Advice on tabletop RPGs for a group of complete newbies?

[LauraPerezCerrato]

Hello everyone. Me and a bunch of friends want to play a tabletop RPG, the issue is, we know almost nothing about them (I'm a big fan of CRPGs and I understand some mechanics are very similar in both environments but that's it). We've agreed to play D&D 4th edition (I've read around it's forgiving for new players). I'm mostly worried about how to handle the DM issue (given none of is particularly knowledgeable of the rules), but any comments you have will be extremely welcome. Thank you and sorry for my horrible use of the language.

 

[sanquin]

Get the dungeon master guide, player's handbook and a module. The player's handbook provides you with everything you need to make a character. The Dungeon master guide has all information needed for a GM to lead a basic campaign and the module is basically a premade campaign that you can just play. Making your own isn't advised if you're totally new to D&D.

Furthermore you'll need to find character sheets online somewhere and print those, so everyone can write their characters down. You'll need dice, preferably an entire set of 7 different ones for every 2 people, and a separate one for the DM. If you don't have the money for that, 2 sets could do as well. (1 for players, 1 for the DM

And that's all you need to start. As for the DM issue. There's only two ways to learn. One, to have an experienced player teach you by him being DM. Or two, by getting the dungeon master guide and reading through it. Maybe also read up on the player's handbook to get the basics of the classes and weapons and such. Having to read all that requires a lot of work, I admit, but an experienced player doesn't seem to be an option for you.

 

[TheCaptain]

I assume "tabletop" in this case means Pen & Paper, not miniatures or something like that?

Well, having never played D&D per se - I grew up with "The Dark Eye" and the Classic World of Darkness - I can only give very generic advice:

Spoiler: 1. Make yourself familiar with the setting

In order to create a coherent, believable world, you'll need to know what's going on there even when the characters aren't around. Your players' characters will have backstory, motivations and quirks they'll want to incorporate into your story; get to know them, plan ahead and work with it. They'll also ask questions. Lots of them. Try to anticipate them by thinking about what you would wanna know when given the information you're going to hand out.

Spoiler: 2. Treat the players as allies, not enemies

Sometimes it'll seem like the players have nothing better to do than intentionally sabotaging your carefully laid-out campaign. That usually isn't the case. Try to work with them to create an entertaining story. Also, throw them a bone once in a while and don't be to hard on them. Remember, the characters they created are, in a way the protagonists of the story. After a session, take feedback!

Spoiler: 3. Think on your feet

Sometimes you've planned the story one way and the players just don't seem to be able to follow your carefully laid-out path, no matter how many hints you drop. In these cases, don't insist. Let them take a detour and try to bring them back on track another way. This is probably the hardest part about being the DM, especially when you deal with the hit first, ask questions later kind of person - at times, it's hard to communicate to players who they're allowed to murder...

Spoiler: 4. Take your time, set the mood

Don't plan roleplaying sessions for an evening after work when everybody's only got three to four hours at most. Plan for a weekend day so you don't need to hurry the players through your story. The way it usually goes with our group is everybody arrives, followed by a good hour of chatter about this and that before the actual roleplaying begins. From there, it usually takes another hour or so for people to get into the proper mood. At some point it makes sense to make a break for a meal - ordering pizza usually works best, but if you're the type, you can also prepare something more setting-appropriate in advance. The recipes from http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/ for example work perfectly with fantasy settings.
To get people to focus and interact mostly in-character use whatever you're willing to put effort into. Personally, I like handouts of maps and documents (from printouts of a simple Word document using a handwriting-style font to hand-drawn on teastained paper, everything is fair game) and I really like using music. German group erdenstern (http://www.erdenstern.com) for example produce music for exactly that purpose.

Spoiler: 5. Don't be afraid to tamper with the setting

If you use pre-made campaign settings and some details just don't sit right with you, change them. The only way that can ever be bad is when your players know more about the world than you and have certain expectations, but especially older campaigns - I assume it's like that for D&D too - tend to have elements that come across as a bit silly. You're the one with the means to change that, because your word is gospel in the context of the game. Great power, great responsibility.

As I said, very generic, but in my opinion applicable to all kinds of Pen & Paper RPG's. Apart from that, it's learning by doing and not letting yourself be discouraged if not everything works as planned immediately.

So, have fun!

 

[sanquin]

--snip--

That's why I said he should use a module. Then at least for the first campaign they can all just play and get familiar with it all, not having to worry about thinking up the setting, environments, plot, thinking of what monsters to use, etc.

 

[TheCaptain]

That's why I said he should use a module. Then at least for the first campaign they can all just play and get familiar with it all, not having to worry about thinking up the setting, environments, plot, thinking of what monsters to use, etc.

Yeah, might be I went a bit overboard there. I'm excitable like that.

 

[sanquin]

Yeah, might be I went a bit overboard there. I'm excitable like that.

I get that too. Tried some home-made campaigns as DM when I wasn't ready for it yet and those turned out badly after a while. I did learn from it at least.

 

[LauraPerezCerrato]

Thanks a lot for your advice, I am currently reading through the player's handbook and my friends seem eager to get to play so I guess that'll help a lot

 

[TheCaptain]

I get that too. Tried some home-made campaigns as DM when I wasn't ready for it yet and those turned out badly after a while. I did learn from it at least.

It actually went quite well with us for a while... when the group broke up and only two of us remained, it got a bit weird, since we would take turns and make our characters into invincible superheroes who'd more or less rule every bit of land they set foot on by the end of the day. Not that it wasn't fun, but the adventuring was pretty much out the window then.

 

[unpossiblelabs]

I put together a website, Learn Tabletop RPGs [http://learntabletoprpgs.com], which is aimed at people who are new to tabletop RPGs. It includes several links to quickstart free PDF rules for a variety of games, as well as information for first-time gamemasters.

 

[Generic Redshirt]

Funnily enough me and a group of friends just tried our first tabletop rpg. I don't think we'll stick with it as my group is pretty much warhammer players who enjoy my amusing distractions with board games. However I would first advise the Pathfinder starter set which comes with four pre-rolled characters a good dry marker proof map along with a reverse to make your own, an opening mission that shows most of the elements of what can be done in the game that only runs a few hours as well as abridged versions of the players handbook and game masters handbook.
As the person who ran this I would advice running such a mission first instead of one you make yourself, these are designed to introduce new players by experts. Second read it thoroughly along with the character sheets as I missed out on the swim skill and placed some beds in the wrong place. Nothing major but it could have easily been worse. Third make sure to include all the players. I had two player who took dominance due to stronger personalities. Nothing major or insidious but looki9ng back i wished I'd tried to include him more as he did seem to be a bit bored at times. If they let me run another that is easily the thing I will try to include.