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My nephew is a civilian again after ten years in the Army, and lives just south of Seattle. I suspect he is not adjusting as easily as his family had hoped: he is withdrawn, depressed, isolated, and hundreds of miles from any family. He is an avid console gamer with no experience with traditional RPGs. I am posting this with the hopes that there might be some PFS people who are also combat veterans, who could help him out of his shell and become social once more. He might not want to have anything to do with this, but I want to try something. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks.
I'm not in the area, but I would guess that any sizable PFS group will have a few veterans, if not more. Gaming seems to be a popular way to pass the time, and many stay active in the community after leaving the service. My electrician meets up with the D&D group he formed while on deployment in a Los Angeles-class submarine every year for GenCon. So it's definitely a good idea on your part.
As for Seattle, that's Paizo central. There should be no shortage of PFS players of every stripe, right?
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I know that we have several veterans in the Seattle PFS groups, but off the top of my head, I don't know what venues each of them play at.
You can go to NWPFS.org (the local board for the Pacific Northwest as a whole), sign up for the forums, and then post your question over there.
You can also contact the venture captain for the southern Puget Sound/South of Seattle area, Larry Smith.
Your nephew is always welcome to come to any of our venues. He can try out a game, sit and watch, or just talk to people at the store about it--whatever he's comfortable with. One of the good things about PFS is that you can put in as much or as little commitment as you want: you don't have to sign up for a weekly game for the next 3 years.
We recently moved to the Seattle area from Texas, and we found that PFS was a great way to get connected to the local gaming community. Many PFS players also play console games, MMOs, board games, etc., so it's a fairly laid-back, non-threatening way to meet new people. Many players who move to a new area play PFS long enough to form a home group and then stop--which is perfectly fine! Others get sucked in and become venture officers--which is perfectly fine, too!
Let us know how we can help.
Venture-Captain, Conventions—PaizoCon
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While not a combat vet, I am a vet and am fairly active in PFS in the Seattle area.
I know Larry Smith (as mentioned by Dorothy) is also an army vet.
Ask your nephew to take a look at the NWPFS.org page and PFS in general and see if he's interested, you don't want to force it on him. Readjusting can be... difficult to say the least and it's different for everyone.
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I will certainly look into the NWPFS site, and reach out to Mr. Smith. I do not know if my nephew would give it a try, but if there are other veterans involved, it might be less intimidating for him. I would love for him to get out of his house and socialize with other vets in a place other than a bar. PFS has done right by me every time I have moved to a new region, so I know how welcoming it can be.
Thanks for the responses and suggestions, Gleaming Terrier, Dorothy Lindman, and Hitokiriweasel. I appreciate it.
I will post an update if anything comes of this effort.