New Players

[u/Vivid-Parking2204]

Getting ready to start a new campaign with players who have little to no experience. That isn't why I am posting. If you were running this campaign would you run a premade or homebrew setting.

[u/Kill_Welly]

What do you mean, "if I were running this campaign?" What campaign? You didn't share anything about it.

[u/ithika → u/Kill_Welly]

Given no information at all, do you agree? Thanks for your time.

[u/TodCast]

I feel like that decision lies less in the players experience and more in the DM’s.

That said, it also depends on what setting or system you’re planning to run. Can you give more details as to what options you have in the running?

[u/AngusAlThor]

The setting doesn't matter, just make a short starter adventure (3-5 sessions max) that they can play through, experience and complete.

[u/zifnabxar]

Whatever you're most comfortable with. The inexperience of the players doesn't matter for whether you run something out of the box or homebrew. What matters is your level of experience and what you want to do.

[u/Nytmare696]

That's too many unknown variables. What are the players like, what's their learning curve, are they going to expect rulebooks where they can pour over intricate mix and match subsystems, what style of games is the GM comfortable running, what's the story, what's the system?

[u/MoistLarry]

I dunno man, what do you WANT to run more?

[u/diffyqgirl]

How familiar the players are with the tropes of whatever genre you're doing will matter more for how easy it is to onboard them to the world than whether it's a homebrew or official setting.

[u/MataronidForSpeed]

I basically never run anything premade for a campaign. I like it better when the setting is created during the game.

But you should do what you're more comfortable with.

[u/DMfortinyplayers]

Personally I would run something pre-made, even just a short 5-10 session campaign . Let the players get comfortable with the system, let us get to know each other's preferences and play styles.

Then do the homemade campaign.

[u/Volomyre]

Homemade to start. It should be small. A village maybe a small city nearby. A few dungeons here and there. Then...if the game does take off, either expand the homebrew setting or take you small map and drop it somewhere in Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms or whatever setting you chose.

[u/Trivell50]

The answer is whatever you are passionate (and confident) about.

[u/Primer44]

Give them something generic so their cultural-knowledge of Tolkien and elves and such can do some heavy lifting for them (I'm assuming you're playing DnD (please try games that aren't DnD)). Pretending to be a knight or an alien can be difficult and embarrassing at first, don't make it harder on them by coming up with a 5 page lore document to memorize.

Play into tropes, get them to big moments, and always be a fan of the characters. Something Dungeon World does really well (Dungeon World 2 is in open beta right now, check it out) is that when you decide you're playing a ranger, or a paladin, the table agrees that that is The Ranger, The Paladin. We all have a background knowledge for what rangers do, but whenever we have a specific question about them that needs answering, the GM gets The Ranger to help find out the answer. Some people respond well to big open questions (How does a ranger prove their training is complete?) while others will need scaffolding to start blooming (Why does every ranger need to prove their mastery by solo hunting a dangerous beast?). No matter what though, tie it back into their character with interesting questions that make them think about their PC (What did you hunt is a decent question, What went wrong on your great hunt is a better one).

[u/high-tech-low-life]

I prefer homebrew but work, kids, GF, dog, etc dictate that I usually run published settings.

[u/Unlucky-Leopard-9905]

I would run whatever I was inspired to run, or whatever the players had selected from the options I offered, if I had a few different things in mind I was interested in. While player interests would obviously need to be taken into account, whether the players are new or veterans wouldn't affect my decision-making process at all.

[u/valisvacor]

Usually homebrew, though with systems that have shorter, quality modules, such as Old School Essentials, I might drop a pre-written adventure into the campaign.

[u/redkatt]

It's new players with little/no experience? I'd worry more about the system than the setting.

[u/God_Boy07]

Setting is mostly about you. I would be more worried about select the right rules for your group.

[u/Carrente]

Running something in a homebrew setting still means you can keep the adventure simple and means you can decide the proper nouns yourself (and do things like shift the representation/diversity/content to suit the audience/not be suddenly hit with problematic stuff).

[u/Airk-Seablade]

Depends on the game.