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To learn and to teach; new gm having trouble figuring out how to best teach new players.
Topic Started: Aug 6 2015, 10:41 AM (895 Views)
rhysandphal
Pokémon Trainer
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Hey, all. So, i'm pretty new to PTU. I was in a single session of an online PTu campaign(which promptly fell apart) and, including some pregen's i've made to use to try and teach combat to the players of the campaign I intend to start, hopefully in the next week or two, i've made about 5 trainers, and about 9 pokemon. I've read through (most) of the base book a couple times, and still only kind of feel like i've got a grasp on the system. I've spent a couple weeks lurking on the forums and have learned a thing or two, but what i'm drawing a blank on is this: What's a good way to teach this system?

The pregen's I mentioned before should be useful to teach the combat system(s), and for the most part my players understand type relations, but what about the tactical elements, that don't shine too much at low level? The complexities of the skill system? The massive amount of options when it comes to building trainers? How best can I make sure they(and I) can remember easily the differences between league sanctioned combat rules and full contact rules? How should I explain AP and tutor points and training abilities? and so on and so forth.

How did any of you wise and experienced players handle teaching new players?

(also, as a side note, are there any ptu 1.05 compatible standard(as in print out and fill out, as opposed to the google doc auto fill sheet) trainer sheets that have space on them for someone to actually write down details about move and abilities and the like that they have, or should i just recommend a spare pokemon sheet for their weirder stuff?)
Edited by rhysandphal, Aug 6 2015, 10:46 AM.
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Domo
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Kawaii Detective
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Personally, I'm not a fan of pregenerated characters. They are useful in situations where you can't or don't want to spend time making characters (ie conventions), but most people learn better than they can put theory into practice. Having one session to group build characters step by step helps new players start processing new information and connect the dots immediately. With pregens, you don't get that useful experience. As with any new game, just offer to let players rework first characters later in case the things they choose end up not working out.

Your other concerns seem relatively minor. The skill system in PTU is simple, really, in comparison to other systems, particularly if you come from a background of other skill dice systems like Shadowrun, World of Darkness, and so on - though it may at first seem complex if you've only played DnD. The easy rule of thumb for League vs full contact is to ask 'does this directly harm the enemy?'. If the answer is yes, it's not League legal. Of course, League legality is optional and I've played several games where even the League gyms ran on full contact rules because the majority of the party leaned that way in builds.

The biggest hurdle to getting into PTU really is the sheer number of options that a trainer has, which in turn affects their options in Pokemon. There isn't a good way to explain everything to a new player besides painting classes in broad strokes as the book already does. I wouldn't worry about teaching new players any intricate synergy and instead encourage them to select classes that fit their character concept before trying to game the system.
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rhysandphal
Pokémon Trainer
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The main reason I was doing the pregens is that I find people tend to make more interesting characters if they know at least a little about the system, so it was just going to be to teach combat. After that, we'd walk through character creation. That way, they had a feel for the stat system and the like. Letting them rework their characters is what I usually do, but the last campaign I ran, one of my players started drifting further and further away from his original concept and backstory as he tried to become relevant in combat, which led to him having less fun and hooks I made from his concept becoming a little forced, so I was really just hoping to avoid that problem, but you might be right.
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TheKamenWriter
Pokémon Trainer
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I actually think a big part of teaching the system is solved by sitting all your players down and building your characters together instead of handing them Pre-gens. That will give them experience in knowing what their options are, allow them to 'own' their character's concepts, and they'll be able to acquaint themselves with their character's system mechanics at a nuts and bolts level, instead of having to learn them from the top down. When they get overwhelmed (And they probably will get overwhelmed. That's the main strength and the main weakness of PTU: You have a near infinite amount of options and combinations to select from) you can be there to answer the questions or point them to where in the book the answer lies.

If it helps, chunk up the options that your players have, or limit it somehow. A baked-in way is to prohibit supernatural classes. If a player is still overwhelmed, focus them on the Introductory classes; Ace Trainer, Mentor, Capture Specialist, Commander, Coordinator (IF you're going to have contests), and Hobbyist. From there, they can explore the other classes and pick out an option that overlaps well with their class OR just stick with their base class. If a player seems confident, let them play and explore the full class list and pick something that sounds fun to them. Have them build a level 1 trainer and a level 10-15 Starter pokemon. Doing this lets you explain AP and Tutor points as they come up and become relevant. It's important for your player to have a personal investment in their character.

I think a good way to teach them the combat system is probably just to do it. Throw them into low-level combat. At level 10 or so nothing will be TOO dangerous, and player options will already be limited to beginner moves like scratch and tackle anyway, so they'll get a handle on how to roll accuracy, roll damage, and, if you're using a map, play with spacing and range. From there, you can start ramping up the difficulty to meet how comfortable they are with the system. Once you get to the Gyms or league-legal situations, you can explain the rules of league legality in-universe instead of introducing it as a hard and fast game mechanic. (Simple way to remember it: If a feature influences a pokemon by yelling at them, training/touching them before a battle, or having them hold an item before entering battle, it's probably league legal. If a feature influences a pokemon by touching them during battle, using psychic powers on them, or giving them an item during battle, it's probably league illegal.)

You can also worry about advanced tactics later. As a player, that's one of the things I like figuring out on my own, or in tandem with the rest of my party. Best you can do is explain what their moves do if they don't seem to understand what a keyword means or does.

Alongside combat, you can then have them start exploring, and require simple, low-risk skill checks. Perception checks to notice wild pokemon is always a standby, or Pokemon Education to identify evidence of particular pokemon nearby, or Charm/Intimidate to influence NPC disposition. Once they're familiar with those and know how to do it, then you can start throwing situations at them without saying a skill they need to check where they can try to think through the problem and volunteer their good skills to solve it.

tl;dr: Learn by doing, but ease them in. Start with simple tasks and battles, and work your way up to more complicated tasks and battles. As they learn to rise to your challenge, you'll learn how to challenge them further, and you both must have fun doing it.
Edited by TheKamenWriter, Aug 6 2015, 11:32 AM.
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Flamewolf9
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Quote:
 
What's a good way to teach this system

"Take chances. Get messy, Make mistakes" -Ms. Frizzle

Like everyone else has said, let them struggle with learning the system and character creation. If they have questions, maybe have some simple mock battles so they can experiment, but learning by doing is really the best ticket here. Things will organically come up during play, and you can take that time to teach things then. If they have a basic understanding of Accuracy Checks, Damage Checks, Skills then they'll get through 80% of situations with no trouble.

I like to think of things in this way when teaching anything.
Into the Briny Deep with your Players


Basically, force them to do it, but be there to help them with the questions they have. Point them to the forums if you can't figure out the answer yourself. I'm sure someone here will be willing to answer them. But again, they have to take the plunge. They have to struggle with it the same way you have been so far making the pregens.
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Marhatus
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Avid Lurker
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Also, if your players are having trouble understanding something (my players had a lot of trouble with interrupts when we first played PTA) then use it against them. It's best if it's something they can do themselves as well. Once they see it in action, it's a lot easier to understand how to do it.
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rhysandphal
Pokémon Trainer
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Hm. All very helpful, I feel a lot more prepared now, actually. Thank you all for your input.
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