newbie followup!

[alsih2o]

well, my group of newbies is headed over here tonight. they had their first session, and now they are moving towards their second.

i offered them a chance to come up with new character now that they know a bit more, but they all voted to stay with what they have.

tonights session is going to be mostly a hackfest i think, as that is what they seem to be dying for.

i greatly appreciate all the encouragement and advice i receved here on bringing folks "into the fold". i have a real, live game group for the firt tme in ages and i am so excited i could bust!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Looking forward to the followup story.

We should have a rank newbie joining our group at our next session, next weekend.

 

[alsih2o]

well, the newbie group added another friend (rogue, sorc, barbarian, cleric) and we gamed for the second time last night.

the group now wants a battlemat, and we are planning a trip to buy everyone a mini for their character. two of the group are buying phb's this week and they want to start meetign more than once a month. i am so stoked i cannot stand it.

it turns out that it was my wifes coworker who finally convinced her to try it. after all my attempted explanations of how the game works and why it is cool she was explaining it to him and he said "so, it is like poker night then?"

this made something click and she now seems to understand why i game. she hasn't become obsessed yet, but now i get to game with the wife unit!

best line of the night- "i am sorry, i just realized i wasn't listening at all"

GO RECRUIT NEWBIES! they bring a fresh thrill to the game that nothing else does. having the p.c.'s argue over whether kobold slave labor that served the bbeg need to be slain or petted was a hoghlight you do not get with frequently with long playing groups.

their crazy plans and ideas on tactics or hilarious.

i won't bug you with filling oyu in on every session from here on out, but trust me- it is great!

edit: i ran them through "bse of operations" from wotc. they chose to storm the midst of the compound all at once rather than taking out towers and buildings one at a time. i had to pull some punches, but i fudged no rolls. they almost got slaughtered, both the barb and the rogue were below zero once each, but they pulled it off well.

i explained what a megeadventure is and told them i had "the banewarrens" and they are already talking trash!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

tonights session is going to be mostly a hackfest i think, as that is what they seem to be dying for.

The way you told it they almost quite literally did that

Of course you should give them what they want. But you also should try to shape them a little (it's your duty as DM to make roleplayers of them, after all). Subtly introduce roleplaying situations into the hack'n'slash, and give them situations where they are better off negotiating (and "charging them" will get them into trouble - just make sure it won't kill them, just a close call - and have them know why that was). The game will probably remain a hack'n'slash-campaign, but maybe you can flavour it with RP elements and make it even better for them.

 

[alsih2o]

The way you told it they almost quite literally did that

Of course you should give them what they want. But you also should try to shape them a little (it's your duty as DM to make roleplayers of them, after all).

their first session was heavy on the rp, so i did this one to balance.

your advice is still sound