The Indie Gaming Scene Lives!

Hello, and thanks for welcoming me back! I'm sorry it's been so very long since I posted, but Professor Kory Curtis has had me exceedingly busy playtesting an entirely new way of gaming. "I'm afraid even to mention it aloud yet", stated Professor Kurtis several times during our intense, one-on-one sessions. I don't want to spoil anything, but adherents of Wrongist theory? Look out--your days are numbered!

Here’s a thought I had today—using My Life With Master to run a game in the Mountain Witch setting cut out and put in the binding of Shock. Maybe Sorceror.

People ask why I still like Exalted, but not D&D. Not to bash the 11 year-olds out there that love D&D, but Exalted is just clearly a thinking person’s game. D&D just too munchkinny for my tastes. In D&D, 20^th level characters can easily raze whole kingdoms. Sure, any Exalted character can do the same thing, but it’s all about exploring the theme of how you handle that power. There’s also the Daiklave, and no, it’s not about ANIME, thankyouverymuch. It draws on such themes as Joseph Campbell and…well, some of the stuff is close to Samurai Jack, which is made for Cartoon Network, an Amerikkkan company. So I don’t want to hear anything about anime, ok? This is a serious game, for people seriously ready explore serious themes regarding the abuse of power.

Now, I have a rule in this column not to bash D&D; I understand that some people want to play simplistic glorified board games, and that’s their choice to not rise from the ignorant masses. But I got to thinking today about politics (I’m a very political person, who thinks Bush is a morron and hates him for reinstating the draft, has read part of Chomsky’s last book, and have watched Super Size Me), and doesn’t it seem like if Nazis were to play a RPG back then, it would be D&D? Think about it:

For one, D&D is all about gaining ultimate power through crushing enemies in a ruthless manner. Doesn’t that fit Nazis to a T? Second, player characters are raised above other non-playing characters, sort of a “master race”. (Getting eerie, isn’t it?). Lastly, most intellectuals fled from Nazi Germany, having seen the writing on the wall. Us intellectuals in the gaming world have fled from fascist GM empowerment and functional combat mechanics, whether it is Ron Edwards from Champions or myself and Professor Curtis from D&D. Clearly, we are ahead of the curve on this one. I think all the smart people who got out of Germany before 1918 would be proud of us that have followed in (and improved upon) their footsteps. True art trumps politics any day!