Kingbeast's Lair

In 2012 Atlas Games came out with a list of 31 RPG related questions that they wanted people to answer. I will tackle them in small bite sized morsels to make them a bit easier to swallow. Here are the next set of questions.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #11: Have you ever played a character that was morally gray, or actually evil? Why or why not? If yes, did you enjoy it?

I’m primarily a GM so I often play morally gray or downright evil characters. Some of these characters I have been played over extended periods (i.e. recurring villains). At times I have played characters that are very twisted. A few years ago I ran a campaign set in Victorian times that had Cthulhu overtones. In one particularly memorable session I used a fantastic published adventure called Sacraments Of Evil. The villain was a God fearing man who twisted Catholicism into something that was quite insane. The final scene was terribly tough to play but carried so much impact that the players sat stunned for a few seconds. Was this villain “fun” to play…yeah, as I GM I relish giving my players reason to pause…but I don’t think that says anything about me as a good Catholic person. 😉

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #12: Do prefer collaborative or competitive games? What do you think that says about you?

I far prefer collaborative games. I really like it when everyone is having fun. On rare times when playing competitive games people who lose can be put off by the situation. Why meet with friends then have something happen like this? Boo hiss. I’m also a big lover of teamwork. Cooperative games really enforce teamwork. This is another reason why I love RPG so much. The GM may oppose the players but the goal of an RPG is to have fun telling a story as a group.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #13: Who’s the best GM/storyteller/party leader you’ve ever had? What made him/her so great?

This one is really hard…I have played with a lot of really wonderful GMs over the years. One of my favorite GMs is Derek Hiemforth. Derek does a lot of things right as a GM. He makes sessions build in excitement then hammers home a great ending. Derek has a nice way of laying out mysteries. He lets out clues at just the right rate and mixes in encounters to keep everyone on their toes. Derek does a great job playing NPC. Often I end up laughing along with the other players at an NPC.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #14: What kinds of adventures do you enjoy most? Dungeon crawls, mysteries, freeform roleplaying, or something else? What do you think that says about you?

I really love high-adventure gaming sessions. When I can swing from the chandeliers, jump from moving cars, and ride on the back of dangerous monsters I am a happy camper. Sometimes if my dice are against me this can be a dangerous proposition but that is part of the fun. I think loving high-adventure sessions says that I need to escape from my mundane world every so often. It also says that I have wild impulses that I like to play out in a safe environment. I’m a very tense person…this is my release.

REVERB GAMERS 2012, #15: People often talk about the divide between what happens “in game” and “in real life.” Do you maintain that divide in your own play, or do you tend to take what happens to your character personally? Why?

I definitely do not take things that happen to my character personally. So often things happen in games that are really bad or unintentional. At times the mood of a session can affect me afterwards but this is not an example of “what happened in the game affecting my real life” it is “what happened in real life affecting my real life”. 😉

GAME ON! 😀