I am not ashamed to admit that my senior year, my group of gamers fell in love with Vampire: The Masquerade. Shut up. It was 1992, we were all punks, skate rats, and the sort, and Vampire was the first game on the market that marketed "cool." I picked up Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, and Changeling when they came out. Of those five games, there are two that I would ever consider picking up again: Wraith and Changeling.
The concept of a Shadow, a dark side, is difficult to deal with. Players don't like showing weakness in their characters. It's why systems struggle with psychological damage. The Shadow concept in Wraith takes even more control AWAY from a player and allows his character's dark side to run amok. This goes against the player empowerment principle that almost every other role playing game strives for. Even Call of Cthulhu, where a long-running campaign can only end in death or insanity, has the characters bravely fighting until the end. Wraith reminds us that sometimes we do things we don't want to do, and it's not always our choice.
I'll be honest, I hated Wraith when it first came out. I didn't get it then. Having seen the darker side of humanity in 9/11, in depth research on the Rwandan genocide, and my experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, I get Wraith now. Of course, because I get it, I'm not sure I want to go there. Or more to the point, I don't know if I want to take friends there. And for most of us, friends play a huge part in our gaming lives.
Wraith: The Oblivion is totally the Requiem for a Dream of role playing games. It is a dark, moody piece that totally fucks with you at your root. It is, without a doubt, the best game White Wolf has ever put out, and the only one which I think accomplishes what it set out to do. Unfortunately, it's very nature requires the players to go into a deep, dark place that most people are not comfortable going into. It just doesn't line up with why most people play RPGs.
Showing posts with label Reminiscing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reminiscing. Show all posts
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
You're Doing It Wrong: Tomhammer Fantasy Roleplay
I met this guy, Tom, when I was going through an interrogation course at Fort Huachuca, AZ. I was seeing what was out there at the FLGS and I ran into him. He was recruiting for a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign. I remembered seeing WFRP at the Encounter in the late 1980s and thought it looked so cool and so advanced compared to D&D. The hefty price tag was too much for me and eventually the only Warhammer Fantasy I knew was the travails of my inept Dark Elf army.
Tom became a social friend as well as a gaming one. Because of certain things he pulled hanging out and gaming, I'm not sorry I'll likely never see the guy ever again. I'll leave the social parts out, but he is a textbook example of a GM you don't want to play for.
"Tomhammer" became a codename for Tom's self-serving interpretations of the rules. Tom had vision. And when the players and die rolls were going his way, he was a pretty good GM. Unfortunately, he was big on house rules that favored HIM. He'd grow visibly frustrated when we retooled our characters to exploit HIS exploitations. Instead of the "attaboy" a good GM gives his players when they come up with an inventive solution, he would, every time and in order:
The game ended when we players finished our respective courses (the other two guys were there for EW maintenance) and went our separate ways. I'd run into Tom again in language school after a deployment to Afghanistan, and I'd even play and hang out with him. That lasted about three months. Every now and then I'd hear ABOUT him from someone who was stationed with him (Human Intelligence is a small world). I can't hate the man too much, since he did turn me on to Warhammer, new edition excluded, is still my favorite grimy low-fantasy RPG.
What did I learn from this?
Tom became a social friend as well as a gaming one. Because of certain things he pulled hanging out and gaming, I'm not sorry I'll likely never see the guy ever again. I'll leave the social parts out, but he is a textbook example of a GM you don't want to play for.
"Tomhammer" became a codename for Tom's self-serving interpretations of the rules. Tom had vision. And when the players and die rolls were going his way, he was a pretty good GM. Unfortunately, he was big on house rules that favored HIM. He'd grow visibly frustrated when we retooled our characters to exploit HIS exploitations. Instead of the "attaboy" a good GM gives his players when they come up with an inventive solution, he would, every time and in order:
- Stare at the gaming table for approximately 30 seconds. If anyone said anything to them, they got the pointer finger ("WAIT!") as he stared in silence.
- Say "No." and attempt to wing a rules interpretation, look one up feverishly, or attempt to find some excuse to make it not happen. He was really bad at improv, so it never worked out in his favor.
- Pout. Excessively. Not very attractive for an Army guy in his late 30s.
The game ended when we players finished our respective courses (the other two guys were there for EW maintenance) and went our separate ways. I'd run into Tom again in language school after a deployment to Afghanistan, and I'd even play and hang out with him. That lasted about three months. Every now and then I'd hear ABOUT him from someone who was stationed with him (Human Intelligence is a small world). I can't hate the man too much, since he did turn me on to Warhammer, new edition excluded, is still my favorite grimy low-fantasy RPG.
What did I learn from this?
- House rules need to be for mutual enhancement of the game and not as a kneejerk reaction to someone not getting their way
- It's not just your vision, it's also your players vision.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I Can't Quit You!: an On Again/Off Again Love Affair with Dungeons & Dragons
Prologue: Bob Johansen's Blue Box (1983-84)
I don't remember the exact day that I found Bob Johansen's copy of the old Blue Box edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It was some time when my father was stationed in Korea in 1983-84. Bob worked with my dad at Osan AFB and his wife would babysit me. I'm not sure what it was about the game, I know I didn't understand the vast majority of the concepts at the moment, but it hooked me. Maybe it was because I had gotten a copy of The Hobbit for my 8th birthday (to which my aunt countered with the entire Chronicles of Narnia), maybe it was because I was always a pretty imaginative kid (you have to be when you move around so much and don't have a steady group of friends), I don't know. Every time I'd be over at Bob's, I'd bust open his boxed set and try to wrap my brain around this game. Well, until Bob moved the box. I guess he didn't appreciate an eight year old rifling through his stuff.
Chapter One: The Only Game In Town (1984-1987)
We were staying in a hotel in Stroudsburg, PA on April 20th, 1984. It was my birthday and we were up visiting my grandparents in nearby Delaware Water Gap. I opened one of my presents and it was the Red Box edition of Dungeons & Dragons--Basic Rules: Set 1. All of those bits and pieces I had trouble understanding made sense now, thanks to the simpler and gradual way the game was presented in that edition. I don't even think I bothered to name my fighter that you make when you take on your first dungeons found in the Player's Guide. I took him to a cave where a goblin stood, guarding a chest in a 10x10 room, ready to be killed with one blow. He met Aleena, the friendly cleric and first ally who would die horribly at the hand of Bargle, the first villain I ever encountered in the game. I was hooked.
I quickly moved on to making my own character, an elf with the highly original name of Legolas. Initially my parents looked to play with me, but as they realized the game wasn't really to their tastes, they moved on to leave me to my obsession. My friends in Fort Meade, MD were quickly recruited to the cause. I've completely lost touch with all of them and I often wonder if any of them still play.
At some point, my gang was recruited by some older guy who offered to DM (Don't worry, my parents checked him out, he was legit-he was a friend of a friend's parents). It introduced me to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule set. I made a cleric, her name was Aleena, continuing my highly imaginative character naming process. She eventually made her way to about 4th level before the game fell to the wayside. To this day, I still don't remember the DM's name. I think I only ever referred to him as DM.
Playing at DM's house opened my eyes to two things--The AD&D system, which offered a wealth of choices beyond what I had experienced, and the World of Greyhawk, still my gold standard for a fantasy role playing setting. It would be a few years before I'd end up with a copy of the original Greyhawk boxed set, although I was able to find the "big three" AD&D rulebooks.
Chapter Two: New Books, New Ideas, New Games (1987-1992)
My dad got out of the Air Force in 1987 and we moved back to Stroudsburg, PA. This was a great thing for a young gamer, because Stroudsburg was home to The Encounter, my first Friendly Local Gaming Store. I walked in, saw walls of comic books and shelves of role playing games. To a kid who only knew Toy Stores and AAFES Shoppettes as avenues for these items, it was Nirvana. Every cent I could spare went to not just D&D books, but OTHER GAMES! Heroes Unlimited and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the first distractions I had from D&D, but I was still loyal.
In early high school, I ran a D&D 2nd Edition game. The basis of the game was the Ruins of Adventure module based upon the classic Pool of Radiance computer RPG. When we completed that, I ran the party through the legendary I6: Ravenloft. Not long after that, my group grew apart. I got involved in Track & Field, some of them got in legal trouble, and some just went separate ways.
I played in a group in the middle of high school, where I had an elven fighter/magic-user named Aquilon Numari. I think I got him up to about 6th level before the game fell to the wayside. Also falling by the wayside was Dungeons and Dragons. By the early nineties, games like Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, and (I am embarrassed to say) Vampire: The Masquerade overtook D&D among my friends and I. It would be a LONG time before I'd play D&D again.
Chapter Three: A New Look and the Boredom of War (2000-2004)
Well, the bulk of the nineties had me giving most of my money to Chaosium, White Wolf, and Palladium. A dear, late, friend John, leaked to me the playtest edition of the new D&D 3rd Edition. It blew my mind. The new D&D took all of the things I had liked about other systems (particularly skills) and merged them with the consistency and (relative) balance of D&D. I never found a regular group to play with in Pennsylvania, but I would occasionally run a game for my little brother, who was a teenager by the 2000s.
It wasn't until, of all things, the first wave of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, that I would find regular gaming. In that first year, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the way of entertainment. We didn't have AFN or Internet in the abundance we have it now. Nowhere near as many people had personal laptops. It was a situation perfect for roleplaying. I ran a pretty light-hearted and crunchy campaign for my teammates, which opened the door for a full-blown Living Greyhawk campaign throughout the bulk of 2004.
As enthusiastic about D&D as I was, when I moved to Arizona, I found Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying and my D&D books started to gather dust once again.
Chapter Four: Desperation and Genuine Enjoyment (2008-present)
I was done with D&D. Wanted no part of it. Warhammer 2nd Edition was perfect for my needs. Even when I saw my brother's copies of D&D4e, I was skeptical. It looked like a video game. Not impressed.
I had been trying unsuccessfully to find games in Colorado Springs. I saw that the COS RPG Meetup Group had a very robust Living Forgotten Realms game going on. I decided to try it, if anything, just to play SOMETHING. A few games in, I was hooked. I was amazed by the balance, the speed, the tactics involved. The splatbookiness of it all kind of bugged me, but the ability to counter that with a relatively affordable D&D Insider membership made up for it.
D&D 4th Edition isn't the only game I ever want to play these days, but I do enjoy it. I've come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of it all. I'll still be looking to run and play other games, but I love having D&D 4e as an option.
Epilogue: In Hindsight
I wonder sometimes if I'd still be as interested in D&D if I found a different box in Bob Johansen's house. I know I wouldn't have suddenly become a jock or a band kid if I didn't. I was on my way to geekdom, come hell or high water. I wonder if I would have found D&D regardless or if I would have found one of the other games out there (RuneQuest, Traveller, etc...) and had those become my love affair. The two games I have truly loved throughout my gaming life have been D&D and Call of Cthulhu. I never stopped with Call of Cthulhu, but that's because it never changed on me the way D&D did. D&D changed to stay relevant as the industry leader in role playing games, and that probably explains why I've had a much more tempestuous relationship with it. 26 years later, I'm still playing it. That says a lot.
I don't remember the exact day that I found Bob Johansen's copy of the old Blue Box edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It was some time when my father was stationed in Korea in 1983-84. Bob worked with my dad at Osan AFB and his wife would babysit me. I'm not sure what it was about the game, I know I didn't understand the vast majority of the concepts at the moment, but it hooked me. Maybe it was because I had gotten a copy of The Hobbit for my 8th birthday (to which my aunt countered with the entire Chronicles of Narnia), maybe it was because I was always a pretty imaginative kid (you have to be when you move around so much and don't have a steady group of friends), I don't know. Every time I'd be over at Bob's, I'd bust open his boxed set and try to wrap my brain around this game. Well, until Bob moved the box. I guess he didn't appreciate an eight year old rifling through his stuff.
Chapter One: The Only Game In Town (1984-1987)
We were staying in a hotel in Stroudsburg, PA on April 20th, 1984. It was my birthday and we were up visiting my grandparents in nearby Delaware Water Gap. I opened one of my presents and it was the Red Box edition of Dungeons & Dragons--Basic Rules: Set 1. All of those bits and pieces I had trouble understanding made sense now, thanks to the simpler and gradual way the game was presented in that edition. I don't even think I bothered to name my fighter that you make when you take on your first dungeons found in the Player's Guide. I took him to a cave where a goblin stood, guarding a chest in a 10x10 room, ready to be killed with one blow. He met Aleena, the friendly cleric and first ally who would die horribly at the hand of Bargle, the first villain I ever encountered in the game. I was hooked.
I quickly moved on to making my own character, an elf with the highly original name of Legolas. Initially my parents looked to play with me, but as they realized the game wasn't really to their tastes, they moved on to leave me to my obsession. My friends in Fort Meade, MD were quickly recruited to the cause. I've completely lost touch with all of them and I often wonder if any of them still play.
At some point, my gang was recruited by some older guy who offered to DM (Don't worry, my parents checked him out, he was legit-he was a friend of a friend's parents). It introduced me to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule set. I made a cleric, her name was Aleena, continuing my highly imaginative character naming process. She eventually made her way to about 4th level before the game fell to the wayside. To this day, I still don't remember the DM's name. I think I only ever referred to him as DM.
Playing at DM's house opened my eyes to two things--The AD&D system, which offered a wealth of choices beyond what I had experienced, and the World of Greyhawk, still my gold standard for a fantasy role playing setting. It would be a few years before I'd end up with a copy of the original Greyhawk boxed set, although I was able to find the "big three" AD&D rulebooks.
Chapter Two: New Books, New Ideas, New Games (1987-1992)
My dad got out of the Air Force in 1987 and we moved back to Stroudsburg, PA. This was a great thing for a young gamer, because Stroudsburg was home to The Encounter, my first Friendly Local Gaming Store. I walked in, saw walls of comic books and shelves of role playing games. To a kid who only knew Toy Stores and AAFES Shoppettes as avenues for these items, it was Nirvana. Every cent I could spare went to not just D&D books, but OTHER GAMES! Heroes Unlimited and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the first distractions I had from D&D, but I was still loyal.
In early high school, I ran a D&D 2nd Edition game. The basis of the game was the Ruins of Adventure module based upon the classic Pool of Radiance computer RPG. When we completed that, I ran the party through the legendary I6: Ravenloft. Not long after that, my group grew apart. I got involved in Track & Field, some of them got in legal trouble, and some just went separate ways.
I played in a group in the middle of high school, where I had an elven fighter/magic-user named Aquilon Numari. I think I got him up to about 6th level before the game fell to the wayside. Also falling by the wayside was Dungeons and Dragons. By the early nineties, games like Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, and (I am embarrassed to say) Vampire: The Masquerade overtook D&D among my friends and I. It would be a LONG time before I'd play D&D again.
Chapter Three: A New Look and the Boredom of War (2000-2004)
Well, the bulk of the nineties had me giving most of my money to Chaosium, White Wolf, and Palladium. A dear, late, friend John, leaked to me the playtest edition of the new D&D 3rd Edition. It blew my mind. The new D&D took all of the things I had liked about other systems (particularly skills) and merged them with the consistency and (relative) balance of D&D. I never found a regular group to play with in Pennsylvania, but I would occasionally run a game for my little brother, who was a teenager by the 2000s.
It wasn't until, of all things, the first wave of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, that I would find regular gaming. In that first year, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the way of entertainment. We didn't have AFN or Internet in the abundance we have it now. Nowhere near as many people had personal laptops. It was a situation perfect for roleplaying. I ran a pretty light-hearted and crunchy campaign for my teammates, which opened the door for a full-blown Living Greyhawk campaign throughout the bulk of 2004.
As enthusiastic about D&D as I was, when I moved to Arizona, I found Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying and my D&D books started to gather dust once again.
Chapter Four: Desperation and Genuine Enjoyment (2008-present)
I was done with D&D. Wanted no part of it. Warhammer 2nd Edition was perfect for my needs. Even when I saw my brother's copies of D&D4e, I was skeptical. It looked like a video game. Not impressed.
I had been trying unsuccessfully to find games in Colorado Springs. I saw that the COS RPG Meetup Group had a very robust Living Forgotten Realms game going on. I decided to try it, if anything, just to play SOMETHING. A few games in, I was hooked. I was amazed by the balance, the speed, the tactics involved. The splatbookiness of it all kind of bugged me, but the ability to counter that with a relatively affordable D&D Insider membership made up for it.
D&D 4th Edition isn't the only game I ever want to play these days, but I do enjoy it. I've come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of it all. I'll still be looking to run and play other games, but I love having D&D 4e as an option.
Epilogue: In Hindsight
I wonder sometimes if I'd still be as interested in D&D if I found a different box in Bob Johansen's house. I know I wouldn't have suddenly become a jock or a band kid if I didn't. I was on my way to geekdom, come hell or high water. I wonder if I would have found D&D regardless or if I would have found one of the other games out there (RuneQuest, Traveller, etc...) and had those become my love affair. The two games I have truly loved throughout my gaming life have been D&D and Call of Cthulhu. I never stopped with Call of Cthulhu, but that's because it never changed on me the way D&D did. D&D changed to stay relevant as the industry leader in role playing games, and that probably explains why I've had a much more tempestuous relationship with it. 26 years later, I'm still playing it. That says a lot.
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