Leaping into the Fray

[Henry Fitch]

Okay. I've been a "daydreamer" for too long, it's time I actually got out and played. Or, way past too long. So I need a group. Don't have one, don't seem to be any. All that runs at the (un)FLGS is Magic, Chainmail, and Mage Knight. No proper cons anywhere near me. So I think I'll have to make my own group.

I can get together a few people with a passing interest in RPG-type stuff. They probably won't be a model group at first: I'm looking at maybe one Anne Rice fanatic, one New-Ager who's LARPed but always plays the same damn druid, and one real gem who I have serious trouble not telling things. Oh, and a Magic champion, if I'm desperate. The main problem, though, is that we don't really have a metric lick of experience between us.

Please. Guide me. I am frightened.

Or tell me about your group in the Maryland/DC area that really needs another player or two. That would also be good.

[Clay]

Coyote,

There probably isn't much for it but to dive in head first and screaming.  Accept the fact that your first session probably won't go terribly smoothly. But chances are good that you'll get together again and have an exceedingly good time.

It's been about four years since I got back into gaming, and my first time out was as a GM. The best advice that I can give is to prepare very well.  Know who your NPCs are going to be (although don't waste time on complete workups, unless you're going to have a dramatic and crucial fight with that character).  Know the relationships and their relative strengths. Have a rough outline of what the setting is like, but don't waste the effort on detailed floor plans.  Know what major scenes are likely to play out, and have an idea of how people will get to them, and where they'll go from there.

Does it sound like a lot?  It can be. But it doesn't have to be.  I can usually figure on 2 hours of preparation per game session.

Possibly most important is to pick a system for the story you want to tell, and make yourself familiar with it. System does matter, because it has to support your story goals.  But you don't need to be a master of it.  You just need to be comfortable enough that you know how to use it to reinforce your story. I recommend making a couple of sample characters, trying out any complicated systems (esp. combat), and trying to figure out how you'll use meta-game mechanics like Sorcerer's humanity or Dust Devils' stakes.

[Henry Fitch]

Thanks for the advice.. I think I can do this..

Any advice on systems that are good for easing people in? At least one of them has serious "why all those rules" tendencies, and I certainly don't want to squelch that. I could get everybody into Narativism without having to deal with D&D hangups. So yeah, who's had good experiences with one narrativist-leaning system or another with greenhorns? My instinct says Wuthering Heights. Good idea, bad? Hope the percentiles don't frighten them...

[Clay]

Henry,

Ron's Sorcerer is a good candidate for fast game play. The rules are light, and it doesn't carry any heavy load from old wargaming days.  It will take some customization to make it suitable for your group, but it has a good deal of flexibility and can probably accomodate your needs.

If you happen to have some experience running games, my own http://www.story-game.com">Once Upon a Story is a very rules-light system.  It's worked well for me, but it'll take even more customization, because it really isn't much more than a rules system. Imposing setting or premise upon it will take a good deal of effort on your part.

Call of Cthulhu and Traveller are also popular in our play group. Call of Cthulhu has a lot of pages, but the rules are actually very short, and the system itself is a simple roll of percentile dice for anything. Traveller is simple enough if you can lay hands on the latest edition (referred to as T4), although avoiding starship combat is a really good idea (it's broken), and the responsible companies have all gone out of business.

[Henry Fitch]

Really? Call of Cthulhu? I got that a couple weeks ago and the rules made my eyes glaze over. Maybe I missed something. The whole Resistance Chart thing, and the 1-20 attributes and 1-100 skills... almost made me wish I had bought the d20 version. But maybe I'm just not seeing it. And Traveller... isn't that GURPS?

[Ron Edwards]

Henry,

Check out InSpectres, which bar none is the friendliest, fun-nest, most accessible Narrativist game I can think of.

If you want something a wee bit more "down to it," in terms of traditional play, then Dust Devils is my current pick.

If you really want to hit the deep end, The Questing Beast is a good choice, especially in terms of the pre-play group communication that's laid out so well.

I don't suggest Sorcerer, actually. Sorcerer has a way of eating people alive if they're tentative - I consider it to be very hard liquor, or maybe even a dose of acid. Go in without a group-wide level of solid steel intensity, and you'll stumble out with body fluids all over you and barely-coherent, embarassing memories.

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

Hey Henry...don't listen to Clay. If you're leaning toward Wuthering Heights, Traveller and Call of Cthulhu aren't even close to what you want to do. My recommendation is InSpectres. See my advice to Shane http://indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=18440&highlight=#18440">here.

Paul

[Paul Czege]

Dammit Ron!! That's the second time we've simultaneously written to recommend InSpectres. Cut it out with pre-empting my posts! I look ridiculous posting the same thing two minutes after you do.

[Clay]

I may have to lay hands on InSpectres, given the recommendations I'm seeing.  Unfortunately I can only make recommendations based on what I have played.  Cthulhu and Traveller both have a lot of eye-glazing rules which the GM must wade through.  The numbr of rules used in actual play is very small in both cases.  Players have a number which they must roll under to succeed.  In the case of Traveller, the GM indicates the number of dice that must be used in the roll. In Cthulhu, the GM indicates the target percentage that must be rolled under.  In spite of the heavy rulebooks, actual play is fairly light on rules that must be remembered.

I can say that Dust Devils is light on rules, play proceeds quickly, and everyone grasps the concept right away.

The Sorcerer description was most apropriate. I should probably have tempered my recommendation with the warning that the people I have played it with drink bourbon from large water glasses.

[Henry Fitch]

Hmm. InSpectres does kick ass, but I don't know if the pitch "It's like Ghost Busters, but an internet startup!" would hook these people... and westerns are questionable too... still, perhaps I'll give one of these a shot. You never know.

[Bankuei]

Hey, just go with the Pool. man.  Narrativist, quick, in game reward.  You can play any genre/setting you want to, and it's easy.  Pick something stupid that everyone is familiar with and let it flow.  It can be cheesy, such as "Let's play the wizards from Magic!" or "Scorpian King! yeah!" or whatever, just make sure that it is a setting that everyone can get with NO explaination and you can just go.

Later, after you've got their play styles down, figured out how to communicate to them, you can pick a more in depth style of game.  But remember, you have to encourage them to make the story happen, encourage them to use MOV's, otherwise it's just like Whitewolf or D&D gambling dice.

Chris

[Henry Fitch]

Hmm. Or we could just use the setting that we've previously made up together for our ruleless LARPs.... even the characters... hmm...

[Valamir]

There you go.  Done and Done.  Few systems could handle tabletopping a LARP as well as The Pool.

[Henry Fitch]

Still, it does mean he'll still be playing that one druid... ah well. I think I'll bring The Pool (or TQB? huh.) and InSpectres, see what floats their boats. It's hard for me to resist Sorcerer and Sword at this point, but I agree that it might not be the thing to jump right in with.

[leomknight]

Where could I find some of the games you've mentioned: InSpectres, Wuthering Heights, Questing Beast, the Pool & Dust Devils?

By the way Coyote, you'll do fine. When I referee, I try to remember how I felt during D&D sessions when I tried something fun, and got shot down with "Your character can't do that!" I find if I give my players a shot, even a slim one, to stand out from the pack, they'll run with it and have fun. Even if things crash and burn in spectacular fashion, laugh it off and keep running. I once created a fight scene for Runequest that I expected to go all night (Runequest combat can do that). My players got sneaky, pulled an end run, and whacked my badass enemies in about ten minutes. I sat there looking stunned. "These were the tough guys?" they asked. I said "I guess not." We all had a good laugh at my expense, and I used my notes to wing a cross country journey. Fun was had by all.