introducing newbies to the game at my Game Day.

[funcall]

Hey gang,
Here's the deal. I am going to host an all day game event next weekend. (Pandemic, Battlestar Galactica, Heroscape, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Ticket to Ride: Europe, D&D, The Resistance, and (Of course) Last night in Earth.)
Three of the six players are going to be completely new to the game. I am thinking that I will start with "Defend the Manor" instead of "DZD" I will have time for a second play after that. What do you think we should play on the second round and should I not start with "Defend the Manor"?

I'm excited to hear what you think,
Rob.

[samuraitrev]

I think that's a good call. Start with Defend the Manor then go with Escape in the Truck. Post on here how your game night goes.

[zachmaio]

The only thing with not playing DZD is that you immediately have to introduce the advanced rules..although I guess they're really not that hard to grasp. And Escape in the Truck is still one of my favorite scenarios so i definitely agree with your second choice!

[scarydk]

Sounds like your friends are in for quite a treat...

I agree with your choice of scenarios but personally I would reverse the order. Escape in the truck is a simple scenario which allows for a good introduction to the game. Defend the manor house is a tough one and it relies heavily upon the skills of your heroes. Either way, let us know how your session went.

[funcall]

Interesting, I never thought of playing Escape in the Truck first. I shall consider that.

[SovTech]

I second Escape in the Truck as the first and Defend the Manor as the second. EitT teaches the basic mechanisms of searching, moving and fighting, and is a bit favored towards the heroes... And defend the manor takes those basic rules and turnes them upside down!

Devilish

[StayPuft]

I would agree with what a couple of the others have said here. The game suggests to use Die Zombies Die to introduce newbies to the game, but I personally disagree. I've always thought Escape in the Truck makes for a great introductory scenario. It really does well to introduce the typical mechanics in the game. In most cases, you want the heroes to search and try to avoid encountering zombies. There are scenarios like DZD where they are encouraged to kill zombies, but typically it is a bad idea for the heroes to intentionally go after zombies.

Similarly, Defend the Manor House also requires you to sometimes initiate fights with zombies. After all, sometimes you have to lure them out of the Manor House, or try to kill them outright. So, again, not necessarily best as the first time scenario. Not to mention, Defend the Manor House is BRUTAL on the heroes. Better to start them with a more balanced scenario first, then give them a taste of how brutal things can get. ;-)

[Phantaskippy]

I agree with escape first then defend the manor.

Escape in the truck lets you get used to searching and mechanics, and then shines when it is you vs. the horde to get that ruck filled.

Manor house is just a great scenario, but the early going is really tough for new players. You dawdle a bit and the game is over before it gets going.

[funcall]

I 'm sold! 'Escape' then 'Defend' it is.

Now, to find a cool toy truck that is to scale. I knew there was a reason I had kids... the boy won't notice, right.

Thanks,
Rob.

(I pledge to give a recap of the results.)

[kassle]

Chiming in -

As a newbie myself (meaning my friends are even newer to the game that I am), they were drawn to Escape, and requested to play it.

They actually didn't love DZD. We played twice, to kind of enforce the rules in our heads, but it didn't get them as excited as having a separate task/goal did (not just killing zombies, but gathering supplies and escaping, while having to fight).