In the Beginning...
It all began one rainy spring day back in August 1982. My
friend Ian had invited me round to another friends place to play
a new game. I turned up and was ushered through to the games room
where Ian, Tony and Paul were seated around Tony's table tennis
table, playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I had no idea what
the game was or what I was meant to do. After a very brief
explanation, an introduction to the funny dice they used (d4, 6,
10, 12, 20) and a gnomish thief "character" I was to
run we began, or rather we continued as they'd already begun the
"adventure". They were exploring the entrance to the
Fabled Forbidden City and I joined them in a room with several
bugbears which had barricaded themselves behind an over turned
table and were firing on us (What are bugbears?). Tony (the DM)
asked everyone what they were going to do.
Can I charge forward and leap on the table and attack them ?"
I asked.
"Sure" he replied.
"No, WAIT," Came the anguished replies of the others
"we were going to fireball them!"
"Fireball? What's a... "
"To late" said Tony.
And that was it I was hooked.
AD&D, and role-playing games in general, have been an important part of my life ever since. I fondly remember hours, upon hours of fun and excitement as my friends and I pitted our wits and resources against those of the Dungeon Master, or later I pitted my wits against the players as I took on the role of DM.
What is A Role-Playing Game?
A role-playing game is unlike "traditional" games in
that the action doesn't take place on a board, but rather in your
imagination. In many ways it is similar to a novel or a play,
each person takes on the role of a character (actor) and develops
their personality and motivations, reacting to events described
by the Dungeon Master (DM) not as they would in real life but
based on how they think their "character" would react
in that situation. A big part of role playing games funily enough
is interacting in character (role-playing). Characters can
interact with each other and with a whole host of other
characters (non-player characters, or NPCs) controlled by the
game moderator (the Dungeon Master or DM). Interacting may
involve anything from questioning a bar keep about a missing
person to fighting a group of bandits, to haggling with a
merchant over the price for a new horse!
Today, many people play computer based role-playing games such as Baldur's Gate, which are based upon RPGs, however these are not "true" role-playing games as they lack one-on-one interaction. Even the best games on the market cannot compare to a "live" or "face-top-face" role-playing game session. Why? Simple, spur of the moment creativity. A real role-playing game is a creative masterpiece, which unfolds due to the players active participation and interaction. Players are not limited as to what they can do, who they can speak to, or where they can go (well, not usually) and in my experience some of the most memorable role-playing sessions I've participated in were where the DM, and players too for that matter, were flying by the seat of the pants (ie. making it up as they went along). Maybe the DM had planned an elaborate adventure but early on that is thrown out the window as the players go off on an unexpected tangent and do something totally unexpected, and the DM just rolls with it. That kind of creativity just can't cut it in a computer game and challenges both the DM and the players creativity and ability. Being able to just wing it and have the PCs believe that it was planned all along is the hallmark of a truly great DM.
Aren't Role Playing games "Evil?"
Over the years there have critics of role-playing games,
especially amongst Christian fundamentalist groups. TSR were so
worried that they sanitised their game of many of the
objectionable images (devils, demons, assassins etc) when they
introduced 2nd Edition (some would say they "dumbed down"
AD&D). This didn't stop the uninformed, and often plain silly,
objections from certain sectors of society. Probably the same
narrow minded fundamentalist views that object to books such as
Harry Potter as being unchristian and an abomination in the eyes
of god. Unfortunately all societies have bigoted, narrow minded,
stupid people who like nothing more than to try and foster their
moronic views upon the rest of us, with varying degrees of
success. But I digress. If you are interested in learning a bit
about the pro-and anti D&D arguments that have gone over the
years check out the RPGS &
The Media site. It has a lot of useful information on both
sides of the argument.
But here is my 2 copper pieces worth on the subject: I've been playing RPGs for almost 20 years now and I find it to be a rewarding, stimulating, creative and intellectual hobby. Role playing games help foster imagination, problem solving, cooperation and team work. AD&D works best when a group of players are COOPERATING to solve a puzzle, riddle or to attain a goal. The game is both challenging and rewarding and most of all is a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.
Why AD&D?
There are many, many genres and styles of role-playing games,
from vampiregames to science fiction to anime, fantasy and
anything in between. Each game system has its own rules and ways
of dealing withthe unusual events and situations that occur in
the game; and some systems are more complicated than others. Over
the years I've played a variety of role-playing games but have
mainly stuck with AD&D. No doubt there are better systems out
but the thing I like about AD&D is its relative speed and
ease of play. Sure, the game has faults and at times I've tried
to re-write the major problems that I've found with it (to
varying degrees of success) but overall I think that the system
still has a lot of potential and has given my friends and I
endless hours of pleasure.
These days I guess I stick with AD&D mainly for sentimental reasons, maybe it's because I remember with fondness the first edition of AD&D and the "classic" modules such as Against the Giants, White Plume Mountain, The Slavers Series, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Dwellers of the Forbidden City, and many others. These adventures provided many, many hours of entertainment for my friends and I are were the inspiration for many great campaigns. The more successful, famous, or longer living of our player characters have become almost like old friends and even now we sometimes sit around recounting their exploits as if retelling the adventures of old friends.
Over the years I've kept a notes about many of the adventures that we've run. These notes are often brief and/or sketchy (and sometimes almost illegible and indecipherable) but I hope that they convey a small glimpse at the fun that role-playing games can be and a little bit of background on some of the more memorable campaigns that we've run. As I get time to write up the various campaign journals I'll add them to this web site.
Well enough rambling from me. Feel free to have a browse around, I hope you find something of interest here.
Craig Courtis,
aka Caradin Stormdale