Player Buy-In

I own a lot of games. A crazy amount, really. And far too many of these games will not see play from my shelf anytime in the forseeable future because of my players.

That makes it sound like I dislike my group - and I don't. I have been blessed with a really good group of players. But only for some games.

I'm not currently running any games. I'm playing 13th Age and Dungeons & Dragons (4th Edition). These are both games where player buy-in is minor. The responsibility of the player for these games boils down to Show up. Roll some dice. There's not a ton of record-keeping or other work involved.

The first session involves a bunch of work for character generation, but that's about it paperwork-wise.

At the other end of the spectrum is Pendragon, where every session or two, every player needs to spend some time rolling dice for their character's lands and family. It's a lot of paperwork, and to make it work, you need to have players who are willing to put in the extra effort. It runs better if they are both interested and willing, but you can make it work with just willing players.

Pendragon is one of the best games that I don't often have the opportunity to play.  Ars Magica is another. And, if anything, ArM has a tougher buy-in requirement. At the first session, players first make their characters. Then they make companion characters. Then they build their Covenant (up to and including determining specific books for the Covenant library).

And then, every few sessions, you need to track your character's aging/advancement and what you've done for the Covenant. In fact, roughly 1/4 of the time, you'll play a Companion rather than your Magus.

It's one reason I'm still plugging away at that Generational L5R thing I mentioned a few months back - I have a player who is an L5R nut. He loves the setting, and will sit through crazy amounts of bookkeeping to be able to play there. So if I can get that working, it might make Ars Magica an easier sell down the road.

Somewhere in the middle is Burning Wheel, which is ... odd. Because players need to keep track of their successful rolls and their failed rolls, because advancement requires a certain degree of both. And it takes time to learn BW - players who aren't willing to spend the time will find it unrewarding. But players who grab the various system nuances find it hugely rewarding.

But it got me thinking a bit about player buy-in.  What does it take to draw a player into a game?

For me, +Wade Rockett running a game is enough. I'd even play an RPG that uses Fluxx for its resolution system if he were to run it.

The D&D game we're in is another one where the buy-in for me is "the chance to occasionally see my friends in person." Which reminds me - I need to write a post about Gaming As An Introvert sometime.

In other news this week, Fantasy Flight Games is merging into Asmodee. Wow. There's a ton of idle speculation out there about what exactly this will mean for all involved. Me? I'm excited. And - like I said in September when Asmodee bought Days of Wonder - I trust Asmodee. They've spent ten years building that trust. So I'm looking forward to seeing what this merger does for us.