Day six in the #RPGaDAY2022 house.

Darren is really struggling with todays challenge “How would you get more people playing RPGs?”

Apparently his dislike of streamed games like Critical Role is playing a major factor in hindering him participating in the challenge.

However his only contribution so far has been to hold his RPG sessions (which have on the whole been D&D sessions) in public places like a cinema foyer, or the sports and community centre.

Which he hoped would peak peoples curiosity, get them to ask about what they were doing, even take part in a taster session.

Sadly the last part hasn’t happened yet. But he remains hopeful.

In the meantime the streamed games are proving rather popular and attracting lots of new players to RPGs, particularly that 800 pound gorilla D&D.

Here we go again, day five.

I hope you are taking the opportunity to check out other content providers takes on each days theme/inspiration.

Today we are asked “Why will they like this game?”

Is it the theme?

Is it the story?

Is it the setting/world?

Is it the game mechanics?

Is it all, some, or none of the above?

And we are back with day four of this month long event.

Today I answer the big question on everyone’s mind who is taking part in this, “Where would you host a first game?”

When I ran my first D&D game as a DM, which also happened to be a taster game also, we played in the foyer of The Luxe cinema. A very public location.

Now if I was to repeat the event I’d use our current hosts for Fenland Gamer sessions Wisbech St Mary Sports and Community Centre.

As the photo above shows there is plenty of space to have a couple of tables out.

There is a bar so refreshments can be purchased at a discounted price (compared to a pub or other establishment). We can even purchase food now. Well technically we could before but it was just a couple of rolls as your only choice. And we weren’t guaranteed those being available either.

We can be as private or public as desired. I know the D&D group prefer sitting in a different part of the bar which is more open to the public.

Sometimes that choice is out of our hands because of bookings.

However for a first game I’d try and make sure we had a bit more privacy. Just so that new players felt more at ease and less self conscious.

Where would you hold a first session?

Well here we are day three.

Lets dive straight in.

Todays theme is ”When were you first introduced to RPGs?”

I was first introduced to RPGs way back in the mid eighties.

I’d read about them in one of the many video game magazines I bought at the time. Probably C&VG.

From there I bought a couple of fanzines at the time. I definitely remember reading one of these that mentioned Tunnels and Trolls.

However the first RPG I bought was the classic red box Basic D&D Starter set.

Sadly I had no friends interested in playing.

So it wasn’t until I went to Brighton Polytechnic in 1987 to do an HND in Computer Studies that I joined a RPG society and played my first RPG.

That RPG was MERP aka the Middle Earth Role Playing Game. I played a hobbit (can’t remember the class) called Dram.

It was this society that taught me the secret of making alcholic jelly!

What is your answer for todays theme? Let me know in the comments.

With this post I’m back on track and all caught up.

I’m so glad it was only a day I had to catch up on.

On the plus side you have had a post-tastic day from me to help pass those moments of boredom.

So our inspiration/theme of the day is “What is a great introductory RPG?”

For me, based on my limited experience, a great introductory RPG has to be fun, accessible, not bogged down in rules. Ideally it has to have a good introductory adventure that is challenging but not deadly for the players, but also supports the new DM/GM, and playable in about three hours. Oh and affordable, ideally under £25.

With that in mind, the first RPG that comes to mind is Paranoia. In particular the introductory adventure [YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR THE TITLE OF THIS ADVENTURE] from the Mission book that comes with the Ultraviolet edition of the Paranoia RPG.

I really do love how this introductory adventure talks a new GM through the adventure. You don’t even need the rulebook handy!

Naturally D&D comes to mind with it’s Starter and Essentials sets. An indepth review of the latest Starter set by Sly Flourish shows that the included adventure has support for a new DM. Although the included rules books are cut down from the full blown equivalents they are still a lot of reading before hand.
However in Sly Flourish’s Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 (a Patreon exclusive at the moment) there are rules for a ”One-Sheet 5e”.

“This simplified version of 5e helps experienced DMs teach new players or lets anyone to run quick improvised 5e games including guidelines for creating simplified 1st level characters.”
Which although I haven’t used yet, are printed out and in my DM folder ready for that introductory session.

So thats my two suggestions for todays theme. Not very original I know. I’ll try harder tomorrow.

A day late, but here we are once more.

The theme/prompt starting off this years #RPGaDAY is ”Who would you like to introduce to RPGs?”

Gosh this is harder than you think, and its only day one!

There are so many ways you can answer this.

Do you go down that classic dinner party with anyone route? Do you pick people you know? Or maybe go for a more general catch all answer?

Obviously if anyone posts on the Fenland Gamers Facebook page or Discord server they want to try D&D (Usually the one most people are aware of and ask about) we try and accommodate by running a specific beginners taster session first.

One or two of my work colleagues have expressed an interest in trying RPGs. I’d love to run something for them. But there seems so many obstacles to overcome before that happens. The main ones being conflicting shifts, child care, and where to host.

I’d love to introduce my son Nathan to them too. I think he might enjoy them. But it would basically be a DM and single player (Nath), as we would only be playing when I visit. I know D&D can be played like this. But I’d much prefer a system that excels or is made to be played like this. So I need to do some research in this area.

I’ve not done the dinner party route. And despite answering the question I seem to have just listed why I can’t introduce them to RPGs. But that has to be a factor. Unfortunately I have a job that covers evenings and weekends. The times when the majority are free. Which does make things a bit harder. Life does have a habit of getting in the way.

But when it doesn’t I love introducing folks to RPGs.

It’s that time of year again where I spam you with badly written posts about RPGs based on a daily theme.

I nearly forgot all about it (again).

But a day late is better than never or months later.

Below are the planned themes everyone will be sharing about this year.

Don’t forget people will be creating around these themes in many many different ways. Doing a search on the various social media platforms or just your favourite ones for the hashtag should reveal a wealth of amazing content.

As per usual for me, my participation in this annual event will be via posts on here.

Sadly for you. But lucky for me. I only have one day to catch up with. Which means today will be a very heavy post day for me.

So I better get catching up. See you in the next post.