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Not sure where this should go. Move to the best place please.
So I was thinking about the folks around here on the messageboard. I know some handles but nothing else about you people (well some are people).
So I figured let's have a place to say a bit about ourselves.
Ok, I am 40 years old and live in central Missouri, but was raised in Houston, Texas. I'm married to a gamer (aren't I lucky). I am currently working Temp at a university, though I was a photgrapher for 15 years. No kids, but two Newfoundland-mix dogs (each about 130#) and six cats (anyone wanna cat?)
We live in the country on 14 acres. From our house you can't see anything man made. Lots of wildlife. Of the 14 acres 11 are woods. We are building our own paintball field in the woods.
Been gaming since 1981. Started with D&D red box then AD&D. Have played Shadowrun, GURPS, Vampire, Mechwarrior, BattleTech, Cyberpunk, Twilight 2000, Traveller and so many more I can't remember them all (any one remember Creature Feature?)
Currently playing 3.5. No plans for 4E. Hoping local game store lets me run a 3.P demo this summer, but they are rather anti 3rd party publisher (if ain't WOTC it's crap is their motto).
So tell me a bit about who you are. I'll get the BBQ started.
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So I figured let's have a place to say a bit about ourselves.
Good idea. I went ahead and put the info in my profile...probably geeky, but it was a nice walk down memory lane.
I didn't marry a gamer, but have a very understanding wife who lets me enjoy my hobby.
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So I figured let's have a place to say a bit about ourselves.Good idea. I went ahead and put the info in my profile...probably geeky, but it was a nice walk down memory lane.
I didn't marry a gamer, but have a very understanding wife who lets me enjoy my hobby.
ya know this is one of them times when it would be cool to be able to message one another.
But I have a question for you. You're a Naval Officer. Does the military still frown upon roleplaying?
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I am 34 years old and live in Missouri, as well- in the St. Louis area. I'm not married to a gamer but, like Paris, my wife is very accepting of my hobbies. I've worked in the health care industry for the last 13 years, and was laid off in March- I'm currently in the middle of a six month "paid vacation" which ends in October (when I start my new job). :)
I've got two beautiful kids- a girl, six, and a boy, almost four. They're already showing a lot of interest in games; just need to get them reading!
I really didn't start gaming until I was in college, when my best friend introduced me to 2nd edition D&D, and I've been gaming ever since. I jumped into DMing right away- I have rarely been a "player." I got hooked on Magic shortly after it hit (when Legends came out). Other than boardgames (which I love- Zombies, anyone?), about 99% of my gaming experience has been specific to D&D and Magic.
Every year my college friends and I make a trek to GenCon- it's our "guy vacation." Unfortunately, I don't get to play D&D all that often anymore- most of my RPG fun is limited to that one long weekend a year when we all get together.
I'll be sticking with 3.5, and more specifically with Pathfinder. I'm planning to run Pathfinder games at a local store, as well- they're mostly a comic shop, but the owners are really excited about Pathfinder.
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Heya,
Name is Nathan, I'm 26 years old living in deltona FL,
I married a dancer (lucky me) but I managed to get her playing despite the fact that she said she would never be caught dead playing.
I live in Deltona, FL. I cut my teeth with 3.5 but really got my start with the Baldur's Gate Video games. I tend to DM more than play, but I am playing a wizard/bard in a shackled city campaign. I hate when players don't roleplay or their characters Ping new abilities because they levelled up and took a feat and are suddenly doing something their character never showed an inclination for before.
I'm not really interested in 4e but I'll probably play a few games with my group since some of them seem to like it. I'll stick with 3.5 and pathfinder when I DM however.
Does the military still frown upon roleplaying?
What? When did they start that?
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But I have a question for you. You're a Naval Officer. Does the military still frown upon roleplaying?
Probably a topic for a different thread, but I don't know if it's possible to actually threadjack your own thread, so I'll answer here. ;) If you'd like to continue the discussion, we can carry on in a separate thread.
I can't speak for all the services, but here's my take on the Navy. My experience has been that the Navy as a whole has never frowned on roleplaying. It's no more or less popular in the Navy than it is in the civilian world. By that, I mean that it is still considered a hobby enjoyed by geeks and nerds...and I tend to agree...I'm very much a geek. I still see it being played on the mess decks onboard and the command has no reaction to it whatsoever.
The problem that I've experienced throughout my career is the frustration that, in general, more enlisted personnel are gamers than are officers. On top of that, officers who do play are not very open about their involvement in RPGs. That's mainly due to the fact that officers tend to be older and are expected to be more professional than geeky. I rarely speak about my own involvement in games with co-workers. I have spent entire tours with folks, only to learn right before they or I transfer that they are gamers.
I do have several officer friends who game and have had rare opportunities to form gaming groups in a couple of duty stations. The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey was the best place for that. But for the most part, I run across far more enlisted gamers than officers.
I find this frustrating because I have to worry about fraternization if I join a game with enlisted personnel. Unlike sports, RPGs are highly social interactive games. Forming close personal ties with enlisted personnel is definitely frowned upon.
I've tried in the past to start Yahoo! and MSN groups in the hope of developing networks of military officers who are also gamers, but I haven't had much luck. The Yahoo! Group is still "active" but it doesn't see much traffic.
Anyway, that's a long answer to a yes/no question.
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My name is Lazaro, I'm 26 years old living and live in Clovis, NM.
I started playing with 3.0. I DM more than I play(mostly because no one else feels like it). Right now though I'm looking to put together a new game. It's hard being that most players keep to themselves around here. That ans since are AF base is in middle of changing missions alot of the major gamers have been stationed elsewhere.
I'm also looking to sharpen my DMing skills(not the best DM/storyteller by a long shot).
Other than that I'm huge anime and comic fan. I play M:tG every chance I get(started playing during Ice Age). I try to make Friday Night Magic when I got the cash.
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Well, I have stuff in my profile, but I guess some of you might realize that it isn't all the complete truth....
So, for those who wish to know...
36 years old. Married, no kids. Born in New Orleans (one of 5 boys), but now live in Philadelphia. Work for the Naval Surface Warefare Center as a Mechanical Engineer with a focus on conventional steam ships.
The Chronicles of Narnia are what first got me hooked on fantasy. I've gamed since highschool, but there was a few years of drought before Game Day 2005.
In my spare time I like to stumble through the local parks mumbling "braiiiinnnnsss" over and over before randomly attacking some defenseless jogger and gnawing their skull open.
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Most of it's in the profile, but...
Paul Watson, age: 33, live and work in London UK as an analyst. Been gaming for a while, starting with the red book (not box). I DMed (badly) at school, with family, and (better) at college. Had a long drought where I was a collector rather than an active player, but I'm back playing now (a gnome druid, so you can guess which version I'm involved in ;-) ).
Not married, no kids, just one nephew. But as he's not even a year old, I think I'll wait to introduce him to the game.
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I am 34 years old and live in Missouri, as well- in the St. Louis area.HEY! I may be in St Louis in the next few weeks to shoot some more sexy elf chick photos. We should meet up somewhere and say hi!
Sure enough- shoot me an e-mail at (my user name AT charter dot net), I'd be up for grabbing lunch. :)
My name is Erik, and I'm a gamer. I have no power over my gaming...
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The problem that I've experienced throughout my career is the frustration that, in general, more enlisted personnel are gamers than are officers. On top of that, officers who do play are not very open about their involvement in RPGs. That's mainly due to the fact that officers tend to be older and are expected to be more professional than geeky. I rarely speak about my own involvement in games with co-workers. I have spent entire tours with folks, only to learn right before they or I transfer that they are gamers.
What you're describing is how things seem on the civilian side, as well. Working in management in a larger corporation has made me pretty hesitant to talk about my gaming hobbies in a work environment. Everyone still knows I'm into the "geekier" side of things (sci-fi, computers, etc.)- I don't hide that- but I still don't talk about gaming too openly. I've met others at work that have similar interests, but it tends to come out after developing a closer friendship first.
If you want to, you can post a marker here so y'all can get together and game. :)
My name is Dennis, I'm much younger than crusty old Krome, I'm 38. I live in Stockton, CA, right smack in the armpit of the state.
My wife games also as does one of my daughters. I actually met my wife while gaming in high school. I started with AD&D in high school and college but when 2e came out and thought it stunk. Due to professional life, family obligations, and lack of people to play with dropped D&D altogether for 10 years or more. About 5 years ago I started playing AD&D again then grudgingly upgraded to 3.5 only about 2 years ago. I've never been much impressed by the splat books and own very few of them.
Between my family obligations and my other hobbies (Mountain Biking) I have a lot of trouble finding time to game but when I do I generally wind up DMing. I would love to find another group where I could just show up and play though.
You forgot to add some very important questions though so you guys all need to go back and edit this stuff in.
Favorite Module/ adventure to date: Red Hand of Doom
Current/ Favorite Character: Vex, a gnome Dragon Blood Sorcerer
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What you're describing is how things seem on the civilian side, as well. Working in management in a larger corporation has made me pretty hesitant to talk about my gaming hobbies in a work environment. Everyone still knows I'm into the "geekier" side of things (sci-fi, computers, etc.)- I don't hide that- but I still don't talk about gaming too openly. I've met others at work that have similar interests, but it tends to come out after developing a closer friendship first.
I guess you're right. Being an officer in the Navy is very similar to being in management for a large corporation...but we have missiles. ;)
Seriously, though, I can definitely relate. The only times I've met fellow officers who I knew were gamers from the beginning were when I was introduced by another gamer.
The biggest problem with being in the Navy is that I move every two years (on average) and between moves, I'm out at sea for up to six months out of the year. Makes it tough to play or run in a regular weekly group. I've found that play by post is the only style of play that I can really maintain. Which is why I've become such a fan of Roleplaymarket.com.
If you want to, you can post a marker here so y'all can get together and game. :)
Thanks, Lilith. I've posted my marker. I just need to figure out how to move it when I PCS. ;)
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hi, my names derek. from houston. just in case you were wondering...
i grew up in upstate new york, started gaming in '79 (ad&d). i've played d&d, shadowrun, traveller, twilight:2000, top secret, warhammer rpg, never got into the WoD stuff at all, now i pretty much just play d20 d&d. downloaded the pathfinder alphas, like what i see, and will buy the book when it comes out.
i'm now 38, with a live-in girlfriend who is learning how to play 3.5 so she can enjoy the hobby with me. we have one pet, a bearded dragon, who can double as a mini if needs be.
i manage a gelato shop in the rice military neighborhood of houston. im not terribly ambitious ;)
Hi guys, pleased to meet you all!
There's a lot of crap about me in the kruelaid bio (click on my avatar), but it's going to become slightly out of date when I start my new job troubleshooting scheduling in an American factory over here in China, where I've lived for a few years. That starts in a few weeks and pays really well so I probably deserve a pat on the back.
The most awesome and important thing in my life that I could possibly talk about is my little girl. She's a gorgeous half European mongrel (my half)/half Filipina; she's three years old and speaks the same number of languages. She can read the alphabet and by the time she's four I'm pretty sure she'll be able to read.
After her is my adorable wife, Fel, who has stuck with me through crazy ass shit and will surely continue. She doesn't play, doesn't understand, but still makes time in our week so I can get away and chuck the dice.
We live in the country on 14 acres. From our house you can't see anything man made. Lots of wildlife. Of the 14 acres 11 are woods. We are building our own paintball field in the woods.
I LOVE paintball! OOH GOD! And I lived on an acreage for years when I was a kid. I envy you.
From my apartment window over here the only thing I can see that ISN'T man made are a few trees and the ocean.
i grew up in upstate new york
Dude--that's kind of scary -- I'm from Troy. Where in upstate?
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The problem that I've experienced throughout my career is the frustration that, in general, more enlisted personnel are gamers than are officers. On top of that, officers who do play are not very open about their involvement in RPGs. That's mainly due to the fact that officers tend to be older and are expected to be more professional than geeky. I rarely speak about my own involvement in games with co-workers. I have spent entire tours with folks, only to learn right before they or I transfer that they are gamers...
Bingo!! Same boat here. My current posting even has a weekly game night played out of the MWR Rec Center, but everyone there is E1-E4.
I played with some CPTs and MAJs from the hospital staff back in Alaska, but since moving to Korea, I've yet to meet a single officer who plays...but I haven't advertised that I play, either.
In the Army, there's absolutely, positively, no interrank fraternization. The Army is specific in policy that states officers and enlisted will not engage (as mixed groups) in activities such as card games, and even goes so far as to say that sports competitions will not mix officer and enlisted teams below the rank of E8, and that Commander's Socials must not include enlisted ranks below E7s serving in an E8 position.
It's lonely at the top... :-(
I'm 41 years old, married, two daughters (16 & 13). I've been an Army officer for 19 years. I've never witnessed discrimination against roleplayers, but then again I might be an exception. I'm a computer automation officer, so I can get away with being a geek.
Wife was a roleplayer (primarily D6 Star Wars), but grew out of it. She allows me to play two weeknights a week. Oldest daughter plays D&D 3.5 and Warcraft. Youngest daughter plays Warcraft and Xbox 360.
I've been playing since the "red box" days. Favorite games have been AD&D, D&D 3.5, Top Secret, Stormbringer, Boot Hill, Battletech, Centurion, Traveller, Savage Worlds, Rifts, Necromunda, Blood Bowl, Grav Ball, D6 Star Wars, and Serenity. Looking forward to playing my first game of Dark Heresy. I have a huge collection of painted miniatures and an equally huge collection of comic books.
Currently work in the Pentagon, but just finished seven months in Iraq. I'm a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia, plus a Pentagon Attack survivor. Though again, I'm a computer geek, so I mostly only was endangered by mortars, rockets, and scuds.
Voted Republican in the last five presidential elections.
I play in three roleplaying groups: D&D 3.5 Forgotten Realms, D&D 3.5 Eberron, and Serenity RPG. There has been no interest in D&D 4.0 by any of the groups (no one has bought the core books). I plan to buy the final Pathfinder rules, but will most likely just cherry pick it.
I'm an avid Baltimore Ravens fan (season ticket holder).
Favorite Adventure: S2 White Plume Mountain (I've DM'd it seven times and built a 2D version of the map to miniature scale)
Favorite Character: Vlad von Krieger, 12th lvl dual-bastard-sword-wielding human fighter (Forgotten Realms) - yeah, he's a bit munchkin, but our DM makes super hard adventures.
I played with some CPTs and MAJs from the hospital staff back in Alaska, but since moving to Korea, I've yet to meet a single officer who plays...but I haven't advertised that I play, either.
I know your pain, Andrew. I was stationed in Korea from 2003-2005 and only got to play one time when my brother came to visit. There is a gaming club that meets every Saturday at the Yongsan food court and another located at Osan. But you are right, it was mostly enlisted (and the favorite game was Mechwarrior). I ended up investing in an Xbox and playing so-called roleplaying games on that.
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I really would like to hear more from you officers who game. To limit the impact of the threadjack, I've started a new thread for us officer gamers here.
So I figured let's have a place to say a bit about ourselves.
This sort of seems redundant considering we have profiles. I mean if you want to ask questions and see how we answer them that would tell us a lot about the first 10 people (then it'd degenerate into a flame war).
As a side note you could do to fill yours out a bit more.
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Names Mike-
the incapsulated version is in my profile...but nuts and bolts...14 years active duty army 6 years guard left active duty in 1992. been in the car business since, with a slight digression in the radio business as a staff announcer for KVLI Lake Isabella, CA for about 8 months....
Been gaming since 1975.
Favorite Systems: D&D (now Pathfinder ;) ), Traveller, and Shadowrun
Favorite Class: Druid
Favorite Character: Kilain Gravendak Dwarf 5th Ftr/10th Cleric
Avid comic book fan
thats me in a nutshell...but read the profile ;)
39 yo college freshmen composition professor in the mountains of VA. I'm also the academic advisor for our Role-players' Guild, an organization I have been a member of since Fall '88. I've been gaming since '81, and I've been an avid fantasy/sci-fi fan pretty much since I learned to read. As an USAF Brat, I had plenty of travel time to read as a kid.
Systems: D&D (redbox through Pathfinder), Mage (not the most recent iteration), Hero Systems, and numerous others shelved for posterity.
I went to school with people like Christopher McGlothlin and Hal Mangold (of Green Ronin) ... both of whom are alums of my school and its Guild. Christopher always ran outstanding Trek games. I have a few hilarious pics and stories of Mr Mangold (squid-head)... which I will not share out of respect.
My moniker comes from a current 3.5 campaign run by an outstandingly creative and entertaining GM. Ix is a lizardman warlock/druid with a kick-butt kobold sorcerer cohort and a giant rat mount ... both of whom have hilarious intro stories.
dude. you stalking me? and WHERE IS MY MILES DAVIS CD????
Only if you lived in Norfolk, VA in between NY and TX (I seem to be drifting in an arc SW).
Always thought Miles was overrated, man. Now, if it were a Max Roach/Clifford Brown All-Stars CD, that would be a completely different matter...
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Hi, my name's Luca, I'm from Forlì (Italy).
33 yo, currently employed as a CAD designer, I worked as a topographer for 5 years - mostly architectural stereophotogrammetry.
I live with my redhead crazed girlfriend, that I first met 2 years ago at the FLGS.
Started playing D&D when I was 13 with the Red Box (birthday present!), then went to AD&D 2e, but it went out of favor due to clunky rules and just too much stuff. Afterwards I played Call of Cthulhu (a lot), RIFTS, and WHFRP. 3rd edition brought me back into the D&D fold.
No 4E for me, and looking forward eagerly for PFRPG.
I'm 33, live in Kansas, married to a "gamer" (she played D&D with a group before I met her, but hated it due to a horrible DM, she only gave 3.x a try because I talked her into it), no children yet, work as a mathematics instructor at a local community college.
My gaming history is pretty pathetic compared to some.
A couple years later, I moved back into the dorms after my best friend (and then roommate) got married. I think ended up playing in some more D&D games, one was set in the dragonlance setting and other was basically homebrewed. I also played some star wars at that time. Graduated, got a "real" job, and stopped roleplaying (I hadn't invested anything at this point, money wise), played some video games (diablos, starcraft, warcrafts [not WoW]). I ended up getting a job back in the town I went to college and reconnected with some of my friends that still lived there that I had met while in the dorms. And started playing D&D again.
I met my wife about the time we started playing 3rd edition and got her into it. I decided to run a game and at that point started buying some gaming products. We shortly afterward switched to 3.5, and haven't looked back.
I currently run a homebrewed 3.5 game on Saturdays (which my wife plays in) and play in an 3.5 Eberron game on Sundays (which my wife does not play in, she is a 1 game a week woman). Currently nobody seems too excited about playing 4e, even those that have the books. The game I run definitely won't be switching. I am the only one remotely interested in PfRPG (and I mean remotely, I have no real interest in it), it isn't even on anyone else's radar even though I have tried to say good things about it (I am probably going to steal how skill points are done, even though I dislike the skills in general).
As for those talking about having a hard time finding others. As an instructor, I feel your pain. I would find it inappropriate to be gaming with someone that was also a student of mine (it made finding people to date a problem as well, thank you internet!). I did have one student that found out I was a gamer, due mainly to me listening to the Lord of the Rings unabridged CDs in my office, and asked if I would be interested in gaming with her and her husband. I was tempted, but I could honestly say that I was busy enough with the two games I was in at the time, so I was able to avoid a difficult conflicting position (wanting to get together with more gamers and not wanting to create a conflict in my student-teacher relationship).
I was tempted, but I could honestly say that I was busy enough with the two games I was in at the time, so I always able to avoid a difficult position (wanting to get together with more gamers and not wanting to create a conflict in my student-teacher relationship).
Why not ask them to contact you after they are out of your class?
Why not ask them to contact you after they are out of your class?
That would be fine. Though currently we are pretty crowded in the two groups I game with. In one group we have 7 people and in the other 6. If I had some opennings I would invite them though (she gave me her husband's email address for just such a thing). I did send him an email about someone else that was looking for players, that person actually posts on this site and I just happen to meet him at the Free RPG Day last month at the local store. I haven't heard if they got together though.
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dude. you stalking me? and WHERE IS MY MILES DAVIS CD????Only if you lived in Norfolk, VA in between NY and TX (I seem to be drifting in an arc SW).
Always thought Miles was overrated, man. Now, if it were a Max Roach/Clifford Brown All-Stars CD, that would be a completely different matter...
does being stationed at ft. belvoir in the early 90's count?
does being stationed at ft. belvoir in the early 90's count?
No, man, Ft. Belvoir is practically in DC. And come to think of it, I didn't leave NY until 1994. Now, if you'd been at, say, Little Creek Amphibious Base in the mid '90's, that would be stretching coincidence like a rubber band.
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does being stationed at ft. belvoir in the early 90's count?No, man, Ft. Belvoir is practically in DC. And come to think of it, I didn't leave NY until 1994. Now, if you'd been at, say, Little Creek Amphibious Base in the mid '90's, that would be stretching coincidence like a rubber band.
i moved to florida in 86, already lived in houston when i joined the army in 89...
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I know your pain, Andrew. I was stationed in Korea from 2003-2005 and only got to play one time when my brother came to visit. There is a gaming club that meets every Saturday at the Yongsan food court and another located at Osan. But you are right, it was mostly enlisted (and the favorite game was Mechwarrior). I ended up investing in an Xbox and playing so-called roleplaying games on that.I played with some CPTs and MAJs from the hospital staff back in Alaska, but since moving to Korea, I've yet to meet a single officer who plays...but I haven't advertised that I play, either.
Well, at least you got to play once. I was stationed in Camp Casey (a sergeant in a mechanized infantry unit) in 1996 and despite my efforts, I couldn't find anyone to play D&D with. That was a big change from my time at Fort Hood.