Enthusiasm Is Infectious!

It's been a seriously exciting week in the world of Pathfinder gaming with the school-based Pathfinder Society.

Two major things have happened:

1. We gained 2 new members, bringing the group size to 8... and making it necessary for one of the players to opt to become a GM.
2. I've been energised towards beginning to prepare for taking my part of the group into the "Rise of the Runelords" campaign.

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A Question Of Character

It has been a really exciting week of roleplaying for me because of two major streams:

1. The school Pathfinder Society grew to 6 players, including our first female player.
2. I noticed something useful while helping the club create characters.

Forging Character
Characters are the life-blood of the roleplaying experience: they are the protagonists in the stories that we tell as a group. Without these characters to be the heroes of the tale there is no action, no challenge and no story.

In Pathfinder, and other games like it such as D&D4e, there is a clear structure to character creation which allows for a lot of choice within some broad stereotyped archetypes.

For instance, the player can choose a Fighter, Wizard, Cleric or Rogue (or one of many other "classes"). They decide on a Race, such as Elf or Human. From here they shape the hero from the templated outline these two decisions provide.

This is all well and good for your traditional fantasy game. For most of us, who play the pseudo-medieval fantasy adventure, this stuff works just fine. Stereotypes are helpful.

And then there are those of us who are building slightly different fantasy worlds.

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Pathfinder With Newbies

Meeting for the first time in the now quiet classroom after hours, the four lads ambled in and settled around the two tables that had been pushed together and surrounded by 5 chairs. Greeting their teacher in the role of the arcanely named "Gamesmaster", they took their places. Characters were chosen, funny-looking dice tested and some basic "rules" of play outlined. Then, without much hesitation, they plunged into the Goblin-infested cave...

Bringing Light To The Uninitiated
When I first played Dungeons & Dragons, many moons ago now it seems, I was only very slightly younger than the three young chaps who met in my classroom the other night. I vaguely remember the excitement that emanated from the discovery of polyhedral dice and the musty smell of the "Red Box". To the outsider this must all sound quite sinister and strange... but it was really only the first taste of a hobby which has served me well for more than 30 years: roleplaying games.

At the inaugural meeting of my school's "Pathfinder Society" (as I have chosen to call it) four pupils met around the traditional table and  played their first ever game of Pathfinder. To be completely accurate, we were using the rather excellent Pathfinder Beginner's Box.

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Finding a Path

As we enter 2012 I have a new and rising tension to resolve: how to invest my free time.

The Broad Path
I love playing games and really enjoy the company of my current gaming group, cunningly referred to as the Friday Roleplay group. Over the last 13 years or so we have met to roleplay and run some truly awesome sessions (as well as some of the not-so-awesome ones, usually GMed by me). Time has often been tight, especially for a group that counts its membership as including a doctor, a teacher, an accountant and many folk who work shifts. We game when we can.

As we finish up 2011 it has to be mentioned that Friday Roleplay almost fell out of my life a few months back. The combination of beginning a new teaching job, the group playing what I felt was a very ho-hum D&D4e campaign, and not being able to GM left me out in the cold.

That changed back in September when we started to fire up the parachronic projectors and, coincidentally, I started this blog. Well, the dates might be off, but you get the idea: something changed. We started to put together our existing GURPS Infinite Worlds campaign.

As we run into the beginning of 2012 I am highly keen to keep this campaign alive and see where it leads. I don't have many expectations that it will survive the year, although I certainly hope that it might, but I one thing is sure - I am really excited about the fact that we're playing something fresh and interesting. As GM I've been finding the whole thing highly stimulating... and a lot of fun.

So, what's the problem?

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