How Do I Escape D&D?

Although I’ve been writing games (and about them) for over 20 years, I haven’t done much for the Big One. I’ve done a few OGL bits here and there, a Dungeon article for 4e, and a run on the dual statted line for 7th Sea. I talk a lot about the other games that are out there on the panels and podcasts I get to be on and there’s always one inevitable question:

"I love this new game that I bought but I can’t get my group to try it. How do I escape D&D?"

That question has come up a lot on social media since the OGL 1.1 leak. Here are some of the options I’ve seen work well when I’ve suggested them to friends. Different tactics work well on different people so don’t be afraid to keep trying even if you strike out at first. I also hope folks will post their success stories in the comment to offer additional advice.

Don’t Trash The Mothership​

In trying to sell a new game, a lot of people make the mistake of comparing everything to D&D. Usually in a negative way where D&D does it badly and the new game does it well. True as that may be, remember that people have feelings about D&D and those feelings are often complicated. It’s better to focus on the positive stuff that a new game does without needing trash talk. Players are already making those comparisons when considering a new game.

Learn To Love The One Shot​

The true villain of any D&D game is logistics. There will almost always be someone unable to make it or nights where the current DM is unavailable. These nights can be opportunities to try out a different game to see if it vibes with a group. There are a lot of great starter sets out there that make this sort of game easy complete with ready made characters and a story that plays out in a session or two. There are also games built for this mode of play like Fiasco.

Check Out An Actual Play Of The New Game​

Critical Role gets a lot of press in this space but there are a few crews who play games other than D&D. Showing one of these games to a group will help them learn the rules and see what you like about the game. Of course, I would love it if you check out my crew Theatre of the Mind Players but there are some other great shows in this space like The Glass Cannon Network and One Shot Podcast Network among others.

Find The Right Fandom​

While there are a lot of fans of D&D, those fans are also fans of other things. Licensed games are your friend here. If you have a member of the group that’s based their current character on Aang or Spock, they are more likely to try Avatar Legends or Star Trek Adventures. Players into a genre will do the work on learning new rules because they want to experience their favorite world.

Switch Either Genre or System But Not Both​

Some people prefer to ease into the pool rather than jump in. For those folks, switching one element of an RPG might help with the change. Play fantasy with a different system like Savage Worlds or Shadow of the Demon Lord. Or choose another 5e game in a different genre. There are some excellent conversions out there like Doctors & Daleks or works like Everyday Heroes.

Build To A Season Finale​

Jumping out of an ongoing campaign can be frustrating to players who have invested into the story and their characters. Take a page from how TV networks run serial stories. Build to a season finale in the story: a big battle, a dramatic trial, a wedding full of intrigue. Give some storylines closure, hint at some new ones to come, but helping the storyline come to an end for not makes it easier to move to a different one. And, if nobody likes the new game, there’s always room for another season.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Try bait and switch. Falsely advertise that you are going to run a 5e game and when everyone has signed the dotted line, switch systems. Tell them it's a streamlined version of 5e or some kind of double talk like that. Works like a charm.

This strikes me as a terrible idea second only to the similar one of changing the nature of a campaign radically without warning people.

 

[Hussar]

This strikes me as a terrible idea second only to the similar one of changing the nature of a campaign radically without warning people.

I'm not sure, but, I suspect that this was meant as a joke.

We did do a while off from D&D a few years back and traipsed through a bunch of different systems. I have to admit, I did enjoy it. I'd kinda like to try it again, but, what made it work the last time was that of the five or six players in my group back then, 4 were willing to run games - so, we handed off running a bunch of different short campaigns between us. My current group seems a lot less inclined to take the wheel and I'm not 100% that I really want to go through a bunch of different systems with myself running each of them.

Sigh.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm not sure, but, I suspect that this was meant as a joke.

Given I've seen people present the other I referred to in all seriousness, I was absolutely not going to assume that.

We did do a while off from D&D a few years back and traipsed through a bunch of different systems. I have to admit, I did enjoy it. I'd kinda like to try it again, but, what made it work the last time was that of the five or six players in my group back then, 4 were willing to run games - so, we handed off running a bunch of different short campaigns between us. My current group seems a lot less inclined to take the wheel and I'm not 100% that I really want to go through a bunch of different systems with myself running each of them.

Sigh.

I guess I'm just more flexible than most people. To decide which one we're going to use for an upcoming ongoing campaign, I'm running five different sessions with five different superhero systems spread across ten weeks.

 

[OTHG]

This strikes me as a terrible idea second only to the similar one of changing the nature of a campaign radically without warning people.

I'm not sure, but, I suspect that this was meant as a joke.

We did do a while off from D&D a few years back and traipsed through a bunch of different systems. I have to admit, I did enjoy it. I'd kinda like to try it again, but, what made it work the last time was that of the five or six players in my group back then, 4 were willing to run games - so, we handed off running a bunch of different short campaigns between us. My current group seems a lot less inclined to take the wheel and I'm not 100% that I really want to go through a bunch of different systems with myself running each of them.

Sigh.

Sorry @Thomas Shey ! Next time I will add an appropriate emoji so you'll know it's sarcasm.

Thanks for noticing, @Hussar . I thought it was evident but on social media, one can never be too careful.

 

[Autumnal]

Sorry @Thomas Shey ! Next time I will add an appropriate emoji so you'll know it's sarcasm.

Thanks for noticing, @Hussar . I thought it was evident but on social media, one can never be too careful.

The real problem is that there appears to be no idea so bad that you can’t find someone advocating it seriously. Looking at a fandom near coming…Neal Adams, one of the greatest comic book artists ever, who died just a few years ago, was an enthusiastic advocate of the idea that the crust of the Earth is expanding, and that this is what makes earthquakes. The similarity in shapes between the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa shows how much expansion there’s been since some point of stability. In the world of science fiction, there’s a gadfly who tried to subvert the Hugo Awards last decade who believes that white people have a larger percentage of Neanderthal DNA and that this makes us stronger, smarter, more adaptable, and more psychic. And so on.

So it’s just plain smarter to tag sarcasm, despite the fun of being deadpan goofy around people who know you.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Sorry @Thomas Shey ! Next time I will add an appropriate emoji so you'll know it's sarcasm.

Its all right. As I noted, I've just seen people entirely straight faced advocate things that are at least as dumb. There's a reason the saying is that irony is dead.

 

[Thomas Shey]

So it’s just plain smarter to tag sarcasm, despite the fun of being deadpan goofy around people who know you.

As I said, I've seen people--different people more than once--advocate starting up a campaign sold as about being about X and then take a left turn abruptly into Y, both genre and tonally, and suggest that it'll be great, and everyone will love it.

Spoiler: Everyone won't. If you know your group really, really well they might be okay with it, but there's a good chance that you don't really know them that well if you think they will.

 

[aramis erak]

I'm not sure, but, I suspect that this was meant as a joke.

If it was, it was certainly in poor taste. And it's incredibly bad advice, for the reasons Thomas Shey notes...

 

[innerdude]

I'm going to pipe in on one thing here, having had quite a bit of success getting my group to try stuff over the years.

Our group has played at least 5 sessions of all of the following since 2012:

1. Savage Worlds
2. GURPS
3. Tiny D6
4. Dungeon World
5. Ironsworn
6. Starforged
7. Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

And I'm gearing up for yet another in a Forged in the Dark game I just kick-started, Court of Blades.

My quibble is this --- I actually find one shots to be terrible for group buy in to try out a system.

My group has been much more invested when they know the GM --- who has not always been me --- is willing to put enough stake in their choice of system to at least give it a run of 6 or 8 sessions. Otherwise it just feels like a waste of time for everyone.

No one really knows if they like or dislike a system after a single session (mostly). If you want to have a chance at making something a serious long term alternative to D&D, then make sure you convey that you're serious about possibly making it a long term alternative to D&D.

For me personally, one shots don't convey enough . . . gravitas, for lack of a better word, to motivate me to take the system change seriously.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

Switch Either Genre or System But Not Both​

In my experience this is not optimal as a fantasy game will constantly be compared to D&D and approached with a similar mindset if you've only been playing D&D which kind of defeats the purpose of trying something new. Switching genres but using very similar systems can do the same thing - see the very first post of "Darths and Droids" for this effect in action.

My advice would always be to change to a different game entirely. Pick something your people are a little familiar with to ease the transition if necessary - Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Superheroes - and it can help make the mental jump.