Shadows of Esteren, good for new gamers?

[Tom B]

In the process of looking for a group in my area, I've found a few people (3) who were looking for a GM. They were originally looking to play D&D, but at least one of them is totally new to gaming.

I agreed to GM, but I told them that I really wouldn't be the best person to run D&D. I'm really not familiar with it and own none of the books. They seem to be willing to play just about anything, and right now we're discussing genre.

If they decide on SF, I'm pretty sure what system I'll run. For fantasy, though...I'm considering Shadows of Esteren. I've read through the rules a bit and like what I see. My question is, how well would this work for someone new to the hobby? Would it be too much? Or should they be able to pick it up easily?

If I don't go with Shadows of Esteren and need to go with something a bit simpler, I was thinking of Fantasy Age. What else would be good for new roleplayers? Up front I'll say that I would prefer to avoid GURPS, D&D, Pathfinder, any PbtA game. Mythras is a possibility.

Thoughts?

 

[The Butcher]

I feel that when it comes to player buy-in, be they old hands or newbies, enthusiasm trumps complexity most of the time. If you're psyched about Esteren, your heightened commitment to making the game happen will probably make you more helpful to your struggling players than if you were running a super simple game half-hearted. Not to mention more likely to rock the game and leave a good lasting impression, and Heaven knows we need more of these.

 

[Baulderstone]

As I said in the other thread, this is pretty simple system in play. The character generation is about medium complexity. If I were running this with fresh gamers, I would either give them pre-gens or handhold them through the process for their first session. once they know the game, it shouldn't be too taxing for them to build their own characters though. The character generation should be cake for anyone that has played WotC-era D&D though.

It should be pretty approachable for D&D players too. It's got a nice flavor of it own, but it isn't so far from vanilla fantasy to scare anyone away.

Out of curiosity, what is your SF game of choice? Knowing that might help me think of fantasy options that are too your taste.

 

[Tom B]

Hm. They fooled me and voted for a SF campaign. I'll need to re-think this...

My initial thoughts for SF were M-Space (the SF version of Mythras) or Shadows Over Sol. The former is a more straightforward and established system but doesn't really come with an established setting. The latter is one of my preferred SF settings (within the solar system with a slight horror slant), but it's a more unusual set of mechanics. (It uses a standard card deck, which I'm normally leery of, but in this case, I like how they make use of the face cards and suites for some intriguing mechanical effects.)

I've got quite a few other SF games as well...but I'm going to need to sound them out and get more detail on what kind of SF campaign they want.

 

[Baulderstone]

A group of D&D players voting for SF is a good sign. It shows they really are willing to try new things. I know Mythras, but not the M-Space setting, and I don't know Shadows Over Sol at all.

The hardest thing for new players in Mythras is Special Effects. Make sure you have multiple handouts with all the Special Effects lying around on the table. On top of that, when they make their characters, highlight a handful of Special Effects that suit their skills and character concept and list them on their character sheet. That way, when they have their first fight, they have a list of 3-5 to pick from rather than that whole sheet. Let players wade into the full range of Special Effects whenever they feel comfortable with it.