HywelPhillips
December 31st, 2020, 16:12
Hi Everyone,
I've introduced a bunch of people to their first FGU session now and I've evolved a checklist which seems to work. I thought it might be of use. Although this is 5E specific, I do almost the same when introducing people to Savage Worlds, too.
I do this one-on-one for each new player, so we have time to solve technical issues and cover stuff without them feeling pressurised that they are holding up the game for everyone. It takes an hour or so to go through.
-3) Get them onto Discord.
-2) If they are already conversant with D&D Beyond, get them to generate a character there. Import the character beforehand yourself using https://tenthlevelgames.com/conversiontool/ and check it has come across OK. If they don't know D&D Beyond make a pre-gen Cleric, and give that cleric cure wounds, guiding bolt, bless, bane, sacred flame, toll the dead and a couple of other things if it feels like fun.
-1) Ask them to download and install FGU, create forum account and run check for updates. Get them to do this a day or two in advance and troubleshoot asynchronously via Discord.
0) Connect via Discord and get them to share screen so I can see what they see.
1) Connect, find my game, join it.
2) Two windows will pop up (unhelpfully overlapping). Run them through setup and loading all rules modules first, uncheck the "show on start" tick box so they don't get hassled by it again. Apologise for them having to do this fiddly stuff and reassure them that it only needs doing once.
3) Claim character. Ideally their own they made on D&D Beyond, as it'll be familiar and reassuring to them to see it has all come across to FGU and they know what they are looking at. But if not, Cecily the Cleric will do.
4) Go through the tabs on the character sheet with them. On the main tab, show them how to roll a saving throw and explain that the little d20 icon means they can double click it to roll, or they can drag and drop the dice to the chat window to roll. Show them their HP at the bottom and get them to edit it. I use MadNomad's extension so they have wounds and current HP both listed, and can show them it does the math for them: when you change one it changes the other. (This already provides some gentle reassurance to players who are math-phobic. Some people prefer to count up wounds taken, others to count down hits remaining).
5) Skills tab. "Oh yes it works the same" most players go as they roll a skill check all by themselves.
6) Abilities. Explain the FGU "shield/dragon" link icon that pops up a new window. Get them to move windows about and close them.
7) Show them the other tabs but don't spend long on them at this stage, say you'll come back to them. Land on the actions tab and tell them this is where most of the "action" is during combat, too.
8) Show them how to pop up the combat tracker.
9) Show them how to unlock the chat window, resize it, resize the combat tracker and put it on top of the chat window. You may have a different favoured layout, so do that instead, but this one works for the tutorial. You're showing them how to get confident arranging stuff the way they want it.
10) Pop up a map for them. Have it populated with a single big monster they can fight (I use an Ogre - big enough for them to keep doing damage to for a while, has a ranged and a melee attack, and looks good on the map). MAKE IT A PRETTY MAP! Have FX and LOS on it to wow them a bit. Show them how to resize the window, pan, zoom, bring the map back up if they have closed it.
11) Get them to change their dice colour. Helps them feel ownership.
12) Take them through making an attack on the Ogre by dragging and dropping their dice onto the Ogre's head, then roll damage. This is usually the second "Oh THAT's cool!" moment. Encourage them to grab hold of their token, move it around, see LOS change, attack the ogre with everything they have, including spells if they are interested.
13) Show how it works when the ogre attacks them. Show FG keeping track of hits so they don't have to. Show them how to cast a healing spell on themselves and show the HP regained. Show spending hit dice if they ask.
14) Show the advantage and disadvantage buttons. (If you make extensive use of modifiers add the modifiers window here but I tend not to, so adv/dis is all I need to show them).
15) Show them how to keep track of spell slots. Explain that they have to do it by hand because of casting spells at higher level, which FG doesn't know how to track for them.
16) Show them casting a spell at higher level by dragging and dropping damage and right-clicking the mouse to pick up extra dice. Bring the ogre back up after they've inevitably done a 30d6 guiding bolt damage to it. This is usually the third "oh cool!".
17) Show them how to cast a spell requiring a save on the ogre, like sacred flame.
18) Add a couple of goblins to the map.
19) Show them how to target using CTRL-click. (You can show other methods too but I find they are starting to glaze over at this point if you're not careful, so keep it simple). Show how FG keeps track of ranges for them with the pointers.
20) Show selecting multiple targets and affecting them all with a spell. (If you have a rules lawyer, make it Bane, or something else that actually has multiple targets!)
21) Show how to apply a positive effect spell like bless to themselves. Get them to attack something and show FG adding the extra d4 automatically. For experienced players, that's usually another "oh coool!" as we all know how damned easy it is to forget that stuff.
22) If they are planning to play a spellcaster, show them spell preparation/standard/combat modes.
23) Show them how to draw and clear a pointer with both mouse button click and drag. Apologise to Roll20 players for the lack of "ping" but say that this is how FG does it.
24) Optional. I used to show people notes, and drag-and-drop shield links so they can create links to maps and portraits etc.. But unless it is an investigation-heavy game, I wouldn't bother any more. They've had enough information and then some by this point.
25) Allow them to move around the map sniping at the goblins and ogre until they're all defeated, with you not retaliating. Bless their little hearts, most of them want to do this. Allow them the dopamine hit to end on a high. Let them play around with whatever they want to and talk them through it.
If you want to take them through character generation, I strongly advise having a tea break before tackling that. Or even do it on a different day, so they're not trying to master too much at once. Take your lead from them- some people will want to see how the party screen works and will enjoy the built-in party loot features (this is often a "oh that's nice" moment for people who have played extensively on Roll20, where everyone has to make a party sheet handout and laboriously keep it up to date manually).
I leave the game running so they can experiment a bit more without me looking over their shoulder. Depends a bit on the player - some people want to go through every button and option at this point, others are already burned out with information overload.
I hope that's useful. Are there any steps other people find useful to add or stuff you do differently?
I made a video of this a while ago but for slightly different purpose (people I was streaming with) and some FGU stuff has changed in the meantime. Would it be useful to make another to take people through it?
Cheers, Hywel
I've introduced a bunch of people to their first FGU session now and I've evolved a checklist which seems to work. I thought it might be of use. Although this is 5E specific, I do almost the same when introducing people to Savage Worlds, too.
I do this one-on-one for each new player, so we have time to solve technical issues and cover stuff without them feeling pressurised that they are holding up the game for everyone. It takes an hour or so to go through.
-3) Get them onto Discord.
-2) If they are already conversant with D&D Beyond, get them to generate a character there. Import the character beforehand yourself using https://tenthlevelgames.com/conversiontool/ and check it has come across OK. If they don't know D&D Beyond make a pre-gen Cleric, and give that cleric cure wounds, guiding bolt, bless, bane, sacred flame, toll the dead and a couple of other things if it feels like fun.
-1) Ask them to download and install FGU, create forum account and run check for updates. Get them to do this a day or two in advance and troubleshoot asynchronously via Discord.
0) Connect via Discord and get them to share screen so I can see what they see.
1) Connect, find my game, join it.
2) Two windows will pop up (unhelpfully overlapping). Run them through setup and loading all rules modules first, uncheck the "show on start" tick box so they don't get hassled by it again. Apologise for them having to do this fiddly stuff and reassure them that it only needs doing once.
3) Claim character. Ideally their own they made on D&D Beyond, as it'll be familiar and reassuring to them to see it has all come across to FGU and they know what they are looking at. But if not, Cecily the Cleric will do.
4) Go through the tabs on the character sheet with them. On the main tab, show them how to roll a saving throw and explain that the little d20 icon means they can double click it to roll, or they can drag and drop the dice to the chat window to roll. Show them their HP at the bottom and get them to edit it. I use MadNomad's extension so they have wounds and current HP both listed, and can show them it does the math for them: when you change one it changes the other. (This already provides some gentle reassurance to players who are math-phobic. Some people prefer to count up wounds taken, others to count down hits remaining).
5) Skills tab. "Oh yes it works the same" most players go as they roll a skill check all by themselves.
6) Abilities. Explain the FGU "shield/dragon" link icon that pops up a new window. Get them to move windows about and close them.
7) Show them the other tabs but don't spend long on them at this stage, say you'll come back to them. Land on the actions tab and tell them this is where most of the "action" is during combat, too.
8) Show them how to pop up the combat tracker.
9) Show them how to unlock the chat window, resize it, resize the combat tracker and put it on top of the chat window. You may have a different favoured layout, so do that instead, but this one works for the tutorial. You're showing them how to get confident arranging stuff the way they want it.
10) Pop up a map for them. Have it populated with a single big monster they can fight (I use an Ogre - big enough for them to keep doing damage to for a while, has a ranged and a melee attack, and looks good on the map). MAKE IT A PRETTY MAP! Have FX and LOS on it to wow them a bit. Show them how to resize the window, pan, zoom, bring the map back up if they have closed it.
11) Get them to change their dice colour. Helps them feel ownership.
12) Take them through making an attack on the Ogre by dragging and dropping their dice onto the Ogre's head, then roll damage. This is usually the second "Oh THAT's cool!" moment. Encourage them to grab hold of their token, move it around, see LOS change, attack the ogre with everything they have, including spells if they are interested.
13) Show how it works when the ogre attacks them. Show FG keeping track of hits so they don't have to. Show them how to cast a healing spell on themselves and show the HP regained. Show spending hit dice if they ask.
14) Show the advantage and disadvantage buttons. (If you make extensive use of modifiers add the modifiers window here but I tend not to, so adv/dis is all I need to show them).
15) Show them how to keep track of spell slots. Explain that they have to do it by hand because of casting spells at higher level, which FG doesn't know how to track for them.
16) Show them casting a spell at higher level by dragging and dropping damage and right-clicking the mouse to pick up extra dice. Bring the ogre back up after they've inevitably done a 30d6 guiding bolt damage to it. This is usually the third "oh cool!".
17) Show them how to cast a spell requiring a save on the ogre, like sacred flame.
18) Add a couple of goblins to the map.
19) Show them how to target using CTRL-click. (You can show other methods too but I find they are starting to glaze over at this point if you're not careful, so keep it simple). Show how FG keeps track of ranges for them with the pointers.
20) Show selecting multiple targets and affecting them all with a spell. (If you have a rules lawyer, make it Bane, or something else that actually has multiple targets!)
21) Show how to apply a positive effect spell like bless to themselves. Get them to attack something and show FG adding the extra d4 automatically. For experienced players, that's usually another "oh coool!" as we all know how damned easy it is to forget that stuff.
22) If they are planning to play a spellcaster, show them spell preparation/standard/combat modes.
23) Show them how to draw and clear a pointer with both mouse button click and drag. Apologise to Roll20 players for the lack of "ping" but say that this is how FG does it.
24) Optional. I used to show people notes, and drag-and-drop shield links so they can create links to maps and portraits etc.. But unless it is an investigation-heavy game, I wouldn't bother any more. They've had enough information and then some by this point.
25) Allow them to move around the map sniping at the goblins and ogre until they're all defeated, with you not retaliating. Bless their little hearts, most of them want to do this. Allow them the dopamine hit to end on a high. Let them play around with whatever they want to and talk them through it.
If you want to take them through character generation, I strongly advise having a tea break before tackling that. Or even do it on a different day, so they're not trying to master too much at once. Take your lead from them- some people will want to see how the party screen works and will enjoy the built-in party loot features (this is often a "oh that's nice" moment for people who have played extensively on Roll20, where everyone has to make a party sheet handout and laboriously keep it up to date manually).
I leave the game running so they can experiment a bit more without me looking over their shoulder. Depends a bit on the player - some people want to go through every button and option at this point, others are already burned out with information overload.
I hope that's useful. Are there any steps other people find useful to add or stuff you do differently?
I made a video of this a while ago but for slightly different purpose (people I was streaming with) and some FGU stuff has changed in the meantime. Would it be useful to make another to take people through it?
Cheers, Hywel