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Should you play RPGs online?

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A month or so ago, I had a very good question from @yukitsuki7 on Twitter:

What are your experiences with [online gaming]? What are the common obstacles for online groups?

It’s a very good question, one that I intend to address on my infrequent podcast.  That said, a couple years back I addressed this over on The Mad Adventurers Society, a wonderful gaming site that will soon be coming to a close.  In response to her question, I thought I’d go back, revisit, and revise that series of articles on online GMing.  This is my first attempt to do so.

As many of you know, I started gaming in the summer of 2011 with D&D 4e.  Within months, I was running a table for D&D Encounters at my FLGS.  But I found myself wanting more very quickly.  I wanted a consistent, weekly game wherein I could explore new places and new stories.  Stories created by myself and other players!  I wanted something personal and open, not the railroaded ten-week stints that were provided for D&D Encounters.

No pants required.

But who in the world can actually pull such a thing off, especially every week?  I learned very quickly who could: the online gamer.  Online gaming is a potentially tricky task, but one that I found rewarding and successful.  My gaming group played weekly for two and a half years (of course, we took some weeks off here and there).  And in the end, we stopped playing because the story ended.  So in this, the first of five articles, I aim to share why you should consider being an online roleplayer.  So let us begin with the many benefits of online gaming…

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What’s your next new game going to be?

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Do you know how many new games I want to be playing right now?  Let me name a few.

Star Wars: Destiny releases this Friday.

I’m reading the 2nd Edition Mouse Guard RPG book right now (it’s awesome).

D&D 5th Edition is calling my name, even though I’m absolutely mesmerized by AD&D 1e.

And let’s not even bring up the board games, like Betrayal at the House on the Hill or Star Wars: Imperial Assault!

Here’s the problem with all these cool games out there: what if I invest time, attention, and energy into a game that I end up disliking?  Is it just going to sit up there on my shelf unplayed?  Am I going to wish I hadn’t bothered in the first place?  In the end, it seems like finding games that fit me should be easier!

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But hear me clearly: it doesn’t have to be this hard to find a new game to enjoy!  Here’s how you can pick a new game that will not only deepen and diversify your fun, but possibly even strengthen your local gaming community:

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How gamers can become readers…which they should!

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Reading is an absolute necessity for creators.  And that applies to Game Masters and game players as much as it does to any other creative!

But if you’re like me, a grown-up gamer who is already juggling family, work, and gaming, it can be hard to find the time to read.  And therein lies the problem.  My creative juices flow better when I read.  I feel more engaged and “in touch” with the world when I read.  But when I don’t read?  Well, let’s say it leaves the creative fields of my mind fallow.

Shouldn’t it be easier to develop ourselves intellectually?  Shouldn’t regular reading be a simple discipline to develop?  You will develop a healthy habit of reading if you follow the process that I followed.  I read every day at work (that’s not a discipline…that’s work).  But I also read for myself at home.  And you can too!  Here’s how you can develop the same practice: Continue reading →

How can you keep your players engaged and excited?

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What was the last movie that you saw?

I’m ashamed to say it was Ted.  Yes, the Mark Wahlberg movie with Peter Griffin talking for a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear.  I was getting over a stomach virus.  I needed a laugh.  So sue me!

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Enough about me, what was the last movie that you saw?

Twenty bucks says you had a pretty good idea how the movie would end well before it ended!  Stop and think about it.  Most movies forecast the end, so that we anticipate the ending in advance.  And until that expected ending comes, we’re on the edge of our seats.

But what does that have to do with gaming?  A LOT.  Game Masters have a lot on their plate.  And one of those responsibilities is keeping their players engaged.  How can we utilize this same technique used in most movies to keep our players on the edge of their seats?

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Learning from Gary Gygax: Consistency

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Reading is one of the best things any gamer can do.  Especially GMs.  It’s hard to be creative in output, when you’re not taking in creative input.  Every night when I go to bed, I read.  No more than thirty minutes, sometimes no more than a paragraph.  But I always read.  What do I read?

I’ve been on a real history/biography kick lately, thanks to the Broadway musical, Hamilton (man, you’re really getting a grasp of how geeky I am today).  I finished off 1776 by David McCullough a couple of weeks ago and then in only two weeks’ time (really rare for me), I finished an amazing biography of Gary Gygax by Michael Witwer, called Empire of Imagination.

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Not only was it written in an engrossing narrative style–not only was it written about a current obsession of mine–but it also had a lot of helpful tidbits for gamers like ourselves, who like to sneak away once or twice a week to get a taste of freedom and fun in imaginary lands.

So in this first installment, I’d like to share the first thing I learned from THE Dungeon Master in my stroll through his life story:

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What Adventure Should You Run?

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D&D 5th Edition is finally coming of age.  If you’re a DM just getting into the game (like myself), you have a short time before you hit option overload.  The number of quality modules and campaigns being published by WotC and through the DM’s Guild is quickly getting to a saturation point, if you haven’t been working through them already.

As a DM, though, you really want to present the best gaming experience that your players can have.  So where and how should you start?  With the Starter Kit?  With the sweet new Storm King’s Thunder campaign?  Or perhaps with something new, original, and creative?

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Rather than recommending a resource to you, I want to do you one better.  I to help you, Dungeon Masters and Game Masters, to find your own personal game style and to choose accordingly.  Here’s how:

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Does growing up mean giving up gaming?

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“Fantasy as a cultural phenomenon felt vaguely unsettling to me.  I wondered if pervasive escapism had infantilized an entire generation.”

So began a quest for Ethan Gilsdorf, journalist and geek par excellence.  The quest: to explore every form of fantasy roleplaying games, in order to discern whether they are healthy entertainment for responsible, balanced, functional adults.  He raises the same question that I’ve posed before: does growing up mean giving up gaming?

The result of his search is the fascinating book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.  I devoured the book very quickly and I commend it to you.

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In the end, Gilsdorf names a number of reasons that tabletop RPGs in particular are healthy activities for adults–they encourage problem-solving, team-building, and creative thinking, for starters.  That said, I have a followup question:

If playing tabletop RPGs is so healthy for adults, why is it so hard to find a group to play in?

I’m blessed to live in an area with an active gaming community.  But I know that for many of you, that’s not the case.  What’s to be done for those who lack that resource nearby?

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Get your game on the table!

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What’s that over there on your shelf?  You know, the dusty game you bought a while back that never seems to make it onto the table!

Wait, what’s that?  Nobody wants to play it?

I find that hard to believe.  Because, I mean, you want to play it, right?  Of course!  Otherwise you wouldn’t have bought it.

So my question to you is: if you want to play, there have got to be 3-6 other people on the planet who want to play it too.  Fair assumption?

Regardless, here we sit with an empty table and a dusty game.

Listen, I get it.  I mean, I’m the guy learning AD&D 1st Edition when D&D 5e is the hottest thing in town!  Even I was at my FLGS tonight flipping through those shiny, sexy 5e books.  But let’s not get distracted.

You’ve got a game you want to play.  So how are we going to get your game on the table?

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The DMs Guide to Session Planning

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DMs, do your players always take the path of most resistance?  Or are they content to sit in the local tavern for four solid hours, roleplaying and digging up so much information that you never could have prepared for it?  Or maybe they simply murder hobo through every NPC you carefully crafted.  Here’s my point:

Campaigns never go according to plan, if you plan.

As DMs who are trying to juggle family, jobs, other responsibilities, and gaming, it can get frustrating.  I mean, is there any point in planning at all?

I believe there is a point to planning within limits.  And it all starts with having the right attitude.  You need to make a plan in order to break it.  You heard me right.  Plan with the expectation and intention of breaking that plan.

The path your campaign takes will never be straightforward and simple.  It will be twisted and complicated with lots of course correction.  So here’s how you can plan for that  without losing your sanity:

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Your PCs Need a Mr. Miyagi

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If you’re looking for a new game, you’ve got a problem on your hands.

And the problem isn’t scarcity–no, quite the opposite!  The number of  tabletop games available in 2016 is a bit mind-numbing.  Not only do you have new games coming out quite frequently, but you’ve also got years of old games just waiting at your FLGS and on eBay.

And for grown-up gamers such as ourselves, our ability to take on new games is limited by our schedule.  It’s tough to keep up with your responsibilities, while trying to learn every new game that comes your way.

So as the guy who’s been encouraging you to try out AD&D, 1st Edition, I feel it’s important for me to answer the question:

Is learning AD&D, 1st Edition worth the trouble?

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