![\"\"](\"http:\/\/media.giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/dicebanner.jpg\" "\\"dicebanner\\"")
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I bought my first set of polyhedral dice in 1995 or so. \u00c2\u00a0A plain set of Chessex opaque, blue with white numbers. \u00c2\u00a0I still have it, sans a d20.\u00c2\u00a0(Which I just ordered a replacement for on Monday.) <\/em>a short time\u00c2\u00a0prior to that, I had purchased a lone d10, and a pair of d6s so I could play in a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign I had found at The Gamer’s Realm, a gaming store in West Windsor, New Jersey.<\/p>\n A year or so of Cyberpunk 2020, still my favorite setting… \u00c2\u00a0A sprinkling of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition… \u00c2\u00a0A couple years of Shadowrun… \u00c2\u00a0A bit of a run-in with D&D 4th Ed which never really went anywhere… \u00c2\u00a0As much as I like RPGs, I haven’t played anywhere near my fill. \u00c2\u00a0Something I hope to remedy. \u00c2\u00a0However, as little as I actually get to play, I still enjoy the games themselves and the social experiences they represent. \u00c2\u00a0I guess you could say I enjoy them as much in theory as in practice.<\/p>\n You sit down around a table with a bunch of people, some of whom are your friends, some of whom you may be meeting for the first time and will become friends, and you share a story. \u00c2\u00a0The setting and plot are the responsibility of the GM\/DM\/Referee but it is up to you, the players, to decide how events unfold…assuming the dice do what you want. \u00c2\u00a0(Protip: Don’t get your hopes up.)<\/em><\/p>\n The dice are what make it real. \u00c2\u00a0Because of the addition of random chance, players often experience the same range of failure, success, tragedy, triumph, frustration, and relief that they would if the events were actually happening. \u00c2\u00a0And yet, even the worst night of roleplaying is often more enjoyable than the best night sitting at home by yourself.<\/p>\n It can be a very compelling medium when properly executed. \u00c2\u00a0Flexible, as well: \u00c2\u00a0there is a roleplaying game for pretty much any taste. \u00c2\u00a0From the extremes of past and future, to present day, and everything in between. \u00c2\u00a0Reality-based, alternate-reality, historical, literary…cartoon! \u00c2\u00a0Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Lovecraftian, Space Opera, Anime! \u00c2\u00a0Serious and dramatic, action movie, light-hearted, slapstick! \u00c2\u00a0Anything is possible between the different settings that are out there, and how the GM wants to portray it.<\/p>\n Roleplaying is often maligned as something childish and\/or nerdy, and yet videogames are orders of magnitude more accepted. \u00c2\u00a0Why is that? \u00c2\u00a0What’s the difference between the two? \u00c2\u00a0I’ll tell you what the difference is: RPG players can’t find videogames with the richness and depth of the average tabletop roleplaying game. \u00c2\u00a0It’s like playing a game that taps directly into the imagination of you and the people around you. \u00c2\u00a0Videogames take place on the SCREEN, while RPGs take place in your IMAGINATION. \u00c2\u00a0Now you tell ME which one has better graphics, yeah?<\/p>\n MMORPGs have come the closest so far, but they’re still a long ways off, and I’m not even sure some aspects can BE replicated in any other medium. \u00c2\u00a0As of yet, nothing really matches sitting around a table with a bunch of people, rolling dice, carrying on, and enjoying yourselves.<\/p>\n And with that, I introduce the Tabletop RPG section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Personal History I bought my first set of polyhedral dice in 1995 or so. \u00c2\u00a0A plain set of Chessex opaque, blue with white numbers. \u00c2\u00a0I still have it, sans a d20.\u00c2\u00a0(Which I just ordered a replacement for on Monday.) a short time\u00c2\u00a0prior to that, I had purchased a lone d10, and a pair of d6s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[18,14],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-editorial","tag-tabletop-rpg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giantpachinkomachineofdoom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Concept<\/h2>\n
Random = Fun<\/h2>\n
Variety is the spice of…Roleplaying<\/h2>\n
Tabletop RPGs Versus Videogames<\/h2>\n