Topic: Slowly introducing the system

[Ginger McMurray]

I'm thinking of putting together a very short one shot to show some new players how the system works. I'd give them 5th level pregens and cover the following things in a series of rail-roaded scenes. They'll know in advance what the goal of the session is, and if it wins them over we can spend the rest of the evening making characters. And now, the questions:

• How have you done this in the past?
• What should I cover?
  
  • skill rolls
  • Attacking and critical hits
  • Magic system
  • What else?
• What's a good way to intro things?
  
  • skill rolls: finding the place can navigation (static), perception (static or opposed), scouting is stalk & hide (opposed) and maybe ambush (special). I could throw climbing in there somewhere for moving maneuvers to indicate armor. 
  • Attacking and critical hits: combat vs. a few orcs. A round or two of swinging at each other followed by explaining what parry is and how it works.
  • Magic system: they find an item that teaches them each one spell list, then have another fight against something with crit reduction vs. non-magic, making spells useful. I'd want to do it through an item so they don't have to figure out how spells work while also figuring out OB vs. DB.

Questions? Comments? Rotten fruit?

I don't want to overload them. RM can be daunting. It can also be one of the greatest games ever.

Edit to add: I'll probably use a Five Room Dungeon for the framework, making things very linear.

[Hurin]

Yes, I would definitely start with capable pregens, since the character building process is the most daunting of all aspects of Rolemaster for new players. I too start at level 5, because if you start too low the characters are not very capable and that is a recipe for frustration.

Let them start off playing, then later once they have seen how the game works, you can walk them through how to make a character.

[Ginger McMurray]

Another good thing about starting at level 5 is that it allows me to show them the classes of spells. Instantaneous ones happen immediately, 3 rounds for 3rd-5th, two for the rest. Unless they risk spell failure to go faster or higher level.

[Spectre771]

I do the same thing when introducing new players to RM.  I have a bunch of 5th level PCs for them to choose from, but I do not include spell users.  I like them to learn the mechanics of the game before bringing in spells and all that goes with them.  Depending on the number of intro sessions you're going to do, I follow progressing difficulty.

Session I:
- Simple goblin raid on their camp as the party is making their way to a town.  # Baddies =  #PC s - 2   This will allow the party to get combat and initiatives, learn the importance of positioning.  At least one player should be able to get a back attack bonus on a goblin.  Maybe introduce them to the importance of Stunned Maneuver.

Session II:
- A human NPC tries to rob them in town.  This introduces Sense Ambush Assassin, General Perception, Stalk/Hide if they want to follow the person who stole from them.  Conversely, you can have the PCs do the Stalking and Hiding as they try to get an item from an NPC.  This will introduce the non-combat skill and opposed skill rolls.

Session III:
- The party is hired by the town leader and sent out to find out why the travelers from the main road have stopped arriving for over a day.  A group of goblins with an orc captain have felled trees across the road and are raiding travelers.  The PCs will have to deal with cover bonuses, navigating the barriers, fighting larger numbers, parrying, missile weapons.  The party should have to gang up on the orc captain to try for flank and back attacks.

Session IV: If you have the time or desire, the party is sent to investigate why the orcs and goblins are making such blatant attacks on such a busy road, why they seem to be organized so well.  They party can use the Streetwise skills, Tracking, Read Tracks, Outdoor skills, etc. to find the core group of orcs which is led by a low level spell user.  The party will have to deal with a few orcs and a spell user.  The party can get their first taste of magic and some heavier hitting baddies.

[Ginger McMurray]

I do the same thing when introducing new players to RM.  I have a bunch of 5th level PCs for them to choose from, but I do not include spell users.  I like them to learn the mechanics of the game before bringing in spells and all that goes with them.  Depending on the number of intro sessions you're going to do, I follow progressing difficulty.

That's a good idea. I only have one session to do it, so leaving the magic out is probably best. Maybe the last foe they face can be a dark mage or cleric of 7th or 8th level. That would give an idea of how spell timing works without having to explain it enough for them to use it.

Another person in the group has offered to run "the wacky space game I made up in college named Goldfish." That sounds like a painful experience to me and I'm hoping to get the group hooked on RM instead.

[Spectre771]

As long as you get them to experience the really important aspects of the game.  Parry, positioning in combat, Stunned maneuver, opposed rolls, initiatives, finally spell timing and spell interruption.  Sense Ambush Assassin is really huge in our game.  As long as they get the feel for what skills you are going to ask for during an average session, they'll have a better idea of what skills they should buy when they make their own PCs

[Ginger McMurray]

Sense Ambush Assassin is really huge in our game.

We always used General Perception for that. We tended to keep the needed skills list as small as possible in order to free up points for secondary skills people may be interested in but would never buy if everything they had was going into "gotta gets."

[Jengada]

For years, I've always started new characters with a solo adventure, regardless of player experience. In my most recent campaign incarnation, I had one player totally new to fantasy roleplaying and everyone else new to Rolemaster, but familiar with other systems. When I put those adventures together, part of the goal is the list Spectre listed. I don't worry about introducing all of the mechanics for all characters/players, but I focus on those most relevant to the character's skills. I've never had a problem with players getting overwhelmed by anything but character creation, the rest they catch very quickly.

[Ginger McMurray]

That's a great idea! Unfortunately we game once a month and there's 7 players. It would take half a year to do the solo adventures. I'll definitely have long online chats with anyone who picks a spellcaster. And short ones with everyone else.

[Spectre771]

I've never had a problem with players getting overwhelmed by anything but character creation, the rest they catch very quickly.

Amen to that! 

That's a great idea! Unfortunately we game once a month and there's 7 players. It would take half a year to do the solo adventures. I'll definitely have long online chats with anyone who picks a spellcaster. And short ones with everyone else.

You can run solo adventures with the group for the first meeting.  This will give all players a chance to see how different skills and mechanics work by observing other PCs go through the motions when it's not their turn.   You can make each mini-adventure part of the backstory explaining why the entire group is adventuring together.  It's more fun than "OK, you meet up in a tavern..."

When we started our annual weekend game session, the first meeting, I had a solo adventure for each player to give them their backstory and the reason for all of them to be together.  At the end of the first night, they were level 5 and all had a good reason to be together on the adventure.   I leveled them up after each scene.  Each scene was designed to introduce them to different aspects of the game and only lasted about a half hour each.  However, I had an entire weekend and only five players.  Saturday morning, we started the main campaign, everyone was level 5, and  they all had a good reason to be adventuring together.  There's no reason you couldn't work that into your session.  The initial session gives everyone their mini-adventure ending with a reason to be together and your next month's session starts the campaign proper.

[Ginger McMurray]

That would work.

How did you structure the scenes to introduce the system pieces at a time? The more specifics the better as I may want to steal your ideas whole hog and massage them to match my starting story line. 

[Spectre771]

That would work.

How did you structure the scenes to introduce the system pieces at a time? The more specifics the better as I may want to steal your ideas whole hog and massage them to match my starting story line. 

I can send you a PM or post here if others are interested?  I don't want to load this post with a massive reply if it's not wanted here.

[Jengada]

That would work.

How did you structure the scenes to introduce the system pieces at a time? The more specifics the better as I may want to steal your ideas whole hog and massage them to match my starting story line. 

I can send you a PM or post here if others are interested?  I don't want to load this post with a massive reply if it's not wanted here.

I am always interested in how others start off new players and characters, so I say post it here. It's the thread subject, after all.

[Ginger McMurray]

That would work.

How did you structure the scenes to introduce the system pieces at a time? The more specifics the better as I may want to steal your ideas whole hog and massage them to match my starting story line. 

Anyone who doesn't want to read it probably knows how to scroll.

I can send you a PM or post here if others are interested?  I don't want to load this post with a massive reply if it's not wanted here.

[Spectre771]

I had to dig up my notes on these mini-quests.  Each of these scenes was meant to be quick and easy and to demonstrate skills each PC should probably invest in based on the profession.  At the end of each scene, the PC leveled up.   Calculating XP was irrelevant as I just wanted the PC to be level 5 for the start of the campaign the next morning.  I had five players, one was new to gaming and only had very little D&D experience, three were experienced D&D players and had a few sessions of RM but nothing in depth, and one had only played RM so I didn't really need to run her through the mini-quests.

Albert is an Outrider which is an advanced scout/military infiltration specialist (Arms Companion)
Baker is a standard Rogue
Charlie is an Indurate which is a shock trooper.  Think of what a Bashkar is to a Barbarian... Indurate is to Fighter (Arms Companion)
David is an Elemental Summoner  (Elemental Companion)
Evelyn is a Leader (RMC-IV)

Albert
Level 1:  Foraging to add to mother's herb supply, looking for healing herbs.  Draaf.  Small pack of wolf cubs and a weakened wolf mother. Hearing Perception or General Perception, Herb Lore, Region Lore, Sense Ambush Assassin, First Aid.  Hears someone (PC Baker) injured from the mother wolf.  Mother wolf not present, but probably very close by.  Use the herbs to heal Baker and head back to town.  The important lesson is that not every confrontation in RM is meant to be fought, some should be avoided.

Level 2:  Albert is approached by a member of the "Guild."  The presence of a Thieves Guild has neither been confirmed nor denied.  Albert must swipe an item from a tavern at one end of town and get to a tavern at the other end of town.  Albert doesn't know how many participants there are or who they are.  Albert cannot get caught or he is eliminated.  Stalk/Hide, Disguise, Diplomacy, Acting, Sprinting, Hide Item.  This was a really fun portion of the night.  Albert was trying to sneak out of the kitchen and fumbled, he ended up knocking over the tray of dirty dishes and tankards and drew the attention of everyone to him.   A lot of ad lib and improv occurred. 

Level 3:  "The Confluence of the Five Banners"  Albert is a member of a small army and needs to assist with infiltration.  There are five bands of mercs fighting over some land and a small mine.  Two armies vs. two armies, with the 5th army teetering to either side.  If either side can get the 5th army, it will turn the tide of battle.  Albert needs to infiltrate one group with false documents and to swipe the genuine documents then get back out.  Hide Item, Falsification, Disguise, Military Organization, Heraldry, Stalk/Hide, Distance Running, Riding, Locate Secret Opening, Pick Locks.

Level 4:  Albert is enjoying a nice quiet life in a northern village and is given a message from his mercenary guild.  Albert is to head to West Port City to infiltrate and to gather info on the forces who have taken over the port town.  This is a setup as certain elements in the Guild want Albert dead.  Albert is captured and held in a Warehouse with other 'uncooperative' townsfolk.  Albert tries to rally the captives to fight back as they outnumber their captors 3 to 1.  Charlie is also held in this warehouse.  Disguise, Acting, Stalk/Hide, Diplomacy, Public Speaking, Leadership.

Level 5: The group is freed by Baker and the townsfolk rally to help a group of heroes who have entered the town to liberate it.  (This is a another group of PCs who came into this town to liberate it.  What is happening here, occurred behind the scenes of the original gaming group.  Think of Back to the Future where the sand bags fall on the bad guy and Marty has no idea why, how, or who helped him.)  The occupying force has a War Troll under their sway and the main battle is vs. the War Troll.  The recently freed party is fighting the forces who are trying to stop the heroes.  Combat skills, Stunned Maneuver, Tactics, combat positioning bonuses, parry, combat vs. Large Creature, etc.

Baker
Level 1:  Baker heads out into the woods to practice his Stalk/Hide skills.  He wants to sneak up on an animal to test his abilities.  He stumbles upon a group of wolf cubs, but can't find the mother.  The mother attacks but it is weakened from having just given birth, however, it's still to powerful for a level 1 PC.  Baker is wounded and the mother wolf stops attacking as it senses another human approaching (Albert).  Stalk/Hide, Read Tracks, Tracking, Sense Ambush, General Perception, Hearing Perception, some combat.  The start of a beautiful friendship!

Level 2:  Baker is approached by a member of the Guild.  A being of his skills would be a benefit to the Guild.  There is a contest where a dupe is chosen and the true Guild pledge has to assist the dupe to win the contest.  The dupe in this scene is Albert.  The stipulation is that the dupe cannot know he is being helped.  Baker will win the contest if his dupe makes it from one tavern to one at the other end of town with an item.  Other pledges will be trying to stop the opposing dupes from succeeding.  Stalk/Hide, Tracking, General Perception, Sense Ambush, Detect Traps, Set Traps, Subduing, Ambush.

Level 3:  "The Confluence of the Five Banners"  Albert and Baker find they work very well together.  Each one seems to be in the right place at the right time and they feel it is serendipity and their luck always seems to work for the better.  Where Albert is a member of one of the armies, Baker is a freelancer.  Albert passes on the info to Baker to let him know what is happening.  Baker goes ahead to sneak in while Albert tries the infiltration approach by commandeering an opposing army uniform.  Baker is caught and is hauled into camp in chains and Albert witnesses it.  Albert helps Baker escape.  Stalk/Hide, Lock Picks, Locate Secret Opening, Riding, Sprinting.

Level 4:  Baker's friend Albert is sent to a small port town to infiltrate but becomes worried when there is no message from Albert for a few days.  Baker sneaks into town as a work-gang member, then infiltrates the town by working with the occupying force.  Entertains, serves food, tends to the prisoners.  Finds Albert, and subsequently Charlie, and helps to facilitate the escape.  Stalk/Hide, Disguise, Public Speaking, Acting, Poetic Improvisation, Seduction, Hide Item, Pick Pockets, Signalling, Lip Reading.

Level 5:  The band of heroes comes into town and in the chaos, Baker frees the captives in the warehouses.  Lock Pick, combat skills, combat position bonuses, parry, combat vs. Large Creature, Ambush, Stalk/Hide.

[Ginger McMurray]

I had to dig up my notes on these mini-quests.  Each of these scenes was meant to be quick and easy and to demonstrate skills each PC should probably invest in based on the profession.  At the end of each scene, the PC leveled up.   Calculating XP was irrelevant as I just wanted the PC to be level 5 for the start of the campaign the next morning.  I had five players, one was new to gaming and only had very little D&D experience, three were experienced D&D players and had a few sessions of RM but nothing in depth, and one had only played RM so I didn't really need to run her through the mini-quests.

Nice! Thank you.

[Spectre771]

Charlie
Level 1: Part of a military family, father only, mother died at birth.  Currently a squire learning to fight and ways of the military.  Participates in a mock battle with other squires.  A 'capture the flag' type game in the woods.  Tactics, Stalk/Hide, Athletic Games, Brawling, Tracking, Sprinting, Sense Ambush/Assassin, Leadership, Military Organization, Sparring Crit Table, Stunned Maneuver, Signalling.

Level 2: Meets wife and settles in West Port Town.  The main road to the city has been blockaded and his group has been tasked to break the blockade.  An orc captain and a dozen or so goblins set up a double road block with felled trees.  Although outnumbered, taking out the captain will cause the goblins to rout.  Tactics is most important here, knowing that taking out the leader will cause the underlings to rout.Tactics, combat, Military Organization, Parry, Stunned Maneuver, Reverse Stroke.

Level 3: "Confluence of the Five Banners"  Charlie is older now and this is the last great battle for him.  Sway the 5th army to side with his armies, break the stalemate, then retire and enjoy life with his wife.  Charlie works with Albert to infiltrate, unknowingly works with Baker as well.  The information is returned to Charlie and the final assault is made.  Medium sized combat, positioning, tactics, Stunned Maneuver, Reverse Stroke, Signalling.

Level 4:  Retired life in the port town.  Occupying force comes in and overwhelms the town.  Charlie's wife is knocked off the dock in a scuffle as Charlie is being overpowered.  Wife drowns and Charlie is locked in the warehouse.  Charlie is helpless to save his wife and the man who pushed her over just laughs as she drowns. Brawling, Stunned Maneuver, Combat., Sign Language, Lip Reading, Leadership.

Level 5: Baker is able to free the captives when the party of heroes come into town.  Charlie goes for the Grinning Fat B*****d who pushed his wife into the ocean but he's on one of the ships.  The War Troll pushes the ship from the docks and GFB gets away.  As he sails off, GFB locks eyes with Charlie and just smiles at him.  Battle ensues.  Combat skills, combat vs. Large Creature and Large Creature Crit tables.

David
Level 1:  As part of the Neophyte's tasks, David is to collect spider silk for rune papers.  The spider young are about 3' to 4' in size, the bigger the spider, the better the silk and the less time spent in the woods.  Tracking, Sense Ambush, Read Tracks, Fauna Lore, Region Lore, Poison Perception, Use/Remove Poison, First Aid, simple fight until David is bit and is poisoned.

Level 2: Apprentice to a 'slightly eccentric' mentor.  Mentor wanders off and is injured in a bog area.  Mentor is seduced by a will-o-wisp.  David needs to rescue the mentor.  Tracking, Sense Ambush, First Aid, Herb Lore, combat, RR vs. fear.

Level 3:  "Confluence of the Five Banners"  Members from one of the armies hire some mages from the Tor Scholastica (The Mage academy).  The eccentric mentor is one who offers to help. The army hopes that summoning some elemental creatures will help turn the tide of battle.  During a small side battle, David gets to use his spell lists.  Summoning Wispling, combat with wispling, Stunned Maneuver, Tactics, spell usage.

Level 4:  The force occupying West Port town is working on something to do with elementals and elemental magic.  Any mage who could possibly help is being hired or kidnapped and forced to work with the invaders.  There is something special about the caves near West Port.  The eccentric mentor is hired and goes off.  David, as the apprentice follows but is very suspicious.  While in the town, there is an explosion in the cave and very few people stagger back to town.  The mentor is among the dead.  David explores the cave and discovers the carnage and starts to look for clues about what was happening.  When he protests (and because he's such a low level spell caster) he is locked up in the warehouse.  General Perception, Runes, Magical Languages, Magic Ritual, Attunement, Spell Casting.

Level 5:  The party of heroes comes into town to liberate it.  During the chaos, the occupying force sets fire to the warehouses of captives to eliminate witnesses and to cover their escape.  David gets free and joins the battle for the town.  Spell casting, combat, combat positioning, combat vs. Large Creatures.

[Majyk]

Way to go, Spectre.

Kudos on breaking it up like a job’s employee manual - truly, nicely done!

The biggest intro I know of is a Dwarven Arena pitting everyone else against one another.
Not only do they get to see how they fare, with their own skill abilities, but the wrath of a normally friendly PC!

Make sure to start folks one or two RUNNING(x2 BMR)/SPRINTING(x3 BMR) round’s worth apart so ranged foes and spellcasters get off a single shot/spell or two before the melee machines grind them up.

Roll initiative in reverse order(lowest has to show up first) and let the players pick where they enter the arena, being equidistantly apart.

Be sure to play up the crowd of Dwarves that raucously chant, but more importantly, shoot crossbows at folks(always causing a few HP of damage - even crits! - to get the point across, if turtling)!

[Ginger McMurray]

Thanks all! I asked the players what classes they'd like to play and will make 5th level pregens. I'll run them through a 5-room dungeon to introduce mechanics. The session will work as a prequel to what their actual characters do. It'll be set 5 years before the main campaign and gives some background info on the region and current conflict.

[Spectre771]

Way to go, Spectre.

Kudos on breaking it up like a job’s employee manual - truly, nicely done!

Thank you!    Honestly, that part wore me out.  I essentially made 20 gaming sessions in addition to the actual campaign story line. I wanted each PC to be invested in finding this group of baddies, not so much the group of PCs just being lumped together arbitrarily.  The Outrider served with the Indurate in a war.  The Rogue had been saved by the Outrider at an early age and they worked well together.  The Rogue had saved the Outrider a couple of times.  The Indurate had to watch his wife drown while the baddie just laughed.  The spell user's mentor was killed, but he discovered some really intriguing magical activity in the blown-out cave.  One of the PCs is a dwarf, and most of the dead bodies in the cave were dwarfs.  So on and so on.  I had so much fun writing up all those back story adventures and tying everyone together!

I learned from my previous session that allowing 'new-to-RM' players just roll up a level 5 PC is terrible.  An experienced RM player, OK, but not one with the mindset of D&D creation where buying 1 rank of a skill means you automatically have it and it works all the time.  It takes forever, the player is overwhelmed, and the PC usually lacks all of the important skills, and has extremely low values for existing skills, a-la "I bought one rank in Swimming, therefore I can swim now."

The biggest intro I know of is a Dwarven Arena pitting everyone else against one another.
Not only do they get to see how they fare, with their own skill abilities, but the wrath of a normally friendly PC!

Make sure to start folks one or two RUNNING(x2 BMR)/SPRINTING(x3 BMR) round’s worth apart so ranged foes and spellcasters get off a single shot/spell or two before the melee machines grind them up.

Roll initiative in reverse order(lowest has to show up first) and let the players pick where they enter the arena, being equidistantly apart.

Be sure to play up the crowd of Dwarves that raucously chant, but more importantly, shoot crossbows at folks(always causing a few HP of damage - even crits! - to get the point across, if turtling)!

I love this idea!  Especially the part with the lowest initiative entering the arena first.  I'm not going to allow weapons in the audience, but there will be Dwarfen Battle Biscuits.  Dwarfs love bring fresh baked biscuits to battle.  If they run out of ammo, they can hurls the biscuits at the enemy.  Not once have the words "Yummm.. I need to get me some of that fine dwarfen cuisine!" ever been uttered.  I'm sure there would be a biscuit seller or two in the crowd.