Thursday, June 2, 2016

The Weather Up Here

Being a giant is not a full time job and leaves time for other thoughts and pastimes. We enjoy food, drink, and games. Roleplaying games have become the favorite game of giants (and little folk) everywhere. This chronicle will focus primarily on roleplaying games. It will include everything from D&D and the various OSR games to retroclones and even some of the new games that look like OSR but really aren't.

Dungeon World is easily the game I play most often now. The rules are simple, fun, and easy to learn. The play is fast, immersive, and gives the players a real hand in world creation. It is not really OSR while simulating the OSR experience, the characters start out much more powerful in the grand scheme of things than their OSR types.

When you are the ranger in the party, you are the ranger for the whole world. Sure, there are other guys who can track, hunt, shoot a bow, but you are the best. You're the world's Aragorn, Robin Hood, Leatherstocking. When you're the thief, you're the Grey Mouser, Bilbo Baggins, etc. You are the archetype. The mechanics allow first level characters step into games with fifth or tenth level characters and still have something to contribute. That the game does not allow more than one class of character in each party further emphasizes this unique concept.

This is in stark contrast to a game like D&D. You start, you're a first level fighting man. Back in the day (that's the seventies to you youngsters) we were lucky if we thought up a cool name for our character before he was mulched in a trap or turning over some ogre's dinner spit.

Now both games have their place. D&D type games takes you from a very lowly estate to something like a feudal lord (if you can make it). Dungeon World doesn't really do that except as a retirement option (the retirement plan is very good) or you can multiclass or create a newbie for your old guy to mentor).

So this giant's chronicle is all about the games.  I expect both of my friends to read this so if either of you have any ideas about what the giant should write about go ahead. I'm listening.

No comments:

Post a Comment