Help! Trying to hook the seemingly unhookable.

[Kylemcinnis]

Hello, all.

So, the members of my band and I have been wanting to start up a game of 4E for quite a while now. I finally got a sweet idea for a campaign, and have volunteered to DM, and we're in the process of gathering players. So far, we have me, the singer, the bassist, the bassist's dad, (A DM from way back in the day), and the drummer. But here's the problem...

The drummer is NOT a big fan of the fantasy genre. He's one of those kids that has never had a video game system, watched Star Wars, or pretended to slay Dragons in the back yard when he was little. By sheer peer pressure, I've convinced him to try one session with us, but I'm worried that he'll just dismiss it and miss out on a really fun, really kick-ass social experience with the rest of us. How can I hook this kid?

My current plan is something like this. Prior to character creation, I'll hand out premade characters to all the guys, and set them on a simple, 3 encounter tutorial that will last just one game session. Their characters will represent what a balanced party looks like, they'll learn the ropes of combat, the core mechanic, how skills work, just the basics. (I thought this would work out well for the bassist, who has only played 3.5, and his dad, who probably last played D&D in 1989. ) And best of all, the tutorial will act as a prolouge to the campaign.

Now if I set up the drummer with something incredibly badass, like a Dragonborn Fighter wielding a greataxe, don't overwhealm him with information, and totally emphasize how crazy awesome the battles are, (I.E., with a mighty swing of your axe, you cleave the kobold's head in two!) do you think it would be enough to interest him?

Anything you would like to share is greatly appreciated. Thank you! (And sorry for the long post.)

 

[maddman75]

Biggest thing is don't sweat the rules too much. Just ask him what he wants to do, and figure out a way to make that happen. Make liberal use of page 42.

If he doesn't like this, there's a lot of modern games that he might like more. All Flesh Must Be Eaten might be a big hit - who doesn't like zombies?

 

[S'mon]

"you cleave the kobold's head in two..." hmm, kobolds are about the size of my two year old son (3' & 35 lb). Couldn't you make it a 6' tall orc instead? He might actually find that cool.

 

[SuperGnome]

Hey,

Kind of a tough one to reply to, but try thinking back to what hooked you on gaming way back when. I'm guessing you're somewhat like me and were always drawn to the whole fantasy genre, but since that's not the case with Drumstix it might not apply. Maybe go for some over the top cinematic bawls out fight. Throw in some majestic cliffs, perhaps a horde of minions to wade through at some point, a BBG, etc... Combat is a blast, but if you can paint it in the mind (even one not typically drawn to the subject), you can get quite a reaction. Make it intersting, diverse, dramatic, but not overwhelming with effects and what not.

Perhaps they're on a winding path trying to reach some king who's mind was tainted by a devil. With sheer cliffs on either side, they come to a small scallop into the cliff face (allows them to move around in combat and not be stuck lined up). They decide to rest but no sooner do they drop their packs then they hear some marching warband approaching. Gives them time to setup, make them feel like their choices matter, then they fight a bunch of minions with maybe a leader or two in there. Maybe they can use some push/slide powers to dump some off the cliff. *8) Travel on after licking their wounds and finish up with some cool battle at a fort. Slay some lower devil to free the king from its will. Maybe the Mad King had damned up a mountain streem/waterfall which was some village's only source of water. Set that free and get some mad lewt from the king. Short, sweet, mini-epic, all sorts of D&D booya goodness...

Mixes in the feeling that decisions matter in battle, in the greater fantasy world, and you get to beat stuff up and get PAID for it! Something in there will strike a spark if anything will.

Hmmm, that sounds fun. heh

Gnome (and guitar player!)

 

[Asmor]

Just outta curiosity, what sort of band are you in? I'm working under the assumption that it's not metal, since I can't imagine a metal head not being into fantasy. That would be like an Oprah fan not being into bon bons.

My advice is to definitely give it a go, but also recognize that it might simply not be for him. I've got a really close friend who I got to try D&D, but it didn't really click for her. Some people are weird like that.

 

[SuperGnome]

Yeah, I was going to mention that some people just don't dig it. And speaking of metal and fantasy, The Sword FTW!

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

My own thought, from having set up alot of groups and letting people try it out goes like this:

Don't sweat it. Don't devise the meta-game to convince the players that D&D is awesoome. Instead, focus on preparing an interesting and fun game that appeals to you and to what you know of these people. Then, just play. If they like it, they'll play again.

 

[Kylemcinnis]

Thanks for all your replies, I really appreciate all the advice!

And while I really didn't mean to make this an advertisement for my band, I might as well if you're curious.

We are TwiDDy & the Argonauts, based out of Mount Vernon, Washington. We take influence from a lot of styles, but we do mainly alternative/folk rock/funk kinda stuff. Really hard to describe, but really enjoyable to listen to.

Our MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/twiddyandtheargonauts

We're really just a bunch of goofy nerds that love music, and want to be rock stars.

 

[thewok]

I have a similar problem. My RP group wanted me to GM a horror campaign for October. Vampire was mentioned by one player, but the others have fallen for the idea of playing regular mortal characters.

The one who wanted to play Vampire obviously just wants to be a vampire. I believe she just wants to be uber-powerful rather than play a horror campaign.

How can I hook her into this game? I wouldn't be averse to her playing a vampire, but the game will be taking place in a podunk town that no vampire would bother hunting in. She did have the idea of playing a local guide, but there's a problem there as well:

Since one of the players won't be able to make it tomorrow, I want to postpone the start of the actual game until next week and run a prelude for the other two. So, if my vamp-wannabe goes with her local guide idea, my prelude goes out the window.

I guess I should give more details on the campaign. The players are small-time ghost hunters who want to make a name for themselves. So, they have saved up and are going to Barrow, Alaska, where 2 years ago, a series of grisly murders happened during the area's "long night." It has been said that the ghosts of the murdered people showed up the next year and re-enacted their deaths at what is believed to be the exact time of their deaths the year previous. The player characters want to investigate these phenomena.

The characters are from Texas. So now you see the problem. I can't run a prelude in Texas with a local Alaskan (probably a native), and I don't want to start the main story with 1/3 of the group unable to make it.

Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?

 

[WillieW]

The one who wanted to play Vampire obviously just wants to be a vampire. I believe she just wants to be uber-powerful rather than play a horror campaign.

How can I hook her into this game? I wouldn't be averse to her playing a vampire, but the game will be taking place in a podunk town that no vampire would bother hunting in.

Then don't make her a vampire. Give her something else that's supernatural, but whose onset is only starting to affect her. A lycantrophe is the most obvious, but you could use a type of ghostly possession, or psychic parasite, or something like that. As for the problem of location, if the game is modern day or close to, there's no reason why an Alaskan couldn't be visiting a Texan relative.