So how would you attract new players to Spycraft?

[Morgenstern]

When showinghte book to new players I ussualy walk them through bits of it instead of letting the size of the whole thing overwhelm them. Ussually I start with the pointman's class abilites, as those are very different than most d20 games but sound very cool to players of those other games ("I get stuff that lets me help the group?!?"). Then ussually a quick smatterig of game breaker abilites ("Look at what all the classes get at level 14") as an introduction to how cool the game will let tehm become ussually keeps things moving. Then I introduce the one-from-column-a, one-from-column-b goodness of origins. Then breeze through the skill chapter ("It's like D&D, but you can crit hit with skills too, not just attacks), show the feat section is big and show off a couple powerful ones to demonstrate that any set of feats they take will be neat. Then its time for a tour of the combat actions table and mention that you can do lots of stuff in combat with your sillls, not just attack-attack-attack-atttack. 1 minute intro of dramatic conflicts as "Hey, chases are cool for everyone, and hacking won't make 4/5ths of the group sit on their hands for an hour." FInally a glimpse at campaign qualities as a way to tune the game for everyone's fun in any setting and a brief mention of the build it yourself NPC system that automatically kicks out the appropriae XP reward.

Players don't need to read the whole book. They need to have their hand held long enough to know the shape of the table of contents and where to look for the stuff that is their part of the deal .

[Gentry]

Well I'm taking AuldGrump's advice and i'm going to just post a demo. I may pick one of the Living Spycraft missions since that should be a good way to capture what I'd like to see. I'll make up some demo characters, though there are probably some already done for the living game and see what turns up.

There are UNITAS iconic characters available for download on the LSpy site, which are complete standalone characters, including explanations of all their gear and feats.  They're intended to be characters a new player (i.e. one that hasn't got the rulebook) can pick up and use without having to constantly be trying to look at somebody else's rulebook. 

For my money, I'd look to run a four-man demo, and use Shepherd the Pointman, Hammer the Soldier, Rooster the Wheelman, and Grift the Intruder.  They're the most straightforward.  And if you're going to use an old Lspy scenario, I personally suggest Black Tie Formal.   

[MDL]

While I agree Black Tie Formal would be a good beginner mod, and that selection of iconics is a nice set of 'simple to explain' characters, my one note would be that Black Tie Formal really isn't set up well for the Wheelman class to shine.  Pointman works because, due to the 'make the team better' aspect the class works in all mods.  There's significant breaking and entering for the Intruder.  There's notable combat for the Soldier.  The Wheelman shines most in combat, where the class is still second banana to the Soldier(having full BAB being the only really 'combat' oriented feature to show off).

Tweaking Black Tie Formal to insert a chase scene(hmmm...  I can think of one way to slip one in there), or switching out Wheelman for a class more suited to the mission(Faceman is more complicated, but strikes me as the most apropos for the mod).  Or choosing another mod(can't think of a perfect first choice off hand...).

Only mod that occurs to me as a good balance of 'some investigation, some combat, some breaking and entering, some chase scenes, makes use of dramatic conflicts' would be Triple Play, but that has certain other issues(like an inherent split the group up point) that can be awkward.

[Crafty_Pat]

I don't use the Wheelman in most demos. He's too niche.

[Daedalus4096]

I don't use the Wheelman in most demos. He's too niche.

Personally, I always thought that the Wheelman gets a bit of a bum rap.  The way I see them, they're Soldiers with technical skills.

[Crafty_Pat]

I don't use the Wheelman in most demos. He's too niche.

Personally, I always thought that the Wheelman gets a bit of a bum rap.  The way I see them, they're Soldiers with technical skills.

He does, and much of the reason involves peoples' expectations - which are exactly what you're dealing with in a demo. Best to leave him out until folks can approach him with fewer assumptions.

[Gentry]

It's a valid point, in which case in the four-man demo you could include Shades the Snoop instead of good ol' Rooster.  That switch makes an excellent team for Black Tie Formal.

And I remembered today my personal favorite demo gag:  free sunglasses.  Cruise down to your local dollar/discount store and drop ten or fifteen bucks on ten or so pairs of cheap spy-esque sunglasses.  Everybody who plays in the demo gets a pair free.

[Krensky]

On a slightly different prop note:

Something else to consider is how you present information to the player, and not just in hand outs.  If you feel like spending a little money stop by Staples or whatever and pick up four or so classification folders and punch all of the character sheets, write ups, briefings, rules summaries, etc to go in them.  Add the character's name to the folder tab and a big, UNITAS logo and classification notice to the front using a full pager Avery label.  You might also consider getting the rules summaries and such bound in oak tag and labeling them as UNITAS operations manual or whatever.  Similarly, if there's a handout that's given to the players in session with a description of it coming in a envelope or such, give to to them in an envelope.

[Maldroth]

Ah well when I don't mascarade as neophyte writer I work in an office supply store. We can actually order in folders with material printed on it. Don't know what the cost would be for a small sample but might be worth looking into.

Hmm could be cool for at cons as a promo handout or something.

[Darth Sephiroth]

This is one of the reasons I keep hoping for a "Spycraft 2.0: Lite" that can be handed out with perhaps the first 3-5 levels of the more easy to use and mix base classes with a few feats and dumbed down skills and rules.

I love the rule set as it is, but it becomes difficult with 2.0 to handle the differences from the more baseline D20 games (DnD, D20 Modern/Future) with players used to them. Plus having the rules easily handed out to players and allowing them to keep a copy would make the game more memorable and keep it in their minds as they think about books.

Also keeping the game simple while showing off some of the various parts of the system that are good. Normally with a promo you can also skip the gearing up stage entirely unless you want a real headache. Keep the plot memorable, or if you want, steal a plot from a movie and adapt it (I'd gotten a lot of attention when I was running my AvP game in the library simply because people knew what the main conflict was while standing there and watching/listening in, now I'd add more mini's with the new HorrorClix if I could find them anywhere).

[Alphastream]

Attracting players is for the bold, the strong, the patient, the tireless...

It takes a bundle of work and time. Even at the height of LG, it took me a solid month of hard-core salesmanship on already existing and frequented Yahoo groups to pull a table together in Texas.

In Portland, I've created Yahoo groups (none exist that are broad enough), posted politely on the LG groups and other local gaming groups, posted at gaming stores, posted on boards such as Paizo, Crafty, Matchup, and so on, and pressed all the people I know into passing on the word. I've volunteered to run mods at conventions. After about three months, I finally ran my first mod (after failing in two earlier slots) at a con this weekend. 5 players, 4 really enjoyed it (the other appreciated it, but is more of a GURPS/Shadowrun player). I ran the LSpy mod Shadow, because I like it's international feel, openness to just about any class to shine, and solid Spy feel.

My guess is that I still have a lot of work to do to get a second game to come together. You basically can't give in until enough gamers really tell you "great, let's do this again".

Since you work at an office supply, one possibility is to print up cards with your name, number, LSpy logo, e-mail, and Yahoo group. Get everyone on that or a similar board to keep the excitement going, keep bouncing potential dates, etc. Eventually, I promise, games will happen.

Teos

[Desertpuma]

Having railed against the LG in my area for the 4 years of LSpy, I can tell you the need to be tireless and patient is necessary.

For Demos, I actually used Tengu Conspiracy quite a bit and Beast of Dunvegan as well. ... From the 2.0 set, Triple Play and Shadow are good.

There are also mini-missions like Panacea Gambit that you can use.

[LordKruelos]

Back to the boards, and here I go again looking at a topic near and dear to my heart...

On a slightly different prop note:
Something else to consider is how you present information to the player, and not just in hand outs.  If you feel like spending a little money stop by Staples or whatever and pick up four or so classification folders and punch all of the character sheets, write ups, briefings, rules summaries, etc to go in them.  Add the character's name to the folder tab and a big, UNITAS logo and classification notice to the front using a full pager Avery label.  You might also consider getting the rules summaries and such bound in oak tag and labeling them as UNITAS operations manual or whatever.  Similarly, if there's a handout that's given to the players in session with a description of it coming in a envelope or such, give to to them in an envelope.

This is a really good idea, though it may start to get expensive, especially if you're planning on giving them away as part of the demo.  As I am no longer a poor undergrad student, but now looking forward to becoming a poor doctoral candidate, my low cost alternative is:

Manilla folder with appropriate cryptic labels, containing:
* Pre-gen character (basically, what I'm working on here (http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=1332.0)
* Combat Actions Summary sheet from the GC handout (possibly modified to be less cartoony)
* Mission Briefing (handed out in envelope)
* Mission Gear List (limited number of choices, in envelope)

What else would be useful to include in this kind of "demo folder" for a new player?

[Gentry]

I would be inclined to put the first two items from Kruelos' list in individual folders for each player, and then put mission briefing notes and gear choices in a manilla envelope placed centrally for everyone.  I'd go so far as to put each potential piece of gear (with a picture off the intarweb) on a separate half-sheet of paper (or maybe even quarter sheet) so the group can physically divvy them up.

This sort of move is an exercise is keeping the players from having to open a rulebook at the table, which is probably the single best idea that should drive demo-planning.  Or any sort of convention gaming, for that matter.

 

[LordKruelos]

This sort of move is an exercise is keeping the players from having to open a rulebook at the table, which is probably the single best idea that should drive demo-planning.  Or any sort of convention gaming, for that matter.

Wholeheartedly agree.  Even in normal games, I try to minimize the frequency of page flipping.