Tabletop RPG's

I had always been an avid reader and loved playing video games, but when I met my now husband I was introduced to tabletop RPG’s and fell in love. I’m not very into the combat aspect, but creating characters, interacting, building in the game, and just getting fully immersed in the world we build together are things I really love doing. Not only that, they have been a great bonding experience for us, and quite therapeutic.

I love making detailed blueprints of the buildings and towns we design, naming the various businesses, and filling them with staff for characters to visit. I write songs as my bard characters, some of which I plan to share under the pen name Prism. She is the best, and my favorite bard I have created so far. I am not a musician at all so some songs are just written with a feel and genre, while others are written as covers of existing songs in order to give me a framework.

While my husband started out with first-edition D&D, and has tried out countless systems since. I have merely dabbled with a few and settled into a happy rut with Pathfinder’s first edition. I know there are people arguing out there at this very moment about which edition of which game is the best. I don’t think there is a best game or edition, only the best for you, or your campaign. We have so much built-up campaign world using PF 1st ed. that we see no point in updating to some newer game edition. When we play campaigns set in entirely different types of worlds, like sci-fi, or a modern-day scenario, then we bother looking for a different system altogether to run that game.

Getting a chance to play as a wide variety of different types of people from different backgrounds has really helped me start to open up some of the feelings, and aspects of myself I never saw, or even acknowledged before. Role-playing can be a self-reflective, and empathetic experience where you actively choose to see the world through different lenses. Of course, I benefited as someone struggling with various mental health issues, but this aspect of role-play is valuable for everyone to try out. To really have to think about the lives of others, even if the other people are entirely fantastic or imaginary, is an invaluable real-life character-building tool. Are you worried that playing a game like this could deaden yourself, or your children to violence? Don’t let it. Make the violence portion a loss condition. Just like in real life, solving problems with violence rarely gets you what you want. In fact, in my experience many urban campaigns already take this into account.

The accessories can also be so fun! I think if you are still reading this you know where I am going with this… DICE! The tactile sensation of rolling them, the fun of winning some and losing some, the sheer enormity of aesthetics available when purchasing these delightful little collectibles. Between the two of us, we have quite a large collection, but the ones I really love are the sets that have some sentimental value. I have one fossilized coral set, given as an anniversary gift. Coral was highly prized throughout the ancient world, it was one of the most precious gemstones due to the difficulty in obtaining good specimens, and the Bible equates it to wisdom and industriousness. I love the set of opalite dice my husband got me when he got his most recent set of dice for his birthday; he gets a set for himself every year. My third favorite is an alternative-shaped set I found on Etsy, and my husband got me as a gift just because. I think they may have been called princess dice or some such. Dice aren’t all, you can get dice bags and rolling trays or towers. You can get notebooks, binders, or other paper organizers to keep your campaign notes neat and engaging. There are countless knickknacks, themed jewelry items, and cosplay opportunities, it goes on and on once you get into something like this as a hobby.

There are of course plenty of apps and programs to enhance your gaming experience. But what really makes gaming fun is what you and the other people you play with put into the preparation and play. You can’t have a story, in a cooperative storytelling experience if you aren’t willing to think and participate in telling that story. It is kind of like that improv game, where you go in a circle telling a story one line at a time. If people keep making up filler lines over and over you will never get anywhere, and no one will have fun. If you are playing with people who don’t take it seriously at all and refuse to engage with the medium or try to hog all the attention, you may not have fun. That doesn’t mean you can’t joke around, have hi-jinx-filled adventures, or include comic relief characters. RP should be fun, but it should be fun for everyone, and it can be fun for you!

K.B. Silver