@RogerBW @Printdevil I'm reminded of when I started drifting back towards the hobby, I decided to run Mines of Phandelver and I was *horrified* by how bad an introductory adventure it was.

The first encounter has a load of Goblins attacking you, forcing you into mass-combat as your first encounter with the rules.

If I were to write an introductory adventure for a broad audience, I would start with the fundamentals of engaging with a fictional world.

@Printdevil But imagine how those failed stand-up comedians would emote as they marched into the water? A true golden age for the hobby.

@Taskerland @RogerBW @Printdevil Given a few bad dice rolls, it’s very possible that that first encounter will end in a TPK. When I’m running something for people who haven’t played before I give them a chance to make a skill roll for something like shooting a bottle off a wall or arm-wrestling their friend, where they can fail and learn about pushing a roll or facing a non lethal consequence.

@Taskerland @RogerBW @Printdevil Given a few bad dice rolls, it’s very possible that that first encounter will end in a TPK. When I’m running something for people who haven’t played before I give them a chance to make a skill roll for something like shooting a bottle off a wall or arm-wrestling their friend, where they can fail and learn about pushing a roll or facing a non lethal consequence.

@Printdevil @Taskerland I hate this shit about VTTs with passion. Digital interface prompts not only ignorance of mechanics (which is not necessarily a bad thing) AND relegates fiction into binary world of computer.

It is the thing that let's me play and it pollutes the culture xd

@satsuma @Taskerland @Printdevil I dimly recall the sample adventure in the Games Workshop RQ2 did this. There's something up on that cliff, make a climbing roll, There's lunch on the hoof, make a Bow roll. That kind of thing.

Those are the breadcrumbs you need for a solo game, or a beginning GM, but you need off that very quickly or scenarios look like you're cutting the meat too small.

@RogerBW @satsuma @Taskerland

@Printdevil I think for absolute beginners, the hard part to understand is never 'roll the big dice and look at the numbers to see if you succeed at doing a thing'

But then I did once run a game for someone who wasn't familiar with fantasy and thought that he was wandering around a town with a bag full of rabits killing homeless people.

Origins: A Carrier Bag Full of Rabbits

Origins is a series of posts in which I reflect upon my relationship with RPGs as well as the events that have shaped my tastes and understanding of games. The rest of the series can be found here. A boardgame-player asking for recommendations as to their first RPG got me thinking about how accessible roleplaying…

Taskerland (tasker.land)

@RogerBW @satsuma

@Printdevil I think for absolute beginners, the hard part to understand is never 'roll the big dice and look at the numbers to see if you succeed at doing a thing'

But then I did once run a game for someone who wasn't familiar with fantasy and thought that he was wandering around a town with a bag full of rabits killing homeless people.

Origins: A Carrier Bag Full of Rabbits

Origins is a series of posts in which I reflect upon my relationship with RPGs as well as the events that have shaped my tastes and understanding of games. The rest of the series can be found here. A boardgame-player asking for recommendations as to their first RPG got me thinking about how accessible roleplaying…

Taskerland (tasker.land)

@RogerBW @satsuma

@Printdevil I think for absolute beginners, the hard part to understand is never 'roll the big dice and look at the numbers to see if you succeed at doing a thing'

But then I did once run a game for someone who wasn't familiar with fantasy and thought that he was wandering around a town with a bag full of rabits killing homeless people.

Origins: A Carrier Bag Full of Rabbits

Origins is a series of posts in which I reflect upon my relationship with RPGs as well as the events that have shaped my tastes and understanding of games. The rest of the series can be found here. A boardgame-player asking for recommendations as to their first RPG got me thinking about how accessible roleplaying…

Taskerland (tasker.land)

@RogerBW @satsuma

@Taskerland @Printdevil @RogerBW @satsuma "…he had spent three hours wallowing in a horrific fever dream where Warwick Davis wandered around a council estate with a garden gnome and a carrier bag full of rabbits who were all eagerly encouraging him to murder a bunch of homeless people with a fire axe…"

A perfectly normal concept for an indie game these days.

That's just my games. Ask @devilsjunkshop

@BigJackBrass @Taskerland @RogerBW @satsuma

@satsuma This wasn't about understanding the mechanics though... this was about understanding that it's a fictional world and it's okay to go 'Is there anything that we might be able to use to fashion a raft?' Understanding how to push dice is a skill that should come after the basic processes of engaging with a fictional world. @RogerBW @Printdevil

@Taskerland @RogerBW @Printdevil It was more of a “It’s a bright, sunny morning on the ranch - what chores need doing? Do you need to round up the cattle, or maybe you’re idling and throwing horseshoes at a pole?” This should set the expectation that they can choose what they want to do and maybe it will lead to a skill roll where success isn’t certain.

I think Crpgs often handle this well. "What were your characters doing when you were 13"

Fallout 3 etc. A session Zero of just going over the rules would be a good opener for lots of reasons.

Of course a lot of players bring big concept to the tablet for the characters and it's hard to do that. I suppose you could have them all play normal villagers the first week who proceed to die horribly.

@satsuma @Taskerland @RogerBW

That's just my games. Ask @devilsjunkshop

@BigJackBrass @Taskerland @RogerBW @satsuma

I think Crpgs often handle this well. "What were your characters doing when you were 13"

Fallout 3 etc. A session Zero of just going over the rules would be a good opener for lots of reasons.

Of course a lot of players bring big concept to the tablet for the characters and it's hard to do that. I suppose you could have them all play normal villagers the first week who proceed to die horribly.

@satsuma @Taskerland @RogerBW

@Printdevil @satsuma @Taskerland First example of this I saw was a CoC cRPG in about 1990. During character generation, for men, it would ask "what did you do in the War", and you could choose from among four options. More front line service would give you more fighting skills but less sanity. Point is, it also conveyed ideas about the setting.

@Taskerland @Printdevil @RogerBW @satsuma "…he had spent three hours wallowing in a horrific fever dream where Warwick Davis wandered around a council estate with a garden gnome and a carrier bag full of rabbits who were all eagerly encouraging him to murder a bunch of homeless people with a fire axe…"

A perfectly normal concept for an indie game these days.

@BigJackBrass @Taskerland @Printdevil @satsuma I like the idea of a CoC investigator party gradually realising that they _are_ the violent murderers, killing people and burning down houses based on the most superficial evidence, and so on… but (a) it's not much fun to _play_ and (b) it's kind of been done.