From: eebonar@sn01.sncc.lsu.edu (Dave Bonar)
Subject: Re: Newbie System?
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Reply-To: eebonar@sn01.sncc.lsu.edu
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Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 14:22:36 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.014129.13498@jade.tufts.edu>, gharris@jade.tufts.edu (George W. Harris) writes...
>In article <1992Oct8.211814.7362@ncsu.edu> jmkaraka@eos.ncsu.edu (JOHN MARTIN KARAKASH) writes:
>>
>>|>Which system would you recommend to someone who had decided they wanted to
>>|>try Role-Playing? The game should be suitable for whole groups of Newbies
>>|>to learn on their own without the guidance of Role-Playing Gurus. What do
>>|>you see as the dominant criteria for a Newbie RPG?

>>	Naahhh.  What if someone doesn't LIKE Star Wars (the universe, that is).

	That's my biggest problem with many of the suggestions in this
thread.  Teenagers from Outerspace, Toon and Paranoia are games that people
tend to either like or hate.  If someone had tried to introduce me to 
role playing through Toon I would have dropped the hobby forever.  Unless
everyone in the new group wanted to try such a genre I'd opt for a more
standerd game.  I'd probably even vear away from Star Wars for the same
reason.  Its heavily laden with a specific background.  If someone doesn't
like the Star Wars universe they won't be happy to game there.

>>Though I may be prejudiced, I would suggest GURPS and any one supplement that
>>happens to strike their fancy.  D6's only, two-tier combat system with lots
>>of OPTIONAL rules that can be added when the players are more experienced, and
>>of course the benefit of having TONS & TONS of other supplements when they get
>>bored of their first choice.

	If they can find a moderately experienced person to GM I'd say
GURPS is a great choice.  Even with a new GM it isn't a bad choice.  Its
easy to start with a pared down system and later add the more advance, special
case rules.

>	GURPS for a newbie?  I think not.  What if they don't think that their
>character must have a high stat to be good in skills, as you are forced to 
>think in GURPS?  What if they are unfamiliar with the character creation 
>system and create grossly inefficient, and therefore ineffective, and there-
>fore (we ARE talking newbies here) unfun characters?  GURPS requires far too
>much handholding in character creation to be a game for newbies without the
>guidance of Role-Playing Gurus, unless the newbies in question are accontants.

	Actually, that's the beauty of introducing a whole new group of
people to role playing.  If everyone is starting out basically even it 
doesn't matter!  Why are inefficient characters unfun?  If the newbies 
really get the idea of role playing it won't matter if their characters
aren't the most tightly designed in existence.  After they play a while
and learn more about the system they might look at their characters and
decide they need to be rewriten.  Oh well, maybe starting out new and
not worrying about maximizing designs will help keep them from always worrying
about making the perfect character.

Dave
__________
Dave Bonar
eebonar@lsuvax.sncc.lsu.edu
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Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc