Have You Nerd Interview

Well, when I was in high school, I hung out with a bunch of great guys and we listening to a lot of heavy metal/punk rock and played D&D. We were your stereotypical “liberal arts nerds.” We were all into music, art and/or theater. When I reached my mid 20s, I stopped playing RPGs. I was working a couple of different jobs and just didn’t have the time. It wasn’t until my mid 30s that I got back into role-playing games. My son, who was 11 at the time, showed an interest in them. So I decided to form a D&D group. Living in a college town, it wasn’t hard to find new players. Besides my son, our first player was my buddy Sean. Sean became my fellow “Geek In Arms.” Eight years later, Sean and I are still playing RPGs and board games with a group of folks about every two weeks.

How have RPGs impacted your life? How do you incorporate them into your life?

For me, RPGs have become my “Poker Night.” Every two weeks, I get together with a great bunch of people, eat good food, talk about geeky stuff such as movies or comic books, and kill orcs.

For me personally, it offers a little escapism. My graduate degree is in social work and, with my day job, I typically deal with some pretty crazy stuff. I read this article once in Psychology Today that basically stated that with an increasingly uncontrollable structured society, movies, books and games offer us some form of control in our daily lives.

I also feel that there is this cultural piece to RPGs that relates to the art of storytelling. All cultures love to hear stories – it is a distinctive part of what it means to be human. In our American culture, we typically receive our storytelling through movies, books or television. Like the storytellers of old, RPGs gives us the chance to become involved with the storytelling process. And they take it a step further because it is a collaborative event where everybody is both the listener and teller.

Where do you want to take role playing in the future?

For now, I like where I’m at. Recently, I took a stab at World Building and created a post- apocalyptic campaign setting that is heavily influenced by Dark Sun (a Wizards of the Coast setting) and utilizes the Pathfinder mechanic (a “cleaned up” version of the 3.5 edition of D&D). I’m having a blast with that.

Eventually, when I have more time (I am currently working at three jobs), I would like to possibly run some games with the kids at my church. As I stated above, I really do think RPGs can be a really positive influence. They teach teamwork, foster social interactions, and cultivate the imagination. I feel that they have had a great influence on my son and myself.

What would you say to those who assume RPGs are for males only?

This is probably one of biggest current myths about RPGs. Certainly, in the 80s you did not see that many females playing RPGs. However, nowadays, there are many female gamers. I went to PaizoCon this summer and I was able to play in some awesome games with some great gamer girls. And Paizo’s CEO is a woman (Lisa Stevens) who also happens to be a lifelong tabletop gamer!

And than there’s the other stereotype that RPGs are just for those socially awkward males who live in their parents basement. That’s not true either. Through the RPG website, ENWorld.org, I have ran into lawyers, doctors, and sports enthusiasts (Jocks!) who also like to play RPGs. ENWorld is a great place to find out about groups and players in your neighborhood.

Favorite moment/memory involving RPGS?