Torchbearer game getting no interest; feedback please

Hello Community! I recently put up a new game (maybe a week ago) and have received no interested parties as of yet.&nbsp; The game I am currently running took only 24 hours to fill up, so I am just trying to figure out why I might be having this trouble, and see if perhaps I can shift some things around.&nbsp; Thus I request your critically constructive feedback! Here is the post: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/50102/torchbear" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/50102/torchbear</a>... Here are thoughts I have on why I might be having issues: Maybe Torchbearer is just not that well known or popular;&nbsp; my other game is Mage, which is bigger name Maybe my time slot is a bad choice;&nbsp; it is a Saturday morning game Maybe choosing Forgotten Realms for a setting is unpopular for some reason Maybe the way I wrote the ad implies bad things about me as a GM/person/human Maybe stating up front I am looking for 10-12 sessions is intimidating/off-putting Maybe it is something else entirely that I can not yet even conceive of Thanks Community for your thoughts and tips.

I think its the game to be honest and the tim probably. Torchbearer is a very niche game and so not many people play it. It took a lot if time for me to get players. Also if you require a certain day then you are taking that number even lower.

(Not reflective of whether or not I personally would want to play in this game - take my critique with a grain of salt) So the first thing that strikes me is that - as you yourself pointed out already, well, somewhat - is that you aren't playing D&D or Pathfinder. Madness! Anything but that does tend to just naturally receive fewer (read: not hundreds) of applications. Second thing I noticed is that you literally mention 3 different game systems. I know, I know, they are closely related, but to someone new to Torchbearer it might seem intimidating at first, basically 'What I need to buy/download and learn 3 systems for this?!? F that' Especially since you also mention you don't want people that have never heard of these three systems which can turn away people rather quickly (though I get that requirement, just pointing it out) Third thing is, well, -in my opinion-, Burning Wheel is huge. It does what it sets out to do, and well, but it basically is D&D when it comes to how many rules it has (well, can have since you don't have to play with all the spokes of the wheel yadda yadda stuff), but its rules are more about interactions than 'just' combat. This, too, can be intimidating. Fourth, Torchbearer is extremely deadly (well, inventory management and all that), usually, so that can be a turn off, maybe? Fifth (oh God this stupid Mouse is still not done - I know, right?), I think Forgotten Realms is a draw (see d&d & pathfinder) but then you mention its an original setting, so is it one, the other, what kind of mix, what IS the setting exactly? At least the last question would be one I would ask. Sixth: For me personally the session times would be too short but as far as I am aware you are right on the average / favorite amount of time there. Timeslot is fine, too, don't worry about that. Overall, its your game, you do you, if it takes longer to find the right group so be it? Or maybe I'm just old and cynical.

My guess is it's a little bit of what James said (niche game) coupled with the fact you clearly spell out you aren't very interested in people who haven't played and are really not interested in people who haven't heard of it.&nbsp; One benefit to R20 is people get to try out new games/systems, but when your advertisement suggests you aren't as new player friendly, you probably drive away new players.&nbsp; That may not be how you were hoping to come across, but that is how I read it.

Great info guys, keep it coming! re: Game is Niche - Yeah, I expected that to some degree. re: Time and Duration - I also expected that, but it is what it is.&nbsp; I have a little flexibility, but being an adult really destroys open time slots, so I am mostly constrained here.&nbsp; I will say however on duration, 3 hour games in Mouse Guard and Torchbearer are quite a good fit re: Open to New Folks - I by no means want to sound uninviting.&nbsp; My fear more is that Torchbearer is a particular kind of game. Some players who know nothing about it might try it out, think it's going to be like Pathfinder, then have their character get screwed over in the first session when they drop their torch in a puddle and a kobold smashes their last ration, and they end up hating it, resulting in less fun for all.&nbsp; It is not a game for those looking for feelings of empowerment.&nbsp; Anyway, thus this is meant as a stop gap to make sure people know what they are getting into.&nbsp; I will re-consider my wording. re: Mentioning Three Games - ok, I will re-phrase this to make things clear.&nbsp; I meant that more as a "if you've played those, this will probably fit you," rather than a "you NEED to know all of these." re: Setting Clarity - also a good note, I will clear that up.&nbsp; What I mean to say is that it is Forgotten Realms, but requires no knowledge of FR from the players, and won't stick particularly closely to the timeline and metaplot (partially because the metaplot is pretty epic in scale for Torchbearer), instead using the locations and people mostly.

RE: Open to New Folks. I would explain that, then.&nbsp; Point out that the game is designed to be brutal, a meat grinder potentially.&nbsp; I've seen others with similar games and they are very welcoming, but point out you should bring a few pre-made characters as characters die often. If it's less that people die and more than the deck is stacked against them, point that out.&nbsp; If you had some wiki or something you could point them to that describes the game, that may help them understand what they are getting into. Overall, and this is with any game, I'd assume some attrition.

I recently tried a game of torchbearer and I must say, while the GM did a good job of narrating the story, the mechanics of the game weren't fun. Anal retentive inventory accounting is boring and not what I want out of heroic fantasy. Also torches seem to burn up unrealistically fast. Combat is far too abstracted. I want my character's actions to be meaningful and somewhat detailed. I'm pretty sure my equipment played no combat role in the game other than occupying valuable inventory slots. (That shield I was carrying may have simply accidentally forgotten to be factored into the heavily abstracted combat- but when you are rolling a whole bunch of dice for the entire party at once I can see how you can lose track of it.) I thought the game was OK out of combat, apart from the accelerated consumption of supplies. I actually think this would make a better card game than an rpg.

I would argue Torchbearer is not "heroic fantasy" in the same vein as other games (particularly d20 products).&nbsp; That and your other thoughts kind of highlight what I was getting at with my "know the game" thing with regards to new players.&nbsp; If one is not trying to play the game that Torchbearer is, one is probably not going to like it, and if one is coming at it from a general D&D mindset, chances are one isn't going to be trying to play the game that Torchbearer is.&nbsp; It be like picking up a video game thinking you were getting an epic button masher to discover in fact Darkest Dungeon. It's all preference, broadly and specific to the game.&nbsp; Personally, I find Mouse Guard and Torchbearer combat MUCH more dramatic, satisfying, and even tactical in some ways than slogging, boring, asymmetrically simulationist, see-how-tall-my-dice-tower-is-now d20 combat, but that's just me.&nbsp; Some people love it, and that's awesome.&nbsp; I just want to do my best to get the people who like the Torchbearer way from the get go, rather than a bunch of people who want to tell me the game is somehow universally bad or wrong because it doesn't fit their subjective preferences and expectations.