performance anxiety/new group

[alsih2o]

normally i am not nervous about gaming at all. i think if oyu asked my players they would tell you i am always thouroughly prepared and can deal with curveballs pretty well. but i am up against a new one here.

my wife, who has never gamed, sympathized with my lamenting about missing live gaming after gencon and got one of her coworkers and his wife to volunteer to try a game next week. this leaves me with 3 geologists to entertain, none of whom have ever played before.

upon hearing this my next door neighbor decided that if i had first timers playing he would be brave enough to try. i have wanted to get him to play forever. he is a rapper, and his first album is due out in early september. i have been listening to his tracks as they get recorded (i played it for some folks at gencon) and i have tried to tell him he was a gamer ever since i heard his him rap- "i'm the dragon slayer, i'm in the dragons layer, kill me i'll ressurect with a silent prayer." this and other comments have led me to explain to him that he is a gamer and just doesn't know it yet.

then a local construction worker friend said he used to play, but hasn't since '82, when he only played briefly.

so now i have the wife unit, a masters level geoligist, a ph.d. candidate, a rapper and a construction worker, all with zero experience.

now, i normally run homebrews for almost everything, but i think i have decided to run "the whispering woodwind" by cmg for them.

i drew up 18 characters, so they can all play whatever they want. i figure this will keep the focus on gaming and off of the possibly confusing process of character creation. i have read TWW over and over (i have had it a long time, and wanted to run it forever) so i think i am prepared there, but it has been a long time since i gamed with anyone who didn't know the game in and out.

any suggestions, hints or warnings? i would really like to wow them so i can have a live group to go with my incredible tuesday evening players

 

[Piratecat]

Who knew my respect for you could rise even higher? Yay, more people in gaming!

1. Don't bog down in rules discussions. I tend to announce "don't worry about the rules too much; just tell me what you want to try to do, and I'll tell you what to roll." Nothing turns a new player off more than picayune rules minutae.

2. Make combat at least a little big cinematic.

3. Let the PCs be heroes. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be challenged, but axing half the group in the first encounter may be inappropriate.

4. Use shorter combats instead of one reaalllly loooong one. This helps keep the story moving.

Have fun!

 

[Morrus]

Wow! I'm in an almost identical situation. After PC introduced Jane to her first game, she is busily arranging a game with her, her sister, her sister's husband and some of her friends. None of these people have even heard of D&D (I was asked "Is it something to do with computers?").

I think it'll be OK, but I'd much rather introduce a single person into an existing gaming group than introduce an entire group to the game.

 

[alsih2o]

I think it'll be OK, but I'd much rather introduce a single person into an existing gaming group than introduce an entire group to the game.

this is exactly what i thought. there will be noone i can assign as a 'handholder' for the newbie, it is all newbies

as for the p-kitty advice, i think i have your speech at the beginning of our spycraft game (with pielorhino, t-billy, spider zarathustran and emergent) memorized and i will be using it

 

[boxstop7]

Originally posted by alsih20
so now i have the wife unit, a masters level geoligist, a ph.d. candidate, a rapper and a construction worker, all with zero experience.

Holy Village People, Batman!

Okay, seriously...

I know, it's cheesy, but I love the Sunless Citadel mod for beginning players. It lets me concentrate on getting them acclimated to the rules and the "feel" for gaming, b/c there's so little plot involved. Plus, it's a dungeon crawl. IMO, those are always the easiest games in which to learn how to play.

Good call on the pre-gen characters, too. My first character creation session with 3.0 took over 3 hours. And I've been gaming for a while.

Though I've never gamed with a group of all newbies, I've introduced a few people into our group of veterans over the years. It helped that we had some well-versed players to hold their hands through some of the more confusing stuff (like AoO, for example). Take it slow, don't expect to get very far in the mod, and be prepared to bring the game to a screeching halt to clarify sudden questions. Help them grasp the basics early, but don't kill them with rules. And once they choose which character they each want to play, I'd give them 5 minutes or so to look over the class descriptions and ask any questions about what the character can and can't do.

Remember: KISS. Let 'em play, and don't bury them with rules-lawyering. It'll all go off without a hitch, and you'll have 5 new players with a fresh passion and insatiable appetite for gaming.

~Box

edit: reworded some stuff

 

[Mystery Man]

If you can't find them, make them, I always say. At least I do now since I made 3.

My 2 bits:

1. Patience

2. Let them totally kick ass (at first ) , 4 gaming sessions they'll be hopelessly addicted. Guarantee.

 

[Barak]

Well, I have a few comments, for what it's worth.

First off, it's important to keep in mind that gaming is not necessarly for everyone. So.. If one or more of the "new" players decide that it's "not their thing", don't take that as meaning you "failed". It is possible that they just don't have an interest in it after all.

That being out of the way.. From what I understand, some of them (the construction worker and the neighbour, more precisely) don't know the others (your wife's co-worker and the SO of same.). So I would suggest that all of you get together for something else first, if possible and if there's interest. That would give everyone a chance to get acquainted to each other, and would make them more comfortable in learning a new "hobby" together. An evening of character building would probably have worked, but I understand your reticence in having them spend an evening making characters.. On the other hand, I personnaly think that making characters during the first session is not necessarly a bad idea. Having made a character usually tends to have it more suitable to the player then picking one from a list, as extensive as the list may be, and it also helps getting a little grasp on the rules.

As for the game itself, I understand that you are running a module, but even so, I'd try to make sure to have a little bit of everything in the very first session (combat, interaction with NPCs, maybe some dungeon-delve with traps and what not, etc). Obviously, you don't know what would interest them in the game, so having a little bit of everything both would let you know what they'd like, and would show-case to them what they -can- get out of a game.

And at first, I'd keep the rules-side simple. Everything you can figure out yourself, do it. It's much easier to learn bit by bit then to try to figure it all at once.

 

[alsih2o]

First off, it's important to keep in mind that gaming is not necessarly for everyone. So.. If one or more of the "new" players decide that it's "not their thing", don't take that as meaning you "failed". It is possible that they just don't have an interest in it after all.

That being out of the way.. From what I understand, some of them (the construction worker and the neighbour, more precisely) don't know the others (your wife's co-worker and the SO of same.). So I would suggest that all of you get together for something else first, if possible and if there's interest.

for number one, i am aware of this, and i will try to remember it

for the second, we are starting with a dinner (i will cook) so that everyone isn't sitting down and acting like a drunken dwarf in front of strangers

both good advice, and taken

 

[diaglo]

might i suggest the demo module Into the Darkness or something similar as a start off:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads

 

[Sanackranib]

I would try to introduce at lest 1 expirenced player to the game. with 5 players it looks like your best bet is the construction worker
this is probably your best choice for the partys rogue or wizard. in my expirence new players do best when they are fighters. try to get a feel for your group and have the "weakest" players start out as a tank or as an archer (the party should have both) the strongist 2 players should be the mage and rogue. it's been a really long time since I was in a similar situation . . . just try to keep it light but definately keep the story moving.