So, after years of playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends at school, around my home, and at my friendly local gaming store, I have finally convinced my parents to give D&D a try. This has been no easy task, since I've literally been playing D&D most of my life (at 21, its not that impressive, but I'll take it). I finally sat my parents down, and asked them what they knew about the hobby, and what they didn't know about it. They both were pretty sketchy about it (for an example, see Shelly's article from Dragon Issue 371). So I finally said, why don't we try it, I'll help you roll up characters, and I'll run a small adventure for you, just so you guys can get a feel of what I do when I play.
The biggest issue with their hesitation is that they feel the rules are too complex. So heres what I plan on doing, I plan on either running Keep on the Shadowfell, and bringing in some friends to help them, or some other first level adventure that I have lying around. Taking the quick start rules from the website, I can condense these down so they have a reference guide. The biggest concern I have is my parents getting into the role playing aspect of the game. I'm sure my dad could pretend he is Gimble the Gnomish Bard (not his actual character), but I don't think he would sit there and act like the mischievous little guy. Even if everything goes according to plan, and they enjoy the game... I'm expecting a little resistance, considering it has taken me 11 years to get them to even sit down at the same table where a game is being played.
Since their characters are made, all I have to do is plan the adventure for them, which is easy considering I have all day to do it.
So, I'm heading off to the trenches to hopefully get them hooked, not so I have a reason to buy new books, but so I can share something fun with my parents.
