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Week 7 [26-02.12.18] Dungeons, dragons and other things


It all started in 1974, when the first edition of Dungeons&Dragons, a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) was designed and published by Gary Gygax. It came from the so called wargames, a pastime of skill and wit, which trace their origins back to ancient strategy games like chess. The premise of D&D was simple: rather than having each player control a military formation, let them have a single character that would embark with others, rather than fight them, on imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. The lack of direct opposition between the players, and the general inability to wrap every possible scenario within a set of rules has lead to the introduction of a “game master” into the play. An omnipotent overseer, inspired storyteller and a fair referee, a person fulfilling that role would push the story forward, guiding players through the imaginary setting, describing their adventures and challenging them with monsters to fight and puzzles to solve.
Of course, not everything would be left to the whim of the game master. All characters in the game would be given various numeric values representing their multitude of skills and then dice would be rolled and summed with those numbers to determine whether a particular action of a particular character would succeed or fail. Between the random nature of dice, the various paths a character could take, and the captivating nature of storytelling made into a game, it’s not surprising that D&D took America, and soon after the whole world, by storm. Even despite the unlucky episode of “satanic panic” in the States, the game was graced with widespread popularity and has inspired a great number of new tabletop RPG publications.
Nowadays the market of pen-and-paper RPG games is a vast melting pot of ideas and adventures, ranging from the old and proven lands of fantasy, through superheroes fighting villains, to the exploration of the space frontier. The amount of various systems and settings is astounding, and everyone can find something to suit their tastes, regardless of their age. The hobby has even entered the digital era, with various ways to play over the Internet emerging, applications designed to help run the games at the table, or even some of the game masters using the 3d printers to create monster miniatures to challenge their players with. And the D&D itself? It’s still on the forefront of the field, having lived long enough to see its 5th edition bringing fun to people all around the world.

  • What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
  • Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?
  • Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?
The Dungeons&Dragons logo and the picture of an adventuring party are from the Dungeons&Dragons press kit http://dnd.wizards.com/pressassets

Comments

>What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
I do not think that it's for nerds :P But on the other way it may not be the best idea to use it as a pick up line. But to be serious, no I think that you can enjoy those games and not be typical nerd.

>Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your >table?

I have not but I would really like to try it. I've heard that it's great fun.

>Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?
Those most popular ones ;)!
Glad to see that here in Poland board games are popular as well. I used to spend countless hours at the table playing DnD, Magic: The Gathering, Take on Mars, Carcasson, and many more games. Are there any clubs here that accept new players, and by any chance provide tournaments in English? I know about Graal in Blue City, are there anything else in Warsaw?
Bartosz Barnat said…
I think RPG games is a good way just to spend time with friends. It's good to just turn off any electronics and play old RPG games.

I played really long time ago, but there is always some drama that is because someone attacked someone when the other guy was better geared or something.

I can't think of any but I need to find one soone because christmas are coming so I will have some free time to play one.
Unknown said…
I think that you can play such games only on a desktop computer. Playing on the tablet is like vacuuming the flat with a hand brush.

I do not play games except one, PUBG.

As I mentioned I do not play on tablets and smartphones so I do not want to test anything on them. On the computer there is a lot of them, for example. Call of Duty Black Ops 4.
Nataliya Tkach said…
1.What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
I've never played before until a friend in computer science suggested it. As he began to tell the rules of the game , immediately the desire was gone. But he then suggested that we 8 people played in pairs to make it easier and faster. In these games you need to think ahead of their steps. This helps to develop logical and non-standard thinking.

2.Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?
I'm in the middle of the game already knew that our couple will win because we had a card reshuffle ( replacement card places with any character at any point) I very much laughed the whole game and nobody knew why. And everyone thought that I was drunk from the hopelessness of the game.

3.Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?
I want to try all the additions to the game dungeon. Very similar to the game Dungeons & Dragons.
Unknown said…
I think that playing tabletop RPG it’s funny way how spent time. I don’t think that it’s hobby for nerds. It’s hard to start play because you need to spent two or more(for me it takes 2h.) hours to read manual and understand how you should play this game. But when you understand how to play you can play it more and more and never get tired of this game. One of the advantages of D&D is that you can play solo or with friends .
Yes, I played D&D. I haven't any funny story to tell.
I want to try munchkin in the future.
I love the idea of tabletop rpg's but unfortunately i must agree that it is not an experience for everyone, it's not about nerdiness but rather being more prone to use their fantasy etc. I have played once and was very excited about the game because i wanted to try it, unfortunately a few people could not pace with a game and became tired so we stopped at some point and never played it to an end. I am a fan of warhammer universe both fantasy battles and 40000, and i would like one day to have some good long game with friend in these universes.
Unknown said…
I think that tabletop RPGs are propably a fun pasttime, and they can be a hobby for nerds as well. One does not exclude the other, and something being a hobby for nerds is not a bad thing.

I've never really played a tabletop RPG, though I wish I had. Unfortunately, I've never found a good group to play with, and nowadays I simply do not have enough time to try playing.

There's plenty of tabletop RPGs I would like to try if I could, D&D being one of them, but as I've mentioned I don't really have the time do so.
Unknown said…
I really like board games, as this is an occasion to get together with friends and "break" a little over the games. In board games, I most dislike controversies and skirmishes, which are already moving into interpersonal relationships. And I do not like these clashes most likely because I am not the only one who takes the game seriously, with excitement.
I can share my impressions of the game Munchkin, since this is the last game I purchased and the last one I played in a very long time. I really like the game because the plot never repeats, all players always have a chance to be different heroes and there is no “end” in this game, the worst thing that can happen is the loss of all the things that give you points for protection.
Dungeons & Dragons, I liked the description of this game, if I had the opportunity I would play such a game.
I absolutely love playing roleplaying games. First time I heard about them, it was sometime around 1985, but it was about 5 years later when I actually got to see one. During my vacation, I was visiting computer class at the local university where I found some people translating an English roleplaying game "Warhammer" for their friends in a games club. I asked them what it was, they invited me to play it with them and that's how I started my hobby. So now it's almost 30 years of roleplaying for me. I've played so many different systems: AD&D, D&D, Warhammer, Shadowrun, World of Darkness, Exalted, Star Wars, to name just those I've spent the most time with. So many adventures, so many new people I've met. I've even been a Game Master during vacation youth camps.
From my perspective, this is something everyone can enjoy. Because we all enjoy telling stories and it's actually fun to be a hero of one. But as with movies, not every type of genre will be interesting for you. But you can really pick and choose between various genres. There are roleplaying games is fantasy worlds, science fiction, horror, comedy, high school drama, mystery and so on. And you have to meet people to enjoy it - which in my opinion is very important. We are all social animals, so we really enjoy social events.
You can even read about therapeutical use of role-playing. It's also a regular tool on various psychological workshops. So it's not only a nerd's favorite pastime, it can be used for teaching and therapies.
Unknown said…
I have never played tabletop RPG before but I would like to try and I think of this as a fun pastime. As I said I have never played RPG before. I would like to try Cyberpunk 2020 because of CD Projekt future game called Cyberpunk 2077.
I have a reasonably stable group of friends to play RPGs with so I’m not well informed in what clubs are available around here, but I have seen several Facebook groups focused on group finding, so you might want to start the search there. Also I’m fairly sure I heard about Adventure League games being held at Paladynat, so that might be worth checking out too if you’re interested.
Therapeutical value is not something that immediately comes to mind when I think about RPGs, but now that you’ve mentioned it I can see their merit in that application. I can imagine them being used as a method to analyse personal issues without addressing them directly, and possibly letting people find methods of dealing with those issues though a safe environment, sufficiently detached from real life.
Also wow, that list of yours is huge. My first contact with tabletops was some older version of D&D (2 or 3 perhaps?). I’ve tried GM-ing several games in Wolsung and FATE, and participated in numerous games run mostly on D&D, Warhammer and a… homebrew system that my friend made by marrying the two. It was always a great fun, but we found out that it sometimes pays to have the rules actually written down, so nowadays we went back to D&D 5. Seeing your experience makes me a little envious, but at the same time hopeful for the future that still holds many great adventures for me and friends.
Munchkin is a great deal of fun. It’s made as a parody of tabletop RPGs and makes fun of a bunch of D&D tropes. I remember a certain match of it, very infamous among my circle of friends, that lasted over 3 hours of continuous play. Someone said “guys, how about we go aggressive from the start instead of holding back until the end” and it immediately turned into chaos. I distinctly remember passing a card with the plutonium dragon under the table several times so that we could throw it against the player that was about to win. All fair game though, as the rules clearly state you are free to cheat as long as no one catches you on the act.
Iman Masjedi said…
I think people want higher quality and only the most modern stuff. If an RPG wants to sell, it needs decent artwork, good marketing and good layout. Also, it has to be new. Older stuff is not being bought any more.
Nobody is playing the stuff any longer. People got older, with less time and more money. They buy an RPG, read it a little, and then put in into the cupboard.
so,I can say it's a fun pastime.
Not unfortunately I did not play such game in the past, but it seems like an interesting game.
But maybe I'll play this game in the future (as long as I can find it)


Unknown said…
Well, I don't think it's a hobby for nerds, but I would say that only specific people can enjoy this sort of play. Acuallly, I don't find about myself as a nerd, and I enjoy playing tabletop RPGs, so I believe you just have to have something in your mind to enjoy playing games like this.

Yes! I had a chance to participate in such a game only two times in my life, but both times I have enjoyed it. Well, for the first time it was so weird for me to let my fantasy go wild, but after some time I got used to that, and it became fun for me. However, I didn't have much time to enjoy it because my friends and I were drunk and we started making fun of our game master so that he decided to stop the game after 20-30 minutes.

I don't know the exact games. I have friends who know the topic, so I rely on them with choosing a good title.
Unknown said…
1. I love tabletop RPGs and especially D&D. It's a really good way to spend your time with friends. This shared storytelling experience not only provides you with hours of entertainment, but also allows you to hone your other skills like improv.

2. Yes, I did. Recently, me and my friends finished an adventure (which I was GMing) from the D&D Starter Set called "Lost Mines of Phandelver". This adventure took us 2 years to finish (the pacing was REALLY slow), but the ending was quite satisfying. The funniest story from this campaign would probably be when the party made a truce with an evil necromancer and later that day they robbed him of every valuable thing. It was really entertaining to see how the thief was trying to deal with a trapped chest and how the least talkative player at the table had to distract the necromancer by having a meaningful conversation with him.

3. I'd love to try Deadlands. It's a tabletop RPG in the setting called Weird West. It's a setting of alternative history of American West in which Indians that where losing the war against the settlers decided in their desperation to summon evil spirits from the Spirit Realm called Reckoners, thus creating an alternative timeline of history called The Weird West.
I think this kind of games is really fun, and definitely not only for nerds. I only played this game once, because unfortunately my friends didn’t enjoyed it and didn’t want to play it again. I remember that I was having a lot of fun when I was playing it, but as we played once, I don’t remember any funny situation. I would really like to play D&D with people who know this game and enjoy it. To be honest, I don’t know any other tabletop RPG games so I would choose D&D I guess.
Unknown said…
What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
OOOHHH maaaaan, I love it! It's a fun pastime, not only for nerds! You just need to find someone with IQ above avarage. I know it's HARD! I still think it's better than sitting and watching football matches.
Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?
Played a lot: starting from (hehe) Warhammer RPG, cyberpunk, D&D, fate and many more. Unfortunately I cannot share any stories, my team have a rule: everything stays in our group :p
Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?
Not much, we ( I mean: me and my friends) have played all of the RPG systems that we wanted. But we're open to new things that may come out in 2019.
ExoKuzo said…
Table top RPG's are kind of special, while they are seen as "nerdy" due to their scale and strategy/prep involved they are a very niche yet the most satisfying genre of games ive ever seen. From Player interaction and involvement to GameMasters crazy creativity each and every time it makes for an unique experience.
Ive played a short one some time ago and since one of our colleges had lost interest in the game and wanted out he decided to plot against our party which gave a great turn to our story, Game Master was actively trying to help us and our teammate became "the bad guy" without our knowledge. All ended up at us being slaughtered one night by our teammate.
I dont really look forward to any tabletop games but i would like to get hold of bigger 5+ DnD group and start a new RPG.
Unknown said…
I play RPG games from an early age, and I do not consider this to be a hobby for nerds, especially in the current times where a lot of people want to take a break from the everyday computer. My first game in which I played was the Monastyr system, of course none of my friends in my age did not know that there is such a thing as RPG tabletop games, it was a fantasy camp / board games camp (because I'm also a lover of boardgames) I do not remember that's all that well because it was a prototype camp and playing RPG there was as much as the cat cried. Nowadays, with friends, we try to meet several times a year for sessions, of course sometimes there is more time sometimes less but for everyone it is great fun.
Is there any RPG game in which would like to play? Of course, the project on the Polish kickstarter "Wspieram.to" has ended recently for Call of Cthulhu 7ed which I supported and I am looking forward to playing it!
Marcin Górski said…
What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
Okey, I don't like "nerd" word so I can say that RPGs are for specific people. I don't understand idea of this kind of entertainment. I don't want to say that RGPs are better/worse because every human is different, I know people who like it a lot but I'm sure that I don't want to play with them now. It's maybe something with my imagination because I can't see it (special roles and tasks).
As I said, I have never tried it but I can't say that I want to try. We don't know anything about our future so it's possible that in two months/years I will be RPG lover, why not?
Szymon Gibalski said…
1. What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?
- I think it is a great way to spend your free time if you have a bunch of friends who like nerdy stuff.
2. Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?
- I tried it once and it was a quite a pleasant experience. It helped me a lot to find new friends in high school. Unfortunately, I do not have any funny story to share because we had to finish really quick.
3. Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?
- Not right now, I would like to start my adventure with Magic the Gathering but unfortunately, I do not have enough money for it :)
Thanks for the interesting article. I really like board games, especially RPGs. Unfortunately, I didn’t play Dungeons and Dragons, but I really wanted to try. But then I often played Talisman with my friends. The essence of the game is a bit similar, but still very different. The plot of the game is very long, and the more people so that you end up playing longer. At the most, we sat for about 8 hours and as a result, half of the people had to go home, although the man who didn’t reach the end didn’t win because the monster killed him on a random plot.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I think those games might be a cool way to spend your time with friends. I definitely don't see them as something only for nerds. Personally I play a lot of board game with friends, but tabletop RPGs are something different. I haven't tried any of them yet but I've always wanted to. I like the idea of game master, I think it gives a lot of flexibility to the game itself. Every session can be different and because of that they don't start to be boring that fast. Hopefully someday I will have an opportunity to play tabletop RPG :)
Marcin Krupa said…
"What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?"
I think that it is amazing way of spending free time. This type of hobby is just unleashing our imaginity, expending our oratorical skills.

"Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?"
Hmm... I have a lot of examples. I remember small illusory duck, which won a fight with 2 lizardmens. Or when my character lost his lockpick in one of his pockets (and he have around 200 pockets in his robe), when some monsters were coming to his cage.
I think that all kinds of tabletop RPG’s are great form of spending your free time and definitely not only hobby for nerds. First of all, it’s almost like playing a computer game just with out a computer so it’s healthier and also cool way to spend time together with your friends. If you are playing on computer online, you could possibly say that it’s a form of spending time with friends but it’s not the same. Here you have to actually meet with them to play a game and it’s as addictive as playing computer game because of story, details, challenge or just simply fun. I have played such game just a few times which I regret very much so I don’t have any interesting story to share also I have never played it to the end so it’s even worse. I hope one day I will succeed to play at least one game from the beginning to the end. I also noticed that a lot depends on how good game master is. I played once with a game master who had a lot of experience in such games and it was really fun compared with other sessions. Actually I have never played Dungeons and Dragons and it’s something that I really would like to try because this game is like a precursor to many others.
Illia Lukisha said…
What do you think of tabletop RPGs? Is it a fun pastime, or just a hobby for nerds?

I think that tabletops is fine way to spend time, and depending from game can be a hobby as well as nerd game.

Have you played any such game? Can you share a funny story that emerged at your table?
Are there any tabletop RPG games that you’d like to try?

I've played munchkin, king domino and many others, and think that this is really cool time spending, because you understand how many time it take from authors to create so interesting mechanics, characters and plots. And actually I didn't play Dungeon and dragons before, but I should give it a try, after so interesting story.

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