J4bberw0ck Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 I'm starting a TtB game with a group of new players, about half of whom are very new to RPGs (one has never played an RPG before). I've decided to run one of the Penny Dreadful one-shots for our first session, just to get them acquainted with the game mechanics. They'll have the option to use their own characters or start with a pre-gen if they want to see how the game plays first. Right now I'm looking at Night of the Carver or Recruitment Drive, and they both seem like good starting adventures. NotC seems a bit more "think outside the combat"-heavy, since the Carver can't truly be killed, whereas RD is much more straightforward, and also gives the characters a reason to work together, rather than assuming they've already formed relationships. As you can see, I'm currently leaning more towards Recruitment Drive as a better starting point. Can anyone who's already played through either of these give some feedback on their accessibility for new gamers? I'm also open to other suggestions for good starting one-shots. Also, while I'm on the topic, would anyone be interested in play reports? There don't seem to be too many here (or maybe I'm just not finding them), but I've always enjoyed a good yarn and am considering writing up or recording our sessions. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Always interested in reports. You might want to go with something a bit straight forward at first in order to get folks adjusted to the game/characters and style overall and then him them with the 'outside the box' thinking afterwards. YMMV though depending on your style and group of course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowopal Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Recruitment Drive is what was created for Free RPG day last year. Nice quick adventure with skill checks and a healthy dose of combat. So I highly recommend it for first timers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Recruitment Drive and Sixteen Tons were both Free RPG Day adventures, so they're designed to be relatively straightforward and easier for new players to run through. Legacy of Darkness, In the Gutter, and Honor Among Thieves are also pretty good starter adventures, as they contain pre-generated characters and were all written as convention adventures for people that might not have much experience with the system or world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4bberw0ck Posted July 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Thanks for the suggestions, all! Looks like I'm running Recruitment Drive, though most likely with some different Fated. I have a sneaking suspicion my wife's Graverobber is going to take one look at the kid trapped under the train and Bury him to safety. Poor kid might end up with some subconscious mental trauma from that one. I'll be writing up the play reports as often as possible, though this first game may be more "meet the characters" than play, but we shall see. Hell, I might even record our sessions podcast-style! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowopal Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 5 minutes ago, MiracleM4x said: Thanks for the suggestions, all! Looks like I'm running Recruitment Drive, though most likely with some different Fated. I have a sneaking suspicion my wife's Graverobber is going to take one look at the kid trapped under the train and Bury him to safety. Poor kid might end up with some subconscious mental trauma from that one. I'll be writing up the play reports as often as possible, though this first game may be more "meet the characters" than play, but we shall see. Hell, I might even record our sessions podcast-style! Like Nathan said....the more content out there the better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneLittleThunder Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 I just started my TtB campaign off with a modified Legacy of Darkness...it went quite well, and has already laid out some excellent plot threads for future pulling on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Bear Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Legacy of Darkness is a really nice adventure. I haven't looked at either of the Free RPG day adventures (Recruitment Drive and Sixteen Tons), but given that they were designed to showcase the game to new players they're probably a fantastic bet. To be honest I wasn't all that impressed with Night of the Carver. It was something I ran last year and it is essentially an extended combat/chase scene you kind of get dropped into in media res. I think its good to drop in between sessions for something shorter, or if you want to do a Halloween game- it really is quite accurately a "one shot". But I don't think its a good idea to use it with new players. Then again, I am kind of opposed to on rails combat adventures in general- Bad Moon Rising was another I wasn't really impressed with (but, to be fair, also would work well as filler between sessions). I haven't had a chance to run it yet (but am hoping to and trying to wrangle people!), but I was really impressed with The Ferryman one-shot. A bit longer with a good mix of different situations (social, research, combat, etc) and challenges, and a really good set-piece for the finale. It also does a great job of showcasing the setting. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampers&nd Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 recruitment drive would have been my suggestion too, I ran it as a one-off at a local games club and it went down very well. there are some game reports in the player creations section (though mine is more relating the story the fated played out rather than any specific mechanics stuff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sault Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Our group started with Bad Mood Rising and it was terrible. Do not do this to your group! If the entire crew is not outfitted for combat then it will not end well at all. The Young Neph are tougher than any other and we got luck with the ending. Legacy of Darkness was our second adventure and it was pretty good. It gives the players a good idea of just how messed up the world of Malifaux is sometimes. We are currently playing Night of the Carver and it is boring. First time we managed to just teleport him away the second time we managed to kill him and now we are going into the 3rd act and we are worried but not overly worried. I haven't read through any of the others since I know our local Hench is going to be running them as TtB events and want to participate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 3 minutes ago, Sault said: Our group started with Bad Mood Rising and it was terrible. Do not do this to your group! If the entire crew is not outfitted for combat then it will not end well at all. The Young Neph are tougher than any other and we got luck with the ending. Yeah, Bad Moon Rising is very much not a starter adventure. It's designed to challenge more experienced characters, so tossing new players into that one is going to be rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sault Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 Just now, Mason said: Yeah, Bad Moon Rising is very much not a starter adventure. It's designed to challenge more experienced Fated, so tossing new players into that one is going to be rough. I should clarify Bad Moon Rising has a good story and great plot hooks but as a fresh off the boat player it was not the best learning experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Bear Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 This isn't terribly related but I finally got around to seeing Big Trouble in Little China yesterday and now I understand Wyrd's love of including references to it. It also makes me want to run Legacy of Darkness again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneLittleThunder Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 I haven't run The Ferryman yet, but am looking at slotting it into my campaign. It looks to be fairly dangerous; for those who have run it, what did you think of its level of difficulty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 12 hours ago, Cinnamon Bear said: This isn't terribly related but I finally got around to seeing Big Trouble in Little China yesterday and now I understand Wyrd's love of including references to it. It also makes me want to run Legacy of Darkness again. John Carpenter does good work. Check out The Thing and In The Mouth of Madness if you haven't seen them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Bear Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 50 minutes ago, Mason said: John Carpenter does good work. Check out The Thing and In The Mouth of Madness if you haven't seen them yet. Those are two of my favorites, just for some reason I never got around to Big Trouble before! 12 hours ago, OneLittleThunder said: I haven't run The Ferryman yet, but am looking at slotting it into my campaign. It looks to be fairly dangerous; for those who have run it, what did you think of its level of difficulty? There are definitely a few tough encounters - enough that I wouldn't recommend it for brand new Fated. I'm still working out how I want to handle it though, and may start characters off a bit more advanced (or make a few pre-gens to put on offer). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Bear Posted August 4, 2016 Report Share Posted August 4, 2016 I was bored and dismayed at not participating in the GenCon sale, so I picked up the Free RPG Day adventure, Sixteen Tons. My initial impression is really positive, and I'm thinking I might hold off on running The Ferryman to try running a short demo game of Sixteen Tons. It's very short, has some interesting characters, and a nice mix of different challenges. It might take a bit of work to use it to start with a new group, but I think it'd be excellent for introducing the game. Actually it's given me some ideas about using it as a short prologue that ends with the pregens failing (making sure players are aware of this as a set-up, or some other device to get them off-screen) and then having players' Fated characters sent in. Anyway, I would definitely recommend it for a new group based on my initial read. After I run the game I might have better feedback. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4bberw0ck Posted August 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2016 BTW all, since a few people mentioned being interested in a play report, I've made a post in the Player Creations section with the details of our "session zero", including the Recruitment Drive playthrough. Had a great time, and RD was spot-on for a new group. My only criticism of it is that the Iron Zombies have a lot of defensive abilities, which could make players feel a bit incompetent for their first game. It hadn't occurred to me until we got to the combat, but it's not a huge deal, just something to make the players aware of ahead of time if anyone else plans to start off with this Penny Dreadful. Oh, side question on a bit of forum etiquette: I'm posting the playthroughs on my new blog for ease of reference, and just linking to them in my forum post. Is that kosher, or should I include the entire playthrough on the forums here? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampers&nd Posted August 6, 2016 Report Share Posted August 6, 2016 I can't see anyone minding much either way:) thanks for the write ups! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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