Who is this guy?

by Josh Harrison

Role-Playing Games.

*sigh* Where should I begin?

That has been the biggest problem in writing this essay, the beginning. If somebody gets me started, I can roll on for hours (just ask 'em). But getting started myself, I am a personification of Newton's Law that states "an object at rest tends to remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force."

My brain is constantly whirling, ideas bouncing around inside my skull at the speed of light. But most of the time, the wheels are spinning in midair - there's all kinds of motion, I'm just not going anywhere.

But as soon as there's traction... foom!

But I have ideas, and I'm going to share them with you.

I know what you're thinking... "Who the hell is this guy, and what qualifies him to talk about anything?" So I guess this essay is going to be about my qualifications.

I am a gamer. I have been a gamer for years. I remember the circumstances that introduced me to gaming very well; it was at Rusty Dumas' house (just down the street from mine) one afternoon after school. I forget the exact year, but it must have been around 1982 or '83. The game was Dungeons & Dragons (not AD&D, the old classic "Blue Book" D&D). The adventure was Keep on the Borderlands.

I can see some of you nodding. I've lost track of the number of people who cut their gaming teeth on that module. Yeah, we called them "modules" back then. Don't ask me why.

But this isn't a history lesson. You want that, go elsewhere. I'm talking about games here.

It was really only recently (in the last five or six years) that I really started gaming. And I do mean gaming. I've lost track of the number of games I've played, the number of characters I've created, the wars fought, the dice rolled. It's all a blur, but it has been a lot of fun. I don't play just Role Playing Games, either. I play more traditional table-top board games (you know, the kind with little cardboard counters and more charts than are strictly necessary), as well as the occasional miniatures wargame.

But I'm going to focus on RPGs right now. I have played a lot of them. My favorite is Earthdawn (and has been since I bought it, but those reasons will have to wait for another essay). But I have played (in no particular order):

Dungeons & Dragons
All three editions of AD&D
White Wolf's Storyteller System (Vampire: The Masquerade primarily)
Ars Magica
Blue Planet
The Babylon Project (based on the series Babylon 5)
A bizarre (but fun) kluge of AD&D, Arms Law, and a home-brew magic system
Castle Falkenstein
Everway
NeverWorld
Shadowrun
Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play
Paranoia
Last Unicorn's Star Trek: The Next Generation
Deadlands
Deadlands: Hell on Earth

Add to that list the basic rule books I own and the ones I've read, and you've got quite a background in RPGs. Couple that list with all the different board games (and collectible card games) I have played in the last four or five years, and I think I might possibly be qualified to talk about gaming as a hobby.

I don't mean to come across as arrogant about this, but I want to put my resume out there and let you decide for yourself if I know what I'm talking about.

I once dropped 70 bucks on the limited edition Vampire revised edition (in a nice slipcover with an Art of Vampire book). Why? I really have no idea. I kept saying to myself (and to Matt, the guy behind the counter), "I can't believe I'm spending this much on this book." I could have bought the standard release for thirty bucks and bought myself a nice dinner. But no, I dropped twice as much on a book that I probably won't use (though it looks great on the shelf, let me tell you).

Some of you understand. I bet those of you that do either spent the seventy bucks as well, or are wishing you had a spare seventy bucks (even if you don't play Vampire).

You know how it is.

So anyway, I have formulated some solid ideas as a gamer, ideas that have been several years in the making. Ideas that will rock the foundation of the industry to its very core!

Okay, they're not that revolutionary. But as a qualified "old-timer" I feel it is my duty to pass my accumulated wisdom on to those who follow.