>Be me
>Have a cousin who is old timey 2nd ed DnD roleplayer
>Hasn't RPed in, like, a million years. Fond memories of it.
> Said cousin marries a foreign guy
>Foreign guy is a complete bro, and loves boardgames and cardgames
> Arkham Horror, Nothing Personal, Pandemic. Has a collection and a game room that is just badass.
> Suggest we play DnD
> Cousin is down for it.
> Foreign hubby has no idea what it is.
> Try to explain it to him
> "Sounds low class!" he says
> Hoo boy.
> Say it requires imagination. Say it is akin to Diablo (as that's the only thing we have to measure it by)
> Explain to him that it isn't just a game you finish in an afternoon, but an ongoing thing, and is like collaborative storytelling with dice.
> "Well, why would you play something like that if you already know how it's going to end?"
> Try to explain to him that it isn't the same story.
> Go to comic shop. He gets excited for some Fantasy Flight Star Wars 'roleplaying' game involving cards, dice, pieces and a map
> Tell him that's not what we're talking about.
> Ask store owner (another bro) to break it down for him.
> While the store owner does a good job, foreign hubby still seems confused.
> Cousin says that maybe he needs to read up on how roleplaying games, or watch a video of people roleplaying.
> The latter makes makes me cringe. Pop on /tg/ for help
So, guys, what do you think? Me and my cousin really want to bring him around, but we're kind of...well, stuck a little. Do you guys have any suggestions? Links for him to read? Videos that aren't complete cringefests?
pic unrelated
Just run a game what is there to talk about here?
>>47485065
Because the guy has no sweet clue what the heck it is, and it's hard to run a game for someone who doesn't know a thing about roleplaying?
Like, he literally thinks the core rulebook is a story, and once you get through that story, no more game.
>>47485097
>it's hard to run a game for someone who doesn't know a thing about roleplaying?
sounds like you should run Pathfinder
>>47485097
>Like, he literally thinks the core rulebook is a story, and once you get through that story, no more game.
Then you expalin the difference between the rules you tell a story by (those are in the book) and the story itself (that's usually in the head of whichever poor sod happens to be his GM)
>>47485401
This.
Tell him that the rules are a template, not the game. It's more of an engine than a vehicle in it's self.
>>47485097
Or slowly warm him up to the idea? If he was into the ff sw games get imperial assault. Play through once with the base game. Play through again with light homebrew roleplay segments in between.
This works honestly. It's what I did for my friends. They didn't even realize what was happening.
Made a whole intergalactic campaign. If you want help/ideas for this just ask
>>47485097
Run the game and see what happens. Then post about it here. Till then this is a circle jerk. Somethings are best learned by experiencing them.
Well, of course we're going to ease him in. But is there any video or article out there that explains roleplaying? I'm figuring since he learned how to play some of his boardgames via watching a playthrough on youtube and studying the rules carefully, a video might help things 'click' for him
>>47485401
You. I like you. I'll copypaste what you said to my cousin.
>>47485112
Sounds like you should eat a phallus, I'm not touching that.
>>47484910
How can not a single fucking person see the obvious link between tabletop rpgs and improv acting. Just tell him it's like an improv session with some rules, and if he's never heard of an improv session he's hopeless.
>>47484910
watch the adventures of aquisitions incorperated with him ... that should get everyone in the mood to play some DnD
>>47485929
>You. I like you. I'll copypaste what you said to my cousin.
It can also be phrased as "what, how and why". The books provide how (the rules), the GM what (the scenario), and you why (the motivation for your character).
>>47486970
Because he's foreign.
Like, not European foreign
>inb4 /pol/
>>47484910
Crikey, don't show him a video. Have him read some stories, like over at Tabletop Titans or whatever it's called. They have a thing called "Tales from the table" which is submitted short stories and very entertaining. Explain to him that the GM has a rough storyline in mind, but the players themselves dont know it. It's like a video game, but you aren't restricted by preprogrammed actions.
>roll him a fighter
>start campaign
Seriously, the best way to start someone in PnP is just to bring them into a session and let them play
Thanks lads
Here goes nothing.
