I'm going to be attending Dragonmeet at the start of december with a few other UK indie designers. I'm going to be running 15 demos of Dead of Night throughout the day. The problem is I've neither ran nor played in a demo game before, except the 1 or 2 hour varieties, so I'm not sure what it should include.

So what do you think the 15 minute demo should include? When you sit down for a demo, what are you hoping to be shown?

Hi Andrew,

Here are some general points to consider.

First, remember that you are not playing the game in such a demo. You are showcasing a particular feature as a soft sales pitch. That means that a fair amount of game material, options, and features are simply ignored and left to their own reading later, if they buy it.

Second, move straight to that showcasing. You hand them usable materials, which in the case of Dead of Night is a character writeup and a die. You provide no choices whatsoever about what is to be played. You don't start a scenario, you start a scene. Be very clear about what they can do - without this, they'll snap into "preserve my PC" and "find clues" mode, and not in a good way. Instruct regarding the resolution system through pure application - "OK, now I've done this, so you can do this or this." Think in terms of demonstrating a customizable card game - you'd play a couple of hands and right when the guy says "Oh, I get it," then you sell him a pack. You wouldn't sit down to a full game for a large number of reasons.

Third, encourage collaborative play among the people involved, meaning, get them to talk with one another. Encourage people to make suggestions to one another or to try things that seem cool to someone else. I've never actually said, "Guys, we have twenty minutes and ten are gone, are you going to play this character like he's your long-lost best-ever PC, or are you going to learn what this game can do? Learn? OK, then try out what your friend just said, it's not Diplomacy", but that's kind of the attitude that can be supportively encouraged. It's more like, the guy says "what if I did this?" and the gal says, "Cool!", and I say, "She thinks it's cool, so try it," and then they pick up on that.

Finally, let's look at Dead of Night. Have the setting/situation prepared, have your monster prepared. Don't do anything fancy with countdowns or reversed GMing or whatever; stick with the default.

The first thing I'd say - and I mean the very first - is, "In this demo, one of you will die horribly." Just get that out into the open. Then point to the big labeled numeral on their sheets and say, "That's why you want to spend a lot of these as we go." Then I'd put that big fucking steel D20 out in the middle, and say, "These are my Tension Points" and set it to a value. "I spend'em for horrible stuff to do to you. I get more when you spend Survival Points."

Then start the scene. Don't fuck around. Resist your temptation to talk all about everything you, as GM, might be able to do with Tension Points in any and every game. Resist your temptation to go through the ways to spend Survival Points; instead, have that be a big sheet shared by everyone. Teach the speaking/ordering system through direction, and don't try to articulate it. They'll see that there is a system in place, and that's all that matters.

Then do your damndest to kill a player-character. When someone goes to 0 Survival Points, say, "You're not dead yet - but one more, and you will be." Then stop the demo.

The last few paragraphs are only one way to do it, the way which popped into my head when writing the post. I hope it gives you the right idea about your own attitude - you're not really GMing, you're demonstrating and pointing out, through use, the actual features of the game which you think will be the strongest selling point.

Best, Ron

I'm running a trial run of the 15 minute demo tonight before we sit down and play some Trinity.

I've pre-made some characters, although I had wondered about generating some as part of the demo (it takes, what, 2-3 minutes?). I think I'll shelve that idea though as it distracts from the game and could be a time sink if I end up with a player short of ideas.

The setup is going to be a straight-forward haunted cemetery with a vampire as the monster. I figure it's something everyone can grasp hold of as a concept, even if it is quite cliched. It's either that or haunted house + ghost or mountain cabin + werewolf. It needs to be an instant hook, so players can instantly picture it in their head without me having to fill in too much detail.

At least I don't have to ask how much of the rules to skip over - it's simple enough I can squeeze them all in!

Is it worth taking time to set things up and create an atmosphere, or should it really be like "you're in a graveyard late at night, you find the body of your friend, drained of blood, and a shadow flits over the moon! Whaddaya do?!

The thing I have the hardest part doing is, as you put it, the part where the game clicks for the player and then you sell him the game. How do you make that step without it ringing too falsely? When I've run 1 hour demos before (and DoN runs really nicely in an hour), I kinda fumble and mumble around like the Englishman I am and vaguely suggest that they might be able to buy a copy at the stand if it wasn't too much trouble. I know this isn't strictly in keeping with the topic, but I feel it is a crucial step for the 15 minute demo.

I know that this is a bit late now that the convention has already come and gone (and I do hope that Ron's advice helped you out at it.  It was all quite sound, smart stuff).  I do have some advice over the last bit, the 'closing', as it might be called. 

I work retail.  Have done for a long time now.  Got a fair amount of experience in the field.  And I hate to come across as a salesman asshole because I am not.  I genuinely want to get the customer something that he wants.  So this is what I would do. 

When the customer (He is a customer, by the way.  Always think of him in that way and give him that kind of respect.  Or her.) has that moment, toward the end of the demo, where they say "Oh.  I get this."  That's when you close.  You grab a copy of the book and put it in there hands.  That is insanely important.  Book.  In hands.  Show them the cool cover.  Flip through it a little with them.  Then say this.

"If you liked the game, then you can pick it up right now."

Phrasing it like that is important because it shows the customer that they have a choice.  You're not saying "Hey, it's only 20 bucks, so pick it up.  You'll dig it!"  "If they liked the game"-- that's options.  Because you're not an asshole and you only want them to buy the book if they actually liked what they saw.

Then talk to that customer for a moment or two and tell him about the utility of the game.  What other kinds of stories can it help run?  Are there any other cool rules that wou didn't include in the demo?  Well, then here's a chance to highlight them real quick.  Just point them out in the book. 

And, if you demoed well, then of course they like the game.  Which means, nine times out of ten, that they want the book.  When they buy the book, you give them the one that they were just holding.  That's their copy.  Write a quick little "thank you" in the book if they're into that sort of thing.  Use their first name in it as well. 

Then, when the customer is leaving, with that brand new, signed book of his, ask him real quick: "Hey, if you know anyone else that's into this sort of game, send them on down."  And be genuine, because you love running these demos for people and getting them excited about your game. 

Just be personal and up front with your customers.  Don't be an asshole.  You're in this to sell books, and these people are in that convention to buy them.  That's why they went into the dealers room or sat down at a demo table.  Don't be afraid of giving your customer what they want. 

Man, I sound like Gordon Gekko.  ;-)

Thanks Michael, that's exactly the sort of advice I needed. Hopefully that will help me overcome the usual fumbling of "you can bye it somewhere here, bye!" that I usually blurt out.

And your post is exactly on time - Dragonmeet is saturday!