House Rule: Beginner's Luck, An idea for newbies Options

[Aaron]

First, to be fair, I got this idea from a misreading of the some of the rules in another game.

The rule basically says that new players (or characters, if you like) start with a separate pool of three Edge points for "beginners' luck." Any Edge spent at all comes from this pool first, and when it's gone, it's gone. It's a bit of a boost for new players and low-Karma replacement characters.

Anyone care to comment?

[TheMadDutchman]

I'll be honest with you I'm not thrilled w/ the idea.

If a new player to the game or the group is going to do something in error of good judgement I'll bring it up before they even roll the dice. Kind of guardian angel them for a session or two (two is the outside) after that they're on their own. If I counsel them and they proceed down a reckless course than let the dice fall where they may and the player had better hope that he bought enough edge for his character because he'll get no mercy from me. Mercy is relative; this doesn't mean it's certain death; I'm not going to suddenly change a group of professionals who might normally take you alive into bloodthirsty psycho's because a player decided to deal w/ them unwisely- but I'm not going to give the player any help in getting out of the situation.

[Ol' Scratch]

Yeah. It's a lot better to just take a time out and explain why a course of action is a bad idea instead of giving free Edge to people. The former actually helps, the latter just encourages foolish actions.

[stevebugge]

It's kind of an interesting idea. I agree that for new players it's not helpful, new players will benefit far more from having a little time taken to explain why what they are contemplating may well be disatserous. However for an experienced player who wants to insert a new character in to a campaign populated largely with 60+ Karma characters a little extra edge pool could be an intereting way to help them keep pace (or at least play with) more established characters. I think in addition to the when it's used it's gone part I'd probably have the unused beginner edge fade away after the character gets to be experienced too.

[Begby]

I don't think it's a bad idea at all, but I see it being more valuable for experienced players with a new GM, as GM's often make their worlds in varying degrees of difficulty.

Some GM's, for example, will send Lone Star out if you're caught on video, some will just ignore it till it's analyzed by experts or something. What may always have been safe for them to do with a previous GM, the new GM might see as a huge mistake and act accordingly.

I agree that new players should be... handled with kid gloves. It's about making it fun for them, no matter what else happens. That's why we do all this, anyway. Every one of you has seen the gleam in a new player's eye when they finally "get it" and start having real fun. For me, no videogame, movie or novel can match the fun of a well-run game with friends.