Can you gauge RPG interest by out of game behavior (updated)

[Bad Paper]

The "core only minicampaign" is a very good idea. Three sessions. Four if necessary.

FWIW, my wife plays a druid in my campaign. She had no idea what she was getting into, and if she had, she may have shied away from a character with so many options. But I make her charts and spreadsheets and show her how to frustrate me the DM, because that's what husbands do.

If D&D is too meaty for the player's spouse, then consider something more rules-lite. d20 microlite or something.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

No problem here. If the spouse feels overwhelmed by the rules, that just means s/he will concentrate more on roleplaying than anything else. As long as the game isn't "all about" this player, then it should be a very good experience. You may even find yourself wishing you had more players like this spouse who is unfamiliar with the rules.

 

[Mercule]

One always insisted on her husband making her character and leveling her up - but she was a great drink mixer.

Yeah. My wife makes me maintain her character, too. She makes up for it, though, by being very into the game play. She usually ends up party leader or an outsider/advisor/etc. -- and not because I'm GMing, that's all the other players' doing.

 

[Hypersmurf]

FWIW, my wife plays a druid in my campaign. She had no idea what she was getting into, and if she had, she may have shied away from a character with so many options. But I make her charts and spreadsheets and show her how to frustrate me the DM, because that's what husbands do.

"I dunno... isn't this game kinda complicated?"
"Naaaa-ah, you'll be fine. Come on, I'll give you a hand setting up your spreadsheets."

-Hyp.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

So is this "hypothetical situation" as hypothetical as it sounds?

Nice gag Hyp. The sad thing is that, compared to a lot of other RPG's, D&D is simple! :\

Olaf the Stout

 

[Aus_Snow]

You're about to start a campaign and one of your players wants to bring their spouse. Their spouse has only Played Dungeons and Dragons once for three sessions but quit because of the power gamers in the group. The spouse seems interested in playing, but professes that they are too overwhelmed by the PHB and would rather your player create their character and explain as they go. Do you still offer the invite for the player's spouse?

Yes, I do (i.e., would).

How important are these factors in your decision?

- Experience of other players in the game
- If you use house rules or alternative rules supplements (I.E. Conan or Midnight)
- length of the friendship

Respectively: Not, not, and maybe. For the first, I can always do that stuff (show them the ropes, make a character for them, whatever). The second is irrelevant - rules are rules. The third I can see being a factor if say, I really only wanted 5 players and the spouse makes 6. . . things like that. Good friends do get benefits, I guess. I haven't broken it down into fixed rules, and I'm not planning to, but yeah, it's a factor sometimes.

Second question, would your decision change if this situation occurred.
You invite your player and their spouse over for a long game (say Arkham Horror, Risk, Doom, Die Macher etc). during a time you normal have your d and d game. The spouse often appears bored and has a hard time following the rules. The spouse also self proclaims she hates games that last longer than 2 hrs.

I'd wonder about their se. . . no, not really.

So, would my decision regarding the roleplaying situation you described earlier change, if this second situation involving some lengthy board game or other arose at some point?

No, of course not.

 

[DonTadow]

So is this "hypothetical situation" as hypothetical as it sounds?

Nice gag Hyp. The sad thing is that, compared to a lot of other RPG's, D&D is simple! :\

Olaf the Stout

I'm evaluating players for my next game and I have a potential player whom wants his wife to play. For the most part everything has happened. What got me worried is last night she proclaimed several times that she hates anything that lasts longer than 2 hours. Her hubby has also told me that she doesnt have an interest in reading the PHB.

My other four players already accepted in the campaign or pretty experienced and we just got rid of two players whom drainedthe life out of the previous campaign. I am not using the PHB for this campaign (OGL steampunk).

I'm just worried that if she couldn't get die macher (after six hours of play) she's not going to get d and d. Im also afraid that she'll ruin the experience for the other players as she did for me and my girlfriend last night as we played.

My worries are that I got a good group now, and I don't ant to mistakenly bring in something that can ruin that chemistry.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I'm evaluating players for my next game and I have a potential player whom wants his wife to play. For the most part everything has happened. What got me worried is last night she proclaimed several times that she hates anything that lasts longer than 2 hours. Her hubby has also told me that she doesnt have an interest in reading the PHB.

My other four players already accepted in the campaign or pretty experienced and we just got rid of two players whom drainedthe life out of the previous campaign. I am not using the PHB for this campaign (OGL steampunk).

I'm just worried that if she couldn't get die macher (after six hours of play) she's not going to get d and d. Im also afraid that she'll ruin the experience for the other players as she did for me and my girlfriend last night as we played.

My worries are that I got a good group now, and I don't ant to mistakenly bring in something that can ruin that chemistry.

Based on what you have said, I wouldn't let her into my game. If she can't concentrate on something for 2 hours, a 6 hour session may end up with her leaving halfway through. If she's not interested in looking at the PHB then you or her husband will have to constantly be helping her too. This is ok if it is just until she gets the hang of things but it sounds like she doesn't even want to try and learn the rules.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jin_Kataki]

WOW I am glad I wasn't the only one getting a little annoyed last night. If he has to constantly prod her along and help make her descisions for her like he did in that game last night that is gonna make the the new Campaighn drag ass. Also we saw with Nuri last campaighn what having a person play a pre made character can do.

 

[Li Shenron]

Do you still offer the invite for the player's spouse?

Yes, no problem. New players can learn the game in real-time, and it's an occasion for everyone to get a refresh about the rules. The fact she didn't get well with powergamers is an added bonus

The only important thing is that the spouse WANTS to play, and is not just being dragged to the game by the player.

- Experience of other players in the game

(assuming the new player knows nothing of the rules, the setting and the campaign so far)

The other players' own experience with the rules and also with the setting is irrelevant.

It could instead be a problem if the campaign has been going on for a very long time, and the other players base a lot of their in-game decisions on their knowledge of what has happened so far, their relationship with NPC etc... I probably wouldn't refuse the new player to join, but he/she should be warned that it may be difficult to catch up. (anyway, this has nothing to do with being another player's spouse)

- If you use house rules or alternative rules supplements (I.E. Conan or Midnight)

Doesn't matter.

- length of the friendship

The longer the friendship, the higher the trust I have in the player when saying that the spouse is genuinly interested and not forced to play...

Second question, would your decision change if this situation occurred.
You invite your player and their spouse over for a long game (say Arkham Horror, Risk, Doom, Die Macher etc). during a time you normal have your d and d game. The spouse often appears bored and has a hard time following the rules. The spouse also self proclaims she hates games that last longer than 2 hrs.

Does this even effect your decision or are there similiarties between board games and rpgs.

Generally speaking, board games and RPG are very different. I'm very rarely excited by a board game, but I love RPing. Being bored by a board game rules doesn't necessarily mean to be bored by ANY rules matter, and anyway RPG rules are there to represent something, while many board games rules are probably just abstract and have no real-life correspondent meaning. So I wouldn't judge someone's keenness on RPG just because he hates board games.

The best thing however could be to invite he/she to just WATCH a session of D&D, and find out if it's boring or exciting, and if it's too long...