The Journal of Gamer Culture
I recently finished BioShock Infinite. I know an army of people who loved everything about this game, especially the story. I enjoyed it, but the ending left me a little flat. I’m not going to discuss the details here other than to say it got all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey (well, sort of) and I found myself [...]
My 5 year old son, Sam, has his very first T-ball practice this week. He’s very excited about it. We were at Wal-Mart, buying baseball gloves, when I realized I was actually far more anxious than happy about this. Sports and I have not had a particularly good relationship over the years. I was very [...]
It’s come to my attention recently that I might not be the best at doing epic storylines. I am, however, a damned wizard at making strange things happen and crashing them against each other to make stranger things happen. And I have a plan.
I have a lot of extremely creative and driven friends. I never set out to find them. It’s like I hang out with people I like and then all of a sudden they’re all “hey man, we’re like, working on Marvel Heroic Roleplaying” and then before you know it they go all Kickstarter on you. Some are even given the blessing of the Wheaton. Me, my dreams are smaller. I want to develop a videogame, and I want it to be so fun that everybody wants to play it on the toilet.
The dust has settled, the Phoenix has risen from the ashes, and now he’s very confused how he’s going to run a D&D session because he is a bird doesn’t know how to communicate either verbally or through writing.
Last week, I talked about falling flat while ending a character. I also managed to start a few off on a sour note.
I was pretty pumped for last week’s D&D session. It was the first session of the new year, the first since we ended the first story arc of the first campaign I’d ever run and enjoyed, and the first time ever playing D&D for our new player.
I’ll cut to the chase. This past session was, in some ways, the worst I’ve ever run. In other ways, it was worse than that somehow. It was bad like a bowl of Lucky Charms with salsa in it. I’ve gone to the dentist after not flossing for months and felt better about myself afterward.
Prepare for neurosis.
In which Vanir revisits his roleplaying roots, loses them, and finds them again. Also, he dresses a Mogwai up like Mr. Rogers for the first time in 30 years.
One of the best things about tabletop roleplaying games is that, in many cases, we find ourselves week after week weaving together a long story. In turn, one of the best things about a long story is that the tale can take its time and simmer, locking in all the delicious flavors. And, like a stew, most stories have villains and/or carrots. Savory fall-off-the bone simile aside, a carrot in it for the long haul usually has an amazing tale to tell. Unless you’re one of those weird people that doesn’t like villain stew, in which case, I’m not sure why you’re even here.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things you miss when you run a roleplaying game instead of playing a character in it, and I’ve remembered something that I don’t think I’ve been giving enough of to my players: namely, the thrill of extracting a character you love from a dangerous situation. It’s the gift that keeps on threatening to kill you.
Vanir is the sort of man who has openly wondered aloud about his own armor class in front of his own grandmother. Despite this, he has still managed to somehow become both married and a father. By day, he develops web applications. By night, web applications develop him.
Email: vanir@critical-hits.comWeb: http://critical-hits.com/category/dire-flailings/
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