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Adding to the Mix: Integrating New Players
14 Plays2 months ago
Adding new players to an existing group brings its own set of challenges. Daryl, Nick, and Robert discuss methods of finding new players and how to help them find their place in an existing group.
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Transcript
Introduction to How We Roll Gaming
00:00:01
Speaker
How We Roll Gaming is dedicated to spreading enjoyment of great role-playing games. We hope to bring you insights into games you may not have played, tips to be a better game master of player, and share stories of momentous events at our tables. Every game is a new story to tell. um darrel I'm I'm Nick. And here's Robert. And this is How We Roll.
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome back to the How We Roll Gaming podcast. I am Darryl. I'm Nick.
Main Topic: Integrating New Players
00:00:34
Speaker
And this time, we're going to be discussing adding new players into your existing gaming group.
Weather Talk: Winter Storm Experiences
00:00:44
Speaker
um But meanwhile, as we're recording this, we've had a winter storm hit the area the last couple of days. You guys OK? You good? I'm fine. I've been enjoying it, actually, just looking outside, seeing that
00:01:00
Speaker
White landscape. It's ah calming in a way. I like it. It's, yeah, it's been, it, and I've had to take care of, uh, make sure that like I some freeze and stuff like that. But in generally like the, it hasn't been as bad. It wasn't as bad as the 2021 freeze.
00:01:20
Speaker
No, no, it was not. Nothing can be bad as the 2021. Never said ever except for the 2011 freeze. And that was bad. But but we won't go there because that's a whole that's a whole can of worms and that's not gaming related. But I will say like talk about that. but I will say, yeah, it's kind of the snow days I kind of wish I had when I was a kid.
00:01:48
Speaker
where there's actual snow. Yeah, there's not just the fluff that fades away once you throw it. Or there was enough ice in there that it so some less than reputable kids would throw at you. It's oh, that was actual ice balls. That would hurt. Yeah, hi I headed out to go get us some drinks and snacks after I got off work this afternoon. And after sitting for two days, you the What I thought was the light fluffy snow on the windshield that I had to get off was thick and heavy and the top of it was glazed. So hello I had to chip through with scraper and and then scoop off. Just gotta be careful that you don't do it enough that you get your window too.
00:02:38
Speaker
Oh, it was a good four or five inches. But the glaze- It might be too late for some Texas people. Don't heat up water and pour it on the windshield. That's a good way to lose your windshield. And when I say the top layer was a glaze, I'm talking like a glazed donut.
00:03:02
Speaker
Oh. So that that's how thin the that layer of glaze was. But it was it was enough that I couldn't just brush it off. Yeah, that's right. That's like making an ice sculpture at that point.
Personal Updates & Gaming Group Dynamics
00:03:17
Speaker
But yeah, so let's dive into our topic, which is, you know like I said, it is adding new players to the group. um Coincidental timing on all of this, too, because You know, I started working from home yesterday because of the weather and I have my work set up over here and I have my personal set up here in front of me. And I had both of them going.
00:03:47
Speaker
I mean, I know my boss isn't listening. And as of 4.30 PM today, he's not my boss anymore as I transition and employers on Monday. So freedom it doesn't matter. But message popped up from one of the local players from um from Gamer Nation Con that we know. Shout out to Darren.
00:04:16
Speaker
um you know, saying, hey, do you have a ah regular gaming group? I was like, yes, I do. ah Why? are you Are you looking for a group? Are you looking for new players? Just curious. He's like, well, you know, we like to shake things up every once in a while in between campaigns. And I remembered that you and Stephanie, I thought I remembered you and Stephanie saying you would like to game with us sometime or am I misremembered? No, you are remembering absolutely right. So I will be the new player at some point, some future point, integrating in every so often into Darren's group. ah And that that's kind of the first part of the topic of finding new players. now Go ahead, Nick. Finding new players.
00:05:08
Speaker
This will probably be a separate topic in the future. This is general starting a game, but it's part of it as well. Well, yeah, I mean that that'll be a topic in two weeks. Yeah. Boilers. But finding players in an existing group.
00:05:29
Speaker
is simultaneously both easy and difficult. Right. And there's there's many ways that you can find new players. You can have referrals from other players. That's how I found your group. Basically word of mouth. Yeah. um That's kind of sort of how, well, I've met Darren and company through Keep our nation gone. I found mine through a. ah Group that were I. I think they still swore me the secrecy to it for my group that met up and homeschooling groups. I met my I met you guys through the other to through another method, just online posting. In this case, we did it on Nick did it on meet up. That's how I found you guys. And that could be the next one.
00:06:28
Speaker
and the one that I started this group, groups like meetup dot.com. Meetup, Twitter, if you're desperate, looking for a group Reddit. I was about to say, you could descend into the bowels of Reddit LFG. but just hope You don't get a horror story. We don't do RPG horror stories on our show.
00:06:58
Speaker
we we believe That's a different channel. we We leave that to Crispy and to other creators. The other Drake, all those people. Yeah. i mean do they i here there are plenty but I'm there are plenty of fine groups that meet themselves on Reddit. We just haven't met them. Yeah, but it's like like the news. No one ever talks about the good people. It's always the bad people. Exactly. because they're they are quite frequently the more entertaining stories. But meetup.com was sort of my resort to like, that started the group that we're both in now. Yep. And, and I, I honestly took this a gamble. It was like, this is a meetup website and
00:07:53
Speaker
It has like resources, like locations and so you know who the people are to agree. It's like, I took a chance and and from the experience it's worked very well. And like, I've even talked with other people about the groups that I'm not part of, but yeah, it seems like just a good way in general to meet up people. Now, and online resources like that,
00:08:24
Speaker
have their pros and cons.
Exploring Meetup for Gaming Connections
00:08:27
Speaker
um the The pros are they have a super wide reach. Yes, they can reach you much farther than referrals can or word of mouth. Yeah, deal even even if you're just looking in your local area, there's more reach because people are going to be looking on resources like that. They're going to be looking on Meetup or anything like that. and yeah As we discuss pros and cons, I don't want to sound like we're beating up on Meetup, or for that matter, doing a commercial for Meetup. That just happens to be the resource that we use. Yes. for our friends It is effective for us, but it's also effective for other groups. Yeah, because it's not just gaming on Meetup. I'm still getting offers for archery classes. I don't know why I'm still getting them.
00:09:22
Speaker
I used to go to, I used to go to a screenwriting groups before that, before I even started of this stuff. And I still get they're small in between in this book clubs, like all your regular stuff. So between just being in our meetup groups and a local makerspace group, for some reason, my suggested the a suggestion that pops up the most.
00:09:51
Speaker
is like local singles. Oh, yeah so is mine. Yes, but you are a local single. True, but I didn't even. I didn't even put single in ah in in my like profile, like nowhere to be in yours because you're married. But they're getting dancing offers.
00:10:17
Speaker
Like going out dancing, I don't know, I don't know why. as Wait, was that Square Dancing? Because I've gotten a Square Dancing one No, it's more like the bar like mara dancing, stuff like that. ah That's one step removed from local singles, Robert. Yeah, well, they offered me that. I understand. I understand. Now, when you're using an online resource like that,
00:10:46
Speaker
like algorithms The reach is a huge benefit. A downside that you might run into depending on what online resource you're using is to have the biggest reach and the access to all of the tools that increases your monetary outlay.
00:11:15
Speaker
Now to join up with Meetup is free. But to like start groups and like really. To start a group yeah is free. Yeah. But some things are behind a paywall. To have over X number of members is behind a paywall. Which is not a. As someone who owns a group with
00:11:47
Speaker
way more members than actually do exist. Consistently. That's kind of an issue on the side of it. Yes, because how yeah how many members does your group have? At least the Star Wars group, Nick. I think we're roughly in like the like the over 1000 and how many do you actually see? Well, you're seeing.
00:12:15
Speaker
If only I had the interwebs in my pocket. If only we were on the interwebs right now.
00:12:25
Speaker
But let's see here. But once he gets that number, you'll know that you're seeing my but two of our main contributors through the entire group. The Star Wars role-playing group that you run has 960 members. Oh, you're almost there. Oh, there are a little over half a dozen players that actively show up. The How We Roll Gaming Meetup has 380 members. That same roughly half dozen
00:13:09
Speaker
is in the same. Is who consistently shows up. Everyone would like to see you see all those people that you're going to meet all those people. And now what is the other aspect of that volume of people showing up? You're very, you will see and be very excited the first time that you have a new player that hasn't come to a game before RSVP that they're coming to a game. Be aware that there are these things called bots accounts. There are bots. There are people who they sign up and say, hey, this sounds fun. And then something better comes along. Or those that say they come and you never hear from them again.
00:14:08
Speaker
and that That's what I mean. you know Something better comes along. They don't show up. or they Personally, there's also people to like, oh, I've noticed this mostly for my Star Wars group. A new Star Wars project comes out. People like it. They're excited. They jump onto the Star Wars thing. Don't engage if it happens.
00:14:34
Speaker
Now, I would be interested in trying an experiment sometime, Nick. Now, part of people's reluctance to show, and this this may just be our experience, part of people's reluctance showing up may be that, peek behind the curtain, we play out of our homes. 98% of the games that we run are run at Nick's. Robert has one.
00:15:02
Speaker
funny enough i did start by running games at a local game shop. We'll get there later. Yeah. and yeah robert one Robert runs one out of his house. There's one that I used to run out of home and it's just kind of it's been on chronic hold for. Yeah. And to be perfectly honest, the primary reason I run that one out of my home is just because Nick what isn't a player in that because the other campaign, Nick's a player. So I'm just like, we'll just go to your house because. Right.
00:15:34
Speaker
You'd like to stay home. I would like to try an experiment sometime. we should run so and and this is um'm I am totally doing this off the cuff. This is just something that just came to me. Oh, he's going out the script. I'm riffing. I'm improving.
00:15:52
Speaker
oh god go We should set up, you know even if it's like a mini campaign, and I've been kind of wanting, yeah this kind of floated around in my head anyway, and we've had a local gaming venue reach out to us about hosting games there. We should see what kind of response And follow through, we get from new players if we play in like a dedicated game, like a game store or that gaming venue. You know, there was one time I went to a D and&D game. It was in, I think an arcade in
Venue Choices: Home vs Public
00:16:29
Speaker
Lewisville. I went there on time. It was fun. But then. Right after COVID hit, so we couldn't go. And then I think because of that, they the arcade unfortunately shut down.
00:16:39
Speaker
That's a lot. I don't know if I've imagined this before, but when we have had new players show up when we're playing at your house, Nick, as they come into the game room.
00:16:51
Speaker
Sometimes I wonder if being in someone's home adds to the level of nerves that we're gonna discuss a little later. That something relates to, I keep forgetting your friend's name that he was part of. a Oh, Steven? Yes. Shout out to Steven. Shout out to Steven. You know who you are.
00:17:22
Speaker
but he I have to tell the story of Steven because apparently he called your son. Yes, the the first game. that okay so we need to pe We need to give a little context here, Nick. Nick's house is the word that I'm going to use and you don't get to fight back, Nick. Nick's house is rather lavish. I was going to say large but both fit. It is large and lavish.
00:17:53
Speaker
um And so the first game that he was going to play at your house. I had met Stephen before at a game shop. Right. We played together in a game store. My son and I were also going to be in that game. We're about to leave home. We're literally in the car and backing out of the driveway. And why Stephen called my son? Don't know.
00:18:23
Speaker
yeah that That's honestly more mysterious me. You didn't get the most call, did you, Daryl? Not that I recall, but I hear i could hear. he was he was Am I at the right place? and Apparently, like your son said it wasn't speakerphone. Yeah, it was not speakerphone. I could hear because he was so incredulous. He's like, am I at the right place?
00:18:51
Speaker
Is this Nick's redacted house? and we're like yes yes Yes, it is. so right i can I can see that specific element that I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that more than a few of our listeners do not share, um can play into some new player nerfs. It definitely played into me. I had the same reaction when I went to your house. I did too. And the other thing was say about Nyx is, I won't share your address of course, but obviously his address is tied to another house. Like there's another house with that address. There is a shadow. It's an alternate me.
00:19:39
Speaker
And it was just like, first I was like, am I in the right place? This, this is a nice. luckly is this the right Luckily meetup dot.com allows you to actually post your proper address. So you just have to check that. So google dot.com will present. And then of course with a house, you also got to think of wherever your players are. If your house is too far away, they probably won't want to commit the gas to get there.
00:20:06
Speaker
But I will a admit, I will agree with you, Daryl, that I do feel that some people felt I've made that some players I felt were some people are a little intimidated by your house. Yes. And I I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm not trying to pick on you. I will also say, at least me personally, the GM can also throw you off because I'll admit I went in the house for that was the first thing that threw me off.
00:20:36
Speaker
Then you went to the door, Nick, and a bedrobe or a bathrobe. And I was like, oh, I see this how this is going to go. Like, nice house, flairy bathrobe. It's like, OK, you're one of those people. More or less, I am too. Until I just realized, no, he just does that because it's It's comfy. And it's more like it's not like a fancy bathrobe. It's like, yeah, maybe it's a.
00:21:06
Speaker
You're talking to a guy who doesn't have a bathrobe. So that's my definition of fancy. Yeah. as The idea is like, I'm wearing pajamas and I come out as like, come as you are. Just be here. It's like simply like, honestly, like just to not to talk about me, but just to say like, as I am, like a lot of my friends, my closest friends were like surprised when they first came to my house because I'm don't portray myself as like a big,
00:21:37
Speaker
guy in a big house. And that's not me. I'm ah I'm a guy in a big house, but I'm not a big guy in a big house. Yeah, exactly. Circling back around online postings, you know, there's the other thing to consider, too, is are you playing in person or online?
In-Person vs Online Gaming
00:21:58
Speaker
And that has been a big thing post COVID. And it was a thing for me because I started online they went into in-person as a player. I started online because I didn't know a lot of people, then transitioned into in-person and then had transitioned back into online when COVID happened. I am the first to admit that both as a player and a GM, I prefer in-person. Oh, same. ae I engage more both as a player and as a GM.
00:22:34
Speaker
I can physically look at somebody and kind of gauge how they're reacting. It helps. Well, as a player, when I'm online, it's way too easy for me to be distracted by any of the other million things that are around at home. Oh, yeah, definitely. Especially if I'm if i'm having a heavy day of just having trouble focusing.
00:23:02
Speaker
That's going to be multiplied by playing a game online. I'm a very visceral person, so I can do online if I'm properly prepared, like Uber prepared. And there's also two times for you, Nick. Yeah. That we've had that you've had players and then halfway through the campaign, we're like. Did they fall asleep? That's happened before. Hey, be call out my son. He does that.
00:23:31
Speaker
that did we we didn't want to call him out but that he's there was only one call him out first it's good like he's gonna listen but the we two we love that is that is great he we uh we do have a player in one of our campaigns who we've played with him in person in other games a couple times um Oh, he he was a regular player. He became a regular player in the second wave of characters in my campaign that I ran from home. I only counted him in person a couple times during his third campaign. And heat he may show up a couple episodes down the line when we get to our RPG Glorious Stories episode.
00:24:18
Speaker
funnel you He may. He may. Are we talking about a military boy or somebody else? No, we're we're talking about we're talking about Brian. Ah, yes, Brian. But and I hope we can. And I know what you're watching again. I hope we can get a more intense. That's where that's where from. He's but we he's fine with that. We have caused a Mandela effect for us, but that's a story for another time.
00:24:48
Speaker
You have that combo. Sometimes you do have a group that is primarily in person, but for one reason or another, you have a player or two who's online. That was a slight digression, and then we'll get back on topic. I've reached out recently, right after the first of the year, to some of the players from my original Star Wars game back in the night. You told me about them.
00:25:18
Speaker
And I reached out to them and I was like, hey, um you know, what do you guys think? What would you guys think about, you know, for a one or two shot, getting the band back together and I can make pre-gens in the new system of our of your old characters and I can run a one or two shot about those characters after Return of the Jedi. And the ones that I reached out to on Facebook were like,
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, great. That sounds fun. we'll We'll do that. And I got a DM from um that said, hey, I don't remember. don't I don't know if you remember me, but you know it was the, I don't know if at this point, because it's been quite a long time since I've since i've seen them. I don't know if she is still girlfriend or or wife of one of our players.
00:26:16
Speaker
And it's like, I saw your post. It was just a happenstance. I read it to him, and he would love to play. I was like, by all means. He just doesn't have Facebook. He's like, that's absolutely fine. They're in California. So one of my players is going to be online. I'm go to have i'm going to try to have everybody else in person. But you know one of the one of the players that I would have most loved to have been in the group, but I didn't have a way of contacting by pure happenstance. Was able to learn about the game and we've emailed back and forth and he's going to be playing by discord. Yep. Oh, fun fact bro with the online ones. A fun fact that I'm actually like in a thread right now. Like actually I typed out a response like about an hour ago with someone saying like,
00:27:10
Speaker
in the Star Wars RPG Reddit, it says 2025, should I get involved in it? And I'm trying to like help convince those people to be like, yeah, give it a sound without my hand. Right. So.
00:27:41
Speaker
there's There's multiple ways to find people online. And then the the other way. Here's the thing that I would say about, just in general, about online. and
00:27:54
Speaker
People are looking for people to play online because we have that infinite internet stuff. Yeah.
00:28:06
Speaker
it's There's always some people looking for it, but there's like, because it's so, it's a huge net being cast out. It can look overwhelming and you got to figure out a way to like filter it for you. On another, on a discord group that I'm part of that is totally not gaming related. I was talking to someone, it turned out that there was somebody local, we and we were just talking back and forth, found out that he is into RPGs.
00:28:38
Speaker
I was talking about some of the games we play. I had never mentioned the name of the group. I still haven't mentioned the name of the group. And he's like, oh, yeah, you I would love to get to find a cyberpunk group. I was like, we've got cyberpunk. And a couple other campaigns that, well, that sounds interesting. And I've heard about the Star Wars game. I'd like, well, we've got two meetup groups. um So you know if if you go out looking, you'll probably find that I still haven't given him the name of the groups. He's like, I think I found them. Should I expect a new cyber person? I mean, it's been months since he said he thought he found enough. Yeah. Okay. Um, and he still hasn't even joined the meetup, let alone signed up for more of the idea. of Like people are looking for groups. Yes. and both covid And there's definitely what we call a research of interest.
00:29:36
Speaker
especially in at least D and&D. Yep. and and we D and&D, Star Wars, Cyberpunk. The big resurgence, and yeah there's no point in denying what caused the mainstream surge, and that's Stranger Things. Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah. um Plus, D and&D is the 800-pound gorilla.
00:30:05
Speaker
in the arena. I don't know if these t was was a pretty decent sleeper hit. It did okay. I wish it did better because I call loved it. I call course it a sleeper hit. The D and&D movie that came out recently. Yeah. There's this Star Wars project. There's Cyberpunk. But more people know that D and&D exists than no that there is a Star Wars RPG. Exactly. Or that there is even a cyberpunk pen and paper RPG. Yeah, like you said, D&D is the big one. That's a pipeline. That pipeline. I'm going to call it what I always call it. D&D is the gateway drug. Even in those mainstream circles,
00:30:54
Speaker
the and I don't really see a point in us having an episode on this because it's old news at this point, but the OGL
00:31:04
Speaker
drama, yeah even yeah yeah you know that into mainstream news. So that did make more people aware that there are other RPGs than just D and&D. But you know if you look on, say, YouTube, the bulk of RPG content for helping players, helping GMs, all of that is directed at D and&D. Yes.
00:31:35
Speaker
There's a little bit of a niche for Star Wars and Cyberpunk, but it's mostly D&D. And that's fine. And we're weak. That's fine. Like, those are valid. So I'm friends with, used to work with, have known for decades, went to the midnight screening of Phantom Menace with one of the former hosts of the Miskatonic University podcast, Dedicated Dooloo. Oh, nice.
00:32:04
Speaker
I was a regular listener of it for a while. um you know Simply, be I started listening because I did know Dan. um And on their Facebook page, one of the other hosts put out there, hey, you just it's I've come to learn, and I hadn't been public about listening, so I assumed that they had heard this from other people. i I've come to learn that there are listeners who listen to our podcast but don't play Call of Cthulhu. And I'm just confused as to why anybody would listen to us yammer about Call of Cthulhu if you don't play the game. And I replied to them and say and said, good gaming tips are good gaming tips regardless of the system. Very true, very true. And I just listened to like,
00:32:59
Speaker
Like I was out, I was someone that did play i Call of Cthulhu, but it fell out of ah that and listened to them just because like I liked the lore and like ruled. Yeah. has and And then I've done the same thing. Like I've definitely watched D and&D guides on how to make your villains better. And I'd have definitely used that. Yeah. And so, um you know, you, you can draw information from anywhere, regardless of the system.
00:33:28
Speaker
You know, I don't i don't run D and&D. I have more D and&D books than I need as just a player, but I like pulling information and ideas from a variety of sources. The way of capping it back back into to the topic, yeah it doesn't matter where you get that information. If you're interested in storytelling, and like playing in a world,
00:33:59
Speaker
You can be inspired by any game. And now there's plenty of people that are playing like long-term games, one shot, limited campaigns. They're all there on, on, on YouTube podcast. And you can just, you can just tap into that. One last point that I'll make about online resources for finding new players before we move on to another
00:34:30
Speaker
option of finding new players is that um one thing with online, you you can we we mentioned that there's pros and cons to every platform. I'm not gonna lie, because of the money sink involved and how much more meetup is putting behind a paywall. um It's like ah my son and I were talking in the car on the way to work one day. And he was pulling up ah the next Star Wars session that he's in. And he's like, I think there's somebody new, but I can't tell because everything is all hidden because I'm on a free account. Because I'm the one that runs the account. It's great. Yeah. yeah
00:35:23
Speaker
and So yeah, I've thought, okay, what if on the How We Roll Gaming site, we were to just do our own event system, put a plug in for events? Well, going back to the idea of an 800 pound gorilla, Meetup has a wider reach.
00:35:48
Speaker
than just our website does. People know Meetup. They know to look on Meetup for that kind of stuff. They don't know to go looking for our... We can put Meetup on the website, but it'd be more... It's even more expensive to do that. I've looked into it. You know Reddit, you know Roll20, you know all those places. Roll20 is like...
00:36:16
Speaker
It's good, but it's a whole lot of lot of business. Just an example. Yeah. um But yeah, the I've looked into adding the Meetup plugin to our site, but you have to have a particular kind of Meetup account, which is pretty pricey. Let me look at that maybe. i could tell that but I'm pretty sure it probably is outright.
00:36:45
Speaker
It is. Online resources are good. Don't spend money if you don't have to, though. Exactly. Again, I'll take a look at it. Now, another resource for finding new players is store games.
Local Game Stores as Resources
00:37:00
Speaker
Games that are being run by a local store, be it by the store themselves or by other customers at the store. Really, more commonly known online as your friendly local game store. yeah um I was at FLGS. I was at that same store that you used to run Star Wars out of a while back, Nick. And I was just wandering around looking. i think we they were like like When I looked at like what you told me about us, I think we're like a month
00:37:42
Speaker
out from each other. But i was I was there not too long ago. Well, I say not too long ago. It's been a couple of years probably. And there was a guy said I want to say it was it was a free comic book day one year. So there was a guy there who knew that there was going to be a lot of foot traffic. But it was still later in the day after the wait, after the big I was that I was I was at that free comic book day. Not not at this one. You weren't because this is after I knew you.
00:38:11
Speaker
Oh, you're right. yeah that My free comic day was wait with the Star Wars character. You're right. um But you know he was he was back set up at one of the tables. he had like a little He had signs up. He had a little display running on his tablet that um he he was going to be running one of the alien starter scenarios. of And I was like,
00:38:40
Speaker
Great game. if i had If I had time today, I would stop and stay and play because it's a fun game. um I had a short-lived Star Wars campaign, a different one that I ran out of out of home that began from me running the beginner game at one of the local comic stores. And every player there was a complete stranger.
00:39:09
Speaker
And that' that's a big thing. As someone who is and really a very heavy introvert, I praise her a lot of people out here in our audience are introverts.
00:39:25
Speaker
Do I agree? Hey, i I am an introvert who can turn it on when I have to. I've gotten better at being outward.
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah. ah yeah and Trust me, I was very introverted. I pushed myself to be like, if we're going to make friends, I need to reach out. Like it was a big leap for me. So a part of it is like.
00:39:57
Speaker
If you're going to reach out and meet people, you got to, that's also part of internally. You got to, for sure. For sure. I can definitely segue into our next topic. Yeah. Making players feel welcome once they get there. But exactly the biggest part is like, you're going to meet new people. You're going to experience a new thing. And that's frightening. That's kind of scary.
00:40:24
Speaker
but yeah i I ran the Star Wars beginner game at a local comic store. I had four or five people show up. um They had a blast. And when all was said and done, I was like you know if If you guys are interested in a campaign, I've got a few campaign ideas.
00:40:48
Speaker
and you know just give give me your I've got your contact information from where I set this up online. and um you know I'll reach out to you. You can vote on which scenario you want. and We ran a mini campaign. Well, I say mini campaign. did do We ran a campaign for a while.
00:41:09
Speaker
and Half of them that came to the beginner's game, actually three of the people from the beginner game came to my session zero. One of them peeled off after the session zero, but the other two stuck with the rest of the time that that campaign ran. It didn't run very long. It sort of kind of petered out because scheduled the same old thing, it's always scheduling.
00:41:39
Speaker
We can do that later on. The nemesis of all campaigns. Yes. Scheduling. When I when I started off, it's like. I started off at. At a location and. Then tried like, OK, I can't make that location every time. So it's like. OK, can you make it here? and It's like, OK, they can make it here. But I was still nervous because like.
00:42:09
Speaker
I've been finding people that I've met maybe one or two times or the first time into my home. yeah i mean i I've been considering for a while um running some games out of that venue that's reached out to us, doing them during the week, your weeknights, and dude shorter duration than what we normally play, you know each session more about the length of a convention session.
00:42:39
Speaker
And i I'm kind of still interested in that too. like that And so that that kind of that kind of goes with the experiment that that I was talking about earlier. So I might have to consider that. um The main factor is like, yeah, it does. There's a great deal of. And maybe we can go into like future episodes talking about like running at home versus running remote. Yeah. Like there is a.
00:43:08
Speaker
comforting feeling having yourself home with your old materials. Yeah, but the thing that I like best about running from home is everything that I might need is at my fingertips. Very much so. Best pro. The biggest pro. But that that's a top whole topic for another day.
Making New Players Comfortable
00:43:34
Speaker
I think we can put I think we we can slot that on the agenda at some point.
00:43:38
Speaker
They can squeeze it in there somewhere. thanks But I think we have have exhausted everything we have to say on finding new players. And we've had a couple of rabbit holes that we dove down. Thank you for sticking with us as we've chased rabbits.
00:43:56
Speaker
ah um But Robert mentioned the next part of yeah of integrating new players. which is making them feel welcome. We kind of touched on that a little bit too with you know saying, Nick, people are intimidated by your house. Or like Nick said, people people you're going to get probably introverted in some way and they're taking that leap. Exactly. and The day that I first showed up at Nick's house, I had that same, am I in the right place?
00:44:35
Speaker
and You know, we, we just mentioned introversion and from ah from i and social that's why I always come out like casually dressed like if pajamas. and so fun we And we mentioned introversion and social anxiety. I was like, even though I knew two people who were going to be there, they weren't there yet. And I sat out in my car for a little bit.
00:45:08
Speaker
And they weren't there yet, and they weren't there yet, and they weren't there yet. And I was like, okay, I guess I'll go on in. And finally did. And, and you know, there's there's that, there's that whole, you know, when you're walking into a stranger's house to play a game,
00:45:35
Speaker
with a group of people who many of them already know one another, there's a series of personal internal boundaries that sometimes, you know depending on what kind of introversion or social anxiety you might have with yourself, that you have to push yourself past. Exactly. And speaking on the opposite side of that, as in this case, I'm the one that owns the house,
00:46:02
Speaker
and i letting in Am I letting in an axe murderer? Am I letting in somebody who's casing the joint? Am I? Or in my case, I got to accommodate these people. I want to make sure everything I got is comfortable, that they're relaxed. Yep. You can just have a fun time. They're not sitting on pins and needles. ah that course Part of me is when I was like, okay, I have to be a gracious host to an individual I do not know.
00:46:30
Speaker
But is here for a similar experience that they want, but they'll know the exact experience that they need. And. I am not the most. I am quite introverted, so I have to like put on like the like I am the the game host here coming here like. All right, of course, this game is going to be their first impression of you.
00:46:59
Speaker
ye And I just have to, I have to like, welcome them into the game area and like to sort of, I'm putting on a cell because I myself am introverted, but also to make sure that they're comfortable, that I'm comfortable. And so far we've been focusing on the GM side of making the new players feel welcome. But the GM's not the only person who has to do that.
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah, the other players have to do that, too. um And if if they've been part of a group for a while, they have that existing group dynamic. They have their inside jokes. They know how to bounce off of one another. And ausie they know how to push the GM that to the point where it's still OK. Yeah, honestly that's how I what I love about our groups that we have. It's like. You not.
00:47:57
Speaker
Allow you guys to peek behind on the screen. I let you guys activate the newbies. Whenever they come in. Do you like? Yeah, that's a good thing about it. Use your players to make that other player comfortable. Yeah. And I give you time like. I leave the room and like let's guys. Talk and riff and like Have you guys do like something a little bit more radius or fun? ah so Like Darrell said, most new players come during a new campaign, so of course you should always have that session zero where you can definitely start gauging the player and making them comfortable with the group. And I make sure everyone like. We do a little bit something that's fun or exciting and then. But I always like give a little bit of like.
00:48:54
Speaker
Again, behind the scenes. I did that to let you guys spend time with a new player so that you guys can. Get the. ah Get a vibe on each other, and i I will say the way our group does session zeros, I kind of like as opposed to the.
00:49:20
Speaker
um There's no kinda about it. I like the way we do it as opposed to a textbook session zero. A textbook session zero is just session zero. and that's It's just setting expectations. It's just character creation. It's just setting up the world and all of that.
00:49:46
Speaker
i've read about like I've read like at least nine of them and I probably at least like skin like 10 more. But I hate, I hate the, the generic.
00:50:02
Speaker
A textbook generic session zero is just the business side of it, for want of a better term. I like that all three of us as GMs, when we start a new campaign and we have a session zero, we have like a little, ah for want of a better term, prologue mini session.
00:50:28
Speaker
that we have to ask to someone. Exactly. We have that introduction to be like, OK, I've said how the game is going to go. Now we're going to see how the game goes. And I call it. If we are playing red rolling dice, we aren't doing it right. If someone's not rolling dice during this as a zero, it's not right. So for those of you who don't know, our sessions are about a good five to six hours.
00:50:57
Speaker
And it doesn't take us five or six hours to brief players on what the campaign is going to be like. At most, it takes at least three hours. And like we were talking about the session zeros, we actually play a little bit so the new player can actually see not just how the campaign goes, but also play styles and they can kind of see what their play style is going to look like. And that helps the players.
00:51:23
Speaker
It helps with new players, it helps with old players, it helps with people learning the system and understanding now it. not how it's supposed to go in terms of like how session zero. By the books. It works for us. It works. And honestly, I feel it works the best. like ah leaving players having like rolled dice, even if it's not consequential, or at least let them know what like their skills are, what they do. It gives them that, that incentive to come back. It's like, oh, I can do that. What if I could do more than that? Nick, what did I do in in the last session zero that I ran to you? Well, I guess I didn't do it.
00:52:23
Speaker
You know the one he's talking about, Nick? Yep. Nick died in my session, my last session zero. Not because he not because there was malicious. That's just how it went. Yeah, I wrote for the dice. The the da the dice are rolled poorly in my favor. But.
00:52:46
Speaker
Everyone else in the system learned a great deal about the system, had an incredible encounter. And I just happened to be on the receiving end of a bad roll. And that particular game, we didn't have a new player in the mix, but Robert's cyberpunk. We had oh a brand new player in the mix. I don't know why. Let me tell you, cause I don't know why, but when I do new games, I somehow attract the new players cause cyberpunk.
00:53:21
Speaker
When I did Dark Knight's Arise. I get all the new people. I made it hide the seeds, but I got to say it down to your face. It's like ah it's just sort of your Robert magnetism. Because because let me tell you, because most of our games. Four to five, maybe six people. My Dark Knight's Arise, 11. My cyberpunk. At least nine.
00:53:48
Speaker
I don't think like the fact that how many new. Oh, yeah, definitely, because I won't say the names. Yeah, we got. Yeah, there's like at least in the past year, we've gotten. Like three to four new people that have shown up and stayed. But do you and in your cyberpunk, you got the most. New actual players that came. Yeah, it may not have stayed, but Magnetism or not, I just spin my games. Maybe it's because I did do something different, like I'm the only Cyberpunk GM in our group right now. I know Nick's thinking of his scenario, but right now I'm the only one, so I could have attracted somebody. I say it's a beard. That's my theory. You have a beard too, most of the time. And so do I.
00:54:46
Speaker
yeah Are you saying it's because of my eye nice scott Scottish look? Yes.
00:54:54
Speaker
ah yeah there it's It's the Robert factor. So what what you're saying, Nick, is among the three of us, Robert is the one who most makes new players feel welcome. Possibly. I think I at least try to incorporate them or focus on new players when I'm doing my campaign starts. Yeah, because my existing players, they know me. I know them. They know I'm going to give them time. The new players, though, I do tend to focus on them a little bit more both to just say, hey, I'm not just going to ignore you because you just showed up.
00:55:35
Speaker
I want to say, yes, you're part of my game and I want you a part of my game. So I'm going to focus on you a little bit. Yep. I, I tried to do that, um, in, uh, in walking dead in my, because, because one of our new was, was that what the first walking dead was the first time that he showed up, wasn't it? If you're talking about August, then yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. as value Yeah. So.
00:56:04
Speaker
i tried I tried to make a point of like, okay, you are you're the person that is new, not just to this game, but to this group.
Engaging New Players
00:56:14
Speaker
So let's let's let's give you stuff to do. If I needed just a role made for administrative purposes, for want of a better term, I would have him roll it. So exactly you're the new person. Get get the click black rocks in your hand.
00:56:33
Speaker
And I remember, yeah, I've done that too, but several times, like new players, like, yeah, I sort of haze and be like, okay, you're the new guy. But it's like, in a fun way, it's like, okay, you gotta, I want you to do the, the role usually. Or like, I know this was in your transformer GI i Joe game. Yeah. Nick, when that new player was still there, I I'm going blank on his name, but I knew he played a transformer and he chose a line of car that, and he also said he landed in Italy. So he started making the joke that he was the Pope mobile. Yeah. And we ran with that and it got him involved because he was pretty guarded and introverted. But once we started engaging him, putting him in the spotlight, he went with it. We leaned into that bit. Similar to a bit. We'll do for, uh, for a, uh,
00:57:32
Speaker
Glory moment. Oh yeah, that's definitely a glory moment. Yeah, but the idea is like you want to make the players like. Feel like especially new ones in a established group like and if they feel unsure about their role like their ability. Give them give them some checks. ah Fudge them a little bit, but like. In their favor, but like.
00:58:02
Speaker
make them feel like, okay, you're the star of today's session, at least a little bit. Not too much. You did it. And that this is probably the story that Nick was just thinking of. And so i I won't tell the whole story, but there was one instance where Nick was running a beginner game or an introductory game
00:58:31
Speaker
happened to be alien, only two people showed up. There was me, and there was a brand new player. Never remember that story. And like I say, I won't tell the whole story, but I will tell my part. Is that that story? Sorry. Yeah, I will. I will tell a little bit of how, as a player, I was trying to help in making this new player feel comfortable. And I could get behind the scenes of helping make him feel like But part of what makes it a glory story, too, though, is part of the context of how I helped him, is that this person came in to an alien introductory game. He had never seen an alien movie and had never played a role-playing game. Yep. And so, and was a complete stranger to us.
00:59:31
Speaker
was on my part to like, introduce the system and everything to him. But here's part of how I at least tried and as a player successful as a player. I honestly, I would say was successful.
00:59:49
Speaker
to help him be comfortable in the group. Well, it was a group of of three counting him. but GM and player and new player. But making him feel welcome, making him feel comfortable and getting him engaged is I try in general as a player, not to metagame.
01:00:17
Speaker
But I had played this scenario before. So I knew the scenario. I knew the pre-gen player characters. I knew what this being Alien, I knew what their secret agendas were. And I knew something that I wished I had done as the player that I had played or as the character I had played in this scenario the time before that I had played it.
01:00:47
Speaker
So I played that same character. And I metagamed. I used my knowledge of what was coming and of the basic scenario to help steer him into situations where he could take the forefront and step up and- As GM, I recognized both of these factors and allowed it because This individual did not know the franchise, did not know the scenario. so you So steering him into these locations allowed me to progress the story for him in a natural way. And that that's probably it's probably a good thing that you it it's Nick the GM had as his co-conspirator
01:01:47
Speaker
player a fellow GM and both of us both of us knew that both of us were familiar with this scenario and franchise and a great system and yeah so it just everything aligned to allow me to do something that I try not to do which is metagame to help make it a better experience for the new player. And that experience will become the glory story. And I would say it later on. Also, I feel that. That's a good teaser because it was amazing. Yeah, and there's another one because this was the a new player we had during a beginning Star Wars game that Nick Grand that
01:02:45
Speaker
Daryl and I were both in. And it wasn't memorable in the way that the players stood out. It was just memorable because there was a very fun and hilarious moment in it that just drew us all in. Yes. i But all of that helps to make that new player comfortable. I feel we're at good at like getting into the into the our final the final chapter.
01:03:13
Speaker
Yes, the final frontier. No, I haven't started that that campaign yet, but Nick's about to bring it up again. Mm hmm. Which is ah adapting to new players. Now, as an introvert, I'll admit it took me a while to actually to new people. And I'm certain that it's plenty of introverts who are feeling the same way. Yeah, there's no easy way to connect to people, even if you have similar interests. It's scary. Exactly. And then at least with new players. When you first meet them, you'll understand stuff, but if it's when they come back that you start realizing stuff because. I won't say his name, but I will say there is some one person in our group that he showed up in the beginning. He was a good he's a good player still is. But he has a tendency. To not show up.
01:04:14
Speaker
So we've given him a nickname chronically late. Or no show. And also part of adapting to new players though is is finding out their play style. Are they an R-O-L-E player? Or an R-O-L-L player? There are groups with an unassigned assigned seating in my game room. Yes, very much so.
01:04:44
Speaker
And it it's very much like some people gravitate to each other and others don't. They sort of like, they conspire, they work better with each other. And yes, Betsy is both mine and Daryl's partner in crime. Yes. For we different for a different types of crime. This is I am equally fond of staying on the floor and working with anyone who is parents to the floor you have those players you know is their play style leaning into the character is their play style just going wacky is that are they just interested in the bang bang shoot shoot because i will say at least in in our groups we're we have the role type of players yeah their characters and they lean into it
01:05:41
Speaker
Probably like for a, like roughly around like, I'd say like an 85 to 75%. Oh, I would say it's higher. I mean, oh I mean overall, but if I'm calculating every group. Yeah, we don't have a, we don't, I don't think we have a player that's purely, I want to roll dice and get the highest numbers. and the clothes this was like ah we We did have someone who was.
01:06:12
Speaker
pretty focused on the combat and would would zone out when it was character stuff. Yeah. ah that As of right now. And that's not inherently bad. It's not inherently bad. But you have to understand that there are types of players. Exactly.
01:06:34
Speaker
yeah and And you have to figure out new what is the makeup of your group. If you do have someone who is heavily focused and incentivized by just you the combat element of things and less enthused about the story the narrative and story side of things,
01:07:01
Speaker
You have to make sure that, you know, they, they get some, they get some food every session too. Exactly. I do that too. Like if I see someone one that's like, okay, you're, you're in for combat. I'm going to and put in the combat, but I'll bid. I do like, like to feed the story element mostly, but I do understand like some people want to like,
01:07:30
Speaker
kick as on nice yeah some people, some people just want to get in the next wing and blow stuff up. Yeah. Thanks. ken i'm perfect And I'm perfectly fine with that. It's like, yeah, i they have a and we have those talk sessions. Then we have the session where everything's one huge combat round. I am also the first to admit to keep in mind that there you're going to have players that even if they love every element of the game,
01:08:00
Speaker
They're gonna zone out. they They may just not, they may not be on that day. They may have a- Taking and some medicine beforehand. They might have- You're gonna slap that step. They may not have sleep. Had a hard day at work. They may just have a million other things on their mind. And the game is is number a million and one on that list.
01:08:30
Speaker
there's there's any number of things, and that can also play into how they relate to the other players in the group that day. And if there's a new player in the group that day, that can throw everything off. Yes. And that's where you have to come. We as GMs have to come in, kind of feel that not often, it's just that difference. Arbitrate, sort of like manage.
01:08:59
Speaker
You know, I have walked into your game room, Nick, on days that there have been new players. And I have so heavy ADHD that day that it's like, oh, look, a bug. Oh, there's something shiny. Oh, hi, new person. And I cannot focus on a single thing. Or there can be those times where I'm telling you the fact that I'm on the back end of that.
01:09:30
Speaker
times 20 as I'm like seeing all of that and be like, oh, Darryl's walking in and like, oh, there's all this shit going on. I'll admit there, me personally, I won't say who, but there was a time where I came in. We had a new player. We were playing the game and I just didn't vibe with that new person. I don't know why,
01:09:58
Speaker
This is something intrinsic I just didn't care for. Hey, that's, that's, that is actually an, I think that could be like the, uh, my final talk about that. Like sometimes as much as I love running these games, it's one of the biggest things that's, it's basically what I've made my life around sometimes.
01:10:23
Speaker
For lack of a better word. The buyers are off. Like someone doesn't fit. And yes, and it wasn't like outwardly bad. It was just an inner thing. It's like making a nick and att test. There's been a time where it's almost gone external. Sometimes you're like, you aren't the right fit. It could work with everyone in, in the group. That's like, just feel like off. No, it's like that one spice put in, put into the,
01:10:54
Speaker
into the mix. It's like, not right. And as GMs, we have to maybe not fully recognize it, but we do have to be patient with it. Be patient with it. And if it comes to it, I haven't had to do this yet. I would love to, to go the rest of my, my GMing life without having to. I've had to, had to expel some people in a lesson savory story. But That wasn't expelling them from the group. That was just a one time situation. There may very well come a time for any GMs out there listening that somebody isn't vibing with the group. And you just have to be aware vibe with the group and or words is detrimental to the group.
01:11:47
Speaker
And you just, you kind of have to take the temperature of the whole group. You can is a gut feeling it like you know you you can be as subtle or overt about it as possible. You can just kind of you know be observational. like and use your gut, like Nick said, if you can tell that there's some some friction and it's not and it's negatively impacting the group, you can individually and privately take the temperature yeah of of all of the players and say like, hey, Nick, I've noticed that you that there seems to be some tension in the sessions that Bob is part of.
01:12:32
Speaker
ah is is there and Is everything OK? Or am I imagining it? In a future event where it's like dealing with group issues. And that's something for another day. But yeah, this can definitely apply here or the opposite. Not you take the temperature, but one of your players reaches out to you and gives you their concerns. Yeah, it's like, hey,
01:13:03
Speaker
Bob's a jerk. I don't care for Bob. I don't feel like he's a good addition. But that's something we could all agree. But it could be that whole thing. The player does reach out and say, hey, I know Bob is a new player, and he's still finding his footing with the group. But I'm not feeling it, and so I'm going to sit this campaign out. But ultimately,
01:13:33
Speaker
In terms of like keeping it in, like.
Maintaining Group Harmony
01:13:36
Speaker
Bring in new people in, it's very complicated. You got to keep in mind your players. And yourself. Yeah. And it's definitely ah RPGs like these are communal. At the end of the day, you do have to do what's best for the group as a whole. And yeahm I will say that sometimes you have to make hard decisions that aren't, they're going to hurt some feelings.
01:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, because at the end of the day, this may be a game, but you, we are the leaders. We put these people together for this campaign that we made. So we do have the lead. And we're working to make a fun, that's like the capital T, one thing we're doing to do, a fun experience. Yeah, if they're not having fun, something's wrong. And the goal is for all of us to have fun.
01:14:30
Speaker
Granted, this is the worst case scenario you're going to get with a new player, but we still got to talk about it. Yep. Trust me. It's, it's, it's hard. Like you see it all on our faces. Like, well, Nick, on top of you just, you look like a cartoon of a pony. So no, they don't see it on your face. We can a little bit hear it in your voice, but yeah, we can't see, they can't see it. We can imagine what you're looking like right now, but i say i no one wants to cast anyone out.
01:14:59
Speaker
out of a game. More often than not you're you're gonna find people who they may not necessarily become best friends but they're able to come together in this social construct of a role-playing game. Which is what is true. It's like it's its also a social construct.
01:15:19
Speaker
and all help one another have a good time and tell this fun story. Exactly. And and you know if they don't, well, you know then that there's all of the RPG horror stories channels that we mentioned. The worst case is, unfortunately, the worst case, but those are very much displayed, but not the norm. Yeah, and I can say as a player myself,
01:15:50
Speaker
There are people in the group that we meet up for that time, have our sessions, and I don't see them until the next session. There are some people that we do do stuff outside, but we just, there are some players that just show up for the session. You never talk to them until the next session. And there's absolutely there's nothing wrong with that. Exactly. You don't have to have such a tight knit group that you go out for drinks every Wednesday. You can just be there to play the game.
01:16:20
Speaker
leave and that's just your rhythm. And there's nothing wrong with that rhythm. And that's as if it's having wrong with that. Like a lot of people feel like, oh, your role playing group groupup is like, that's your friends. It's like part of my social life, but they aren't the entirety of my social life. Yep. I mean, we we've given you grief, Nick, that, you know, like, what do you have friends outside of us? This is not allowed.
01:16:49
Speaker
or like what you have something to do on a Saturday without us for shame.
01:16:57
Speaker
That's the fun of it. Like it's a hobby. It's a lifestyle. It's us. I think we've pretty much much covered stuff. And and and it it kind of goes hand in hand with what we're going to be talking about next time, which is forming
Preview of Next Episode & Conclusion
01:17:17
Speaker
a group. You want to play a role-playing game. So what do you do? Exactly. We've talked about bringing people into existing games, the existing groups. What if you don't have that? What if you don't have that? So let' let's get a group started. Let's get a game started. Let's roll some fifth flex.
01:17:34
Speaker
Yes. Let's roll some math rocks and watch Nick tWitch. Watch Nick tWitch when we point out that they're based on math. What would you rather do than math? Math. But that ends our session today.
01:17:53
Speaker
We hope that along with the rabbit holes that we dove down, you found some useful information and that the rabbit holes were at least entertaining. Next time we will have that discussion about starting a group, starting a new group, brand new players, and we will take it from there after that. After that, we have a few things planned after that, including the launch of our RPG glory stories with our first glory stories episode. But in the meantime, or did that in the meantime, check us out on our website at howwerollgaming.com. ah Feel free to shoot us an email at podcast at howwerollgaming.com. If there's any subjects that you would like us to cover, any questions that you have for us,
01:18:44
Speaker
to answer on air, we will take a look at those. um And you can find links to all of our socials, including Facebook, threads, Blue Sky, X, Discord, on that same website, HowWeRollGaming.com. So until next time, I have been Darryl. I'm Nick. And this has been Robert. And this is How We Roll.
01:19:13
Speaker
This episode of the How We Roll Gaming podcast is copyright 2025, How We Roll Gaming, LLC. All games and associated intellectual properties are copyright their respective owners, and How We Roll Gaming makes no claim of ownership by discussing them here.