A Quick History of My Tabletop Experience

My journey as a tabletop rpg player began in the mid-1990’s with Vampire: the Masquerade. I honestly don’t remember much about it since I was barely out of high school, working and going to college part-time, and living on my own for the first time. The group was composed of a couple of new neighbors and a couple of old school acquaintances. We didn’t play regularly, or often, but it was enough to pique my interest.

But life happened, as it always does. I dropped out of touch with that group, but when a new gaming store opened up a few years later, I met other tabletop gamers. It was through this store that I made connections with people who are still my friends to this day. And, I was finally introduced to Dungeons and Dragons.

Here I have to admit that D&D is not the primary system that I play and GM with. My roots are in the World of Darkness, and it’s what I always circle back to when I’ve had a hiatus from tabletop gaming.

As it was with tabletop, V:tM was my introduction to LARP. It was more than just a gaming group. Many of us met socially outside of the main game, or broke into smaller tabletop groups. Even after moving out of the area several times, these friends would always welcome me back when I returned. Even when Masquerade changed to Requiem, it was like I had never left. And as other Chronicles of Darkness games were released, I joined the storyteller team to run Mage: the Awakening.

I definitely bit off more than I could chew with that adventure. Coordinating a live-action story for two dozen is much more complicated than running a handful of dice-rollers at the table. Lesson learned, but I was certainly nipped by a different monster as a GM.

But, as always, the never-ending side-quest known as Real Life got in the way. As our families grew, we got busier and busier adjusting to the world as…middle-aged adults. The games fell on the back-burner, with splinter tabletop groups meeting once or twice a month in place of once or twice a week. Most of us have kept in touch and stayed friends, with much of that credited to the marvel of social media.

And now, as even older middle-aged adults, we’re starting to find more time to come together for games. not just with each other, but with our families as well. It’s a whole new adventure, folks. I’m excited to see where it takes us.

TtRPGs Played: Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Dungeons & Dragons (2e, 3.5e, 5e), Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Star Wars RPG, Paranoia, Chronicles of Darkness – Mortals, Vampire: the Requiem, Hunter: the Reckoning, Mage: the Awakening, Geist: the Sin Eaters, Demon: the Fallen

TtRPGs as GM: Chronicles of Darkness, Firefly RPG, Dungeons & Dragons (5e)

LARPs Played: Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Vampire: the Requiem, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Proethean: the Created, Changeling: the Lost

LARPs as GM: Mage: the Awakening