Beyond Dungeons & Dragons - MAGFest X

Rym and Scott of GeekNights (www.frontrowcrew.com) appeared on two panels at MagFest X, and also performed this lecture: Beyond Dungeons & Dragons. Herein, they discuss the nature of role playing games, what their mechanics really mean, how they affect play, and why D&D is probably not the best system for the kinds of games you're trying to play.

There is a huge catalog of "indie" tabletop RPGs just as there is for videogames. Burning Wheel, Dogs in the Vineyard, Inspectres, Lacuna, A Thousand and One Nights, Mouse Guard, Prime Time Adventures, Pendragon, Freemarket, Dread, Kagematsu, Apocalypse World, these are a TINY smattering of the possibilities. Play the game that affords the play style best suited to your story, not the one everyone just happens to know the rules for.

If you enjoy this, many more of our lectures from other conventions are available on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...

• Category

  Gaming

[Frank Flores]

This reminds me of the mechanisms used in today's society that produce the myriad problems in the world. A debt based fiat currency is going to cause defaults and bankruptcy. I think we should transition to a resource based economy, one that has no "dungeon master" in the form of government or financial institutions, but is instead a collaborative and creative endeavor for all people. Like that Freemarket game almost.

[GeekNightsRym]

"Fiat currency" my arse. Using that phrase is a red flag for crazy in most cases. Are you a Ron Paul supporter by chance? ;^)

[Albert P]

lol I played Spot It and I think Jungle Speed with Rym on that last night of Mag this year it was quite dirty (the game of spot it)

[GeekNightsRym]

Spot it is rough, not not as rough as Jungle Speed. Be warned: we'll have to play it similarly late at night.

[williamnelsonful]

i discovered you at NYCC i was wondering whether or not you guys will do panels there again?

[GeekNightsRym]

This past year was actually the first time we didn't do any panels or lectures at NYCC/NYAF. They weren't interested in our gaming content, and anime-related programming was relegated to the "anime stage" which was not something we were willing to deal with.

We'll be at PAX East and PAX Prime, MAGFest, and other cons of that ilk mostly!

[Duir Bran]

No worries, mate :) It's always always great to hear different points of view. All opinions welcome and yours are great as I've seen. Cheers

[blackbarnz]

Agreed, oh braided one! My bad I can be harsh! Over all it was very cool!

[karn33333]

@ 15:21 not true, I am a couple levels lower then the rest of my party, but we are all stilled challenged. It hasn't unbalanced the game. The game doesn't suck. We also all got an attribute of experience points for role playing a diplomacy check to convince someone running for senator to not slaughter the apposing group. It is all in how you work it.

[Duir Bran]

Hey Barnzy. Valid point, my man, but I focused on the 'it's you doing it not the system' theme. I seem to do that quite often, don't I :) I think any game system, game experience, can be played well or badly. It depends on those playing. I watched some of the '3d6' posts in the Brigade and there's a wide field of play styles and game philosophy and preference going on with that topic. That's a lived loaded one, for sure.

Great post, Rym. Cheers for sharing this lecture from the con.

[Frank Flores]

I support no government, political party or politician. False authority is obsolete and should no longer be a part of human affairs.

[blackbarnz]

Besides what I felt was an obvious oversight in some of your camparisions of games and a Jane Austin novel to the D&D RPG and the D&D line in general. I thought the video was great. Definatley on to something. This has been the feeling amongst gamers for awhile now. Very informitive and very cool. Though I feel your presentation would be more creditable editing out that obvious oversight in a poor comparsion. I wish only good things just want to level up this presentation. Very cool! Likey!

[blackbarnz]

I believe it's worth noting that the D&D brand includes a variety of products that are comparable to the examples you've chosen to compare the D&D RPG with but, yet did not acknowledge that these other products in D&D line exsist. But infact applied that the lack of these unmentioned games is in someway a shortcoming for D&D. The examples of D&D brand name boardgames, video games, novels, cardgames, choose your own adventures, dicegames,miniatures, movies, etc. is too exhaustive to recall.

[Albert P]

also maybe run a game of Dread, freemarket, and that Arabian one mostly Dread at magfest11? and every late night period round midnight