Quote from: Soylent Green;779130You have a point there, but suspect on that basis espionage might work even better. Horror tends to stack the deck against the players, depending on the person that might not be the best introduction to the hobby.

That said the 1920s (or other historical) twist might well work as a geek antidote with some. TV shows us that dress up a soap opera as costume drama it suddenly becomes classy.

Espionage works as well agreed.

Quote from: Soylent Green;779130You have a point there, but suspect on that basis espionage might work even better. Horror tends to stack the deck against the players, depending on the person that might not be the best introduction to the hobby.

That said the 1920s (or other historical) twist might well work as a geek antidote with some. TV shows us that dress up a soap opera as costume drama it suddenly becomes classy.

Never did try espionage because my game of choice for this is a Palladium game and I like to offer newbs a chance to create a character. But I can definitely see the logic.

In any case, sounds like a great excuse to try Brendan's Terror Network.

Quote from: The Butcher;779095It is also my experience that newbs to gaming tend to be less geeky than gamers, and respond better to mystery or horror scenarios than fantasy, SF or God help you, superheroes.

Yes Murder Mysteries are great. I've also found quite a bit of success with Star Trek. Make the new person the captain of the starship and they are right in the game.

Imagine someone different from yourself.  Then tell us what that person is doing in response to situations which present themselves. Try to only use the information that person would have instead of all that you know.

That's the role playing part.

Sometimes there is conflict or uncertainty. When your character is trying something and nobody's sure how it would turn out, we roll dice and compare them to charts to see what the result is.  Then we tell that part of the story, based on those dice rolls, and move on.

That's the game part.

Agreed that espionage would also work.  Yes, you have to sophisticate and mainstream up . . . . That's why I proposed 1920s mystery.  Note that I said a touch of horror.  I knew my audience.  I tricked them a bit, but they were ok with it.  Call of Cthulhu really lends it self to a deeper story.

Work in history or science depending on your audience . . . And keep it light without geeking out.  Also important to keep the game moving.  Don't get bogged down with dice rolling first time.  As the GM you can handle it and let them roll sometimes.

I also did not use words like Cthulhu or Arkham.  I didn't want players googling terms that sounded familiar.

Perhaps old west, something like Boot Hill would work too.

Quote from: Vic99;779414Agreed that espionage would also work.  Yes, you have to sophisticate and mainstream up . . . . That's why I proposed 1920s mystery.  Note that I said a touch of horror.  I knew my audience.  I tricked them a bit, but they were ok with it.  Call of Cthulhu really lends it self to a deeper story.

Work in history or science depending on your audience . . . And keep it light without geeking out.  Also important to keep the game moving.  Don't get bogged down with dice rolling first time.  As the GM you can handle it and let them roll sometimes.

I also did not use words like Cthulhu or Arkham.  I didn't want players googling terms that sounded familiar.

Perhaps old west, something like Boot Hill would work too.

Basically avoid elves at all costs

Game of Thrones is a great example of this. They are pitching a fantasy story to the mainstream. They think that they have an in due to LotR and Harry Potter and the more adult story of GoT. Howeveer they market it very carefully, its not Tolkien with tits, Its Soprano's with Dragons.
The first series they downplay the supernatural and spin it out as a historical drama with intrigue, plotting and ...tits.
Once they have an audience then can start to dial up the fantasy bits.

My god my wife watches that show and every time I look up, there's naked women on the screen.

Quote from: Soylent Green;778902I like to keep it simple and just say "It's a kind of board game."  Sure that sells the hobby short but for purposes of every day conversation that's close enough.

It's like a board game.
Only without a board.

JG

Quote from: jibbajibba;779446Basically avoid elves at all costs

Game of Thrones is a great example of this. They are pitching a fantasy story to the mainstream. They think that they have an in due to LotR and Harry Potter and the more adult story of GoT. Howeveer they market it very carefully, its not Tolkien with tits, Its Soprano's with Dragons.
The first series they downplay the supernatural and spin it out as a historical drama with intrigue, plotting and ...tits.
Once they have an audience then can start to dial up the fantasy bits.

Well, partially that was limited budget and partially because of the narrative.  There actually hadn't been a lot of magic in the world at the time the story began, but due to the actions of one of the characters in the first book, magic starts to come back to the world, which is why certain characters like Melisandre can have power.

JG

Quote from: golan2072;778765I'm looking for a good and simple explanation of RPGs for complete laymen . . .

It's playing pretend, for adults.

Quote from: jibbajibba;779446[GoT is] not Tolkien with tits, Its Soprano's with Dragons.

:rotfl:

Quote from: Scott Anderson;779453My god my wife watches that show and every time I look up, there's naked women on the screen.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

And isn't that supposed to be Starz schtick, anyway?

I think everyone in this thread is overestimating the mainstream's fear of genre elements.

Quote from: LibraryLass;779672I think everyone in this thread is overestimating the mainstream's fear of genre elements.

Yeah.

I tell them that it's like those How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner games. That usually gets the point across rather succinctly: as long as they've played one of those games before.

Everyone complains about the obligatory "What is roleplaying?" section in RPGs then ask "how do I explain RPGs?"

Quote from: LibraryLass;779672I think everyone in this thread is overestimating the mainstream's fear of genre elements.

Quote from: Zak S;779680

Quote from: LibraryLass;779672I think everyone in this thread is overestimating the mainstream's fear of genre elements.

Yeah.

Quote from: Doctor Jest;779710Everyone complains about the obligatory "What is roleplaying?" section in RPGs then ask "how do I explain RPGs?"

At least three people in this thread are confused about what the word "everybody" actually means.