Lure More to the Dark Side!
written by Donat P. Fevre
July 26th, 2007 · 4 Comments
If you’ve played D&D, or any other roleplaying system, long enough, you’ve probably come across a few people that have just a passing interest in it. They’re curious enough to check it out, but they don’t want to get really involved in it, not even with taking a pre-made character.
So instead of trying to get them to play a player character, you can have them take the role of some NPC instead. Not only will it make your task as Dungeon Master a little easier, but it’ll give the curious player a chance to see what D&D is all about.
Probably the most classic way of doing this would be to have the curious player play an NPC who just tags along with the PCs. This could work alright, but it could have some drawbacks. Perhaps the curious player doesn’t want to stay for very long, thus eventually handing the role for that NPC back to you. On the other hand, the curious player may become attached to the NPC, and may be disappointed when he comes back later to find out that you simply killed off that character.
So, here are a couple other ideas you could use to try to get some fresh blood into D&D:
- Sell Some Wares - Perhaps the player can only be around for a short time. By playing the part of the shop keeper, you give the curious one a chance to roleplay with your steady players, as well as giving him/her a small taste of the rules, with some rolls for diplomacy, bluff, appraise, etc. On the plus side, I think this may be a way to keep a potential newcomer form getting too attached to the character, since it’ll only be a shop keeper with hardly any adventuring skills.
- Be a Monster - This is perfect for a curious player with a taste for some blood!
Let him play the roll of a monster in an encounter, and let him try to defeat the PCs. One down side to this, however, is that the potential fresh blood will need to be taught more of the complex rules of D&D. However, if you can keep it as simple as possible, this can be very enjoyable for him/her, and hopefully make an addition to your gaming group. 
- Go Hitch-Hiking - Want a quick quest for your core players, and also have an extra? The extra can play the part of an NPC looking for safe passage from one place to another. Once the NPC is delivered safely to where ever it wanted to go, it can then just fade away. While this is very similar to the classic example of a random NPC adventuring with the PCs, it better allows for an NPC to be forgotten about. However, if for any reason the potential initiate grows an attachment to that NPC, then making the NPC into a PC should be a relatively easy affair. At least it’s better than bringing someone back from the dead, especially at early levels.
Of course, those are only a few ideas I’ve managed to come up with. What other ideas have you thought of for handling the casual, slightly-interested gamer?
If you like this post, buy me an ale!Topics: D&D General
I love this idea. It’s a great way to jumpstart a game sinking into the routine. It might also be very interesting with experienced players. I learn something different every time I play D&D with a new party. Sometimes I learn that D&D enthuasiasts can be lacking in social skills. Someitmes I discover that my acting skills can be improved upon. But it’s always fun to play with different people.
Hm, I’ve never thought about having experienced gamers take those roles, while others play the PCs. This could be rather interesting.
I think having a new player or a casual player play another character’s familiar would be fun. It’s a way to get involved with the game but in a limited way. Plus, you have an experienced player available to help the new player learn. I’ve offered this to a number of people but no one’s ever taken me up on it.
I actually played in one campaign a few years back where one of the players was actually playing the imp familiar of our wizard. He did a very good job roleplaying his part.
However, he wasn’t just a guy who came in in the middle of a campaign or anything. He had created a barbarian when the campaign started, who then died after he fell into a bottomless pool of quicksand.