TheQuestionMan Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 Greetings Herophiles, how to lure players into your campaign? Some Campaign Settings like Shadowrun seem to not need a lure so much as availability. What lures Players in your campaigns? QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 When I ran games at the local game store I created an ad and posted it with a nice image a teaser about the game and contact info. When the game day was close, I put a new page up telling when, and that usually drew me a decent group. At college I did the same thing, in dorms. There are "meetup" sites you can check for your area and find people there, and Craig's List can work. At my age, I'm not really sure how to get more grown up folks, all the usual systems seem to get kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 Free food. As we learned in Mystery Men there is a high mooch factor among Superhero Wannabes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 Bait the trap with pizza. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 If you can get cute women gamers there you'll draw a lot of attention as well. Probably not attention that is conducive to role playing, but attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjack Posted January 30, 2017 Report Share Posted January 30, 2017 Yeah, but somehow they always seem to be the girlfriend of the GM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 "Hay little girl, want some candy? Ok, now that your suggered up, lets play...Hero." Man, I'm going to hell/jail... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 If you can get cute women gamers there you'll draw a lot of attention as well. Probably not attention that is conducive to role playing, but attention. You look like a young Julie Haggerty. Or a real life Dixie from the Dragon Magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 If you can get cute women gamers there you'll draw a lot of attention as well. Probably not attention that is conducive to role playing, but attention. The potential for high "creep factor" is possible, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 Yeah maybe not great for the girl gamers. I honestly have only played with a small handful, so I have little experience with the rare, shy breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phydaux Posted February 1, 2017 Report Share Posted February 1, 2017 You look like a young Julie Haggerty. Or a real life Dixie from the Dragon Magazine. Sarah from Knights of the Dinner Table Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted February 2, 2017 Report Share Posted February 2, 2017 "Hay little girl, want some candy? Ok, now that your suggered up, lets play...Hero." Man, I'm going to hell/jail... the former I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted February 2, 2017 Report Share Posted February 2, 2017 Actually, I haven't had that problem. We actually had to turn away someone because we're at the point where adding another player (character) is just too much. To weakly quote from 10 ways to ruin your campaign: "If 5 players are great, then 10 is wonderful!" Um, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesguy Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have used Meetup groups and the Pen & Paper Games site to find people. As for finding women to play in my group, yes I have the ultimate - my wife. In addition to that we have had our daughter play and along the way 4 other women play in the group. Our daughter is off to college. One woman we asked to stop playing with us. Two women left due to having other things they wanted to do after about a year or so of gaming. And the 4th one is still gaming with us. IMO: The women whom I have gamed with tend to enjoy role playing more than the combat in a game. As a GM I have worked to make sure they get that. Also I try to turn common tropes on their ear. The female PCs have rescued the male PCs a lot more often than the other way around. There has only been one case where I as the GM set it up that way. Otherwise it has been the men who have ended up getting their PCs captured.. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 I'm lucky that Denver has a large & active gaming community and local convention scene. When I first moved here I didn't know any other gamers, but I went to a couple conventions, played whatever sounded fun, ran a few games, and quickly met people who matched my style of play. Pretty soon someone asked me if I'd run a Champions home game, we recruited a couple others (most of whom had never played Hero before) and we were off. And whenever a player has to drop out, we have a reserve of folks we know from cons to draw from. (Denver also has a very active RPG Meet Up group that I know a lot of people have good luck with.) I do think it helps if you're not a total System Snob. Or if you are* you at least don't lead with that. I'm not selling Champions - I'm selling "Hey, here's this fun game we're playing! You wanna get in on this?" Similarly as a player: if I'd stuck to my I Only Play Hero guns when I moved here I'd still be gameless 12 years later. As for women gamers, I've never had a problem getting them to the table. Maybe because I treat them like gamers, rather than assuming they're there because they're someone's girlfriend. Seriously guys, if I had d6 for every woman I know who quit gaming because they got tired of that attitude, I could play Cosmic Champions and Star Fleet Battles side-by-side. * OK, I totally am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 My guess is there are more women playing RPGs than back when I was trying to find players in the 80s. Back then you might spot one peeking around a corner but then they'd run away if noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Free food. As we learned in Mystery Men there is a high mooch factor among Superhero Wannabes. You said two of my favorite words, free and favorite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted February 3, 2017 Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 I use the offer of free cookies and lure the players into a 20 foot pit trap. It's really successful. what ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted February 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2017 Obviously I need to rephrase the question for you folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted February 4, 2017 Report Share Posted February 4, 2017 For me it isn't as much luring people as it is finding players that enjoy the stories that can be told with Hero. I haven't run Hero in far too long, but I run a lot of games using GUMSHOE or Call of Cthulhu. Mystery/Investigation based games with some including horror and some not. My Supers games used to be more investigative games interspaced with super-battles rather than battles interspaced with plot so mystery games were a natural place for me to go. Right now I have a full table whenever I announce a game and my regular players are all on board with giving supers a shot. We all enjoy the same style of role playing and I have adopted GUMSHOE style treatment of investigation for all my games if they are not rune using a GUMSHOE game. The only hold up on me running Champs is my prep time. To directly answer your question, it isn't a matter of luring players. It is a matter of running enough one shots and short arcs for enough players to find those that fit your style of play. Once a group meets that shares play styles it isn't hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted February 4, 2017 Report Share Posted February 4, 2017 Word of mouth works best. I often advertise to my local friends via Facebook when I have a spot or two open in our regular game, which has 6 players typically. Certain genres attract more players than others, with supers being a big draw (as well as Star Wars). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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