Shout Out: Thank you to everyone who made an attempt to read my first blog entry. Thanks for the ego boost, it is much needed. While I'll try not to let it go to my head, I appreciate the gesture you made to at least click the link in FB to get here.
Before I get started let me start off with a tangent. If you're wondering why I'm doing another blog entry so soon you obviously didn't read the first one well enough. My mind is a clusterfuck of thoughts, and I need an outlet. My Peanut Gallery of a mind thrives on being heard, and I know, at least nowadays, most people don't have the time to hear someone else brain dump. So, here we go . . .
"Now," as Casey Kasem would say, "on with the Countdown."
Today I'm going to talk about gaming, for the most part. I'm not talking about the popular Call of Duty or Halo franchises, or even World of Warcraft, I'm talking about the pre-videogame era of old-fashioned roleplaying games. PPD (paper, pencil, dice), when the only visual you had was either your imagination or a set of Legos, some GI Joes and a car mat.
Shameless Plug Alert!: Let me first begin by saying I listen to gaming podcasts. Rho Pi Gamma (Rho Pi) is the first one, which is shamelessly hosted by my old friend from high school Byron. And a new one called Role Playing Public Radio (RPPR). Both of which are great podcasts, and really feed into my love for rpgs. It's like talk radio, but for geeks. They do interviews, gaming news, and talk all about the wonderful world of gaming. It's what I have a passion for and have no problem sitting back and listening to these internet jockeys plug away at a subject I can't get enough of.
I think part of the reason why I listen to this stuff is because I don't get to game nearly as much as I did before getting married, and before becoming a father. I love my wife and my daughter very much, but I would give anything to be able to play at least once a week. Not that I don't want to spend time with my family, I do (I need that intimate time with the wife, and I need that bonding time with my daughter), but playing in (or running) an rpg is a way for me to relieve stress and have a good time.For me, when I play, I try to immerse myself in the world I'm in. Whether it's D&D, Star Wars, Dresden Files, or any number of other games, I put my focus on the game. Some people can multitask, like draw manga or surf the internet, but not me (of course you can't do this when you're running a game, but that's a different story). I want, no, I need, to get away from all that and put my full attention on the game itself.
I'm not saying that my life is so hard, or so terrible, that I need to "disappear" for a while. No. I'm just saying that I enjoy stepping into another role. Being something I have a hard time being in real life. For instance: in most rpgs one of the objectives can be to go out and kill something(s) -- we call this a Hack-N-Slash game. There may not be a really strong story line, but you know your objective: KILL or be killed. And in game you think nothing of it. These are not real creatures, or real people, they're just an imaginary thing created for you to stab with your sword, club with your mace, shoot with your arrow, or torch with your massive 10d6 (dice terminology, representing the number of dice you'd roll, 10, and d6 representing the type of dice you roll -- that's for you non-gaming types) fireball. But in real life, could I go out and kill someone? I honestly doubt that I could (although I'm sure there's a breaking point somewhere for everyone). So, in game, I get to thoughtlessly kill things and my conscious thinks nothing of it. Weird when you really think about it, but it's still an aspect of the game, and I like it. Or I enjoy playing that overly charismatic type, who everyone loves to hate. In the real world I don't want to be hated, I want people to like me, and if they don't I wonder why.
But it's all about having fun. Say what you will about rpgs. We are not devil worshipers, nor do we plan to take guns to school/work and kill everyone. (Although I once wrote a short story on one of these subjects some years ago.) No. We are just like everyone else, albeit, we are sometimes a strange bunch of cookies, but we are just normal people. You may choose to go out and play sports, or join some kind of club, well, roleplayers are in the same boat. We're a club, a social gathering of like-minded people who enjoy a certain hobby. We're like a cross between actors and the book club. There's reading material (sourcebooks) that we need to look over to gain knowledge [of the game] and then that knowledge is applied to a role/part/character, which we created. Someone then narrates what's going on, and we act it out (though more verbal than physical). So the next time you see a group of people huddled around a table, with open books, a set of dice, and a piece of paper and pencil sitting on the table, don't sneer at us. Walk over to us, talk to us, and you'll see that (though our interests are different) we're no different than you.
Secondly, while the above section wasn't what I initially intended to write, I wanted you to know a little about my passion.
One of the biggest problems I have as a game master (GM -- someone who runs the roleplaying game, aka narrator) is coming up with ideas and then never finishing them. I'm sure writers have similar issues. You get a good idea about something, you start writing it down and then after the brain dump you have nothing left in the tank to finish what you started.
Last year I started a project of compiling information from several sourcebooks. Though it would probably be illegal to ever have it out for public distribution, due to copy write laws, but as a GM this is something I felt my players would appreciate. I was told that rather than putting it all together in one file, I should keep it separate, that way the players only need to get the files that pertain to their character. But why would I want to do that?! Where's the fun in seeing all that hard work divided? I needs to be combined into one file -- and I'm certain that this file will be larger than the original sourcebook. However, there's one problem, I'm loosing steam. I'm loosing interest in completing it. (And I want to get it done before the next version comes out. Although from what I hear that may still be a ways off.) Which sucks because I've come too far to just stop now. And I don't really want to start working on something else either, as I'm afraid I'll never get back to it. During my shift at work I try to work on it, a little here and there, which helps, but I still have four (out of 13) additional books I need to pull from. My ultimate goal for this project is to use it to run a twenty level campaign; which is the only thing keeping me going.
As I sit here typing this though, I've come to realize that the portion I'm working on now, could be it's own sourcebook. While this current portion is pertinent to the players, if I took the same approach to the other sections I've written, then I could make several smaller sourcebooks. This would serve the original purpose, of getting the players ALL the information they need, while also giving me the break I need, but yet keep my mind focused on the ultimate goal.
Last, but not least: In November of 2011 I got to participate in my first Anime Convention (my first ever convention that wasn't centered around school or a career). AnimeUSA (AUSA) is primarily an Anime convention, but Byron, who's been involved in this convention for the past several years, has since added a Gaming portion to the con. So last year, I volunteered to GM during the convention. Last year's theme was Service Men & Women (firefighters, police, etc.), to which I was encouraged to cater my game towards. With some success I manage to pull it off, and have hopes of continuing that success this year.
The theme for 2012 is Carnival Fantasia. What that actually means is beyond me, but from what I've been told this is basically a circus theme, but more whimsical. So the game I get to run should, but not is required, to have this theme within it. And after listening to Rho Pi and RPPR I think I may have a base idea on what to do.
I want to do run a game in the horror/thriller genre, that takes place during a Carnival/Festival. My knowledge base with games is few however, as I am must comfortable with d20 (Star Wars and D&D), but have participated in games that use the FATE system and d6 system. Both of which would be great in a horror/thriller game, but I'm beginning to think I need something more real. There's a game called Little Fears, which has you play as a child in a nightmare world, where all your fears come true. And what's one place that can be scary to a kid? A Carnival! Not to say that the other systems wouldn't work. I've ran a Star Wars zombie game for my group, that seemed to go okay. D&D would definitely fit the horror mold well enough:
D&D is set in a world of dramatic heroism, fire-breathing dragons, and fantastical creatures. But what about the common man, those that sit in the background, the farmers, the shepherd, the weaponsmith/armorsmith, and the innkeep? These are the people that support the heroes. Without them the heroes wouldn't be fed, wouldn't be armed, they wouldn't have safe harbor from the elements. They're the real heroes. And their the first ones that have to bare arms when nasty creatures threaten their livelihoods. This adventure is about them.
-- Again, this doesn't have to be D&D --
The tiny town of Adamsville sits quietly along the banks of a peaceful river. The forest to the west provides protection, but has offered several dangers in the past. Though the town has lost a few brave souls every couple years, they have yet needed any 'heroes' to come to their aid.
As a traveling circus comes to town so does a storm that will rattle the little town to its core. The dangers that emerge will once again challenge a bold few to face unknown creatures and test their very character.
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