Behind the Screen
Anyone who’s heard my life story knows that it’s filled with hard-core geekery. I played Dungeons & Dragons for the first time when I was seven years old and had my own Elmore-cover “red box” when I was eight and it was a brand-new item from TSR. I started playing with running one-on-one scenarios for my Dad when I was ten and in sixth grade I decided to form my own game group and sit down behind the screen as a Dungeon Master.
It’s fair to say that I’ve played in a lot of games over the years—local campaigns, conventions, and even online. But the time logged playing a single character are far overshadowed by the hours I’ve logged in crafting stories and adjudicating the rules. In other words, I was always the DM.
Back in Georgia I’d beg one of my friends to run a game and let me just play. I’ve always loved being able to just show up with my character and some dice—Doritos and Mountain Dew are totally optional—and just play. Being a Dungeon Master (or Game Master outside of D&D-land) means you’re a host, storyteller, referee, den mother, and semi-omniscient/omnipotent being. In other words, it’s work.
I got burnt out. While I never hated it (I was still playing my favorite type of game, after all!) I definitely was ready for a break. And once I joined the hobby game industry it meant I was looking at this stuff all day long! Even after I moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin—birthplace of D&D, don’tcha know?—there was plenty of eager players, material that could use a round of playtesting, etc.
Eventually, though, I got my break. Several friends and co-workers moved away or simply moved on. The game group I had going collapsed, and with an overcomplicated life I was ready to let it go without much of a fight. I briefly tried to pull a new game together but half of my players went and had children on me. I took it in strike, probably because I just hadn’t been away from beind the screen quite long enough.
In the midst of all this, my friend/partner-in-crime Cam Banks decided he wanted to run a D&D game for us. I threw together an Elf Wizard named Dante and just showed up with my dice to have fun. And fun we did have!
Then I got the itch.
Oh, I ingored it at first. That’s all I needed was more work, right? But I was a life-long Dungeon Master, a card-carrying RPGA Network judge, and a story-teller that didn’t just love to write … I love to see stories happen to me before my eyes, in a magical meeting of my ideas, the player’s choices, and the roll of the dice. There wasn’t any soothing cream for my itch. I needed to return to my rightful place behind the screen.
Cam’s normal game night was off while he attended a family function on the other side of the planet. But instead of breaking one of my fourteen trillion board or card games, I suggested I toss together a short RPG session. I happened to have a hot-off-the-press game of my own creation, and I thought it would only be proper to run a game using the Cortex System Role Playing Game. That, and it’s just about the easiest game system when you know you’re gonna have to wing-it.
I told my players (Digger, Liz, Renae, and Dan) to create modern-day cop characters, while I figured out what to do about a scenario. There’s a fun series for the d20 System called Crime Scene, and one of them had an adventure in the back! I read up, made a few notes, and we were ready to go in half an hour. Soon the TRACE squad was tracking down the disappearance of several teenagers in a backwater Pennsylvania town.
It was fun. It was easy. I was back, baby!
Chambers Sunday Dungeon
But like an addict falling off the wagon, one fix just wasn’t enough. While my wife was stuck at work on Sunday, I resurrected our old D&D campaign but upgraded both the characters and the existing adventure to the new 4th Edition rules. I justified this as good practice for some upcoming design work, but I’ll confess it was just fun to dive into some game prep again.
For the first time in over a year, Walter the Fighter waded through the dungeon cleaving foes. Only eight years old, my son Xander really got into the use of his powers and figuring out what time he should use Sure Strike (minions, since damage is irrelevant) or when it was time for a Cleave (when two goblins were dumb enoiugh to stand next to each other when his greatsword was in range). Lizzy reprised her role as Lidda the Halfling Rogue and enjoyed doing sneak attack damage with throwing daggers while looting various treasure chests in the dungeon. Melanie abandoned her old character entirely to play a Tiefling Warlord, and she enjoyed her role as party leader and quickly figured out how to best use her powers to pound the enemy and keep the rest of the group fighting. I threw in a Human Wizard (who I named Winston, in homage to my original D&D character from 1982) as an NPC helper so the group would have at least the major roles covered.
Chambers Sunday Dungeon
The kids had a blast in the dungeon. They bashed skeletons, horded gold, solved puzzles, and even briefly attempted negotiation. (Lidda ended that one by throwing a dagger at the goblin sentry to whom Melanie was trying to speak!) They high-fived each other for clever moves or high rolls, and laughed when they screwed up or fumbled.
After it was over, my children all thanked me for running the game for them. They really enjoyed themselves. Little did they know they were simply feeding a lifelong addiction. Enablers.
That was yesterday. It’s safe to say that I’m once again fully hooked and looking for my next fix. The grownups only got halfway through our murder mystery and would like to play through to the end. (One teenage girl was found dead at the base of the Ferris Wheel, the other locked in a shed in the abandoned amusement park.) The kids are ready to get through the last few rooms and defeat the young dragon they know awaits them at the end. Xander also wants to make 2nd Level so he can re-train, buy new powers, and spend gold on some new gear. My boy has his priorities.
There are so many RPGs and so little time. I’m going to be heading out to a bunch of conventions this year. Anyone up for a game?
Walter, Akharia, Lidda, and Winston battle the undead!
DannyLR
on March 17th, 2009
Oh, I know exactly what you’re going through. Being a DM is incredibly hard work at times, but its also intensely satisfying.
I’ve been hooked on RPGs since my first foray into the Palace of the Silver Princess back in 1982. One of my brother’s friends ran the game, and introduced me into a magical world that I now consider my second home.
As the years passed, I seemed to be the DM of choice more often than not, developing a world that rivals Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms in complexity. Over the years I ran occassional campaigns periodically, but like you my original gaming group met less and less. Play by email (PBEM) gaming has satisfied the itch the past 10 or so years.
But just last month the high school children of my friends begged me to DM a game for them. They had heard stories, and wanted to experience the magic for themselves.
Older and wiser now, I believe the game we recently played was better than any we had when we were kids ourselves. The story seemed to spring from my mind like Athena out of Zeus’s head, fully formed and complete. 26 years of gaming experience translated into a magical night of battle against wizards, werewolves and lost druidic magics.
Not certain why I’m ranting on and on… I guess you just hit the right soft spot. But yes, when you come down to DragonCon this year, I’d love to play a game or two. I might even let you DM.
Bambi
on March 19th, 2009
I would love to play anytime your in town. The last time I played with you guys (hell ay ALL) was Christmas 04. I’m glad the kids had a good time playing. Chambers right of passage =)