Classic Rant: Will S&W's new KS Really Bring Women into the OSR?

The answer: highly doubtful.

(editor note: Obviously, 2 years later, it did not)

I've already stated that I have no problem with the kickstarter itself, and certainly not with the women who are doing the art/production for it. Even though S&W itself strikes me as a game that really doesn't serve much purpose in the modern OSR.

But if the purported goal was to bring in new women gamers to the OSR, I seriously doubt that will happen. Not really because of the things I mentioned in the former post, but simply because it's a KS project, being pushed largely within OSR circles, for a game that will largely be sold through the KS plus internal sales.

You know, to get new gamers of any sort, male or female, you'd need to be seriously promoting the game to in more public venues.

But couldn't the project itself draw the interest of more women?
Well, in answer to that, I think something should be pointed out: it was mentioned on theRPGsite thread on this subject, that 29 of the first 30 backers of the S&W project 'to get women interested in the OSR' were MALE backers.

So yeah, this is not very likely to get new women gamers into the OSR.

Meanwhile, I've personally added about a half-dozen women to ranks of OSR-players. How? By running OSR games and welcoming women into my groups, including at gaming events where newbies are present. I've done that mainly with Dark Albion (and a bit of DCC too). I don't think what game you're running matters much, as long as you make it interesting.

But as for publishing? Almost nothing on a small scale will bring in new gamers of any stripe, not in and of itself.

The game that is most likely to bring in new gamers of any kind, including women gamers, continues to be D&D 5e. Mainly because its the one gamers are most likely to encounter.


RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Solitario + Stockebbye's Bull's Eye Flake

(Currently Smoking October 8, 2016)