BRP Demo game

[badcat]

Well, I might be getting a BRP group started here in WOTC land. I am thinking about doing a demo game at a local meetup group, meanwhile I have three people interested in a regular BRP game group. The two might mix, but not necessarily.

I would much appreciate any advice about how to go about doing this demo game thing, as I have never done such a thing. It looks like a 3-4 hour time slot. What genres would work better at generating interest? I am considering my swords & sorcery or CoC. What options might work for giving a good impression of the BRP system as a whole? What all should I include in a handout packet, how many pregens, that sort of thing?

Any advice from you guys would be much appreciated. I would like this to be roaring success and I have a hunch it is going to be a very critical group.

Thanks.

[Jason D]

Here's my suggestion:

If you're running Call of Cthulhu, there's the extremely excellent Call of Cthulhu Quick Start edition, complete with a classic sample adventure that has nothing to do with the Mythos per se.

If you want to run BRP, I'd put together a simple overview of the system, covering just what you need to know. It would have things like characteristic rolls, skill rolls, resistance rolls, attack/parry/dodge rolls, and that's just about all I'd require.

Genres... you could go basic sword-and-sorcery, giving the players a sketchy background and world. Or you could do a post-apocalyptic setting. Pick something you like and a genre you know well enough to improvise or elaborate on if need be.

Things you should have prepped ahead of time:

- Pregenerated characters covering enough of a variety to allow for different play styles, like a heavy fighter, a fast fighter, a stealthy character, a leader, a knowledge-based character, a communications based character, etc. I'd leave the names and genders blank... let the players fill those in if needed. You might write a quick background for each. Create enough that no one is forced to take the "last" one.

- Again, go with pregens. I have seen players take 2.5 hours of a 4 hour game slot coming up with a simple character concept. With pregens you can also hang dramatic hooks into the adventure, which gets much tougher when dealing with freshly-created PCs.

- If you're using pregens, come up with a truncated list of all of the powers each player has (if you're using powers) and make a cheat-sheet for them. Don't expect players to know what each spell does by title, and if there's only one book on hand, this will save much passing and reference.

- A simple adventure beginning slow, with some initial challenges thrown up to introduce aspects of the system. Keep combats minimal at first, and show the broadness of the skills and how they work. The adventure should not be terribly complicated, but should allow for conflict (external and within the group).

- Cliche is an ally. Players are likely to be able to grok a setting quickly if you can spin it in a simple way... like "It's like the Middle Ages, only vampire lords rule the earth from huge dark castles, with their servants running the show during the day. You must battle the forces of darkness, and make the world safe for good people again." Or something like "It's a post-apocalyptic Western, where old tech exists but the wild ways have returned, along with the most dreadful of magics."

- I don't usually use them in my adventures, but

- Plan for two smaller encounters, and then one bigger one at the end. Or a few smaller ones with some dramatic heft. Unless you enjoy massive combats, keep them simple, with a minimal number of NPCs or monsters vs. a larger player group.

Better to run short than run long. Having a session reach its climax a half-hour before the planned ending is much, much better than having the climactic ending truncated by having to close the store, having people leave, or having everyone looking at their watch. If the session is cool, people will want to hang out after and talk about it... while if it goes over, it's usually an impersonal "Thanks" while they head out the door.

Good luck!

[badcat]

Thank you. That is just the sort of advice I was looking for.

I had considered the Cthulhu quickstart but fantasy of some flavor is my favored genre and I tend to do better with it.

And thanks for the 'good luck', because most of this group are 3.5 fanatics. It may be a tough sell, at best, and I figure I need all the help I can beg, borrow or steal...

[Jason D]

Thank you. That is just the sort of advice I was looking for.

I had considered the Cthulhu quickstart but fantasy of some flavor is my favored genre and I tend to do better with it.

And thanks for the 'good luck', because most of this group are 3.5 fanatics. It may be a tough sell, at best, and I figure I need all the help I can beg, borrow or steal...

You know, you might have some fun and run a fantasy version of Call of Cthulhu... sort of a high fantasy Cthulhu Dark Ages combined with dungeon-bashing. I would definitely use the "total hit points" option in that case, for more heroic action.

"Lair of the Serpent Men" or something like that...

[Simlasa]

I was reading a discussion about just this sort of thing the other day... but I can't remember where.

Jason has covered most of what I remember coming up... pregens, aiming to come in under the alloted time limit...

Another thing I read was that it was important to have an idea going in of how many players you can handle and to stick to it... rather than letting things get out of hand.

I like the idea of a 'fantasy Cthulhu' game... it's familiar enough to not need much explaining... but is a bit different from straight-standard D&D fare.

[cjbowser]

A couple other things to add to Jason's excellent list that I've picked up in years of running demo games for various systems.

- Each character should matter. Since you'll likely be using pregens, this shouldn't be too difficult. In a nutshell, every player should be able to contribute in a meaningful way, and you can handle this by crafting the scenario and then spreading the truly useful skills and powers among the various pre-gens. The last thing you want is somebody sitting there twiddling their thumbs because more vocal players have characters with the same skills and this particular player isn't willing to speak up over his fellow players.

- If you know the majority of players will be WoTC fans, take the time to craft a scenario that highlights all the elements of BRP that you feel truly differentiate it.

- At the same time, the victory conditions in the scenario should not be predicated on a specific die roll. For example, the players should not have to make a Spot roll to see the one clue that tells them what to do. That clue should be out in the open; or one of the pre-gens better have a very high Spot and still be breathing.

- Keep the characters alive as long as possible. While I'm not advocating fudging die rolls, create the scenario is in such a way that it's not overly fatal. At least not until the very end.

- If characters do die, let them go out heroically.

- Have a tight plot to the scenario that allows them to feel they've accomplished a lot, but still leaves a couple loose strings. That way, if these players really like BRP and want to continue playing at a later date, you've left an opening...

[frogspawner]

Character should matter. Memorable personalities are what it's all about - the system should stay in the background. You can't control their characters' behaviour (though it could be strongly suggested with clear-cut Glorantha-like cult roles). So one or two utterly bad bad guys should feature.

I suggest Broo - played really over-the-top and gross, defiling anything they can get hold of. These players will probably want to kill things and take their gold. Something that vile clearly must be killed - so that should make them happy. But then they'll find they can't take the gold without becoming diseased - what a dilemma!