Post by Bad Neighbor on Mar 16, 2016 22:16:43 GMT -5
Hey, all. I put myself into an interesting situation.
My regular gaming group dissolved a few years ago and I've since found myself really missing tabletop gaming. Every now and then I suggest to my wife that she try playing, and she dismisses the idea pretty quickly. I'm careful not to make her feel pressured, but I try to address her reasons for not playing ("I don't know what it is", "I don't think I'd be good at it", etc). Last summer, during our annual discussion of the idea, I asked her: "If I can convince your two best friends to play, will you give it a try?" She said sure, why not.
Well, I did it. I managed to talk her friends into giving it a try. None of them have played before and they all had similar concerns about it, namely they don't think they'll be "good" at it. I also got one of their husbands involved, who says he played once a long time ago, and he's at least more enthusiastic about the idea.
It's not a total uphill battle. They've all got a lot of experience in performance art: acting, improv, and so on. Those skills play incredibly well in a tabletop environment. My group in college was made up of theatre kids, and they were a blast.
I'm not going to be pushy with the game, and if it seems like everyone's miserable I'm going to call it off, but based on their personalities, imaginations, and senses of humor I honestly feel like they'll have a great time if I present them with the right game in the right way.
My question is: what advice, if any, would you give to someone who's planning and running a session for people who are not only new, but also skeptical about D&D?
My regular gaming group dissolved a few years ago and I've since found myself really missing tabletop gaming. Every now and then I suggest to my wife that she try playing, and she dismisses the idea pretty quickly. I'm careful not to make her feel pressured, but I try to address her reasons for not playing ("I don't know what it is", "I don't think I'd be good at it", etc). Last summer, during our annual discussion of the idea, I asked her: "If I can convince your two best friends to play, will you give it a try?" She said sure, why not.
Well, I did it. I managed to talk her friends into giving it a try. None of them have played before and they all had similar concerns about it, namely they don't think they'll be "good" at it. I also got one of their husbands involved, who says he played once a long time ago, and he's at least more enthusiastic about the idea.
It's not a total uphill battle. They've all got a lot of experience in performance art: acting, improv, and so on. Those skills play incredibly well in a tabletop environment. My group in college was made up of theatre kids, and they were a blast.
I'm not going to be pushy with the game, and if it seems like everyone's miserable I'm going to call it off, but based on their personalities, imaginations, and senses of humor I honestly feel like they'll have a great time if I present them with the right game in the right way.
My question is: what advice, if any, would you give to someone who's planning and running a session for people who are not only new, but also skeptical about D&D?
