Getting Girls To Play

  I was reading an article about how to get girls and women to play TRPGs [no, I will not link it] and I came away from it annoyed. I always find it annoying when female authors pull the hat trick of
  1) talking down to men
  2) by giving their personal preferences as universal advice
  3) while also talking down to women

  The author said some stuff I find wrong-headed, so let me give my advice on how to get more girls and women into the hobby.

  Be courteous to everyone.

  Thanks!

Let Me Add Something on How To Add More People to the OSR

  Over at Tenkar's Tavern the host has written about how to add players - play in public.
  He's not wrong, but he's missing something.
 
  See, he's talking about playing at a store aimed at us and bringing in people who play Pathfinder, 4e, and other things.
  That's great! Bring them in! But there is more.

  I have mentioned how my son started a new game with total newbies. Well, their tenth game is next week and there are now 5 regular players and they are recruiting more, all of them fresh to RPGs. That, to me, is even more critical than exposing people who play other games to the OSR - bringing totally fresh blood to RPGs in general.

  And it doesn't just have to be teens.

  Think about how long you have been playing RPGs. Now, in that time how many of your non-gaming friends and co-workers have you tried to 'bring in'? I have asked co-workers, classmates, and relatives. My most daring was either the guy sitting next to me on a 6 hour greyhound bus trip or a girl I met on a blind date on our second date.

She and I have been married for almost 25 years, now, BTW.

  I have had a lot of success bringing people into RPGs just by asking 'want to come over for game night?' and not saying anything else. I make sure I have a wide range of games - HERO system, Star Wars, Marvel Super-Heroes, Traveller, and (of course) AD&D. We talk to them about the movies and books they like and then pull out the game that seems most apropos. That date? HUGE Star Wars fan, so it was WEG's D6 Star Wars. These days it is easy to start with the LotR or Hobbit movie franchises or Marvel, but it all works.

  Another thing Ii do these days is have stuff ready to email them - PDFs of OSRIC, character sheets, party log, and a simple free adventure module. As a family we buy those Pound O' Dice packs as needed so we can hand them a set of dice, too.

  Yes! Play in public! But also talk to the people you know.

Talking to New Gamers

  About 3 weeks ago my oldest son ran a D&D session for some friends of his who had never, ever played anything close to an RPG before - not even on a console or computer. He used AD&D 1e with my initiative and combat sequence rules (see the Products page, kids!) and created all-new adventures. he was careful to include a magical pool.

  Two of these players, whom I will call Aaron and Alice, were at a dance I chaperoned last night.

  I highly recommend chaperoning teen dances at a church social hall. Adorable kids everywhere being Very Earnest.

  Anyway, Alice is the sort of girl who dances a lot (Irish, tap, ballet, etc.) and plays 5 instruments and sings. She has a prodigious knowledge of folk songs and folk tales, too. I asked her about the game and she said  [paraphrase],

  "It was wonderful! It was a combination of acting, storytelling, and a puzzle game. I realized my character is like in a movie or a book - she can look like anything and such. But the rules on levels and abilities means that it isn't just daydreaming."

  Then I spoke to Aaron. Aaron is an apprentice blacksmith with Southern Blacksmith Association (and almost a journeyman at 18!), makes his own clothes (including shoes and belts) and sells hand-made swords to guys and gals going to DragonCon. He's the sort of kid that when his mom tells him to mow the lawn he uses the scythe he made himself.

  He trumped me by first asking me to tell him some of the outrageous adventures I had gone through. So I told him of a game where I had a 7th level magic-user aiding in the defense of a frontier castle with his laser carbine and pearl-handled .45 auto-pistols. He laughed heartily and said [paraphrased],

  "That's great! I am so sad I didn't know about this game earlier. There are rules, and a referee, but the strict rules mean you can do anything! I mean, how long has your gme been running? almost 40 years? I can't imagine how much cool stuff there is to see and do!"

  They both are eager to play more often and are actively recruiting friends to join them. Alice has read through the PHB and is considering buying a copy for herself - I pointed her to OSRIC for now.

  I love hearing this from newbies!