From Caernest
Role-player, LARPer, web admin, programmer, test engineer
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Gaming Background
I've been interested in RPGs since 1983 and actively playing them since 1990. I spend about equal time on both sides of the GM screen, and not so long ago finally broke the habit of calling it the DM screen. My first game was D&D, back in 1983, when my cousin ran me through a very short adventure. He didn't want to play D&D, but I begged him. The next time I got to do any gaming was at a Christian summer school in 1985. I got to play Car Wars a bunch of times, and some Marvel Superheroes as well. I tried to join the gaming club at my high school, but got avoided; not because I wasn't a good gamer, but because I wasn't popular enough or something. I can't imagine not including someone so enthusiastic. I think the real reason was that I was an outsider, and if you're a gamer, you're familiar with how socially awkward many of us are. I made 3 or 4 characters for that group, but I don't think I ever got to actually play any of them.
My next gaming experience was a couple years later, playing a single, very short session with my then sister's boyfriend. I rolled up a LG dwarf fighter for an AD&D game. I think we actually played for less than an hour. John let me borrow his books so I could get more familiar with the game. I was totally gung-ho to get into gaming. He didn't get his books back until like 4 years later.
In 1991, my friend Rich and I went into KB Toys, where they had all the old D&D Basic edition boxed sets on sale for $5@. We bought one of everything they had. The next day we drove down Delware Ave looking for a place to buy dice and found Seeley and Kane's Cards and Comics, where I bought a couple sets of dice, a few comics, a book or two and became a regular for the next 6 years. I miss my conversations with Chuck. It was there that I started my first real gaming group. We got together to play Marvel Superheroes, that didn't last very long. The power-gamer in the group made it less fun for everyone else. Oh, and by the way, the books Rich and I bought together; his parents burned them because they heard they were used to teach devil-worship. Yeah, those were the days...
So, the group at Chuck's changed a bit here and there. At one point I joined a group that was founded by a guy I later found out was a cousin of mine. It was because his group was too big that I ended up with Kevin, Dan, Mike, Sal and Mike. These guys would be my core friends and gaming buddies until... uh... yeah. These guys are still my friends. I wouldn't have it any other way. We played mostly AD&D 2nd edition, making the jump to 3rd Edition and 3.5 when they came out. We've since each gone our own ways, but we keep in touch (for the most part). Kevin lives in Albany now. Dan's in California. I believe Mike "Dumbass" is living in NYC or Ithaca, NY. I don't know where Sal is for sure. If you talk to him, tell him to email me, or call me! Mike "Dickhead" is still in the Buffalo area. I'm living in Crochester.
Of course I'm still gaming. I've got a different group now, and lots of friends. Once a year, we hold "Geekfest" at my place in Rochester, as the central location. It's a lot of fun, and I love getting together with the guys. We typically hold it near the end of the school year. If you want an invitation, let me know.
Favorites
- 7th Sea - It would be difficult to find a system and setting that I think is better written and enjoyable.
- Pathfinder - A few years ago, it would have been D&D 3.5 here. A few years before that, it would have been AD&D 2nd Ed. For long-term fantasy campaigns, the D&D line can't be beat. It's easy to write adventures for. It's flexible enough to handle different twists to the game. As a system it's not realistic at all, but there's a gazillion well written settings out there for it, that are a lot of fun.
- Shadowrun (3rd Edition) - I can't say anything about 4th edition. I haven't played it yet. The setting for the earlier editions is awesome. I've had some very fun and memorable characters in Shadowrun. The system is clunky, but the setting more than makes up for it in my mind.
Honorable Mentions
GURPS - I'm not a big fan of the system. It's only half-written. I've learned I'd prefer a fully written system that's less flexible. It's more about the people you're playing with than the system to me, and I've played in some hella-fun GURPS campaigns. Vampire/White Wolf - If it weren't for all the die-hard fans out there that ruin the game, it would be more popular. I've never seen a system that so many people would tell you that you're playing it wrong. Still, I've had fun with the campaigns that I've stuck with.
Credits
Kaernest
Obviously, I'd be in the credits for this one.
Kill Ted
I was a play-tester for this. I don't know if it ever got published though.
Adventures in Mid-Land
I helped with the rules for this, and the setting that it ended with, even if I don't show up in the credits.
Kingdoms of Novitas
They set things right. I'm in the credits here. I should be with all of the stuff they ripped off from my setting when they started using the Mid-Land rules. :) Seriously though, I'm on the rules team, and I'm the Combat and Safety Marshal.
Enter the Dagon
Yeah, it's a movie. I'm still in the credits. 5 degrees from Kevin Bacon!
Web Work
I'm a web designer/programmer/developer/admin/user/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Here's the sites I've written, put together, "own" or am in charge of:
- Winterfell - the Rochester Chapter of Dagorhir, which I'm also the chapter head for
- the rpgwiki - a wiki about gaming; mostly about campaigns that I've played in, or campaigns that my current gaming group has played in
- Kaernest - this site... It's basically my personal site, but more about Kaernest than anything else.