How hard is learning a new TTRPG system?

[aramis erak]

So it'll just be something you accumulate? Because that was often the way it worked out in OD&D.

In AD&D, there were so many ways a DM could strip PCs of money...
And 90% of GMs used only a few. The cost for training to a new level (which prevents level up in dungeon), the costs of housing, food, and drink in downtime, the taxation...
It was just too much hassle for most, so many dropped the prices or even just ignored the training rules. Others dropped the XP for coin and gems, so players wouldn't bounce 1 XP shy of eligible for two levels...
And many just ignored all of it.

 

[Velderan]

In AD&D, there were so many ways a DM could strip PCs of money...
And 90% of GMs used only a few. The cost for training to a new level (which prevents level up in dungeon), the costs of housing, food, and drink in downtime, the taxation...
It was just too much hassle for most, so many dropped the prices or even just ignored the training rules. Others dropped the XP for coin and gems, so players wouldn't bounce 1 XP shy of eligible for two levels...
And many just ignored all of it.

In 2e my group didn't use gold for exp but we usually ended up shifting our campaigns to focus on domain management of some form as the groups advanced in levels. Since we usually didn't get into taxing our population and instead focused on using the money gained from adventuring for domain upkeep, that was usually how the groups coffers were drained. Our wizards usually got into magic item creation eventually, which was both a source of money drain and a reason to still go out adventuring to get the rare materials they needed to make stuff.

 

[Willie the Duck]

So it'll just be something you accumulate? Because that was often the way it worked out in OD&D.

Yes, that would be the effect. That's why AD&D introduced training, so there was somewhere for the gold to go* after you logged your XP for pulling it out of the dungeons and carting it back to town. An alternate method I've heard of BitD (oD&D era) was to only get XP for gold you wantonly wasted (on bling, donations to a temple, 'wine, women, and song' or whatever , so long as it wasn't on adventuring gear). That drained the gp right back out of the equation.
*before you got to the 'build castle and field army' level range, at least

 

[heks]

i most often find it harder to get people to WANT to learn a new system than it is for them to learn it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

In AD&D, there were so many ways a DM could strip PCs of money...

You could in OD&D too.

But so what? Unless someone just considered it a thing unto itself or was saving up to buy a business or such, no one cared. Because they had many multiples of what they needed for personal comfort, and it had no impact on their professional lives.

And 90% of GMs used only a few. The cost for training to a new level (which prevents level up in dungeon), the costs of housing, food, and drink in downtime, the taxation...
It was just too much hassle for most, so many dropped the prices or even just ignored the training rules. Others dropped the XP for coin and gems, so players wouldn't bounce 1 XP shy of eligible for two levels...
And many just ignored all of it.

There was no advancement cost in OD&D, and again, in regard to the rest, one significant treasure could cover you for years.

 

[MGibster]

I have people I game with who never really seem to learn the rules of any game we play. When we play D&D, they very often have to figure out how their abilities work when it's their turn, and then once their turn is over they remember another ability that would done extra damage or helped them in some way. My group has been playing Savage Worlds on and off for the better part of a decade. When I tell them to make a Vigor roll, nobody should ask, "Do I roll the Wild Die with that?" This happens with games we play frequently, and I admit I am sometimes worried about bringing a new set of rules and having to deal with that.

 

[GMMichael]

i most often find it harder to get people to WANT to learn a new system than it is for them to learn it.

Do you sell the advantages of the new game, or just suggest trying something new? I wouldn't want to play a new game without good reasons for switching. I vaguely remember trying a Warhammer40K game. It seemed like D&D but with different rules. So why not just play D&D set in the 40K universe?

I have people I game with who never really seem to learn the rules of any game we play. When we play D&D, they very often have to figure out how their abilities work when it's their turn, and then once their turn is over they remember another ability that would done extra damage or helped them in some way. My group has been playing Savage Worlds on and off for the better part of a decade. When I tell them to make a Vigor roll, nobody should ask, "Do I roll the Wild Die with that?"

Guessing this is just a some-people's-brains thing. On the bright side, since learning the game isn't on the menu, such players will probably gladly try new games. They'll just stumble through it.

I'll note that I cringe when the session is drawing to a close, and I still have to point out which one is the d20.

 

[Jaeger]

One common reason folks choose not to play a different game to the one they’re used to is that they say they don’t have time to learn a new system. 99% of the time that’s about trying a game other than D&D 5E.

Im curious about how much time and difficulty folks perceive trying a different game is?

(Obviously games vary in complexity: I’m just asking as a generality.)

I’ve been running a series of one shots while we are in between campaigns.

Somehow they have managed to pick up the basics of three different systems in as many sessions.

It’s just not that hard…

 

[Ogre Mage]

With Numenera I picked up the basics very quickly. Within 2-3 sessions I understood it. I played a whole campaign of Shadowrun and never understood the rules. Everyone was constantly trying to explain to me. Four years later we started another Shadowrun campaign. I still don't understand it.

 

[Thourne]

With Numenera I picked up the basics very quickly. Within 2-3 sessions I understood it. I played a whole campaign of Shadowrun and never understood the rules. Everyone was constantly trying to explain to me. Four years later we started another Shadowrun campaign. I still don't understand it.

If it makes you feel any better I bounce off both the rules and setting every time I've ever tried it.
So, you got me beat at least