5 Steps for Selling 5E Players on Your 1E Game
A great RPG adventure can transcend the particular rule set you are using, but at the end of the day, you have to settle on some particular set of rules, RPG, and edition to use. It's usually wise for GMs to go with a system they're familiar with and comfortable running. Long time, old-school GMs have had decades to gather experience creating and running adventures, and there's no reason those great adventures would be unappreciated by newer players. Thus we arrive at the question of, if you're a DM who works best with 1E, how do you get players who prefer 5E to give your game a try? Here are my 5 steps for breaking down the barrier.
STEP 1: If these gamers don't really know me, a quick introduction, one that puts them at ease. But the real key is to find out what they get out of RPGs in general and/or 5E specifically.
"Hey, I've got some adventure ideas I've been working on that have me pretty excited, and I'd like to try to run them, but I'm not sure if it's something you guys would find fun. Do you mind telling me a little about what keeps you coming back to the table, and what it is you like best about 5E?" Or if they recently quit someone's campaign, find out what it was that wasn't working for them.
Listen carefully. There are a lot of positives to 5E. Neat and tidy rules. Backgrounds built in to character creation. Highly customize-able characters. Skills for stuff other than fighting. Some players might like that it has more game numbers than, say 1E, for stuff other than fighting because they prefer something not so hack-n-slay. Others, however, might like that they get more hit points, mages can sling out more spells, and that it's harder to die, making it really good for a high octane hack-fest. Don't assume you know what the players like just because of the game they play. Ask follow up questions until you have a really clear picture in your mind of what kind of players these are and what makes it fun for them, what they like and don't like.
STEP 2: Summarize what they've told you into one or two brief sentences, and verify that you've understood them correctly. "So what you're saying is you like action-packed adventures with clear objectives, with fast-paced combat not like that awful 1E initiative system, and not wasting time talking to NPCs or spending an hour and a half playing out what the party's having for breakfast, am I understanding you right?" If you get a yes, go onto the next step. If you get a no, go back to step 1.
STEP 3: Pitch your game, highlighting the features that appeal most to the players. If there's something about your campaign on their hate list, don't try to cover it up. Be up front with it.
"In my games, if the players get bogged down in details, like what to have for breakfast, there's a periodic check for an encounter to get things back on track. Kind of like, if things get dull, ninjas attack, that sort of thing. Speaking of which, given what you said about 1E initiative, you'd be surprised how quick 1E combat can flow. The way I do initiative is, if there's an obvious reason one person should go before another, like if your weapon can reach your enemy but your enemy's can't yet reach you due to weapon length, then I go with that, otherwise, just roll d6, highest goes first. Oh, and as for wasting time with NPCs, I use an NPC reaction table. Just one or two quick dice rolls and then move on. Am I missing anything?"
STEP 4: Handle objections. Players may raise specific concerns here. If not, you can skip to Step 5. Hell, if you knocked it out of the park on Steps 1-3, players may skip right to Step 5 on their own. But if there are concerns raised here, the most important advice I can give is listen and dig deeper. I've observed over the years people in general, but gamers especially, have a hard time disentangling feature and benefit. You'll see it in reviews and from critics all the time. "Well, in game X, you can't do Y." And it's almost never true. Understand "Can game X do Y?" is not the right question. The right question is "How does game X do Y?"
If the player asks "Can I play a half-orc Paladin in 1E?" you should answer as if they're asking "How do I play a half-orc Paladin in 1E?" To which you might answer, "Obviously the specifics of any class are going to vary somewhat from one edition to the next. So in 1E, we would call it a half-orc cleric/fighter. Half-orcs pull this off marvelously because of their bonus to STR and CON. The only drawback is Charisma, but get this. The charisma penalty applies only to non-orcs. To orcs and other half-orcs, you've got your full Charisma score. Even though much of the world may down play your character, to orcs and half-orcs you're not just a hero, you're an inspiration, and they will follow you loyally to hell and back. How many human Paladins in any game you've ever played can say they command the loyalty of orcs?"
STEP 5: Close the deal. Set a specific time and place, set the expectations of what everyone should bring. Be very clear on the hard start time. If you're going to do a session zero, be clear about that. Be clear about whether it's okay if the players invite other players to join, or what they should do if they can't make it. Just make it clear we're no longer talking "Wouldn't it be cool if...." This is actually happening.
STEP 1: If these gamers don't really know me, a quick introduction, one that puts them at ease. But the real key is to find out what they get out of RPGs in general and/or 5E specifically.
"Hey, I've got some adventure ideas I've been working on that have me pretty excited, and I'd like to try to run them, but I'm not sure if it's something you guys would find fun. Do you mind telling me a little about what keeps you coming back to the table, and what it is you like best about 5E?" Or if they recently quit someone's campaign, find out what it was that wasn't working for them.
Listen carefully. There are a lot of positives to 5E. Neat and tidy rules. Backgrounds built in to character creation. Highly customize-able characters. Skills for stuff other than fighting. Some players might like that it has more game numbers than, say 1E, for stuff other than fighting because they prefer something not so hack-n-slay. Others, however, might like that they get more hit points, mages can sling out more spells, and that it's harder to die, making it really good for a high octane hack-fest. Don't assume you know what the players like just because of the game they play. Ask follow up questions until you have a really clear picture in your mind of what kind of players these are and what makes it fun for them, what they like and don't like.
STEP 2: Summarize what they've told you into one or two brief sentences, and verify that you've understood them correctly. "So what you're saying is you like action-packed adventures with clear objectives, with fast-paced combat not like that awful 1E initiative system, and not wasting time talking to NPCs or spending an hour and a half playing out what the party's having for breakfast, am I understanding you right?" If you get a yes, go onto the next step. If you get a no, go back to step 1.
STEP 3: Pitch your game, highlighting the features that appeal most to the players. If there's something about your campaign on their hate list, don't try to cover it up. Be up front with it.
"In my games, if the players get bogged down in details, like what to have for breakfast, there's a periodic check for an encounter to get things back on track. Kind of like, if things get dull, ninjas attack, that sort of thing. Speaking of which, given what you said about 1E initiative, you'd be surprised how quick 1E combat can flow. The way I do initiative is, if there's an obvious reason one person should go before another, like if your weapon can reach your enemy but your enemy's can't yet reach you due to weapon length, then I go with that, otherwise, just roll d6, highest goes first. Oh, and as for wasting time with NPCs, I use an NPC reaction table. Just one or two quick dice rolls and then move on. Am I missing anything?"STEP 4: Handle objections. Players may raise specific concerns here. If not, you can skip to Step 5. Hell, if you knocked it out of the park on Steps 1-3, players may skip right to Step 5 on their own. But if there are concerns raised here, the most important advice I can give is listen and dig deeper. I've observed over the years people in general, but gamers especially, have a hard time disentangling feature and benefit. You'll see it in reviews and from critics all the time. "Well, in game X, you can't do Y." And it's almost never true. Understand "Can game X do Y?" is not the right question. The right question is "How does game X do Y?"
STEP 5: Close the deal. Set a specific time and place, set the expectations of what everyone should bring. Be very clear on the hard start time. If you're going to do a session zero, be clear about that. Be clear about whether it's okay if the players invite other players to join, or what they should do if they can't make it. Just make it clear we're no longer talking "Wouldn't it be cool if...." This is actually happening.
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