I've been trying to figure out how to get friends to commit. I think a good thing to try would be to get people to commit for, say, 4 sessions over two months. Enough for a small story arc. Then renew after that. Much easier to get buy in (or just schedule four dates right away) rather than commit to a specific day every other week belonging to them potentially forever, especially when some friends may live far away or have varying schedules.
I've been trying to figure out how to get friends to commit. I think a good thing to try would be to get people to commit for, say, 4 sessions over two months. Enough for a small story arc. Then renew after that. Much easier to get buy in (or just schedule four dates right away) rather than commit to a specific day every other week belonging to them potentially forever, especially when some friends may live far away or have varying schedules.
Start off with a one-shot. Premade characters, simple mission, no witnesses.
They eventually ask for another, so you run a second one with a cliffhanger ending. They ask for a follow-up. The hooks are in.
Nah, I wanna do something more episodic. 90% self contained episodes with small tie ins between them that can be summarized quickly.
I applaud that, actually. Serialisation is like gravity, nobody should applaud when the writer gives in to it.
Just know that if your players aren't onboard with that, it'll be difficult to maintain.