dynamic among the players, with the n00bs on one side and the veterans on the other. This is bad, bad, bad. The DM must never appear to be playing favorites, for any reason. The PCs are supposed to be a team, and if their players have been given different options during character creation, there may be hard feelings that jeopardize party cohesiveness.

No, stick to core rules for everyone. You can't go wrong that way.

Well probably if the veterans go too far, that's true. If one of them starts using something from Savage Species with A&EG weapons, then take 2-3 PrCl on top of each other from splatbooks, it just saddens the newbies who will feel like there's no real place for them in the game.

I was probably lucky that our veterans were anyway new to the specific edition, so they were happy to try the new versions of their old favourites

I agree anyway with who says that an expert who can't find a single interesting PC to play from the PHB alone is definitely not an expert, but a frantic munchkin, and should play with frantic munchkins and not with newcomers

 

[Thanee]

Seconds Buttercup's words of wisdom!

Core only (with the option to introduce new things later, if the whole group seems to be interested in more options).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Davelozzi]

I'll disagree with the majority stance here. I mean, if you want to go all core, sure go for it. But in my experiences (which have generally been with a group that has widely varying familiarity with the rules), I've never had a problem with letting the players who wanted to use the extra stuff and the ones that didn't keeping it simple. I haven't noticed anyone bemoaning their character's relative power or anything else.

A bigger trick with newbies is which class they play. If they play a wizard or a cleric they can get confused easily. Combat classes with simpler abilities are easier to grasp.

I agree with that. Newbies should shy away from spellcasters or psions. Clerics can be okay sometimes as even if they just default to using cure spells until they get the hang of things, they'll still be able to contribute in other ways.

 

[Czhorat]

If I read the initial post correctly, the two new players aren't new to role-playing in general or even D&D specifically - they've just not played since before 3rd Edition was published. I'd think that such players would be capable of handling spellcasters if they took a little time to read the new rules first. After all, the biggest changes to character creation are the addition of feats and skills; generating a first-level wizard character shouldn't be that different than creating a first level 2e wizard character.

I strongly agree that you should either restrict yourself to the core rules or allow a few extra feats, skills and abilities that are available to all players. Think of it this way: the players who are new to this version of the game might already be at a bit of a disadvantage due to unfamiliarity with the rules. Do you really want to compound that disadvantage by giving the veteran players more options? Also think of how you'd feel as a player if you saw someone else's character with some neat abilities that you not only weren't allowed to use but possibly didn't even hear about before making your character. I believe that the important thing is to make the game fun and fair to all players.