Reposted from Google Wave (http://wave.google.com)
After gaining some renewed interest in participating in an actual Pen and Paper RPG I'm finding that the only real way to start playing is by becoming a Dungeon Master myself. I only have very brief experience in playing Dungeons & Dragons so I have a long rocky road ahead of me.
Why am I doing this?
Frankly, I'm bored. I need something to entertain myself and open up my creative mind to new experiences. I'm getting tired of playing video games anymore and I am looking to do something that takes a bit more than just a point and click to accomplish.
What am I doing to prepare myself?
So I cheated, I have the entire 4th edition library at my disposal thanks to online resources. I have adventures, books, magazines all in pdf format that I can glance at as needed. I also have Dungeon Mastering for Dummies and Dungeons and Dragons for Dummies, both designed to help new and experienced users get a better grasp of the game. I've also picked up a set of my own dice finally. This is something I've always looked at doing in the past but just haven't felt the need to actually put money down on it.
I think for now the idea is to read as much as I can about dungeon mastering and about being a player so I have a good grasp of the rules. This way when I do start up a campaign things can run more smoothly and I wont have to spend a whole lot of time researching rules I should know off the top of my head. So far I'm starting with the dummies books. I've had lots of success with these in the past for various other topics and I trust them to give me a good understanding. I'll go through the official books afterwards, this way when the books go into detail I can focus less on terminology and more on the real rules, keeping the tips I've already learned fresh in my head.
Who will I be playing with?
I have a few friends that have tried playing before but didn't have much success getting into it due to time issues. Of course theres is always the internet if all else fails. Nothing wrong with a little skype action and I know theres software that can be used. Especially with google wave, it'd make for a great platform to run a good game. I dont know for certain who will be playing but I'm sure if I looked hard enough I can get some people to play.
When will I start?
This depends on a couple of things. When am I comfident enough to run people through an adventure and ready to risk the potential of having it all fall apart? How much do I know the rules? Who all is going to play and where will we meet? Its kind of a process to put this all together and its not something I've always been good at. Dan's house is probably the best place if they decide they want to play. Just because they are the ones with kids and its easier for them if they dont have to find someone to watch the kids to leave the house. Of course they could always bring the kids along for the evening and thats fine too, but then I'd have to find a place other than my place because my dogs and their kids is not a good idea.
What is the future of my P&P RPG experience?
I'm a Star Wars geek much more than I am a fan elves, dragons and magics. I think the next step would be to take my experience as a DnD DM and move towards the Star Wars Roleplaying game since it still uses the same D20 system that DnD does. I cant even imagine how much fun it would be to roleplay a character with his own lightsaber or perhaps even my very own Han Solo-like character. I think thats the direction I'd like to take this ultimately.
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