Getting People to Play D&D

[ZombieGenesis]

Bring girls.
This is how someone got me to play it, my girlfriend was involved and I jumped at the chance. Surprisingly, I had great fun playing the actual game too!

Though I suppose there's no real gradual way into these kind of games nowadays. Nobody really plays tabletop anymore, D&D (and similar d20 games) are the standard for that. You'd probably have to lure them in with other factors, ie. say you'll order pizzas and have drinks and just make it a hang-out occasion, or secondarily, if your friends are like mine, promise a complex and involving RPG plot. Good plots are hard to come by nowadays.

 

[dariuskyne]

Get nerd friends. It's a nerd game.

does that mean i need weeaboo friends to watch anime?
or rednecks because i watch racing?

or geeks because i play video games?


thank you for the lessening of your further stereotype comments.

Wow. Someone's insecure if nerd still strikes a chord. Stereotypes exist because generally people who fit those stereotypes do the things in question. I didn't say only nerds play the game, I said it's a nerd game. And, generally speaking, getting nerds to play video games and watch anime would probably work better than going up to every other type of perfectly VALID stereotype there is. D&D is no different, and the fact that NERDS generally play it, myself included, and the fact that it's generally associated with NERDS makes it a nerd game. You might have noticed the use of generally there. That doesn't mean I'm not calling you a nerd, mostly because I believe you must have one hell of an insecurity if that gets to you, but I am saying that you're overreacting to a simple and innocent response. So I'm going to do so as well.

And I wasn't the only one to suggest that he gets another group of "more interested" people to play.

no i just feel it's unjust and inappropriate to do such. labelling something at "belonging to a set group of people" makes it harder (as is the case for the person who wrote this thread) for people to get others interested, they won't give it a chance just because it's a "nerd game" i just feel it's wrong, and ignorant, and continuing the trend (Especially by those who play it) only makes it more so. i do apologize at the antagonistic tone of my post(s) however. i dislike labelling, always have.

Oh, okay. I apologize for the aggressive retort. I see what you mean now.

I do think integrating labeling into general use but in a less aggressive way would be good though. Pipe dream that may be. It might work though. Comics were considered pretty nerdy, now the movies have come out and comics are at an all time high. They're still considered nerdy, but more people like 'em, and I haven't been hassled for them in years.

fair enough, you also make a good point.
now if only we could get a good d&d movie made...

 

[Blueruler182]

Get nerd friends. It's a nerd game.

does that mean i need weeaboo friends to watch anime?
or rednecks because i watch racing?

or geeks because i play video games?


thank you for the lessening of your further stereotype comments.

Wow. Someone's insecure if nerd still strikes a chord. Stereotypes exist because generally people who fit those stereotypes do the things in question. I didn't say only nerds play the game, I said it's a nerd game. And, generally speaking, getting nerds to play video games and watch anime would probably work better than going up to every other type of perfectly VALID stereotype there is. D&D is no different, and the fact that NERDS generally play it, myself included, and the fact that it's generally associated with NERDS makes it a nerd game. You might have noticed the use of generally there. That doesn't mean I'm not calling you a nerd, mostly because I believe you must have one hell of an insecurity if that gets to you, but I am saying that you're overreacting to a simple and innocent response. So I'm going to do so as well.

And I wasn't the only one to suggest that he gets another group of "more interested" people to play.

no i just feel it's unjust and inappropriate to do such. labelling something at "belonging to a set group of people" makes it harder (as is the case for the person who wrote this thread) for people to get others interested, they won't give it a chance just because it's a "nerd game" i just feel it's wrong, and ignorant, and continuing the trend (Especially by those who play it) only makes it more so. i do apologize at the antagonistic tone of my post(s) however. i dislike labelling, always have.

Oh, okay. I apologize for the aggressive retort. I see what you mean now.

I do think integrating labeling into general use but in a less aggressive way would be good though. Pipe dream that may be. It might work though. Comics were considered pretty nerdy, now the movies have come out and comics are at an all time high. They're still considered nerdy, but more people like 'em, and I haven't been hassled for them in years.

fair enough, you also make a good point.
now if only we could get a good d&d movie made...

It wouldn't even be hard. I mean, you just put those creatures into a fantasy film and get a good director and writer in there and put the name on the title. There's no story to D&D (campaigns don't count), just get the guy who writes thirty Forgotten Realms books a day and Peter Jackson together and *boom* you got a great movie.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising
^ The only good D&D movie so far. I believe it's on YouTube if you feel the need to peek.

 

[swolf]

Dungeons, Snips, and Dragons.

True, but I never got into it. It's intimidating to the newbie.

 

[dariuskyne]

[quote="dariuskyne" post="18.200854.6630046
-megasnip-

It wouldn't even be hard. I mean, you just put those creatures into a fantasy film and get a good director and writer in there and put the name on the title. There's no story to D&D (campaigns don't count), just get the guy who writes thirty Forgotten Realms books a day and Peter Jackson together and *boom* you got a great movie.

awesome

but back to subject, getting players: i don't know how to really get your "jaded" friends to join, perhaps hint that they don't have the imagination or ability... but then that just starts drama and strife. My suggestion is search google for "gaming groups in *insert your area here*", or if you're lucky enough to have an actual gaming store near you, see if there's a bulletin board (this was the pre-internet way of doing it) and post looking for a group there. not every group you find will be great or sometimes accepting of new players, basically just keep searching, eventually you'll find some.

 

[Reolus]

Start them off with DDO (Dungeons & Dragons Online), it's free and it's a good introduction to the world of murdering dudes and taking their stuff. The characters they make in the MMO could perhaps become their characters in the tabletop version.

If they are resolute about D&D being nerdy, show them "I hit it with my axe" on the Escapist.

In short, use the resources available to you to demonstrate the wide appeal D&D has for many groups (hell there are even people in the military who play D&D!) as it sounds like the social stigma is what might bother them the most.

 

[Rune342]

I am actually helping a friend set up a D&D game. He found players by just going to everyone he knows and asking if they want to play. Sure a few said no, but a few said yes. I guess if you ask enough people, you will find someone who will want to play.

 

[SuperVegas]

My Shadowrun game fell through tonight (DM has a cold)
Whos got a table top game going in melbourne

 

[Pegghead]

As someone who started up playing with my mates fairly recently I must admit that convincing them was kind of tough. The first reaction from most people to D&D is "Ewww that's too nerdy" which I think is kind of sad and at first my mates were no different. But I did learn some valuable tips:

1-Out of your circle of friends pick those who are either most easy-going or most geeky

2-Establish a "thing" which entails you and these friends doing things together before bringing up D&D, this way they might just see it as doing that but to a different drum

3-Know the game well before you start playing with friends. I bought a starters kit for when we began and because we all enjoy playing it I'll be buying handbooks and props soon. What I did was I concinced a few of my friends who we're both open-minded and geeky whom I already hung out with every couple of fridays (These ranged from going to subway to spending the night in watching zombie films) to play on the upcoming friday and each night for the next few days me and my dad would sit down and try going through mock games and wrapping our heads around the rules, when the time came I was able to guide the guys through what needed to be done.

4-Don't devote the evening entirely to D&D, entice them with pizza or an extra movie

5-Explain to them before and/or after your first session that what you will be doing is only the tip of the iceberg for what can be accomplished in Dungeons and Dragons

6-You, the organizer, must play the dungeon master. If you force the role onto an unexperienced friend who's also a first time player they're going to get confused and get the wrong impression

7-Don't come on too strong with it, D&D isn't for everyone and there's a good chance that your friends may not like it for reaons other than the image of being a D&D player. What I did in our first session was I made it abundantly clear that we could stop at any time and that we never had to play it again if we didn't enjoy it.

8-Have fun with it. Give your characters silly names, praise your elven wizard friend who literally killed every goblin in the room with one spell (As was the case with a mate of mine the last time we played), make small-talk whilst playing and keep in mind that at the end of the day it's just a game.

 

[CroMagnon]

Okay. I'm not sure if I can help you, but here we go!

1) YOU must be the DM. It is the hardest, most thankless job. You want to play, your gonna have to organize it!
2) I too am new to DnD, I have no books, and nether do my friends. Normaly, this would end this right there, but thank god for d20 SRD. Its 3.5 edition and its different to 4e, but this way your friends can make characters without you having to be there and they can get a feel for it
3) You only really need 2 friends to play, so this is how I've convinced 2 of mine.
- One of my friends has heard about DnD already and wanted to give it a go, so that guy was easy. He also had a brother that could play too, so we were on a roll.
- The second guy, I could not convince for the life of me, even with guy number 1 helping. So I just set it up at his house, and he was kinda forced into playing.
4) Have an interesting story, be there to help your friends play, and find a way to roll dice (me and my friends have a Cassio Classpad Calculator 330 which allows you to roll dice!)

That's all the help I can give you, and frankly, its probably going to be harder for me to play, I live in a land where DnD is nearly unheard of. Australia!

Edit: Wow, how did I get ninja'd? Smeg off, Rimmer!
Editedit:Oh, I see, I was posting to an older copy/thingy of the page. Now I feel foolish.

 

[Anti-gravity]

Tell them how fun rolling dice and thinking about wizards is! Haha, no, I have nothing against DnD it actually looks fun, but trying to get friends to play seems pretty challenging.

 

[Good morning blues]

Ask the other people? Either they want to play or not, I don't see what's so horrible about this.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

Lock them in a basement with nothing but D&D set.

 

[DazZ.]

Turn it into a drinking game.
As the game goes on and they get drunker there is a much higher chance they'll get intensely into it.

 

[Zechnophobe]

I am an extremely successful DM, and I've got some tips:

1) If you are the first in your group to want to do DnD, you are the DM already. Just accept it. It takes a lot of work and a dedication, and asking someone else to do it (unless they were offering) will not work.
2) Create basic characters for your players. A BIG stumbling block for people is learning the ins and outs of character creation. If they start getting interested, loan them books or help them along a bit at a time. Plant the hook slowly .
3) Game night is an event where you hang out with friends, Oh and you play some DnD too. Your friends like to do stuff together right? Don't make this seem like some huge thing, slide it in like you are just having a party where some board games might be played. If you force it on them, they'll shrivel.
4) Don't hesitate to ask girls to play, especially if you can put on a good story. They (as a stereotype) won't like the combat as much, but tend to be more likely to enjoy getting into a character.
5) Assume that the first day will be spent doing a lot of set up, even if you pre-create characters for EVERYone. Its just how it works.
6) SUPER IMPORTANT: Make your combats short and exciting. Fights more than ANYTHING else in the game have a tendency to 'drag on'. A horde of zombies is not a good early game encounter, even if they are all minions (Or whatever, not sure which version you are playing).
7) Give the bad guys flavor. You keep attention in combat longer when the players actively dislike the antagonists.

Good luck!

 

[Bellvedere]

How can I get them to play. Any tips or facts that I could use to try and get them to play.

This is actually a project I've been working on for a while. You have to build up to it. It's a delicate process. To start with it helps if you're friends are kinda geeky. Playing video games is fine.

I started with, an RTS fan, a guy that I worked in a videogame shop with that doesn't really play games, an engineering student whose a final fantasy fan, an IT student who played (italics for the past tense) WOW. I also had a guy that plays magic cards but he doesn't count because he clearly had no shame to begin with.

The trick is to start out light. Slowly introduce them basic ideas that you can build on to convince them to play D&D.

Here are some suggestions:

- Freaks and Geeks tv series, that episode where they play it (if Baldur's Gate hadn't been first this would have convinced me, also made me smoke weed though so... clearly I'm easily influenced)

- Baldur's Gate (any games that use D&D rulesets, even old ones are good. Since Atari now have an exclusive use of the D&D liscense and they're not making any games with it you're not going to find ones with current rulesets. Failing that go for new ones with heavy RPG elements like Dragon Age, though a multiplayer one would be better)

- Munchkin Cards (not extremely relevant but you should do it anyway since it's fun)

- Incorporate stats into your daily conversations. Such as "I am a student class and as such have a +75% resistance to wealth".

- Anything else considered pretty nerdy because it will make them enthusiastic about geek culture.

If you're successful you will have realigned their sense of cool and they will be into it.

If that's failing you can:
a) tell them it's your birthday and they have to. In my experience this works 0% of the time when it's not actually your birthday and slightly higher if it is.
b) tell them it's a drinking game

Ideally once you have them in position to agree you should find someone whose actually played. This is where I'm up to now. I think one of my friends boyfriends has played.

 

[Hessmn212]

A few months back I bought a players handbook for D&D, read it, and thought it would be really cool if me and my friends played together. I asked one of my friends to be DM and he said no, simply because its to nerdy. I tried bargaining with him and he wouldn't budge. So, I've been reluctant to ask any of my other friends.

How can I get them to play. Any tips or facts that I could use to try and get them to play.

Ok champ, you've come to the right place. This is a common problem with RPG groups: namely finding people who would be willing to fling fireballs and piledrive orcs with you.

Now there are several options available:

1. Become the DM yourself, and get some of your closest friends together for a pick-up game. Single adventure. No long intro story. Just get them acclimated to the game. Give 'em a taste.

2. Go to www.meetup.com and search for roleplaying groups in your area. Also keep an open mind. A nearby group may not be playing Dungeons and Dragons, but may give you a chance to try out a new game. Heck, you may even make some new friends!

3. Find a local comic or hobby shop. They tend to host pick-up games just so gamers can meet each other.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips. I also tried using the first option with little success. I will definitely go to www.meetup.com, and I have been thinking about going to my local comic book shop to try and join a group, because a few years back, I used to into Warhammer 40K, and the guy asked me to come look and/or play. So thank you very much.

 

[Tekkawarrior]

I say make em watch a few episodes of "I'd hit it with my axe", they'd instantly want to play.