I've got a group of three, maybe four people and we're completely new. What's the best and quickest way to start with the starter set without finding other people? Is playing through The Lost Mines Of Phandelver and looking things up in the rules while doing so an option? Because I think that'll ruin the experience. It offers a lot if information at once. I've read through most of it now and will do so again but what's the most efficient way of starting with the set?
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\$\begingroup\$ Related: How do I learn to become a good GM? \$\endgroup\$– mxyzplkCommented Nov 21, 2015 at 2:45
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\$\begingroup\$ Related. And about playing a module with less than 4 people, this answer might help. It's a different module, but the spirit of the answer is the same. \$\endgroup\$– daze413Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 3:09
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Is playing through The Mines Of Phandelver (hope I got that right) and looking things up in the rules while doing so an option?
The Lost Mines of Phandelver starts out relatively simple, specifically for beginners, so don't worry.
My group had several new players. Here's what we did, and it worked well.
Prior to the First Session
- A couple players read the rules pretty thoroughly (...for fun).
- Everyone comfortable with making their own characters did so; everyone else chose prebuilt characters from the starter set box.
- The DM read the first bits of the starter set adventure to get a feel for how to run the game and the first few encounters.
- I wrote up a brief introductory email with an overview of the rules (I'm not sure everyone actually read it, which is fine).
- I also printed up a few copies of a cheat sheet we made up, which we used for the first couple sessions.
During Sessions
When rule questions came up, the DM made snap decisions that seemed fair and interesting. We looked up the actual rules later. This didn't break up the flow of the game and worked just fine.
It doesn't matter if you don't get all the rules right, so long as everyone is having fun and things don't grind to a halt.
answered Nov 21, 2015 at 5:31
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4\$\begingroup\$ +\inf for your last sentence. \$\endgroup\$– nitsua60 ♦Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 12:38
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1\$\begingroup\$ I really like the cheat sheet. It's straightforward, but has the essentials. I would recommend adding a mention of bonus actions in though, since they appear in quite a few class abilities (clerics are an obvious example). \$\endgroup\$– LadifasCommented Dec 22, 2017 at 0:17
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1\$\begingroup\$ That cheat sheet is great! I went over the rules for the various things they can do and the various rolls they make at the start of last session, since they seemed a bit confused (and definitely didn't want to have to read the rulebook); I'll probably print out that sheet for them so they have something they can reference as they play! \$\endgroup\$– V2BlastCommented Dec 24, 2017 at 7:25