[RPGs] Dice Satisfaction

First blog post of the year! I still haven't quite figured out what I want to do with this site nor have I picked up the pen with respect to my creative writing, but I'll get there.

So in an effort to write something other than a review (you can go to my GoodReads for my book stuff), I thought I'd take some time to talk about a quirky aspect of the tabletop gaming hobby - how good it feels to roll dice.

[Games] Shadowrun: Crossfire

Shadowrun, as a game franchise, has been around for quite some time. Originally a tabletop RPG, we've seen different iterations of the franchise across different media including a few video games released as part of the brand.

Shadowrun: Crossfire is a deck-building game set in the same fantasy cyberpunk universe as the original RPG. Deciding to go with the deck-building route was an interesting choice since it's the sort of card game that's easy to get into without the usual sort of investment we see in collectible card games.

Now I happen to like deck-building games and this one's a little tricky versus others. I guess the main challenge is how the ability to purchase new cards is tied strongly to defeating adversaries and challenges placed in your way, which can be pretty annoying in the early stages.

[Games] Lords of Waterdeep

Given I've only been fully invested in the tabletop gaming world within the past 5 years (thanks to my partner, Tobie), I know there are still a lot of different fictional worlds left for me to explore. And I have to admit that despite the many different pen and paper RPGs that I've played now thanks to Tobie, I still haven't played a Dungeons and Dragons game for one reason or another.

So oddly enough, Lords of Waterdeep is my first true forray into the world of Dungeons and Dragons, even though it's a board game and not an RPG. And while I don't have a full appreciation of the setting that is Waterdeep and the various lords and factions that call it home, I was really keen on the gameplay, especially after watching the Tabletop episode involving the game.

We only recently secured a copy of the game, and it has been quite the treat to play every single time. And I've been looking forward to writing a proper review for the game soon enough.

[Games] Knights of Pen & Paper (Android)

We always talk about how today's games all reference older games in one way or another. And then you get the games that blatantly reference older games in order to somehow capture that nostalgia factor among longer-term gamers.

Too many game designers mistake that using pixel sprites for art is enough to appeal to the older gaming market. But it goes well beyond that - the core concept of your game has to somehow capture the feeling of that gaming period. Many have managed this by creating platform games that remind many of the likes of original Super Mario games. But for this game, well, the creators tapped into a completely different market entirely.

[Gaming] You Always Play Your True Self

Part of our dice collection

I've mentioned before that I only got into tabletop RPGs after getting involved with my partner Tobie, which has been a very good thing. Beyond this being a great social activity for a normally reclusive geek like myself,  it has been a lot of fun. I get to explore different stories, different worlds and try new things all with good friends present.

Now over the various game chronicles and one-shot sessions, I've put some conscious effort into trying different character types in order to explore the medium better. My very first character was more an intellectual type of character - sort of a reflection of how I see myself. And it was okay but not all that exciting. So from that point on, I promised myself that I'd be a little more daring and explore other skills builds and archetypes just to see how things would turn out. And while we've utilized various gaming systems over the years, over time you kind of pick up on the common themes and how to tailor your characters according to what you want.

Mahar has RAINBOW DICE

What has been surprising for me across the different games and regardless of the other players who might be involved in the sessions, more and more I've realized that I tend to play similar characters. No matter how many stat points I pour into one attribute or another, I always end up eventually slipping into a particular game mode.

Sure, your character backstory may change and perhaps you'll put on an accent to get a better feel for your "role." However all that is just superficial to how you fundamentally play your characters. And this is especially true with the more dramatic RPGs (sorry, I still have not taken the time to try a D20 game) - regardless of the trappings around you, your core character sort of emerges and shines through. And this isn't just true about me - I see it time and time again with the players that I share game sessions with.

My primary dice sets

This remains my working theory around the somewhat social aspects of gaming. No matter what character you design or how diverse the statistics seem to be in comparison to who you think you are or the other roles you have played, a core character style will always come out. And what is more surprising is that your core character may not necessarily be the person that you think you are. And thus I feel it is more the person that you truly are inside - your core personality.

In my case, it turned out that I'm a lot more social a player than I realized. At its worst I can be manipulative and very sneaky. At it's best my characters try to charm and disarm through words and innuendo. My character can have more intelligence-based attributes or even combat-oriented physical skills, but at the end of the day this social aspect of my character comes out and it's how I feel more comfortable playing the game. And this all seems so ironic given I'm not a social person in real life. I don't exactly look forward to making new friends and I tend to favor online interaction over real-life encounters.

So no matter what roles we play or the setting or the mix of people you're gaming with, in the end the same person comes forward to help you make your decisions and steer your character in the right direction. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But it is certainly interesting.

What do you geeky gamers think? Do you feel that you tend to handle your various characters in the same way?

[Gaming] Playing Fictional Characters

So ever since I got together with my current partner Tobie Abad, I've also gotten into the fun hobby of gaming. While I had generally played games before, what I had not done was get into classic tabletop RPGs. This is obviously no longer the case given my partner is a Storyteller (or GM / DM, depending on your system of preference).

Now I could write about all the crazy celebrity characters that he's introduced into our games like the time the devil took on the form of Zac Efron to try and seduce my character or that instance when a character who just happened to look like Ryan Reynolds happened to have had a significant relationship with my character that I seem to have conveniently forgotten about, there are other interesting cases worth discussing.

While most times we create our own characters with the option of using celebrities and other personalities as visual pegs, there are those interesting cases when we try to step into the role of existing characters and famous members of fictional worlds. At times I feel this is a bit more difficult than the other instances given you are now bound by the common perceptions of that character and thus people assume you will only behave in one way or another. And if you don't behave like the character, it sort of disrupts the game.

In more than two years of gaming, here are a few of the interesting roles I tried my hand at...

[Gaming] Gary Gygax (1938 - 2008)

IMGP1577.JPG by mdmarkus66.

On March 4, 2008, Gary Gygax, pretty much the father of all role-playing games, died.

He will be sorely missed. Keep rolling, Gary!

Already, the webcomic community, largely influenced by the RPG world like all other geeks, have already began to make their tributes:

• Penny Arcade
  
• Order of the Stick
  
• Dueling Analogs

I'm sure there'll be even more in the days to come.

[YouTube] College Saga

Sue me if I only saw this recently, and because a friend referred me to the link to boot, haha. For all your RPG fans, especially those of the Final Fantasy series - this sooo rocks!