How to: Convince your table try a new TTRPG

It can be difficult to have your existing D&D 5e table move over to a new system, and with so many new TTRPGs popping up (MCDM RPG, Daggerheart, DC20, Distal, etc,) it's worth talking about how to do just that.
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[@RolewiseBrent]

Really good observations as always. Looking forward to this show and its naming!

[@Keque]

TTRPG is underrated. Wrel is underrated.

[@Woedric]

Here before the podcast gets a name 😅

[@ARandomGM]

I recommend try ones shots. And the GM needs to have a clear understanding of the theme of the TTRPG

[@themasterseye]

Question for you both. At 16:50 John brings up call of Cthulhu and how there is an almost paradoxical disconnect between deep immersive decisions and harsh consequences (paraphrasing). I am realizing I have a very similar issue that I didnt know was a thing until John mentioned it. What do you think would be necessary for a system to bridge that gap and make it feel less throw away and get that immersion the system wants there to be? Or is it on the GM and the players to buy into that and the system cant really do anything about it?

[@WrelPlays]

I'll ping John for his answer, too, but I wholeheartedly believe that the system needs to support the goals and themes through its mechanics -- or else players won't be given enough tangible reasons to commit themselves to the experience. I haven't played Call of Cthulu, but based on what I hear -- it 'sounds' like the system should be stripping your characters down more slowly, and giving you more time to acclimate to the misery and dread you're meant to experience. If death is your greatest fear (or worse, if you know you'll die abruptly so you no longer fear it at all,) it seems to detract from the value of building suspense, terror, and helplessness altogether. Fates worse than death should be the goal.

[@dragonmindttrpgs]

In my experience, player roster has a huge effect on immersion. I find a lot of the work actually comes before Session Zero. Before I ran my latest immersive campaign, I spent a while playing 5e one shots with players to see what play style they gravitated towards. If I set an expectation and they weren't able to meet it, they wouldn't "graduate" to a more committed level of a system like Call of Cthulhu that needs more buy in to work (I assume, I haven't played the system myself, I'm just going off of anecdotes). Sometimes, you need to play test the players before you can play test a system. -John

[@themasterseye]

@@WrelPlays I really appreciate your responsiveness, and look forward to Johns input as well.The idea of 'worse than death' mechanics is nerve wracking to consider because of how reactive players can be to negative effects.

[@themasterseye]

@@dragonmindttrpgs That makes a lot of sense, the table sets the atmosphere which draws the players in. Thanks for the insight. This unnamed podcast has been an incredible inspiration. I hope it ends up lasting quite some time.

[@fasthink864]

Have you ever considered moving all of your TTRPG content to a different channel from the old planet side content? I hear that sort of thing can mess with how the algorithm promotes your channel

[@WrelPlays]

I've definitely considered it. If I were to start a channel from scratch (or unlist all of my PS2 videos,) I'd wager it would do much better than this is on the TTRPG side of things -- but I've got this attachment to the name and frankly, I don't really consider myself a KZbinr any more, so I kind of just want to use this channel to do stuff that I'm interested in personally -- and if folks are interested, it's all good. Maybe I'll change my tune at some point, who knows.