New players really should be told to play Pathfinder 2e at this point, not D&D5e

It’s unfortunate that DND 5e is the sole mega popular game.

People who want fantasy tactical combat would probably do well with Pathfinder 2e. But people who just want to tell a fun story would probably have a lot more fun with something lighter, like Fate.

There’s so many games out there and most don’t get the love they deserve

DND is a weird mix of too many rules and not enough rules.

Given how many people post questions about how to handle parties losing conflicts, I’d say yes.

Also it operates at the out-of-chatacter level. It’s not the character conceding, it’s the player. This allows for solutions like “they shoot me and I fall into the river, where I’ll wash up somewhere by evening”. It’s not always an in-character surrender.

You can’t really surrender to all things, too, such as wolves, zombies, or an avalanche.

Whenever it came down to “your character might die” I’d roll on the table. I don’t want anyone to think I’m fudging.

I also really like Fate’s “concede” rule. A player (not the character!) can concede at any point in a conflict before dice are rolled. They don’t get whatever they wanted out of the conflict, but they get to negotiate where the story goes. Maybe the bandits decide to take you alive for ransom. Maybe they take your stuff and leave you to tell their tale. It’s whatever the table thinks is best.

If they instead tough it out and let the dice fall, whoever took them out has the final say in what happens.

The biggest problem is most players aren’t paying attention and won’t remember everything.

If you do elves and dwarves, they’ll have some idea of what’s happening.

If you do the Wilfren and the Senderri, they won’t. Even if you explain it a dozen times. Even if you show them in a dozen scenes.

I may just have trauma from being in poorly fitting groups, but I think getting people to learn a bunch of your custom lore is always going to be a long shot.

If you make the world collectively, you’ll have a better chance of it working. But some players hate being creative like that.