The Best Of Sessions
I am about to let you into a little secret.
I don’t like Dungeons and Dragons.
Let me explain. I’ve played Dragonlance (which I did not enjoy), Ravenloft (Which I did) and Planescape (which hurt). I’m old enough to have played first to third editions, and I’ve been all around the place with characters that have ranged from the rugged to the ridiculous*, but there was always too much in the D&D systems that I struggled with. Hell… I can actually say I got THACo down to a fine art.* but it never called to me like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Paranoia or a host of other games did. It would even be safe to say I’ve enjoyed taking to Call of Cthullu (which oddly has an even more intensive system), Cyberpunk, Shadowrun or Boot Hill more than I did to the majority of D&D games. That’s not to say that it’s bad, the truth is far from it, as D&D is a game that found it’s audience and brought RPG’s into the light. It’s a personal taste, a prefrence, nothing more. In time I’ll more than likely get to the other games I’ve mentioned, but for today, I wish to tell you about the best RPG campaign I’ve ever played.
And it’s not any of the ones I made. We’ll get to those (and the longest running campaign I’ve ever ran) in due time.
The best RPG I’ve played wasn’t an RPG…… It was Warhammer Quest.
To be fair, it was warhammer Quest using the roleplay book. Led masterfullyby Stu as the Gamesmaster (@Darkageis in the majority of Fluffenhammer areas). My Slayer Rognak Grunderssonsonson managed to make a lifetime enemy from a Elf comrade and would often cover his face in his own blood in ever escalating stupid ways in order to make her unsettled before combat/eating/waking up. He made a lifelong friend with a Knight*** before him into a horde of Skaven to prove his worth. Rognak held a special place in my heart as he had experienced life in WHFRP and jumped into his new life as a slayer in a manner that worked nicely for me, and gave him weight that, whilst only I knew, helped settle him into a role that gave lots of narrative fun.
But it wasn’t the character that made it. Stu held an encyclopedic knowledge of both the system we were playing and the world in which it was set, and was able to keep us in the boundaries of both. Considering it was the first system that Rob and Becca had played in full, Stu was the best choice for a Gamesmaster, explaining what needed explaining and keeping the mood and feel perfectly. It’s a shame to me that we didn’t do more games with Stu in the driving seat, as it was a perfect example of how to run a RPG.
The sessions had some truly fantastic highlights, with the Knight riding a stormvermin around the room in an expanding emotional state of being, and a wonderful moment involving a bag of hands that was regarded with serious mistrust. Through it all, the down and dirty state of the Warhammer world was never too far off, as we went through Skaven, Orcs, Goblins and one spider that came close to killing us all. It never slid into unreality for the setting, and few things make me smile as much as the nighttime between dungeon sessions. As close to perfect as a campaign ever got.
An RPG is made by the people at the table, not the system. An RPG works when the lead knows when too far is too far and can pull it back. An RPG is made first and foremost by fun, and that table was the best I ever sat at.
Thanks Stu, Rob and Becca!
Until next time, I remain..
Adam
*Ram raiding a shop window with a reversing horse and cart
**I think….
***Possibly still not the worst thing I’ve ever done to Rob. Being my friend in my late 20s was a exercise in danger. I once haunted the poor man with Miffy The Bastard Bunny