#tabletop day

Provide pregenerated PCs matched to miniatures that obviously look like they can do what the PCs can do.  Players should be able to get the general idea without understanding all the fine print on the character sheet.

It helps that it's not 1974 anymore so most people who have never touched dice still have an idea about what orcs are, what sort of things a wizard can do, and the differences between a rogue and a ranger, an elf and a dwarf.  They’ll probably all know what character levels and hit points are, and what the base stats mean, if they’ve played Pokemon or Fallout or almost any game on any platform.

Let the heroes be heroes -- High enough level to beat the big bad, but not so high they are burdened with too many special ability rules to learn all at once.

Keep it simple -- Highlight the initiative bonus, to hit, damage, and AC #s on the sheets, and wear a con shirt with a big D20 on it to make sure they know which one to roll most of the time.

Jump directly into action within the first minutes.  Characters can show each other who they are and what they can do instead of sitting around talking about it at the inn.  No long rules lecture up front, just start telling a story then prompt them when it’s time to make choices or roll dice.

Include some variety of iconic monsters and settings -- orcs raiding the village in the woods, a crypt with undead, the hall of statues where one comes to life, some classic oddball creature like an ooze, owlbear, or mimic.