You can learn a lot from Pen and Paper RPGs

I’m one of the few oldschool ‘gamers’ that never really had the opportunity to enjoy the Pen and Paper RPGs. Dungeons and Dragons always appealed in one form or another but the circumstances never allowed. Graev at one point was really into the whole DnD scene and collected all the books in hardback and several campaigns and adventures but due to how the concept works, without having more than 1 player and a DM, the experience could never be right. On occasion a friend would come over and we could get a little game or adventure going and what little time I spent playing was enjoyable. To fast forward a few years I had a long-time school chum of mine give me a call one day and invite me to a session of DnD with him and his buddies. Knowing none of them except for me friend it made the experience awkward yet still slightly enjoyable as I was given a character to play and brought up to speed with their game. I learned the basics and established a basic like for the game.

Jumping to the present now, Graev and I have recently revisited the Pen and Paper style of gaming with two of our online friends. Using the Fantasy Grounds program all four of us are able to connect together and have countless invaluable DnD resources at our disposal. With Maps, manuals/rules, dice, Ventrilo and other DnD tools at our fingertips in graphical representation form it’s almost, almost, just as if we were sitting next to eachother. One of our friends has been playing PnP games for over a decade and expressed his interest in Dungeon Mastering (DMing) so Graev, myself, and the other friend get to be players. Our DM friend is really into creating PnP content and as a result we have jumped right in to our first adventure.

Over the past week we have had three sessions. The first sessions was mostly about feeling out the situation and getting to know how the DM and other players like to do things. Being mostly a complete noob at DnD and PnP I had to have a lot of help filling out my character sheet and doing the stats and skills. Surprisingly, I knew a lot more than I thought I would. Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 have paid off! Many if not all the feats and skills are at the very least familiar to me and I have a basic understanding of how everything works. During our sessions I have found myself a little timid as to what I can and can not do. As we go along playing Graev always has these weird outlandish ideas of how to incorporate his environment into the game. I’m struggling somewhat with knowing how much or how little I can do. The combat side of things in DnD is probably one of the most interesting and possibly dynamic elements. When played well, and imagined just right, the combat can be extremely involved and evolve into whatever you want. We had a town siege last night where skeletons broke through the gate to the city and my only thought was to shoot arrows at them as they came in – Graev however grabbed a cart nearby and rammed the wave of skeletons with it causing two of them to be pinned against the wall – ingenious!

So what do I mean when I say you can learn a lot from Pen and Paper RPGs? The entire time we have been playing I have visualized our entire experience as though it were a MMORPG. When our characters talk to merchants or Lords I am envisioning them talking to NPCs. Everything we do I am relating or trying to relate to MMORPG gameplay – and I think that’s my problem. DnD/PnP games have no limits like MMOs and are not constrained or held back by the inability of gameplay mechanics or code. If you want to grab a bucket of oil and pour it over a wall then light it on fire you can do that in DnD. If you want to randomly assassinate someone you can do it – or try to at least. I’ve been going over in my head how I can block out the MMO gamer inside and channel that active unbarred imagination.

Applying these experiences I have some new insight into how MMOs are really, unfortunately, limiting. I’m on the fence right now if I like this new way of thinking that’s causing me to feel held back in LOTRO because I can’t just stab Frodo and take the ring for myself (just an example). On the flip side I have gained insight into what MMOs CAN have that they don’t. If done correctly many DnD/PnP gameplay elements can be introduced into a MMO and there could be a heck of a lot of fun. I think I also understand more now the disappointment people had for the DnD MMO.

Who would have thought that rolling a dice and writing a few numbers down on paper could not only be fun but teach you more about your favorite pass-time in one night than you could learn in years? I’ve been missing out on this archaic way of gaming for too long. I look forward to enjoying all the adventures that I can with my friends and then some. Taking what I learn, I look forward to trying my hand at impacting MMO development in ways I never thought possible. This should be fun!