Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="xnosipjpqmhd" data-source="post: 2585288">Has anyone mentioned boardgames yet? IMX, it's easier to get people who have never played ANYTHING to play a boardgame than an RPG. Here's a selection of transitional games from one end of the spectrum to the other:Dungeon by TSR was a great intro game back in the day. The mechanics are just one step up from Monopoly. Like most boardgames, there is no DM and the game is competitive. However, players must select a type of hero to play (i.e. a class), and the basic concepts of exploring a dungeon, fighting monsters, casting spells, gathering treasure, and setting off traps are all there.Heroscape by MB and the D&D Miniatures game are two recent games that fall more on the boardgame side of the spectrum than RPG. Neither requires a DM. However, they do offer a variety of quests and allow for team play (which is one step toward cooperative play). Both focus highly on individual pieces rather than large units, making it easier to transition mentally to roleplaying. (Traditional miniatures wargaming is more unit-oriented, and roleplaying a whole unit is, well, just plain odd.)Heroquest by MB was probably the best RPG-intro boardgame I've seen. It steps across the boundary from boardgame into RPGs while retaining much familiar ground. It's basically a bare-bones RPG with a handful of simple quests played out on a board with miniatures. It requires a DM and is cooperative in nature, so things like talking to NPCs becomes possible. The transition to a paper-and-pencil game is really as easy as just forgoing the board/miniatures and saying, "Ok, imagine, if you will..."The next step toward RPGdom would probably be the D&D Adventure Game boxed set by WotC (mine is dated 2000). Like Heroquest, it came with all the visual aids needed for the various quests provided in the rules, but the rules themselves are a lot closer to the D&D we all know and love. Imagine the sudden epiphany when the players come to the end of the quest, move their figures off the gameboard, and the DM just KEEPS GOING... "Ok, you find your way back to the trail that leads to the village. Up ahead you hear the sound of approaching hoofbeats...."ironregime</blockquote>

Verification