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There are two kinds of gamers - those who want to learn as much as possible
about the system, and those who just want to have fun gaming. We all start
out as the first kind. Some of us become the second kind.
This is why GMs at conventions will have pre-generated characters - a lot
of times, when gaming at a convention, I will find half the people around the
table are - at the very least - new to this particular game. And there is
usually at least one person who has heard of this Role Playing Game thing, but
has no idea what it is. For these people, starting out with a bunch of
dice and a thick book of rules (and believe me, if you have to go through it an
memorize it in ten minutes or less, any book is a thick book!)
is a sure way of turning them off.
(My first RPG was at my first science fiction convention. The
organizers had just announced that unless they were sanctioned tournaments, all
games were to be open to all players, regardless of experience. I found a
small group of friends sitting down to play their weekly game of Champions, and
asked if I could join. Bless them - when they found out I had been turned
down by three other groups, and barely knew what role-playing was, they put
their own game on hold, produced a pre-roled character for me, and took me
through what I now realise was a very basic game. I've never seen any of
those players since - but to honor them, I've always tried to do the best I can
to encourage new gamers.
(Anyone out there remember 'Bracken Murray' (Lady Red) at
Necronomicon in Tampa about 20 years ago? I still have my sheet ...
)
Ann
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