I am finally playing a ttrpg again. I am running a d&d campaign for 4 students in the high school drama club. They are all new to RPGs and it has been super fun teaching them to play. I went to high school with one of their father and he played in my games back then.
Drama students would be fun to run for. It's a great way for them to practice all kinds of useful skills. What kind of game are you running for them? What are they playing?
DND 5e in a world of my own making. Although after we started i realized i should have used Pathfinder, a system i have wanted to learn myself.
There are 4 of them, one had to drop. Wood elf ranger, war forged monk, changeling rogue, and a kenku bard (whoo always fails his stealth rolls, and has the greatest excuses for the failures).
Pathfinder 2e is great, but the crunch can be a bit much for some kids' first foray into RPGs. 5e has more mass appeal for sure. That sounds like a fun group! Are you playing a published adventure or going full homebrew?
I am starting them with the book that contains the lost mines of phandelver. I am modifying it to fit into my world. I have always loved it as a starting adventure. The group just made it to level 2 and they were so excited.
Nice, LMOP is a good starting adventure for sure. Those first couple levels are always a big deal in 5e since some classes don't even get all their stuff until they hit level 3. That's why I usually started new campaigns at level 3 or 4 when I ran 5e. Now since I'm playing PF2e I can get away with starting at first level since all classes get their subclass right away.
I did consider starting at level 3, but I wanted them to have the joy of attaining those levels. Were they experienced, I would have started them at level 2 at least.
Yeah. I remember the first time I ran for new players, one of the biggest challenges is that any class which chooses its subclass after level 1 can be really jarring for a player who didn't realize that the choice was coming. I distinctly recall a player who chose barbarian because it seemed simple and then felt choice paralysis when she hit level 2 and felt like she had to choose from all of the available options. Anyone who's played a decent amount of 5e knows the system basically forces you to plan at least the first 3 levels before you even start, but that's not an obvious thing for new players.
I agree, but it offloads most of the crunchiness and complexity to the GM. Particularly at low level, there's very little for the players to keep track of.