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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Beginning of the End" data-source="post: 5349111" data-attributes="member: 55271">There are two ways into this hobby:(1) Joining an existing group.(2) Buying the game and forming an entirely new group.IME, the complexity of the ruleset is almost irrelevant when it comes to the first group. Any half competent GM should be able to serve as an interface between players and rules: "Tell me what you want to do and I'll tell you how to do it." The learning curve can be whatever the player can handle (or wants to handle).OTOH, making the game completely rely on recruitment and tutoring is not, IMO, necessary. And designing your game to work like that seems ultimately self-defeating.Speaking as someone who got into the game by buying the books and starting an entirely new group, I think it's important for the game to be accessible to people like me.And here's another thing: I've personally introduced more than two dozen people to roleplaying games. A lot of them have stuck around. If I hadn't been able to start playing, some or all of those people may have never gotten tutored.I'm increasingly convinced that the D&D / AD&D pairing was inspired: A simple, complete ruleset accessible in an affordable package. And if you like the game and want more complexity, we have the option for that right over here. And it's even mostly compatible. (I think 100% compatibility would be even more desirable.)With that being said, I think the idea most experienced players have a "rules-lite" or "simple" system is the wrong concept of "simple" that's needed in an introductory game.(1) You need a system for quick, easy character creation. You want to give the new player the ability to have control over what type of character they want to play, without bogging them down in a mire of options that are essentially meaningless to them.(Pregens are not a solution. Creating a character is part of the fun. Yes, this is a fine line to walk.)(2) You want to strip down the rules so that they don't have a lot of daunting, fiddly bits and endless nuances for new players to get lost in. OTOH, the rules should be comprehensive: The new DM should have a clear answer to the question, "When the players say X, what should I do?"(Yes, this is a balancing act, too.)BECMI D&D basically accomplished this as far as dungeon-based adventures are concerned.</blockquote>

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