#RPGaDAY - Day 12: Old RPG you still play / read

Day 12 of #RPGaDAY is "Old RPG You Still Play / Read". Given half the chance, that would be half of my collection... but I don't actually get to play very much. However, I've just started a game which uses an old system, just interpreted in a different way...

#RPGaDAY - Day 11: Weirdest RPG Owned

Day 11 of #RPGaDAY is "Weirdest RPG Owned". There are a lot of very strange RPGs out there. One of which I wouldn't mind getting hold of is the official Dallas RPG, based on the TV series (apparently, despite the weird idea of running a game set in the world of JR and Sue Ellen, it's supposed to be a very good game!)

However, I'm going to have to go with one I've never actually read, even though I've had it for years...

#RPGaDAY - Day 10: Favourite Tie-In Novel / Game Fiction

I know a lot of people find the fiction in game books to be irritating, but without actually feeling the setting I can't get to grips with what I'm supposed to be playing. I find the fiction essential, as it gives me more of a feel for the environment than a load of rules text can.

When I was trying to keep my head in the right frame of mind for writing Conspiracy X 2.0, I found the best series of novels (short of reading the X-Files novels again) was the Dark*Matter novels.

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Bonus points for Slytherin if you can spot the TWO movie references in the opening few seconds of the video...

#RPGaDAY - Day 9: Favourite Die / Dice Set

Day 9 of #RPGaDAY is "Favourite Die / Dice Set". I love dice. I don't know why, they're just something I can't stop loving. There have been times designing WILD that I've thought about ditching dice altogether and just using the Tarot cards, but I find there's something super fast about the way dice work and their mechanic. I may change my mind...

Anyway, onto my favourite die...

I have a lot of dice. The wife and I have accumulated a lot over the years, so we've taken to storing them in a dispenser that once resided in our old Ottakar's bookstore.

If you want to take a look at the die in the video, I do keep it on a little stand in an old dice box, like a treasured relic from the past...

#RPGaDAY - Day 8: Favourite Character

I don't really play an awful lot, so instead I used Day 8 of #RPGaDAY to talk about some of the cool characters I've GMd for over the years. My favourite being this group of sulky goth Mages...

#RPGaDAY - Day 7: Most "Intellectual" RPG Owned

Love the "air quotes", that seems to have stirred things up a bit. This, again, has caused some confusion over the term "intellectual". Honestly, it's not as highbrow as it seems. It's just me showing how stupid I can be at understanding things sometimes, and how many times I have to read something to simply "get it".

My degree was in art and film making you know, not philosophy... I drew pictures.

#RPGaDAY - Day 6: Favourite RPG You Never Get To Play

Day 6 of #RPGaDAY is Favourite RPG You Never Get To Play, which kinda says it all really...

#RPGaDAY - Day 5: Most Old School RPG Owned

This one has caused a little confusion with the term, "old school". I was just thinking the oldest RPG you have, maybe I should have worded it that way... oh, well. You live and learn!! I didn't want to just go for AD&D again, as I've already waved my Player's Handbook around. I sold my Star Frontiers sets, so the oldest game I have must be Top Secret.

#RPGaDAY - Day 4: Most Recent RPG Purchase

For Day 4 of #RPGaDAY I headed to The Games Room, in Norwich, a really cool shop in old part of the city. Elm Hill is ancient, the shops are all in listed buildings and they even converted part of the street into being a market for the film "Stardust" - If you look at this site by local photographer David Woodcock you can see the Games Room converted with small birdcages on the front of the shop for the filming.

The shop has been the "go to" place for all kinds of gaming for as long as I've been living in Norfolk, so it was the place to head for some recent purchases!!

There I picked up the new D&D Starter Set, and the FATE powered Atomic Robo RPG.

#RPGaDAY Day 3: First RPG Purchased

Day Three of #RPGaDAY is "First RPG Purchased". While Star Frontiers was the first game I GM'd, in order to feel like the rest of the group I was playing with, I felt the need to purchase dice, and my own copy of the AD&D Player's Handbook. A gem I still have even now...

#RPGaDAY - DAY 2: First RPG Gamemastered

The dayjob has been dominating every waking moment, so I've only really had time to post the videos and keep up with the social media on this, rather than write anything significant as a blog post. So here's the start of my catch ups for #RPGaDAY.

For DAY TWO, is First RPG Gamemastered.

Wow, great freezeframe there. Yes, the first game I "GM'd" was Star Frontiers. I rambled about my first GMing experiences and playing Star Frontiers way back on an earlier page of this blog you can see here.

#RPGaDAY - Day 1: First RPG Played...

Day 1 is first RPG played, which has to be Traveller. In the video I recount it all, and you can read about the first gaming experience waaaaay back on this blog here.

Thanks to everyone who's already taken part, started to recall their early gaming experiences and sharing the RPG love.

#RPGaDAY in August

Borough Press' #Bookaday

For the whole of June, The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins, ran a cool thing online called #bookaday, which later changed to #bookadayuk. They provided a handy table of topics for the month and every day people were encouraged to post a picture, or just discuss, their favourite books on various social media. Yes, it was a marketing ploy, but it was fun and it got the internet talking about books. And, yes, I love books...

Each day in June I pondered the topic for the day and posted a photo of a book which I thought fit the category of the day. Whether this was "book with a blue cover" or "never finished it", I worked my way through the month and saw what other readers were posting online. 

However, being a gamer I felt compelled to sneak in a couple of roleplaying games into mix. I posted the AD&D Player's Handbook and the old West End Games Ghostbusters RPG, and quickly people were discussing games from their past and exchanging fond memories.

Which lead me to the big question - why not do the same for RPGs?

With a great set of topics for each day it could really get the internet talking about roleplaying games. The ideal month would be August, as its when one of the largest gaming conventions takes place - Gen Con. I suggested the idea to my friends on the "Book of Faces". Initial response was good, and with some fantastic suggestions for day topics from Ellie, and recruiting Will Brooks' awesome graphic design skills, the following list of topics have been compiled to make August #RPGaDAY.

The questions have been designed to be genre, game and system non-specific, so it doesn't matter if you're an old school D&D gamer, or running a superfast game of FATE, your input is encouraged! The topics have also been designed to be positive. None of this "worst game evar!", the harshest the topics get is memorable character death (which can often be either going out in a blaze of glory, or doing something stupid like activating an obvious trap). I just wanted everyone to chat about all the fun they've had with RPGs, and to share the positive aspects of gaming - hell, as I've mentioned on this blog before, I got my first dayjob thanks to RPGs, met my wife at a game, and started hanging out with a group of friends at school who would remain the best of friends even today.

So if you can, please share the image (you can download it direct from the Autocratik site here), spread the word as far as you can, and lets get people talking RPGs for August.

I've posted the list of topics as text below as well, so you can copy them if you like. 

1st - First RPG Played
2nd - First RPG Gamemastered
3rd - First RPG Purchased
4th - Most recent RPG purchase
5th - Most Old School RPG owned
6th - Favourite RPG Never get to play
7th - Most “intellectual” RPG owned
8th - Favourite character
9th - Favourite Die / Dice Set
10th - Favourite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction
11th - Weirdest RPG owned
12th - Old RPG you still play / read
13th - Most Memorable Character Death

14th - Best Convention Purchase

15th - Favourite Convention Game

16th - Game you wish you owned

17th - Funniest Game you’ve played

18th - Favourite Game System
19th - Favourite Published Adventure
20th - Will still play in 20 years time…
21st - Favourite Licensed RPG
22nd - Best Secondhand RPG Purchase
23rd - Coolest looking RPG product / book
24th - Most Complicated RPG Owned
25th - Favourite RPG no one else wants to play
26th - Coolest character sheet
27th - Game You’d like to see a new / improved edition of…
28th - Scariest Game you’ve played
29th - Most memorable encounter
30th - Rarest RPG Owned
31st - Favourite RPG of all time

Coming in August - #RPGaDAY

Click to embiggen! Download, share and get involved!