Average age of a BRP player?

[Merak Gren]

From reading your posts, I am getting the impression that we are all quite experienced BRPists.

Am I right?

What do you think will take to make BRP appeal to the younger generations?

[rust]

Here in Germany Call of Cthulhu is quite successful with younger players, too.

A "CoC-like" universal system could have a good chance to win over players

of all ages from the currently available systems, especially if a German publi-

sher would provide a translation (as is currently done with Mongoose's new

Traveller RPG).

[PK Games]

Something that is very open ended yet still inspired by other sources. Meaning the main difficulty many younger players have with some of the BRP stuff that has come before it there is either A) too much history and time in it (such as runequest) or is based on source material that may seem dated, daunting or cliche (Moorcocks work, Lovecrafts work, while both amazing, there is a lot to devour for new players). So the settings should either be self contained (shameless plug, like Berlin '61) or overly generic (the settingless fantasy rules like oldschool D&D and Fantasy Hero).

Plus cheap and available sourcematerial. My favorite thing about AD&D as a kid was Dragon Magazine, it was a 120 page sourcebook every month for a measely $3.50. And PDFs are cool and all, but not everyone (even these days) has access to internet, printers, debit cards and lap tops. The younger generation needs to find a parent or other adult with a card to download the PDFs. So Id say some sort of newsletter or subscription service that can touch on all BRP products, past and present, and that has open adventures that can easily be set in multiple settings.

[Rurik]

Physical Age or Maturity?

[juhanfg]

Physical Age or Maturity?

Number of years since you were born.

The maturity thingy cannot be measured properly.

[tedopon]

Shameful. There's not a single person here under 25.

[Ars Mysteriorum]

Shameful. There's not a single person here under 25.

Ta-da! I'm exactly 25. Oh wait... technically that's over 25, isn't it?

Damn.

[Atgxtg]

Shameful. There's not a single person here under 25.

What would you expect for a game over 30 years old? I think that for someone to have an idea what BRP stands for they would have to have been playing before 1990. That's 18 years ago. Tack on a few more years for them to be old enough to read and play, and you probably end up with a minimum age over 25.

[tedopon]

What would you expect for a game over 30 years old? I think that for someone to have an idea what BRP stands for they would have to have been playing before 1990. That's 18 years ago. Tack on a few more years for them to be old enough to read and play, and you probably end up with a minimum age over 25.

DnD is thirty years old as well. I'd say half the players of that game are under 25.

[Chaot]

To be fair here, Chaosium published Lovecraft, Moorcock, Pini, and Niven. Hardly a reading list for today's youngens! Yes, I read all of them when I was in highschool, but that was a while ago, as I'm now 30.

As a note of hope, I know a few gamers who occasionally play BRP and are under 25. I am also planning to introduce the game to my daughter and son when they're old enough. Just doin' my part.

[drohem]

I hit the big 4-0 this year, and I am rapidly approaching the next tick (May ).

[Rurik]

DnD is thirty years old as well. I'd say half the players of that game are under 25.

But D&D has been the most played system for over 30 years, and has continously been the system new (read young) roleplayers are exposed to.

BRP has not been a major player in recent years, so mostly older players have fond enough memories to do things like hang out on boards for unreleased games and buy pre-release copies.

The number of high school kids learning Stormbringer is probably pretty limited, and while CoC is popular there are many other horror alternatives these days and many young gamers probably don't realise it is part of a once proud (and hopefully soon to be again) stable of games united under the BRP name.

[Rurik]

Physical Age or Maturity?

Number of years since you were born.

The maturity thingy cannot be measured properly.

A couple months shy of 38 then.

[Atgxtg]

DnD is thirty years old as well. I'd say half the players of that game are under 25.

D&D has never been off the shelf, and been updated and revised at least 3 times since 1990. BRP has really been in limbo since the Chasoium breakup in the mid 1990s.

No RQ, very little Strombringer, some CoC, and very little else. I think that currently, CoC is better known that BRP.

I'm sure I can pull out other games from pre-2000 or pre-1990 that are good games, that younger gamers won;t know. I used to do this regular with one group I had. Some of the younger players would wish that there was an PG about "X" and I'd pull out something that they never suspected existed.

[tzunder]

Just run it, the age reflects when BRP was at the first peak. Once played with younger people the age will fall as they pick it up.

[Kloster]

I can't vote 2 times, but to lower the average age, my wife (RQ and CoC player) is 27. She discovered BRP 7 years ago. I plan to introduce my son (currently 3 1/2) in a few years.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[tedopon]

Just run it, the age reflects when BRP was at the first peak. Once played with younger people the age will fall as they pick it up.

I sure hope so, but I'm not holding my breath. I worked at the central library hub for a city of approx 200k for a few years. The rpg section was pretty diverse, but the only ones that any of the under thirty set checked out were DnD. Also, knowing Chaosium's track record over the last 20+ years, I expect this game will die another slow death.

I'm not trying to play Devil's Advocate and be overly pessimistic, but from the experiences we've all had over the last couple decades, we have a pretty good idea what to expect.

I also don't want to come off as a DnD hater. I'm not a huge fan of the game, but I still have a soft spot for it. I'd much rather see a group of kids playing DnD than one wasting hours a day on WoW or something similar.

So, I guess the question we should all really be asking, and which I doubt anyone at Chaosium is asking, is how do we push this game to younger people? One suggestion that I would throw right off the top of my head is an overhaul of Chaosium's website. That thing is an aesthetic nightmare.

Another thing I'm looking into is checking with some of the bigger third party publishers of DnD/d20 stuff. Whether you like it or not, people do judge the value of a product initially on brand alone. If we could somehow get one of these publishers to at least consider printing things for BRP, I think that would help.

Also, I've considered (even though I hate it) MRQ as an avenue to explore. I really have no idea how popular the game is, though. (Or if it is primarily played by older folk as well).

I guess I've rambled incoherently enough...I just think that this is something we as a community should take into consideration. I've loved this system for two decades now, and I want to make sure that someone two decades from now can look back on the good times they've had with it.

[Atgxtg]

tedopon,

Some good points. As for worries about BRP dying a slow death from lack of support, I think you hit on the secret fear of us all. A few people who bought BRP Zero did so just in case it died before the final edition was released!

As far as how to get young gamers into the game, that is worth it's own thread.

My suggestions would be:

1) a BRP-Lite or Introductory rules that can generate interest. (Jason was working on that)

2) Some intro adventures.

[Merak Gren]

There are some very insightful points comming out of this.

1. My secret fear of BRP dying unexpectedly has been outed. I seem to have spent the last 20 years waiting for releases that never happened or took too long. E.g. Corum in the early nineties. The postponing of release dates etc.

2. We're not getting any younger. I too hope to teach my 10 month son BRP but that won't be for a few years yet.

3. Hope for BRP in europe. Hope Chaosium realise this and get foreign language translations out quick. I seem to remember a post on the MRQ forum where some Spanish guys were asking about a Spanish translation. Get in there first.

4. As great as CoC is, it has limited appeal and it won't bring in as many converts as it deserves.

5. Chaosiums record with support doesn't bode well for the future. Will they do something different this time round?

Rather sobering. I agree that getting young blood in, deserves a thread of its own.

Not to keen on D20 myself, but I feel there are marketing lessons to be learnt there.

[rust]

Over the last weeks I have mentioned BRP in some RPG forums here in Germa-

ny. It seems that people are quite aware of the release of a "new BRP" and

many are looking forward to it. They seem to see it as an alternative to D&D

("mainly for youngsters") and GURPS ("mainly for mathematicians").

When asked what BRP would need to convince them, the usual desires are a

German translation and interesting settings, with the settings far more impor-

tant than the translation (over here we are used to play games in English).

For example, the interest in the announced settings (Interplanetary, Rome,

Vikings, etc.) is significantly higher than the interest in BRP itself.

One perhaps interesting point: Most of the RPGs and settings published here

over the last years were of the "Dark" kind, and people are getting tired of

that fashion, and would appreciate something more adventurous and colour-

ful. Any setting that does not look like a WoD-clone would probably have a

good start.

[Shaira]

Seconded the idea that there are going to be few people on this forum who don't know BRP from its previous incarnations, which pretty much skews the age stats. Likewise the fact that game hasn't actually been *published* yet.

Once published, though, exposure and marketing determines take up. On the plus side, Chaosium has a record for high quality product which will probably persuade plenty of FLGS to stock copies of the rules straight off - then after that it's killer settings, sourcebooks, scenarios - which Chaosium have a track record for with high production values - and probably a cool and updated online presence with lots of artwork, chrome and freebies (scenarios, critters, fanfiction, "map of the month", "houserule corner", what have you). Naturally a heckuva lot depends on how Chaosium address licensing, fanzines, etc - hopefully with a light enough touch to get plenty of material out there amongst fans.

I'm optimistic that Chaosium are showing clear support for BRP - not only are the rules well under way to 1st ed, we also have by my count 4 (5?) or so official settings and sourcebooks already in the works and a consequential number of fan products also in the offing.

Damn right we'll need to get some accessible intro scenarios out there though. "Son of Apple Lane", anyone?

Cheers,

Sarah

[soltakss]

Shameful. There's not a single person here under 25.

They're probably out doing youngstery things like getting drunk, chasing girls and playing videogames.

It's only old farts who need to log onto forums to escape their drab and dreary lives.

[Ars Mysteriorum]

They're probably out doing youngstery things like getting drunk, chasing girls and playing videogames.

It's only old farts who need to log onto forums to escape their drab and dreary lives.

What about us really eccentric, young folk? I proudly represent 2.5 percent of this community (as of this post, anyways).

EDIT: Ah, there may be hope yet. There are some people actually in their TEENS that still play BRP. Woo!

[Kloster]

...

EDIT: Ah, there may be hope yet. There are some people actually in their TEENS that still play BRP. Woo!

In the RQ goup I'm currently playig with, the youngest is 11 and the oldest (me) is 41. Everything else is in between (average around 30). And we have a CoC group with an average age of 25.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster