I think I mentioned before that I had become aware of role-playing games, namely dungeons and dragons, before 1981. I think I also mentioned that in junior high school I met people that actually played them. However, my answer to this question is… Nobody.

Or, looking at it another way, I introduced myself to them.

When I received the basic set in 1981, I read it from cover to cover a few times. I got the understanding of how the game works. I didn’t know the other people well enough to ask them to join their games, and I really didn’t live that close to them. So, I decided I would run it for other people. It seemed like something that I should be able to do. It also seemed very fun.

It took a while to get things going, and I never really did have a success with a stable group when I was younger, but I managed to catch the RPG bug all by myself. All I needed to be able to do was read!

I think that a good mechanic should solve a problem, help reinforce who the characters are, establish how the world works, and reinforce the genre that you are going for. I was very tempted to talk about the D6 roll try for low Mechanic but I’m going talk about something else that has made an impression on me.

My online group has been playing alien by free league publishing. The base system is not very revolutionary. It uses a dice pool, the dice used are six sided, and sixes are successes. Extra successes can produce better or additional effects. The dice pool is assembled based upon the attributes and skills of the character. Pretty standard.

However, various experiences in the game introduce stress. Each character has a stress tracker. Stress tends to escalate upwards, although certain things can reduce or eliminate it. Stress isn’t an entirely bad thing, as the player now adds a number of different colored six sided dice to their dice pool. Just like the harried characters in the alien & aliens movies, The characters in this game are paying more attention to what they are doing in their moments of stress and are more likely to succeed. However, should a one be rolled on any of the stress dice, This prompts a panic roll.

A six sided die is rolled and the characters current stress level is added to it. Make sure it’s consulted which gives you an idea of what the characters reaction is going to be. This varies from holding it together to trembling, to becoming so upset that they raise the stress of everybody else around them, to running away, freezing in their tracks, and other appropriate reactions based upon the genre. Eventually they are unable to successfully complete any tasks.

The game gives clear instructions not to roll too often as this will artificially escalate the stress level.

My experience with this mechanic is that really helps to reinforce the genre that the game is based upon. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but I have really enjoyed it. It certainly helps create the atmosphere of the movies.

This question is interesting. It asks me how I would do it. Not how somebody else should. I don’t know why I have not been voted supreme Emperor of role-playing games but it’s probably for the best. So to steal a line from somebody else, I will think globally but act locally. That is, after all, the best any of us can do.

Thinking about the answer to Yesterdays question, I think the answer to this one becomes more obvious. Meet people where they are. I know plenty of people and we have some common interest in some sort of fiction. If not fiction as such we have common interest in certain concepts and ideas. Maybe current events or history.

I go to the movies with a friend of mine and pretty much what we watch is action. This is the kind of guy that I should ask “hey, would you like to play a game that’s kind of like these movies we watch?,” I’m sure I could use something like broken compass to emulate some of these over the top action movies.

That’s my short and simple answer. Find out what people like, offer a seat at a game like that. After all, it is what we do with our existing groups. We float ideas past each other and eventually we all agree on a genre. For the Newcomer we might as well let them experience some of their favorite things. At least that’s what I would do.

My daughters are just shy of 30 and 27 years old. When they were younger, I really used to enjoy watching the shows they liked with them. In fact, right now, I am watching Steven Universe with my youngest daughter and it’s a fun little show to watch. Sometimes I used to find myself in the house watching SpongeBob or the Fairly Oddparents when I suddenly realized that my children were not actually home.

This is why I backed the Kickstarter for the hugely successful Avatar the last Airbender RPG. even though PBTA type games are not my favorite, I knew that I had a good chance of getting my daughters to play this game with me because of their familiarity with and love of the subject matter. The show itself has a pretty interesting story and a very compelling setting. From what I understand the RPG allows you to play in various points in the history of that world which offers a lot of possibilities.

Because my daughter is well-versed in the genre and intellectual property I don’t believe this will be a hard sell. In fact, my intuition tells me that she will actually enjoy playing in this setting. It’s not that different from when I first started playing dungeons and dragons. The game was heavily influenced by Tolkien, and I was a big fan of the hobbit and lord of the rings. It made entry into that world and “buy in” Extremely easy and I was enthusiastic about playing the game.

Build what they know, and they will come.

Some people like going out. I like it myself, but I am most comfortable in my locus of control. I like my house. I can’t play rock ‘n’ roll to enthusiastic audiences in my house, but I can play role-playing games there.

I’m lucky enough to have a semi finished basement with lots of room. I have tables and chairs and everything I might need to run a game right there in relative comfort. This is where I would host a first session.

Now considering that my answer for day number one was that my daughter would be the person I would introduced to role-playing games, this means that she should have some friends play with her. However, a lot of them are not local. While this is disappointing, technology has provided a way.

I remember running a game for a group of people that I used to play in a play by post game with. I found it kind of entertaining at the husband and wife were on separate devices in the same house. At the time I ran it on Google hangouts. ~ I can see a similar situation happening with my daughter and I in separate areas of the house with her friends on Zoom as I run a game session for all of them.

So the final answer? At my house, online, or a combination!

Notice how I am always at my house. 😉

I became aware of something called dungeons and dragons sometime before 1981. Exactly when is lost in the mists of time. But people are starting to talk about it. I saw something in a comic book, a newspaper article, I wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Somehow I got a bit more of an idea Of what that game might be. I met people in junior high school that played it. I remember asking my parents to get me that game. That Christmas in 1981 I got the Moldvay basic set which later would be called B/X.

And there you have it.

There were several contenders for the spot. A close second was broken compass by two little mice which is a fantastic game and is easy to understand and has plenty of resources. it really was kind of a coin flip.

However I’m gonna have to say Ghostbusters. Keep in mind I haven’t actually played the game, I’ve only read it, dissected it, and discussed it with other people. So why would I recommend that as an introductory game?

The answer could be that it’s easy, simple, and enough people have seen the movies that the genre is evident. However that’s only part of the equation.

The real thing that makes it such a great introductory RPG is that it contains so many elements that you will find in other RPGs, and in several cases it was the first one to incorporate them. Dice pools, skills, a meta-currency (which doubles as your health no less!), a chance of a result orthogonal to skill roll, and some other gems can be found within.

It can be a fun and light hearted introduction to lots of concepts that you will see in other RPGs down the line.

Who you gonna call?