Everyone, Tell us about your games, please!

[BlackSeed_Vash]

1.) How many players in your group? | 2.) Do you DM? | 3.) Do other people in the group DM, and how many?
[1-3] Usually there are seven of us in my group. Everyone DMs, though not all of us DM for the group. One likes to run games at her local gaming store and two others with their own local friends.

4.) What's the Male/Female composition of the group?
[4] Of the core group, there is only one consistent female player. The wives/long term girlfriends of the core group have tried the game, but never really gotten into it. They do join in once in a while for one-shots, or to run a particular NPC for their husband.

5.) Got a good gamestore near you and what is it?
[5] Subjectively no. My local store, Arkham Gaming, focuses mostly on Warhammer and Magic: the Gathering with about a double-sided 4x4 ft shelf set aside for PnP RPGs. One side is half 5e the rest Pathfinder. The other for various other rpgs. I think the closest, decent gaming store is about a 4 hour drive for me, so the vast majority of my shopping is done online.

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?
[6] It depends upon who's DMing. Four of the group, myself included, prefer to run mostly homebrewed content. One likes to run exclusively module content; one runs modules with splashes of homebrew; and one likes to mix and mash module content together with homebrew plot.

7.) How long have you been playing and how old are you?
[7] Most of us, self included, have been playing for roughly 18 years now. Two of the younger members have about 14 years experience. I'm the oldest at 36.

8.) Who taught you to play?
[8] The older brother of my younger sibling's friend. He was looking for players and I had been interest in the game for a few years, but daunted by the sear amount of content to dive in by myself.

 

[Mark]

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.

So, not older than dirt but younger than Chainmail?

 

[Fluerdemal]

Heya,

Everyone, tell us about your games, please.

1.) How many players in your group?

Currently 6 was recently 7.

2.) Do you DM?

Yes.

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

Two of the other players GM; one male, the other genderfluid.

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

Myself (male), plus 3 men, 1 woman, and one genderfluid individual - the former player is female. Over my adult years my game has generally been pretty balanced between men and women.

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

Yes, a few, my favorite is Games Plus in Mt. Prospect, IL.

6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

Depends on the system.

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

49 years old, been playing for 40 years.

8.) Who taught you to play?

Self-taught, though I certainly had some DM's and players that have taught me plenty over the years by example.

D.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Sure...why not?


1.) How many players in your group?

Pretty much 6. Sometimes someone has to do other stuff for a while and we drop to 5 or 4, other times some long-term player who only gets to play at certain times of the year (vacation period, etc), we can add another 1. But overall, I'd say average is 5. (which is my preferred number of players; an odd number to keep the 'divide party' problem to a minimum).


2.) Do you DM?

Yuppers. I'd say...95% or more of the time, regardless of game system. I prefer DM'ing to Playing though, so there is that.


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

A few years ago I had two of my players who would DM. My wife (Yen Wang Yeh rest her soul) was keen on DM'ing BECMI. Another player would DM other games, usually trying to push GURPS, but trying other games too. For the last year and a half it's been only me...but a few months ago one of my other players (who has DM'ed, like three or four times in his entire life) has taken to giving 5e a shot. He's ran several game sessions of it over the last little while...with his last adventure resulting in a TPK! I was so proud of him! He's growing up so FAST! *sniff-sniff* [wipes tear from corner of eye].


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

Right now? 4 men, 1 woman. Was 3 men and 2 women. Was 3 men and 3 women a couple years ago. Largest group I've ever played/DMed was with 1e AD&D, where we had 6 men and 3 (or was it 4?) women. Yeah, that got a bit unwieldy, so it only lasted a summer (two moths or so up here in the great white north).


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

Nope. Well, we have ONE gamestore/internet-gaming-cafe. It tries to cover a lot of things though...CCG's, Video games, Comic books, and "collectibles", in addition to RPG's. I wouldn't say it was 'bad', but it's not really 'good' either; I'd say "good enough".


6.) Mainly modules or homebrew stuff?

Both. Can't say it's one or the other. I typically will use the "gist" of an adventure module (old ones; I don't think I've ran a 'new' adventure since Phandelven), start playing it, and by the time it's half way done or into, it's changed the core 'story/reason/hook' to be something completely different. Probably why I'm not a fan of the whole "Adventure Path"; by the time we are in the 3rd chapter/book, stuff has changed so much that I may as well write the rest of the adventure myself...because I'd be ignoring/re-writing 90% of the "NPC goals", "Story Development Points", and "Sub-Plots" (e.g., 74.38% of the book is useless; give me old school 1e modules with lots of maps and random encounter tables any day of the week!).


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

Been 'playing' RPG's now for... going on 38 (?) years now. I just turned 49 in October! O_O Almost half a century...crieckey! Anyway, I'd say...about 36 years of that has been as DM, roughly.


8.) Who taught you to play?

Nobody. Learned with my dad and a friend back in '80 (or '81?...a long time ago...). Back in Ye Olden Days you had a book, you read it, and you and your friends muddled through it interpreting the rules and making up ones you needed to. There was no "internet", no "smart phones", or anything really like that. Probably why so many old-farts like me find it so perplexing when hearing about DM's and Players who have difficulty "deciding how a rule works" (e.g., they tend to see the books as Rules...and the old Grognards like me see them as Guidelines/Suggestions).

^_^

Paul L. Ming