When I get a chance to dive into something I am enthusiastic about, I will. There is no way I could choose not to because my inner toddler just runs at it like a labradoodle after a ball.
So when de RPG Props kickstarter by Props&Beyond came to live and had a facebook page and a discord channel I was in, and present. I got a chance to do some test-prints and together with some other excited enthusiasts I became an ambassador (which is a fancy title for ‘get to do some test printing and bounce about it on the socials’). Of course I bragged about my RPG campaigns (as I always do), and some time ago I was asked if I would like to give an interview about being a GM. I did not mind at all, I love talking, writing and chatting about the hobby!
The interview was published through their email newsletter, and was recently added to their website. I am not going to copy-past the interview here, as it is available on the P&B website:
Game Master Spotlight – DIONA – PART 1
Game Master Spotlight – DIONA – PART 2
I loved doing that interview, it was online through chat as Kharie (the interviewer) and myself do not live in the same country. Or timezone.
We had an evening long chat about Diona’s View on Tabletop RPG ™. When I give the demo’s at the booth for Jack of Dice I talk a lot about D&D. A whole weekend long nearly every word that comes out of me is about the hobby. People ask me lots of questions about it. A lot of people who do not know D&D, or only the name, ask general basic things, and people who have played (or watched) it have more specific questions. I have been doing this for some time now, so I can answer most of the questions and I have thought about those questions and the reactions of the people I talked with a lot. Which is why I have a pretty solid view on tabletop rpg’s en D&D and could give that interview.
The most difficult (if not impossible) question to answer with words is ‘Will I like D&D, is it something for me?’.
I can not answer that, and will I never even try.
I know people who love the hobby to bits.
I also know people who tried it and said meh, and that was it.
But the key word is trying, experiencing the game and that is the only way anyone can discover if it is ‘for them’.
And that is why we have de D&Demo’s at the booth, so people can experience it and see if they like it.
The biggest compliment I get after a demo is when I have explained it to a group of people who had no idea D&D existed, did a tiny adventure and after we were done they bought the starterset. I even got a message from one of those groups, they had started playing the campaign and loved it and enjoyed coming together regularly to have an adventure.
And that brings me back to my interview, the last bit in part 2 (yes, a little me-quote);
Being a GM is important to me because I get to make some kind of friendship commitment with people I care about, and that commitment will last (because we have the adventure that keeps going on), and we meet each other because of it. There is no real pressure or ‘this must be done’ and it is all for fun, but still there is this commitment that the group makes (and the GM is part of that group). I think as adults you rarely have the chance to do that. Children in the school playground do it often; they have a certain commitment to their friendships that adults tend to forget because work, family, and adult-life demands so much energy and attention.
Knowing that I can have that in my life and give that to others, pass it on, that means a lot to me.