> So how do you go about introducing new people to your Gloranthan gaming?
>
I start them as Balazaring youth, totally unknowing of anything except their homeland and hunting skills. I run an introductory game to teach the players how the game works. Simple things, like "tell me what your guy would do in this situation." We old timers tend to forget how weird this is for newbies. I say, "When you were a kid did you play guns, or house?" There must be some action, something dangerous to illustrate the interaction of game and imagination, and to give the players that
> What information do you tell them before hand
Next to none. I say, "I've worked all my life on this place, but you don't
need to know anything, except that it's a magical world. There are gods and
wizards, but it doesn't matter now. You know there is a great magical force
out there you call Hunter and another called Food and a third called
Nature."
I do a version of "What Mom/Dad Told Me"
Let's play.
> and how did you convey that to them?
>
2nd session: "OK, you have an idea of how things work, right? Questions? So that is what it is like to be a hunter. One day you ae off hunting--what do you want to be after? Mammoths and it's everyone in your tribe around; deer, it is just you guys."
And they meet the mysterious stranger (Blueface) who offers them magical powers and to teach them strange things. He does, there is an action where they get to experience the magic system, and all is well.
> One of the main complaints I get when trying to get new players interested
> in Glorantha is that it is so vast it is hard to get into - people do not
> know where to start.
Tell them to ignore everything except what you give them. Say, "Yea, but you don't need all that crap. If you are gonna explore on your own, I'll be glad to talk about stuff relevant to the our game. But please don't bring up the rest. Take it to that crazy WoG list and get buried on your own time. We are X here, and Y are our enemies."
> Much of the setting information is spread over several books, many of which
> are out of print, and much of it seems incomprehensible.
Some of it IS incomprehensible, and some of it intentionally so. Stay away from it. I don't memorize sports statistics or population figures for "known nations of the 16th century world." That does not affect my enjoyment of watching a game, nor of reading about the US Revolution.
> There is also the issue with how race is treated in Glorantha - some people
> find it boarding on racism.
>
I've started a thread to address this.
> Also the fans are perceived to focus on the esoteric and are very cliquey,
> certainly not welcoming to any one new or to new ideas. Of course that is
> only the perception but it is a common complaint I encounter.
>
I think the communicative manners on the old lists often WERE this way. I disliked them and spent energy trying to get friendly to newbies. This WoG list is, in my opinion, 100% friendlier.
And it is INTENDED TO BE estoteric, so that's hardly a fault.
> The Glorantha.com site is a good resource but is still full of information
> that is often seen as hard to penetrate.
>
The revisions ought to address this to some degree.
>
> These are big hurdles to get over, I have tried many times, some with
> success but many times in failure.
>
I find the failures are people who have unrealistic expectations of the
material.
There is no encyclopedia, there is no single set of organized fact, there is
no atttempt to be complete in every detail across the board. I have written
about what interest me and what I think it a fun addition to the games I
designed and played.
I find it peculiar that people ignore that everything written should be interpreted for the main rules of HQ: YGWV and MGF.
>
> So how can we do it?
>
Be sensible and selective in what you give players. Warn them of the nature of existing data.
Mostly, though: have fun *playing*.
--
Greg Stafford
Game Designer
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