[RPG] I Can't Believe I am Doing This- Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Ed

There are times in my life when I think the universe decides to teach me a lesson, and likes laughing at me while doing so.

I am pretty well known for not enjoying D&D in any way, shape or form. Between the "medieval fantasy as trope", the limiting characters, classes and alignments, the very ridiculous to me armor/to hit rules, and the general... BLAH nature of the genre and game, I have always found it as interesting as milquetoast.

this is far prettier than what I think of D&D 

But recently, this funny thing happened. I made a new friend, and the new friend is a HUGE AD&D nut. He has a group that he plays with regularly and it is massively fun for him. He's genuinely passionate about playing and can't wait to get new people involved in games and gaming. (It's really fun to have a friend that is just invigorated about getting people into gaming as I am- I was sort of burning out for a while. Having him as a friend is feeding my fire, and that allows me to feed his right back. I love the synergy of positive relationships and how they help the people in them grow.)

So very recently, one of the GMs that plays at my shop was announcing that he had openings in his AD&D 2nd Ed Game, and my new friend was very interested in the game. I know this GM well, and he is a really stand up guy. He's very friendly, easy to talk to, and the group he has at the moment seems to be one of the nicest around. I very generously vouched for the fellow in question and while doing so, realized I pretty much talked myself into a corner and that I needed to play in the game or look like an idiot.

So I joined my 2nd ever D&D game.

For me, the best part has been the people I am playing with. I won't lie- it is very hard for me to play with people I don't know, and I HAVE to like them. But I really didn't know the guys at all, nor did I have any idea whether we would get along well. I sat down for my first session, worried about whether I would fit in, or if they would like me, and a million other things.

I should never have worried. Playing with these guys was like finding my way home again. It's super comfortable, fun and wonderful to be back at a table again.

It is super weird to be ENJOYING a game I generally don't like- but it's an important lesson for me, that I can do things and have fun again.

State of Affairs

I am currently not playing in any games. My favorite cohort to cause trouble with and discuss ideas with is now working 12+ hours a day. I am bogged down by a lack of any real social life and not as much fun as I want.

I am, in effect, uninspired.

Writing this blog us directly related to my gaming life and what's got me excited and interested today/this week/this month.

At the moment, I'm casually working on a pack of Werewolves for a World of Darkness setting, but I'm not anywhere near done and I find myself stalling a lot.

I also recently rediscovered my affection and adoration for paper crafting and altered art; which might correspond to the lack of gaming ideas and might just be happenstance.

Many of the ideas I had in draft are boring to me now, and I wonder if I need another trip to the strip club to get my mind fired up again.....

[RPG] A New Direction?

I’m not a team player- at least, not in an RPG. I tend to play characters that have a “hidden agenda”, who like to work behind the scenes, and who are tight-lipped about their motivations.

TheDude noted that I tend to be happiest in games with lots of overlying themes, where I can blend into the background and “do my own thing” without a lot of attention being directed at me or my character. Specific types of games that he mentioned were conspiracy, gritty future, cyber, dark, or some variation of those.

I do enjoy those types of games quite a lot, but I also love the “four color” superhero type of game. My subtle manipulative obscura don’t really fit into the “cape” types well, and as a result, I have struggled while playing in those games.

I knew that playing in the Superhero games I like so much was a struggle, but I hadn’t quite connected why until TheDude helped point out the obvious to me. Superhero games require a lot of openness, sharing of information and implicit trust that are completely contrary to the “under the radar” way I like to operate. 

Some of the most challenging and fun roleplaying I’ve done has been when my character has been trying to keep a separate life, but has been forced into a central role despite all protests and lack of qualifications for the position.

I love these sessions, where I’m forced to work harder to try to cover my tracks, but be part of something bigger as well. I love the duality of “not too much” information, but “not too little”, either.

It was with that thought process that I began to believe that I might be a good GM after all, despite all my trepidations and questions of confidence. The question began to develop in my head –

“How do I transition from a player to a GM?”

I love sharing stories and developing ideas. I love writing and telling stories, and developing great depth. I find bringing compelling characters and rationale for actions to be well worth the effort.

Now, how to bring that out in others?

But it slowly started to roll into my thoughts, in small whispers and snippets of ideas; I already do.

I excel at making others look good. I’m absolutely best when helping others bring out whatever works of art, creations of excellence and genuine inspirations might lie inside them. I’m an excellent muse, the wind that pushes others into greatness.

I’m interested in learning how to “organize people” for some of my professional goals. The ability to get 6-8 people to follow direction, cooperate and perform team activities for 4 hours at a time could be a great asset in some of the fields for which I have interest.

If I could work on those management skills (which need at least some development) while doing some of the things I am really good at, I might have a chance as a GM. Combining my natural talents, best abilities and areas for growth in a hobby oriented situation seems like a great way to achieve the best of both worlds- and maybe have some fun, too.

Uh, did I mention I like to overthink things, as well? 

[RPG] 2 Weeks

Half a month. A fortnight. 2 weeks. 14 days.

That's all it takes (sometimes) for something beautiful, expressive, touching and evocative to be born.

In my experience, the quickly born-but amazingly deep works, ideas, concepts and stories are the ones that you have no control over. They take off like a freight train and just keep going until they arrive at their destination- usually your brain all "explodey" with possibility and change.

Some of these monsters take longer and some are shorter. Some are characters, while others are settings, or scenes, or maybe even adventures for those at your maniacal mercy.

I love the fast and furious ideas-how burning they are while they work their way through your head, and how real they are when they are finally birthed.

I'm not ready to share mine - it's a brilliant and sexy concept, but I don't know how to use it yet.

What kind of speed freak ideas do you have that you're willing to share? Where did the idea start? How did you process it while it burned you up? What do you like the most about it?

Blog Inspiration and Campaign Setting:Wonderland

I have bandied about the idea for a campaign for a long time, but really only had one idea. This one idea is pretty serial in nature, and when the plot arch ends, the campaign is over. That idea has me reluctant to start a game- knowing that for sure, it would end within so many runs. So I've tabled the idea and held off for a long time.

Sometime very recently, I came up with Wonderland. It's a group of about 10 cities spread over a semi-continent. If one were to connect the dots on the map of this not-quite-a-continent from city to city, they would be laid out in roughly a teardrop shape, but one on its side.

Wonderland is a place where everything is possible, just not at the same time. Magic, mystics, superpowers, steampunk, cyberstuff, horror/noir and several other themes are present in the world in one place or another, at various times. They also exist with varying degrees of reliability. Some places things always work, and others are a little more chancy.

The two main cities are Miracle City and Locaville, on essentially opposite ends of the shape from each other. Other towns include Magnifica, Dodge, Metropolis, and Junction. There are a couple I have not named yet. Information travels slowly and strangely from town to town, due to time being a very flexible thing outside of proper cities. Distances that look as if they should take a days' travel on a map have been known to take a week, and in some instances much longer. Singular travelers often leave, but never arrive at their destinations.  Most travelers go between towns in caravans not to prevent raiders, but to prevent becoming "lost" between places.

What is known is that each town had strange, but understandable behaviors. Psycics could reliably use their abilities in Magnifica, and Cyber ususally worked in Dodge. While the residents of Wonderland did not know why things were, they did know that things were such a way and accepted it that way.

Recently, something or someone has started to change the rules. Suddenly, superpowers work in the yet-unnamed town where only magic works (and rarely at that). Horrors escape into Metropolis (the quiet, mundane Suburbia) and more. No one knows how or why this is happening.

My idea for the campaign would be to put together a group of various types and set them to finding out how the Wonderland works and why it has suddenly changed.

I would most likely use Savage Worlds for this game, but I'm still working the kinks out of the idea. I still have to define what's outside of the "defined" areas, as PCs are notoriously curious. I need to come up with town structures, guilds and/or apprentice groups, NPCs, a money structure and a few other things. I also need to consider deities and prayers because those might be affected by this strange place as well.

I like the idea- a lot. It's interesting and allows me to make up the rules to my desires. It also lets me tell a PC "no, it doesn't work that way" if the situation calls for it. It allows for a great deal of "Wild West" style exploration, with dungeons, cyber ware and Lovecraft all for good measure. I am excited to get the idea more firmed up so I could actually run it!