Have you ever invited a non-gamer to your group?

Was she a stranger? If so, where did meet her? (office, bookstore, movie house?)

How did the conversation about rpgs start?

How did you invite this person? (How did you define what rpgs were to him? Did you just tell him to drop in on one of your sessions?)

Did this person have particular interests that made you think she was potential gamer material?

How did your group react to this non -gamer? How did she react to your group?

How was the first session? Did you plan anything different that took into account, that this was a newbie you were dealing with?

What system did you use? How did the non-gamer react to the rules? How did he react to the roleplaying?

What do you think/have learnt are the advantages/disadvantages of bringing a non-gamer into your group ?

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RHave you ever invited a non-gamer to your group?

Literally hundreds. All my gaming time in the hobby I have always been very outgoing in introducing people to my favorite past time. When we had our stores in the 90s I trained my staff (and I participated) in introducing and advertising towards non-gamers.

Quote from: David RWas she a stranger? If so, where did meet her? (office, bookstore, movie house?)

Many places. Youth centers, game stores, cafes, work, movie theaters, our stores, parties. The list is huge. Anywhere I have been in public with the least of a pretense to talk to someone.

Quote from: David RHow did the conversation about rpgs start?

Usually, a hello, and a "What do you do for a living?" kind of question. Other times, as simple as mentioning books I have read, asking about books they read, movies and the likewise. It is easy to transition from there.

Quote from: David RHow did you invite this person? (How did you define what rpgs were to him? Did you just tell him to drop in on one of your sessions?)

Often I will, depending on the venue, start up a "what if" or impromptu game of "I wish they had done that in my favorite story". If interest is there, you roll with it and ask them to a session or tell them about a local game store.

Quote from: David RDid this person have particular interests that made you think she was potential gamer material?

Usually, if it goes beyond casual interest, I look for interests in sci-fi, action adventure, fantasy, or even reading fiction. Reading, in general, is an important indicator.

Quote from: David RHow did your group react to this non -gamer? How did she react to your group?

Quite well. I do not tolerate intolerance. If the group is anything but helpful and polite to a newbie they are out. I have had some newbies react poorly to a group but this is very rare.

Quote from: David RHow was the first session? Did you plan anything different that took into account, that this was a newbie you were dealing with?

More character creation time, more explanation time. The first time a newbie plays, I tend to play an "easy" game meaning a plot that is straight forward and easy to absorb. It makes all parties feel better about the game.

Quote from: David RWhat system did you use? How did the non-gamer react to the rules? How did he react to the roleplaying?

Many. My own Iridium, DND, oWOD a lot, Palladium, and D20. I find system does not matter nearly as much as setting.

Quote from: David RWhat do you think/have learnt are the advantages/disadvantages of bringing a non-gamer into your group ?

Hmm, I can't say that I think in those terms. It takes a bit more time and if it is one newbie to a seasoned group you run the risk of alienating the newbie. Still, over all, I think the new perspective is often refreshing.

Bill

Quote from: David RHave you ever invited a non-gamer to your group?

Normally, people come to me when they want me to GM, so I don't do the inviting. That said, I taught a bunch of the people in my most recent group to play.

QuoteWas she a stranger? If so, where did meet her? (office, bookstore, movie house?)

Some of them were strangers. Friends of friends who came to play. I got to know them better afterwards. They and I went to the same school.

I've also GMed for folks who graduated the year before I moved south, and whose absence was a large part of the reason I was GMing.

QuoteHow did the conversation about rpgs start?

Zeke: "Dude, we're all gonna hang out at Face's house this weekend. We're gonna play Dungeons and Dragons. You coming?"
Me: "Sure, who's GMing?"
Zeke: "I dunno, Pat maybe?"

(Couple days later)
Me: "So, Pat, what sourcebooks you allowing?"
Pat: "I thought you were GMing!"

QuoteHow did you invite this person? (How did you define what rpgs were to him? Did you just tell him to drop in on one of your sessions?)

With the exception of myself, Pat, and one other, nobody knew how to play. I already covered how the inviting went. There was no defining. The three who knew how to play walked everybody else through character creation. Then we killed some kobolds. It just.. happened. Somehow or other, I taught all eight of those noobs how to play.

QuoteDid this person have particular interests that made you think she was potential gamer material?

This is Atlanta. Dragon Con happens every year and this whole bunch had gone every year. Fans of internet hilarity, the old x-men animated series, big-O, etc. Again, I didn't pick my players, but in retrospect they're practically custom-built for dungeon crawling.

QuoteHow did your group react to this non -gamer? How did she react to your group?

Huh? They were the group.

QuoteHow was the first session? Did you plan anything different that took into account, that this was a newbie you were dealing with?

I threw them in the water to see if they could swim. Somehow, the level of awesome in that first session has yet to be paralelled. Only thing I did different from "normal" (I put that in quotes because I had done little GMing prior to that) was to improv EVERYTHING. Not because they were noobs, but because I wasn't expecting to GM.

QuoteWhat system did you use? How did the non-gamer react to the rules? How did he react to the roleplaying?

Dungeons and Dragons.
Rules:"What do I roll to waste this guy?"/"Woah! His head exploded!"
Roleplaying:"I strap the dead kobolds to my feet in order to walk across the burning hot metal bridge"/"Trapped in a tiny box!? There's gotta be a secret switch in here somewhere!"/"Squids? What is this, Hentai? I don't wanna be grappled like that!"

QuoteWhat do you think/have learnt are the advantages/disadvantages of bringing a non-gamer into your group ?

No Clue.

My wife was a nongamer when I first brought her to the group. We started her off with Rolemaster and she jumped right in and had a blast. Apart from the one girl in our group that I'd messed around with in the past everyone liked her right off the bat.

Quote from: David RHave you ever invited a non-gamer to your group?

If standing on a street corner wearing a pair of neon-green Speedos and holding a sign that says, "Come play with me" counts, then I have invited countless non-gamers to my group.

You can actually attract more people then you might think using this method, although screening them before you take them home to game is essential.

Have you ever invited a non-gamer to your group?
Depends what you mean. More often, I've played with newbs only.

In the past I've brought people along to an existing game, usually as some sort of guest star character.

Was she a stranger? If so, where did meet her? (office, bookstore, movie house?)
No, I don't tend to invite strangers to social functions.

How did the conversation about rpgs start?
Generally because somebody says "What are you up to this weekend?"

How did you invite this person? (How did you define what rpgs were to him? Did you just tell him to drop in on one of your sessions?)
Usually it's a pretty informal thing, though I've done a couple of arranged things where I went to someone's house to run a game.

Did this person have particular interests that made you think she was potential gamer material?
Sometimes. It's not necessarily interests but a certain potential you look for.

How did your group react to this non -gamer? How did she react to your group?
Depends on the group. My old crew was pretty easy with anybody rocking up, and if anybody came they were already known anyway.

How was the first session? Did you plan anything different that took into account, that this was a newbie you were dealing with?
At the very least, the newbie usually has a character.

What system did you use? How did the non-gamer react to the rules? How did he react to the roleplaying?
I've done this with systems from RuneQuest to Nicotine Girls. Reactions are various.

What do you think/have learnt are the advantages/disadvantages of bringing a non-gamer into your group ?
A fresh perspective.

I recruit non-gamers successfully all the time. Of course I hedge my bets and almost guarantee success by recruiting engineers. They're potential gamers, lapsed gamers, closeted gamers or just gamers in my experience.

I run an Open Table- anyone who shows up is welcome to play or watch.
My not-so-subtle intention is that people who show up to watch will be thus encouraged to play, since watching is more boring than playing. Also, people who are new to gaming and don't want to be intimidated often feel more comfortable after they've watched a game so they know better what to expect. And of course there are always those just there to "check up" on their significant others and know they aren't doing anything unsavory.

I have an EXTREMELY small number of people who've been banned from the table. And even some of those might get back into the group with a vote in their favor.

I've only had to drop the "open to observers" policy once- when we were playing in Ace's basement. No air conditioning, and more bodies meant more body heat. So observers were just walking heaters, and had to play or go.