#RPGaDAY2020 has gotten away from me a bit, like the Doctor says in Blink (one of the best episodes of new Doctor Who in my opinion - well, certainly one of my favourites). A combination of being incredibly stressed through the dayjob (people seem to have forgotten there's a pandemic), which has left me incredibly drained physically, and just a bit gloomy. My only respite has been writing for some awesome and exciting projects on my days off...
Anyway, let's try and catch up a bit before #RPGaDAY heads into its last full week...
Where were we? Oh, yes... Day 12 was MESSAGE. There has always been a message behind #RPGaDAY, and that has been to spread some positivity about tabletop gaming. I hope that message is still continuing. RPGs are great, and I've said before I can attribute RPGs as being the reason I know some awesome friends who have stayed in my life for forty-plus years. I can also thank RPGs for getting me my first job, and for introducing me to my wife. See? RPGs can be good for you!
Day 13 was REST, and I saw someone post online that maybe it was time to give #RPGaDAY a rest? What do you think? I read this, and the response agreeing with it, and I was disheartened. For an initiative trying to spread positivity, surely stopping would be giving in to negativity? Hell, in these troubling times shouldn't we be grabbing even the slightest bit of positivity with both hands and hanging on for dear life?
Day 14 was BANNER. If these last couple of weeks are anything to go by, I'm very like Bruce Banner...
Very angry... and tired. Always angry and tired. Which is a shame because it's really impacting my games. So tired I find it hard to concentrate during the games...
Day 15 was FRAME... I'm sorry. I got nothing. I'll come back to this one later when I'm not so tired... so angry and tired...
Day 16 was DRAMATIC. I love game systems (and a GM) that allows things to get really dramatic. Nothing like running along the top of a train, or surfing a crashing starfighter as it plummets into the atmosphere. I mean, RPGs are great escapism so why not do something really dramatic and exciting?
Day 17 was COMFORT, and a chance to reiterate that everyone should feel comfortable at the game-table. Everyone should feel safe, and over the last few years there have been a number of safety tools like the X-Card, and Lines & Veils, that have made it easier to feel safe at the table. They are brilliant, and a positive way to stay comfortable while stretching the imagination.
Day 18 was MEET. A lot, if not most, of the good friends I've met over the years has been through tabletop gaming. And those who I knew before the gaming quickly became involved. We battled the hordes together and forged bonds that have lasted years, if not decades. I've met some brilliant people through gaming, and through the game industry. I dread to think what my life would have become (or who I'd have met) without it.
Day 19 was TOWER. Many, many moons ago I suggested that it would be great to produce a tabletop RPG of the worlds of Stephen King - and at its heart would be the RPG of the Dark Tower, just like it is the heart that connects most of King's works. How cool would that be? It could be all out horror, gaming in Derry and Castle Rock, or more like the fantasy worlds of Eyes of the Dragon, and the realms of Mid-World... I reached out to King's lawyers, but I think it was bad timing just as the movie deal was happening for the seriously bad adaptation. Maybe one day...
Day 20 was INVESTIGATE. Which kinda brings us to my favourite RPG at the moment (and of the last few years), Tales From The Loop. It's not about going out and killing things - it's about investigating mysteries and weird happenings. Especially as you're playing kids and teenagers - it means you're not going into places all tooled up with guns and weapons. I love it.
Day 21 was PUSH, which kinda ties in with the INVESTIGATE one from before because I really like the Push mechanic in Tales from the Loop. I know it's appeared in many games beforehand, but it's just great that you can try to reroll an important task if you fail (or fail to do well enough) - it's just that you're going to take some form of condition from pushing yourself. Either injuring yourself in the process, or becoming exhausted.
Day 22 was RARE, and I know a lot of people have been using that prompt as a way to talk about particularly rare RPGs. I think the rarest ones I have are the Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium RPG that people keep listing on Ebay for silly money. I love Dune, and I'm really excited to see the new one from Modiphius, but this was the first attempt at a Dune RPG. Rather lovely it is too...
Probably the rarest thing I have is the prototype 'pitch' that was printed to show the BBC what we had in mind for the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game. I think only ten or twenty were printed.
Day 23 is EDGE... Hey dude, you inspired a prompt! (Edge will get this, and maybe three other people).
Okay, that's it for now. I need sleep. Lots of editing to do tomorrow.
Take care and stay safe everyone.
And stay multi-classy.
It was my post asking the question whether or not #RPGaDay should be be allowed to 'Rest'. When I made the post, I was not attacking you or RPGaDay, or setting out to make you angry. That was very much not my intention and I am sorry that was your reaction.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was responding to the prompt in exactly the way you wanted, to make me think the word and how it related to the hobby. In particular, I was responding to the difficulty I was having with RPGaDay this year and how some others have had with some of the prompts in this year's event. I have found them in some cases obtuse and so have had difficulty coming up with a response (just as you have yourself for Day Fifteen: 'Frame'), and it was the same last year too. So I am wondering whether it is becoming increasingly difficult for you to decide what prompts or questions to use each year? Whether or not more time was needed to develop other questions or prompts, but not cancel it.