RE: Gloranthan New Years Resolution

From: Bruce Ferrie <bruce_at_...>
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 12:47:36 -0000


Hi All,

Rick makes some very good points. And he's right - the best way any of *us* can help Issaries/Hero Wars/Glorantha survive is to recruit new players.

The simplest way is to tell your friends. Some of us at least are lucky enough to be acquainted with several groups of gamers. If you can, run a game of HW for them. (I'd suggest that rather than just giving them the book, as we all know it plays much better than it reads in the current edition). Make up some pre-gen characters - like mine on www.ellechino.demon.co.uk - and run a simple scenario (like Jeff Kyer's "Chasing Kites" on www.glorantha.com).

Other than that, try running a demo game or two at local conventions. It's easier than it sounds - it's just like a normal game, only the players aren't (usually) people you already know. It doesn't take weeks of preparation, especially if you're already running HW for your own group. Just use one of the scenarios you've already run for yourself. I would advise, though, against using a scenario from the existing books and website. In my experience of running demos, the player mix is generally something like:

2-3 people who already have HW, but have never played it 1-2 people who know something about Runequest or Glorantha and got interested in the demo because of that
2 people who've never heard of Runequest, Hero Wars or Glorantha and signed up on a whim

Of these, my guesstimate is that about 50% of the people who don't already own HW will get enthusiastic and buy it. I've had a couple nip off to buy it before the demo game was over before.

So - every time you run a demo, the odds are you'll get at least one "all new" HW player, and you'll hopefully get 2 or 3 people who already own it enthused/encouraged to go and play the game (and therefore tell all their friends) rather than leave it sitting on the shelf.

If nothing else, running a demo is a nice way to meet some new people, have a nice relaxing game. And you usually get free entrance to the convention if you're running an event for them. :)

Just my 2p worth.

Regards,

Bruce

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