D&D General Boomer/GenX 5e? (+)


log in or register to remove this ad



I don’t think there is much that can be done. 5e has been out long enough that GenXers have checked it out and either play it or don’t.

OSR and not being WoTC seems to be winning among all the GenXers I know.
 

I see people are talking about how to get Millennials to appreciate D&D. What about Baby Boomers and GenXers, though? How would you get them to appreciate all the wonderful things 5e offers? I mean it seems 5e is designed for the younger folks anyhow, especially the upcoming not-a-new-edition edition, why do we even need to make it appeal to Millennials and GenZers?

So anyhow what would you say to a Baby Boomer or GenXer to get them to give 5e a fair shake?
As a Floridian who has driven down the turnpike at 80mph and seen the lights all over that overpass so their golf carts could cross the 8(?) lanes plus median and double drainage ditches I'd say that the answer is probably something like "start regular AL and other semiopen d&d games in places like the villages".
 


I see people are talking about how to get Millennials to appreciate D&D. What about Baby Boomers and GenXers, though? How would you get them to appreciate all the wonderful things 5e offers? I mean it seems 5e is designed for the younger folks anyhow, especially the upcoming not-a-new-edition edition, why do we even need to make it appeal to Millennials and GenZers?

So anyhow what would you say to a Baby Boomer or GenXer to get them to give 5e a fair shake?
Don't forget Gen X aren't boomers!

And remember that the Gen X RPG wasn't D&D so much as it was Vampire: The Masquerade. The one game to overtake D&D ever, and it did so when Gen X was the dominant force with money - and appealed to the teens and 20s in the 90s (so Gen X and very elder Millennials).

So what would I suggest? Playable vampires and werewolves. And more queer content. And a modern era setting
 


No one needs to worry about Boomers or Gen X with regards to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

The people who make the game certainly don't. They have said repeatedly over the years that they don't care what edition of D&D people play or any game at all that they play for that matter... they just want people to play anything. Because people who play games and have fun get other people involved in playing games and having fun, and eventually that will lead some people to perhaps buy the current game that is on sale on the shelves. But if people don't? They don't care.

It's only us players that get so wrapped up in whether other people are playing the same game we are and making sure that's the case. And that's because we either need that ego-boost and pat-on-the-head of being a part of some ridiculous "zeitgeist" of gaming... or because we can't find anyone else to play whatever goofy version of our particular game we are desperate to get on the table and thus need as wide of a net of players as possible so that at least a few of them might go along with the silly rules and bizarre versions of D&D we need to use for our own happiness because standard D&D just doesn't do it for us.
 

I think focusing on how important it is to connect with friends regularly, share laughs, and capture being a kid again can help. A lot of Gen X folks, I imagine, have a hard time building and maintaining close friendships. It’s not like it was in college. Gen Xers are now becoming empty nesters with more free time but fewer strong friendships. RPGs can help with that. It gives us a reason to get together with friends regularly and break past our jobs and families to show a different side of ourselves.

That’s what I would focus on.
 

Remove ads

Top