#RPGaDay produces another easy double/multiple meaning with Day 7 - "Familiar." Do we go RPG that fits you like a warm comfy blanket on a cold winter's night, or do we D&D with an annoying ferret augmenting your spellcaster abilities?
So I'll just talk about the online 5e game I'm playing every Monday night.
Time: Summer of 2017
Place: My old college roommate Steve's house, for his kid's birthday party
The skinny: While watching small children fight with water balloons, our other college buddy, Nate, lets it slip they the two of them were playing an online 5th Edition D&D game, run by Steve's high school friend, Jeff.
Yea, though I walked out in the shower of water balloons, I shall fear no wetness, because I was talking to Steve and getting an invite to that session.
You see, between kids, family obligations, and other stuff, our normal monthly mega-get together had turned bi-monthy, then quarterly, and we slid in a boardgame session in during the Summer. With an upgrade laptop, I had the capability to do it, and would much rather play with familiar people than some random dude in Denmark chugging Red Bulls in his underwear.
Anyway, a few weeks later, I'm added to a Skype call, given a Roll20 address and a pre-gen character, Falgor the Mighty, elf barbarian.
None of this is my normal cup of tea, but I am the dude who barged into somebody else's game with a "Dude, got an extra seat, man?"
Since I had only played a few quick games of 5e with my daughters via Dungeons & Ponies, I sat back and absorbed the system, my fellow players' styles, and my DM Jeff's idiosyncracies.
Let's fast-forward to the Summer of 2019. Our group is on some multi-dimensional epic quest. We're now on some world with fabulous races, floating islands, and lots of slavery.
Everybody: *checks characters sheets* "Hey we all despise slavery for intimate personal reasons. Screw the multiverse, this place needs to burn...
Jeff the DM: "But first, another distracting plot twist."
Falgor is still alive, a pretty effective, highly elusive combat monster. I don't have run circles around the opposition, I'm fast enough to walk circles around them and still have them confused.
He's also the meta-gaming voice of reason, as a subtly drop reasonable questions like "What is in this dungeon that we need to get, when we could be infiltrating the Blood Brotherhoods citadel right this second and kill their leader?"
Beyond that, Jeff and I had a good agreement that if he needs to cancel due to whatever reason, I'll fill in as GM with something to play. I've done Canadian College Cthulhu in the 90's, some zany Illuminati University games using Risus, and even some BECMI D&D "Adventures in Gulluvia," that will one-day see the light of day.
But recently, Jeff lost his job, his wife has needed his gaming computer for work, plus the normal family baloney that drags us down. He's been forced to cancel far more than play, and with a new job and crazy hours, he just admitted that he's going to have bail on us, long term.
Enter me, as usual. Earlier in the Summer one of our Skype but no game sessions brought up a number of crazy concepts for IOU, but also me promising a "Krampus in July" adventure if Jeff cancelled again. Lo' and behold, mid-way through my workday, I'm pulling up Krampus adventures on Drive-Thru RPG. I ended up grabbing "The Darkest Night" by Tribality Publishing, turning it on its ear, and dropping the biggest bombshell: everyone would be playing their current character's in Jeff's game, six months after they succeeded in destroying the slayers, conquering all the subplots, but still waiting for the red herrings to assemble the maguffin. No time to level up characters, it was time to vanquish snow elementals, rescue gnomes who didn't want to make toys, and finally get those Blood Brotherhood slavers who got away the first time... in their jolly red coats and all.
It was fun and all, but the part about being familiar? I ran three larges combats plus extensive role-playing and strategy in under two hours, for a system I've only truly seen in its glory as a player... and without GM access on Jeff's game(all the fun little tools weren't there).
Why? Because in the end D&D in it's many incarnations is something I'm familiar with. The combat flow is in my blood, regardless of changes. I've run the entirety of G1 in a four-hour weeknight session, with the entire complex chasing the PCs... in Hackmaster. Krampus was a piece of cake compared to that, but it felt so go to take a new edition like a fine pair of pants from a brand/store I trust. I might need some personal alterations for my own stylistic tastes, but even without them, it's a great fit I've come to rely on.
And here's hoping Jeff can make a triumphant return. My busy season at work is coming up and I would love a little player time to decompress.
So I'll just talk about the online 5e game I'm playing every Monday night.
Time: Summer of 2017
Place: My old college roommate Steve's house, for his kid's birthday party
The skinny: While watching small children fight with water balloons, our other college buddy, Nate, lets it slip they the two of them were playing an online 5th Edition D&D game, run by Steve's high school friend, Jeff.
Yea, though I walked out in the shower of water balloons, I shall fear no wetness, because I was talking to Steve and getting an invite to that session.
You see, between kids, family obligations, and other stuff, our normal monthly mega-get together had turned bi-monthy, then quarterly, and we slid in a boardgame session in during the Summer. With an upgrade laptop, I had the capability to do it, and would much rather play with familiar people than some random dude in Denmark chugging Red Bulls in his underwear.
Anyway, a few weeks later, I'm added to a Skype call, given a Roll20 address and a pre-gen character, Falgor the Mighty, elf barbarian.
None of this is my normal cup of tea, but I am the dude who barged into somebody else's game with a "Dude, got an extra seat, man?"
 |
| The cool art for the front page of the Rocks of Scarra campaign |
Let's fast-forward to the Summer of 2019. Our group is on some multi-dimensional epic quest. We're now on some world with fabulous races, floating islands, and lots of slavery.
Everybody: *checks characters sheets* "Hey we all despise slavery for intimate personal reasons. Screw the multiverse, this place needs to burn...
Jeff the DM: "But first, another distracting plot twist."
Falgor is still alive, a pretty effective, highly elusive combat monster. I don't have run circles around the opposition, I'm fast enough to walk circles around them and still have them confused.
He's also the meta-gaming voice of reason, as a subtly drop reasonable questions like "What is in this dungeon that we need to get, when we could be infiltrating the Blood Brotherhoods citadel right this second and kill their leader?"
Beyond that, Jeff and I had a good agreement that if he needs to cancel due to whatever reason, I'll fill in as GM with something to play. I've done Canadian College Cthulhu in the 90's, some zany Illuminati University games using Risus, and even some BECMI D&D "Adventures in Gulluvia," that will one-day see the light of day.
But recently, Jeff lost his job, his wife has needed his gaming computer for work, plus the normal family baloney that drags us down. He's been forced to cancel far more than play, and with a new job and crazy hours, he just admitted that he's going to have bail on us, long term.
Enter me, as usual. Earlier in the Summer one of our Skype but no game sessions brought up a number of crazy concepts for IOU, but also me promising a "Krampus in July" adventure if Jeff cancelled again. Lo' and behold, mid-way through my workday, I'm pulling up Krampus adventures on Drive-Thru RPG. I ended up grabbing "The Darkest Night" by Tribality Publishing, turning it on its ear, and dropping the biggest bombshell: everyone would be playing their current character's in Jeff's game, six months after they succeeded in destroying the slayers, conquering all the subplots, but still waiting for the red herrings to assemble the maguffin. No time to level up characters, it was time to vanquish snow elementals, rescue gnomes who didn't want to make toys, and finally get those Blood Brotherhood slavers who got away the first time... in their jolly red coats and all.
 |
| Krampus is just the righteous god of a group of gnome. Everybody knows that! |
Why? Because in the end D&D in it's many incarnations is something I'm familiar with. The combat flow is in my blood, regardless of changes. I've run the entirety of G1 in a four-hour weeknight session, with the entire complex chasing the PCs... in Hackmaster. Krampus was a piece of cake compared to that, but it felt so go to take a new edition like a fine pair of pants from a brand/store I trust. I might need some personal alterations for my own stylistic tastes, but even without them, it's a great fit I've come to rely on.
And here's hoping Jeff can make a triumphant return. My busy season at work is coming up and I would love a little player time to decompress.
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