Why all of this?

Well...we want to bring RPG players together, give them the possibility to exchange GMs, groups and ideas...

During my experience as a GM I have noticed that talking about the game improves the gaming experience, I have also noticed that not many people have a chance to learn about the game, even when they do, they can not find a group to join, can not find a Game Master.

 

Well here we are, both players and GM-s, WE are in it tomeet other players and GM-s, to share our adventures and gaming experience...to make a small network of people who would talk about the game, play and help each other...

The goal of this web-page is to, eventualy, gather your adventures, traps, maps, monsters and offer them to others...new players would be able to find a group which suits their needs, GM-s would be able to complain about their lousy players to other GM-s...Your probems would be solved...

As a beginning I will offer my own and other GM-s e-mail adresses, ICQ UINs and we will share a mailing list.

 

I hope to get some feedback from you as soon as possible, please start sending your questions and ideas...and in no time this might be something...

So what is this game, tell me more...

There are many types of games, but ROLE PLAYING games are the strangest of them all (at least to newbies). In ROLE PLAYING games you make a character YOU want to play, he will be exactly how you want him to be. Then we will take that character and insert him (or her) into a fictious world of your GM-s devising. One (poor) person will guide you and tell you what happens, this person is called a GAME MASTER (or GM). You will have your friends around you, playing their own characters. This way you will get to participate in a great adventure with your friends and have the best (legal) way of having FUN.

 

What does this GM actually do?

Well...lets imagine you reading a book...you read about some characters and as you read the descriptions of what they do, you can imagine it and participate in the story...

Now lets say that one person takes the book and reads it..then gathers you and lets you be the characters from that book...that person reads aloud the descriptions so that your characters can understand what happens and react to the surroundings...your characters do not know what is in this book and have to do whatever they think is best to solve troubles they encounter.

So how does GM know

what to do in that case?

He does not know, he wings it, and the better the GM is the more will he wing it...he will let you do whatever you want, and will react accordingly to what you do.

GM imagines what is going to happen without your involvement and then lets you mess up his plans...that is his challenge and fun...

Could you please give me

an example of play?

Sure, this is the most common of all questions... Lets say I wanted to game master a game...I would find several players and ask them what they would like to play ...One of them tells me that he likes Indiana Jones adventures and would like to play in that setting... others agree that would be fun. The problem is that everybody has seen the movies and everybody knows too much... I would have to make up a completely new story...another problem is that all 4 of them can not play Dr. Jones at the same time... so I make a setting where the WWII has allready started with Germany sarching for mystic powers...one player could be a proffesor of archaeology, one of them might be a special agent, another one might be a student of psychology and the last one might be an expert in occult...maybe a priest...

Those 4 players would then make their character ideas into real characters using system rules of character generation...once that is over I would assemble them and we would start playing.

Game master usually sits at the privileged position at the table (so that the players cant see his notes). And so imagine me at the head of the table and in front of me LOTSA papers, pop corn and Coca Cola...

I would start by telling them the prologue; The four of you men met in a small village in the northern America called Vasteville...you all know of each other ever since your paths collided several months ago as you all came to, now elderly but living legend, Dr. Jones...You were conserned with reports of a group of German scientists sneaking into America in search of who knows what...you wanted to consult Dr. Jones hoping he could shed some light on this affair...he couldnt...the only thing he could tell you is the probable reason of their interest in Americas vastelands...the crashsite of an UFO.

It is supposed to have crashed many, many centuries ago...local indians guard the site and keep it a secret...It is said it crashed in a mountain side and is lodged somewhere in its peaks..perhaps in a cave...The Germans might take its technology and win the war...thats why they have sent thier top scientists and many soldiers here to Vastevilles vicinty...as your own special agent has been informed...

You have all heard that these local indian people act strange and keep to themselves so it is not that impossible...

So here you are now...sitting at the table in a small indian bar, drinking something that tastes like weed but is supposed to be beer...

The bar is dusty, made of wood, and the people who own it seem to look the same...dusty and of wooden texture...

They dont want to speak with you...you get a feeling you are very UNWANTED here...

What do you do?

Now it is their turn to do whatever they want...I told them where they are and what they are doing and now they have to role-play their characters...since they are sitting in a dusty inn and it is very hot outside they cant role-play characters who are dying of cold...

The special agent character says: As I am sitting at the table I cautiously look around...when I am sure the indian guy isnt listening I say to others: Has anyone noticed how deserted this site is? I get a feeling something is very wrong...

The priest character (who is very conserned about this UFO business) says:

Well I hope you dont think this aliens story to actually be true?

Psychologist says: Why wouldnt it be?

There it goes...role-playing has started...they are saying what their characters would say in that situation and they can decide to do ANYTHING.

They can get up and shoot the indian fellow under the suspicion of alien infestment...or they can get supplies and a guide and go in search of the Germans...if there is so many of them somewhere very near here with all equipment needed then they cant stay invisible, at least not for long...As they start thinking this way they get away from reality and become consumed by the mystic and scary atmosphere of the storyline...they actually feel the tension...the fear...the lonelyness...and thats what they like in the game.

So what now?

First read all you can from this web-page...and visit news.tel.hr = hr.games.rpg to find us and our ideas...

After that you come and observe one of our gaming sessions to see if you like the game...then you buy the basic books depending on which system you choose (you will read about both GURPS and AD&D).

Here in Croatia you can find these books in ALGORITAM and MORE COMICS STRIP SHOP. As a player you need ONLY the PLAYERS HANDBOOK (AD&D) or GURPS Basic Set (GURPS)...and a good GM.

Whats this we have been hearing about GURPS

and other gaming systems?

What do we choose?

Now this is an interesting topic...well...RPGs are all the games based upon role-playing experience and there are, of course, several popular gaming systems (sets of rules) to be found in games/hobby stores. I will mention several: MERP (middle earth role playing), LARP (live action role playing - those freaks with armors and swords who actually fight around), WARHAMMER (battle system with miniatures), Storyteller, Ars Magica, Whitewolf, Star Wars, Battletech etc. They are all unique in their sets of rules and timeline...Battletech for instance is set in the futuristic world of mechs and aliens while AD&D is reserved for fantasy middle ages...GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing System and it is ....well....universal generic etc.

When choosing a game system to use you have to keep in mind what and how you want to play...you cant play a Star Trek game with set of rules considering only armors and swords (except if its all hapenning in holodeck :))

Futher discussions on this topic can and will be found inside topics area...