D&D General Onboarding a newbie

[Gorck]

My daughter and I have been trying to convince her cousin to try playing D&D with us. After a bit of hemming and hawing, she finally said yes. But now I'm torn about how to get started with her character.

I've heard the best way to introduce the game to a new player is to just have them dive right in and get their feet wet. So I was planning on having her choose from one of the pre-made characters I have ready to go. That way we can just start playing immediately without having to waste time making a character first. Besides, making a character requires decision-making that she wouldn't have any frame of reference for.

But, then I thought that the best way for her to get invested in her character would be to make those decisions for herself. That way, the character would be truly hers and not just a bunch of words and numbers on a piece of paper.

So now I ask my fellow players for advice. Does anybody here have experience (good or bad) in trying to onboard a new player? Is one of the above methods better than the other, or is it a toss up?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly, this might be the best week ever to ask this.

I would get the Heroes of the Borderlands set, run that and see how it goes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So now I ask my fellow players for advice. Does anybody here have experience (good or bad) in trying to onboard a new player? Is one of the above methods better than the other, or is it a toss up?

I've onboarded a ton of people over the past 20 years, both to D&D and RPGs generally.

I don't notice any real difference between them starting with pregens or making their own character. The first character will likely be disposable, either because they didn't make it, or they didn't know what they were doing. If/when they want to play "for real," they'll make a better character they'll have more attachment to after that.

Everything else around the experience, like having it be fun but low stress, where they're not felt to feel stupid or excluded, and where they feel free to ask questions, is more important for onboarding, IMO.

Another good alternative: Just give them Baldur's Gate 3 and when they come up for air, be waiting at the table with Heroes of the Borderlands, pizza and a smile.

 

[I'm A Banana]

1) Reduce options. It's OK to have pregen characters, as long as you can sum up what they're "about" in a sentence or two. That said, you might want to let them make one or two choices (even just "what's your name?") when they start - the sense of ownership gains a lot from a little thing.

2) Encourage them to be "in character," and then you'll figure out how the rules apply to whatever they do. The more you're asking "So, how does YOUR CHARACTER react?" the smoother the experience tends to be.

3) Combat takes a long time, and is one of the most complicated parts of the game, so don't feature it. Like, have a fight or two, but keep it moving and make them pretty simple. Let the newbie demonstrate what makes them cool (spellcasting, hitting hard with a weapon, etc.) and then move on.