Thursday, March 1, 2012

Info for Prospective Players - Live Gaming

This post covers what new players to a live game need to know, and will act as an introduction to role-playing games for new players.

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The following section in is for players who are new to role-playing entirely:
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which you make and play a character who resides in another world. The game is a social activity for two to six players and one Game Master (like a referee).
In a RPG there are no pre-defined goals (at least no winning conditions), only unique goals that you give to your character. Each player's character works together with the rest of the group to overcome conflicts that you face as a team.
When making a character it is important to take into account how much experience you've had acting improvisationally. If you have had very little experience you may feel more comfortable making a character that shares a lot of traits in common with you. More experienced players often make characters that are very different from themselves for an additional challenge.
The differences between the game world of "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" and our world include a gothic aesthetic and the presence of supernatural creatures. Most 'normal' humans in this game world (known as the World of Darkness or WoD) are not aware that such creatures exist.
Dice are used to determine the success or failure of a character's actions. Specifically, Werewolf requires roughly ten pentagonal trapezohedrons (ten-sided dice).
If you would like, you can sit in on a game session or two before you decide whether you'd like to make a character and join the game.
Our "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" game is set in modern-day New York City and the surrounding areas. The game runs on Friday evenings near Five Points in Columbia, SC from 7pm until 11:00pm (4 hours).

To begin, each player makes a werewolf character (Fianna and Children of Gaia are preferred in this campaign, but no Werewolf tribe is completely off limits) or a human character. Each character should in some way compliment the rest of the characters, and have motivations that draw them into the group. Experienced players will have significant leeway generating their characters as long as they can be easily incorporated into the group.

Our house rules are simple, be respectful of each other and don't interrupt another player or the GM. Feel free to bring snacks for yourself or others, they will be greatly appreciated. We have a large play area that can fit about eight players comfortably.

Our group can descend into geekiness pretty easily, but we're all at least averagely socially adept and play well with newbies. Since we play a Storytelling game (as opposed to a tactical RPG with a lot of specific rules) there isn't a lot to learn as far as "how to play", most of it can be picked up in a single session. You don't need to bring anything in particular to watch the game, and if you want to join we can provide you a character sheet, pencil, and dice.

Email me, add me on Facebook or Google+, or comment below if you are interested in the game or have any questions. Remember, the only dumb question is one left unasked.

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