How Do I Escape D&D?

Although I’ve been writing games (and about them) for over 20 years, I haven’t done much for the Big One. I’ve done a few OGL bits here and there, a Dungeon article for 4e, and a run on the dual statted line for 7th Sea. I talk a lot about the other games that are out there on the panels and podcasts I get to be on and there’s always one inevitable question:

"I love this new game that I bought but I can’t get my group to try it. How do I escape D&D?"

That question has come up a lot on social media since the OGL 1.1 leak. Here are some of the options I’ve seen work well when I’ve suggested them to friends. Different tactics work well on different people so don’t be afraid to keep trying even if you strike out at first. I also hope folks will post their success stories in the comment to offer additional advice.

Don’t Trash The Mothership​

In trying to sell a new game, a lot of people make the mistake of comparing everything to D&D. Usually in a negative way where D&D does it badly and the new game does it well. True as that may be, remember that people have feelings about D&D and those feelings are often complicated. It’s better to focus on the positive stuff that a new game does without needing trash talk. Players are already making those comparisons when considering a new game.

Learn To Love The One Shot​

The true villain of any D&D game is logistics. There will almost always be someone unable to make it or nights where the current DM is unavailable. These nights can be opportunities to try out a different game to see if it vibes with a group. There are a lot of great starter sets out there that make this sort of game easy complete with ready made characters and a story that plays out in a session or two. There are also games built for this mode of play like Fiasco.

Check Out An Actual Play Of The New Game​

Critical Role gets a lot of press in this space but there are a few crews who play games other than D&D. Showing one of these games to a group will help them learn the rules and see what you like about the game. Of course, I would love it if you check out my crew Theatre of the Mind Players but there are some other great shows in this space like The Glass Cannon Network and One Shot Podcast Network among others.

Find The Right Fandom​

While there are a lot of fans of D&D, those fans are also fans of other things. Licensed games are your friend here. If you have a member of the group that’s based their current character on Aang or Spock, they are more likely to try Avatar Legends or Star Trek Adventures. Players into a genre will do the work on learning new rules because they want to experience their favorite world.

Switch Either Genre or System But Not Both​

Some people prefer to ease into the pool rather than jump in. For those folks, switching one element of an RPG might help with the change. Play fantasy with a different system like Savage Worlds or Shadow of the Demon Lord. Or choose another 5e game in a different genre. There are some excellent conversions out there like Doctors & Daleks or works like Everyday Heroes.

Build To A Season Finale​

Jumping out of an ongoing campaign can be frustrating to players who have invested into the story and their characters. Take a page from how TV networks run serial stories. Build to a season finale in the story: a big battle, a dramatic trial, a wedding full of intrigue. Give some storylines closure, hint at some new ones to come, but helping the storyline come to an end for not makes it easier to move to a different one. And, if nobody likes the new game, there’s always room for another season.

 

[MNblockhead]

I actually found that a good PowerPoint presentation can be a really useful tool in teaching new TTRPGs to people.

Each slide can focus and explain a specific concept, and can help you organize the ideas in your head.

Probably true. But after a week of slow death by PowerPoint at work, if someone pulled up a PowerPoint on game day I'd be inclined to nope out of there.

 

[Moonmover]

. . . If it's not going to be D&D, make it light, i.e. easy to pick up and try.

What doesn't (sometimes) work: bait and switch!

Your mileage may vary.

My old online group was delighted to switch from D&D to The Dark Eye precisely because it was more complex than D&D. They'd been playing D&D to death for years, had mastered its mechanics, and were interested in something they could perceive as more "advanced."

It depends on the players, in other words.

 

[GMMichael]

My old online group was delighted to switch from D&D to The Dark Eye precisely because it was more complex than D&D. They'd been playing D&D to death for years, had mastered its mechanics, and were interested in something they could perceive as more "advanced."

It depends on the players, in other words.

Fair. Some groups won't want to learn new rules (or a lot of them). Some groups want more detail than D&D provides. Others want only D&D rules, so one might switch them to a D&D clone.

Have we mentioned bribery yet? "Look, try this other game, and I'll buy the pizza next week."

 

[cranberry]

"Escaping" D&D can be hard because it's the 5,000 pound elephant in the RPG space, that most people have heard of and it's also the easiest to find players (or a DM) for.

1. My suggestion is to wait to the end of a long campaign. The sense of completion will "give them permission" to try something new.

2. Introduce the new game slowly, and talk about it enthusiastically. Maybe send people a .pdf that provides an introduction to the game and it's mechanics. Never try to pressure anyone or be too forceful about it.

3. Find some way to show them that other people are playing the game (external to your peer group)

4. Youtube videos discussing the game, or gameplay videos.

 

[mamba]

Though it can sometimes be difficult to explain why you consider a particular choice good if it really does come down to "I saw this other way of doing it in Game X and thought it was awful in play". That does likely mean you're making a negative decision (avoid doing things in fashion X) rather than a positive one (do it in fashion Y) at least in part, but sometimes "avoiding fashion X" is a value in and of itself.

why is it hard to explain what you like better about some feature in another game?

To me saying ‘how D&D handles X is bad’ is not an incentive to try a different game if you do not tell me what that game does better.

If you cannot tell me how the other game handles it and why that is better, then I might agree with you that the way D&D does it can be improved, but I have no reason to believe that the other game did so.

Since ‘everyone’ knows how D&D does things, I’d talk about how the other game does it differently and why that is better, and not really waste time on discussing D&D at all.

 

[Thomas Shey]

why is it hard to explain what you like better about some feature in another game?

To me saying ‘how D&D handles X is bad’ is not an incentive to try a different game if you do not tell me what that game does better.

I stand by the opinion that a statement like "Classes are a poor way to represent characters" is still going to come across as comparing to that structure even if you explain why yours is better, because its still may be "This is possibly not the absolute best way to do this, but its absolutely a better way than this other method".

Because at the end of the day its going to be much easier to say "This is a better tool" than "This is a great tool".

If you cannot tell me how the other game handles it and why that is better, then I might agree with you that the way D&D does it can be improved, but I have no reason to believe that the other game did so.

Since ‘everyone’ knows how D&D does things, I’d talk about how the other game does it differently and why that is better, and not really waste time on discussing D&D at all.

But you already have in talking about it doing it "differently". And in fact, you may need to reference D&D obliquely just to make it clear certain assumptions aren't present.

 

[MichaelSomething]

You can select an TTRPG that caters to your groups interests.

Does your group like a certain IP or thing? There's a TTRPG out there that does it. Dr. Who, DC comics, Dresden Files, The Last Airbender, and Lovecraft all have TTRPGs that focus on the theme.

 

[Umbran]

Since ‘everyone’ knows how D&D does things, I’d talk about how the other game does it differently and why that is better, and not really waste time on discussing D&D at all.

Let us assume we are talking about a new game, "Wizards and Warthogs" (W&W for short). FOr some aspect of the game, you ought to tell the audience:

1) How W&W does that aspect. You don't have to tell them "how it is different", specifically. Everyone knows how D&D does it. Once you describe it, they'll see that it is different.

2) Why you think how W&W does it is awesome. Not "better than D&D". The audience can then decide for themselves if W&W is actually better for them.

Let us take, for example, the matter of character history and background.

(Everyone knows that, in D&D, a background carries a couple of skills, maybe some tools, a piece or two of minor equipment, a minor feature, and some suggested personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws. Major criticisms of this include that Backgrounds are really only places to get a couple of skills, as the minor equipment, feature, and ideals/bonds/flaws are often useless or ignored in play)

I can then say...

The way Fate Accelerated handles character background and history is great! It works these into character as much or as little as the player wants, by way of Aspects the player chooses. This works wonderfully, because it uses a mechanic common throughout the system and allows the player to choose how much and what parts of their history they want to be important. History is then applicable any time it makes narrative sense, and is as potent as other abilities characters have.

I never have to mention D&D, or make any direct comparisons.

 

[mamba]

I stand by the opinion that a statement like "Classes are a poor way to represent characters" is still going to come across as comparing to that structure even if you explain why yours is better

of course, I didn’t say you cannot compare, I said badmouthing D&D is not enough, you also have to convince me of the alternative

Because at the end of the day its going to be much easier to say "This is a better tool" than "This is a great tool".

this is exactly what I said, explain why it is better, don’t leave it at ‘How D&D does X is bad’

 

[mamba]

I never have to mention D&D, or make any direct comparisons.

agreed, that is basically what I meant