What can plot do to help high level players contribute to the game?
- Thread starter James Trotta
- Start date
Avaran
Baron
You snuck the word "nobility" in there, Ben.
Ultimately, being a Noble doesn't equate to being "lowbie" or "newbie" friendly.
In my experience (and you know what that is, Ben), lowbies tend to hate nobles, or at the very least distrust them heavily; a large portion have that built into their background(s) either because a foul noble killed their family, or over-taxted them, or stole their crops, looked at them funny, was 'short' with them during a fight, yelled at them (usually during a fight), tried to order them around (usually during a fight), or was a Necromancer the whole time, etc.
Durnic
Knight
Well necromancer and noble both start with the letter "N". Coincidence? I think not!
I know that I, personally, will go out of my way in- and out-of-game to help new players. I enjoy it; that's why I suggested to the owner of Alliance Oregon that we have a New Player Representative position placed on staff. I will aways write into my backstory some reasoning for wanting to help new adventurers.
I know that I, personally, will go out of my way in- and out-of-game to help new players. I enjoy it; that's why I suggested to the owner of Alliance Oregon that we have a New Player Representative position placed on staff. I will aways write into my backstory some reasoning for wanting to help new adventurers.
Kasuni
Squire
(Please don't take the quotes as facetious - I think my version of "helping" sometimes consists more of just playing with them than teaching or helping, thus the quotes.)
One thing that I think sometimes gets lost in "helping new players" is that one of the biggest things you can do to "help" is just play with them. There are lots of people who will take them out on mods to show them combat - which is awesome! But taking the time to slow down and ask them what they're up to and who they are, rather than telling/teaching can also be great.
One event we had a new player in her first or second game who I went over and chatted with in the tavern. I took a look at what she was doing, and she was drawing this beautiful artistic depiction of the campaign continent as a map, copying it off the wall and making it better than the original. I asked if I could buy one and she offered it for free (I paid her 5 gold and convinced her to sell them instead - these are legit tiny pieces of art). She got a boost of confidence, sold a bunch of them, and now a bunch of the PCs in Seattle have stunning little maps in their notebooks from Kailin and are waiting to see her back at game (which... I hear a rumor we might see her back this coming weekend event for those of you who didn't get maps originally ;-) )
Anyway, just talking to new players (I.e. Playing the game with them) can be a great experience and you can learn what all they put into their back stories and all the neat things they're bringing to the larp.
One thing that I think sometimes gets lost in "helping new players" is that one of the biggest things you can do to "help" is just play with them. There are lots of people who will take them out on mods to show them combat - which is awesome! But taking the time to slow down and ask them what they're up to and who they are, rather than telling/teaching can also be great.
One event we had a new player in her first or second game who I went over and chatted with in the tavern. I took a look at what she was doing, and she was drawing this beautiful artistic depiction of the campaign continent as a map, copying it off the wall and making it better than the original. I asked if I could buy one and she offered it for free (I paid her 5 gold and convinced her to sell them instead - these are legit tiny pieces of art). She got a boost of confidence, sold a bunch of them, and now a bunch of the PCs in Seattle have stunning little maps in their notebooks from Kailin and are waiting to see her back at game (which... I hear a rumor we might see her back this coming weekend event for those of you who didn't get maps originally ;-) )
Anyway, just talking to new players (I.e. Playing the game with them) can be a great experience and you can learn what all they put into their back stories and all the neat things they're bringing to the larp.
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mikestrauss
Squire
I want to give an example of the best "new player assistance" I have ever experienced.
Back in roughly 2001-ish (Tannersville days of HQ), I was playing a 5th-6th level Celestial Templar (that was horribly inefficiently built). My buddy was playing a roughly equal level Earth Templar that was also reasonably inefficient. We reached the tavern and got attacked by roving NPCs. There was also at least one other PC on the tavern porch who wasn't particularly high level.
We were badly outmatched and using all of our resources, the terrain, and pure desperation to remain standing (all of us fell at least once during the battle). We tried yelling for help, but nobody in the tavern heard us (it was full of people). There was also one other person there, a NPC that had Hunter/Rider stats (yes, effectively a baby gryphon). He was a diplomat from another land that didn't particularly care for anyone from this land.
The fight raged hard for the better part of an hour (with basically no holds). The reason it lasted so long was the NPCs kept recycling lives at the tavern. And despite the fact that they actually waited about 1-2 minutes to recycle, we simply couldn't kill the remaining NPCs quickly enough to prevent new ones from appearing before the fight ended.
The only reason we lasted as long as we did was because the Hunter NPC stepped in every time we were obviously about to be overrun. A few attacks from him gave us a breather and let us regroup. But, he never simply ended the battle. He always pulled back once we regrouped. The result was that a handful of low level PCs fought about 20 - 30 monsters for the better part of an hour. It was OUR battle. Eventually the tavern heard one of our cries for help and responded in force, but that was just the denouement. One high level character (a NPC in this case) made a handful of low level PCs feel like gods that night.
(Credit where credit is due: Scott Kondrk played the NPC)
-MS
Back in roughly 2001-ish (Tannersville days of HQ), I was playing a 5th-6th level Celestial Templar (that was horribly inefficiently built). My buddy was playing a roughly equal level Earth Templar that was also reasonably inefficient. We reached the tavern and got attacked by roving NPCs. There was also at least one other PC on the tavern porch who wasn't particularly high level.
We were badly outmatched and using all of our resources, the terrain, and pure desperation to remain standing (all of us fell at least once during the battle). We tried yelling for help, but nobody in the tavern heard us (it was full of people). There was also one other person there, a NPC that had Hunter/Rider stats (yes, effectively a baby gryphon). He was a diplomat from another land that didn't particularly care for anyone from this land.
The fight raged hard for the better part of an hour (with basically no holds). The reason it lasted so long was the NPCs kept recycling lives at the tavern. And despite the fact that they actually waited about 1-2 minutes to recycle, we simply couldn't kill the remaining NPCs quickly enough to prevent new ones from appearing before the fight ended.
The only reason we lasted as long as we did was because the Hunter NPC stepped in every time we were obviously about to be overrun. A few attacks from him gave us a breather and let us regroup. But, he never simply ended the battle. He always pulled back once we regrouped. The result was that a handful of low level PCs fought about 20 - 30 monsters for the better part of an hour. It was OUR battle. Eventually the tavern heard one of our cries for help and responded in force, but that was just the denouement. One high level character (a NPC in this case) made a handful of low level PCs feel like gods that night.
(Credit where credit is due: Scott Kondrk played the NPC)
-MS
Bah Adam, you caught me. I tried to avoid it and ended up using it anyways. Bad brain!
With that said I agree with Emily as well, it's the interaction rather than material gain that's important. Not so much in protecting them, as just playing with them and involving them in meaningfully significant ways. Seriously, the best thing any of us can do for a new player is talk to them. Get them involved in the plot ("We're dealing with an imbalance in the plane of Flame. So if you can go out there and take out some small flame elementals it would help in the long run!"), get them involved in PC intrigue ("Hey, look, you're new here... and I don't want to talk smack about people, but that Lord Polare... be careful. He'd sell his mother for two gold."), or yes, go take them out to test their mettle. ("Hrngh. Okay yearling, time for you to prove yourself. We go to hunt bear. Come with. Prove yourself to Sashenka."). Let them take real risks, gain real rewards and feel like they're important in their own way, so then they'll keep coming back.
With that said I agree with Emily as well, it's the interaction rather than material gain that's important. Not so much in protecting them, as just playing with them and involving them in meaningfully significant ways. Seriously, the best thing any of us can do for a new player is talk to them. Get them involved in the plot ("We're dealing with an imbalance in the plane of Flame. So if you can go out there and take out some small flame elementals it would help in the long run!"), get them involved in PC intrigue ("Hey, look, you're new here... and I don't want to talk smack about people, but that Lord Polare... be careful. He'd sell his mother for two gold."), or yes, go take them out to test their mettle. ("Hrngh. Okay yearling, time for you to prove yourself. We go to hunt bear. Come with. Prove yourself to Sashenka."). Let them take real risks, gain real rewards and feel like they're important in their own way, so then they'll keep coming back.