Everyone, Tell us about your games, please!

[Tallifer]

1.) How many players in your group? 6-8

2.) Do you DM? yes

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many? nope: but my players do have other games which we play in

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group? all men

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it? bittorrent

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff? homebrew

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you? 52, since 1983

8.) Who taught you to play? college friends

 

[aramis erak]

1.) How many players in your group?
A: 4
B: 5-7
C: 6

2.) Do you DM?
I prefer the term GM, as most of my games are not D& nor dungeon focused.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
A Yes, but not for this group
B No
C Yes, but not with me as a player.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
A: 3:1
B: 4:3
C: 6:0

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
Yes. Matt's Cavalcade of Comics, http://ilovespidey.com

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
Mix for all three

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
Since summer 1979, so 38 years. Mumble...

8.) Who taught you to play?
They guys in my first group Andrew, John, Aaron, Brian, and Brice.

 

[cthulhu42]

]

Everyone, tell us about your games, please.

1.) How many players in your group?

Currently four

2.) Do you DM?

Almost exclusively.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?

One other player DMs from time to time to give me a break, but not often.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?

.

Our main game is a sausage party. All dudes. We do have some off nights with other players that includes my girlfriend, but my main weekly group is all male.

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?

All Amazon these days.

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

About 85% homebrew.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?

I've been playing since I was 13 and I'm 49 now. OMG.

8.) Who taught you to play?

Some kids from school.

 

[AngryTiger]

1: 1, Plus DM
2: Yes, about 99% of the time
3: Very Very Rarely
4: 50/50. I play with my wife.
5: No
6: Always homebrew adventures, but often in premade campaign setting.
7: I'm 33 and have been playing for about 26 years.
8: Self-taught. Me and 1 friend wanted to play and didn't have anyone else to play with so we taught ourselves.

 

[DammitVictor]

1.) How many players in your group?
2.) Do you DM?
3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
8.) Who taught you to play?

My main real life group:

1. Myself and 4-6 others.
2. More often than not.
3. When someone else has a campaign they want to run.
4. Slight majority male. Two regular women, one irregular woman.
5. Games Gauntlet in Laramie seems professional and friendly, but they don't carry a lot of stuff I want to buy.
6. Homebrew, always. I don't even use commercial settings, and half the time I'm playtesting a homebrew system.
7. I'm turning 38 this year, which means I have been playing (and GMing) for over 25 years.
8. My former stepfather. It's a wonder I stuck with the game, but I'm glad I did.

My main online group:

• I try to keep the number of players at 6. Currently at 4, trying to recruit at least two more.
• Yep.
• Nope. It's on Myth-Weavers, so some of them have other games they're playing in and/or running.
• I know for certain one of the others is female. I know for certain one of them is male. The other two, I am pretty sure are male.
• Not applicable.
• Homebrew. It's a Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game based on the eXiles, so even using "official" characters, everything is homebrewed.

Got another game. Running Barbarians of Lemuria for a handful of young boys.

 

[Angus MacDonald]

1.) How many players in your group? Currently 6 players, 3 male, 3 female

2.) Do you DM? Most of the time, but not exclusively

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many? Two others take up the reins now and again to give me a break

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group? Split 50/50 ... race and orientation splits this even further...

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it Shout out to Gary Ray at BLACK DIAMOND GAMES! We love you, man!

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff? Homebrew almost exclusively.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you? I am 59 years old and started back in 1975

8.) Who taught you to play? Me. Started with D&D before it was AD&D... I am freakin' Olde Skoole and even gamed with Dave Hargrave... although he was rather slimy... Before that it was Chainmail with its fantasy supplement.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[DammitVictor]

So... beyond the survey questions, thought I'd answer in specific.

I'm running three games right now.

The first, a play-by-post game on Myth-Weavers, is Marvel Heroic Roleplaying based on Marvels eXiles comics with influence from Xtreme X-Men and Spider-Verse: player characters are all "semi-original", based on canon characters (or children/clones/etc of canon characters) from alternate timelines with their datafiles altered to match. (Current roster is Detective Remy LeBeau of the NOPD (Gambit), Commodore May Parquagh of the HMS Mayhem (April Parker of 1623), Cosmo (think of a cross between Kingpin and Nick Fury as the top cop in Mos Eisley), and Otto "Doctor Infinity" Octavious-- Peter Parker's best friend and crimefighting partner, until he joined the Avengers.

First mission was simple-- destroy Red Onslaught to free the world from his Cerebro-enhanced mind control. Second mission, in progress, is to find Patient Zero of the Wendigo epidemic to figure out why there are suddenly thousands of Wendigo attacks all across the Earth. Got plans for the third and fourth, where they will meet their "Weapon X" equivalents-- another team like them, that gets the dirtier and more dangerous jobs. Core of that team is Peter Parker, Director of SHIELD; a reformed Kaine who raised his young niece to follow in her father's footsteps; and a maverick Deathlok made out of Frank Castle immediately following Central Park.

The second is my Shroompunk game using the Barbarians of Lemuria rules: sword & sorcery action, in a world based on equal parts Nintendo Power and Heavy Metal. Game is episodic in nature, featuring the same characters in different adventures without any real continuity, and I am really making an effort to turn the sex and violence up to Robocop-R levels. We're going to be streaming it on Twitch. First session was roughly based on Howard's Tower of the Elephant, with the Tortle Knight trying to turn the local Governor against the Emperor, my brother's oversexed Kong gladiator serving as the Duke's champion, and a Human assassin and a sorcerer/thief trying to play their respective trades on the Duke and the Duke's sealed tower, respectively. Featured a hilarious erotic social duel between the Kong and the sorceress as they tried to counter-seduce each other for cross purposes; everyone voted them the best players of the session.

Nobody got paid that time, making next session's Advancement easier. Next story is based on Jack and the Beanstalk.

Third game is the same setting as the second, toned way way the hell down for my daughter's nephews. They're in the middle of their first session, based loosely on Howard's Rogues in the House with a Tortle cloudcar pilot, a Vegepygmy assassin, and a Human thief.

 

[Phototoxin]

Group #1 - D&D
1.) How many players in your group?
5 PC + 1 DM

2.) Do you DM?
Yes

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
No

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
5M,1F

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
No, unless forbidden planet counts? I wouldn't class it as a good gamestore

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
Recycling a 3E module with homebrew.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
Since I was about 10 or 11 so 20 years., I'm 31

This group has been going about 3 months now.

8.) Who taught you to play?
The instruction book from Baldur's Gate!


Group #2
1.) How many players in your group?
3 PC + 1 DM

2.) Do you DM?
Yes

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
3/4

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
3M,1F

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
No

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
Been modules for the last couple of years

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
Since I was about 10 or 11 so 20 years., I'm 31

This group has been meeting about 7+ years

8.) Who taught you to play?
The instruction book from Baldur's Gate!

 

[Mallus]

This is the remains of what was once The Tuesday Night Game, which has been played on Fridays for a decade now. Our current game is Call of Cthulhu.

1.) How many players in your group? 5

2.) Do you DM? sometimes - but not now

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many? yes... 2... eventually all

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group? all guys

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it? yes... Redcap's Corner

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff? almost always homebrew

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you? 33 years, just about 49

8.) Who taught you to play? friend & his dad (also friend)

 

[ClarenceInWonderland]

1.) How many players in your group?

group a) 4
group b) 5

2.) Do you DM?

a) yes
b) yes

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?

a) 2 others
b) 3 others

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?

a) all male
b) 4 male, 1 female

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?

no

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

50:50

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?

37 years. 46 years old.

8.) Who taught you to play?

Myself.

 

[Chad Hooper]

Everyone, tell us about your games, please.

1.) How many players in your group?

2.) Do you DM?

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?

5.) Got a good game store near you and what is it?

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?

8.) Who taught you to play?

Answer any or all of the above, please...

1. Currently four, started out roughly six months ago with just three.

2. I am the DM.

3. Nobody else has taken a turn as DM yet, but I hope one or more of them does so down the road.

4. 3 guys, 1 gal. I'm the oldest, youngest player is about 27.

5. It's hit or miss in brick and mortar places here since we're playing an older edition. Lots of hunting in thrift shops and used book stores, but mostly online shopping.

6. In the past I've run exclusively homebrew adventures set in my homebrew world. This time I'm running the enormous campaign module Night Below, modified to fit my homebrew world and with self-written side quests (and a twist to avoid most of Book 2). I'm running it in it's native habitat, the AD&D2e rules.

7. Since early '82, but with a hiatus of 15.5 years that just ended last September. I turn 52 in July 2018.

8. Self-taught. I bought the Basic boxed set (pink/magenta cover), read it, and taught three brothers I was friends with from school how to play. As far as I know, we were the first D&D group ever in the small Texas town of Wellington.

 

[Darth Solo]

1. Six
2. Yes I GM
3. 1 other new GM
4. All male group (40+ grogs)
5. Many Bay area stores
6. Running "Wrath if the Righteous" converted to 5e
7. Running since the Companion Basic set; full AD&D 1e; doesn't GM age trump Elves?
8. Coached in running games by the dad (hobby shop owner) of the friend that intro'd me to D&D. Star Frontiers, Recon (Palladium), Space Opera, Metamorphis Alpha, Warhammer, ECT. I was grounded in tabletop gaming before I knew what that meant.

 

[Dieselman]

1.) How many players in your group?
4-DM inclusive
2.) Do you DM?
yep
3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
nope
4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
All Male
5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
Nope
6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
Modules
7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
1 year, 42
8.) Who taught you to play?
Self

 

[Venley]

1.) How many players in your group? Including GM:
Group A/ 5
Group B/ 7
Group C/ 5
Group D/ 7

2.) Do you DM?
Group A/ Yes
Group B/ No
Group C/ No
Group D/ Not yet. Group with rotating GMs; I'll take my turn when it comes round.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
Group A/ All the other 4 do. In the past it's been about equal some years. Nowadays it's mostly myself and only about 10% the others.
Group B/ No
Group C/ No
Group D/ 5 of the other 6 do. It rotates every few weeks or months to a different game & GM.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
Group A/ I'm the only female of the 5.
Group B/ 3 females, 4 males (including the GM)
Group C/ 2 females, 3 males (including the GM). Another female is due to join us next month.
Group D/ I'm the only female of the 7.

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
The superb http://www.patriotgames.ltd.uk/store/

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
Group A/ I mostly adapt modules. So about 25% homebrew, 70% adapted... some very much so, about 5% run mostly as written. The other GMs about 10% adapted, 90% homebrew.
(I'm mostly running Harn and L5R nowadays. The others are running an adapted 7th Sea and an adapted 5th ed D&D.)
Group B/ Homebrew (Stars Without Number)
Group C/ Homebrew (L5R)
Group D/ Only been with this new group a few weeks. Both GMs so far have been using modules. (Cthulhu Invictus and now 5th ed D&D)

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
39 years. 58.

8.) Who taught you to play?
A fellow archaeologist on a prehistoric site marooned in an unfashionable part of the Lake District. A mix of AD&D and original 3 little booklet D&D as only the Monster Manual and PHB were out, not the DMG yet.

 

[Mercule]

1.) How many players in your group?

Five players + a GM.

2.) Do you DM?

Almost exclusively.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?

Two others have GMed for a meaningful during, at some point. One last ran "Return to Temple of Elemental Evil" when it was fresh. The other was running "Tomb of Annihilation", last I new. I played in the former, which was the last time I actually played until I did a stint in the latter's "Curse of Strahd", last summer.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?

Four males (including me) and two females.

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?

Tempest Games

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

Historically, mostly homebrew. I ran a couple of the 5E adventures, though, because they sounded interesting. Just transitioning back to homebrew for 5E.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?

35 years. I'm older than the President's kids, but not by much.

8.) Who taught you to play?

A kid at summer camp. Then I brought it back to school and had to teach my friends. This is how I became the permanent GM.

 

[Mark]

35 years.

It's strange to think I started this thread 15 years ago when you were 20 and until it got resur-muh-rected last Spring it had been dormant for five years.

 

[Mercule]

It's strange to think I started this thread 15 years ago when you were 20 and until it got resur-muh-rected last Spring it had been dormant for five years.

Haha. I didn't even see the OP date. The thread just floated to the top and I jumped into the conversation.

Also, just to clarify my grognard status, I'm not 35. I've been playing D&D for 35 years. I'll be somewhat coy about my actual age (more privacy than pride), but I'm roughly the same age as the game itself.

 

[steenan]

1.) How many players in your group?

We typically play 3+GM or 4+GM. But it's not the same group every time - different sets of players for different games.

2.) Do you DM?

I often GM, but I'm not the only GM in the group. Currently I play in a campaign my wife runs.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?

Most of the people in our group run games sometimes. I think my wife and me are the GMs most often.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?

In the current campaign: 2 females and 3 males (this includes the GM).

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?

There is one game store nearby, but it's not good. I buy games online, in digital formats, and even dice or similar accesories are typically easier to order than to buy locally.

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

We often use published settings, but nearly never published adventures. In the last 10 years, the only adventures I ran that were not mine were some Dogs in the Vineyard towns.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?

I'm 38 and a roleplayer for 23 years.

8.) Who taught you to play?

I learned about RPGs from my school friend. But after only a couple sessions I started reading the books and running games myself.

 

[Cobalt Meridian]

1.) How many players in your group?
Including myself, we have up to 7 regulars but our games (due to schedules) tend to have a rotating core of up to 5.

2.) Do you DM?
Yes.

3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
Two others in the group regularly GM but only 1 does so for our group - the other GMs only for a different group of people (currently)

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
It varies because the group varies but typically 4 males, 1 female. Age-wise they range from 22 up to early 30s with me as the 'old man' outlier (see later).

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
Yes, I am lucky enough to live near Eclectic Games in Reading, UK.

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
The other GM only uses homebrew adventures. I use a combination of the two.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
I am 51 and have been playing since 1983

8.) Who taught you to play?
A kid at my school who had just gotten the 1st Edition PHB and DMG. I thought he was odd but the game sounded interesting. Didn't think I would still be playing RPGs 35 years later.