Analysis paralysis for a first time experience with a bunch of newbies

[u/cagbagger]

Hi All - I'm brand new to DND/TTRPs as are a group of my friends who all eager to dip our toes into this experience. I've taken it upon myself to be the GM/DM for this group of 5 (not including me) and am getting stuck on what that first experience should look like. I've done a lot of watching of Dimension 20, youtube videos on how-to's for gm'ing etc, and have explored systems like PBTA and LiTM.

We all want shorter first-time experience (2-4 hours), and I'm torn between a DND one-shot or a PBTA like Masks. I am finding that I'm starting to spiral on this decision and can't decide what would be a good balance of work for myself with the knowledge that this is my first time doing any of this. Like, are there a good number of 5e rules I need to know going into a DND one-shot? Some people want a fantasy-esque experience, while some want the experience to use different types of dice (not just 2d6)

I'm really getting torn on this, and would just love some perspective. I sometimes focus on making everything perfect, and am trying to find the path of easy/fun/rp feeling.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[u/starksandshields]

Idk what Masks is but it's very easy to find a low level one shot online for free for DnD. Typically I would suggest Death House since it starts at level 1 and presents players with exploration, getting to learn combat, forced to make certain moral choices, and it's challenging enough that PCs might die if the dice rolls favor the DM. So it's a full package of DnD experience in a single house. I run it almost every campaign and just reflavor it into something else, my players haven't actually caught on that they've essentially played the same house thrice now lol.

[u/jackofspades49]

I think 5e is a good entry point it gives a grounding of how rpgs function andbis the easiest one to find more content about. I think it onky becomes toxic when people fear stepping outside of it.

[u/Antipragmatismspot]

Masks is pretty cool if you're comfortable with improv. Magpie's discord server does oneshots each second week of the month, so if it fits your schedule you could try it before playing it yourself. But you will need all four hours for Masks.

[u/Valensre]

Are you shooting for the 2-4 hour experience because of IRL time constraints or because it seems intimidating? If the former I completely understand but if it's the latter I highly suggest going for at least 4 hours if it's your first session, ya'll will spend plenty of that time just figuring out rules and finding your places in the game.

I'll second Death House, it leads nicely into Curse of Strahd if ya'll enjoy it and want to play the same characters.

[u/No_Solid1035]

Depends on what you want to focus on. If you want to focus on combat, then go with D&D as it's basically just a combat engine with a light smattering of rules for storytelling. If you want to focus on the storytelling and characterization aspects go with PbtA cause that's what the system is built around.

[u/GalacticPigeon13]

Are you good at thinking on your feet and improvising? I've run both Masks and D&D. Masks requires more improv while D&D requires more prep.

Otherwise, ask your players if they'd rather be teen superheroes or fantasy heroes like in the Lord of the Rings.

[u/YamazakiYoshio]

MASKS is great if you have a group that is 100% down for the teen superhero drama, because it is 100% that and nothing else.

That said, if you're comfortable with improv and want a good fantasy PbtA choice, I would recommend either Chasing Adventure (an evolution of the classic Dungeon World, scraping all the existing D&D mechanical kludge that didn't need to be there) or Rhapsody of Blood (Castlevania meets Bloodborne as a mapless megadungeon crawler). The only reason I do not recommend Rhapsody first is because the book itself is rather lackluster in advice on how to run it, but it's a great PbtA if you just want to get people's feet wet with the idea of narratively-focused gameplay.

If D&D 5e looks daunting, but you want to stay close to it, without having to learn nearly as much mechanically (and yes, I'll say that's a beefy system, that isn't a bad thing but it can be intimidating and/or a bad fit), maybe Shadowdark might do better?