We Were All New D&D Players Once

As a dungeon master and co-owner of a tabletop game and comic book shop, I meet brand-new players virtually every time I'm behind the counter or the DM screen. D&D’s recent popularity explosion has brought in countless new players. They usually are feeling both excited and intimidated, and it's my job to maintain that excitement and add confidence too.

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I certainly understand the intimidation factor. Compared to a lot of other players, I'm relatively new myself. Until a year ago, I mostly stuck to the comics side of our shop because I never learned how to play D&D. My handful of attempts to play prior to that were frustrating and bewildering. I always had to play with groups of veteran players. I didn’t know what was going on or what I was supposed to do because nothing was explained to me. None of the other players seemed to comprehend that there was a learning curve, so I had a terrible time. I thought the game just wasn't for me.

Thanks to binge-watching Critical Role, I eventually got some context for how the game worked and how it could be fun. What a revelation! I’ve made up for lost time over the past year, and started to DM last fall. Now I run a table at D&D Adventurer’s League every week, as well as a weekly game for kids ages 8-14. I've had a lot of opportunities to observe games with new players who were welcomed with varying degrees of success, and I’ve learned a few things.

If you are a DM, a veteran player, or anyone else who deals with newbies -- particularly when you play with strangers at a game shop or convention -- here are some simple things to consider if you want them to have a good time. (If you don't want them to have a good time, go away, your fun is wrong.)

Remember: You Were a Newbie Once Too
Nothing kills a person’s excitement about a group activity like having others in the group treat them like they already should be an expert. When you’ve been playing for a long time, it becomes second nature to you, but it’s easy to forget how complicated it is for someone who is unfamiliar with the game. There are so many rules, and a lot of strange terminology the average person isn’t likely to know. None of us were born knowing which die was which, what initiative is, or how proficency works. And it’s hard to look things up in the Player’s Handbook if you don’t yet know what you’re searching for.

Make an Insight Check
We’re not all proficient in Insight, but you can always try. Ideally, the DM will make the newbie feel comfortable before the game starts, and encourage them to ask questions as they arise. If you’re playing, be a friendly neighbor. Give them space to figure things out for themselves, but be willing to offer encouragement or assistance to your neighbor in a gentle and lighthearted way. My kid players can do it without making the new player feel bad, so I believe in you!

Don’t Split the Party
When I finally started playing D&D on a regular basis, I was lucky enough to land with a group who made an effort to make me feel like I was part of the gang right away. I had a general sense of how the game worked from watching streaming games, but when I was actually at the table, I was still a little confused during the first few sessions.

I always will be grateful to the DM because he was kind and helpful, and always encouraged other players to help each other as well. The people sitting next to me could point to things on my character sheet so I learned how to figure out what I was rolling, calculate damage, and so forth. They were supportive, let me feel included, and never made me feel like I was slowing the game down or being a bother. In fact, when I was finally able to find creative and effective ways to help the party, they were almost as excited as I was.

Share the Loot
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “This is common sense! Who isn’t already doing this?” Good for you! But sadly, common sense is rarer than it should be. I have watched many people sigh and roll their eyes and make new players feel awkward, or just leave a new player flailing. Don’t be that person. Give the newbie a chance to share the love of the hobby. With a kind attitude, you can set a good precedent and help build a positive D&D community around you.

contributed by Annie Bulloch

 

[Jester David]

You've said a lot, but not really anything to the purpose. I'll try to simplify my issues (as admittedly I've written voluminous posts to this point):

When a new player joins an established group, how much of the responsibility for helping that player fit in falls on the group and how much on the player? Note that I am assuming good faith on both parties (your response and several above seem to assume that one or more parties isn't acting in good faith).

Is the new player's fun more important than the present players' fun? If so, for how long and to what extent? Why?

In an ideal world, everyone's fun matters equally. But, yes, in practice, there will need to be some compromise.

However, this is not an either/or situation. If the game goes all-in for advanced play then that will not be fun for the new player that is still learning the basics. But that doesn't mean a less intense game will be no fun to the more experienced players.
Similarly, the campaign does not have to have a single consistent style. Having an easier session or two between intense sessions allows both groups to enjoy the overall game experience, while the more high stakes combats will help the new player learn the combat system in a sink-or-swim manner. How long and to what extent is variable though, depending on the skill of the new gamer and how good of teachers the new players are.

In terms of responsibility, everyone has some responsibility. The new player has to learn the game, and likely wants to learn the game. They're not playing if they don't want to learn. But they also need to be given that opportunity to learn. And that doesn't happen if the other players just boss them around.

And, again, the new player is only new for a finite time.

On one hand, you state that having played the game for a long time does not matter (though it certainly does increase system knowledge and mold expectations). Yet you also imply that players who have been playing for a long time have more responsibility towards other players and the game. How do you reconcile this contradiction?

It's not a contradiction.
Having played the game a longer time doesn't make a player special or give them some special rights to the game. The game is not belong more to them than the new player. They do not get to be a jerk to new players because of their greater experience. Everyone has to be respectful at the table.

If length of play doesn't matter, shouldn't we all come to the table with equal respect for each other and equal responsibility to create an enjoyable game for everyone involved? Wouldn't this include the new players as well as the old?

Yes.
If I, as a player with several decades of experience, show up at a table of newer players, those players are under no obligation to play in my style. But they also have to give me an opportunity to find my feet in their game and learn to play like they do, easing me into the campaign. If I can't do that and can't find the fun then I'm in the wrong group.

The difference is the learning curve for an experience player trying to get a feel for the play style of newbies is significantly shorter than a new player trying to get a feel for the playstyle of a group while also learning the rules for a very complicated game.

Yet, as much of the modern world seems to embrace, every article about this matter treats new players as if they are fragile flowers, who have no part in the shared responsibility to create a good table for everyone. Most of these articles are written by newer players. Why do you think there is this correlation?

I don't see that at all.
But I do see a lot of gatekeeping over who should and should not play and what the game is and is not. And experienced gamers being dismissive to new players.

 

[Eirikrautha]

And I don't see much (if any) gatekeeping at all at local tables and tournaments. I see new players experimenting with role playing games in veteran groups, with some deciding they love it and some deciding that RPGs aren't in their interests. And I do see lots of articles on various websites telling veteran players that we are playing the game wrong if any new players suffer the slightest inconvenience (a poster above pretty much said that!) or don't cater to whatever expectation the have, no matter how different or extreme. Isn't the variety of this world wonderful?

It's not a failure of gaming if a group of grognards who love dungeon-crawls decide not to play a completely social campaign in order to engage a new player who was attracted to that style from what they saw on the Internet. So long as they guide that player towards another table that might be a better fit, then both sides have a chance to enjoy our hobby equally.

 

[Jester David]

And I do see lots of articles on various websites telling veteran players that we are playing the game wrong if any new players suffer the slightest inconvenience

Can you provide any links to said articles?

 

[AtomicPope]

I would add something:

Share Information Through Description - don't hide information from the players then surprise them with deadly effects. If the PCs can observe it then describe it. Give them a chance to know (Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, or Religion). If the PC has a particular class feature then just tell them (Ranger favored enemy, et al). Tricking the players without any description leading up to the event lowers trust. If something is hidden then it must be a feature, and there must be some way to find it.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Some of us were new AD&D players once.

I was a new 1st Edition AD&D player who rolled that 1% chance for PHB psionics on my first character. So, that’s my take on new players coming in through the shallow end of the complexity pool...

(although that might inform why I’ve always since chosen to play characters with a breadth of capabilities over ones with a specialization in any given one)

 

[Annie Bulloch]

At this point, I would like to point out one of the most important phrases from my introduction:

If you are a DM, a veteran player, or anyone else who deals with newbies -- particularly when you play with strangers at a game shop or convention -- here are some simple things to consider if you want them to have a good time.

If one new player comes into your longstanding home game, there's a totally different expectation than when you're playing an open game in a shop or at a con. Different play styles work in different contexts and with different groups of players. The open games I run are completely different in tone than my private games.

The most recent session of my main private game (for which I'm not the DM) was three hours of RP without a single combat and it was fantastic. We moved the plot forward and gave the characters some opportunities for personal growth and at times it was almost as tense and dramatic as when we fought a white dragon several sessions ago. But I know that a lot of players would haaaaaaaaate that, and I would never try something like that in an open game.

I'm not one to tolerate gatekeeping. At an open game, I want everyone to have fun no matter how long they've been playing. More experienced players have a deeper well for bringing their own fun to the table than new players do. I want the new players to get there too. Seeing how the veterans play can be really helpful, and those veterans can help the newbie learn. That's what being on a team is all about.

 

[ArwensDaughter]

In terms of the question of whether or not to use pre-gens, I'll share the practice at my weekly AL style game at our local library: Players who are new to 5e (3 sessions of play or less at ANY table), are required to use a pre-gen from my "library." Class and race options are limited to the simpler ones. The level of the pregen is based on the level of the existing PCs. (I keep the party within a 2 level range, right now they are 5th/6th level) After 3 sessions, players may create their own characters, at the same level their pre-gen. Those players with their own books can do this on their own; others have a more experienced players (with books) help them. I had originally had in mind setting up some "chargen" dates at the library, but this has turned out not to be necessary, as the more experienced players have helped the newbies in their free time. At this point, we have a pretty stable group of regulars; our last new player joined a month or two ago.

 

[Annie Bulloch]

That's similar to what we do at my shop. Time is usually a big factor, so if a player shows up without a character and isn't able to make one on their own quickly, a pre-gen is usually the only viable option. It works pretty well, and they can always switch after a session or two if they want to try something different. I'm there to facilitate fun, so I just want to get folks up to speed! I already have players who had their first game with me, then eventually got confident enough to start running campaigns of their own for friends.

 

[KenNYC]

Pre gens are awful but acceptable for one's first session. As far as character builds...just ask them if they want to play a wizard, fighter, thief or a priest type that fights vampires...those are easy to grasp concepts and they're in english. They will pick one, roll dice, and the character will be built quickly. Don't inundate people with gibberish like "arcane trickster" because that doesn't mean anything. But "Conan" "or "Lancelot" does. And discussing characters in easy to understand cliches can go a long way toward a new player mentally picturing their character. There is no reason why anybody needs to play a bard or technomancer tiefling monk with the way of the fist their first time out. I'd go so far as to say those pre-gens are awful and overly complicated. A simple fighter with no special anything is fine, as is a wizard with magic missiles.

Basic D&D was the perfect learning system. You could literally have your character in 5 minutes and there were almost no rules. WoTC should bring it back as a starter set variant. And God Bless In Search Of The Unknown and Keep On The Borderlands for walking new DMs through the game.

 

[ad_hoc]

Pre gens are awful but acceptable for one's first session. As far as character builds...just ask them if they want to play a wizard, fighter, thief or a priest type that fights vampires...those are easy to grasp concepts and they're in english. They will pick one, roll dice, and the character will be built quickly. Don't inundate people with gibberish like "arcane trickster" because that doesn't mean anything. But "Conan" "or "Lancelot" does. And discussing characters in easy to understand cliches can go a long way toward a new player mentally picturing their character. There is no reason why anybody needs to play a bard or technomancer tiefling monk with the way of the fist their first time out. I'd go so far as to say those pre-gens are awful and overly complicated. A simple fighter with no special anything is fine, as is a wizard with magic missiles.

Basic D&D was the perfect learning system. You could literally have your character in 5 minutes and there were almost no rules. WoTC should bring it back as a starter set variant. And God Bless In Search Of The Unknown and Keep On The Borderlands for walking new DMs through the game.

I think the strong fantasy archetypes are the core of D&D. I agree about not playing characters who diverge from those for 'the first time out' but I also think it's best to have all characters be strong archetypes. In the end all of the characters will be cliches. It's the fate of the format. The stronger the archetype though the stronger that character will stand out.

I think this is one reason 5e has resonated so well with people. The sorts of characters new players should play are the sorts of characters that work well for everyone.