Welcome back! Season 4 opens with a self-indulgent, naval gazing look at the new player experience through the eyes of one my players: Matt Street. Matt joined my homebrew campaign in session 0 way back at the beginning of 2019 with his Tortle sorcerer A'Therin Trolldoor. Since then, over six chapters we've lost two players, four PCs and several NPCs. Matt shares his experiences learning D&D 5e from the ground up, having had no TTRPG experience before; the things he wasn't expecting (rekindling childlike joy) and his most surprising takeaways! We talk through the various tips that both jaded DMs such as myself, and virgin players alike can use to aid that onboarding experience. For better and for worse, D&D still has a certain stigma surrounding it, and anything we can do to reduce those barriers and make people comfortable at the table is surely a good thing. 04:28 - New Player Experience 15:09 - Digital or Physical for Onboarding 30:09 - Tips for New Players 36:16 - Voices and Apprehension 47:18 - Tales of the Unexpected 56:35 - D&D: A Unique Experience Find Matt on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/mpstreet88 My stream as Rho: https://www.twitch.tv/thinkingcritically My YouTube as Rho: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_BSgazjwyshzo1jazHeaQ Find Thinking Critically online: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk References: 'Ability' episode of Thinking Critically 'Experience' episode of Thinking Critically Patrons: Robert Hartley @RobertHartleyGM: https://www.patreon.com/RobertHartleyGM Optional Rule @optionalrule: https://www.optionalrule.com/ Matthew Perkins @mperkinsDM: https://www.matthewperkins.net/ Matt Street @mpstreet88: https://www.virtualtimehustle.com/ Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod