Recently Caleb (@TheCalebG) and I were talking with some of our Patrons about how they got started in Role Playing Games and thought it would be fun to have them write a post for us about that. We didn’t ask them to specifically talk about how we [The Rpg Academy] were a part of their exposure but each of them did and it was really awesome to hear how we’ve influenced their entrance into this great hobby because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.
So, with that out of the way, here is the second of these posts:
I am thirty five years old and I’ve never played a pen and paper role playing game. I feel like a young Sarah Jessica Parker face to face with a group of middle aged housewives trying to explain why I’m not yet married. I guess our reasons are one in the same, it just didn’t work out that way. I grew up like most of you playing video games and only hearing about D&D as a passing cliché. I understood and enjoyed the idea of role playing games, I did it in video games most my life. Buy the idea though that I would sit at a table and with only my words try to explain a game to my friends never crossed my mind.
In general, I was at a loss. The video and board games that I had put stock in had failed me. I was, after 20 years, bored. I had to find something else to do with my time and my friends. It just so happened that Dungeons and Dragons was releasing their 5th edition during this time of conflict. I was as reluctant as ever to try. Not because of any logical or proven reason, but more on blind societal influence. Despite this rationale, or maybe because of it, I set out to find out what was out there and if, in fact, it was worth my time.
My first stop was my podcast search list where I tried to find any type of beginner D&D podcast. I didn’t want to just hear people explain rules or talk to me like I was a child incapable of understanding. I wanted to hear people who knew what they were doing, playing what they loved. After many attempts, I found The RPG Academy. I was hooked. I listened intently as they played through various adventures, each one turning out differently than how I initially envisioned. Some episodes even offered differing options on rulings I thought I understood. I had to know more about how these rules, or lack thereof, worked.
I ordered the Starter Kit, I ordered the Players Handbook, I ordered the Players Handbook again. I needed players and test subjects to see exactly how this game worked. It was the literal translation of all of those console games where I held a rocket launcher in one hand but stood emasculated in front of a wooden door that was impervious to its destructive force. Finally, I would be able to unleash a true game of action and consequence. No longer would a game creator sit as judge, jury and naysayer to my joyful destruction of their world. We were free to discover, destroy and build friendships all on our own. This was the game I’ve been trying to play all along.
I brought together a couple of my good friends and we set out to play through the Starter Kit of Dungeons and Dragons. None of us knew the rules. None of us knew anything about role playing games at all. We set out with, at most, moderate expectations. When that first day was done, only a short road had been travelled and only a handful of goblin had been slain. But we were in. The Monster Manual was purchased, and other adventures were on the way. We experienced a landslide of past adventures that we were suddenly behind on.
In the upcoming weeks and months I go from someone who has never been exposed to the genre of role playing games to someone who is immersed in it. My podcast list shifts to focus almost entirely on RPGs. I have sourcebooks and adventures pouring in from Amazon. I put Michael and Caleb from The RPG Academy on speed dial to ask them for advice. I will write island adventures, capture player characters in a Halloween mansion that will not return for a year, and drive the adventure thousands of feet underwater.
The take away from everything I’ve learned so far? It’s easy. Anyone can play, create or GM—and If you like, I’ll explain how I did it.
Scott – @GrogSD
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