I have a feeling that most people that many of us are familiar with this narrative: You get a new RPG system, excitedly read the whole thing, and then – when you try to get a group together or introduce it to your existing group – nothing. “Why don’t we just play D&D?”, perhaps suggest your attempt to get local roleplayers interested. Or whatever your groups game of choice. You get the picture. I’ve found that the area where I am has a vibrant scene for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and – frankly – not much else (Well, World of Darkness stuff, too I guess) and why would there be? If you play one of those games you are almost always guaranteed to find players, you can tell a nigh-infinite number of stories without relearning the rules (new versions notwithstanding), and you have a huge amount of support. So, I’d love to hear how you have sold a new system to your group (or created a group for a system you might have expected to have some trouble with). I know a lot of people have turned to online playing, especially in the indie RPG community, where you can quickly find a ton of people that are interested in the same group as you without ever worrying about that hurdle, but I’d love to hear some success stories from people that have found a like-minded group (or convinced people to be like-minded) locally. Honestly, as I noted in a previous post, I’ve had precious little luck getting a steady group together for any length of time, tending to get a game here and a game there to try things out, but running into untold scheduling problems that tend to derail things, especially when people live 30 minutes or more apart. I’d love to hear your experiences down in the comments.
RPG Discussion: How do you convince people to try new systems?
– September 25, 2012Posted in: RPGs
Interview: Psi-punk RPG designer Jacob Wood
The Quiet Year - A storytelling game about the a community's struggles
Sagas of the Icelanders - Historical stories of Vikings using the Apocalypse World system
I find it easier if the players trust me. It is really hard to do with a new group. D&D is often the ice-breaker of a new group; even if the players aren’t familiar with each other they at least are familiar with the rules.
My personal groups are fine with me running a new system/genre, but there are times when they also say something like “we’d like to do some old-fashioned fantasy next”.
Yeah, it definitely makes for a good starting point for people that haven’t played together before. Of course now, generations being what they are, it’s entirely possible to get a group that has basically no consensus on which version to run.