15 Questions
As you steal, so shall it be stolen from you:
1. What is the first RPG you ever played?
D&D, orange box. I saw some of the big kids at lunch get out the box from the game cabinet at school, and the minis, and lay out this really, really complex map (it was B1: Keep on the Borderlands). I had no idea what was happening, but I needed more of whatever it was.
2. What RPG do you currently play most often?
D&D3e.
3. What is the best system you’ve played?
I don’t know. See question 11. I’ll have to say Ars Magica.
4. What is the best system you’ve run?
It really depends on what I’m trying to do. I love Ars Magica’s magic system. I love Torg’s resolution mechanic. I like how D&D3e models tactical combat. The new World of Darkness system really spun my wheels when I ran my annual Halloween game with it. Right now I’m digging Jadeclaw’s combat system. Best overall? Gonna have to give the cop-out answer and say: the epic fantasy game I ran with a revised variant Amber system.
5. Would you consider yourself an: Elitist/ Min-Maxer/ Rules Lawyer?
Depends on my mood. There’s something satisfying about really using all the rules as they were intended, especially in very complex systems. And I have no pretensions that what I’m doing is aaaahrt. It’s just entertainment, and I win if people are entertained. But let’s say ‘elitist’, since the other two categories don’t really fit.
6. If you could recommend a new RPG which would you recommend? Why?
New RPG to someone who isn’t a gamer? D&D3e. It’s got a really gentle introductory curve.
New RPG to a gamer? Well, take a look at Jadeclaw (and get over the furry thing, if necessary). It has a kind of neat mechanic that works better than you’d expect. And also, if you’re sneering at World of Darkness because you remember the bad old days of Vampire, wipe that sneer off your face and check this game out. It’s like they took an old broken down car and rebuilt it into a rocketship.
7. How often do you play?
Once a week, more or less.
8. What sort of characters do you play? Leader? Follower? Comic Relief? Roll-Player/ Role-Player?
See question 11. Generally I play competent losers, or angry people.
9. What is your favorite Genre for RPGs?
I don’t really know. I am a scifi junkie, but oddly don’t run many scifi games. I like clever fantasy settings with a lot of detail, but my patience for generic fantasy is running low. I think, based on the constant lure of it, and based on my interest in the historical, I’m going to have to say Ars Magica and 1920s Call of Cthulhu. I love doing research to build versimilitude.
10. What Genres have you played in?
All of them.
11. Do you prefer to play or GM? Do you do both?
I don’t play games. Seriously. I am a terrible player. I don’t know why. I love to GM, but as a player I feel restless, confined, bored, irritable, pushy, and nervous. So I don’t really play games, unless friends pressure me into playing some idea they’ve concocted.
12. Do you like religion in your games?
I… have liked religion in games. If it’s appropriate to the setting, absolutely. And when it’s appropriate, I bring it on like gangbusters. My Torg game involved killing angels, and the gods make an appearance in my FRCS game every 5-10 sessions or so.
13. Do you have taboo subjects in your games or is everything “fair game”?
That’s up to the players. I don’t, but they usually do. We work this out ahead of time, for the most part.
14. Have you developed your own RPG before?
Many, many times.
15. Have you ever been published in the Gaming Industry? If so…what?
Not really. Or, well, for some definition of the ‘gaming industry’ and some definition of ‘published’.