My First RP
- or-
Please Be Gentle
By: Jason Pilarski

Since the Bad Ass articles are coming along a little too slowly, I've decided to keep the slathering masses at bay with something a little different.

I present to you the story of my first experience with Role-Playing. I had first met Pauline a few weeks, maybe a month before, on the campus Counter-Strike server. She was somewhat of a rarity for me, finding a girl actually interested in games, anime, and other geeky things. So, we started hanging out, became friends, etc. One day I was invited over for a session of Vampire : The Masquerade.

Now keep in mind, I had been a geek in high school......but not THAT type of geek. I was involved in reading comic books, playing warhammer 40k, and lanning. And did I lan a lot. Nothing like 10-20 high school nerds in a hot and humid basement with that many computers pumping out heat and playing games. For those of you who don't know what Warhammer 40k is, the best explanation is a bunch of aliens and super men duking it out on a table top while the "commanders" role dice to see who wins. So yes, while I was a geek, I wasn't THAT type of geek.

Pauline had seemed normal enough, but the mention of RP made my skin crawl. I had never done any of that, and what I had heard wasn't the most flattering to the gaming aspect. In fact, the only things I have heard involved murder, rape, and other nasty such things.

Example One : Unsolved Mysteries

The basic story was that a husband and wife had joined a few other people in a Live action Role playing group. The wife's character got involved with another man in the group....and they acted out romance, sex, etc. Well, needless to say, the husband got jealous. He then proceeded to plot the murder of his wife and this other man, went through with it, and disappeared.

Example Two : Local News story

A group of Larpers ( Live action role players) went a little too far in their acting and went ahead and raped one of the girls in their group. I guess when the story calls for it......*cue sarcasm.

Example Three : Here say and random stories.

Seeing groups in the park dressed in weird clothing, running around acting like spazzes. These are the people you would try to ignore, but really couldn't. Just stay out of the park for the love of God, lest these people drag you way into the night.

So, as I grew up, I learned it was best to avoid role players. However, here I was being asked by a friend to join a session. I didn't know what the hell to do. I didn't want to say no. I was a freshman in college and needed all the friends I could get. Granted, I didn't fear for my life.....I just feared being sucked into something that would warp me into something terrible. As the week approached, I found myself becoming more and more nervous, trying to think of a way to gracefully back out of this. Alas, there was nothing I could do, and as Friday darkened into night, I found myself dragging my feet to the impending doom awaiting me in Pauline's apartment. There was nothing I could do but accept the fate that awaited me.

I walked in, sat down, and waited. I was given a green book to look over, and was told to make a character. With a little guidance, I made my first vampire. Wonderful.....I'll be acting like I'm some creature that drinks blood. Blood tastes like pennies.....how am I gonna do this without gagging. This Ventrue Surgeon was probably one of the worst characters ever, but I played a session with him anyway. To my surprise, it was just rolling dice and talking with other people. A little bit of acting, a lot of feeling awkward, and some laughs. That's right......not all role playing is live action. I didn't have to drink blood, rape women, or kill people. I wish someone would have explained this to me. I might not have scared about 5 years off the end of my life. I was saved from a dark fate, and wouldn't have to sell my soul to the devil...hooray! As the next 3 years progressed, I made many characters...most of them bad assess if you ask my gaming group. I guess in that respect we can RP something we truly aren't.

So yes, I have been warped into something else. I'm just a little bit more of a geek than when I was in high school. It's not so bad. I actually kind of like it. One of us......One of us!