How do I attract new players? Well, it depends whether they have played roleplaying games before.
If they are roleplaying virgins I try to get to know what they enjoy. If they read books then I tell them it is like their favourite book. If they watch fantasy and action movies then I tell them it�s like a fantasy or action movie. If they like history then I tell them it�s like reenacting historical events. If they like mythology then I tell them it�s about creating your own myths. If they like all of the above I tell them it is all of the above. Then I tell them that they take the part of the hero in the story, they fight the evil, save the day, and rescue the princess; giving examples from books, films and history they enjoy, such as �You are Braveheart fighting the English�, or �You are Frodo going to Mordor�. I relate each example back to Glorantha in the most general terms such as �You can be clansmen fighting the Evil Lunar Empire� or �Heroes questing to save the world from chaos�.
If they play other roleplaying games then I emphasise the differences. Everyone can use magic, no charater classes, you can do whatever you want, you can even change the world and become a god, etc.
Mostly though I say how much fun it is to play
Once I�ve got someone interested then the first time they play I guide them through the character creation by asking them what kind of hero they want to be, what their goals are, do they hate or love anyone, do they have any special powers. From this I make the list of keywords and write the 100 word description, adding a little cultural stuff, and a few ambiguous references so that it fits into the campaign and I choose what god they follow.
Most newbies don�t usually know what they want to be so if they dry up or don�t know then I prompt them with options, do they want to be a warrior or a thief, use fire magic or storm magic, etc. Although I prefer newbies to be involved in the creation of their characters as it gives them more of a sense of ownership of the hero, if they are still struggling then I have some pre written characters waiting for them to look at to get ideas or if need be to choose to play.
The new player should not be intimidated with too many options. I try not to bamboozle them with the names of hundreds of gods and tribes, and try to avoid letting them look in the books or me making references to the books. The point here is that character creation should be fairly quick and easy. The truly fun part is actually playing the game.
The first adventures are always fairly simple combat oriented bashes to get them used to the mechanics of the system, roll playing rather than roleplaying. Apple Lane is still good for this, as is fighting broos and Lunars, simple advenures that can be played in one night and don�t require any background knowledge. For the roleplaying side of it I use the traits and relationships on the character sheets try to develop situations where the heroes personalities and goals are matched against each other. For instance, it could be as obvious as one has Dwarf Friends relationship and another has the flaw Hate Dwarfs and then an injured dwarf appears, what do they do? I find that getting the players first to discuss with each other what they should do makes it easier later on when they have to speak to me playing the part of an NPC.
When it comes to background, I once tried to get everyone to go out and buy the books after one or two sessions of play. I wanted everyone to love Glorantha and immerse themselves in its mysteries, as much as I do. But that isn�t the case, some people enjoy playing the game and that�s it, some of those that did go out and buy the stuff were put off by the huge amounts of data available. I found it was not worth pushing the point, those that want delve will and those that don�t wont. I just had to let everyone discover Glorantha at their own pace.
Now, I design all the adventures, from the very first one they play in, to be consistent with the culture but don�t mention any of this to the players. I want them to feel comfortable with the mechanics and be enjoying the game before any meaty cultural issues emerge. Hopefully, by the time I start loading the game with Orlanthi customs and myths they do. They are enjoying the game so much they don�t notice or care. During the games, I tease them with snippets of info about the bigger picture, but without telling them directly what they mean. When they begin to ask simple questions about the background I give minimal answers, and I continue giving basic answers until the point comes when they ask a Biggie, one that�s so deeply rooted in Gloranthan detail I know that they are hooked. Its at this point I show them the relevant background book and tell them that perhaps they need to buy it.
hope this helps.
Cheers,
Mick
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