Frustrated misspelled comments by 13 year olds… One of my least favorite things.
But if this guy is willing to read all of them, I would be very happy.
Please, spell check your comments. It’s really not that difficult.
(Source: The Awesomer)
Joe Juba put together a flow chart for the best RPG ever… EVERY RPG.
What’s your favorite RPG?
Tabletop gaming has ALWAYS been something I’ve been interested in. The only thing that has prevented me from trying Tabletop gaming in the past was the sad yet simple fact I didn’t know anyone who could teach me. I could have tried teaching myself, but to be completely honest I’m so wrapped up in console gaming I probably would never have mustered the willpower to set aside the time to learn anyway. And even if I had—where was I supposed to start?
IT WAS MADE FOR ME!
But all of that changed last Monday.
When I first laid eyes on Gamma World setup, I couldn’t help but feel giddier than a school girl hyped up on Pixy Stix. It all looked so…nerdtastic. There was a map splayed on the table, there were numerous cutout page thingies, there were…character sheets? Whuzzat?
When I was handed a blank character sheet, I began stroking my non-existent beard and analyzed it. (I did all of analyzing in my head, of course. I wasn’t going to say these things out loud in fear of sounding…well, stupid.)
“There are two origins? Is it kind of like Dragon Age: Origins? OH! Can I make an Alistair?”
“I wonder how many hit points my character will have! Bloodied? What’s that word mean?”
“AC? What is AC? The only AC I know is Assassins Creed. And air conditioning.”
But at the same time, I started recognizing words on the character sheet such as strength, dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, will, etc. As I mentioned above, I am a console gamer and my muse are RPGs of any and all sorts. That gave me a little confidence that I just MIGHT not be totally and utterly helpless going in.
We began filling our character sheets out. This was probably the most confusing part. I can roll dice and figure the sum of the digits just fine thanks to elementary school, but correctly imputing ability modifiers and other mods and trying to find them on these separate little sheets along with skill bonuses and…and…
…and from what I’ve heard, that can be confusing for n00bs such as myself. But here’s the thing: no matter how confusing I made it out to be, it was FUN. It was a blast figuring out where numbers went and how a stat might apply to battles or any other situation your character might be placed in.
And the character creation!? Ahh-mazing.
(For the record, my character was a giant ninja, who may or may not have been infected with the G-Virus. He wore booty shorts and wielded the Mona Lisa painting. His name was Fluffy.)
Once we got underway, everything started coming together and I was beginning to understand what each stat stood for and how it was applicable. What blew me away was the freedom you had. I mean, whether or you and your team were interrogating someone in town or trying to defeat a monster, you could pretty much go about it the way you pleased. And no matter how you did things, everything flowed.
And at the end of our session (and right when I was becoming sickly attached to Fluffy) I was extremely bummed we had to call it quits for the night. I wanted more.
Like I said—this was my first Tabletop gaming experience. Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but let me tell you I had more fun in the few hours I was there than I thought I ever would. It was an absolute BLAST and to say I had a “good” time would be a grave understatement.
Last week Britt and I got to try something AWESOME: Gamma World.
As you know, I’m the D&Der of the group. And while D&D is great, I’ve never been super into Fantasy. So when I heard I could play a D20 RPG that was a bit more up my alley (Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi?) I was all “Hells Yeah!”
Take a look at some of my experiences and clips from the game here:
(Big thanks to Forest Gibson for making the video!)
When I play Tabletop RPGs, I play with my improv buddies. Which means we make it really tough on the GM. In the past I’ve played with small talking dragons, I’ve carried multiple canoes with me “just in case”, I’ve made myself shallow, diamond hungry characters whose sole goal was to find and wear a tiara… but with Gamma World, you can practically do anything. You start off rolling dice to get your character’s two origins, so it starts off pretty random, and you get to make the best of it from there. I mean, I was Zoltar (based on my origin cards of “Hypercognitive” and “Android), for Pete’s sake. But don’t think that’s where your character stops. Depending on the GM and your dice rolls, you may end up with extra abilities (or limbs) throughout the game.
If you like D&D, try Gamma World. If you don’t like D&D, try Gamma World. Seriously. It’s available for sale TODAY.
Wanna give it a go before you you shell out the bucks? Visit your local gaming store for Gamma World game day, this Saturday, October 23! You’ll get to play the same adventure we played (although we only went an hour into it… it’s a 4 hour campaign), and you’ll get some special cards ONLY available on Game Day. Can’t wait to see what they are? Feel free to decode this one!
I’m also looking at getting a game started and Livestreamed in November. More details to come, but it’ll include you getting to chat directly with the GM and influence the gameplay!
If you go to the Game Day or pick up Gamma World, let us know what kind of character you end up being! And check out Britt’s post for a POV from someone who’s never played D&D before.
Apparently Escapist Magazine has started a new webisode featuring porn stars (fully clothed) playing dungeons and dragons. And surprise, the girls almost all play elvin rogues. That used to be my go-to. Time to try something new, I guess.
Io9 interviewed one of the “actresses” on the web series, and I found some of the stuff said to be hilarious. For instance:
They’re not all porn stars: “We’re a medley of porn stars, strippers, models, a hair dresser and I am an ex-porn star/fetish model and currently an illustrator.”
As far as I’m concerned, most of those professions are pretty darn close to porn.
About this group of porn stars: “We are the next generation of sexy women in the media where most of our sexy comes from our brains.”
Unless it’s a zombie porn, I don’t think your brain is a necessary requirement for “sexy” in porn.
On what edition they’re playing: “A mix of AD&D and 3rd Edition. We don’t list our skills or use feats. Instead Zak likes us to play as if anything we could imagine up and do in real life, we could do in the game… The same with alignments – we don’t use them. He doesn’t want the skill list or alignment to limit what we think we are able to do or how to act.”
So you took out the math, critical thinking, and limitations. Understandable.
If you’re interested in checking out an episode, just press play.
My favorite comment from the io9 page is from schrodingers-katana. He says: “I’ve actually had a fair amount of luck in getting attractive girls who have no business gaming at the table for D&D and other games on a pretty frequent basis. Once you break them of the game’s stigma and reveal to them that a lot of their friends are playing with them it’s pretty easy to make a hot girl ONE OF US! ONE OF US!”
It’s true! D&D is a lot of fun if you play with friends that share your personality and humor. You can get your girly friends to join you if you help them get past the stigma they may experience.
Moral of the post: I probably wouldn’t play D&D with porn stars. Honestly, I think they would be pretty boring. Give me non-porn stars with a good sense of humor any day!
If you could play D&D with any person/profession, who would you want to play with?
Sources: Io9 and Escapist Magazine
Coolest D&D Dungeon/Game Room ever!
These guys are the coolest. And by coolest, I mean nerdiest. Their D&D room includes props from the movies and dimming lights, strobes, and fog machines, all able to be controlled by the DM.
The one thing that concerns me: You need a handmade skeleton key to exit the room. Seriously? You can get locked in this dungeon? I’d like to be able to get up and use the bathroom/ get more snacks when I play D&D, not have to beg the DM to release me. Yikes.
In similar news, Jill’s never played D&D and I am excited to introduce her. I’m looking at a couple campaigns/groups right now, and should be finding one for us to jump into shortly! Stay tuned.
Hello everyone!
I’m psyched to be joining Jill on this blog and all of her adventures. We’ll be joining forces to introduce each other to even more wonderfully geeky things, and I’m excited to get some videos up to show you all!
But today I wanted to start a discussion on something that’s always been tough for me: LARPing.
What is the fine line between “playing pretend” and “Live Action Role Playing”? Is there a difference? Are children who pretend to be superheros actually LARPing?
LARPing has some stigma attached to it, and I’ve been careful to name all of my close encounters with it as “interactive parties”, “flash mobs”, or “guerrilla street theater”. However, it might be time for me to look at my costumed self in the mirror and decide once and for all: am I a LARPer?
Take a look at some of my favorite LARP spoofs:
| RENO 911! | ||||
| Magic Missile | ||||
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And now take a look at some photos from “interactive parties” and “flash mobs” I’ve been a part of.
Jill showed this to you all a couple days ago: me as “The Witch” from L4D. Francis doesn’t stand a chance!
Here I am hugging a robot before beating him up in the annual “Pirates vs. Robots vs. Ninjas battle”
And for the Harry Potter fans out there, here I am teaching a “Herbology” class (on miracle berries) at an Interactive Harry Potter party.
Tell me the truth: Am I a LARPer?
According to developer Peter Molyneux, Fable III will not be an RPG. Given the fact that the Fable series is arguably even classified as an RPG in the first place, it was announced that there will be no traditional leveling of our characters, no experience points and progression/leveling will be based on “morphing” weapons and by the manner in which we use them.
Yes! Mass Effect 2 came out and I finally had the chance to go buy it! I have the worst attention span while in Best Buy, too much exciting, fun stuff to look at! Anyways, watch my video! I’ll post an ME2 update soon!
Xbox Live Gamertag: PUNXSUTAWNEY PA (Yes, like in the movie Groundhogs Day with Bill Murray)
