RPG A Day 2022--Day 8: Who Introduced You to RPGs?

 I have some Mandela Effect memories going on now at age 48. From earlier this year I mentioned watching the D&D cartoon during its first run and how that was my first interest in the hobby. That cartoon started in 1983 when I would have been nine years old. I distinctly remember trying to buy some kind of something D&D that may have been a thieves character kit--of course, you couldn't play the game with just that so it was lost to me. Looking it up online the one I remember getting early was released much later, so I'm wrong there somewhere. Nevertheless, there was one attempt early on that didn't quite click, but the interest was there. 

I have memories that can be confirmed of reading the 'Choose Your Own Adventure" and the 'Time Machine' books that were reader directed novels. Those apparently came out in '84 according to the Google. Later, in 1987 I encountered books with even more gaming elements involved with the 'Fighting Fantasy' and 'Wizards, Warriors, and You' books. I was living a very disastrous year in Alabama at the time so I distinctly remember those books being a help in getting me through it. I also recall other peers in grade 7 playing in D&D groups allegedly, but I was never a part of them. 

The next part gets a bit hazy. At some point after the family's return to Georgia, I got to go to Dragon*Con in Atlanta. It was during one of these Dragon*Con visits that I picked up the TSR 'Marvel Super Heroes' Advanced Set. From that time I really played and for the most part never looked back in one way or another. There were two older guys at a table in the dealer's room that sold me on buying it. I can give these unknown dealers the credit of really introducing me to the hobby proper. I remember my younger brother being with me, but I'm not sure if mom and dad were with me at the time or not. I did play with them later in an infamous game of Marvel Super Heroes that I related in a different RPG A Day blog entry back there somewhere, but what my dad did as the Hulk would have surely gotten him cancelled today. 

It was like this but a whole lot more...let's say politically incorrect. Hulk lost a lot of Karma points that day. 

RPG A Day 2022: Day 7 System Sunday--Describe a Cool Part of a System that You Love.

 I don't think a year has gone by in my participation with the RPG a Day experiment that I haven't talked a little about Ryuutama. This system is a traditional rules lite fantasy TTRPG coming out of Japan. It is whimsical in tone and described as Miyazaki meets Oregon Trail due to its focus on travel. The feature that I'm going to talk about is the GM character called the Ryuujin. 

The Ryuujin are small, lesser Dragons in this setting that are raising what are called Seasonal Dragons. These powerful Seasonal Dragons grow by hearing the Ryuujin tell stories about the adventures of the party. The Ryuujin come in four colors: Green, Azure, Crimson, and Black. Each color has its own features and also gives a hint to the tone of the campaign. Greens are general, Azures are love/family, Crimsons are action, and Blacks are sorrow/death. 

Many TTRPG commentators will tell you that the DM/GM should never have his own character as a part of the party. I can see that--especially when it comes to leveling up a DM/GM character alongside the other PCs--as these types of characters potentially steal the spotlight from the players. What's more the GM/DM character knows all the secrets if GM/DM wants him to. The Ryuujin is a bit different and works to put the spotlight on the PCs. I would say they are about as helpful as 'Dungeon Master' in the old D&D cartoon except they do level up--on their own scale--and the powers that they have can help or hinder the party...whatever makes for a more interesting story. 

I've taken to using the gimmick in every campaign I run. Having a Ryuujin in a fantasy setting fits seamlessly, but even in a setting like Cyberpunk, having a similarly powered permanent NPC embedded in the group gives the GM/DM a voice within the narrative that is distinct from his role as arbiter and lessens the burden of coming up with a parade of NPCs that just happen to be there right in time when the players need them. 

RPG A Day. 2022: Day 6--How Would You Get More People Playing RPGs?

I think the interest is there, but as "big" as RPGs have become--specifically D&D in the States and Call of Cthulhu internationally--they are still niche and small potatoes. Generally speaking, people have neither the time nor the desire to read books that are over 200 pages long. If they have a life with responsibilities, they probably can't play any more than three hours a week--if they're lucky--whether they desire to do so or not. For all the 80's and beyond 'Satanic Panic' and today's Culture Wars that show supposed evils in the hobby, the one constant and true "evil" is that our hobby is a time sink. It can be a money sink too, but that's up to the individual. There are enough options these days to play for free and legally. It's the time and lack thereof that is the biggest deterrent to regular, sustained play. What should we do?

1. Explain the rules in a simplified way: You should be able to explain the rules as if you were giving an elevator pitch in a movie. As I mentioned yesterday, if you don't have time for a session zero, that one shot  can take a good ten to fifteen minutes to get the rules and general concept communicated to newbs, and they'll get lost no matter what you say, so it's better to get right on it. Say something like:  "It's like playing cowboys and indigenous peoples, but we roll dice when the outcome of an action is in doubt"

2. Choose a rules light system: Several games I've played lately could be considered 'rules light', but they're not 'kiddie' strictly speaking. In fact, I've found a few "kiddie" games in searching for an easier entry-level game for my young daughter that had more "crunch" and high-concept rules than she would ever be able to play with.  The stories and settings may be kid friendly, but the rules sure weren't. I choose games like ICRPG, Tiny Dungeon, Ryuutama and the Deathbringer supplement are all easy to get into. Any system that is D6 based like 'Tiny Dungeon' is going to infinitely easier to the beginner just because we're all familiar with the D6 dice. I haven't played Deathbringer, but I understand it is only pamphlet sized.

3. Choose basic race/roles/class: If I want more people playing--and staying at the table--I have to follow K.I.S.S. procedure. Letting an inexperienced user play some crazy race, advanced role or class--Magic User (fantasy) or Netrunner (cyberpunk)--won't be good for the players or the DM. There was a reason why D&D had basic and advanced versions way back when. In the case like the Netrunner in cyberpunk, it would be better to regulate that to NPC only no matter how interested the player may be in running one. You don't want any gimmicky race or class slowing down the game for the others at the table while you deal with them.

4. Keep the sessions shorter:Err on the shorter side for the session and leave the players wanting more. YMMV but for me and wanting more people to play means making the session shorter. I normally play at three hours max and we have managed to have a weekly game for the most part since last November. Once in a great while we may run over, but my goal is to always finish under. It's hard to clear out even three hours for the Average Joe on a consistent basis nowadays. Those 8 hour marathons from our youth are out of the question--consistently. If you want to play regularly, it has to be a short session. The creator who's able to create a system that can provide satisfying results after one hour of play could make a mint.

I'll end it here to practice what I preach, but in summary, if we can simplify the rules and run quicker games, more people are likely to get into playing and keep playing.   

RPG A Day 2022:Day 5--Anecdote Alternative

 Couldn't really think of any specific reasons why anybody would like to play in the hypothetical "first game" we've been talking about other than some of the general info already in the blog entries. Either they'll like it or they wont. The fact is, I don't have too many anecdotes to tell either. I find that strange as I'm sitting here wracking my brain trying to come up with a decent story to tell...let alone coming up with people to tag...that I have plenty of hours in at live tables, across many nations BTW--love my VTT groups but even the ones that are closest to becoming real friends are gaming friends only and I have no 'real' knowledge of their personal lives, so what can I tell you? I'll summarize a recent play with a lot of rookie players that I was a part of.

The most recent live game I've been a part of took place among teachers after school at my current place of employment. This particular school has an activity called "Sharpen the Saw" wherein the teachers should take in an afternoon activity--about an hour--that some would call mandatory fun or a team building exercise. One of my colleagues decided to run a one-shot of D&D and it was approved, so naturally I signed up.

The first problems was what edition to run. I suggested he go with 5th because it is easier and most likely current players will be expecting that one, and it's better for rookies--my Pathfinder Beginners Box is stuck out in the Philippines, but that's another story.

Then, the next problem is that there is just no way one can run even the most bare bones one-shot in an hour. There is no session zero so we just have to jump right in. Should I attempt to do the thing next year, I'd try to be in touch with everyone by email in the weeks leading up to the event just to get everyone on the same page. As it stood he went with pre-gen characters to save a little time. I lessened that burden by bringing my own character, but in the end we still wound up being short a character leaving one of the experienced players scrambling to quickly generate one for himself. That led to the next problem of having rookies and experienced players at the table. If I remember correctly, we ended up with three rookies--the only girl was a female Chinese colleague with the English name 'Hamburger' who didn't speak much English--and three experienced players along with the DM. That would have been a bit unwieldy for me. Personally, six players is right at my max, but I prefer 3-5. Our DM carried on. 

This mix of newbies and oldies brought us to the next hurdle. The experienced players tried to help the first timers, but it was a bit of a clown show. I can't speak for the other guys, but coming in directly after a day at work means my own brain was already mush.  I'm not completely shy at the table, but I'm also not the most vocal either, so unless I'm the DM, I'm easily drowned out by more verbose players, and the later it gets--the more quiet I become. These factors made the game run more slowly than it should have and we were already pressed for time. It's such a fun hobby, but so difficult to explain to the true first timer.

We managed to get our feet in the door with a set-up. There was a little bit of role play there and I got to try a spell, but all the magic wasn't working for some reason. We then went literally down a rabbit hole for the adventure. The DM decided to run a world using creatures from the Final Fantasy video game series. It didn't really matter in the end, and personally, I never critique someone willing to run as it gives me a break, but I think if I were in charge of it, I would have stuck with more traditional monsters. There needs to be something for the newbies to hang their hats on. The FF series has a lot of weird stuff going on and that's cool, but for rookies? Since we were already running under time constraints, it takes less time not having to describe these off the wall monsters. To make it less of a burden I'd just throw some goblins out there and call it a day.

Text messages started coming in at around the 45 minute mark of our scheduled hour, and fifteen minutes later when we actually were an hour in, a few already needed to go. I think Hamburger hung in there for a little while, but eventually she left too. I'd have liked to sink my teeth into that Hamburger...but I digress. We ended up having two combat encounters--one kind of introduced the crazy creature we were fighting and the second had us fighting a pack of them; can't remember exactly but they were either snails or some living plants of some sort.

It was around the 90 minute mark right at the end of the second encounter when we decided to go ahead and wrap everything up. I remember that there were four of us that stuck around to the end--DM included. We had one real rookie standout--the P.E. coach. He was really using his imagination and pushing what his character could do. He tried to come up with something unique on each turn of combat. Of course, that's not sustainable and the DM was letting him get away with murder--er, that is--encouraging creative game play :) but he showed a lot of potential to continue with the hobby. We all agreed that we should meet again and run a live table right at the school. 

That was either in April or May of this year, and in spite of all our promises to schedule a real gaming time, you can probably guess that we have yet to meet up again for another session. I have my VTT weekly game and the reason I have it is that I push myself to get up and do it...even when I don't feel like it. The DM in this story forces some gaming from his wife and kids at times, but hasn't fully pulled the trigger to game with me in spite of us living in the same building. Scheduling is just a pain in the butt and the bane of all would be TTRPG groups. When we go back next year--which is to say in September--we may give it another shot. I'm thinking to run 'Alice is Missing' for them, but they'll need to commit to 2hrs if they want me to do it. 

RPG A Day 2022--Day 4:Where Would You Host a First Game?

 A lot of simple answers for the 2022 campaign...so far. I would host a first game at my house preferably at the kitchen table away from the TV. I would like to have snacks and music. I'd like it to be at a time when no one was sleepy or otherwise distracted. Unless my wife and daughter wanted to play, I'd prefer them to be doing some bonding outside of the house. It seems proper and the way things were always don. Unfortunately, this has been impossible throughout the Wuhan Flu years and I don't see that changing any time soon. Nowadays, I host using Roll 20 VTT. I usually leave the house and run from the school library where I work. Again, it keeps me away from distractors like my wife and daughter. I live in Beijing and wake up very early while those to time thieves are still in bed. My current run has been a good one having started back in November of 2021. For those in the know, it seems that the average new campaign only lasts for six sessions--we've well surpassed that, and have no plans on stopping anytime soon. 

RPG A Day 2022--Day 3--When Were You First Introduced to RPGs?

 It would have been the 1980's. I can tie my initial interest to the 1983 cartoon which I saw in first run. I would have only been nine years old at the time. In an earlier blog on here somewhere I probably mentioned having a try at playing back then, but not really knowing what to do. I tend to remember having a thieves kit, but when I look up the kit I remember it was far later--damn, Mandela Effect. I am also old enough to have played 'Cowboys and Indians' with my little brother and later having bought into LazerTag all of which can be considered LARPing and some of which may get a person cancelled or possibly shot by accident today. I wouldn't do my duty if I didn't mention the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style books that were like gateways to TTRPGs and much more manageable for the pre-teen me. My brother and I would later make a simple game using the old M.U.S.C.L.E. toys along with dice to hold many a match and tournament. There was also an official G.I. Joe board game that used the actual toys on bases and worked like a war game for total beginners, but of import to us it introduced a story where the dice decided what happened. Then, there's HeroQuest, but everyone already knows how awesome it is. So many things conspired to make me the TTRPG hobbyist I am today, but to recap the answer is somewhere in the 80's.

RPG A Day 2022: Day 2--What is a Great Introductory RPG?

 Short answer--Pathfinder Beginners Box (1st edition). I haven't played the second edition box at this point--living in China I find that I cannot trust the things that I order to get to me, and thanks to the Wuhan Flu I haven't been able to travel home in four full years, so I haven't had a chance. That said, the first edition box has everything one needs to start playing right away. The rules have less crunch than the full edition. I only wish Paizo had supported this easier system a bit more. It comes with a couple of "bells and whistles" apart from the standard dice set and pre-get characters including a selection of  PF cardboard minis and a double-sided map. Oldskool players don't necessarily need the fluff, but for beginners it provides a "pop" to help them learn to play. It's been a while but I remember the pre-made adventure was pretty decent and at least one of the players at my table complemented it as such back when I ran it. I'm not sure if it's cheaper or more expensive nowadays what with the 2nd edition available, but I still think it's worth a spot on your shelf.