I Have a Gift

Today's #RPGaDay2016 prompt is: what game are you most likely to give as a gift?

I don't think I've ever given a roleplaying game as a gift (unless board/card games with a strong narrative count, like the FFG LotR LCG). I've known enough gamers that it's not like I don't have anyone to whom I could gift an RPG. Perhaps taste in games is something so individual that it's even harder than usual to determine what gift to give. After all, you don't want to give someone a gift they don't want--or that they already have. If a friend is interested enough in roleplaying that giving them a sourcebook or a core rulebook would be sensible, they might already have it somewhere--or they specifically don't have it because they're not into it. It amplifies the natural difficulty with gift-giving (which I obviously also overthink).

However, this changes when there's no money involved. If I don't have to buy the game, the risk of somehow "getting it wrong" is diminished. There's so many cool games and supplements available for free, and it's fun to share them. I find myself evangelizing certain systems because of cool setting details or an interesting mechanic, and I'll send people a copy of the PDF or a link to the SRD. I don't know if that counts as a gift, but it feels like the spirit is the same: hey, I think you'd like this!

As specificity is the soul of narrative: the games I send to people most often are probably Fate (usually to show people how cool the Phase Trio is, or to pick out some interesting advice from the System Toolkit) and Lasers & Feelings (because it's just so small and silly and perfect). Hey--you should try them out!