Need help teaching a new player

[Teflonknight]

My wife recently decided to try her hand at Roleplaying. So she has no experience with rpg's at all. She is finding it hard to visualize what is going on and making decision that won't get her character killed.

I need help finding very straight forward simple adventures to help her get the feeling for the game and does anyone know if they produced monster cards ( ones that picture the monster) either to buy or as downloadable PDFs that I can print on card stock for her?

Thank you in advance.

[templeorder]

I've never seen cards per se, but you can simply find images online and print them out for this personal use. It also may help the forget about the complexities of an adventure and start out with a few solo encounters she can do on her own, or with one other person. Pick a few scenarios - combat, using a skill, relying an on attribute (like strength), how npc's are used, etc. and weave them into a "day in the life" adventure - nothing with complex plot, really a series of easy learning encounters. Or make a short "go fetch" adventure that incorporates all this without having to keep lots of facts, maps, and interactions straight so she can focus on learning the mechanics and getting the flavor. Maybe even tracking down and getting some biological samples from a few monsters for a wizard - the NPC can be the tracker. The NPC can be the one who gets her out of trouble if things get over her head.

[DMMike]

Help visualizing: get a battlemat and draw each "room" for her. Use tokens or minis.

How to not get killed: I really don't understand how this is such a chore for lots of players. If you wouldn't do it in real life, it could get you killed in the game. Do it Final Fantasy style: in combat, a character has four options only. FIGHT. ITEM. RUN. And a class-specific option. STEAL. That way, running away and surviving is always a 1 out of 4 option.

[Teflonknight]

Thanks for the responses. I recently bought a pack of dungeon tiles, so I am going to use those. I have never done an adventure using miniatures before, so I'm not overly sure how to do that. I was thinking of checking out YouTube and seeing if anyone has taped a game.

I think I will start with one room encounters and work from there.

[Skunkape]

Going on YouTube and watching vids of people using minis is the way to go! More importantly, use of minis isn't as hard a thing as is often thought.

[DMMike]

Here's a funny video, if not an instructive one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmgLOKRl5J0

Fear of Girls!

[nijineko]

tiles, battlemats, miniatures, and other visual accompaniments are a good way to help.

i have often thought of using my legos to build sets for encounters... but the time it would take wouldn't work very often.

[tesral]

Doing is the best way to teach. Role-playing games are best learned while playing role-playing games. So, help them write a first level character and play the game. Answer questions fully. Expect lots of questions.

Frankly the rules do not teach the game very well.

[Teflonknight]

I've decided that I am going to do a "training" dungeon. Each room will get progressively more difficult. It will even include RP, maybe some negotiation, disarming traps. A variety of different RP elements.

[tesral]

I've decided that I am going to do a "training" dungeon. Each room will get progressively more difficult. It will even include RP, maybe some negotiation, disarming traps. A variety of different RP elements.

I have one of those myself. Something for each of the major food groups.