RPGaDay 2022 #6 How would you get more people playing RPGs?

 The important thing to get more people playing RPGs is creating more Game Masters.

Unfortunately, most games these days are not built for this. The standard method is what's called the "older cousin method." The GM doesn't learn their craft from the rulebooks, but instead learns at the knee (or table) of another GM. Typically, the prospective GM starts as a player in someone's campaign, then decides that they want to run their own game. So they take what they've absorbed from their gaming experience and start to apply it in their own campaign. Add a few lessons from the Gaming School of Hard Knocks.

The end result is that every RPG book has an obligatory chapter for GM advice, but it's more often written for the experienced player who will be GMing for the first time rather than the total n00b who might have gotten the book for Christmas by some clueless, but well-meaning relative. As much as I wanted to make my own game, Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, as n00b-friendly as possible, I can't really claim that I broke this trend. Maybe something to keep in mind if I ever do a Second Edition.