Today, I’m going to pivot, and discuss one of my other favorite hobbies, Table Top Role Playing Games, specifically, anime-inspired games!
If you’re not familiar with what a role playing game is, please allow me to introduce you to my favorite imaginary friends group! Role playing involves heavy use of one’s imagination, much like fiction writing does. But you’ve got the added bonus of all the surprises that the other Players through into the story-line! Basically, you get a group of between four and six friends, somebody decides to be the Game Master, which is usually either chosen by drawing straws, loosing at a game of Hangman, or you just happen to be the only person in the group who has the books to play with in the first place! This usually ends up being… me. Why? Because I have a fetish with collecting role playing systems. At least I’m doing better. My collection no longer collects physical dust on a bookshelf, but rather hoards valuable disk space on my computer, phone, tablet, and several portable USB drives. Oh, and I can’t forget the five Internet Could servers too and the four three-ring-binders of printed books that I do have sitting on the bookshelf that doubles as my TV stand, despite the fact that I haven’t turned on the TV since June 2023. But I digress.
So, one of the best things about role playing games, in my opinion, is that you get to be your favorite characters you’ve read in books, manga, or have seen on television and movies. Or if that doesn’t have you drooling with excitement, you can pull out that ignored quirky personality in the recesses of your mind, like that naughty brat or hero soldier leading his troops into victorious battle! And speaking of character creation, I’ve known some people who get their jollies off more on the creation of characters rather than actual playing those characters. They just have a notebook filled with character drafts and Level one or two characters. I call these binders Character Graveyards, to be buried and to never know of the epic adventures that awaited them, being shoved into a dark corner on a book shelf, or suffocated under a pile of college books, like Advanced Calculus IV-C.
I’ve played with a number of different game systems since I first found the hobby back in 1993. My first game was some Star Wars game, and then another game that we each played a student, starting out as a freshman in high school. All I remember of that game was one of the rules was that your locker was on the other end of the school from your class. That, and it was the first game that I played as a female character, and that I had an absolute blast! I really wish I could remember the name of that game. Anyway, from there, I’ve played a few versions of Dungeons & Dragons, RoboTech, Star Trek TNG, and a few other games that only lasted one or two sessions.
After I moved to the Tri-State (Cincinnati) area, I wandered into a local comic book shop and was recommended a game called Role Master by the owner, and after reviewing the book, and getting really excited to dive into the massive tables and charts offered, I hit found the email listserv and put out a query looking for a game. That’s when I met Christopher and his sister Annette. I started by joining his home-brew campaign on Saturday’s at his work, where they had a massive conference table, and access to a photocopier. Keep in mind, this is the year 2000, so yeah, mail-servs were how we connected! We eventually moved out of his office’s conference room and began playing all day Saturday and Sunday. I even got my wife involved into role playing at the time. We did Church together and planned Weight Watcher’s meals together. It was a blast!
At the same time, I was exploring more anime, and in yet another comic book shop, I stumbled upon Big Eyes Small Mouth (Second Revised Edition), and quickly became obsessed with the flexibility and openness of this new game system. I had an online forum operating in 2006, and opened a role playing space, loosely using this new BESM system. I remember this game very fondly, a Tenchi Universe game, in which after years of Play-by-Post style playing, Destiny’s Fear had to be concluded as the characters nearly unraveled the fabric of the Universe!
My role playing adventures hadn’t ceased when I found myself incarcerated either. I found a small group of geeks who enjoyed playing Pathfinder, Shadow Run, and I introduced them to BESM 3rd edition. Some of my favorite characters were from the Shadow Run game, Lindsey Black will always hold a special place in my heart—she’s one badass bitch!
And years later, I’m still out here looking for other geeks with imaginations the size of galaxies. To create worlds that seem impossible, with my newest addition of BESM Second Retro. Of course, I’ve also grown my collection of games to include other classics, like GURPS, FATE, Toon, and some oddball games like MAID and Glitter Hearts. Whether I play online, or find a group of local gamer’s to sit around a table, I’m game! (Yes, pun intended.)
Anyway, I’ve gotten side tracked. Some things you’ll need to play are, obviously an imagination helps. The more powerful, the better. You’ll also need something known as friends. These are people who have similar interests that you have. You’ll need a source book for the rules, and some scratch paper, probably a pencil, unless you enjoy writing in blood. And finally you’ll probably need some sparkly, brightly colored dice ranging in a number of sides from four to twenty. I might recommend a calculator if you’re not too great with basic maths, like addition and subtraction. Another thing I highly recommend, but it’s really not required is a good, sturdy table. This is mandatory for things like pizza and beverages. Soda is a good choice, but I’m a fan of beer too. I advise against serving Jell-o shots, though. Especially if you’re friends with me, who can have quite a dirty little mind. (Remind me sometime to share the story of the guy who literally lost it for ten minutes, as he was laughing so hard that we were concerned when he turned a light shade of blue. Shadow Run has some… shall we say, interesting cybernetic options.) Oh, and one final thing I recommend. Finding a sound proofed room. Why? Because you don’t want to disturb the neighbors as your best friend starts cussing their dice for landing on a Natural One. I’ll admit it, I think we’ve all done that at least… several times.
After you’ve got the basics sorted out, you just need to sit down and schedule a good time to meet. Design characters, (and having a plot/campaign idea is a wonderful idea), and determining where in the world are you going to meet to play? Who’s going to be the Game Master? (Here’s a hint: It’s probably going to be you, the only person who’s actually read the goddamned rule book from cover to cover.)
The best games I’ve participated in, were the ones that held no judgement. People were free to explore the most crazy options imaginable. Bending the rules for the sake of having fun, in my opinion, is paramount. After all, we’re playing to have fun! Having a group of friends who are open-minded, and communicate their needs, who are empathetic of others, and mesh well together, where nobody feels shy. And it helps when there’s at least one person at the table who knows how to cook, because hunger is indeed the only monster that needs slaying on a regular basis.
There’s games to fill most any genre of story. Fantasy is by far the most popular, but there’s also science fiction, horror, slice of life, comedy, drama, western, I’m sure there’s even stone age games out there! There’s modest and clean/safe for work games, and there’s the raunchy, Only Fans types of erotica games. There’s super specific pre-built campaign games, and there’s open-ended games that only provide the rules with no established setting. There’s crunchy games for people who enjoy lots of tables, charts, and minute details, and rules-light games, that only give a basic framework of the mechanics to move a story. In other words, there’s a role playing game system for everybody. To include massive groups of players, to the solo-role player, where you only play by yourself.
I’ve only listed a few of the games I have in my personal library. Yes, this is a shameless plug to find other people who might be interested in role playing with me. Just know, that my favorite settings are the zainey, insane, chaotic ones featuring the vividness and exaggerations of anime. I’ve played in a lot of different games, and the ones that feature anime are always the ones I’ve had the most fun playing in. So, if I’ve sparked your interest, tell me about it! Or if you’re already experienced, share some of your favorite war-stories with me in the comments. Let’s role!