>Be me.
>Try to introduce cousin's husband to tabeltop rpgs.
>Cousin herself used to play 2nd ed DnD. Surprisingly not a land whale, but I digress.
>Husband didn't understand RPGs for a long, long time, despite being thoroughly acquainted with other forms of gaming.
>He is a fan of GoT. I am not. Infact I dislike it. He knows this. Cousin knows this. It causes her amusement as I have such salt for GRRM.
>Guy winds up showing me the ASOIAF rpgs from Green Ronin, asking "Is this a good game? Good quality?" (they both know I have a large library, and something like 15 years of GMing/playing)
>Tell him I don't know.
>Guy *buys* is, and says "Now we can start! What about *this night*"
>Explain to him that RPing isn't just a get up and go type thing, that preparation is involved.
>He seems to understand this, and wants me to run the adventure in the back of the book.
>I decline, saying that I don't play modules really, that I make it up myself.
>I didn't say because metagaming asshole sometimes try to use OOC knowledge, because that's too much for his newbie brain.
> He doesn't understand, and says "Wouldn't that save you lots of trouble?"
>My reply: "Yes, but it also robs me of fun"
Fakking hell, a fuckup waiting to happen?
>He makes character
>Cousin was going to but time ran out and I had to leave. It was agreed upon that I should GM, despite my dislike of the setting, I at least know how to GM
>Talk to him tonight
>Apparently I'm not going to GM: "We are going to do the introduction adventure in the back". I ask who is GMing. He says he and her will take turns.
>Bit put off by this, saying that this might make things complicated. His reply is "Nothing is complicated".
>Apparently he didn't tell my cousin she was going to co-GM with him, he just 'voluntold'.
>I asked him if she explained "Metagaming" to him.
>His reply?
> "Everything we need to understand is in the book with the introductory scenarios designed for new players and experienced."
>Am left speechless, both because of the very 'robotic' tone of the text, and also kind or rankled, as this is some newbie speaking to me.
>Perhaps it's my own idiot pride.
>But now I have a very uneasy feeling
So be honest Veeky Forums, does this sound like a trainwreck waiting to happen?
Show us your tits!
Oh yes, I can't imagine this turning out well. That being said, you might get a good storytime out of it. Best to let him learn his lesson the hard way.
Everything is set up for a disasterpiece, from what you've told us.
First session isnt going to be fun for you, thats why you feel dread youre teaching not playing.
That is good as well as bad, dude seems like hes interested and thats huge, far better than having his nose stuck in a phone giving one word answers.
If you wish to stay consider just calling the first session or two a bust and let him gain more interested.
At that point hes got a desire to play you start doing things your way and have fun.
You arent playing yet OP, youre still teaching.
Oh it will be a trainwreck undoubtedly, but that doesn't mean there's no time to try to salvage it. The husband clearly is mainly interested because of the setting, not because of the roleplaying itself, but despite this, it is through the setting that he can learn how to properly role play itself. What you should do is point him in the direction of some good DMing focused youtube channels (or at least some popular ones a normie could understand) under the guise of getting him in the right mindset for it. With any luck and with the right choice of words, he will watch those videos and learn something from them. Or get scared and stop, letting his wife handle the GMing.
OP Again
The statements
> "Nothing is complicated"
>"Everything we need to understand is in the book with the introductory scenarios designed for new players and experienced."
Really stick out at me for some reason, and, well...for some reason, stress me. I'm not sure why.
Maybe it's the fact that he's taking the genre so straight faced and mechanical like, as if it were a board game, instead of realizing that RPGs are more flowing and complicated than just following what the book says to a T.
Even though his wife and I have explained that to him ad nauseum, and he's read the whole damned corebook, and is now ordering more from the same line.
Like, her and I joked that he may be on the Autistic Spectrum, but I'm now really beginning to wonder.
OP
Should I just "fuck this shit I'm out" on them?
What are you, simple?
Help the poor guy out.
I am fucking *trying*. He isn't *listening*. He hasn't been for months.
I fear it might all come down to my cousin herself, who knows what's what.
I can't fucking help someone when they yank the carpet out from underneath you
underneath me*
Then talk to your cousin and figure this fuckery out. If you can't handle the heat, get her to give you an excuse to get out of the kitchen.
Serious question here: is your cousin's husband... not neurotypical, to put it politely? Because that phrasing sounds like something is just not clicking for him, and in a way that most average people wouldn't have trouble with. Did you have him read the "What is roleplaying?" section of the book? That might help.
Like I said here
>Like, her and I joked that he may be on the Autistic Spectrum, but I'm now really beginning to wonder.
I'm actually on the spectrum myself, so me and here, ah...are very well acquainted with 'The Spectrum', as it were
It sounds to me like maybe you're taking this a little too seriously, and that maybe you're going to be showing up to the game biased against the experience.
Adventures out of the back of the book are a pretty typical way for people to get into the hobby. The important thing is that everyone has fun and wants to get further into the hobby. This being a rookie game I'm sure everyone will be more concerned about having a good time then doing it right, and they shouldn't be taking it too seriously, which is probably the correct approach in this situation.
It won't be an amazing game, but I'd encourage you to relax and try to enjoy it and roll with the punches rather than the alternative.
Make a simple, easygoing, slightly insane character. Give him "visions" or just make him a drunkard so that he can roll with whatever happens in the game. And done.
Now no matter how bad it will become you would always be able to salvage something for yourself. If things go really weird your character could always claim that it is alcohol trying to speak with him.
Whatever happens, you're now obligated to tell us how the first night goes.
I'll check back. I don't know when, but I will.
I have a feeling my cousin will get mad at him for voluntelling her. Also for ripping the game out from underneath me and being all "nope! He not run small adventure, so screw him"
OP here, one last bit before I go to work
He kind of ripped the GMing role from underneath me, despite my cousin saying I should run it. I think because he's tilted that I'm not running the introduction scenario Or he doesn't respect me, but eitherway
I'm generally not trying to take it personal, but something about being told you should allow someone with experience 'lead', agreeing to be led, and then going "oh no, he's not leading me in this thing I know nothing of in a way that I like so heck with him" just strikes me as...idk, foolish?
Just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride, you massive pussy.
You really needed to make a thread for this?
Strap and see if his autistic fun will work out.
That's one of those "Well yes, but not quite." responses.
I think you need to explain the barrier between OOC and IC knowledge and understanding.
Looking forwards to the follow up thread storytiming the autistic screeching and shitflinging when super hardcore GoT fan runs his special adventure and GoT-phobic OP doesn't get the super-clever clues and references.
A long-time player in my games stepped up to GM once, did loads of prepwork, fun adventure.
Then had a puzzle-trap that was instant-kill if you failed it, with a clue based on a bible verse he knew by heart but no one else at the table had even read.
We all died.
>that preparation is involved
I think the thing that infuriates me the most as a GM is when players don't realise the amount of effort a GM has to put in and treat an RPG like some other random boardgame night.
Even a premade adventure requires the GM to read the majority of the thing ahead of time , memorise any specific rules that might come up, learn an entirely new system if they've not played it before and still write out some prep notes as most premade adventures have holes in them that need to be filled in by a GM. Then running the game itself takes a lot of effort.
I recently prepped a simple game for a 40K RPG that me and 3 friends had agreed to play on a date at a specific time.
I printed out the rules we'd need at my expense , learned the rules for the system and worked out a simple scenario to start us off, and then one of the players who had agreed to it flaked because he had to go home early and wanted to play a game of 40k instead with the time he had and so I cancelled it because there was no point running it half assed. It's fucking annoying.
you sound like a huge jagoff, surounded by equally huge jagoffs
Oh, the irony.
Strap in for a trainwreck OP, you can get out of it alive, yet.
It's probably just what you said. He wasn't allowed to meta-game, he's pissed about that, so he's going to do the MOST meta-gaming possible. When the adventure ends he'll have nothing to do and will blame her and/or you for not fixing it somehow.
This is an absolute disaster waiting to happen with no possible positive outcome and he will blame you for it forever. Get the fuck out while you still can.
>Looking forwards to the follow up thread storytiming the autistic screeching and shitflinging when super hardcore GoT fan runs his special adventure and GoT-phobic OP doesn't get the super-clever clues and references
Actually I read Ok, listened to 3 of the books and watched 3 of the seasons, specifically so that my criticisms and dislike of it would be grounded and backed up.
Cousin's husband hasn't even read the books, maybe watched a few episodes, and bought next to ever goddamn card and board game associated with it.
Your relative and her husband are actually working hard to have a connection with you. That's a good thing.
The first game might be bad, but bear with it.
ASOIAF however put a lot of emphasis on army management and House politics. You might need a few more players for the later games.
Even if the first game is a complete failure, don't just drop it. Make your own game in the same setting. Maybe dedicate one evening just to character creation, show them what you expect from a good character.
>Cousin's husband hasn't even read the books, maybe watched a few episodes
And yet you described him as a fan, how can he possibly be a real fan without knowing everything about it?
I bet he doesn't even know the motto of House Lannister.
OP, let them go with it. Let him run the scenario. Be a GOOD player and be supportive. Enjoy it for what it is.
Accept that there will be truly horrible GM stuff going on, do not get mad. Let it go.
Most of all, just do a social thing with family. I think you probably need that in your life. Most of us do.
This. A thousand times this.
>I think you probably need that in your life. Most of us do.
Nah. We would do boardgames and cardgames if that were the case. Which I mostly dislike but suffer through, as, well, like you said- trying to make connections and such.
I had to put a stop to his damned Axis and Allies marathons, however. That game kills me.