Your First Roll

There is a lot of talk around the release of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons reprints in honor of Gary Gygax, and I too have been caught up by it. Like so many D&D was the game that brought me into the hobby that I love so dearly, and it puts us in a very sentimental mindset. Well it does for me anyway.

D&D is the Godfather of modern RPGs and it is on that foundation that so much was built. No, it wasn’t the only game in town, but it is the one that blew up to get the exposure needed to pull in so many of us. Now it was not just the release of these D&D reprints that did this, but also a question on Google+ that made me start thinking about the games that hooked me.

The question was one that is not asked nearly enough. “What was the second RPG that you ever played?” Great question and this is why. The seed was already put into place with our first game, but there was that longing for what else there is out there. That sense of learning and wanting to know that broadened the horizons of our mind and stepped us out in other directions.

Many times these games are far from similar, and that is part of the beauty of role playing games. I have a shelf full of RPGs and with all that is there, it is nothing compared to what is out there.  With so many wild imaginations in the gaming industry that build off of the wonderful minds and published works; there are so many worlds to explore.

How many times have you explained why you enjoy RPGs? How many times has your answer been the same? Do you find your answer evolves as you do as a player or as a GM? How vividly do you remember your introduction to RPGs?

I remember the desire to play D&D. I had heard of it and read about it in some magazines and comics; I had even been watching the cartoon. I had this desire to learn the game and play it. I wanted to see what was so great about it. Try as I might, and with the limited flexibility of an 11 year old boy had, I could not find the place to get the books.

Then one day as the family was out looking at yard sales, there it was before me, my way to get into this world that I has sought out for what seemed like forever. There for one dollar, the First Quest Box Set. My dad got it for me; I had the first piece of my objective. I held within my hands the key to the portal to the realm that was Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs as a whole.

Many more obstacles were in the way, however. Growing up in rural Kentucky and Tennessee, there were not many people around me that shared my enthusiasm for this game that I had yet to play. So next would be to find people that were interested. Find them I did, one of them was my younger brother. We also had a couple more friends in the neighborhood to play with us. So we had four maps and adventures, a set of dice, a few figures, and now there were players.

Next was the rules, we talked about who wanted to be the GM and learn all the rules. No one was too thrilled about it, so I took on the responsibility. It was only fitting because I was the one that was spearheading the whole thing in the area. So I found my place behind the screen. We stumbled through the boxed set a couple of times. The first time it was very much like we were playing a board game, the second a bit better, and by the third time through the players were getting innovative.

On the first map there was a room with several kobolds. Illustrated in the map was a potbellied stove. In the audio on the cd that came with it was the crackling of a fire, and most importantly, one of the items purchased this time through was a large net and a cast of oil. It was my brother’s idea to use the net to catch the clutch of kobolds, and his friend Jamie’s idea to plaster oil on them. From there we could all see where the kobolds were going. Straight into the stove…

Let’s see you do that in a video game.

The ability to think outside the box and creatively solve your problems is part of what makes RPGs so great. The ability to talk as well as fight your way in and out of situations; how fluid the story is and can be; all of these things put together is what I was looking for. That is why I sought out D&D. That is why I rolled the dice the first time.

I could run a game in a world that I created from the ground up with the guidance of the DMG. It was my world and my story that the players were going through. This mindset evolved as I matured to our world and our story; however it is still the same.  You could read a book, convert it to the game and then from there change the things you didn’t like about it, or see how your players would have handled the events of the book.

How those stories change when free will and out of the box thinking steps in. Over the years many wonderful things have come from gaming, including my wife. So far I have not answered the question that was asked that I admired so much. What was my second RPG? Vampire the Masquerade. Forever will it hold a special place for me.  It was in this vastly different world and style of play that helped me evolve to a very different style of DM/GM. But even greater, it is how I first made contact with my wife.

In an earlier blog I mentioned where I got the name of the blog. Who introduces their wife to D&D on the honeymoon? Now the bigger question, and one that even I doubt I realized at the time, was why did I introduce my wife to D&D. Somewhere I believe that I wanted to introduce her to the game that began my journey to meet her, but honestly, it was probably so she could meet the first love of my life. Unlike so many first loves, I could share this one with my greatest love.

So many great games have happened around the tables that I have set at. I have stories from all of them I’m sure. You can’t script the reactions that people will have to events, and you cannot get the experience of setting down with friends and experience stories together, laughing, groaning, enjoying one another’s company. Go out and sit beside friends of old and friends to be. Share a story and build memories.

“Long is the journey…” 

From kobolds roasting on an open fire, to being at the mercy of two people pulling your nearly dead body up a wall, to a mound of snow in front of a cave with two wisps of steam, to cutting your way out the stomach of a sea drake, to losing your imp only to find it with shards of silver and egg yolk on its face, to sharing a vid of a corrupt corp on rftags that spread to every other rftag in the area, to the perfect shot and an epic battle with Cthulhu Star Spawn, to finally killing that pain of an adversary that has plagued you for the entire campaign. Here’s to you, the players that bring the stories to life, and those that live behind the screen to make it real. Keep the memories coming!

Abdul, the Power of the NPC

Allow me to set the scene for you. We are coming to the end of the Apocalypse at the end of a long ran campaign. Things are horrible right now, plagues running rampant and most of the earth is destroyed. The leader of the protagonists is having a meeting with an antagonist cell. Things didn't go the way the charismatic leader wanted them to go.

Things quickly became crazy as a challenge of faith between two opposites, light and dark. The light begins to pray, and his prayer is answered with an earthquake to keep him safe. This was followed by a lightning bolt forcing the dark to leap from a window where an angel was waiting to launch a javelin into this agent of evil and darkness, pinning the dark one to the ground, badly hurt but hanging on by his “supernatural” blessings.

There he was, lining up with his loved rocket launcher in hand, locked and loaded. Blinded by his true love for the cause he was fighting for and the leader he was following. This mass of muscle and heart takes aim on the angel that is trying to strike down his leader. He fires the rocket tried and true and hits his mark. As the smoke clears, he sees the angel is standing there drawing his sword to strike him down.

With a swift and decisive strike, this lovable, noble and loyal man is dead.

Players and GMs alike sometimes underestimate the power of a well developed NPC. The above mentioned character was not a player character, it was a NPC. This character has been in this game since nearly day one, and everyone that interacted with Abdul liked or loved him. He was the hulking mass packing a rocket launcher and believed that everything could be solved with a rocket. He had simple logic and was more than a bit naive.

I find myself after the session realizing now how close to the end of the story that we are. This character was there from the beginning and now he is gone. It is a tone setting death and puts things into perspective. He died doing what he was doing since day one. This one unchanging factor is now gone.

I have ran a lot of games and supporting characters are very important to telling the story that you wish to tell. You can shape the setting, mood and theme of the story or story arc that you are undertaking by the mood and demeanor of the NPCs that the players run across. You can also use them to introduce plot hooks. This can be done with shallow/hollow characters or you can do it with people that are memorable.

So the question with this is, do you want your story to be memorable or hollow? Do you want your game to be one that is set on objectives with a very direct approach from one combat to the next or do you want things to be more deep than that?

A great example is Lord of the Rings. Frodo is the main character of the story ultimately. How different would the story have been if Sam was not so developed? He was just a sidekick that followed Frodo around and pick him up when he was sick and cooked for him all the time? It would have been horrible. The story may have still been powerful and memorable, however it would not be on the level that is Lord of the Rings.

When you are writing, building and developing you are setting the experience of the players. I have been fortunate to have a few characters that people talk about and ask about from time to time. I love hearing players talking about an NPC in a game that they are playing in or have played in. This is because he or she had a personality and had a depth that the players latched onto. They were part of the group, the setting and the world.

Think about your favorite stories. Now who is the main character? Okay now who is your favorite character? If you go through many stories, I know for me at least, a lot of times my favorite character in a story is not the main character. In LotR Frodo is not my favorite character, it's probably Sam or Gimli. They are both supporting characters. Harry Potter, again not my favorite, Snape however is. Again a supporting character.

That is the importance of supporting characters, also known as NPCs. What is a story without a villain. In a long running game, you develop the villain. You have to know how they think and what decisions they would make. So with these supporting characters you really have no excuse not to develop them to the point that your players grow to strongly dislike or feel pity for them. Whatever angle you are working with... if the villain is boring then the story has lost its point.

It is said that a great story will make you laugh; make you cry; make you hope, etc. All of these things boil down to a great story will provoke an emotional reaction that pulls you into the world and lives of the characters within it. To do this you have to do it with many things, but one of the most important, to me, is supporting caste.

If you are a player and have had a GM that attached a song firmly into your head that you still think about the game every time you hear it; or has given you memories of games that have long since gone. This person has done their job as a GM and give you an experience and told a story that you will remember. I would like for you to thank that person, for this person not only has done their job well, but is part of the reason that table top gaming has not died.

I lift my glass in honor of those GMs. Even you who causes a player to shoot her one true love in the final session and causes a tear to stream down the player's cheek. Emotion to memory... May the dice continue to roll and the conversations of great stories of conquests and close scrapes continue!

Roll Them Bones

What makes a great game? Seems like a logical starting point, and a topic that is so very complex to answer. What is it about a Table Top RPG that makes it worth the time and energy? Why should you use pen and paper and roll odd shaped dice? Why not pick up the latest game for xbox, or PC or whatever?

There are a lot of questions there and the answers are more numerous than even I could imagine. So what is it for me? A great game isn't just a great story, shoot a great game could have a lousy story, but still great. So let me ask you this, which is more fun, sitting in front of your computer with a first person shooter blasting people that you can't hear see or even know what gender they really are, or, sitting in a room full of people, or just a few blasting away people to hear the comments and reactions of the people around you.

Let's face it, even us introverted geeks are social creatures. We long for that human interaction. That's one of the things that make table top games so great in my opinion, that's why they are worth the extra effort. So back to the question at hand...

What makes a great game? It is a formula to me. You have to have people you enjoy being around and gaming with, plus a good setting, something to grab everyone's attention, rememberable characters, and a story. As I mentioned above the story doesn't have to be good. I know I have watched more than a handful of movies with horrible stories, but I watch them over and over because of the characters and the setting.

If you are playing characters that have depth and personality, situations for drama, humor, with a bit of horror around people that can get into those characters you have a recipe for a great night of gaming. I've been at this for a while now and it almost seems like tabletop RPGs are a dying art. Everyone wants eye candy, glitter and things to sedate them with visual overload. They want it fast, cheap and disposable.

It is so easy to go out and drop some cash on a game to play online with people that you will likely never meet. It is much harder to get to know people that you may have to actually spend some time with to play a game. So I mentioned this word before... I know it's scary, but the word Effort.

Effort implies work, and work is a dirty word for lazy people. Let's face it many of us are lazy. I mean for the love of God, you have to go out and MEET people... interact with people... do math instead of just click buttons. Heaven forbid that I may have to read a book or two to learn what I may actually like to play. With all that work... why do it?

That is exactly what's happening to the hobby that I know and love so well. People don't want to put effort into anything. You can find online games in the thousands for whatever system you feel like playing in. Try to find table top games though. It's a bit harder. But let me ask you this, when's the last time a video game let you try do anything and everything your mind can imagine? Will a video game let you tie a chainsaw to the end of a rocket launcher to shoot a giant brain with legs?

When can a fishing trip lead to you falling into a sea to be swallowed by a sea drake and you live long enough on sheer rage and anger to break the surface of the water? And by the way, you cut your way out of the stomach of the beast, and you swam to the surface of the water when you are made of rock? Or how about the last time you got to the end of a Final Fantasy game and actually had to sweat bullets to get out of it alive... My players do that with each and every end fight.

Hell, we have handbooks to try to put some guidance in just how Epic our characters can be. How about this... name me a game where you can play a half satyr, who is a sick hacker that does it all with his mind and just feeling... wires not included? Welcome to some of the scary places tabletop RPGs can take you that console and computer games cannot.

You get tired of invisible walls that stop you when there is no other reason for them than oops... I guess we didn't program that far. When's the last time you screamed at a TV screen... “Nat 20, Bo-yeah!” or “NoOOO! Not a Botch!” Let's see a game get your adrenaline going like that. The world that you live in is only skin deep... the mind is a beautiful thing to waste... Fill it with images that your ocular nerves can never handle... roll some dice, drink some mountain dew and eat some cheese balls in the company of other geeks and individuals that it is certainly ok to question if they have ever been laid...

Use your mind, allow your imagination flow... be the person you wish you could be sometime... enjoy the most beautiful gift that we were given... creativity because that is what makes us the most adaptable race on the planet... who needs imposable thumbs anyway...

Welcome to Impy's

This blog will be dedicated to my love for gaming and my passion for Tabletop Role Playing Games and miniatures. This blog is the precursor of a website that will serve as not just an organizational area, but a place to share my insight into games and storytelling.

I go by the handle of GMBaal. I'm sure those of you that have been around me for a while wonder why I go by such a stupid handle. Well the GM is for Game Master. That's what I do most of the time when I'm at a table playing games. I'm the man behind the screen running the game, writing the setting and sometimes adjusting the system.

My love for gaming goes back to AD&D. I wanted to play and I wanted to check it out so much. My family was at a yard sale and there was my way into it... for $1 the first quest box set. I got my dad to buy it for me. Objective one achieved.

Now I had my brother and a couple of friends, but no one wanted to sit down and learn the rules... Well me being the one that wanted to play the worst, I said fine... I'll sit down and learn the rules and we'll play. And so we did and it was GOOD!

I've been behind the screen ever since. That was 18 years ago. So for the Baal side of things, we fast forward to High School for that when I got the bug for the game Diablo, not just the game, but the lore as well. The Prim-evil of Baal was the being that I thought was the coolest. So when I was looking for a new handle for the web... GMBaal it was.

But back to what will be happening on this blog. I'll be posting about games that I'm running, giving reviews of local gaming stores, and talking about game systems and the stories that I enjoy developing so much. I'm starting here in blog form then will probably move to a full fledged website focused in the local area of Charlotte, NC and the surrounding area.

Now why the name? Well to explain this I have to reveal just how awesome of a husband and how big of a geek I am. On our honeymoon I introduced my wife to D&D 3.5. She had played other games over the years, but never played D&D. So, she likes to play the bad guys and she wanted an imp for a familiar. Well there are rules for that.

Her familiar was named Imppy. This blog is dedicated to the character that has appeared in two D&D games and actually has a bit of a fan club. Even though he has very sticky hands and an appetite for Dragon Eggs.

So why should you come by and look at things that amuse me? Maybe you will get some amusement as well.