#RPGaDAY 2019: Day 29

As a Table-Top Role Playing Gamer I've EVOLVEd quite a bit over the decades. When I started I just wanted to play Super Hero RPGs and share all the heroes and villains I'd been creating for years with my friends. Soon after though, I began to love RPG system and began my quest for the perfect one. Eventually, I wanted to be a great Game Master and tell epic stories and dive into the settings we were creating together. That led me to a period as a Story Gamer, where I followed particular Game Designers, like John Wick. I look back on this and shake my head. I think I'm a pretty good Role Player and a good Game Master, but I eventually realized that I didn't have the time I used to and I didn't have the resources of commitment any longer to buy and learn every RPG system on the market. Then I took my sabbatical and discovered the OSR, through Grognardia, and began to examine the roots of DnD (I had always been far too "cool" to like DnD or fantasy settings). This led me discover that part of the reason I didn't like DnD, is that I'd never really played it. Our campaigns never made it through 4th or 5th level, magic items were rarely given out and we always ended up facing a Dark Lord in Ravenloft we had not way of beating. The OSR and Grognardia let me explore DnD of whatever edition and eventually inspired me to start Cross Planes. I lucked out and had a Representative at Wizards of the Coast who was cool enough to let me enter into the Friends and Family Playtest of DnD Next before it was even announced. This coincided with a return to role playing using Pathfinder. I got turned off because this group had as much drama as my old group had, but this time, I wasn't a part of it. So I went my own way content to not have a group if it was going to cause stress. It was during this period where I began making RPG sessions 3-4 hours max as opposed to 7-8 hours. I found that I much preferred it that way and we got just about as much done. I did begin running "demos" of DnD Next and that led me to my two current groups. Both groups are cool and have talented Game Masters besides myself, so I get to play. Also, both groups stepped up when I had my mental health issues earlier this year and stood by me as friends. It was heartwarming. Some weeks, those sessions were the only thing besides my family that were a bright spot for me. And all of this led to my current self, who just wants to roll some dice, laugh, and have a good time.