Over the course of the last two decades I�ve tried to persuade, cajole and arm bend a whole host of people into having a go at roleplaying in Glorantha. Most have laughed at the very idea, some have said they like the idea but run away sharpish when any plans are made, and a few have been intrigued enough to have a go. Of those that did, some liked it, some didn�t. Of the ones who liked it, some began buying the books and reading up the background, some didn�t.
Despite the knockbacks I continue on my personal quest to get everyone playing in Glorantha, what I have found is that its getting increasingly harder, as time goes by my circle of friends has grown smaller. The opportunities to talk to new people about the hobby gets less and less. Still I soldier on, spreading the word where I can. If I don�t try and get more people involved in our own games how can I expect the community to grow bigger.
One way of adding to the tribe is to attend conventions and try to convert people people already playing other systems. Now, conventions like Gloranthacon and Convulsion are fun, but they are not really going to increase the size of the Gloranthan community, they are preaching to the converted, for the already committed Gloranthaphile. To raise awareness of Hero Wars and Heroquest there needs to be a presence all the non-gloranthan conventions, gatecrashing other system specific conventions if need be.
I was introduced to RQ and Glorantha at school, where word of mouth spread the roleplaying word very quickly. School and College groups need to be targeted. If you get one or two students into the game then they�ll want to introduce their much larger network of friends and acquaintances to their pastime. One possibility is to organise a series of demonstration games and take them around the country, showcasing Glorantha at roleplaying clubs in schools and colleges
Another factor, and probably the most important, is support for the game by published products. It was lack of support for RQ that saw it wither away from competing alongside D&D to almost nothing. Heroquest needs to fill the shelf space in shops, like RQ once did. It needs to stand out among the crowd. People walking into a shop tend to pick up those games that fill the shelves with large numbers of supplements, in the often-misplaced assumption they must be better or more popular. The other thing that makes people pick supplements is evocative artwork, that�s how I came across Skyrealms of Jorune, I�d never heard of it, but the artwork was brilliant so I picked it up, read the blurb and thought this sounds good, so I bought it.
Without the products on the shelves to back up the game it will never get any but the diehard fan to buy it.
Hope I haven't bored too many people with all this.
Cheers,
Mick
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