I voted that I was led to them by Satan... but it's actually the other way around. Satan led them to me...
Well, more seriously, it seems like people just hear that I am the local DM of sorts. I am still in High School, so it is convenient that people (and one hell of a strange variety of people) just approach me. I have some people that I have known since about sixth grade, and some people that I met only once. I have also recruited some of the more "charismatic" people I know, because they are the kind of people that should be learning how to play some kind of free-form entertainment.
I have had groups of 12 Player characters, but I favor groups of six or seven (enough to keep alive in really bad conditions, with out enough people to easily walk through an encounter of thier level). I had to cut out some people... (one heckling cleric that decided that his characters purpous in life was to be a peeping tom... which is just one really screwed up person to DM for) but I find that anyone that plays at least one game tends to learn a lot about freedom.
This game has been very productive for a lot of my players, and maybe even for me some. I'll even tell a short story about it...
There was this guy... who had the habit of being big... dumb... and a follower. He had a girlfriend that WAS his boss. He had an attitude that was... non-existant. He was your basic creeper (creeping through life on whatever he could get without trying too hard).
We played together for about a year. I learned a lot about what players really want. What roleplaying means was a big development in our gaming. At first, I though roleplaying was being a drama queen... but that all changed.
This kid was a year older than me, and was secretely very upset that he had no clue what he wanted to do with his future. I was always a vocal "I'm going to go to college at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and I'm going to take law, but I think I'm going to try and take some computer science courses if I can."
He was starting to say things like "I'm going to join the army..." but trust me, the army isn't for this guy. He's just doesn't have the integrity for that kind of work (and I believe I have a pretty good idea about that, I'd mention my background with the Air-Force JROTC and CAP and my uncles friend "the general" but that's not part of the story).
I convinced him that he's doing the same thing he always did when he played DnD... he's standing in the back row trying to get by. I gave a hard lecture about his habits of being a "wuss" about everything.
Now, it didn't make him feel good immediately. He was angry at first. We sort of broke our friendship, but it did him a lot of good. Last time I heard, he's trying to make something of himself (instead of trying to slit his wrists) and he is going to go to junior college for art. He might not be a great artist, but he is at least progressing at something he enjoys. At least he isn't trying to hurt himself, right?
Well that's why I like the game... because it teaches you a little more about trying, and a lot more about what the word "character" is supposed to mean. Character Building means something literal, and something scopical to me.
Thanx DnD.
