Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 8763871" data-attributes="member: 32740">First - I never expect NEWBS to simply pick up any book of 300 F'ING pages of rules and just... LEARN IT by next week.Second - Present to them SIMPLE rules.  Rules that are readily understood and exercised by those new to the game - especially combat rules which they are going to deal with more than any other aspect of the game.  Letting them know that there are MASSIVE amounts of rules to know - or at least be reasonably familiar with - but also teaching it to them, slowly, over time, letting them learn at their own pace, letting them READ the rules at their own pace at home (letting them know that more than strictly superficial involvement in the game means a HELLUVA lot of reading they'll be doing), letting them do it wrong without expecting them to face the same consequences as someone who's been actively playing for years, advising them of the many pitfalls faced by players yet permitting them to still make their own inevitable mistakes WITHOUT the same consequences as more experienced players, etc.  There are A THOUSAND choices for players to make in any reasonably complex edition of D&D.  Some choices you can skip over to start, some you can even ignore for a LONG time, others obviously need to be made right away and you will just have to GUIDE them through those choices as much as you can and as much as they need, or just say, "To get you started we're just going to make this choice for you, but it ultimately is something you would need to choose as a player.  DETAILS about that we'll get to later.  For now just go with it because we don't want to overwhelm you - even though the amount of stuff to learn can be overwhelming."I do expect new players to LEARN all these many rules we play by, as long as their interest in continuing to learn holds up.  They just don't have to learn it all at once.  They'll similarly never have to take a written rules-knowledge test, nor have to MEMORIZE more than the bare essentials of rules, but I do expect them to continually increase their understanding and facility with the rules (shy of being children or having learning disabilities).  Otherwise players need to ACTIVELY participate in the game and that means ultimately knowing the rules.  I just don't hold them to the same expectations IMMEDIATELY as I would those who aren't still learning the game.D&D doesn't necessarily need to be easier to learn - but the ways in which people new to the game go about learning it and having it taught to them can often be handled better.  If nothing else, choose to use a SIMPLE edition of rules.  Not a hacked-down set of more complex rules, but a set of rules that is genuinely SIMPLE.  This is sure to mean a much older set of rules or even a retroclone of older rules.  If you want newbs to just jump right into the deep waters of 5E you're setting them up to simply be overwhelmed and thus turned off of D&D entirely.  EASE them into the game, but don't BABY them if it's unnecessary.  They will learn by READING; they will learn by DOING; they will learn by observing YOU (that is both DM's and other players).  Just teach them.</blockquote>

Verification