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"So, what's everyone's hobby?" John asked that evening, opening a beer.

"I love gardening," Kyle said.

"I'm into assassinations." Nick was apparently trying to be funny, again. Making a face even. Nobody laughed.

"I play roleplaying games," Zora said. Some started chuckling about that. "No, I don't mean the leather and whips and French maids stuff you're thinking about."

"Wait, is this where you dress up as stupid manga characters and pretend you're them?" asked Kyle, who heard something about something somewhere.

"No. It's where everyone has charac-" begun Nick, but Zora stopped him with a wave of her hand.

"Wait. Let me show you. What would you do if a SWAT team burst through that door over there right now, laser pointers flashing, guns ready, shouting at us to make no move?"

"Why would they do that?" John asked.

"Because, let's say, Nick really is an assassin. But you don't know that yet. Just tell me, what you would do. You first, John."

"I'd make no move. Obey. Possibly wet myself."

"Okay, you're standing there wetting yourself. You, Kyle?"

"I'd jump out of the window," Kyle said.

"You'd die, idiot. We're on the sixth floor," said Nick.

"Hey, if Nick is an assassin, I'm a bloody cyborg, so I'd survive," replied Kyle, taking a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, a gardening cyborg," winked Nick.

"Yes," Zora nodded, "a gardening cyborg, but that's still a cyborg. So you're jumping off the window."

"Wait, wait, you didn't say we can be other people, not just us, ourselves!" John said, grumbling. "I'm not wetting myself, if this is so. I'm an undercover James Bond-like agent then, jumping right after cyborg Kyle, because I know he's in league with Nick, the assassin, and want to stop him from escaping!"

"Okay, you're doing that. And you, Nick?"

"Wait, I want to know what you do, Zora, before I tell you what I'd do."

"Surprise, I'm not here. Instead of me, your ex, Anne is here. She stands and raises her hands in utter confusion. What do you do?"

"I throw my beer onto the floor, because it's not a beer but a disguised smoke grenade. Remember, I'm an assassin."

"Okay. So, John and Kyle, please play a rock, paper, scissors right now, to see which one of you wins... okay... with Kyle winning, he manages to land on a truck and is getting away on it. John, you land on the concrete, but since you're Bond-ish, you just get a few bruises. Nick, your smoke fills the room in an instant. None of you sees what Anne's doing. The SWAT, having seen their ally John jump out, starts shooting in your direction, Nick. Come on, rock paper against me... there, you get hit, you're on the ground and bleeding. What do you all do now?"

"This is a stupid game," Nick said. "I'm not an assassin, this gardener here's not a cyborg, and why the hell should you have reminded me of Anne now, anyway?"

"Okay, calm down, calm down," Zora said. "You don't have to be related to your real person, real selves. You can be anyone else. Remember the Lord of the Rings movies trilogy? We all loved that. Let's give this another try. Imagine you're in Moria, and you're all orcs, guards about to have some gruesome lunch, when you hear a distant noise, as if something fell down a well. What do you do?"

"I reach for my wardrums," John said.

"This is stupid again. If we're orcs, we know the Fellowship will kill us, so what's the point?" Nick said.

"No, they won't necessarily kill you. We can change the story. We'll decide who wins by rolling a dice. No worries, I have one on me. The higher result will win. You can probably beat Legolas."

"Can't I be Legolas?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, the gardener, and we orcs would eat you," said Nick.

"No, this time you're all on the same side, you're all orcs," Zora said. "But you know what? If you're seriously interested in roleplaying, because that's what we've been playing here, we should give a try to a bit more serious game, one in which you can be an elf like Legolas, or a hobbit, or a human, and so on, and you can kick orc ass. In case you don't want to play orcs. It has rules, kinda like a boardgame, so that we can go beyond the simplicity of rock, paper and scissors, but the basics are easy, and I'll tell you everything you have to know. And when you get bored of that, we can play Star Wars, or Night of the Living Dead, or anything you like, only you'll be the heroes instead of the ones we've seen in the movies."

And they lived and played happily ever after. Except for Nick, who really was an assassin and got killed in action the next week. But that's a different story for a different day.

(Sorry about the very, very unconventional answer, but it worked for me, on more than one occasion. ;))