Dear Monte,
1. Imagine if you could run a dream game for 5 players. These players can come from any time and be real or fictional. Who would those 5 players be and what game would you run?
2. What kinds of things are you afraid of/if you had a phobia, what would it be?
3. When you are a player in an RPG, do you tend to gravitate towards any kind of class or concept?
4. Is it in the MCG parameters of things to come to have some Metaplot campaign for Numenera or The Strange? I think about stuff like a Ruk Incursion for The Strange or Rise of the Abhumans in Numenera.
5. What other game systems do you think are pushing the RPG industry forward?
Iadace
Desh-Rae-Halra
1. Oh boy. That seems like the kind of question I might ponder for days and still have a different answer from one minute to the next. For now, I'll say I'll run a game for Grant Morrison, Alan Grant (somehow I'll make them get along), Robert Anton Wilson, Jack Parsons, and Jim Morrison, and we'll play Dark Matter. Although I'd probably use a different rules system.
2. I don't like crowds, but I don't think it's an actual phobia.
3. I like any character that has the option to do things out of the box. In D&D, this often means wizard, because I can use a spell in a new and unexpected way. In superhero games, this is often almost any character. I like creative solutions to problems. I also sometimes like the talky kind of character with lots of contacts and ability to influence people, but sometimes I can be content to be the guy who hangs back or researches in the library. Honestly, though, I enjoy all characters and just like playing and being part of the game.
4. It's important to have backstory and mystery, I think, but I don't think of those in terms of metaplots, because those are mysteries for each group to deal with (or not). They aren't things we're going to reveal or solve for you (which is how I usually see the term "metaplot" used).
5. That's an interesting question. I am tempted to say "all of them," but I'm just as tempted to say "none of them." That's mostly because I'm not what "forward" means, and if it is actually a goal. I like, no... I LOVE new ideas and concepts, but I also think that they don't invalidate the old ones. I don't think that 3E D&D, for example, invalidated 1E or 2E. I can sit down tonight and have a great time playing OD&D or original Traveller. Or some brand new game that just showed up on the shelf, like Cypher System Rulebook. I think new systems give new options and opportunities, but I don't think we're being pushed in any one direction or another. I hope that makes sense. It's actually kind of a complex topic for me and a quick answer like this might not really explain my position well.