I came across an interesting article on the Huffington Post called How We Lost Our Geek Courage that discusses the popularity of all things geek these days, but also how it takes real courage to properly immerse yourselves in RPGs.
An interesting read, so check it out.
That article reminds me of a game I tried to run at my local game shop. I had gathered a bunch of people together that loved playing DnD and wanted me to run a game for them.
I wrote the session as a mystery. People in town had been murdered by their dead loved ones, as a foolish necromancer was raising townsfolk from the dead. Simple mystery. I thought it would be a lot of fun.
But as soon as the game started everyone just sat there. They refused to do any roleplaying, and were just waiting to kill things. Even though they previously told me a mystery sounded fun. One of the players complained, "Since when did Dungeons and Dragons become a detective game? This is weird. I want to kill things."
Keep in mind these people considered themselves experienced roleplayers. That game quickly ended, but it really upset me. My favorite part of tabletop games is the roleplaying. Sometimes the rules can get in my way. I love finding people that want to play "Grushank, son of Kruul," instead of "Bob" the cleric that is too nervous to talk in character and only wants to mace things.
That article reminds me of a game I tried to run at my local game shop. I had gathered a bunch of people together that loved playing DnD and wanted me to run a game for them.
I wrote the session as a mystery. People in town had been murdered by their dead loved ones, as a foolish necromancer was raising townsfolk from the dead. Simple mystery. I thought it would be a lot of fun.
But as soon as the game started everyone just sat there. They refused to do any roleplaying, and were just waiting to kill things. Even though they previously told me a mystery sounded fun. One of the players complained, "Since when did Dungeons and Dragons become a detective game? This is weird. I want to kill things."
Keep in mind these people considered themselves experienced roleplayers. That game quickly ended, but it really upset me. My favorite part of tabletop games is the roleplaying. Sometimes the rules can get in my way. I love finding people that want to play "Grushank, son of Kruul," instead of "Bob" the cleric that is too nervous to talk in character and only wants to mace things.
This.
This was the last straw that killed my SS game.
I have tested and tested people and four times out of five they just want to kill things. No roleplaying, not talking, just playing a weapon-arm.
GM: The sheriff walks up to you.
bad PC: I kill him!
GM: ......
bad PC: I do 22 damage! What do I get?!
GM: Suddenly rocks fall from the sky.
dead PC: Awww, what'd I do?
The worst part is, they really do have no idea what they did wrong.
That article reminds me of a game I tried to run at my local game shop. I had gathered a bunch of people together that loved playing DnD and wanted me to run a game for them.
I wrote the session as a mystery. People in town had been murdered by their dead loved ones, as a foolish necromancer was raising townsfolk from the dead. Simple mystery. I thought it would be a lot of fun.
But as soon as the game started everyone just sat there. They refused to do any roleplaying, and were just waiting to kill things. Even though they previously told me a mystery sounded fun. One of the players complained, "Since when did Dungeons and Dragons become a detective game? This is weird. I want to kill things."
Keep in mind these people considered themselves experienced roleplayers. That game quickly ended, but it really upset me. My favorite part of tabletop games is the roleplaying. Sometimes the rules can get in my way. I love finding people that want to play "Grushank, son of Kruul," instead of "Bob" the cleric that is too nervous to talk in character and only wants to mace things.
I had something similiar happen when I put a random drunk into the sewer because he heard there was a secret store of booze down there and a player asked "should we kill him?" I at least speak in character when I speak in play by posts.