Megan Robertson's page

Well done to your good lady!

Back in September 1977 I started at university in Cardiff, studying botany. During that first week, a whirl of enrolment and finding where the department was and getting timetables, there was a 'Freshers Fair' where all the student societies had stalls and tried to get people to join... wandering around, my eye was caught by some model soldiers and - being good on uniforms - I went by muttering "French Napoleonic, 21e Regement du Ligne, those are voltigers and those the grenadiers" and was pounced upon by some burly lads inviting me to join the wargames society.

"Why not?" I thought, and did.

A few days later there was a note in my pigeonhole inviting me to the first meeting, so along I went. Once jawbones had been retrieved from the floor and the gasps of "It's a WOMAN" had died down, a lanky youth approached and asked, "Do you want to play D&D?"

"What's that?" I wondered... and have rarely been far from dice and plotbook ever since.

I play about 75% male, 25% female characters... but the choice is based on what I feel 'fits' the game genre, proposed setting, the sort of character I am intending to play and such like. As I don't find gender particularly significant, it can quite often be left to the tidying up at the end when I determine background, handedness, hair & eye colour etc, rather than as up front with race and class/profession.

What does annoy is people who assume my character will be female just because I happen to be female.

Occasionally, massive fun results. I once played a male AD&D 1e thief who during the course of the adventure fell head-over-heels in love with a female character... who was being played by a young gentleman who happened to be at least a bit in love with me! (He got over it, though, and found another female gamer to be his 'real world' life partner.) Had the rest of the party confused thoroughly.

Another time there was a cyberpunk male character of mine who was gay. The first night the party settled down I passed the GM a note: "Which male character has the cutest butt?" - this happy soul suddenly got snuggled up to by my chunky shaven-headed Solo :)

And in a Traveller play-by-email game my (male) engineer fell for a female dockyard agent whilst purchasing spaces for our ship. She (an NPC) reciprocated... and I got a private e-mail from another player in a state of some confusion, saying that he'd been about to protest at my character's rather sexist behaviour until he remembered that it was a female player playing a male one... and that as he had felt that my character was being typically 'blokey' he ended up congratulating me instead.

Back in 2000 I was teaching a night school class in web page development. My then DM took the class... and developed an interactive map of a village. The homepage was the overview of the entire village, then you clicked on any building to see a detailed plan and the names of the residents, hyperlinked to their character sheet & notes.

Enjoy your course... and as I'm an e-learning specialist in 'real life' do feel welcome to ask any questions or visit http://www.moodlepoodle.co.uk/ where I am slowly building a collection of e-learning resources - all available with guest login.

Laptop with appropriate subset of PDFs from the main archive disk on this 'ere desktop PC - due to a stroke a couple of years ago I cannot carry my reference books around, and normally game (as GM or player) in someone else's house. For online games, it's screen-flicking between the game page and the full archive (which is set up web-page style, click on the cover image to open the PDF).

Physical Dice (hate die-rollers, even when playing online).

I make handouts when appropriate, but rarely use physical props and never miniatures.

51 on 2nd August...

First game, 5 October 1977.

Now with long silver hair, and still with dice in my pocket!

Try "Libem Liborium - The Complete D20 Guide to Books," originally from Silven Publishing, latterly 12 to Midnight.

It's available at e23 - http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SP1001 and Wargame Vault -
http://wap.wargamevault.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=1450&it=1 but not here at Paizo (else I'd have just sent you there and not mentioned other stores!).

You enter good product and what do you expect?

An excellent effort all round: you publishers have done your bit, I and my fellow judges have done our bit and now it is over to the gaming community to step up...

Voting begins 16 July, for the awards and also for next year's judges. There's a massive field of judges, so read through what we all have to say and decide who will best represent your opinions for next year!

The DM, kind soul, has sent me an e-mail inviting me along so I've registered on the Reaper Board and will see you all there soon!

My username is Megan.

Just went and read your thread on the Reaper Board.

May I join in? If so, I'll get cracking on that cleric... she's coming together in my mind already (unusual, I rarely play females but this one is) so will start putting numbers in.

Oh, and now that I've read a few of the other posts, I LOVE what Megan said, the first post after the OP.

Thank you :)

When playing, I like to get to the stage that reactions become instinctive... once playing a Babylon 5 game the party had visited Earthdome and a passing assassin shot out a large plate glass window in an attempt on the life of whoever it was we'd gone to see. My character was out the door in a flash - when normally like anyone else he'd take cover & pull a weapon in such an attack situation. Only on later reflection did I remember he was raised by people who built space stations for a living and it was instictive panic at potential loss of pressure that caused him to want to get the other side of a door he could seal!

As you probably know, several of this year's Judges hang out here and we'll be happy to answer questions or chat about the nominations.

Excellent - this year has shown that the support & understanding of those you share your residence and life with is essential: they have to put up with deliveries, books everywhere and your nose in said books when they want a chat or their dinners... :)

Oddly enough, dearly beloved has been on at me for a couple of months about running again - maybe he likes the peace & quiet when I'm reading!

Vivid memory: on UK election night I was reading the Pathfinder Bestiary. The family enquired, as they did, what I was reading, so I explained I preferred REAL fantasy to the sort peddled by politicians & held the book up - the "Wow!" that went arround the room at that cover explains why it got a nomination in that category :)

Now the ENnies judging is over I have a little time... generally I play bards but it might be good to play a cleric for a change. Do you have a preference for deity or is it time to open Faiths & Pantheons?

For me, a 'backstory' is all about getting to know the character as a person. Those players who find it a challenge to write one might prefer to try some of those 'ice-breakers' that you find on training courses as a starting point.

Try introducing yourself in character. "Hi. Sorry the place is a bit of a mess, my familiar was scared last night and tried to hide under my scrolls... oh, yes, I'm Calatin..." - you are already getting the picture of a rather disorganised wizard.

Think of the sort of things that you might ask on a first date, or when striking up a conversation with someone who's just moved in next door. You might try to find out what they do for a living, hobbies, who else lives with them, what they like to read or eat... this can build an image of the character NOW, and provide starting points for discovering how they came to be that way. Calatin probably lives on his own (well, apart from the familiar), so doesn't need to tidy up. But has he always been a loner? Would he really like a room-mate? Or a soul-mate, come to that?

If a character has certain skills, how did he acquire them? Formal training or a neighbour who knew how and showed him? Did he have to enrol in a guild or society? Did he figure it out for himself? Did his parents approve of his learning that skill at all? Or do they even know?

Don't be obsessed with knowing everything about your character at the outset. You may - indeed probably will - find out a lot about him as the game progresses. Treat the beginning like a job application - he'll arrive with his resume and a letter of application, but you will find out more at the interview and if he's hired then you get to know him better over the next few years.

... when you visit a temple in Egypt, see a mummified crocodile, take dice out of your pocket and roll a percentage...

... and your husband turns to you and asks, "San roll?"

Excellent, quite a few people (including me) have already put their names forward for consideration.

Read what we have to say, ask questions here or elsewhere, and decide for whom you wish to vote!

It works quite well with young people: my 13-year-old daughter enjoys playing it!

A few years ago I was DMing a Living Greyhawk game, and as I was packing up at the end I asked one guy why he'd named his character after a pot... he looked surprised and said that I was the first who'd noticed in the couple of years he'd been playing his character.

Well, I guess if you are not into archaeology, you might not realise the origins of 'Samian Ware' :)

Foreign languages can be fun. I had a Cyberpunk character who was called Asunte Kwaheri... which happens to be 'Thank you and good night' in Swahili, quite appropriate for the quiet, cold-blooded yet polite assassin that he was. Another, a netrunner, went by Akuma and nobody figured out why his icon was a small red devil (Akuma is 'Devil' in Japanese).

I'm confused.

The product description appears to be that of Mega City One Archives 1: The Justice Department which you already have listed elsewhere in the Judge Dredd section, and with its correct cover.

The cover picture here is shown on the Mongoose site as being that of the [i]Judge's Handbook[i], a completely different book.

Is this date accurate? The PDF is out already!

Is this the 1st or 2nd printing?

The cover depicted is the 1st Printing, from FanPro. The 2nd Printing, from Catalyst Game Labs, has an orange cover (similar imagery), and has some editorial corrections from the first one.

It depends on your needs - it could be useful if you are heavily into plane-shifting and want to know more about the lower planes than is covered in the 'Manual of the Planes.'

I'll try and get round to a review soon, if you like.

BobSlaughter - I've just updated my Paizo product list (not done all the individual pages yet).

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish with a review.

Me - I'm trying to give as good an impression as I can of what you'll find in that product and how it might contribute to your gaming experience if you purchase it.

I may put in the odd personal aside, but rarely as it's unlikely to tell you anything about the product... you don't read my reviews to find out about ME, you read 'em (if you do) because you want to know about the product, particularly if you are considering a purchase.

And now I've got my breath back (and told my husband that he needs to build some shelves!), congratulations to the other 4 as well.

WOW!!!!

I am absolutely gobsmacked - thought I was a rank outsider with no chance for a year or two.

Thank you very much, all those who supported my candidacy.

I think I have to go and lie down now....

Not always up-to-the-minute, but I tend to add things as published to http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/index.php?article=3092&visual=8

Actually, it's due an update, I've been doing other things recently on RPG Resource.

Thanks, Watcher... and anyone else who voted a) at all and b) for me!

Me again. Voting ends tomorrow (Sunday 9th August) so if you have not voted yet, please consider doing so. If you have (irrespective if for me or the other fine contenders), thank you for taking part in the ENies process.

Megan landed one of my votes, Mark another. Scott also picked up one so even if it's not the four of us around the table at the end, I'm hoping you three make it. Megan, you have had my vote from the beginning simply because you're awesome :D

Wow! Thank you, Jay. Win or lose, that comment's made my day/week...

I'll vote for you two... maybe all 3 of us will be selected. That'd be fun!

[update: Been and cast my vote!]

So am I, dear hearts.... Megan Robertson.

And if you like the way I look at RPGs... you can make me your third vote!

Wow! What can I say? I'd dropped in to introduce myself and ask for consideration as you good people decide who you want for next year's ENnies Judges... Thank you for your kind remarks, Masika.

After over 30 years' pleasure from role-playing, it's time to put something back, so I am running for ENnie Judge 2010.

Why me? Best bet is for you to see how I look at games, and if you like what I have to say please consider voting for me. There are plenty of my reviews on this site (and probably another one later on if I stop wasting time whittering about myself and get back to my books!), and even more on my own site, http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

Irrespective, thank you for taking time to participate in the ENnies process!

Oh yeah!!!

This is a surprise - I've been in Mallorca for a week!

The mischievous side of me wants to bundle up a huge stack of legitamately-acquired WotC PDFs and research how to loose them on every torrent I can find...

More seriously, it means the end of my 4e reading as the entire collection is PDF. Given the way that the hobby is going, I doubt that I am alone and this in itself shows evidence of poor business ability on the part of Wizards.

Add to that the archival side of access to materials no longer in print and it moves from a lack of business competence to every sign of not wishing to continue in the business of supporting role-playing at all.

As a final straw, the crass way in which Wizards have chosen to implement their new policies serve only to alienate role-players even further.

(Please note, anyone who uses my site, that I have no intention of spending this next week - which I have off - removing defunct links... I prefer to spend my free time writing reviews of product from publishers who still support the hobby!!!!)

Tell us what you think!!!!!

I will as soon as I've finished reading it, Louis!

As regards the 'family feeling' - I am on their reviewers list. When last December I had a stroke, my husband let my contact at Paizo know there might be a while before any reviews got written - next thing I know there's a "Get Well" card signed by darn near the whole company arriving, hotly pursued by a box of books to read 'when you feel better.'

Hey, folks - it worked. Almost full recovery and able to return to work. And reviewing, of course!

Hugs from Megan
http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

Many congratulations to all at Paizo for your well-deserved successes.

Stuck here in the UK, but consoling myself by being curled up writing my review of Pathfinder Beta... considerably superior to D&D 4e in my opinion.

Love and Hugs from Megan.

I think that the RPG industry was thrown a lifeline with the OGL, and the Internet was one of the things that led to the really big explosion of all manner of things - not just supplements but whole new games written using the D20 game mechanic.

Personally - and I hope it's not just wishful thinking - I think it will survive even if Wizards keep 4e closed. It will be them who lose out, as it will become 'just another game' rather than the flagship that 3e has been. Over the past couple of years there has been a resurgance of people writing their own rulesets, often people who cut their teeth on writing material under the OGL.

Open gaming is, and will remain in my opinion, the true future of role-playing.

And as for the other discussion that crept in: if teachers got paid more I could afford all the RPG books I wanted!

How would spell the Welsh name?

You will find that the name is normally spelled 'Gwynneth' - while 'Gwynedd' is a part of Wales.

They are pronounced differently too, as Welsh is a completely phonetic language (i.e. every letter is pronounced as written). I'm not quite sure how to convey to you the difference between 'th' and 'dd' in writing, though! Think of the 'dd' as a softer more muted sound...

It's not often I get to hold forth about my native tongue!

Excellent development in the ongoing world of RPGs... You have the full support of RPG Resource.

He will be sorely missed. Hours of talking, playing D&D and drinking rather too much beer.

My daughter was sad to hear that her Uncle Gary is no more.

Fascinating insights, thank you.

When D20 D&D was launched back in 2000, I was quite heavily involved with the RPGA in the UK. A lot of us were involved in playtesting at various stages, everyone was throwing round ideas and watching the game shape up and so it really hit the ground running when the first shipment of the Player's Handbook showed up at GenCon UK at the end of August 2000. Everyone wanted to try it out, to the extent that the Living Greyhawk team were grabbing anyone they could catch to DM for the eager hordes. And that's British gamers. We've always been a bit more restrained in our enthusiasm.

Then the openness of the D20/OGL system brought loads of other publishers large and small on board right from the get-go. So material was there from the outset - like Green Ronin's first Freeport adventure Death in Freeport. The rise of the internet helped as well, as people who until then wrote wonderful adventures, settings and source material for their own groups were able to self-publish in PDF or on the web.

About 18 months after D20 D&D, AEG released Spycraft. They saw how the buzz and excitement had pre-built a market for D&D, and did even better - starting the precedent for free 'lite' or demo versions of a game that are actually playable in their own right. The designers were there on the company website and discussion boards, talking about what was going on and encouraging people to get involved.

Unfortunately Wizards don't seem to remember the marketing strategy they themselves launched on the gaming world. Carefully-crafted pieces that seem to be more 'how wonderful' than 'what and how' - yeah, right. How do I start thinking about what I'm going to do with it without the basic information? How do I decide if it even fits in with the way I and my players like to role-play? And where is the Lite version to let us try it out and be convinced we want more, and go get the core books when they are released?

However, one of the more heartening things is the number of people - for example Kenzer & Company with their Kingdoms of Kalamar line - who are moving back inventory of D20 product into PDF, where it can be available in perpetuity with little cost to the publisher.

And if shameless plugs are in order, you can always read my reviews of, well anything role-playing I can get my hands on, at http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

(If it's sold here, the review appears here as well, of course!)

Company after company appear to be winding down popular and successful D20 Dungeons and Dragons lines. While there's always the urge to be up ahead with the current trends, do they really think that everyone's going to drop 3rd Edition D&D like a hot potato come the summer?

Even if 4th Edition D&D is as good as Wizards seem to think it will be, it's going to take time to percolate through the gaming community; while a lot of people remain ready to be convinced that the switch is worthwile at all.

Please, publishers, do not slam the door shut...

I don't know - the pap that is coming out of WotC at the moment gives insufficient information to even think about deciding.

It is fair to say that game mechanics are not that important for me, it is all about creating an alternate reality in which whatever game system is used just provides guidelines for task resolution anyway!

Never having played a game with the lady, I cannot comment on the standard of her play. However her writing is appalling: trivial, dull, all about HER and very little about role-playing. A complete waste of space, doing all gamers - let alone us female ones - a great disservice. If WotC had wanted a 'female view of gaming' could they not at least have found a woman who can write?