The Escapist

Do It In Public!

/ Renaissance Gamer / Leave a comment

readrpgs-anibuttonRead an RPG Book in Public, that is! Why, what were you…naughty!

Promoted tri-annually by The Escapist, Read an RPG Book in Public week is meant to raise the profile of the role-playing hobby and show our love for what is normally a behind-closed-doors activity. You grab a favourite RPG book, find a public area to relax for a little while, and get to reading. That simple.

I’ve done it when possible in past years, and always enjoyed it. I’ve endured very little in the way of any negative response to it; the occasional strange look to be sure, but nothing like actual harassment. Most of the time, when folks approach me it’s to tell me that they play or used to play, and occasionally we end up swapping stories of games gone wrong (or right). And I’ve even had a few people ask about how one gets in to the hobby, what they need to buy, where to find players, and so on. So if I’ve managed to inspire even one person to join our geeky ranks, it’s been worth it.

So get on out there and post your pics of you reading an RPG in public. Spread the nerd love wide this week. And please feel free to share your pics in the comments below, I’d love to see what you’re reading. I’ll be posting my pics here as I take them, so stop back and see what I’ve got on the go.

Happy ‘Read an RPG Book in Public Week’!

/ Renaissance Gamer / Leave a comment

readrpgs-anibuttonAs made up holidays go, I prefer them nerdy and fun. So Read an RPG Book in Public Week, an artificial construct of The Escapist, fits my criteria perfectly. As an introvert, sometimes reading RPG books is as fun as playing RPGs, and I can spend hours reading even bad ones. So at some point this week let your geek flag fly and post a picture of yourself reading an RPG book in public. Or don’t, I’m not the DM of you (and if I am the DM of you, I’ll give you extra XP for posting).

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Last week I posted about some RPG projects burning up Kickstarter, and I asked anyone who had or knew of a cool RPG Kickstarter campaign to contact me.To my great surprise someone did! Even better, the Kickstarter campaign I was contacted about was pretty cool so I’m happy to talk about it.

World Architect Cards is the newest offering from Simian Circle Games, and a follow-up to their popular Dungeon Architect Cards. This deck of 54 cards allows the busy GM to quickly build overland features for your world on the fly. Alternately, you can use the deck to help build your campaign world, adjusting the results as you like and allowing the deck to inspire you.

I backed it, so I’m looking forward to getting both decks, World and Dungeon. I’m always on the hunt for cool little RPG products which make my GMing life easier. Next to dice, GM and player aids are my big weakness. I can get a big, thick RPG book and be content; give me some little GMing aid and I will fiddle with that for hours, giddy like a kid. So naturally I recommend World Architect Cards, and I look forward to taking them out for a spin.

What are you backing on Kickstarter these days? Drop a comment and let me know.

READ AN RPG BOOK IN PUBLIC WEEK

/ Renaissance Gamer / 1 Comment

One of the things I really love about the geek community are the holidays we have made for ourselves.  It’s something I’ve not noticed other hobbies doing, but possibly because I’m just not in that group.  Do model railroaders celebrate the anniversary of the creation of HO Scale?  Do football fans have a National Pigskin Week, celebrating the invention of the football?  Maybe, but I’ve never seen it, and extensive Googling research indicates no.

But us nerds create holidays!  We celebrate the birthdays of our favourite actors (and sometimes characters).  We make days to celebrate the things we love: National Science Fiction Day (January 2, Isaac Asimov’s alleged birthday), First Contact Day (April 5, the date in 2063 when the Vulcans will/did make contact with humans), and of course, Star Wars Day (May 4, as in “May the Fourth Be With You”).  And even though Hallmark hasn’t gotten on board with cards yet, I love these geeky holidays.  There is a certain sense of community that comes from holidays we make and share amongst ourselves, something religions discovered ages ago.

Of our many created celebrations, none is dearer to my cold metallic heart than Read an RPG Book in Public Week, or RARPGBIPW for short…or not.  Created by The Escapist, they happen three times throughout the year, and this year they are March 3-9, July 21-27, and Sept. 29-Oct.5.  Each week coincides with a day special to gaming geeks: March 4, which is GM’s Day (another one!), but more importantly the day that E. Gary Gygax, one of the creators of D&D, passed away; July 27, Gygax’s birthday; and October 1, birthday of other D&D co-creator Dave Arneson.

As the name suggests, the goal of the week long celebration thrice annually is to read an RPG book in public and raise awareness of role-playing games.  It is hoped by reading our well-loved gaming books where folks can see, we can show folks that role-playing games and gamers are much more popular and populous than they thought.  It may even serve to draw new players into the hobby, which is never a bad thing (despite what internet trolls might tell you).

If you are a table-top gamer I hope you’ll take part.  It isn’t that hard.  Pack a sourcebook to read at lunch or on the bus.  Take an hour and go sit in the library or park (granted, park-sitting will have to wait here in Edmonton), or hang out at your favourite coffee/tea shop, RPG book in hand.  If someone approaches you about what you’re reading, be as open as their approach warrants.  After all, the purpose of this week-long event is to engage people’s interest; you may need to channel your party’s bard for a while.

And post about it!  If you are on Facebook join the group, if you Tweet then don’t forget the hashtag #readrpgs.  Post pics in your Tumblr or blog about the event.  And hey, if you do post something please drop me a link in the Comments, I’d love to see it and pass it along.

That is all for today, gentle geeks.  You get to reading and I’ll see you tomorrow.