Attention planars! New here, and in need of a great deal of help. I'm a Planescape maniac, i 'have the original Campaign Setting and the Planes of Chaos expansion. But, i must say, i simply DO NOT know a thing about playing a d&d pen and paper game. Me and my fellas want to play the game, but we don't know a bit, as we don't have any p&p background... I' must say that i have a certain amount of knowledge about the theotitical aspects of the game and i must say that we prefer the 2d-2.5d edition of the D&D... Can you please offer me your valuable insights, about how-to-play-Planescape-for-dummies (Clueless)?
(In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
Sat, 2012-07-21 11:21
#1
(In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
Sun, 2012-07-22 11:32
#3
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
I really appreciate your insights! I must say that i had not thought about the kind of adventure i would like to unfold to the other players. Although i am a complete p&p rpg-git, i'm the only candidate from my group to be a DM...So thanks a lot! I have a couple of qouestions, although... Can you suggest even more starter sets? Also, i want the guys in my group to get to know the general context of the PS setting... I don't want to tell "You step through the portal to the gate town of Carceri" and that is all. They must know what is a gate town, the general context of the multiverse, the importance of philosophy, not to just traversing a place packed with places with exotic names. Any tip about that? Any ideas about how i can nudge them in the right direction? Thanks a bunch, again!
P.S. Also, this set (http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dd1/starter.htm), is extinct... Even on E-bay.. Or i'm doing something wrong?
Sun, 2012-07-22 14:38
#4
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
1) Starter Sets:
The set is extinct, as is all AD&D-stuff (the rule-system most planescape-material was written for).
Pathfinder (the newest version von D&D 3.x) has a starter box as well - this should still be available in shops.
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8osv?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Beginner-Box
(Reading the description, the AD&D-Starterset might be more helpful for a beginning DM, if you can get your hands on it. 
)
This (also extinct) adventure is another good start for new players and there are lots of tips for the DM - especially a "what can I do, if the players try to ..."-section.
http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dd1/n4.htm
(I have a german version of this adventure, I'm not sure whether the original english adventure is as good for starting DMs.)
2) Players and the planes
The players best learn about the planes via their chars. The chars have no idea where they are, so someone has to tell them.
The trick is, that the chars somehow get to the planes from their homeworld and some planar explains them the basics of the planes. They can ask questions about the basics and learn more during their adventures later on. The SHOULD ask questions, if the cutter drops some keywords like "gate-towns" etc.
Speaking of "cutter" - the PS-slang is a nice add-on, but hard for you and the players to include, especially as newbies. You might restrict usage of the cant to Sigil (or even to the Hive in Sigil). However: Using it, is a good idea to show the strangeness of the planes, so you should not drop it completely.
3) First steps on the planes
After some starting adventures on the prime material plane you could use "For the price of the rose" from "Sigil and beyond" in the Campaign Setting box. It's easy to include into any setting and it takes the group anywhere you want to play next. It's only a adventure hook, not a complete adventure, another reason to play some other adventures before.
Sun, 2012-07-22 15:50
#5
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
My suggestion, to help both you and your players get your feet wet, is not to run a campaign straight away. Run some smaller games, one to three sessions each, in whatever settings you like. By doing this, you could start novice players off with Planescape -- give them some specific scope to create their characters in, e.g. "you are all Guvners, and have been researching your own projects in the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment," or, "you are all Mercykillers, though one of you is a Justiciar, and you will be hunting a wanted criminal."
In this way you can learn about the setting, and introduce your players to it, piece by piece. Run an adventure on one of the Upper Planes when you feel like introducing them, run one in the Blood War where everyone is lower planar mercenaries when you feel ready to tackle that. You can even run games at a variety of levels, to learn how the rules work for characters of different powers.
By doing this, you don't lock yourself in to a campaign you don't want to run after all, and your players aren't locked in to any unfortunate choices they might make for their first character (if your first character was a drow vampire sorcerer/ranger, raise your hand 
).
Mon, 2012-07-23 12:55
#6
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
Anetra: Your method will work for an DM with enough experience with a ruleset. One that is able to design a group of premade chars at every needed experience level, and the knowledge about the special powers they'll have.
But this is not only a group of new players, but also a beginning DM, so step by step might be the better idea.
But you gave a really good tip with your last paragraph: Do not allow any skills, classes, races or whatever outside the players handbook for your first RPG sessions.
Mon, 2012-07-23 20:07
#7
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
I would never suggest starting at high levels like that, I was stating that one of the benefits of running a series of miniature, enclosed games, compared to running a big campaign, is that you can change the characters between games. Thus, when you feel like you're ready for higher level play, you can get your feet wet with it, then decide if you want to keep playing at those levels, or scale it back and hop down to the lower levels again for the next game.
I don't have enough experience with 2nd edition, or I'd offer some of the one-session games I've written for OP to run through, but regardless, I feel planning an entire campaign is overwhelming for your first time, especially because you don't necessarily know what you and your players will find interesting at this point.
Regardless, I'm sure OP will be able to decide if a particular method or game format will work for them, or not.
Sat, 2012-08-25 07:42
#8
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
Well, i'm back! Thanks again for your help! I managed to purchased the Advanced D&D Complete Starter Set... I'm hoping that finally we will be able to get our feet wet, especially me, as the DM! By your opinion, what are the best Planescape products-material-adventures that can help introduce the players to the general Planescape concept? The adventures in the Starter Set are very helpful, but somewhat naive... They lack the cosmological and philosophical twists tha PS offers In general, whatever you think a rookie must know, you can tell me! Fire away!
Sun, 2012-08-26 15:40
#9
Re: (In need for) a clueless guide to rpg-ing
The best material to introduce someone to PS is Planescape Torment.
If you know it and your players don't, some side quests can reused.
Spoiler: Highlight to view
A barkeeper asks the party go remove someone from his bar. That guy refuses to go (and might be able to withstand some violence). He tells the party that he won't leave without his fork. The party get the item back from the thug who stole it and the guy uses the fork as a portal key to leave the bar.
This quest can be used outside sigil, too.
Taking a look at what you already have: PS CS and Planes of Chaos:
PoC has 5 low-level adventure hooks. I especially like the one for Limbo as a great introduction to that plane.
Planescape Starter Set, DM Guide, Pg. 7 "Tone of the Multiverse"
It is meant as a DM-background. So if you start with PC from a prime as I advised, you should keep this section in mind. If you start with chars from the planes, your players should read this page as well.
Both "campaign quick starts" from the PS CS are helpful. One will introduce the chars to portals and portal keys, while the other is about exploring sigil and learning about some factions (Mercykillers, Dustman, Bleak Cabal).
The Adventure Hook Junction ( /forum/adventure-hook-junction ) has more low level adventures, especially this two are interesting as introductions:
Can You Hear Me Now? (Faction: Doomguard)
The Removal of Waxen Street (Dabus)
Always know your adventure! You always have to know the story and what is about to happen next, you have to know the motivation of the key npcs, so they can react on everything the players do.
Reacting to players leads to an important question about the playing style:
Are you able to improvise on the spot or do you need a fixed guiding? The less you are able to improvise, the more preparation you need. Preperation might be lots of notes for possible actions of the players, that are not covered by the adventure.
Anyway: Starting with a setting like planescape, that forces you to pay attention to a lot of special rules beside those in the core rulebooks, is something I would not advice. I'd rather begin with some "normal" fantasy adventures. If you have an introduction set (like this: http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dd1/starter.htm) it will help you through the first adventures. Novice players can easily be guided by the DM - a novice DM should not make his work too hard for the first times.
DMing can be trained. Play 5-10 sessions. Request feedback after each session! If its working out well, start your PS-Campaign.
For Planescape there is one special thing to pay attention to:
Do your players know the setting? (And knowing means not only naming all planes along the ring including their alignment.) If the players are clueless, the first chars should be clueless, too.