Decadence And Decisions.

I play Dungeons and Dragons. I think I've mentioned this before as I do have a label for it in the blog system.

One of the hardest parts about playing is making it work. It's not like Monopoly or a video game where the rules and goals are laid out in plain sight for you. So much of it is created on the spur of the moment by both the DM (Dungeon Master) and the players that it's never the same from one day to the next. It is a shifting target that when you actually hit a bulls-eye you remember it for years.

In the current campaign (or over-arching storyline) we're playing in now there's a certain amount of unrest amongst the players and I'll tell you why. First off there's an issue with group synergy. Now when I partake in any kind of social activity I enjoy being in a commanding position. I like to have a direction and I like to drive the action. This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy input from the other players. I can understand it's hard to get a word in with someone like myself, but I am fearful that if I don't chime in with an option or a direction that we won't really do anything. Those kind of awkward moments can kill a session. Silent players are not playing. If I'm the only one really role playing it gets pretty boring pretty fast. Now, the reasons for this can be varied. Sometimes it's because players are tired, or are lacking motivation personally. Additionally they could feel like their character is lacking direction and they don't know what to do with them. These can be two hard barriers to overcome, but I find that at times like this it's best to refer back to what your character's fundamentals are.

My character currently is a large (Goliath) fighter who uses a scourge (cat-o-nine-tail) as a weapon. He's a dervish which is a class specializing in movement and whirling attacks. I've taken ranks in dance and weapon drill so that when there's nothing going on I can just kill time and perform for money. While mechanically this may serve little benefit it helps to add depth to my character. This is what he does in his spare time, and that helps add that extra dimension to him. A character that simply goes from point A to point B without doing anything in the meantime is fairly boring to play with. This is brings me to me second point. D&D is a role playing game, it requires players to play a role, whether that role is mechanical (picking locks, gathering information), physical (heavy damage dealing or tanking) or social (a talkative player who is big on "being" their character). If you're not accomplishing any of these tasks you either need to change your character or evaluate how much you're adding to the D&D group. It may sound bizarre, but D&D does not cater well to the shy. It requires a certain degree of gregariousness in order to make an interesting character.

There's also the DM's responsibility to create interesting scenarios. Now I've been very fortunate in having a DM who is excited and passionate about the game. He's great for presenting us with situations that allow for a lot of freedom. If I had to critique him I'd say that he is perhaps a bit too forgiving of his characters, when it may better suit the role play to really drop the hammer on them. Just a passing observation, one I wouldn't worry too much about really. I know our DM would love to be a player more often, but sadly no one else in the group is as proficient a DM as he, and thus no one would be able to generate as interesting a scenario as he does. I've tried, and I do okay I just don't have staying power when it comes to continuing an entire storyline.

I just hope something gets worked out in some capacity so we can try and hit that moving bulls-eye and have the fun I know we're all capable of having.

P.S. I just rejoined Facebook much to my chagrin, and having to go through all of the old posts, pictures, updates, etc. that pertained to "you know who" was about as much fun as swallowing glass. What a miserable way to end my weekend.