Imagining Games

by Pete Petrusha, Creative Director at Imagining Games

Attracting New RPGers

If you love RPGs like I love RPGs, it’s magic to your ears when someone new wants to play. Immersing yourself into character, the thrill of each dire die roll, and the shared memories that tickle your brain with amusement every time they cross your mind…

Do you want more RPGs played at your store? Want a friend or loved one to experience a roleplaying game? Just want to diversify the RPGs being played at your table? Let’s consider how we can make them more attractive!

Unlike the colorful playmats and gameboard centerpieces of a board game, most roleplaying games just don’t command the same table presence. You’re more likely to see black and white character sheets and a single core book circulating an RPG table. Depending on the venue, you could mistake an RPG for a study group if it wasn’t for all the dice. And, who‘s interested in more homework?

If you want to win the curiosity of onlookers, try involving more visual aids. Pass out color character sheets, create handouts for clues, consider props, or map the layout of locations so players can physically see them. It’s easy to forget that new people don’t necessarily understand how you play an RPG. We’re trained to look for player tokens, cards, or a game box when playing a game. Not only do onlookers need to know you’re playing a game, they need to think they could figure it out too. Out of character, no one wants to look stupid.

Want new players? Make them feel welcome! Have an open chair at the table where someone can watch or jump in. Keep a pregenerated character handy. Tell significant others they have an open invitation anytime they’d like to join. If you’re in public, standing up a game book or box lets people know what you’re up to. Greeting people who show interest is a friendly way of saying, “I see you, and you’re not a bother.” Most people don’t want to interrupt, so invite them to, and let them come and go as they please.

With our new release, we’ve spawned a lovechild of Dread and Fiasco that is sure to entice new players to the hobby. Rest in Pieces is a dark comedy RPG inspired by the misadventures, cartoon logic, and over-thetop characters of slacker sitcoms like The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, The Regular Show, Rick & Morty, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. You play deadbeat roommates characterized by their dead-end jobs, odd hobbies, and deadly objects, using colorful dry-erase character sheets and cards to create characters in minutes. It plays in short sessions of about an hour, paced by a two-color block tower highlighting selfish actions versus selfless ones. What can go wrong, does go wrong in the hilarious hijinks of Rest in Pieces.

Now available at ACD, Diamond, Universal,andIPR!