Me and TTRPGs
Bit of a ramble this one but wanted to write a bit of context of myself.
Initially I was exposed to TTRPGs when I was in high school. It was the day that Skyrim released, I was over at my friend's house with all our consoles getting things set up before the midnight release of Skyrim. While we were waiting to pass the time, I noticed some DnD books on my friend's shelf. I asked about them and he said his dad got them for him but he never had anyone to play with. I remember the few of us each grabbed a book and paged through. Our imaginations went wild over this stuff. We ended up making characters on loose leaf paper, and downloaded dice apps on our phones. This was early android and iOS stuff so it was janky as shit.
Forward a short while to us in the car, waiting near a Gamestop. We forgot everything we read and wrote down. But we were still talking about the books until one of us decided, 'okay, let's just give this a try.' So, not remembering anything about what we did earlier, we used our shitty dice apps to role play. Nowadays we might've called this story gaming or FKR but it was DnD to us. None of us wanted to GM so it was a collective story, scene by scene where each of us had input. Collectively we agreed what was canon or not. I even remember some of what we did.
Friend 1: ok so we're in a village- Friend 2: in the sheriff's office cause there's a problem Friend 1: yes and we need to go to a cave cause the issue is goblins are attacking the villagers Me: I made sure a reward was discussed. 100 coins for each of us on our return. Friend 2: yeah they're probably desperate so the sheriff immediately agrees Me: well I'm a thief and want to steal stuff so how about there are some potions on a shelf that I can snag? Friend 1: do you remember your stat? Me: no Friend 1: probably just roll a die and see how high it is if you're successful ...
It goes on like this. This was my first taste to a role play experience. We never came to a conclusion since time was ticking and Skyrim changed to be our number one priority. But this stuck with me.
Fast forward a few years, college was grinding me down until I hear this thing called Critical Role. I've mostly forgot about DnD and role play by this point, and then a memory of what it was like came to mind. Excitedly I looked into this show and fell back in love with the idea of playing TTRPGs. I talked to one of my new college friends about it, and he said he used to DM a while ago. I convinced him to DM for me and my circle at the time. On the condition that I buy the books. Of course I did, cause I wasn't passing this chance up.
It was a fun campaign! We went through dungeons and fought dragons! Made it up all the way to level 17 by the time the campaign ended. It was a bittersweet moment, life changed a lot for me around this time. Having something I was attached to, just end, left me emotional. We tried to start up a new campaign or two but didn't last long at all. I also had my first taste of GMing as well. But I'll admit, I was horrible.
It wasn't until later when my roommate and girlfriend, who played in the previous campaign, got the itch to play in another campaign. I think it was my girlfriend who found a discord community that was looking for players, so all of us joined up eager, for another epic campaign. This is when we met the most awesome GM, and someone who became a good friend, led us through a campaign called Tomb of Annihilation. This was so much of what I wanted out of a role play experience. Players getting into their characters, experiencing the highest highs and lowest lows. Since my character was dying the entire campaign, it was a cathartic outlet for my depression at the time. We, as a party, became very close and at times had very emotional moments. We successfully completed the campaign after a few too many close calls. A few of us stuck around our DM, leaving the discord server and starting a new campaign.
This was set entirely in our DMs homebrew. I must've given him such a hard time with my ideas, but I'm glad he was really patient. This one is at best considered to be on hiatus, but if given the word to come back to the campaign, I know all of us participating would do so in a heartbeat. I miss being a player in this homebrew. There is so much to explore and an amazing story arcing over everything. It's the kind of epic that'll stick with you.
Some time later after being on hiatus of any table top, the itch came back. It was at this point I'll make a return to GMing. This time, I won't look at DnD or it's alternatives. I'll look at my newest passion, BattleTech. It might be funny to some but I'm really glad I gave it a go for a few missions. The TTRPG of BattleTech, called MechWarrior Destiny was awesome for someone like me to give GMing a try. It allowed to practice thinking on my feet, and a return to how I first experienced role playing By having the players influence or even direct a scene. I think now that this needs the right group of players but everyone I GM'd for did so well. We only put it hiatus because of my other interests developing at the time.
Introducing, solo play! Well this came about because I wanted to keep playing TTRPGs, but I work night shift all by myself and wanted to explore a creative outlet. It started with checking out solo board games and through that I asked, 'are solo RPGs a thing as well?'. Thankfully the answer is yes and I discovered Mörk Borg. While Mörk Borg is not a solo RPG itself, it did have some great supplements that allowed it to be played solo. From here I discovered the OSR and NSR. Not much longer I have multiple Kickstarters backed, plenty of PDFs that I've half read, and more stuff to look forward to.
Now I'm at this point where I enjoy GMing! A couple years ago I wouldn't have thought I ever would but it is incredibly satisfying. I ran a West Marches game using Forbidden Lands. A Pirate Borg game thats multiple sessions deep. And more stuff that I have around that I can't wait to run.
So that's where I'm at today. A point where I realized I need to stop buying books and try to run things that I have. I really want to get an in person game going with Troika! I know with my friends they'll have a lot of fun with a gonzo game. I still play solo, not as often as I would like. But I think if I start posting my play sessions on this blog then that might encourage me to play more. I still call myself new to GMing, mostly due to me slipping up, not role playing as well as I should, and even forgetting what's in the book. But that's ok because I'm still told by my players that they are having fun so I don't plan to stop GMing any time soon. I'm still trying to take in advice I read online and thankfully the OSR discord is a great resource for that. I might stay a lurker there for eternity but maybe I'll break out of my insecurity shell.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. Stay safe y'all.