I Adventerer

In 1982 I picked up my first ever Fighting Fantasy book at Tilbury library. I was not sure what it was or what it was about but it was about goblins, rhino men, apes with dogs heads and dogs with ape heads. Three names stuck in my memory "Warlock of Fire Top Mountain", "Citadel of Chaos" and "Forest of Doom". I flicked through them but only been 9 at the time I was not sure how to play them so i just read them like a normal book of followed the paths but did not really use dice or create characters. In any case we had no dice at home and at the age of 9 I could tell a good story but not write one. Then in 1983 in Mr Simpkins class (4th year senior school) Mr Simpkins said we where going to play "Citadel of Chaos" my teacher Mr Simpkin explained the rules and we started playing but did not get to far as the class was mostly confused about having to vote to make important plot choices and really did not get the dice and thought combat was a back door to teaching maths. I was sold. I went back to the library and actually started to play the game.

 

Thats same year Dungeons & Dragons the Cartoon came out and I finally found something I truly resinated with I always liked Hank the ranger but was very fond of Sheila the thief. I felt we had a lot in common been shy on the outside but been quite strong deep down. Now I met Orcs and Bullywugs  in colour and alive on the small screen. I was hooked so in 1985 when i was given a chance to join the schools D&D club as promoted by the History/R.E teacher Russell Tomlinson. 

Now I was able to really get into RPG and become an adventurer in my own right. Thanks to Chadwell Library I also had a chance to read the AD&D Players Hand Book and more importantly the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide. What impressed me about it was the fact it had assassination tables, the magical properties of gems and the stats and abilities of various monsters.

 

Then in 1986 my Uncle David from New Zealand came to visit and he bought me FR0 The Forgotten Realms Box set and also the Grey Hawk Box Set, this was followed on my 13 birthday getting the Red Basic D&D Box set then that christmas I got my on copies of the Players Hand Book and the Dungeon Masters Guide.

In the mean time I had been running my own games based on my own system which I called Goblin Quest and which was set upon the Realm of Questar a planet on which a long time ago a space craft called the space ark had crashed. The ships computer then terraformed the world and started releasing the various races according to its manifest. I used Britain Knights, Battle Beasts and plastic Dinosaurs as miniatures.

These books and games allowed me to transfer the imaginary characters  I had role-played as a small child based on the characters I had read about in my dads old annuals and books into characters on paper with recorded adventures and written abilities. I no longer had to keep them stored in my head I could begin to keep a record of them.

So it came to past that the ages of 12 and 13 was a big turning point for me and saw the creation of the rather famous Goraxe Meridian who unlike Yar'rag Setab who had existed since I was 10 soon became far more fleshed out in my mind and because he carried out regular adventures he also seemed more real to me.

So it came to pass that I had finally discovered Role-Playing. With the help of G.M. magazine which started in 1988 and covered multiple aspects of gaming including Play By Mail, RPG and something I wanted to try immediately but would not get around to for real until 1991 LARP I began to understand the hobby I had stumbled onto almost by accident. 

Between RPG and 2000AD stories such as Summer Magic which sold the story of Luke Kirby a young child mage which led to the equally call series The Journal of Luke Kirby which expanded his world and told his story I finally discovered my place in the world. I was Gary Bates Armchair Adventurer!

It is the name of the game!

It is the name of the game

I have recently been discussing the good and bad points about Role-Playing with my friends. For a long time now I have favoured games systems which are rules light and in which character generation is quick and easy. I like systems which can easily be adapted to existing campaign worlds and to ones I wish to create myself. I also like to be able to use that system in a whole different set of times and genres.

For ages I relied on the most excellent Advanced Fighting Fantasy System which is currently published by Arion Games and which is based on the Fighting Fantasy Solo game books first written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

For me having only three to four stats, Skill, Stamina, Luck and possibly either Magic or Psi depending on the setting worked well enough for me. A simple combat system and magic mechanic rounded of all my needs.

For my fantasy games I tended to use their own game setting Titan. For my modern setting I used information from Agents of F.E.A.R and House of Hell two of the early game books. The book Agents of F.E.A.R is a super hero game and supplies you with states for thugs and criminals whilst House of Hell is a Horror setting in a haunted house.

For my sci-fi games I turned to books like Starship Traveller, Rings of Kether , Space Assassin and Robot Commando. Between them they give you enough aliens, robots, mutants and space rules to keep any games master happy.

Recently I have discovered I can get similar results from using Brave Halfling Publishing’s Dagger system. It is an old school rpg based around D&D but it has been stripped bare and presented so that children as young as 5 can use it. I was impressed with it. So much so I now have four campaigns running using the same rules

One is a Forgotten Realms Campaign. As a side note Forgotten Realms and the work of Ed Greenwood first came to my attention in 1986 and the whole setting just captured my imagination. My main campaign in Forgotten Realms using 2^nd Edition Rules has been running since 1996 and my second Forgotten Realms campaign using 3^rd Edition rules has been running since 2001. Now I have a third Campaign suing Dagger Rules which I play with my wife and Children.

My second Dagger setting I created for my wife. It is called Hunted and is set in a World War Z style world except with a bit of fantasy flair in the form of as many different types of Zombie as I could find in the various monster manuals I have collected in 30 years of role-playing. This game is very much players vs hoards and hoards of zombies. I have used some of the weapons from D20 Modern and I am enjoying it immensely.

The next campaign I am running is for my Monday Night group and is set in the back drop of 2014 Britain but a world where the British Experimental Rocket Group is a reality and where programmes such as Doon Watch, Quartermass, the Scaryfyers and   Torchwood are all real and work behind the scenes to keep jo public safe. The group work for the BERG and are currently investigating the mystery of the Doorway to Nowhere beneath Spellbrook Church.

The last campaign I have created is called have created a campaign Pax Britannica and is set in a Steampunk 1890 setting which uses two of the new Osprey War Game books, In her Majesty's Name and Heroes, Villains and Fiends as source books. I have yet to run this one but I am keen to get going.

The main advantage Dagger has over other systems is that it is quick to play, makes the DM and players think and role-play with each other rather than rule-play or get too bogged down in how a situation should be resolved. In my game resolution is based first of description and role-play then by a d6 roll to get a 1-2 on a D6 in order resolve something the players are not specialised in or a role of 1-4 on a D6 in order to resolve something they are skilled in, lastly we use a D20 to resolve combat or make a saving throw. Its quick, it’s fun and above all we have a good time and isn’t that why we Role-Play in the first place.

If I need extra info for my dagger games or a class that is not present I consult Swords & Wizardry (another excellent game based on the original game or D&D), one of my original D&D books, one of my 1^st Edition AD&D books or even sometimes a 2^nd Edition AD&D book.

I will confess whilst I play most editions of D&D with the exception of 4^th I rarely mix third and 3.5 with my Dagger or Sword & Wizardry games. Well that was until Father’s Day this year (2014).

 

My Son and Daughter bought me for Father’s Day the complete Basic Fantasy RPG which as some of you may know combines elements of all editions from 3 backwards! I spent all week reading it and going over the modules and I am impressed to say the least. I have already created a character and I am raring to both play and DM.

Whilst talking about Father’s Day my Son ran me a game of Wilderness Warriors which is a game which takes elements of wind in the willows and Redwall and allows you to play sentient animals called Kind in a medieval setting. I play Bill the Badger also knows to fellow Adventurers as William Spellshaft. I am currently a 4^th Level Male Badger Warrior-Wizard. Again the rules are simple short and to the point. The game is about having fun, not min-maxing or been a rule lawyer.

 

So my point. In the end our games should be governed by three things: 1) Having Fun, 2) Exercising our Imaginations and 3) Building up a whole load of memories of which we can be proud. I know I love reminiscing about past adventures almost as much as I do having new ones.

Role-Play should never be about Rule-Play or proving who can create the most powerful and unplayable character. It’s about spending time with like-minded people and sometimes maybe just sometimes saving the world even though those around us do not know it.

Yar'rag Stetab? I Presume

Yar’rag Setab

Human Male Wizard & Former Thief

ex Student, ex Thief, ex Scholar, ex Wizards Apprentice

Yar'rag Setab was my first ever alter ego, persona and in an odd way role-play character. He was born of boredom, loneliness and an over active imagination. He was born in my bedroom on a day which was over cast and filled with rain. I was sitting at my big desk looking out of the window. Then as with now I loved to write in Black n Red books and although they where considered expensive when I was younger my mother had managed to pick one up cheap in Grays market.

It was a Sunday and I was bored, most of my friends at the time where stay in types and the weather was of no help. I did not have a computer, nor did we have mobile phones to play around with. I had been out horse riding that morning and was now utterly bored. It was then that I had the idea, I would start a journal, a captains log. 

However a nagging thought came into my mind, I had tried that before and it had never lasted or worked, how could I make sure this time was different. The answer write it as if I was a character from a book. I quickly modified that idea to no why not write it as if I was a character of my own devices.

I decided he would be a Wizard, but a wizard who had been a bit of a rogue in his younger life and so had some other skills to rely on. I did not want him to be a fighter, but I did want him to have fought and so I came up with my ex thief turned Wizard. In this I had been inspired by films such as Knights of the Round Table, 7 Faces of Doctor Loa (1964), Camelot (1967), Wizards (1977), Excalibur and Dragonslayer (1981) all influenced my choice in persona.

My room at the time was black, red and white and so would Yar'rags clothing. Black breeches, black shoes, sandals or boots with a white shirt. His over robes where black and red lined. A pointed hat was a must as was a plane black staff with a red knob on its end!

I started by imagining his study which was in his mage tower. A big high backed chair behind a big black oak desk a window which let out to a balcony and book shelves either side of the study door. Yar'rags Tower I named the Tower at the Edge of Reality.

The Tower became an important part of my life as did Yar'rag we had many adventures together, well not quite together as I was him and he was me. I would write up mundane events as fantastical adventures. For example one day I had a row with my parents and I wrote the encounter up as a battle with two powerful Ogres who I had disturbed whilst exploring a set of caves.

Trips to the sea side would become trips to the desert searching for lost ruins or dungeons, a visit to the library would be a day spent in arcane research, a run in with bullies on the way home and ambush by bandits and brigands.

Over time I added three other companions, my dwarven man servant Gortex. He was a dwarf with a shady past who had taken refuge in the tower after he and Yar'rag had helped each other out of a sticky situation involving undead!

Next came my familiars Boris (who was based on a toy Bogling I had received as a Christmas present) and Crow my pet raven who was based on a replica raven I bought with real raven feathers. I have the toys that all three of them where based on to this day and in my mind and on my adventures they still accompany me to this day.

I am shortly to begin a new set of adventures with Yar'rag and these ones I will be writing up in a journal and then writing up here to share with others. I am very grateful to Yar'rag as he has kept me san over the years and allowed me to experience some wonderful things and places such as the Great Sea of Stones, the Plane of Dust, the artificial planet of Hub, the Great Spell Moot and many more. Through him I have met general Tilia, the ranger Aelfgyth Elf Friend the shield maiden Mucca and her two brothers Curra and Wocca skilled hunters, warriors and trackers. Also Henri the Grey a mage of no small water and his friend father Bretwald of High Well.

As a scholar, a wizard and as a former rogue Yar'rag has developed an impressive skill set. These include Acute Hearing, Ancient History, Animal Lore, Anthropology, Art, Arcanology, Archaeology, Basic Alchemy, Basic herb Lore, Binding, Brewing, Bypass Security Systems, Climbing, Chronomancy, Computer Use, Conjuration, Dancing, Discern & Disarm Traps, Divination, Drama, Enchanting, Evaluate, Fencing, Folklore, History, Library Use, Local History, Monster Lore, Mythology, Navigation, Occult Lore, Orientation, Perception, Picking Locks, Pick Pockets, Planer Lore, Pugilism, Read & Write (Angelic, Black Speech, Dark tongue, Demonic, Draconic, Dwarf, Elven, Infernal, Stealth, Egyptian [Ancient], Greek and Latin), Research, Ritualism, Sleight of Hand, Story Telling, Streetwise, Summoning, Swimming, Thaumaturgy, Trans Dimensional Mechanics, Transmutation, Use Security Systems.

As well as those fairly mundane skills he is also noted as having: the ability to Hypnotise people, Iron Will, Lesser Telepathy, Object Reading, Sixth Sense, Sense Magic, Sense Magical Alarms, Telekinesis, Immune to magical scrying and locating spells, abilities and powers. Of course he is also a skilled spell caster and ritualist.

Even today I enjoy dressing up as Yar'rag and going on wild adventures and exploring the realms of my imagination.  I know that whilst I have Yar'rag with me life never needs to be dull, boring or mundane.