A Role Playing Games Blog
Ask The Readers
Learning is good for you! And gaming too…
1December 14, 2011
To say that role-playing games have been good for me is an understatement. Besides the countless hours of fun they’ve provided, the lasting friendships that have been forged and the way it has opened my eyes to a global community I am thankful to belong to, gaming has had other benefits in my life.
Let’s look at the most obvious ones. I read a whole lot more because of gaming. I was already an avid reader before discovering rpgs, but the games introduced me to all sorts of different authors and influences I might not have discovered where it not for the game. I became a better storyteller and developed both my oral and written communication skills due to the game, during face to face interactions as part of the game or when I sat down to write a handout or other game related document.
I can’t say I learned English because of games, I already had a pretty decent grasp of the language, but I know many friends who improved their language skills thanks to gaming. On a recent discussion in the Puerto Rico Role Players group we were talking about how being a good Game Master had much in common with being a good teacher and how that has helped me in my line of work. I really believe that my interpersonal skills, something I rely on daily in my line of work, are better because of the game.
Then there is the ongoing learning… I find myself researching ideas and concepts for my writing (game related and otherwise) all the time. My creative endeavors (and role-playing games is a big chunk of that) mean I am constantly searching for ways to learn more, and more effectively. Readying articles on Wikipedia still seems odd to some people (probably the same ones who thought it was odd to read the encyclopedia for fun!), but recently I have been using the Kahn Academy more and more.
The Kahn Academy is a non-for profit that has existed for a while now (and you can read all about it on this Wikipedia page), and while I knew about it, I had not really used it that much. Then I ended up going to it to look at the Brain Teasers videos thinking I could use some of them for my games, but ended up watching many more videos, and it the process learning about many new things, some I had little interest before.
There are a lot of math and science videos, but even those can be useful for a gamer, specially if you are working on a sci-fi game, I particularly like their History section, great for giving context for historical games for your history-challenged player who might know the timeline of Krynn but might not know if the Wall Street Crash of 1929 happened before or after the Vietnam War. And that anecdotes my friends really happened!
So that’s a recent tool I’ve used to brush up my knowledge, much being applied to my current and future campaigns, such as the Cosmology and Astronomy area for my upcoming sci-fi game. What tools do you use for research when you game?
Food at the table (or other designated gaming area) what to do… Ask the readers!
11December 7, 2011
I am a portly fellow, I’ll admit it. Or you may say pleasantly plumpy. Ok I am overweight. I guess it is something that affects some in the gaming community. I know there are people out there who also face this conundrum. There are groups out there, like Fit for Gen Con who are doing something about it…
I have talked about food in games before, but this is a different situation, the master of the Gordopletas© needs to loose weight. And I am not remotely thinking that the junk food I eat once night a week is responsible for my unhealthy eating habits. I need to exercise more, eat more responsibly. But in past experiences, and lets face it many of us have been there, I can pinpoint that I keep my diet for most of the week and then come game night I drink too much soda, eat too much chips and candy.
So I come to you dead reader, how do you do it? What tricks have worked for you? I plan on getting back on the healthy eating wagon and I’d sure like to plan ahead.
My take on “unfinished business”
2December 6, 2011
In his latest post Roberto (aka Sunglar) shared his thoughts about “unfinished business”, campaigns that never came to a proper end. I have to admit I know this all too well. When it comes to finishing campaigns that I’ve started I am terrible. I’ve written about what I call “Game Designer Attention Deficit Disorder” before and as you can imagine I have the same issue when I am running games. Instead of seeing things through to the end I usually switch from game to game, campaign to campaign with random one-shots thrown in.
Luckily my players are very patient with me and haven’t run away yet. Sometimes they share my excitement for the shiny new game I want to try out and so everything is fine, but I often get the nagging feeling that I never actually ran a great campaign. So what do I consider a “great campaign”? It’s the one campaign you remember for many years, that you and your friends always reminisce about when you meet. A friend of mine ran a Rolemaster campaign for us, back when we were still at the university. Even though we met an unfortunate end and the campaign didn’t end as the GM anticipated we had a blast.
So why is it that I can’t seem to see a campaign from start to finish? I think one of the reasons is that while I love to create worlds, characters and rules, my stories are usually not so well thought out. When it comes to adventures I am often sloppy and only my talent at improvising and acting out characters saves the day. The other reason is definitely the aforementioned GM attention deficit disorder that makes me want to run new games every other day.
I recently had some ideas for a fantasy setting I would love to use as a basis for a campaign. One part of me thinks it should go through with it, flesh it out, think about adventure ideas or perhaps turn it into a sandbox game. But another part of me fears that it might be another failure – a game that I start to abandon as soon as the next idea comes along. Of course I could start working on it either way. Even if I never run the game myself, perhaps my notes are useful for someone else.
The end of the year is approaching and this is often a time when people look back on what they did in the year that lies behind them. But you also make plans for the new year. And when it comes to gaming, I am not that happy with how 2011 turned out. I had great plans that fell flat for the most part. That’s why I would love to start something great in 2012. After all if the world is truly ending next year, it’s the last chance I got, isn’t it. 
A dearth of ideas…
0November 25, 2011
As I sit here pondering about role-playing games, in my turkey fuelled semi-conscious state of mind, the mind wanders to all those unused campaign ideas that pile up through the years. If you are a Game Master you know what I mean, all those snippets and ideas that show the promise of becoming a game, or maybe, just maybe, a full fledged campaign. I have dozens, if not more of those. But for myriad reasons, time, player interest, whatever it may be, many of these ideas remain just that, a good idea,
I’ve been lucky to use many of those ideas; my last few campaigns over the last 4 years have been the realization of finally using those ideas. That’s why I keep notes, play with the ideas every so often and write them down. I’ve found that helps.
But this post is NOT about this, it’s about something else…
Searching For The Best RPG
19November 24, 2011
I have been on an epic quest these last few months tirelessly searching for what could be considered the very best table top pen and paper role playing game out there. My fingers surfed the keyboard of my MacBook Pro all over the Internets asking search engines the question, “What is the very best table top RPG out there?” I have read forum posts, blog posts, e-mails and chats with friends. Sadly, I was unable to get a clear and concise answer.
I took my quest to the next level. I pored through just about every single RPG book and PDF I have collected in the last three years since I got into table top RPGs. It’s a shockingly large amount of material I have collected. I focusing my time on reading how each different RPG handles character creation and game mechanics as those are the areas I have issues with in the RPGs I have played.
The truth is, I didn’t know what to look for, but I will know it when I see it. I wanted simple character creation with lots of choices for races and classes. Something that would fit on one piece of notebook paper old school style. You should not need several sheets of paper and index cards to build your character and track all of their powers. To me that is no longer a pen and paper RPG. It’s something else that I don’t think the hobby has developed a name for. (more…)
Ask The Readers: Tell me about Gamma World!
9November 16, 2011
Let me start by saying that I didn’t particularly enjoy playing D&D 4th Edition. Over the course of about half a dozen game sessions and after reading to various rulebooks I realized that it’s not the game for me. Especially the emphasis on combat and the dissociated mechanics put me off quite a bit. From what I’ve seen D&D Essentials fixes a few of my issues with the game, but since I have enough other fantasy RPGs I haven’t actually felt the need to go back to D&D.
But for some reason I am still intrigued by a D&D-based game: Gamma World. The new Gamma World introduces another element I usually don’t like in RPGs and that are the collectable power cards, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that this game could actually be fun. From what I’ve seen it could be a great beer & pretzels game that you can play with a group of friends when you’re taking a pause from your regular campaign or when you are just in the mood for a wacky post-apoc game with anthropomorphic animals and weird mutations.
The game box is not particularly expensive and most of the reviews I’ve read indicate that it’s actually pretty good. A few people even suggested that Gamma World is actually the better D&D.
But before I make a decision I wanted to ask you, my trusted readers, what you think about Gamma World. Have you played it? If so, did you like it? Is it possible to run a game in a bit less wacky setting if you wish to do so? What are your experiences with Gamma World? Please share your thoughts below!
Ask The Stargazer!
1October 31, 2011
For a while now I have been thinking about starting a new hopefully regular feature on Stargazer’s World called “Ask The Stargazer!”.
So what’s the idea behind this new feature? You can send in your questions and the team of Stargazer’s World will try to answer them to the best of their abilities. You have a question about an existing or upcoming Stargazer Games product? Ask away! You want to know what we think about a recent development in the RPG industry? Send in your questions. You always wanted to know what we think about game X? Send us an email.
Of course this will only work with your help. So please think about what you want to know and send your questions to askthestargazer@stargazersworld.com! Please note that it may take a while until we publish our first “Ask The Stargazer!” post here. And if it’s possible try to keep questions short and to the point.
So what are you waiting for you? Send us your questions!
You have a question about an existing or upcoming Stargazer Games product? Ask away! You want to know what we think about a recent development in the RPG industry? Send in your questions. You always wanted to know what we think about game X? Send us an email.
