RPG Character Creation: Unveiling the Psyche through D&D
The first thing we do when playing Dungeons & Dragons is character creation. Without the characters, there is no story; we know this. In order to create a character we must first decide which character to make, why that character, and then the details. In order to do this we have a great opportunity to take clay and make a mold out of our own ideas and desires. You may have heard that the way a person views life, people and situations is based off his or hers own experiences? Well, this is one of those times where we get to use all the tools life has given us and make something with it. Once we take hold of this art form, the opportunities for character building and world building take off. Each character creation has its own unique flare and destiny that drives the adventure to its perfect and final crescendo.
Secrets From The Dungeon: Roll Playing The Ego With Dungeons & Dragons
My last week’s article covered a brief character creation ideal, which was to create your Dungeons & Dragons character based entirely off your own ego. I think for most people, most characters are made this way, or at least partly. You might add features or traits that you have, eg. your character suffers from an untamed shaking in one hand that won’t stop due to real life PTSD that you struggle with. Or perhaps your character wears a certain handkerchief in one pocket as a symbol of a past event that changed him, and he wears it to remember. While these small details are mostly forgotten along the character creation path, to really explore those details can add a lot of fun and/or humor to your game play style.
Friend time: Does your group get together outside of game night?
This is one of those topics most of us would like to claim we do and, while there are a majority of us who play with close friends/family members, there are still those of us who only participate in the game and not in the after-game relationships to the people we game with. There is a certain level of trust and mutual respect that arises when we play with someone. It’s very difficult to role play when we aren’t willing to bond somewhat with the players we spend those many hours of play with. On the contrary, when we do invest even a little bit of time, we find we have much more than just another acquaintance; we have a friend, which is awesome! Who doesn’t want awesome friends who are open to playing, getting real and having fun?
Calling All Noobs! Conquering Your Fears Of Playing D&D
As a newer player to Dungeons & Dragons, I know it can seem overwhelming to learn all the rules and rolls of starting a new game, and even more overwhelming to conquer the anxiety of being “the noob” around all your super cool nerdy friends, so I want to add some advice from the extensive noob experience I have just waiting to be shared! The great thing about D&D is ultimately you realize that no matter what you are feeling or thinking, this is indeed just a game! One to be thoroughly enjoyed at that! When you can finally get yourself to that table or that online group and just start playing, you will find things get easier from there, especially with your friends close by to guide you.
Are You Out There? D&D Face to Face Online
The other day I saw a post from someone in one of my online gaming groups, and he said something that really touched my heart because it was also something I have thought about many times myself.
He said, “I think it so odd that we all comment so much on posts from each other in this group of only about 400 people, yet I don’t know any of you and we have never played, I would love to actually play with you all sometime.” He went on to say he felt sad realizing we all look at each other’s comments, like similar posts, hold conversations through the feed, yet never talk or play at the end of the day.
Play Time: RPG Truths Revealed
On a serious note, were you once a child? Did you spend hours with siblings or friends passing the hours playing with toys, making up games, or obsessing over random strange objects just for the fun of it? “Make believe” was always the term I remember being used to describe these moments outside of reality. As an adult I like to call it “being in the moment” or “living in the now.” As a mother, I gain an incredible amount of inspiration and peace just by watching my two little ones create, and find joy, in the day-to-day moments.
Drawing Out The Poison: The unfortunate event of removing someone from your RPG party
This is a topic that can be quite touchy, being that everyone involved is usually quite uncomfortable or annoyed in some way. This past week I had the “super fun” job of voting out a player who was being, in the nicest way to say it, a complete fun sucker. As the silent eye rolls and constant questioning of all the DM’s decision-making slowly filled the room with an ichor of emotions and distaste, it became more and more apparent that this particular character was clearly unstable due to his lack of perception and understanding of everyone’s uncomfortable “energy/gamer vibes.” Usually the worst part of these kind of people is exactly that, that they are oblivious of others’ annoyance and blindly continue in there railroading gaming tactics.
The Gift Of Friendship with D&D
Here is our awesome group! We call ourselves the “Unicorns of love”… Inside joke, of course.
This is the the mural I painted on our living room wall. Tolkien inspired. 😉
This past week brought about some changes for our D&D group, and what almost turned into disaster or possibly the end of our gaming table ended up turning into the best possible thing that could have happened for our game! Our normal meeting place was denied to us by the runner of the local comic shop because of “liability issues,” the real reason being a couple of old, washed-up co-owners who glared at us across the room and obviously had a hard time with how much fun we were all having in our “satan worship” … lol!
Conscious RPG campaigning: Tyrant or Savior?
What do you fight for in your campaign? What cause is it that you strive for? Is it the meager treasures of the land or the pillaging and plundering of a city in order to fulfill selfish desires? Do you fight for a cause that is greater than your own? Do you fight to protect an entire race of people by destroying an evil tyrant who seeks to destroy an entire race of people all for his own selfish gains and ambitions? Or do you join forces to aid his fear mongering whims only to leave nothing for the creatures that follow in your footsteps? As we delve into these worlds and places in our campaigns, what is it that we are truly seeking to achieve? Why do we adventure? Why do we desire more than what we are, what we have or what we see? The act of a hero is that of selflessness and bravery in order to achieve the good of all. The acts of a tyrant are always the opposite. Do we seek to build or do we seek to destroy?
One Journey: Escape of the Prisoner, or Flight of the Deserter?
es·cap·ism
əˈskāpˌizəm/
noun; the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
The Wheel Of The Year With Dungeons and Dragons
The year’s seasons with D&D
The year’s seasons with D&DWe as people have such a unique connection through our similarities and natural patterns. One of those many ways we connect is with traditions and holidays! Other ways are through leisure, tribal get togethers, games and entertainment. Why not transform these connections into a tradition all of their own?
Let’s take ourselves to a lovely room with a fireplace, coffee on the pot, decanter of wine set, the smell of food, laughter of friends nearby, and the jolly sound of tavern music playing in the background specifically this one (it’s literally how I start my morning most days).
RPGs: Why Women Need To Play
Okay, so here is where I am going to break off a little and dive into a more gender-exclusive topic. Let me start with a bit about myself, to sorta get things rolling. Let me also state that this is entirely my opinions, and bias,...
Comic report: Saga, Volume One
Saga: Marko and Alana
Saga (written by Brian K. Vaughan with artwork by Fiona Staples) is just one of those comics you need to read. The perfect combination of action, romance, drama and inappropriateness is definitely what makes this a story to indulge in. It’s basically like an epic space odyssey of a couple, Alana and Marko, two separate alien races (both super hot, horned, winged aliens with attitude, peoples) escaping the life they lived as military personnel to two opposing racial forces in a war between the planet Landfall (Alana’s home) and its satellite wreath (Marko’s native moon). In order to start anew with their newly-birthed (from forbidden love) child, Hazel, they are forced to flee in secret and hopefully escape the never-ending war between their two races, which they want nothing to do with. This world, mind you, is full of magic and strange scientific advancements similar to recent Star Wars movies, so you see a lot of creepy and strange characters which makes it intriguing and makes you want to keep reading!
Why We Game: D&D, online gaming and real life
It’s crazy how many people I know who would be so freaking fun and amazing at playing D&D and they don’t even know it. There is always the usual self-doubt about not knowing or fully understanding a game, and there is the matter of time and space away from everything, ie. phones, family, work, chores, etc. Most of the people I know who would be great at it and don’t even know are usually self-doubters much like I was before I started playing. The idea of starting a new game can be quite an uncomfortable situation and one that often leads many to fleeing the hobby altogether.
Why Spell Casters Are Sexy
When first being introduced to DnD you will find a variety of classes that are presented before you and at first what draws attention to you might be something that suits your sexual orientation, masculine or feminine if you will. Most women might be more drawn...
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