Re: (TFT) Pitching game to newbies

[Robert Ward <rob@dolwen.com>]

Hi Meg
I've had the good fortune to play an earth elementalist in one of your
single-game sessions and really enjoyed it. So I don't doubt things will
be fun and interesting. 

I recently led a some sessions for a group of new players comprising 1
dad and 3 10-12 year olds. One thing that worked pretty well I thought
was that the first battles were against a bunch of somewhat scary but
very slow moving and non-dextrous zombies. This kept everyone pretty
safe as they learned about combat, but also let them run circles around
the enemy, hitting from behind etc. If I were to do it again think I
would probably use Rick's dying rules as well. I did offer a "talent" of
luck, preposterously priced as IQ 8 (2) which let them reroll once a
session. But most didn't take up on that, and the one that did has never
used it.

The things I personally like as a player
1. Pretty hexmaps and counters
2. I prefer light-touch roleplaying rather than come in with accents and
backstory. It always seems like pretty quickly some unlikely set of
events will happen that creates relationships between the players. For
example the 10-12 year olds weren't really roleplaying as such, but
after a couple of sessions their different personalities were starting
to make for good interactions (eg what do we do with this prisoner) .
3. Group size -- on the low end, 2 players is fine and can be fun. But I
find that if the group gets much above 4 players, it is hard to find
space either as a player or as a figure on the combat map! 

Rob


On Tue, May 10, 2016, at 08:59 PM, Meg Tapley wrote:
> I'm thinking of starting an in-person campaign sometime this 
> summer-fall, with my friends from school, if I can get enough people 
> together for a weekly session. They're a creative bunch and this 
> semester, a couple of them did a collaborative storytelling project that 
> attracted a fairly enthusiastic audience. Still, most if not all of the 
> players will be newcomers to tabletop roleplaying. Since this will be 
> their introduction to the genre, I'd like to make the campaign as 
> engaging and high-quality as possible, while keeping session length 
> short (two hours per week is asking a lot of busy music majors, so I'd 
> like to maximize their enjoyment-to-time ratio as much as possible). 
> I've run campaigns before, but none trying to meet standards this high.
> 
> Does anyone have advice on how to make this happen? What kinds of 
> plots/adventures might you recommend in this scenario? Any hints on 
> fostering in-character interactions among the group, while also 
> providing interesting challenges to overcome? Tricks to help a group 
> stay focused on the game? How to manage logistics and prepare for
> sessions?
> 
> Your wisdom is valued and appreciated!
> 
> - Meg
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