I plan on starting a pathfinder club at my school this semester and was wondering if you all had any advice on how to attract participants.
Pizza.
Ads: Have you slain a dragon today? No? Pathfinder club.
Know your target audiences. You're probably going for certain clicks and types of people. I'm assuming you're in high school.
Pizza.
Ads: Have you slain a dragon today? No? Pathfinder club.
Know your target audiences. You're probably going for certain clicks and types of people. I'm assuming you're in high school.
Yep I'm in high school. Pizza might not be a bad idea, free snacks are a good way to get people to at least show up.
The reason I ask is because there isn't really a group of people that are into this sort of stuff at my school. I would like any advice on bringing in people who wouldn't normally play.
It might be an idea to start with a simpler RPG. Pathfinder is a lot to swallow first up.
Start off with the CRB, UE, and ARG.
You'll still get a lot of variety, but will still be able to play a simple game.
Introduce the APG, UC, UM, APG, PFU, and Ultimate Campaign later, as they get familiar with the system.
Also, start with Adventure Paths; after people have become familiar with the system, then start designing your own worlds.
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Beware, there's a certain personality that is willing to sit at a Pathfinder table, but unwilling to take it remotely seriously. You may find yourself with a group of goofballs eating your food trying to be Sea-Cats or something, wasting your time.
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Start with the beginner box and run a few Beginner Bash Demos. If people are into it and want to get more advanced, you can move on the Core Rule Book and everything after! The Beginner Box has a battlemat and enough pawns for characters and monsters to get you started. People love using pawns - unless they don't of course.
Start with what you hope the game/group to be. For example, do you want a serious, hard-core gaming group or a group of people who want to hang out and an RPG might be going on in the background? Likewise, decide how much commitment you want: are you planning to play every Friday night at 6 no matter what (and if you're late 3 times you're out of the group), or are you willing to adjust around people's schedules? Tailor your messages and invites for the type of group you want.
Next, look at what your target audience is already familiar with and use that as a launching point. If they play MMOs, then start with the aspects of the RPG that are similar to MMOs. If they are theater people, focus on the roleplay/improv aspect of it. And so on.
Consider aligning the content of the game to the interests of your audience. If the group you're targeting is into the Avengers, look at some of the super-hero world supplements. If they like vampires, find a vampire-themed module.
As the group gets going, be aware that you might have to adjust around people's schedules.
Decide how much control of the group you want to have. Just because you start the group doesn't mean you automatically get to be (or have to be, either) in charge. This will become more of an issue later on, but it's not a bad idea to have some idea where you're headed at the beginning.
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Start with the beginner box and run a few Beginner Bash Demos. If people are into it and want to get more advanced, you can move on the Core Rule Book and everything after! The Beginner Box has a battlemat and enough pawns for characters and monsters to get you started. People love using pawns - unless they don't of course.
This is a very good suggestion. I ran Pathfinder for after school program in my area. It was at a jr. high so 11-13 was the age range. The kids that showed up most of the time. Hade fun and enjoyed playing. It takes a bit longer for them to get the rules down. After a few months. We Moved them to making characters and the core book.
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Be willing to be the GM.
Make sure you follow school rules.
Advertise across multiple platforms, like putting up fliers, announcing it in student media like radio/TV/newspapers, using social media, posting on this website, using other websites like warhorn.
Be excellent to each other.
Start with a small group and do your very best to make the game enjoyable for them. Starting with a lot of new people makes it extremely difficult to run a fun, smooth game.
Once they have the game down and there is a flow, if you then want to grow the group it will be easier, and the "old" new players can help teach the newcomers.
Have clear expectations of what you guys want. Some people who play Pathfinder just want to focus on the game and take progression seriously. Others prefer a more relaxed style where you can go off on tangents and chat/goof around a bit more. I find this to be more common with younger players. When I was about 15 my group was very much like this, and moved at a snails pace, but we still had a blast.
Start with people you feel will make at least 4/5 sessions and you will have a good base.
EDIT:
What I had intended to say originally is that if you can create a small core group, they will likely extend invitations to their other buddies. Word of mouth and personal reference is one of the best ways to attract players.
People are intimidated by entering a new club or attending an event as daunting as learning a new RPG/hobby AND meeting a bunch of new people.
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Start with the simplest set up possible. Beginners box, 5e, or Fate. Then if a lot of people show up who know how to play, they start their own table, and you can be free to run a beginners table for anyone new or anyone who wants to help teach the noobs.
Consider yourself the person responsible for maintaining the gaming space, but not necessarily each game.
Oh and follow the school rules!
Well isn't this all just some excellent advice! I really appreciate all the help on figuring out how to get things rolling and how to keep people interested.
The pitch to the school board seems to be the biggest obstical at this point... Any advice on how to get through that?
Bump