@ReverbGamers Master List Number 16

#16: Who was the most memorable foe you've ever come up against in a game? How did you beat him/her/it? Or did you?

All my players. OK. Just kidding--sort of.

As a player, that would have to be the Knights of the Golden Circle.

Veronica likes to pretend it never happened, but for a brief time, she took the reigns of our long-running Deadlands (classic) game. For our campaign, I mostly ignored the canon and built the game around the characters' backgrounds. But at one point, I needed a break, and Vern volunteered (she may have been voluntold here--who remembers these things?) to take the game for a bit.

Unlike me, Veronica has not only love, but skill, when it comes to history. She came up with a fictionalized version of a real secret society, which was the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC). She spun a killer yarn around them, from which sprang my character, Ethan, whom I would be playing for her run. Further, her character, "Black Widow" Beth Hickson--a Texas Ranger of some regard--was captured by these folk.

Ethan started out as a mole inside the KGC--he was actually there to destroy it. Beth accidentally foiled his plan by almost getting killed. Ethan made his turn early and saved her life, but stayed undercover in order to get Beth back to her band.

The scene where Beth was returned was pretty cool. I didn't initially have a character, so Veronica had me play my favorite NPC, "One Eye" Hank Ketchum, The Texas Ranger. In the scene, we were faced off with members of the KGC holding Beth. Vern had me make Ethan, but she didn't tell me when he'd be coming in. Well, during the exchange, it started to go pear-shaped, and I was handed his sheet. Veronica said "go," and I was playing Ethan, who happened to be standing over Beth. We took out the KGC goons and we had Beth.

While Beth was back, she didn't fare well in the conflict. And, after convincing Beth's band he wasn't really with the KGC, Ethan took the lead of the band to take on and destroy the KGC's foothold in the Great Maze.

I guess the reason they were so memorable is because Vern is damn good at coming up with these back stories. If she ever sheds her "natural" fear of improvising at the table--the root of her GM phobia--I may get more play time in the future.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 15

#15: People often talk about the divide between what happens "in game" and "in real life." Do you maintain that divide in your own play, or do you tend to take what happens to your character personally? Why?

I maintain a pretty stark divide between real life and game life. That said, I'm really invested in my characters. I don't get mad when things go badly for them--hell, that's half the fun--but I do take a strong interest in what happens and the characters' development.

The "why" is pretty simple. I'm a creative person. I care about story and development. So the story and characters have to make sense to me.

The 800lb. gorilla in the room--and really what I think this question is about--is character death. I am OK with a character dying--any character--but I am not OK with random, pointless death. You know the kind--a goblin aces multiple times on his damage roll, and your Legendary paladin dies on his way to the final battle. Remember when I said the story and characters have to make sense? Here's an example of it--random death may be "real-life" realistic, but it makes for a crappy story if the guy in the opening montage credits gets hit by a bus and dies when he stops for coffee. In a story, when a protagonist dies, it's got to be important. Period.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 14

#14: What kinds of adventures do you enjoy most? Dungeon crawls, mysteries, freeform roleplaying, or something else? What do you think that says about you?

Really, it depends--on the group, the GM, my mood, etc.

I know GMs who run killer dungeon crawls, and that's always a pleasure. I do not like vanilla dungeon crawls--"you approach a random ruin..." I'm a fan of dungeons with a strong story or at least a unique setup.

With the right group, freeform roleplaying can be a blast, but I find--more often than not--groups want at least a little leadership at the table, a semi-obvious route to take. When freeforming happens on it's own, though--not planned--it can be pretty freakin' special.

I personally love running mysteries. I come up with a problem--a setup--and I let the group go for it. Sometimes it's all improv after that. Sometimes I have an end in mind. That depends on my time and my whims, to be honest.

Once in awhile, I just love pure actionfests. Four hours of ass-kicking can be rewarding after a hard week's work.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 13

#13: Who's the best GM/storyteller/party leader you've ever had? What made him/her so great?

Jason Corley, the self-proclaimed best GM in Tucson, is the best GM/Storyteller I've had (don't tell him I said this--he's got a huge head). One thing that makes him so great is he's the first person I've met to be as good as me at improvisational GMing--and I'm pretty friggin' good. But Jason has more he brings to the table, particularly in the area of organization.

Jason doesn't organize his game like normal, human GMs, he does it by character. In his trusty GM book, Jason puts a page aside for each character. Whenever anything--anything--happens in game, he goes through the pages of characters and decides how the event effects them, and what their reactions are.

Jason runs a lot of public games throughout Tucson; look him up through the Tucson RPG Guild. I promise playing at his table will be a treat.

I should close by saying all the above may not be true. I might just be filling blog space. See that, Corley! You'll never really know!!

@ReverbGamers Master List Numbers 10 & 12

So I'm either crazy or Blogger ate my answer to number 10. I remember reading the question; I remember writing the question. So below is my second draft of number 10, followed by the as-scheduled number 12.

#10: Have you ever played a character originally from a book/TV/movie?
How did the character change from the original as you played? If not, who would you most like to
play?

I played a TV character, for the first time ever, at last year's TactiCon, here in Colorado. I was the 10th Doctor in Cubicle 7's Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space. I even got to give one of those classic David Tennant speeches wherein he stares down a foe, outmatched and outnumbered, and explains to them that he's the Doctor, dammit! And they backed down. It was made of awesome!!

This was a convention one-shot, so there wasn't much time for change. I worked really hard to stay dead-on with the character. Table consensus seemed to point to my success.

As fun as it was, I have to say I would not want to play a character like that for any length of time--maybe a one-shot or limited series, but that's it. Too much pressure.

#12: Do [you] prefer collaborative or competitive games? What do you think that
says about you?

Assuming this is about roleplaying games like the rest of the questions (to those unaware, there are cooperative board games), my knee-jerk reaction is to say cooperative, all the way. That said, I have never played a competitive roleplaying game. One of my favorite things about roleplaying games is the group storytelling, and in my head, playing an RPG competitively seems to be at odds with what I love.

With the above in mind, I would be open to trying it. Perhaps I'd be proven wrong...

But at the end of the day, I'm a lover, not a fighter.

I'm not completely sure what it says about me. I'm fine being (fiercely) competitive in board games, so it's not a "need to win" thing. It's likely the whole thing comes down to lack of experience. I've been roleplaying cooperatively for 27 years... tough to change.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 11

#11: Have you ever played a character that was morally gray, or actually evil? Why or why not? If yes, did you enjoy it?

Again--GM--so yeah. From a player standpoint, I have played both morally gray and evil characters.

My morally gray character was already covered here.

My evil character was in a Planescape game. I was playing a psionicist named Mandrake (which, if I recall correctly, means “poison”). Mandrake was really evil. He would kill for nearly any reason. He was neutral evil, and so was capable of playing well with others, if it served his purpose. What was interesting was it was not an “evil” campaign, so Mandrake had to keep some of his activities somewhat private.

Honestly, I loved Mandrake as a character--I’ve re-purposed his personality multiple times over the years for villains in the games I’ve run--but I didn’t enjoy him as a player character. And that’s because, as a GM, I always play evil, and I’m usually the GM. So for me, a change is to play a good guy.

I do love to play morally gray characters. I think it’s because there’s a freedom in it for me. As a nice guy, there are a lot of things I’d like to do, but would never do. With a morally gray character, I can do those things. Again, see my write-up of Revenant for a good example.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 9

#9: Have you ever played a character of the opposite sex. Why or why not? If yes, how did the other players react?

As a GM, of course I have! But I'm guessing that's not really what this question is about.

In 27 years of gaming, I have never seen anyone effectively play a character of the opposite sex. In every case I've seen, these characters end up being more caricature than anything else. I can tell you it's an area of discomfort for me as a GM (I never feel like I do women justice when I play them). When you're dealing with a game table that includes people of both sexes, people can get downright offensive. I don't completely disallow cross-gender play at my table, but I do discourage it. And when someone chooses to go that route, they're put on notice they may be asked to change.

Obviously this strong opinion is based solely on my experience. I'm sure it's been done well, somewhere. And I'd love to see it.