(no subject)

[stormdog]

I just learned about this Dungeons and Dragons Adventure League thing. I can't read much about it because the relevant sites are blocked by my workplace's content filters, but I can't express how unappealing the idea of playing under such a system is to me.

Kenzer and Company put together concepts like this for their Hackmaster system, but (at least I had thought) as a joke, poking some gentle fun at the competitive extremes certain people go to in tabletop roleplaying. That there actually is a system where you have to track changes to your characters and validate them with a central authority that allows you to use them in other games with other GMs is flatly ridiculous to me.

Tabletop roleplaying, for me, is a chance to do some gently guided improv and be in someone else's head for a while. (Not that I've done it in years.) Attaching it to a giant system that imposes rules on what ought to be some friends having some creative fun together is anathema to me.

Comments

[basefinder]

I know nothing of D & D or most gaming, but your last sentence explains why I don't play cards. Too many rules to follow. I'd rather just sit and talk with those friends instead of staring at cards trying to remember rules.

[stormdog]

That makes sense. I think about that in relation to board and card games with people. I love big, complex board games that take concentration, but sometimes it's a lot more fun to do simple things that don't take a lot of thought and instead just serve as catalysts for conversation and socialization.

[basefinder]

"catalysts for conversation and socialization"

I think that last phrase of yours is why I do love it when we play Scrabble with friends. There is discussion and banter about people's word choices which is fun (especially with brainy friends like randomdreams and threemeninaboat!). It seems easier to mix social fun with Scrabble than with card games.