It has been years - literally years - since I last posted … which means I've been playing RPGs for over two years now.
If you had asked me five years ago what an RPG was, I would've described something closer to a MMORPG. And now RPG vocabulary has entered my daily life. I made plentiful Pathfinder references when Fiance and I were watching Hercules, the new movie with Dwayne Johnson. The other day I even butted into a conversation two guys were having about the newly released edition of D&D.
Despite these instances, I still have an out-of-body experience every time I catch myself making an RPG reference. I often hear myself make these references and go, "Who am I? Why do I know this?" To which my friends typically reply with the chant, "One of us! One of us!"
So what have I learned?
A now we're going to start a new co-ed game. This game is going to be played in a different game setting than the Pathfinder Blackbannon settings I've played in, so it'll be interesting getting acquainted with the feel and rules of the new setting.
Beyond that, this new game will be really interesting for a couple of reasons: (a) we're picking up a game most of the players were in a few years back, and (b) we're starting at 12th level.
What's challenging about this being a game that most of the players were in before is that they all have a great connection with the story and an already established collective memory. People loved this game so much that they still reference the adventures they went on often. They all have well defined characters that they know and understand deeply. So I'm going to be joining the party a little late, with a brand new character.
But it should be okay because the new character I've built - Kimiko, a Kitsune Rogue - is very similar to who I am. She's charismatic, loves to play games and have fun, and she's absolutely talky and friendly. So even though I haven't played her yet, I feel like I already have a much stronger grasp on this character, and a greater connection to her.
Overall, I'm excited to learn a new setting, to play with some new people I haven't played with yet, and to experience what it's like to be a higher level character.
If you had asked me five years ago what an RPG was, I would've described something closer to a MMORPG. And now RPG vocabulary has entered my daily life. I made plentiful Pathfinder references when Fiance and I were watching Hercules, the new movie with Dwayne Johnson. The other day I even butted into a conversation two guys were having about the newly released edition of D&D.
Despite these instances, I still have an out-of-body experience every time I catch myself making an RPG reference. I often hear myself make these references and go, "Who am I? Why do I know this?" To which my friends typically reply with the chant, "One of us! One of us!"
So what have I learned?
- Friends are awesome. Having an excuse to hang out with your friends for 8 hours at a time without running out of things to say or activities to do is pretty sweet. Having collective memories that can weave into our real life also make for hilarious inside jokes and foster bonding. It's also great to have this "secret vocabulary" between friends that non-gamers don't understand. There are also great bonding opportunities if you carpool to and from the game, or when you stay a little longer and hang out after the session is done.
- Collaborative storytelling is fun. 2+ years into, I finally got a hold of the first two characters I created: Suheyl (an elf wizard) and Ni Hao (a human monk). So it's fun to add to the story by actually doing things and making decisions that are "in character." It took a while, but once I defined who my characters really were, it helped contribute to my understanding of the narrative - and my role in it. Knowing my characters also helped me participate more actively in the games.
- The meta-game is almost - if not more - interesting than the game itself. It's fascinating to watch social interactions in and out of game, and how the game mechanic affects relationships, or how relationships affect the game. I notice this a lot in our girl game, where we're so sensitive to each others' feelings that we make a point of clarifying if something was said in character or not.
- Post-session debriefs are super helpful. I've found that it's always good to chat with a couple of people after the game about what we liked or didn't like. It helps having a deep dive into those aspects so that we can do more of what we liked and understand why we didn't like something else - especially if that something else is a condition and not just a circumstantial, one-time thing.
- Don't be afraid to take risks. When I initially created my characters, I developed characters that were purposefully not talky. I didn't know how the role playing aspect of the game worked, so I didn't want to develop a talky character with leadership skills, as I didn't know how those interactions went down, or what I was supposed to say. This resulted in me playing two characters who are drastically different from who I really am, as I'm very social and action-oriented in real life. In the next game I play, I'll be a little less cautious and will take more risks so that I can enjoy my play experience better, and connect with my character better.
A now we're going to start a new co-ed game. This game is going to be played in a different game setting than the Pathfinder Blackbannon settings I've played in, so it'll be interesting getting acquainted with the feel and rules of the new setting.
Beyond that, this new game will be really interesting for a couple of reasons: (a) we're picking up a game most of the players were in a few years back, and (b) we're starting at 12th level.
What's challenging about this being a game that most of the players were in before is that they all have a great connection with the story and an already established collective memory. People loved this game so much that they still reference the adventures they went on often. They all have well defined characters that they know and understand deeply. So I'm going to be joining the party a little late, with a brand new character.
But it should be okay because the new character I've built - Kimiko, a Kitsune Rogue - is very similar to who I am. She's charismatic, loves to play games and have fun, and she's absolutely talky and friendly. So even though I haven't played her yet, I feel like I already have a much stronger grasp on this character, and a greater connection to her.
Overall, I'm excited to learn a new setting, to play with some new people I haven't played with yet, and to experience what it's like to be a higher level character.
