For 'Examine', I've decided to take a close look at some of my playing habits in recent years.
This past year I exclusively played in D&D 5E games. The live table where I was but a humble player was a home-brew of sorts, but we were still in 'Forgotten Realms' whereas the Roll*20 game I ran was a 5E supplement called 'Journey to Ragnarok' which I mashed-up with Index Card Role Playing Game. JTR is a Norse Mythology setting for 5E created by a bunch of Italian guys--but it's really good in spite of not being about pasta, pizza, plumbing or the mafia ;)
For the past nine years I have enjoyed what I think is the productive habit of trying out different games annually. Unfortunately, ICRPG not withstanding, I didn't get to try any "new" systems this year. The large group I've mentioned before, Gulf Roleplaying Community, only held mini-conventions in Dubai this year, and as I had one foot out the door and was a regular participant in my local game anyway, I didn't make the 6+ hour round trip out there, and again, being a short-timer meant not backing any new KickStarter projects. Side note--all my physical books being relocated from UAE to China by way of the Philippines has not been a cost-effective endeavor to say the least. I won't know the full extent of this trouble until August 20 when I enter the People's Republic. If I back any KS projects this year, they will probably be digital only. I still have two physical books in the wind that I rerouted to the U.S.
As a player, I typically play female characters. This year was no exception. At the live table I played the never--um...ever-popular, Reganlief Torbjorn. She was a human beast master ranger of the chaotic good alignment. The backstory was that she was a part of a somewhat well to do family of hunters which made their fortune on exotic furs and the like. On one expedition, Reganlief, her father, and her brother were attacked by an unknown creature. Although badly wounded, broken and scarred, Reganlief was the lone survivor of the attack. She vowed revenge. She left her mother--and the family fortune--scouring the lands in search of the elusive creature. The gimmick for her was that she was a cutter who would never let the scars on her face heal. I purposely created her using 5E RAW for Beastmaster Rangers which everyone knows is kind of weak because I wanted to see how bad it was. I eventually multi-classed her to cleric because of this weakness and the fact that the party needed a cleric anyway. My DM this year was really good about weaving our backstories in to the campaign. The creature Reganlief was after ended up being a Peryton--a magic creature that was a cross between a giant eagle and a stag, known for tearing the still beating hearts from its victims--which the party dispatched of in two rounds...sometimes winning that initiative is half the battle. Very quick and final aside--As a GM we can do whatever we want, but being fair and playing within the rules these days means the players--DM's caveat and/or fighting beyond their level not withstanding--are almost kill proof in straight battles.
That ended up being a long one. Tomorrow's topic is....Friendship
This past year I exclusively played in D&D 5E games. The live table where I was but a humble player was a home-brew of sorts, but we were still in 'Forgotten Realms' whereas the Roll*20 game I ran was a 5E supplement called 'Journey to Ragnarok' which I mashed-up with Index Card Role Playing Game. JTR is a Norse Mythology setting for 5E created by a bunch of Italian guys--but it's really good in spite of not being about pasta, pizza, plumbing or the mafia ;)
For the past nine years I have enjoyed what I think is the productive habit of trying out different games annually. Unfortunately, ICRPG not withstanding, I didn't get to try any "new" systems this year. The large group I've mentioned before, Gulf Roleplaying Community, only held mini-conventions in Dubai this year, and as I had one foot out the door and was a regular participant in my local game anyway, I didn't make the 6+ hour round trip out there, and again, being a short-timer meant not backing any new KickStarter projects. Side note--all my physical books being relocated from UAE to China by way of the Philippines has not been a cost-effective endeavor to say the least. I won't know the full extent of this trouble until August 20 when I enter the People's Republic. If I back any KS projects this year, they will probably be digital only. I still have two physical books in the wind that I rerouted to the U.S.
As a player, I typically play female characters. This year was no exception. At the live table I played the never--um...ever-popular, Reganlief Torbjorn. She was a human beast master ranger of the chaotic good alignment. The backstory was that she was a part of a somewhat well to do family of hunters which made their fortune on exotic furs and the like. On one expedition, Reganlief, her father, and her brother were attacked by an unknown creature. Although badly wounded, broken and scarred, Reganlief was the lone survivor of the attack. She vowed revenge. She left her mother--and the family fortune--scouring the lands in search of the elusive creature. The gimmick for her was that she was a cutter who would never let the scars on her face heal. I purposely created her using 5E RAW for Beastmaster Rangers which everyone knows is kind of weak because I wanted to see how bad it was. I eventually multi-classed her to cleric because of this weakness and the fact that the party needed a cleric anyway. My DM this year was really good about weaving our backstories in to the campaign. The creature Reganlief was after ended up being a Peryton--a magic creature that was a cross between a giant eagle and a stag, known for tearing the still beating hearts from its victims--which the party dispatched of in two rounds...sometimes winning that initiative is half the battle. Very quick and final aside--As a GM we can do whatever we want, but being fair and playing within the rules these days means the players--DM's caveat and/or fighting beyond their level not withstanding--are almost kill proof in straight battles.
That ended up being a long one. Tomorrow's topic is....Friendship
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