Lessons Learned #3: People Don't Read

A lot of us have experienced the hilarious incompetence of first level characters. and those games can be great! With new players all sitting down at a convention and not worrying too much about all the little details of the particular system, the lack of character depth and options often results in a fun, short game. But that's not helpful when you're really looking to play-test specific longer-term character abilities.

On one hand, I get it, and games can run quick and smooth when the players aren't worried about the system. But on the other, I'm also kind of sick of always starting at "level 1", especially when it comes to trying out new games. So for Hostargo, I always aim to give my pre-gen characters a rough "mid-level" feel. Granted, I probably won't even have a "level 1" in the long term, but for now the point is that the characters all have a variety of options for the players to test out.

I like to give the players buttons - and powerful buttons. Buttons that shake the game up, make the players feel good, and often surprise both the other players and myself as the GM! That is, if the players take the time to dig into their characters and read some of the things I've lain out for them. Some people do - and it's much appreciated! But, most do not, and it's not their fault.

No one likes getting handed a packet or a rule book before a game and being told "okay here, read this first and make sure you know it." Even if I give people ample time to read over their packet of cool character abilities, not everyone just dives right in. At the same time, however, I can't take the time to individually explain everyone's characters to them. In an already limited time slot at a convention, it's just too much.

So how can we balance this? I unfortunately don't have a great answer just yet. I think that for future conventions, I'm going to focus on giving each character maybe one or two "big" buttons that I want tested, so that there's less to read for the players, but also gives them actual options that show them what the system can do. Otherwise, I'd also like to have a better summary of the characters, both verbally and written on the packets, so that the players get hooked and interested into learning more on their own (e.g. reading the rest of the packet to find out how they do that cool thing they're supposed to be able to do).

Anyone have any good tips or tricks they've found helps with this issue? I'm always interested to hear ya'lls thoughts!