Chainsaw Hobbit
2013-09-22, 03:11 PM
My father introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons when I was eight years old. He dug the Red Box out of the cupboard - the one with the Larry Elmore painting of the viking and the dragon. My eyes went wide.
He ran a game for me. I had never imagined there could be anything so cool. Soon I had convinced him to buy me the D&D Third Edition core rulebooks. I read them in bed every night, brought them to school, and ran games for friends and family whenever I had the chance. It made me happy, and improved my math and reading skills, so my parents encouraged me. Most of my allowance went towards D&D books, I amassed a miniatures collection, and my room was full of maps scribbled on graph paper with mechanical pencils.
Years passed, and my interest began to fade. Games took too long to prepare for. When I actually could get a game organized, my attention would wander, and I would spend the session bored and half-asleep. I couldn't articulate what was happening at the time, but I had become bogged down by the overabundance of rules, tables, and dice. I had begun to think of the game in terms of its mechanics, and in the process, lost my spark.
My interest in D&D took a back seat for a long time. I would occasionally organize a game or write an adventure in a fit of nostalgia, but would always find myself bored and disappointed. Fourth Edition happened, and I was vaguely disappointed, but I bought the books and played with them some. D&D had been an integral part of my identity. Now it was a side-interest.
I decided, wrongly, that the reason I was no longer passionate about D&D was a lack of interest in medieval fantasy. I tried other games like Call of Cthulhu. I tried universal systems like GURPS. Each time, I would try to convince myself that I was once again enthusiastic about roleplaying, but would always fail.
Then I discovered narrative based roleplaying games. Ones like Mouse Guard, Fate, and Risus. My interest came flooding back. Simple mechanics and focus on story were incredibly refreshing. I backed the Fate Core (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114903/Fate-Core-System?src=s_pi&affiliate_id=294744) kickstarter, and have been playing Fate Core ever since. I love it. It has rekindled my passion for tabletop roleplaying.
But ... there is something I miss about D&D. Especially classic D&D. I think its the fact that D&D is, at its heart, a game. Fate Core isn't so much a game as a medium for group storytelling. The challenge element has almost been removed in favor of narrative, and this is fine, but the appeal is different. Fate is about creating a story. D&D is about challenge, improvisation, and creative problem solving.
I think I'm going to give D&D another try. It will never be my go-to system, but I do miss that challenge-oriented gameplay. Knowing that one's character could, at any moment, fall into a pit of spikes and die has a certain visceral appeal - and I miss it!
He ran a game for me. I had never imagined there could be anything so cool. Soon I had convinced him to buy me the D&D Third Edition core rulebooks. I read them in bed every night, brought them to school, and ran games for friends and family whenever I had the chance. It made me happy, and improved my math and reading skills, so my parents encouraged me. Most of my allowance went towards D&D books, I amassed a miniatures collection, and my room was full of maps scribbled on graph paper with mechanical pencils.
Years passed, and my interest began to fade. Games took too long to prepare for. When I actually could get a game organized, my attention would wander, and I would spend the session bored and half-asleep. I couldn't articulate what was happening at the time, but I had become bogged down by the overabundance of rules, tables, and dice. I had begun to think of the game in terms of its mechanics, and in the process, lost my spark.
My interest in D&D took a back seat for a long time. I would occasionally organize a game or write an adventure in a fit of nostalgia, but would always find myself bored and disappointed. Fourth Edition happened, and I was vaguely disappointed, but I bought the books and played with them some. D&D had been an integral part of my identity. Now it was a side-interest.
I decided, wrongly, that the reason I was no longer passionate about D&D was a lack of interest in medieval fantasy. I tried other games like Call of Cthulhu. I tried universal systems like GURPS. Each time, I would try to convince myself that I was once again enthusiastic about roleplaying, but would always fail.
Then I discovered narrative based roleplaying games. Ones like Mouse Guard, Fate, and Risus. My interest came flooding back. Simple mechanics and focus on story were incredibly refreshing. I backed the Fate Core (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114903/Fate-Core-System?src=s_pi&affiliate_id=294744) kickstarter, and have been playing Fate Core ever since. I love it. It has rekindled my passion for tabletop roleplaying.
But ... there is something I miss about D&D. Especially classic D&D. I think its the fact that D&D is, at its heart, a game. Fate Core isn't so much a game as a medium for group storytelling. The challenge element has almost been removed in favor of narrative, and this is fine, but the appeal is different. Fate is about creating a story. D&D is about challenge, improvisation, and creative problem solving.
I think I'm going to give D&D another try. It will never be my go-to system, but I do miss that challenge-oriented gameplay. Knowing that one's character could, at any moment, fall into a pit of spikes and die has a certain visceral appeal - and I miss it!