Welcome New Readers Stories By Issue Volume 4, Number 1 Volume 3, Number 2 Volume 3, Number 1 Volume 2, Number 5 Volume 2, Number 4 Volume 2, Number 3 Volume 2, Number 2 Volume 2, Number 1 The Roving Gamer's Corner E-mail Us
©1998 by Matthew Strumpf and Mark Christopher

This page last updated Tuesday, 06-Sep-2005 12:28:29 EDT.

Role Playing News

Editorials, Commentaries, and Reviews:

• Editorial: Cost of a New Hobby
• From the Editor
• Commentary: Why We Game
• GM Hints: Background Music

The Cost of a New Hobby

It was recently pointed out to me how costly some hobbies are, and thus how inaccessible some interests can be. Fortunately, role-playing can be enjoyed on a budget.

I have pursued many hobbies. Some were passing things and some I still do today. Many I have given up because I do not have the money they require. I have built and collected model trains. It was fun, but everything new that I wanted to do cost money to buy parts. I enjoy video production, but I am only able to do that on borrowed equipment. I am now considering joining the Society of Creative Anachronism. however it is quite expensive. One needs to pay to go to events, buy parts to make an outfit and armor, and then weapons and more. It all adds up. Sure, I could borrow some of that, but only to start.

Role-playing is different. At first it might not look like it if you visit a gaming store. There are books to buy and dice and terrain maps and models and so forth. The publishers of role-playing games would try to make you believe that you need to spends a fortune just to begin to play. This is not true.

What you really need is only a good imagination. Sure all those other things can help, but most are only occasional references. You may need a list of spells, if you can't come up with your own. You may want to play in a particular system, but only the GM really needs to know all the rules. Most of our groups don't even use a store bought system, but rather make up there own.

In the many years that I have been gaming, I have bought two sets of dice and graph paper. I could always borrow a book if I needed it and most of the time I don't need it. Even when I am designing a game I do not use many books. Scrap paper can be just as effective as models and complicated maps. Dice are even becoming less needed as many move toward diceless systems.

Role-playing is a game of the mind. The costs are your time. It exercises the brain and can be a perfect hobby for those on a budget.

Editor's note: RPN welcomes the opinions of its readers. This editorial does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the paper. Comments and rebuttals are encouraged.

From the Editor

It has been a very busy month and so as usual we are late at getting RPN out. If you would like to help us get RPN out on time, the best thing that you can do is to write. Write stories, write reviews, write opinions. We want to hear from you.

In other news, for those that did not notice in the last issue, RPN is now being laser printed. This is with many thanks to my parents, Milton, and John Reardon who all pitched in to buy the printer. I am sure that it will get a lot of use.

Also, I would like to thank Rob and Julia for hosting one of Tracy's games. We had a good time and your cooking was great as always.

Now I need to say a few words about submissions. We at RPN have received a couple of stories that have been meant to be series. Nether have been published in full and we want to see them in print. There have however been some problems in publishing them. The main problem is the lack of anyone, either available or willing, to edit the stories. This has been in part due to the writer not wanting to be involved in the editing process. We, however, will not guess at what a story is about, and we will not write a story for you.

We are happy to help you write a story. That means that you must be part of the process. We hope that more people will become involved, both in writing and in the editing. If you have any questions, then contact one of the editors.

I hope that you like this issue and look forward to the next.

Why We Game

I have been considering a question for a while now that was repeated to me just last night. Why do gamers game? I don't think there are any simple reasons for it. Every gamer has his or her own reasons. I do hope that mine will give others the incentive to write down their own reasons and send them in.

I have always had a very active imagination. When I was younger, I was put down a lot for having an overactive imagination. I liked to pretend that I was a superhero or a knight. I would go to the movies and run through the scenes in my head. I would think, "If I was in the situation, I would have done..." Role-playing became the outlet for that imagination. Because you can set up a game based on anything you can imagine, you could go anywhere and do almost anything.

Originally, I got into a game with a group of friends who where very into gaming. I was very shy (still am) and had built up a shell around myself that few could break into. I then joined up with what was known as the crew. Andy Hall brought me into that group and got me into his Palladium game. I got to play a character that was somewhat unlike myself, and that I enjoyed completely. That character is still my favorite, but I don't get to play him anymore. By interacting in that gaming setting, I chipped down my shell and began to enjoy myself for the first time in years.

Since that time there have been two main reasons that I game. One is to have fun. There isn't any point in gaming if it is a chore to do so. The second reason is it's a great excuse to spend time with friends that you may not see that often. So that's really why I game, to get together with friends and have a good time. Hope some of you feel the same way and let us know.

Background Music

You're sitting  in a darkened movie theater.  The hero is looking into the ocean from the side of a boat.  Music swells in the background.  "Da-Dum...Daa-Dummm...DA-DUM... DADUMDADUMDADUM!"  Up surges the great white shark.  Everyone jumps back, possibly someone screams.  Ever since movies have had sound, directors have understood the powerful effect of  background music.  You too can create a similar effect for your role-playing game.  All it takes is a little planning.

What you want to determine is what the music is going to be used for.  Are you trying to set a mood?  Is it to highlight a key scenario?  Is it so that the characters get a feel for their locale?  Or is it just white noise to keep out distractions?  Let's start with that last one first.

The most basic use of music is for screening out other distractions.  The traffic near your house, the TV in the next room, your mother on the phone, etc.  This is the easiest music to pick.  Even though you're not trying to set a mood, it is a good idea to make the music fit the type of role-playing you're running.  For instance, Metallica would not fit well with a fantasy setting.  Just as Enya wouldn't work in a Cyberpunk game.  As a rule of thumb, pure instrumental music of strings, woodwinds and piano works well for fantasy, while synthesizer, electric guitar is good for science fiction games.

One of the most common uses of music is to set a mood.  This goes right along with the idea of a movie score.  And it fits with highlighting a key scenario, so let's deal with them together.  Mood music takes a little more time to set up, but it can be worth it.  It differs from distraction music in that you want to get the right kind of theme music for that gaming session.  Are you in a woodland setting?  Try Celtic music.  Enya, Clannad, etc. would be good choices.  Is it a dungeon?  Maybe some classical music with lots of organ and low strings.  Bach's Toccata in Fogue is an excellent idea, or Mozart's Requiem.  Going right along with this is highlighting a particular scene.  This requires a bit of timing and enough of the music that you want.  A chase scene needs a good, fast pace with some dark undertones.  Soundtracks from the Terminator movies are good for this.  Meeting that big, nasty, evil foe in his lair?  Aliens, The Crow, or any horror movie score could fit.

Then there is music to get the characters immersed in their locale.  This, obviously, works better in a game that uses real world geography.  Are your characters going to New Orleans?  How about a little jazz.  Are they wandering through Memphis?  You can't go to Memphis without 'The King'.  How about Texas?  Then there's ZZ Top, Alman Bro's, etc.  If you're set in another country, find ethnic and traditional music from that particular region.

Now for a few warnings and a quick example.  As was stated up above, general background can be easily put on as long as you have a decent music collection.  It's going to take a bit of time if you're trying to set a mood.  You need to listen to all the music that you'll be playing during the game so that there's no music that will ruin the mood. (more on that later)  When setting the music for a particular scene, make sure that the music is cued up and ready to go, or that you've programmed the CD player.  Nothing can drain tension faster than watching a GM shuffle around trying to find his place.  And finally if you're trying for a locale, ask people about that areas music and if you don't own some, borrow or buy the music for that game.

Here are two examples of how music can help and hurt a game...  I was running a Cyberpunk game and my characters headed into Memphis.  Part of the adventure was to infiltrate a gang of Elvis impersonators to retrieve a party member.  So I played Elvis' Greatest Hits for the entire time they were in Memphis.  One of the character's decided she didn't like Elvis, so it led to some interesting and entertaining role-playing.  On the other side..  A friend was in a game where the group was in the lair of Beholders and they were surrounded.  The GM had some dark music on in the background.  Everyone was riveted on the GM as he described the scene.  Just as the leader of the Beholders was about to speak, the music went to the next track and a voice on the disc said " It's time to get ready for your wedding sire."  All the players burst out laughing.  The tension was destroyed and the scene was much less than it could have been.

Music is a powerful force.  If used well it can make an average game good and a good game memorable.  All it takes is a little forethought and planning.  You will find that it can definitely be worth the effort.