Dungeons and Dragons or Why Pen and Paper RPGs are Awesome

If you've ever enjoyed Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls Series or any RPG in existence, you probably have to thank Dungeons and Dragons for those hours of grinding and rapid pressing of X during dialogue.  Dungeons and Dragons aka D&D is the mac daddy of all Role Playing Games and allows one to do, in a few words, whatever the hell they want.  Want to grill and eat some steak?  Done.  Some dragon meat?  Done.  Some peasant children?  Done.  Your alignment has now shifted to chaotic evil.  Of course, this isn't limited to Iron Chef type battles.  D&D has been a source of quality storytelling, heart pounding action and mind racking intrigue for thousands and thousands of players worldwide.  As a DM, I'm proud to be part of this orc-hacking, ale-chugging, loot-looting tradition, and I always enjoy forging new worlds for players to explore.

Admittedly, I haven't been forging any new worlds as of late.  Mostly due to the fact I've been job hunting and trying to find sources of income (Supplemental books for the game can get expensive).  Of course, once I do start working, I might not have enough time to run games at all.  I'm not sure how other struggling student/DMs/generally poor people handle this, but I'm at a loss.  Now you might say... "Hey, you have enough time to blog, get off your ass and write me an adventure!"  I really have no rebuttal other than to ask you to shove a number of items into your anus and write one yourself.  Blogs take me at most 20 minutes to write, if you couldn't tell from my general lack of structure.  Writing a new adventure for a party of up to 9 people takes quite a bit longer, especially if I try to appeal to each individual player.  But enough about my problems, let's get back to D&D.

Now, D&D requires more work than your average game, but I can guarantee that it's more rewarding.  Unlimited character customization, item creation, character interaction and the ability to rewrite history make D&D and all pen and paper RPGs a unique experience in the gaming world.  That's right, there are other pen and paper RPGs out there.  D20 Modern, World of Darkness, Shadowrun, GURPS, Anima and Star Wars to name a few.  I haven't had much experience with non-d20 systems like WoD or Anima, but I can say that my preference generally leans towards d20 or d10 systems.  Perhaps I'll run a Star Wars campaign in anticipation of  The Old Republic MMO?  We'll see.  If you're interested in joining, just leave a comment below.

I've always loved pen and papers, but now that they're leaning towards a younger, less experienced demographic, I'm beginning to see my beloved systems get slashed to bits.  Sure it's more easily digested, but why would I play that when I can jump on Oblivion?  I think that the problem with gaming as a whole is that by trying to make a game that appeals to everyone, you alienate your biggest fans.  But I guess in a capitalist society, profits will always take priority over your loyal fanbase.  Of course, I'm just going to pretend that D&D 4.0 doesn't exist.  Nothing stopping me from playing AD&D, BABY!  Let's hope that game companies figure out that games shouldn't be dumbed down for dumber audiences.  If you're not smart enough to use a surgical laser, you shouldn't be using one.  Bitches need to learn their place.