After last month’s escapades I’ve been interested in setting aside a couple of games for my new brother-in-law. I’ve been ruminating on setting and play style trying to figure out how best bring him into the fold.

Over the weekend I found an exciting new opportunity, I got to introduce a young geek to the joys of roleplaying.  My new brother-in-law came by on Sunday to hang out with us, and I convinced him (with no arm twisting at all) to join my Savage Worlds game.  As a 15 year old kid he [...]

The new player’s first session with the new group has concluded, and everyone is packing up to go home. Here’s how to finish up his first session.

You’ve done everything to get to know the new player and make him as comfortable as possible, but now the time has come to start playing. Everyone jumps in, becomes their characters, and the dice start rolling. But, of course, the new player is silent and uninvolved. What do you do?

There are three parts of the game that must be introduced to a new player: the setting, what the players do, and the rules. The first two have to be discussed with the new player before they make character choices. The rules, though shouldn’t be discussed until afterward. Remember, your goal is to give them what they absolutely need to know, but not overwhelm them. There is a lot to learn.

Alright, so you’ve discussed the basics of the setting, and it’s time to create a character for the newcomer. Whatever you do, do not just open the book to the character creation rules and say, “What do you wan to play.” He doesn’t know, and he’ll feel very stupid for not knowing.