Short answer: Yes. But it’s even more than that.
Is Jerry Seinfeld addicted to jokes? Is Mick Jagger addicted to performing on stage?
First, let’s go through some events in my life that might shed some light on the situation:
1976-1987 – The before times. Before I found role-playing games that is. Up until the age of twelve I spent hours making up adventures, even entire campaign worlds with maps and story lines, but was missing a key element: Players! I used to play out these stories myself or with action figures. I had lots of friends, don’t get me wrong, just that I never knew how they could be a part of this side of me.
1987 – Dungeons & Dragons Basic Red Box literally falls in my lap out of nowhere. Well, from my mother. She brought it home from her toy store, neither of us having the slightest clue what is this strange new game. She just knew I liked dragons. I read the books and couldn’t understand anything — You can’t really be told what the Matrix is. I was so confused that I actually returned the red box to the store (Don’t worry, I got it back eventually). I decided instead to join a group as a player and check this game out. It took me exactly ten minutes of playing before my first character died, but that was enough. I decided I wanted to do this everyday for the rest of my life. I told the Dungeon Master: “Don’t bother making me a new character – I’m going to be the DM”. I also immediately started working on my own character sheet design using Einstein, a DOS based word processor!
1987-1993 – All through Junior-high and High school I played in dozens of groups, almost exclusively as the Dungeon Master, using a mish-mash of systems… Basically, anything I could find. I used to drag around a trolley with all my role-playing books and notebooks, characters sheets, dice, pencils… you never knew when a game might suddenly be an option! When most kids where skipping school to go to the beach or some other outdoor activity, I used to skip school and play Dungeons & Dragons with friends. I know, I’m a geek, that’s what I’m building to here.
1994-1995 – First real long-term epic campaign. Lasted for a year and eight months of real world time with dozens of sessions and ended in an epic battle with an undead dragon. I played with the same core 4-player group, all of us friends since first grade. Funny thing is, we were all drafted to the army by 1995 and still found time to play. We used to drive to each others’ bases and play whenever we could.
We’ve been through a lot together, these four friends and I, both in real life, but even more in role-playing sessions. For those familiar with the works of Shan Yu, and I’m paraphrasing , “You never really know a man until you hold him over a volcano’s edge”. So the five of us have been over volcanos’ edges together, lakes of acid, nests of manticores, you name it. Several life times of experiences.
1996 – Beginning of the Age of Rolemaster. After the last campaign ended we decided to find a new game system with more in-depth rules. The heavily home-brewed AD&D system we used to play was leading us into a lot of arguments over rules. At least we thought it was the system… because the arguments ended only a couple of sessions ago. At least I think they did.
1997 – I finished my three year army service and went to live with my then girlfriend in her tiny studio apartment at her kibbutz. I literally didn’t go out of her place for four months, all of the time working on my own game world, writing hundreds of pages with cultures, races, thousands of years of fake history and numerous hand drawn maps. I only stopped because I had to eventually find a job.
1999 – Me and the then girlfriend fly to the US and go on a five month coast-to-coast road trip, starting in New York city and ending in San Francisco. Not kidding, I stop at every hobby and game store we find on the way. I went back home with 2 additional suitcases just full of role-playing books.
2000 and on – I master Adobe Photoshop, HTML, javascript, vbscript, and MS-Office all in an attempt to be a better Gamemaster, designing numerous game aids and software for my group — even a MERP herb database in MS-Access. I start sharing stuff online. We continue to play using mostly Rolemaster.
2006 – Quit my High-tech career and went to film school. I wanted to be creative for a living.
2011 – Started playing Warhammer FRP 3rd Edition – a pinnacle of a game system that showed me that RPG game aids can not only be useful, but gorgeous!
2019 – Started playing Genesys RPG from Fantasy Flights Games and discovered The Foundry.
2020 – Published several items for sale on the Genesys Foundry and eventually this website for all my RPG stuff.
Ok, so that’s not even half of it, and I spared you the darker periods (maybe for a later post), but you hopefully get the idea: Role-playing games are a huge part of my life. And, also, I’m a nerd, a proud one. I would even say that role-playing games substantially shaped my personality and world view. First, I see reality in charts and tables, always trying to fit the real world into a set of understandable though ever-changing rules. An INTP if you will.
Second, Just as Seinfeld describes his passion for jokes, how every situation, every experience, he assesses for its comedic value — So do I study every movie, every conversation, every encounter, everything really, to find out how they can benefit me to be a better Gamemaster. Seinfeld can’t help it and so can’t I. That’s just how I think.
So am I addicted? You tell me. I’d also love to hear if other gamers feel like this. I know what some of you might be thinking — there are far worse things to be addicted to and of course I agree… In light of my diagnosed addictive personality, thank the gods I found RPGs before Meth!
Sorry if this turned out to be long – thanks for sticking all the way through! I’m new to this blogging thing but I’ll get the hang of it.
Good health to everyone!
It was fun reading your rpg story. First time I played, for real, tabletop rpg was in 2013 when I bought MYFAROG; my campaign last almost 2 years with the same two characters. before 2013 I was more a video game guy, especially a rpg and survival horror games fan. but there were always something stopping my action because it is programmed. ( for e.g. a wooden door that you can’t explode with a bazooka)
A friend of mine brought me Rolemaster the basic box for christmas 2019 and I think I found the perfect system. The same year I bought Merp and Call of Cthulhu 7th. I am playing every week Call of Cthulhu and Merp since a few months now and since covid-19, I am playing 3 games a week!
A friend of mine asked me to join his D&D 5 group and I accepted because I wanted to play a game with him, I don’t like the system of D&D 5; it is too ”arcade” for my taste”. it’s look like it was made for modern video game nerds. But I still have fun playing with my friend.
System that I bought and need to play
Thanks a lot Mathieu! I also didn’t enjoy playing D&D 5e so much without heavily modifying it. But you get to play 3 times a week so that’s not bad at all!! Remember to keep distance!