Ah, I had to look back for this one, but my very first was not until 2014.
One of the reasons for this is I am always super busy in August due to Gen Con (didn't go this year) and my Fall term start.
Well, that is another #RPGaDAY for the history books! How did you all do?
Today's question looks to the future. What should #RPGaDAY do for its 10th anniversary next year?
Two things I can think of.
1. Poster's choice. You participate in a past #RPGaDAY that you did not do originally or did not complete. So for me 2017 and 2018.
2. Roll a d10 to and post for whatever that year was. This means Dave still needed to come up with things for Year 10 (2023)
I think my money is on #1.
Who would you like to see take part in #RPGaDAY?
Honestly? I would like to see some of the big names in the industry do something with it. So Wizards, Paizo, and others. Sure, use it to sell your own games, but it would be fun to get some of the big names involved.
Though the more the merrier to be honest!
Style Sunday: Roll 1d8+1, tag that many friends with your favorite RPG cover art.
Well. Again, I am not a huge fan of tagging people at random.
So instead here are some (1d8+1) of my favorite pieces of RPG art.
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D&D Basic Erol Otus |
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WitchCraft by George Vasilakos |
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Vampire the Masquerade |
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Monster Manual |
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Larry Elmore Witch |
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Blue Rose |
After 40 years all my characters have changed a bit.
One character I had, Nigel was a Neutral Evil assassin, but over the years my DM pointed out he wasn't actually acting very evil anymore and he slowly had drifted to Chaotic Neutral, even to the point of losing his assassin's guild.
Larina went from a rather minor character in the late 80s to more and more importance in my games. I even made subtle changes to her looks, ie her eyes went from brown to blue, and in-story I claimed it was because her magic had become more powerful.
Now how *I* have changed with my characters is I am far more willing to try weird characters. Crazy Gnome bards (although not that weird anymore), crazy little goblin cultists, anything. I was never big on the Sword & Sorcery trope characters, but now even less so.
Ah. The age-old question. Why do characters adventure?
For the Johans it was always about destroying the forces of evil. Fighting the undead and demons so innocents would not have to perish.
For Larina, it was always trying to uncover that next occult secret. Or in my case with her, discover the ins and outs of a new game system and its magic.
For each character for me it is usually about exploring some archetype or some aspect of the rules I want to uncover.
And some characters, like my gnome bard Jassic Goodwalker or my goblin warlock Nik Nak, it is just about having a good time. Both for me and the character.
I suppose for the purposes of this #RPGaDay I should have started out with just one character. But where is the fun in that?
So the Werper family began in Mystara, Glantri to be exact. I know clerics in Glantri. But when I moved over to AD&D 1st Ed my DM and I merged our worlds (me Mystara, him Oerth) Glantri changed a bit. Since then Johan the III was trapped in Ravenloft and thought to be lost. Johan the IV was the first ever to travel to the Forgotten Realms. All of them have been to Abyss to fight demons, their sworn enemies and Johan II even ended up in London in the 1980s.
Likewise, Larina has been EVERYWHERE.
But I love a good plane-hopping adventure.
War of the Witch Queens will introduce my kids to my favorite playground, the Multi-verse. They have already been Krynn, but didn't know it yet.
Again, more than one character means more than one date, but that is cool.
For Sinéad and Nida it was in January of 2021 that I rolled them up, making them some of my newest characters. Though both had concepts prior to this and Nida at least had a name.
For my others, well I got in the habit early on to put the date I made the character on their sheets.
Johan I was 1/9/1980
Johan II was 1/30/84
Johan III was 1/2/86
Johan IV was 9/13/2000
Johan V was 6/13/2008
Johan V Pathfinder version was 2/19/2011
JohanVI D&D Next PlayTest 8/17/2012, converted to 5e proper on 9/13/2014
Larina, despite all that I post about her, was not my first character. She was created on October 25 (or 26), 1986. I have been saying October 25th forever, but some details on her sheet lead me to believe that it was more like the 26th.
While every new edition means the next in line for the Weprers, Larina moves between the editions. Advantages of being a quasi-immortal witch.
Going off of yesterday's post here is what is happening.
Phygor is "exploring the world." That is code for I don't know what I am doing yet.
Johan is still in the Demonweb with the other D&D 5 characters.
The OSE characters are all NPCs in the "War of the Witch Queens."
But let's talk about my AD&D Second Ed characters, Sinéad and Nida. These characters are still rather new for me. The stats I posted are not the ones I am playing. They are still both 1st level, and they are not in the same game. Well. At least for now.
We are trying out all different editions of D&D here and these will be my return to AD&D 2nd Ed AND my first real introduction to the Forgotten Realms.
Of the two I have only played Nida once. Sinéad is 1st level, but I have not taken her on any adventures yet. Right now there is not a lot to tell them apart save that Sinéad is a half-elf and might be the daughter of my last AD&D 1st ed character. Not sure about that one just yet. Though I do think I am getting a grasp on who they might be.
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| Nida, Witch of Rashemen |
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| Sinéad, half-elf Bard/Wizard |
D&D 5e
This is my current 5e character, Johan Werper the VI. He is a cleric/paladin. He is the great-great-great-great-grandson of my first ever D&D character Johan Werper, the Cleric. Johan the First was followed by Johan the II (Paladin), Johan III (Cavalier), Johan IV (Cleric, Prestige Paladin 3e), Johan V (Paladin, multiclassed feat Cleric, 4e) and to the new generation.
It has been a real joy to have a multi-generational arc for my characters and great to play with this concept of the Lawful Good paladin across all generations of the D&D game. Each has given me something slightly different and all have been a blast to play.
Some of my other characters for 5e that jump between PCs and NPCs are Tayrn Nix, Half-elf Warlock (Fey Pact), Celeste Holmes, Human Wizard (Sage), Cassandra Killian, Human Sorcerer (Divne Soul), Jassic Winterhaven, Gnome Bard (College of Lore), Sasha, Cleric (Knowledge Domain), and Áedán Aamadu, Human Druid (Circle of the Land).
Old School Essentials
Some of my OSE include the druid couple Asabalom and Maryah and my Pagans Lars and Siân.
AD&D 2nd Edition
I have two I have been working with. I was just telling my oldest last night I need to pull them out again and do more with them. Both are AD&D 2nd Ed interpretations of a Witch, Goodwife Sinéad (Witch Kit) and Nida (witch of Hala/Witch of Rashemen kit)
DragonQuest
My character for this game is still Phygor.
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Of course, I do have to mention my iconic witch Larina, who gets stated up in every game I play.
Setting Sunday!
It is said that AD&D Second Edition was the king of settings and campaign worlds.
One I always found interesting was the AD&D 2e setting Red Steel.
Essentially "Fantasy Australia where even the rocks can kill you." Credit to TSR for trying something so new so late in the game development.
I always liked the idea and wanted to explore it a lot more, just never got around to it. Though with my Mystoerth setting I could likely find a place for it.
Another great 2nd Edition setting was Masque of the Red Death, an attempt to bring AD&D to the Victorian Horror genre. For a while, this was my absolute favorite setting even if the system (AD&D 2nd Ed.) never really worked well with the setting (Victorian Era earth).
In both settings there are things in the world that can corrupt the PCs. And as it turns out both are red.
In Red Steel it is the dust and rocks, but there is also the red steel to protect you.
In MotRD it is the eponymous Red Death, the evil force that haunts Gothic Earth.
Both came out at similar times and I have to admit I wanted to explore more connections between the two other than the superficial.
See what I mean when I said I could just play D&D and never run out of ideas!
I used to play for hours and hours on end. Now I find I can only do about 4 to 6 hours at a time.
That is fine because I also feel that is the sweet spot of gaming too. Enough to get you deep into whatever you need and not too long to overstay the feeling.
Why has your favorite game stayed with you?
Well if we are talking about Dungeons & Dragons then I think it is because of all the endless possibilities. If I only ever played D&D for the rest of my life I don't think I would run out of ideas. There is always something more to be done, some new dungeon, hex, or plane to discover and explore.
Maybe that is why it has also been the king of RPGs for nearly 50 years.
Where? That is easy.
My game room.
Well, I have a lot of favorite times for games. But I have to say in general.
Yes.
I know total cop-out answer.
I love my D&D and fantasy set in the past. I am a sucker for anything in the Victorian era and at last count, I think I own every Victorian RPG out. Though I am looking forward to getting my BlackStar game going again.
So I guess yes. All the Above.
Perfect game? Hmm.
If you mean the perfect RPG then I have to say NIGHT SHIFT, but that is kind of a cheat for me really since it was designed out of the box to be my perfect game.
For a perfect game, I have run? Hmm. Either my "Dragonslayers" game I ran with my kids some years ago. "The Dragon and The Phoenix" Buffy game that eventually would influence my writing on Ghosts of Albion. I also love my current "War of the Witch Queens."
Maybe I should re-tool The Dragon and The Phoenix or Season of the Witch for NIGHT SHIFT!
Interesting question.
Normally I prefer to game with people I know. Conventions are an obvious exception. So there isn't really anyone out there that I would like to have as a Game Master.
I would however like to play a game with Matt Mercer of Critical Role. He just looks like he runs a fun game. Yeah, that might make me a heretic among the old-school crowd, but I stopped caring about that years ago.
So today is Suggestion Sunday. I am supposed to "Roll 1d8+1, and tag that many friends and suggest a new RPG to try."
But generally speaking, I don't like to tag people like that. I have a few on my friend's list that in fact do not like to be tagged. The alternate is also tagging people.
So instead I am rolling a 1d8+1 and recommending that number of RPGs in my to-be-read pile.
I rolled a 4 so here are 5 RPG recommendations from my to-be-read and to-be-reviewed piles.
1. The Dark Eye. The English version of the German Die Schwarze Auge has been sitting here taunting me forever. It just looks like so much fun! Plus it has witches. You know I love that.
2. Coyote & Crow Core Rulebook. Alternate future, Native American RPG. The premise intrigues me and any game that has Cahokia as its central city already moves up several notches in my mind.
3. Hero Kids. I just love the idea of this game.
4. Far Away Land. I am embarrassed by how long this one has been on my TBR piles. It is so good and so much fun.
5. Blue Rose. I know I have reviewed it already and played it. But it is the "+1" part so I can go off of my own script. Seriously check it out it is a wonderful game.
I don't think I would change anything, to be honest with you. Save for maybe hold on to some items longer.
Generally speaking, I am not one to have regrets or second guess my past. Things happened, I made the best choices I could with the knowledge I had and it made me what I am right now and I would not want to change that.
My struggles to figure out how Holmes Basic worked with the Monster Manual or Moldvay Basic/Cook Expert worked with the AD&D Players Handbook set me off into directions to understand these systems better. Which got me to write my own material. Which got me into writing my own material for online use. Then to working with real publishers. To produce materials that people buy now.
It all goes back to that. I would not want to change any of it really.
Like I mentioned on Day 8 it was the late 70s and early 80s and honestly, Dungeons & Dragons was everywhere it seemed. This was before the full Satanic Panic had hit my small town (that would be later) and it just seemed like something all the cool kids were doing.
Of course by the time I picked up D&D all the "cool kids" had moved on to "Call of Cthulhu." Yes I can still recall being told "oh. You are STILL playing D&D?" Yeah, here I am 40 years later...and still not one of the cool kids I guess.
Eh. No worries. My kids think I am cool.
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I have been informed that they don't think I am cool. Whatever. You all still like me.
