Introducing New Game Systems to Your RPG Group

My group is not always sure what game I am going to be bring to the table. One thing I like to do when reviewing any game is play it. Reading through a rulebook gives a certain feel for the game, but actual play brings to light the uniqueness of the game, and why it does, or does not, stand on its own. This regular introduction to new games has led to the need of learning how to present a new role-playing game (RPG) system to the group.

Many convention gamers know what it is like to sit in on a game they have never played before, but there is a difference between playing at a con and playing with your home group.

Most convention games are designed to be played at one sitting. There are the leagues and societies that allow play of outside characters in a shared world, but when you step away from those tables the RPGs you're getting involved with are broken down into two other areas: the familiar game you don't get to play often and the new games that interest you. But, again, these are usually designed to be played at the con. How these games are presented to players works well for conventions and there are ideas that can be used with home groups.

Pre-generated characters are almost a must for convention games. When running a one-shot adventure with players who are not familiar with the system in a limited amount of time means you need to get things up and running. The game master (GM) therefore prepares the characters ahead of time with the pertinent information for the player. I saw the opposite done a year ago when a Shadow Run game was working to help new players create characters before the game. They spent almost two time slots, total of 6 hours, to complete a 2 hour adventure. At the end the new players I saw leaving the table had fun, but were done with the game because it took too much in time and mental energy to get started.

Getting the group started is the key. The difference with the home group is the GM is usually setting up an adventure that will go to go longer than one gaming session. I used to think it was acceptable to spend an entire game session preparing characters to start the next week. I found I was wrong. My players were showing up to the game to play. Learning how to create new characters, and spending all the gaming time creating new characters, was a waste of an evening for most of the players. In learning that, I thought it would work to give people a time frame to have characters created to start on a certain day. That failed. There will always be situations keeping people from getting the character built. So, I stepped back to setting things up like a game for a convention. There are some does and don'ts.

Don't treat your home group play like a convention game. Convention games are fun. They are one-shots designed to heighten the experience of the game in a short adventure. I only know of a couple of gaming groups that like playing one-shot adventures on a regular basis. Players like to have long-term characters they can work with, develop, and keep playing. More of the problem I have seen is people like to have their own characters. If your players are like mine, they want the character to be something they created, not a pre-generated one where they are playing the personality someone else created. This creates a problem when introducing a new system to your group. You need a quick start with something that introduces the game and be continuous with characters they built.

From the trials and errors of introducing new games on a fairly regular basis, my group has come up with a system that is working well. This process takes a little bit of time outside of the gaming session, but then provides a quicker, easier start when the game gets rolling.

Provide a rough sketch of the system to the players. The players need to know enough about the system/setting so they can follow the structure, even before they are completely comfortable with the system. I now give my players a quick write-up about the system in a couple of paragraphs. Start with what is familiar and then provide the basics of what makes the system unique. Give only a synopsis. Too much information usually leads to a quick death of starting the new game.

Provide a simple explanation of character types: abilities, classes, advancement, etc. This provides the players some ideas about how the characters tie into the premise of the game. Again, don't go into a lot of detail about everything, the details will develop as the group plays and learns the game.

The GM then gets the players to tell what type of character they want to play. We do this in simple terms. Usually in a discussion after a game, phone call, text, email. Don't try to get a full backstory on the character. For a new campaign I am building the responses have been as simple as, "a field medic with military background," "a street thief," and "a scientist who is trying to prove he's not going crazy."

The GM now does the harder part of character creation. Take the system to be introduced and build the mechanics of the character to fit the information you were given from the player. Don't create the backstory or personality, just the mechanical parts. Giving this back to the player on the start of the first game session allows them to drop the personality they started onto the framework.

An example of how this works.

I think everyone is familiar enough with the Star Wars universe. The presentation of the setting is simple: players are going to be rebel special unit sent out on missions against the empire. The mechanics are dice based with a pass/fail system that is open to stronger narrative from players and the GM. Characters are developed on using a skill based system tree-system, higher branches in the skills require pre-requisites.

The players then could say the basics of what they want to play. There could be the sniper, melee combat specialist, the force sensitive, a pilot. The GM takes the information and builds the character's skills to the desired level to start and then gives the character sheet to the player to drop the personality on top.

If the players give some clues to a backstory they are developing, the GM can add those into the mechanics of the character. "I am a geologist wanting to prove I am not going crazy because I suffer from claustrophobia."

I have found when I give the character sheet to the players, they have been working up the personality of the character since they told me about it. They can think about the personality without having to write it down. Now they have a place to write it down, and, usually within a few minutes players are ready to start the adventure and experience a new game system.

There are a lot of great games out there. I know some people don't want to try new ones. But if you want to give a go on all of the possibilities of gaming, give it a go. Check out the myriad of experiences you can have with your friends at your gaming table.

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