How did you convince your group to try something different?

[ART!]

Two things that have worked in our group:

Propose a game in a setting or genre that everyone in the group can easily glom on to. I ran a short run of Masks between D&D 5E campaigns. Masks is a teen super-heroes game that does that sub-genre incredibly well. It emulates stuff like Young Justice and Teen Titans, and we were all familiar with those shows. The players had a blast.

We play weekly, but to reduce GM burnout we've recently agreed to play something else 1 or 2 weeks per month - either a 1- or 2-session rpg or some boardgames.

Also, to combat the "why learn a new system for a short game?" argument, de-emphasize strict adherence to the new rules (i.e. that you just want to see how this other system feels in general) , and prep as much as you can for the players (cheat sheets, for example) to make it easier for them.

 

[Temperantia]

I didn't. I looked for another group of people that were up for the game I wanted to play and was lucky enough to find them.
If your group needs "convincing" to switch systems, maybe that's already starting off on the wrong foot and you're better off not to switch at all. If they're interested to try out new stuff and are hooked by the elevator pitch you can give for the game you want to try out, that's cool of course. But nobody should feel obliged to run a game always for the same set of 4 people.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I can't testify to the value of B&D, but I feel I should point out that the entire system is currently free.

yup, I know. We backed the kickstarter though.

 

[overgeeked]

So not sure if this a real problem, at least I've never experienced in 40 years of playing RPGs. Maybe it's a US or modern thing or maybe I've been really lucky?

It's a "we're new to the hobby and/or have only ever played D&D" problem. Most gamers who've been around more than a few years have tried more than D&D. A lot of groups branch out over time and try other things, some dig what they find, others don't and go back to D&D. But the majority of people, in my experience at least, who try other games will enjoy the wider scope of games, settings, genres, etc that not D&D provides when compared to only D&D.

 

[loverdrive]

"I'm running [X]". Done. Well, maybe "I'm running [X], it's a game about [Y], I'll post a full announcement on my tg channel, you and you are invited specifically"

I know that some people really want to play with their friends, but I honestly don't get it. Like, if I want to hang out with friends, a better option is to just... hang out with friends. Have a beer or two, play Duck Game, sing together, whatever. An RPG sounds like way too much effort for a questionable output.

When I'm coming to play an RPG, I want everyone at the table to be aggressively invested. If people need convincing, why bother?

 

[payn]

"I'm running [X]". Done. Well, maybe "I'm running [X], it's a game about [Y], I'll post a full announcement on my tg channel, you and you are invited specifically"

I know that some people really play with their friends, but I honestly don't get it. Like, if I want to hang out with friends, a better option is to just... hang out with friends. Have a beer or two, play Duck Game, sing together, whatever. An RPG sounds like way too much effort for a questionable output.

When I'm coming to play an RPG, I want everyone at the table to be aggressively invested. If people need convincing, why bother?

It's true, sometimes your best friends make the worst gamers.

 

[ThrorII]

My current group was explicitly formed to play non-D&D games. I'm the primary GM, and run 90% of our games. My crew is used to me switching up systems for short runs, and we've played probably a dozen systems since we started 3.5 years ago, with our longest run being 6 months (Blades in the Dark). I'm not a 5E fan at all, so they know there won't be any 5E played on our game nights. Some of them play 5E with other groups, but this group is for trying out lots of Non-D&D RPGs.

If you like the western genre (not weird west), I cannot recommend Wild West Cinema enough!! It costs something like $5 on Drivethrurpg, and is a great system that really fades in to the background.

 

[ThrorII]

Also, to combat the "why learn a new system for a short game?" argument, de-emphasize strict adherence to the new rules (i.e. that you just want to see how this other system feels in general) , and prep as much as you can for the players (cheat sheets, for example) to make it easier for them.

If I am putting together a short campaign or one-shot, I will put together a 1-2 page 'character generation' cheat sheet and a 1-2 page rules cheat sheet. I find that as long as players know how to generate a character, and how to do action resolutions, they can wing it.

 

[bloodtide]

I have only ever done it the Hard Way.

Some players will come to me and have an idea for a type of game they want, but also insist they can only play D&D.

I will mention another game or two that would work much better for the style and type of game. They say they can only play D&D.

So we do.....and the game crashes an burns. But I'm ready with the other game. Then on the fresh ashes of D&D, they will try the other game.

 

[Umbran]

So how do you convince your group to try something different? Should you?

That latter question - Should you? - is the basis of an adult conversation about what everyone at the table wants and needs out of the game. There is no general answer. Sometimes you should try to convince the group, and sometimes not.