Man this forum is so awesome!!

Only minutes after I post something I already have responses.

Definitely! And encourage your new players to start thinking about how their characters might respond to things in the tutorial. That'll hopefully get them to start thinking about more in-depth characters. Don't expect anything great from them as far as characters go, by the way. That'll come with time and gaming.

Best of luck! I really hope this works out for you!

Welcome to your second home.

I did something similar when teaching a group how to play 4E. I told them up front I wanted to run campaign X, but that I would run 6 sessions of mini-campaign Y to let them learn how the game works. This allowed everyone to make a character and get a feel for the game before diving into the real thing.

Mechanically, I ran mini-campaign from 1-3, then the main campaign started at 3 with new characters.




How I'd do it, from start to finish:
1) Very, VERY brief description of part of the world they're in. If it takes you more than a sentence or two, you're running too long. Answer any questions the players have.

2) Make characters. Answer any new world questions that come up while they are making characters.

3) Land on the docks, escort to the captain. Alternatively, just start with them standing in front of the captain waiting to get the mission. Be prepared for players to do something unexpected. If you can find a way to spin said unexpected action into being the reason they meet the captain, so much the better.

4) Run the game. Answer questions as they come up, and tell them what sorts of info they would have from common knowledge.

So I am curious as a storyteller and a GM, what are some of the good (and bad) examples of campaign openings. If you would make the analogy of movies what is the first image you see and what is the first scene like. And an analogy with books would be what is the first paragraph and what is in the first five pages.

Because the opening of stories are very important. Would Saving Private Ryan be as good if the opening scene wasn't Omaha Beach? Or Lord of the Rings if it didn't begin in the Shire?

It kind of depends on where you want the story to start and how you want it to go. It's a balance between getting your players immersed and setting up the feel of the setting.

If you want to take a look at media - A Game of Thrones (the book; I haven't seen the TV show) starts off with a scene that doesn't really start affecting the rest of the world until much later in the book. However, it sets up the feel quite nicely, foreshadows some of the future events, and immerses the readers.

You want something that will really catch their attention - but most importantly, something that forces them to be PROactive instead of REactive.

I opened a Deadlands campaign with a train that hadn't come into station and sent the players out to examine what was going on. Part way there, their own train broke down. By the end of the night, they had stopped some bad guys from making off with a ton of slaves to sell to the Sioux Nation. It took them investigating and thinking instead of just responding to enemies I was throwing at them.

Anything that lets them be proactive like that is a good start.

OMG I read A Game of Thrones last month. Holy Shit was that good. I read it in eight days!

*sigh*
Deep breath, deep breath...

Yes that opening prologue was good because it set up the feel and the tone of the story and affects the actual start of the story.

BTW have you seen pictures of George R. R. Martin he looks so cool. I would want to hang out with him.

I haven't seen many pictures but I have met him. He looks very much like a 19th century sea captain. Really fun guy to talk to, has a very rascally sense of humor.

19th century sea captain is exactly how I'd describe him.

I had a professor in college who dressed frequently like a Victorian era gentleman. It was damn awesome

If I had the money to do it right, I would routinely dress in Victorian and 1930's clothing. Nothing is quite so awesome or distinguished as a good three-piece suit.