Ask a question, answer a question, do both (both is good)! Talk to me about gaming!
1. What’s the first game system ( __ Edition D&D,
Rifts, GURPS, Shadowrun, etc.) you ever played?2. What’s the most recent one you’ve played?
3. What’s your favorite system?
4. Is there a system you’d like to play but
haven’t?5. Are there any systems you’ve tried and did NOT
like?6. Do you have any house rules for the system(s)
you play?7. Do you DM/GM for your group?
8. Do you say DM or GM?
9. Do you have a go-to setting?
10. Have you ever run a game, or do you prefer to
just play?11. Do you play with game mats and/or minis?
12. How old were you when you first started gaming?
13. How often does your current gaming group meet
up?14. How often would you LIKE to meet up for gaming?
15. How long do your gaming sessions tend to be?
16. How long would you LIKE your gaming sessions to
be?17. Have you tried/had any luck with Roll20?
18. What’s your preferred gaming beverage?
19. What are your preferred gaming snacks?
20. What are your superstitions or rituals regarding
dice?21. Do you know anyone with really good/bad/weird
dice luck?22. What would you say is your alignment?
23. What is the class you’d like to be?
24. What class do you think you’d actually be?
25. What weapons would you wield? [@thewhiteboardofkanjisan]
26. If you could cast one spell, what would it be?
27. What school of magic would you specialize in?
28. If you could have any creature – real or
fictional – as a familiar, what would it be?29. What was your favorite character to play?
30. Do you tend/prefer to play characters of your own gender/orientation?
31. What question would you add to this list? [you’ll be credited like this]
Well, I was going to ask you, but since you already answered, I’ll just reblog and answer. Also, my question for you is the last one.
1. What’s the first game system ( __ Edition D&D, Rifts, GURPS, Shadowrun, etc.) you ever played?
AD&D 2e. Didn’t particularly like it, but it was my first system.
2. What’s the most recent one you’ve played?
Hrm. Played? Technically Perky!, my own RP system. Last one I played or GMed for would be D&D 5e though.
3. What’s your favorite system?
That’s… tough. Favorite that I’ve played is probably my own (there’s a reason why I made it), but favorite that I’ve seen is probably…
4. Is there a system you’d like to play but haven’t?
Fiasco. I’ve been so close to being able to play it several times, but all have fallen through. :(
5. Are there any systems you’ve tried and did NOT like?
Several maybe? I was definitely not a fan of D&D 4e, but that might have been the DM. I wasn’t a fan of AD&D 2e and the same situation there. The Returner’s FFRPG 2e was the first system I ran and I really didn’t like that by the end of my run. That one wasn’t the fault of the GM. :)
6. Do you have any house rules for the system(s) you play?
Yes. For all systems, we have a three-game-pilot. What that means is that you can change up your characters entirely within the first three sessions of a game, no consequence and we handwave over the story bits. Once you start the fourth session, no more handwaving. Called based on the TV pilot phenomenon where characters seemingly change between that and the series with no reference to what happened.
Beyond that, we have a couple of houserules specific to various systems (ex: D&D we don’t roll for stats, we give out a statline or two and let people choose their stats from there), but the three-game-pilot is the big one.
7. Do you DM/GM for your group?
Yes. I’m one of the three GMs of the group and I probably run the most. Also, I run all of my games outside of my normal group.
8. Do you say DM or GM?
Both. I use GM as a generic term and the specific terms for the specific systems (Dungeon Master for D&D, Guide for Perky!, Episode Master for Yume En).
9. Do you have a go-to setting?
Two of them, actually.
Mion is my setting for D&D and D&D-like games, which is a mid-renaissance-era small campaign world where the players of prior games have actually defeated the gods themselves, throwing all kinds of things out of whack (such as the Alignment system itself, hence the CG Succubus mayor of the largest city…).
Sharna is my setting for Perky!, Yume En, FFRPG, and any other free form / non-time-specific roleplaying systems. It is a huge campaign world (4x Earth) with lots of different technologies, societies, and endless places that you can get lost in. It was originally based on Ivalice from FFT, but at this point I could probably just rename four things and no one would even see the reference. Sharna is probably my most in-depth setting since you could literally spin a globe of it, point out one spot, and I could probably tell you something about that spot.
Speaking of, anyone know where to buy a custom-made globe? :)
10. Have you ever run a game, or do you prefer to just play?
I prefer to play and run games equally. That’s not to say I’m always okay with one or the other – I mean I prefer to play as many games as I run.
11. Do you play with game mats and/or minis?
I used to do this more, but with a player or two online it makes mini-based combat really difficult and time consuming. If there is a specific situation that the players need to see spacing on, I’ll go for it, but otherwise it is just theater of the mind.
12. How old were you when you first started gaming?
Roleplaying? 16. I was a relatively late bloomer there, as I wasn’t invited to any other games. I started running games at 18 (and, in fact, one of my first players still plays with me today).
13. How often does your current gaming group meet up?
Weekly…ish. We run two games concurrently; I run one and another person runs another game. However, being that we’re all 25-40 years old, we don’t necessarily have every week free. We’ll occasionally go a month without a game played at all because too many of us are out.
14. How often would you LIKE to meet up for gaming?
This is going to be a bit unique, but less often. I feel like meeting every other week for twice as long would make for a way better game. Of course I’d prefer weekly at that length, but I’m a bit realistic.
15. How long do your gaming sessions tend to be?
They’re scheduled for 2.5 hours, but it ends up closer to 1.5-2h in length due to late starts and the like.
16. How long would you LIKE your gaming sessions to be?
Three hours, five for a particularly epic session.
17. Have you tried/had any luck with Roll20?
I’ve messed around with it a bit, but never in an actual game.
18. What’s your preferred gaming beverage?
I only drink water and carbonated water now, so the latter. Tangerine La Croix, if I want to be fancy (it usually ends up just plain carbonated water from my sodastream). Back when I drank anything else, it was Sprite.
19. What are your preferred gaming snacks?
Preferred? Pretzels, cookies, and gummy bears. None of those make a mess other than crumbs and they’re all quite good.
Typical? Extra sharp cheddar cheese sticks. I can control my eating a bit better with those, but I only eat when I’m not running a game.
20. What are your superstitions or rituals regarding dice?
Oddly enough, I don’t have any. I mostly just indulge my players in exiling dice, but I really don’t care that much. I use pretty dice for pretty games. Of course, there is a downside…
21. Do you know anyone with really good/bad/weird dice luck?
Absolutely – me. As a GM, I roll really crappy. Like “average of a 5 on a d20? level of bad. I’ve gone through several games where my bosses didn’t even harm an opponent because of how bad my rolls were. I’ve since switched to a dice deck for running games, even though I really miss rolling real dice. :(
22. What would you say is your [D&D] alignment?
Chaotic Good. I’m probably the type of CG that’s right on the edge of being NG instead, but I’m pretty decided about this.
23. What is the [D&D] class you’d like to be?
Bard or Druid. Bards get almost all the cool magic and skills, Druids get to be shape shifters and the rest of the cool magic.
24. What class do you think you’d actually be?
Bard. CON is my dump stat in real life and it is a toss-up as to which is my highest mental stat.
25. What weapons would you wield? [@thewhiteboardofkanjisan]
Bow. Hell no am I getting in the middle of combat with you melee buffoons!
26. If you could cast one spell, what would it be? [@thewhiteboardofkanjisan?]
Dangerous question. I could just say “Wish” and get lots of other spells. Let’s just say Teleport to make things simple.
27. What school of magic would you specialize in?
Illusion is my personal favorite school of magic, but divination is probably what I’d actually be specialized in.
28. If you could have any creature – real or fictional – as a familiar, what would it be? [@thewhiteboardofkanjisan?]
Pseudodragon. Oh, like that’s surprising – it’s a kitty that can fly and talk back! As a complete not-at-all coincidence, the only character I’ve had with a familiar had a pseudodragon familiar.
29. What was your favorite character to play? [@thewhiteboardofkanjisan?]
You’re asking me to choose between my children! How could you!
So… three of them from Pathfinder (they’re easier to explain), all three in the same universe, in chronological order:
Captain Valen, Anti-Pirate Pirate (3.5e -> Pathfinder, Chaotic Neutral Pan Human Druid). He’s exactly what you shouldn’t do with a Druid. Top stat is a standard Druid dump stat (Charisma), Wisdom in a firm third place. He’s the obvious party leader of a group of characters who shouldn’t be able to be led (one non-CN member of the party), with a personality that matches the meme of Captain Kirk saying “I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am”, complete with full on pansexuality. He came up with completely crazy crackpot plans (which were actually me planning well in advance because Valen’s second highest stat was Int…) that actually worked and eventually became a deity in that universe, creating an island nation…
Tatiana, Guildmaster of the Mage’s Guild (Pathfinder, Chaotic Good Ace Human Rogue/Elocator). Tatiana was my take on everyone’s favorite modern-day Rogue-like Rogue, Parker from Leverage. She started out as an acrobatic rogue who didn’t seem to like actually hurting people and knew way more about magic than even the party mage (Alchemist). However, she was really on a quest / bet from her father. Her father was the head of the Thieves’ Guild of the island nation she came from – and a wizard. She challenged him that she could be a better thief than he ever could be and that laws were merely things that were guidelines and suggestions. The first laws that she broke? Physics. Tatiana became a homebrewed non-psionic Elocator, basically changing the directions of gravity for herself at all times and developing some very magic-like special powers. Toward the end of the campaign, she made up with her father and decided that she didn’t need to prove her thieving abilities – she just stole the head of the Mage’s Guild from the actual wizards, putting herself there. She’s quite happy with her loot.
Kynet Founddottir, Paladin of the Holy Order of Dwarves (Pathfinder, Lawful Good Demi Drow Noble Paladin). Kynet is the tallest Dwarf you’ll ever meet. She’s straight and to the point, she drinks like a Dwarf, she thinks like a Dwarf, she’s a Dwarf by every definition other than the whole “being a Drow” thing. She was found as an infant during an invasion of a major Drow city in the underdark by the Dwarves and the Clerical head of the Holy Order couldn’t bring herself to kill the little one (or let her be killed), so she brought her back. She eventually married and Kynet’s parents had many children – she babysat many of them, then babysat their kids and grandkids. Eventually, enough of Kynet’s clan of Dwarves were in the Holy Order that they passed a resolution allowing Kynet in the order. She’s so full of flavor that I can’t help to love her – she started developing the same powers a Drow Noble has, her only prized possession is the armor her father made her (her starting money went exclusively to that armor, only having a masterwork bow otherwise), and she fully believed that anyone can be redeemed – I mean, just look at her! Unfortunately, she ended up being a ridiculously overpowered character, as apparently the entire campaign was about demons. I actually didn’t know that before the campaign started, but it ended with bosses being given 10x HP and I was still nearly one-shotting them all. Still, the only time I’ve had fun playing someone Lawful Good. She was the type of Lawful Good that would find an evil person, sit down with them at a bar, and talk it out over some nice scotch.
30. Do you tend/prefer to play characters of your own gender/orientation?
No, actually. While there is a part of me in every character I make, I don’t have a strong gender identity, so I don’t have any preference on gender identity or orientation on characters. I play what I feel is right for the character, which is very specific to the character themselves. As a result, I end up playing 55% women, 40% men, 5% other/NB. As for orientation, I usually don’t decide on that in advance. My last D&D character was a somewhat-genderfluid lesbian who fell head over heels for another member of the party (who was in a love triangle between two other guys and didn’t even know my character had such feelings IC; OOC the player knew). The one before that was Kynet, who I had decided was demisexual like myself after realizing that she’s probably never fallen in love since almost everyone she’s met has had such a short lifespan. I had decided that she was a woman because that’s a lot more dramatic for a Drow Paladin to be – kind of like what she was probably raised to be, only corrupted by light and good.
31. What do you, primarily, get out of roleplaying? That is, is it for fun with your friends, to experiment with being people who you are not, or something else? [@aetherspoon]
My own addition.
I use roleplaying as a chance for me to be someone I’m somewhat-like, but better. Every character I play has some part of me inside of them. Heck, in the three examples above, Kynet has huge chunks of my personality (and I channeled a lot of my “I don’t fit in” to her), Tatiana has my morality (and inquisitiveness), Valen has my cunning (and a more amplified version of my “I can’t stand being told what to do” trait).
As a GM, I get to play out my stories in my head, with the players answering my “how does this flow and end” questions, basically. So I get some creativity juices flowing a lot more than in my day-to-day job.
32. What question would you add to this list? [you’ll be credited like this]