Transcript of Play: Clip Two - Roleplaying

I was first introduced to roleplaying when I was in sixth or seventh grade.

On my first mission trip with my youth group, we went to Centrifuge in Glorieta, New Mexico.  It was a weeklong camp with the intention of making youth more aware of things going on around them and to help them deal with things in a Christian manner.  At this camp, one youth from another church had brought [enthused] the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Revised Core Rulebook!  [An aside] At that age I was obsessed with Star Wars.  I watched the movies, I read a plethora of books from the Expanded Universe (that is, any non-movie star wars fiction, be it books, comics, or video games).  Seeing that rulebook and hearing about it confused and excited me.  To jump from acting it out in my own imagination to joining a party of hardy adventurers made my overactive imagination leap for joy.  Sadly, the weekend came quickly, and I went home, burning with curiosity about this new concept.

When I was in eighth grade, my sister joined a Star Wars fan club, and there was to be a gathering at the Barnes and Noble up on the Plaza.  Unknown to and unfortunately for her, after we were already underway the meeting was cancelled, but I was not bothered.  I remember browsing the Star Wars section with glee, thumbing through The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, when I saw it: [with eager emphasis on each word] The Star Wars Role Playing Game Revised Core Rulebook!  I was enthralled.  I pleaded with my parents, who eventually relented and let me buy it.

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Mine at last!
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I was not familiar with Dungeons and Dragons.  I had no true gaming experience.  My attempts to organize a group of players in junior high never got off the ground.  My passion for tabletop gaming would lie dormant for 4 years.

I took karate for eleven years, and sometimes on slow nights, people got to talking.  Conversations at karate covered many topics, from video games to movies to [with a smile, "Here's the point"] Dungeons and Dragons.  Whenever conversation would turn to D&D, I would try to glean as much information as I could, but I could never remember all the classes and abilities that my friends could rattle off on a whim.  I could not tell you the difference between a crusader and a paladin.  I could not tell you why a ranger should take the Precise Shot feat before he takes the Far Shot feat.

Near the end of my senior year of high school, a friend and co-worker of a friend from karate started coming to karate.  He was very passionate about D&D, and, near the end of the summer, a spot had opened in a campaign and I joined.  One Friday night, we went to his apartment over behind the AMC theater on Barry Road to play.  I created a cleric, a class capable of healing who is really good at killing undead.  The plot and action kept me entranced.  I left that night hungering for more, eagerly awaiting the next session.

A week or two later, I arrive at William Jewell.  Lydia had talked to me about Bill, stating she thought that he and I were very similar.  At Jewell, I met Bill, who is also a D&D enthusiast.  In the first few weeks of my freshman year my knowledge of D&D grew immensely, due to the proximity of rulebooks which I had not previously been able to browse at leisure.  I can tell you that a paladin is a base class that must be lawful good, who can heal and kill undead, but not as well as a cleric.  I can tell you that a crusader is a prestige class (meaning there are requirements before it can be taken, meaning it can’t be taken at first level) built around being able to give and take lots of damage.  It can tank - meaning you can go headlong into a large melee and expect to come out alive.  Precise shot should be taken before Far Shot because precise shot will allow you to shoot into melee (shooting at someone who is sword to sword with someone else) without penalty, which is more helpful at lower levels than being able to shoot a little bit farther.

Roleplaying has cultivated my imagination and changed my life.

To explain briefly, roleplaying is interactive storytelling.  The Dungeon Master (or Game Master) is the storyteller, and they control all the characters not controlled by a player.  The players each have a character, be it a beefy swordsman, a sneaky rogue, a robed wizard, or whatever it is you want to be.  You have a sheet with numbers on it that you add to dice that you roll in order to determine success or failure of contestable actions.  Do you break down the door?  Roll and add your Strength modifier.

There are many ways to play.  Some people play so they don’t have to think.  Find bad guys, kill bad guys, loot the bodies, get XP so you can level up and kill more bad guys and carry more loot!

I am blessed that the majority of the people around here who play are very character and story driven.  It allows an exploration of identity, an immersion in a tale that lets you experience a fantasy world as though it were real.

The following story was written my freshman year in a fit of inspiration.  I was playing Nathaniel Orpus, a paladin of the Silver Flame.  The capital of his country had been besieged by demons, the leader of his church had been slain and the very god he worshipped had been seemingly extinguished.

[With humor] It was a tough time for Nathaniel.

He is speaking to his fellow adventuring party members.