Southern Oracle
Explorer
Gaming in one form or another has brought all of us to the doorstep of EN World, and I am no exception. I started playing D&D in 1982 with the red box (11<SUP>th</SUP> printing) and was instantly hooked. I was the DM for my group, and I’ve continued to DM ever since. In this column I want to share anecdotes, memories, and experiences from my gaming life, so allow me to give you some background.
I met my wife Patty in high school, and she would come over to play D&D with me and my sister and her friends. She followed me to college, still playing in my games. We’ve now been married over 20 years, and we still game together.
When the internet came to our corner of Tennessee, we discovered www.wizards.com, and Patty became an online volunteer to pass the time. In 2001, I joined her and we merged to form WizO_Dabus. We became paid employees, took over running Totally Twisted Trivia, split into WizO_Chaos and WizO_Mimir so we could work on separate teams, and kept on gaming. I ran Dungeon Delve and eventually worked my way up to RPG Boards Lead. By that time we had four kids, I had a full time job, and Wizards of the Coast was transitioning its WizOs into the current ORC program, so I resigned. Patty still works on the Wizards site for Magic Online (but her ORC identity is secret).
After our third daughter was born (but before our fourth), I needed an escape from the estrogen levels in our household, so I began an active search for a tabletop gaming group. The two comic book stores in Greeneville didn’t support any sort of gaming, so I searched farther afield and found a hobby shop called B & C Collectibles. The shop didn’t carry gaming stuff either, but the owners were gamers, and they had a 2<SUP>nd</SUP> edition game that ran in the evenings while the shop was open. I joined the game, played a couple of sessions, and then offered to run a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> edition game.
That was in 2001; three people from that original game still play in my tabletop game today. My tabletop group now consists of my wife Patty, daughter #3 Faelyn, Dusty (original player), Lew (original player), Daniel (original player) and his wife Kristen, their two sons Aaron and Brian, and our friend Paul. Ages range from 14 to 53, with the parental types all in our 40’s. Not everyone can make it to every session, so I make a lot of adjustments to the game from week to week, or we play other games if everyone wants to be there for a pivotal battle or adventure climax.
When I became a WizO, Patty and I worked a lot in the ISRP rooms (Interactive Story Role Playing, which now resides here on EN World), and we made friends with some regulars. Three of us – myself, Tisca, and Ergeheilalt – formed the DM Tribunal, a sort of round-robin DMing experience with a shared setting. Tisca started us off; he lived in Australia, so he got up extra early on the days we played, and we started in the evenings. Around 2<SUP>nd</SUP> level, Tisca handed the campaign over to Ergeheilalt (who was still in high school and had more time), and he ran the game up to 4<SUP>th</SUP> level. At that time, Tisca bowed out and Ergeheilalt handed the DM gavel to me, as he was preparing to graduate and find a college to attend.
It’s no secret I adore the Planescape campaign setting – both my WizO names and three out of my five Dragon articles were Planescape-related. I adapted the much maligned Forest Oracle module, mixed it with Ravenloft’s Carnival, and pulled the player characters into Planescape with a heavy sprinkling of The Eternal Boundary. Our ten-year anniversary was earlier this year, and we still have four of the original online players, with three of the original characters (now level 16), still hopping through portals in the multiverse.
My online game now consists of myself, Patty, and Dusty (also in my tabletop game) in Tennessee, Ergeheilalt in California, and Dan and Becca in England. Over the years we’ve had as many as ten players, but this core group has remained consistent for the last seven years (when Becca joined). Dan and Becca have come to the states a few times to visit, and Patty and I have repaid the kindness. We’ve never been able to visit Ergeheilalt, but we use Tinychat to hear each other’s voices and see what we all look like.
In 2011, I had the urge to play D&D again, rather than just DM. No one in my tabletop game had the time or gumption to run a campaign of their own, so I turned to the internet. After a futile search for another tabletop group in my area, I changed my tagline on EN World to “wants to play D&D” (or something to that effect) and waited. Not long after, Kamikaze Midget contacted me and invited me to join his game, in which I now play on Monday nights. The group consists of the DM Awayfarer, his wife Merkuri, Hussar, Kamikaze, myself, and most recently Raunalyn and Salmonmax. We are trying to restore divine magic to Athas (but without much success).
What games do I enjoy besides D&D? I’ve played Vampire the Requiem and Shadowrun, and I’ve run Star Wars Saga Edition and the Farscape RPG. Dungeon Command has been a lot of fun, and looks like it will be a lot more when future sets are released. I also play a lot of Magic the Gathering, as daughters #2 and #3 and their boyfriends all play. We play Settlers of Catan, Cities and Knights, Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne on a regular basis, and Boggle, Quiddler, and Michigan Rummy every family dinner night. I grew up with a love of games, and I’ve instilled that love in my children. I believe games keep my family and friends close, and my mind active and young.
Throughout my adult life, I’ve spent a lot of time on EN World. I remember the sneak peeks and hype leading up to the release of 3E, the “transfer of power” as Russell Morrissey took over from Eric Noah, and the hard times when we never knew if the site would be up the next week. I wrote five articles for Dragon Magazine during that time and discussed them here, and I game with friends I met on this site. EN World has been a big part of my gaming life, and I’m glad I get to share my memories and experiences with those who can truly appreciate them.
What games do you play? What keeps you gaming? How have you passed on your love of gaming? In the words of Zaboo from The Guild, “Game on!”
I met my wife Patty in high school, and she would come over to play D&D with me and my sister and her friends. She followed me to college, still playing in my games. We’ve now been married over 20 years, and we still game together.
When the internet came to our corner of Tennessee, we discovered www.wizards.com, and Patty became an online volunteer to pass the time. In 2001, I joined her and we merged to form WizO_Dabus. We became paid employees, took over running Totally Twisted Trivia, split into WizO_Chaos and WizO_Mimir so we could work on separate teams, and kept on gaming. I ran Dungeon Delve and eventually worked my way up to RPG Boards Lead. By that time we had four kids, I had a full time job, and Wizards of the Coast was transitioning its WizOs into the current ORC program, so I resigned. Patty still works on the Wizards site for Magic Online (but her ORC identity is secret).
After our third daughter was born (but before our fourth), I needed an escape from the estrogen levels in our household, so I began an active search for a tabletop gaming group. The two comic book stores in Greeneville didn’t support any sort of gaming, so I searched farther afield and found a hobby shop called B & C Collectibles. The shop didn’t carry gaming stuff either, but the owners were gamers, and they had a 2<SUP>nd</SUP> edition game that ran in the evenings while the shop was open. I joined the game, played a couple of sessions, and then offered to run a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> edition game.
That was in 2001; three people from that original game still play in my tabletop game today. My tabletop group now consists of my wife Patty, daughter #3 Faelyn, Dusty (original player), Lew (original player), Daniel (original player) and his wife Kristen, their two sons Aaron and Brian, and our friend Paul. Ages range from 14 to 53, with the parental types all in our 40’s. Not everyone can make it to every session, so I make a lot of adjustments to the game from week to week, or we play other games if everyone wants to be there for a pivotal battle or adventure climax.
When I became a WizO, Patty and I worked a lot in the ISRP rooms (Interactive Story Role Playing, which now resides here on EN World), and we made friends with some regulars. Three of us – myself, Tisca, and Ergeheilalt – formed the DM Tribunal, a sort of round-robin DMing experience with a shared setting. Tisca started us off; he lived in Australia, so he got up extra early on the days we played, and we started in the evenings. Around 2<SUP>nd</SUP> level, Tisca handed the campaign over to Ergeheilalt (who was still in high school and had more time), and he ran the game up to 4<SUP>th</SUP> level. At that time, Tisca bowed out and Ergeheilalt handed the DM gavel to me, as he was preparing to graduate and find a college to attend.
It’s no secret I adore the Planescape campaign setting – both my WizO names and three out of my five Dragon articles were Planescape-related. I adapted the much maligned Forest Oracle module, mixed it with Ravenloft’s Carnival, and pulled the player characters into Planescape with a heavy sprinkling of The Eternal Boundary. Our ten-year anniversary was earlier this year, and we still have four of the original online players, with three of the original characters (now level 16), still hopping through portals in the multiverse.
My online game now consists of myself, Patty, and Dusty (also in my tabletop game) in Tennessee, Ergeheilalt in California, and Dan and Becca in England. Over the years we’ve had as many as ten players, but this core group has remained consistent for the last seven years (when Becca joined). Dan and Becca have come to the states a few times to visit, and Patty and I have repaid the kindness. We’ve never been able to visit Ergeheilalt, but we use Tinychat to hear each other’s voices and see what we all look like.
In 2011, I had the urge to play D&D again, rather than just DM. No one in my tabletop game had the time or gumption to run a campaign of their own, so I turned to the internet. After a futile search for another tabletop group in my area, I changed my tagline on EN World to “wants to play D&D” (or something to that effect) and waited. Not long after, Kamikaze Midget contacted me and invited me to join his game, in which I now play on Monday nights. The group consists of the DM Awayfarer, his wife Merkuri, Hussar, Kamikaze, myself, and most recently Raunalyn and Salmonmax. We are trying to restore divine magic to Athas (but without much success).
What games do I enjoy besides D&D? I’ve played Vampire the Requiem and Shadowrun, and I’ve run Star Wars Saga Edition and the Farscape RPG. Dungeon Command has been a lot of fun, and looks like it will be a lot more when future sets are released. I also play a lot of Magic the Gathering, as daughters #2 and #3 and their boyfriends all play. We play Settlers of Catan, Cities and Knights, Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne on a regular basis, and Boggle, Quiddler, and Michigan Rummy every family dinner night. I grew up with a love of games, and I’ve instilled that love in my children. I believe games keep my family and friends close, and my mind active and young.
Throughout my adult life, I’ve spent a lot of time on EN World. I remember the sneak peeks and hype leading up to the release of 3E, the “transfer of power” as Russell Morrissey took over from Eric Noah, and the hard times when we never knew if the site would be up the next week. I wrote five articles for Dragon Magazine during that time and discussed them here, and I game with friends I met on this site. EN World has been a big part of my gaming life, and I’m glad I get to share my memories and experiences with those who can truly appreciate them.
What games do you play? What keeps you gaming? How have you passed on your love of gaming? In the words of Zaboo from The Guild, “Game on!”
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM[/ame]
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