Confessions of a Novice Gamer: The Origin Story
My name is Stephanie and I am a novice gamer.
I debated in high school. I acted in school plays. I was senior class president but had about four close friends. Even with this astoundingly nerdy resume, no one was inviting me to their gaming table.
When the Pokémon card frenzy lit my elementary school on fire, I was on the front lines spending all the loose change I could scrounge on cards. I first noticed a problem when I went with my little brother to a local game shop to play with the other kids. They were all boys and they all just stared at me; but they asked my brother if he wanted to play. The cards were mine, but my brother got asked to play.
My desire to sit at the gaming table went dormant until I was watching the movie Airheads with my dad.
The movie pokes fun at Brendan Fraser’s geeky past by saying he played Dungeons & Dragons. I asked my dad what that was, and his response was, “It was this role playing game that nerds played. Some people thought it was satanic.” [Ed. note: For additional information on this claim, compare this article condemning fantasy role playing games as satanic, with this article on the adaptation of the seminal, comic-book Chick “Tract,” Dark Dungeons into a live action movie.]
Dope.
From there TV shows like Freaks and Geeks and trips to the local comic book shop kept me peeking at manuals and wondering how you start playing. None of my four friends played, and if anyone at school was playing, they were keeping a lid on it.
It wasn’t until I got to college that I saw people actually playing and was “allowed” to watch. Do you know what’s boring? Watching other people play make believe while you eat greasy snacks and are ignored until you finally shuffle back to your dorm room. Needless to say, I was disappointed and left feeling like that little girl that just wanted to burn someone up with my holographic Charizard.
It took years for me to even think about playing a role playing game (“RPG”) again. My first taste was the card game Marrying Mr. Darcy. While the cards push you along, the game encourages a bit of silliness to really enjoy the adventure through Austen’s world. Diving into the board and card game world helped me ease into the waters. Games like Betrayal at House on the Hill and Last Night on Earth helped hone my love for playing make ‘em ups.
Another couple years and I’m doing improv comedy and have met my first DnD party. I was pumped. My friend, the only one of us with experience playing, was ready to DM (be the “Dungeon Master”), and the rest of us were ready to start our first campaign. We bumbled through the first few sessions and built an adventure that lasted over two years and saw the demise of Strahd.
It took decades for me to find my people. But, for everyone, it seems like things are getting easier. There are meetup groups looking for new players. Shops offer informational sessions where you can learn how to build characters, the mechanics of each type of character, and how to roll and make sense of it all. The most important change I see is in the gaming community. It’s diversified, it’s more welcoming, and more open to everyone that wants to game.
This is how I finally became the gamer I always knew I was. I play DnD at least twice a month, I own more games than I could ever play, and I keep backing new roleplaying games (“RPGs”) on Kickstarter. Life is good.