Certified Dungeons & Dragons Expert

[Quasqueton]

Filling my water bottle from the water fountain, here at the office, I overheard this comment:

"He's a certified Dungeons & Dragons expert."

I couldn't really make out what the conversation was about by eavesdropping, so I e-mailed one of the guys I knew in the conversation.

[Note: this company is a world-wide IT training company.]

Apparently, one of our instructors is a "certified Dungeon Master", and the Marketing Department (those having this conversation) were considering using this as a draw to the particular training course. The instructor could/would run a D&D game after class each day.

The guy I talked with said he was unaware the game was still popular. He only remembers it from grade school. I told him it was having a renaissance, and is rebuilding in popularity, especially among people our age.

Anyway, I asked him to keep me informed of how it all goes, and to let me see the marketing material they produce for the course. At this stage, though, it is only an idea for them. (So don't expect any follow up from me on this anytime soon.)

But this thread is more than just a cool note. I also have a question. Many years ago, in the mid 80s, I (a teenager) met another D&D player (in his late 20s?) who claimed to be "ranked 24th in the country". At the time, that meant absolutely nothing to me. "How does one become 'ranked' in this game?" I thought, but didn't ask. I played with this guy two or three times, and never thought to question him on his ranking claim.

So the question for this thread is, have you ever heard of anything like "certified expert" or "ranking" regarding D&D?

Quasqueton

 

[Chunklets]

So the question for this thread is, have you ever heard of anything like "certified expert" or "ranking" regarding D&D?

I had never ever encountered either of those concepts, and I think that makes me happy. I mean, how would one go about determining if someone was worthy of certification or high ranking as a D&D player? And, more importantly, why? I suppose that people who have worked on the core materials are de facto "certified experts", but that's about as close as I'd come to slinging those terms around. Anything more smacks of a particularly irritating form of elitism, if you ask me.

 

[alsih2o]

You can take a test with the RPGA to become a certified dungeon master of sorts I believe.

Beyond that we can lump them in with people who introduce themselves as "Master Potters."

alsi "still a slave potter" h2o

 

[T. Foster]

The RPGA in the 80s had a player and DM ranking system -- at the end of each session each of the players would rank the other players (best, second-best, etc.) and rate the DM on a scale of 1-5, and based on those rankings you got a certain number of "points." Depending on the number of points you had you were assigned a level -- there were theoretically 10 levels, each of which had its own unique title in OD&D/1E style, but by the time I stopped paying attention in the late 80s I think the highest ranked players were only around 8th level. At 3rd level you were considered a Master and were able to partcipate in special 'Master Level' tournaments, and as more folks achieved Master level they eventually added Grand Master at (IIRC) 6th level. Of course this was a very flawed system and people used to 'game' it ruthlessly (by doing things like signing up for every single available tournament, whether they played the game or not, just to get more points), but what did you really expect?

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Hmm, I can't think of anything that ever happened like that. The RPGA of the past might have "Certified" people, but I don't ever remember that happening or hear of it happening from some of the older players I know.

My best guess is that it is likely a case of someone mixing up D&D with some other game. Someone they met played some board game or card game that they somehow associated with D&D and, it being so long ago, the "norms" who know nothing about D&D just assumed it was all the same thing.

I've seen it happen before. "Oh....Magic the Gathering? Does that have anything to do with that Dungeons and Dragon's I've heard about?" "No, you use cards in Magic, and you role play in D&D." "Oh? So you don't use cards in D&D?" "No...well, not without a deck of many things..."

Majoru Oakheart

 

[Old Fart]

If someone is proudly boasting of their D&D credentials and/or ranking, then IMHO they are certainly "certifiable"

 

[Len]

RPGA Game Master Program

 

[Hand of Evil]

RPGA also use to rank players, player level and GM level, it was on your membership card...so you could be a certified card carring expert.

 

[tarchon]

I played in a demo game by a professional game demonstrater who had some kind of GM credential once - made me nostalgic for dental surgery.

 

[eryndel]

RPGA Game Master Program

Hmph, well I guess I'm certified now.

I know there was a tracking system in the old days of the RPGA where they kept track of the number of games you've played in and ran for RPGA tournaments. I guess WOTC is looking into restoring that idea.

Maybe I'll get a cool card and a shiny pin... ooooh, shiny.