TOPIC: BCRPS Recruitment Strategy (new members)

Don't know much about advertising. But if part of the strategy is to develop a welcoming environment for people to join, perhaps those who are new to the hobby, that is something I would like to have some dialogue with some members of the group. I don't know if it needs to be as formal as a committee, but perhaps some of us could organise games for the year so that we've always got something fairly easy that people can join in to if they want?

I agree, we cannot honestly advertise for new members until we have made provision for accepting them, and slotting them into a game if they just "drop in". I am willing to put up a newbie-friendly game once a year to achieve this. I think Inept previously said he could do this too. Assuming Matt is in we would need three more GM's to achieve year-round cover, plus something for Christmas. If we can do this, that is when we can start talking about advertising. Any other GM's out there willing to do this?

We probably don't need specifically newbie friendly games, we just need all GMs to be prepared to possibly take on a new player at short notice. Easiest way to do that is for each GM to create a spare PC that a new player can use if they do join the club mid-rotation. That way we can get new players into a game ASAP without everything grinding to a halt to generate a new character mid-game.

Actually, this is important. Sometimes new people would express an interest on meetups and I would encourage them to join the website and sign up to a game in the next rotation, which would sometimes be several weeks away. Sometimes, they would lose interest as a result of the delay. If we can get new players into a game immediately, that might be better. Existing members are expected to understand and adhere to the sign up process, but we can bend those rules for new players.

Sorry - posted twice

I agree we need a provision for accepting new members, and I think Mike's idea of having a pre-generated character to accommodate a new player is a good way forward to get them into a game immediately. I'll sort one out for the game I'm running now, though I am already up to six players.

As for the newbie-friendly games, for me it's less about making an experience specifically tailored towards new players, and more about creating an environment that it's ok for new players to join. I do not believe anybody who runs games at the club would, in good conscience, turn a new player away if they wanted to join - but some games accommodate this more easily than others! For example, a fast dirty dungeon bash where it's ok to suspend your disbelief might be easier to get a new player in to than a long-form Cthulu campaign where a new player may require years worth of context in order for it to make any sense.

Both are valid of course, and I would suggest that as a club we should offer the range of types games. I'm not above running long-form campaigns, but my general feeling behind the last few games I've run is to create an experience it's OK to join, or drop in and out of if you need to, which would create an easy situation for a new player to join and get to know everybody - they can sort themselves out after the rotation.

If we're going to deliberately organise game-running so that we've got at least one such game a rotation, I'd be willing to get on board with that. It would be worth having some dialogue with the people who want to run games like this so we know who's running what and when, so we don't all end up running the Lost Mines of Phandelver every rotation!

Im pretty sure ive said this before but i will say it again. Ive been coming to the club for i dunno, is it a year yet? probably, but prior to that i tried a few times to subscribe to the website as is, missed the authorising emails and let it slide. Eventually i paid attention and here I am, sorry for that lol. In this day and age a php (or whatever it is) forum is a little outdated. Why oh why don't we have a facebook group (if we have one already i apologise, and admit i'm not aware of it). The other group i belong to is alive with current posts and communications from new new and prospective members. We need to move with the times, it's not sufficient to say 'some people dont use facebook'. Im afraid many do, and it's those people that we are missing out on. php and the forums we use are archaic, in the day, they were fine but time has moved on folks, and bringing younger folks into the fold means we have to move with them. Keep this forum alive but we need to recruit through social media.. FACT.

On the other point of what to do when new folks turn up, well, basically we accommodate them into the current rotations, that needs to be made clear, yes it might screw up a party dynamic for a bit but so what? At the end of that rotation they can enter the 'rotation lottery' like everyone else (probably another discussion regarding not enough games/GMs etc).

I'll part by saying that this is a hobby, and a hobby thats meant to be fun, not a ball ache. 'Don't build your walls higher, just enlarge your table' someone once said.