For the past few years, I've been introducing new people to roleplaying games, although the games have mostly been one-shots. Tomorrow, I'm going to start running the Hell's Rebels Pathfinder Campaign for some new players.
1. Always Experiment With One New Element
There's a Sci-fi novel I read a while back where the US designs a futuristic warship, but the ship has problems because they add too many new pieces of technology at once. It becomes difficult for the technicians on the ship to figure out where the problems stem from - they retrospectively wish that only one new piece of technology was included rather than many.
In that respect, I like to add one new house rule or element to a gaming system at a time. So far my favorites have been: Hero points, Massive Damage Rules, and Health Potion Effect Reduction.
This game I'll be experimenting with a new piece of technology: Syrinscape Sound player.
Syrinscape is a company that creates roleplaying music and sounds specific to the campaign you're playing. You can use the prebuilt sound sets or create your own.
2. Quash Excessive Silliness Before It Becomes A Problem
I've noticed over the years that D&D games have become sillier and sillier. It's almost like being part of an improv troupe, where everyone is trying to get the biggest laugh. I've sought to bring a sense of real drama to new players because the best and funniest moments are born from real drama.
I've found that the root of the constant silliness is simply that the players aren't yet comfortable having a dramatic dialogue in character - making a joke is easier than being serious.
With new players, I try to quash the overwhelming need to be funny by helping them get comfortable with the character ahead of time, and then making sure that they know the stakes are real (more on stakes later).
To start making the players comfortable, build the character with them, making sure that they're not power gaming, and forcing a flawed stat on all of them. For Pathfinder I use a rolling system for stats - Each player gets a free 18 and a free 8. All other stat rolls are D10 + 6. This method gives them above average characters, plus a flaw/strength stat.
After the character is made I ask them a few specific questions to help them understand how their character might respond in certain situations. It says here your character, a tiefling can heal 1D6 points of damage per day, by eating flesh.
Cannibalistic healing is, of course, a strange and unique ability. How did your character discover this talent? How does he feel about it? Who else knows he can do this? etc.
I also find that doing a short test run of some in character dialogue with positive feedback can set the stage for a better role-playing session.
3. Make the Stakes Real
To create heroic moments, players need to feel like their characters could die. Without the fear of death - there is no need for courage.
To make the stakes real, I use severe damage rules: If a player takes 50% Hit Point damage in one shot, they roll a fortitude save. If they fail, they are instantly reduced to zero hit points and must roll on a chart to see what severe damage they take: lose an eye, a finger, an arm, a leg, a hand, a foot, etc.
Another rule I use is that healing potions do max healing but reduce effectiveness by half for each taken in a 24 hour period.
For Example: If a player took four Cure Light Wounds Potions in a 24 hour period: The first heals 8, next heals 4, next heals 2, then 1. Healing potions also heal faster, but scars remain. Imagine the natural healing process sped up - you're fine, but there's still a scar.
4. Choose a Flexible Campaign
After reading through a number of the Pathfinder Campaigns - I finally settled on Hell's Rebels - here's Paizo's description:
The city of Kintargo has a new lord-mayor, but he's not someone interested in maintaining that city's free spirit. Paracount Barzillai Thrune has placed the city under martial law, and his cruel proclamations and sinister plans for the city bode ill. Can a small group of heroes and would-be rebels stand against the might of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune and the Church of Asmodeus and save their home town from being crushed under the boot of an infernal tyrant? Will one of Cheliax's most powerful inquisitors make the city his playground, or can the rebels known as the Silver Ravens rise up to bring a new era of freedom to the so called Silver City of Kintargo? Join the rebellion! Save Kintargo! DOWN WITH THRUNE!
What I love about this campaign is that while it's a linear story, there are sandbox elements in the story. For example, in this adventure, they're creating a rebellion and having people join to cause chaos in the devil-centric city.
Having a flexible story, like Hell's Rebels, allows the players to feel like they're not just fighting big-bads but also creating something lasting in the world and affecting things outside of their direct line of sight.
I hope you can use these tips next time you're bringing newbies into the game or simply trying to improve your regular group.
Thanks for Reading,
Decimus
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