Trying to Promote

[Majestic]

Oh, and glorelendil's post about hints reminds me of something else: I'd encourage you to handhold the players (as needed) with Traits, rather than spending a lot of time going over that mechanic. The Complete Guide to Trait Usage is an excellent (fan-made) companion piece that can really help Loremasters spot them at the table.

In fact - if you really want to be prepared - make yourself a list ahead of time of all of the traits of the pregens (being as you'll know them all ahead of the game session), so you can read them over and know what to look for. Then don't be afraid to point out instances where players can use their Traits during play.

You might have players that fall in love with the game and want to make up their own characters. I'd recommend doing that with them after the session, unless you feel you can crank one out really quick. Making a character for this game isn't especially long or hard, but there's enough player choice that I've found it still takes a bit of time.

[zedturtle]

I'll chime in with agreement on pregens, but with the additional suggestion to pick Virtues and Rewards that have a high probability of getting used in that session. Weapons that trigger on Gandalf? Too easy to never roll a Gandalf. The Speakers? Make sure you're running an adventure that makes good use of it, and provide a hint at the right time. Etc.

(Last time I checked the Theft of the Moon pregens met this criterion.)

That actually sounds like a lot of fun; I might go through the adventure and look at the pregens and their traits and make a hint list.

The only thing that I'm a bit concerned about the pregens is Dhuoda's combat ability; but she's such a monster at Encounters that I don't think it's a big deal. (For clarity, I mean pregen version of Dhuoda, not our PC Dhuoda... she is built differently).

[Deadmanwalking]

The only thing that I'm a bit concerned about the pregens is Dhuoda's combat ability; but she's such a monster at Encounters that I don't think it's a big deal. (For clarity, I mean pregen version of Dhuoda, not our PC Dhuoda... she is built differently).

Eh. If she goes with Forward Stance she should do fine vs. most foes, and her damage is very good. The GM might want to mention that Forward Stance is highly recommended for her when combat starts, but that's about it. I'd be more worried about Iwald, given his bow skill of only 2, and archers general lack of accuracy at low skill ratings.

[Glorelendil]

Eh.

Does your frequent use of "Eh" to begin your posts mean "I am dismissing your opinion" or is it (seeing as how you're from Montana) the Canadian "eh"? (The latter of which I believe is something akin to the New Yorker's "yaknowaddamean", or perhaps the German "doch".)

[zedturtle]

The only thing that I'm a bit concerned about the pregens is Dhuoda's combat ability; but she's such a monster at Encounters that I don't think it's a big deal. (For clarity, I mean pregen version of Dhuoda, not our PC Dhuoda... she is built differently).

Eh. If she goes with Forward Stance she should do fine vs. most foes, and her damage is very good. The GM might want to mention that Forward Stance is highly recommended for her when combat starts, but that's about it. I'd be more worried about Iwald, given his bow skill of only 2, and archers general lack of accuracy at low skill ratings.

Good points. I'm not sure that Iwald can be fixed without gimping him entirely for the other game aspects... though I'm sure we should try. Thanks!

[Shane]

Big props for doing this, Wbweather!

I've done loads of con GMing, both off my own back and running demos for different companies, so if you don't mind I'll share some advice.

Firstly, and most importantly, bring the enthusiasm. Enjoy what you're doing, be enthusiastic what you are doing, and the players will get caught up in it. If at some point you look round the table and the players are all engaged and smiling you know you've hit your goal.

Secondly, make it about the experience, not the minutiae. It can be very tempting to get every little rule right, and to explain everything about the system. Resist that. Explain what you need to, make judgement calls on rules you aren't sure about, and keep the game moving. Show them what is awesome about the play experience of TOR and let them dig into the rules in detail later on if they want.

And thirdly, let the players be awesome. Don't worry too much about balance, you want the players to "win". If there is a judgement call, make it in favour of the players, not the NPCs. If they come up with a decent in-genre idea, let it work. Creating use of traits? Go with it. In a con game where you want to promote the game, let it promote itself by way of you letting the players be awesome and do awesome stuff.

A minor aside would also be to have a decent sign-up sheet or advertising sheet; something that screams TOR, not a generic convention one.

There's a lot of good advice in this thread, hopefully mine is useful, too.

Best of luck, I'm sure you'll do great.

Regards,

Shane

[Rue]

I hope you have a ton of fun! As a new RPGer myself I would echo the suggestion above about explaining the type of PC that ME needs: the hero trying to do the right thing. It would make me feel (as someone who isn't in to many other systems) that I was on the same page as other, probably more experienced gamers, in terms of what the in-character expectations are. This is turn would make me less nervous and more ready to jump in!

[Glorelendil]

I like the idea of giving each pre-gen a little cheat sheet. "In situations like X, think about using your trait Y, because you are weak at skill Z" or suggestions (with rationale) for what to do in combat, or clever ways to use fluffy virtues (e.g. The Speakers). Ideally in a way that hints at situations that will arise in the adventure, without giving too much away.

[Deadmanwalking]

Eh.

Does your frequent use of "Eh" to begin your posts mean "I am dismissing your opinion" or is it (seeing as how you're from Montana) the Canadian "eh"? (The latter of which I believe is something akin to the New Yorker's "yaknowaddamean", or perhaps the German "doch".)

Not precisely either. It's sort of a statement of partial disagreement. My intent with it is usually the equivalent of writing "Kinda." or "I partialy disagree." or "Not exactly."...or something similar to those anyway. I have no idea where exactly I picked up that usage, now that you mention it (though it wasn't Canada).

It's certainly not intended to dismiss anyone's opinion wholesale or inherently claim I know better than they do. It's more a statement of my reaction (of partial disagreement) to the post I'm responding to than anything else.

Good points. I'm not sure that Iwald can be fixed without gimping him entirely for the other game aspects... though I'm sure we should try. Thanks!

No problem.

[Glorelendil]

It's more a statement of my reaction (of partial disagreement) to the post I'm responding to than anything else.

My wife likes to point out (to me) that one can usually replace the word "but" with "and" without effectively changing the point being made, but in a way that sounds positive rather than negative.

(Try it in the previous sentence and see!)