Hi Guys,

In preparation for Dark Heresy, I would like to hear from fellow members how your group/s started. As we are a very small town (Well still 20,000) we do not have a large wargaming group. There are about 6 or so of us that get together about once a month, one of my local shops does have a sheet to try and get more guys involved by asking what there interests are.

The completed surveys are leaning towards Warhammer 40K players (Mostly college guys 14-17yrs) (But seems they don't have a dedicated shop to play at) - hence the surveys the shop wants to set up a table out back, and this could work two fold not only wargaming but it would also work as a RPG table. So far none have indicated that they play RPG's

Are RPG's just harder to get guys into these days?

Anyway of the 6 guys I know of myself and the shop owner are keen to play Dark Heresy, have not asked the others, not sure if they would bite. I would be GM, so I think that another 2 or 3 players would be nice.

What age do you think would be suitable to introduce Dark Heresy to, and how would you go about "conerting" players.

Thanks in advance

It's not so hard to get players into DH. When we begun, none of my players really knew anything about the setting (well, actually two of them played Dawn of War, but still that's far away from DH) and after a few sessions they have the picture of the setting that is expanding form session to session. It's good to make players watch, for example, Blade Runner or Alien(s) to get the glimpse of what kind of dark s-f the setting covers. And then proceed.

As far as the beginning adventure is concerned, everyone would recommend Edge of Darkness (to download from the Support section one the home page of DH).

Hope that helps.

Edit: I'd say it's rather for people about 17+ years old, as some things can be pretty rough (not only massacre scenes, but also complex and complicated politics).

I would also adivse you to start small, especially if you haven't GMed before. Find one more player and give it a go! Some of the best of my games (been playing/mastering for 16 or so years) were with 2 players. If they like the game, they will tell their friends!

If your player starved try inducting some "non" gamers (almost everyone is a gamer in some way or another these days, wow, farmville... Yes I know, but bear with me). A good place to start is almost always with friends and family so get a hold of any significant others, siblings ect. I introduced my girlfriend to gaming and she loves it, but that might just be that she gets to set things on fire with her mind, but she got another one of her friends into it. If no one shows any interest or you get the "yes honey, ofcourse" response then try putting up some flyers, the local store that you mentioned is a really good place, local library ect. I town with 20000 people in it should at least have a gamer or 4. I found that getting MMO gamers into it is fairly easy, the get the whole thing about mechanics especially if they are raiders. If all else fail... How close are you to other towns, how far are you willing to travel and so on, university areas tend to have a lot of gamers, not just student, but faculty as well. Used to have the joy if playing InNmine with a theology professor as my GM.

see if there's a local gamer shop in your area. look for one that specifically carries warhammer 40k tabletop wargame products. that's a good place to start your search for a good gaming group.

First, my suggestion is to ask the war gaming group you play with if any of them have considered giving Dark Heresy a try. Confide that you've been interested in getting a group together and you wanted to see if anyone else was interested. I don't think this is anything to be embarrassed about for asking anyone to play. Your other option is to have the game store owner start asking his customers buying DH products if they are interested in getting a group together.

Alternatively, I found that colleges and high schools were great places to find gamers when I was growing up. Most college students and teens usually have the time and would rather play an RPG than do school work. Not to stereotype, but Audio/Visual and Chess club members are a great place to start too....

My other suggestion is move to a city with a larger population but, based on your age, I can see that is not an option right now.

Good luck.