This weekend, my wife has agreed to let me run D&D 5e for her and my son. She's historically been uninterested in gaming, but seeing my passion for 5e has gotten her mildly interested.

She's played other times but always quit before the end of a session. She loves scifi and fantasy TV and movies, but gaming never grabbed her.

I'll have all day Saturday (from waking up until bedtime- it's a family day) to make her a fan.

I'm good at improvising, but I was hoping maybe the board would have some suggestions on hooking her. I'd like to show her the wonder and magic of the game, and hopefully give her something that makes her want to keep playing. Any ideas for villains, hooks, quests, caveats...ANYTHING will help.

Should I start them at 1st level, or higher to give her a chance to truly be a member of her class?

Here's a bit about her and our family:

-She's a real fan of magic (she loves Charmed and Witches of East End), and will likely be playing a Tiefling Warlock or other arcane caster.

-She grew up in a cult, and hates manipulative religious figures. I might be using this for a villain.

-As a family, we all love both Avatar series on Nickelodeon, though we favor the original.

Thanks in advance.

Starting off at level 1 where you are more vulnerable can be exciting to some. Especially the seeing the character grow and survive from there.

One suggestion. Have some form of recovery magic prepped in the background in case her character gets offed by the first kobold. It doesnt have to be hand holding. The surviving characters may need to haul her back to town. But it should be an option if you are more focused on garnering her attention than driving it off. (unless thats what vexed her the other times.)

Start with something fairly straightforward but challenging. Perhaps the cult has kidnapped someones kid and they plead the PCs to save her. Thus leading to the first encounter with this organization. Possibly no one even knows its a cult. They might assume its slavers or whatever.

From there it can lead to other plots. Get the players enguaged in putting down this cult for whatever reasons they may have.

I would give her something exotic like a Dragonborn, Sorceror using Wild magic.

That way she'll have the breath attack to help out.  Plus the ranged spell attacks and can even hit a bit better with the enhanced strength.

Kit her out with a couple of CLW potions, as you don't want to kill a newbie's character to RPGs, it really turns them off.
Although ensure there's the illusion of danger there to keep the tension high.

I'd say eschew combat altogether. Forget any kind of dungeon exploration.

Women love social stuff so concentrate on that. Put them in a city, maybe new arrivals. Let them explore the city a bit then they see something. A princess drops a small bag by the wheel of her carriage and only the PC notices, something like that. When she gives the bag back to the princess she is thanked and invited to dinner at the mansion tonight.

At the dinner she meets several other noble women and gets into a discussion about the social order of the city, in other words, gossip about the rich. Drop hints about plot points from there. X might be having an affair. Y is wealthy but no one knows how. Z disobeys her mother and trains as a mage. And so on.

Download and printout pictures of the city, make a map of it. Print pictures of the princess and others the PCs meet. Toss in small magic stuff: candles that light with a snap of the fingers, dinner plates that levitate, ice cubes that don't melt. Maybe the butlers are all gnomes.

Remember: gossip, gossip, gossip. Not everything in the kingdom has to be decided by a weapon, test of arms and death. Proving that a Count is boffing the Duchess can be just as devastating.

You get the picture. Expand it from there. But then I know nothing about your wife. She may roll her eyes at such stuff.

Quote from: danskmacabre;786290Kit her out with a couple of CLW potions, as you don't want to kill a newbie's character to RPGs, it really turns them off.
Although ensure there's the illusion of danger there to keep the tension high.

Its not an illusion. I've lost characters with two or more healing potions on them simply because I was taken down so fast I never had a chance to use them. And in the case of the oft mentioned otter, was taken down and then to negative and DOA so even potions were useless.

Everyone has their own views on what amounts to danger.

Thanks for the advice so far.

Quote from: Doughdee222;786292You get the picture. Expand it from there. But then I know nothing about your wife. She may roll her eyes at such stuff.

I doubt she'd like high society and gossip (and my son would be bored), but i agree that social and exploration are the two things to emphasize. Thanks.

Quote from: Omega;786294Its not an illusion. I've lost characters with two or more healing potions on them simply because I was taken down so fast I never had a chance to use them. And in the case of the oft mentioned otter, was taken down and then to negative and DOA so even potions were useless.

Everyone has their own views on what amounts to danger.

Well I mean the illusion of danger in that you could fudge dice rolls so monsters don't hit as often etc..

Quote from: Monster Manuel;786296Thanks for the advice so far.



I doubt she'd like high society and gossip (and my son would be bored), but i agree that social and exploration are the two things to emphasize. Thanks.

Take the social city aspect, add some intrigue, make the relationship between your wife and kid as natural as possible.

Suggest, noble sorcerous  and loyal bodyguard. Noble family killed sorceress fled but bing hunted. This means you can bring in hunters if the action slows and your kid gets bored and you add an external threat and a mystery so you can lever it to increase the pace whenever you need to.

Add some intrigue with a way she has to prove her family's innocence, regain their honor etc .

Whilst fleeing get them involved with some roguish city types, outlaws with a heart of gold types, maybe even a charming trickerster who could provide a little romance and also deliver the in character realisation that their noble life was exceptional and there is a mass of poor folks. This will enable her to see that RPGs aren't just kill things and take their stuff but can be used to explore society, relationships etc but at the same time if the thread gets dull or she isn't interested you can fade it back out really easily and concentrate on the adventure.

Most importantly include a chase scene across the rooftops where the two of them can be real badasses and do cool stuff.

Rather than assume women, or your wife, wants something specific. Why not sit her down and say "Hey, you re trying this again, and I'd like to make it fun. What would you like to see as challenges/enemies/interests in play?"

Quote from: Silverlion;786321Rather than assume women, or your wife, wants something specific. Why not sit her down and say "Hey, you re trying this again, and I'd like to make it fun. What would you like to see as challenges/enemies/interests in play?"

I agree with this. It will help you make an adventure, and shouldn't detract from any mystery or awesomeness.

Quote from: Silverlion;786321Rather than assume women, or your wife, wants something specific. Why not sit her down and say "Hey, you re trying this again, and I'd like to make it fun. What would you like to see as challenges/enemies/interests in play?"

Dangerous move.

it opens you up to the "if you really loved me you would know what sort of adventure/xmas present/colour of hat I would prefer" dilema....

that way madness lies.

Quote from: Silverlion;786321Rather than assume women, or your wife, wants something specific. Why not sit her down and say "Hey, you re trying this again, and I'd like to make it fun. What would you like to see as challenges/enemies/interests in play?"

I've tried this. She doesn't analyze her preferences the way a lot of people in fandom do, and couldn't articulate them.

As for making assumptions based on the fact that she's a woman, I agree. My thoughts regarding social aspects and explorations refer back to the parts of the game that have personally given me the most enjoyment, and which seem to fit her tastes in genre fiction.

I think the trickier things with non-gamers (at least, those not from a videogame background) can be the level of violence. Takes some time to get desensitized so start out with less human adversaries, or at least people or things that are clearly bad.
Some sort of fantasy-movie-esque plot might be a plus, though I'd still avoid railroading - maybe some sort of smallish sandbox (e.g. islands are good) with hooks around for a couple of directions that could have world importance and a few interesting NPCs. Maybe with a magical or mysterious 'exploration' feel if you don't want really full-on social or combat - natural hazards, weird phenomena - perhaps start the PCs as strangers to the place and put it somewhere where any sort of character could be fitted in.

Give her total freedom to create the character she wants. If she's overwhelmed with the choices (God knows I sometimes am), you can have a pregen handy but if it was me I guess I'd rather help her choose and walk her through the process, since you literally have all day.

Other than that, well, just do your thing. The best way to make her at ease (anxiety is a big deal with some newbs) is to be at ease yourself. The best way to impress is doing what you do best. No frills, no attempts to write some epic opera rock fantasy thing. I'd go with something along the lines of Keep On The Borderlands or Village of Hommlet in terms of scope and opponents.

How about a story like this: Start the two characters off in their home town a day before they are scheduled to depart for the big city (perhaps with other NPCs who are childhood friends and acquaintances.) They have to say goodbye to their parents, siblings etc. This could take a while and provides the "social" aspect of the game. (Or start the game a week or so before, the PCs "graduate" from whatever local teacher they have and must move on if they are to improve in their class. They have to buy supplies from townsfolk they have know forever for the trip.)

The PCs join a caravan of merchants headed for the city. A day or so out they are parked in a village resting the horses when a local lord comes in to town with a couple guardsmen. He's in a panic. A horrible menace is approaching the village and due to arrive in a couple hours. Everyone has to mount a defense to save the village and all others in the area (thus the PC's home town is in danger too.) People arm themselves, fences hastily constructed etc. More social stuff as the PCs figure out their position in the defense and attempt to rally the villagers, the caravan merchants, etc. This too can burn several hours of play. (Heck, why not have the menace attack the home town? Thus the PCs are saving their loved ones.)

The menace arrives. It's nature is up to you but I suggest lots of small critters on a rampage. Hundreds of dog sized spiders for example. You can be vague on how many there are and just describe how the wave approaches. Some people flee immediately, others stand and fight valiantly. The village is swamped. The PCs can decide to stand and fight on the front line, maneuver back into the village as they hear screams of help, etc. Lots of people die but after hours of hairy battle the menace is defeated.

The lord congratulates everyone on the victory. The PCs feel good about saving various civilians, thinking up various ways to slaughter groups of the menace, proving their bravery to the lord (maybe saving his life) whatever. Whew! What an ordeal! The area is saved! Now the PCs have new choices to make: continue on to the city, help the lord check the defenses of his mansion, investigate the source of the menace, head back home to warn them of a possible attack, and so on.