Last night we had another fun-filled evening playing through an adventure using the most recent edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. We’ve playing this for several months now, every other Friday night (give or take), and the guys seem pretty hooked. I’ve been wondering why.
It’s made Friday’s fun again
Our group, KIA SpecOps, has been around gaming on Friday nights for some 10 years, on and off. We’ve played a lot of games in that time. About 2 years ago we were struggling: the guys weren’t enjoying the games enough to commit to coming over. Then, last year, just as Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition was launched, I decided to run it as a demo – just to see what it is like.
We played through the “Keep on Shadowfell” adventure over several sessions. This game not only got the regulars back to our table but it also attracted new players. Admittedly, one of our extended group did not like the game at all, and has ceased coming… but I have kept him engaged with other interests. But more on that later.
The thing is, once we’d played that – and the heroes were all killed in the last encounter – the guys asked to keep playing. In short, it has been a lot of fun and they are wanting to come over for a fun game on Fridays. Who could argue with that?
Are we roleplaying?
This question has bugged me since we started. The main worry I had when I read, and then later played, the rules was that this was more of a skirmish wargame than a roleplaying game. But then… perhaps it depends what you want from roleplaying. You see, like my friend who dropped out of the Friday group, I am generally drawn towards deeper character roleplaying styles… but then, once I moved from the GM’s chair to the player seat in the game, I have come to re-discover that there are different ways of playing these games. Obvious? Well, not obvious enough to me.
The rules are a structure for your gaming – a way of making sure that things are sorted out fairly for everyone involved. Some groups prefer little or no structure, others like lots of structure. The guys I game with were all wargamers first: they play Warhammer and similiar. They therefore appreciate rules structure… and I tested that theory by running a game of Mythic with them a few weeks ago, to watch them struggle a little at first due to the lack of structure. Dungeons & Dragons gives them exactly what they love most: a good fun combat system onto which they can hang some fun stories and adventures. That, I believe, was where Gary Gygax was coming from all those years ago… and I feel we’re right back to those “Chainmail” roots.
What can we do with this game?
When Ian finishes GMing the current adventure I’ll be expected to drop back into the GM’s chair. The guys want to continue playing… and that’ll make it almost the longest running campaign we’ve playing in over 6 years, perhaps ever. How can I refuse? Well, truth is, I won’t refuse. In fact, I intend to introduce the guys to the one half of the game title that they really haven’t explored yet: DRAGONS!
There are real opportunities for me to encourage some more storytelling and character development… as long as I recognise that the guys come over on Fridays to kill some monsters and find some cool magical items. For my friends who like a bit more roleplay than rollplay, well, we’ve been playing Corporation + we are writing Dark Reich + I am getting into the Hero System too. We are not limited and confined to Dungeons & Dragons… in fact, to my mind, it has liberated us from some false views of what we really wanted.
What could this mean for you?
I dunno… I reckon a lot of roleplayers would just ignore us. After all, we’re just a small group who do our own thing. Yet, our experience has shown that the Dungeons & Dragons game works well for the kind of gamers who like miniature-focused gaming with the additional detail that roleplaying brings. The system is slick and works well… surprisingly well, once you let go your preconceptions. It also demands PLAYING… it reads poorly without having a chance to be played.
If you want, there is a space at our table… just one, mind. Alternatively, why not give it just one try? We did and look where it got us.