sockjack
Apprentice Douchebag
Another Successful Oneshot!
Posts: 56
Preferred Game Systems: DRYH, Fate, Mazerats, PbTa
Currently Running: SI'Sah Stories (The Sprawl Campaign), & Random Oneshots
Favorite Species of Monkey: Bad Monkeys
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Post by sockjack on Apr 17, 2018 18:14:42 GMT -8
Hello All!
Long story short, I am presenting a brief presentation about the benefits of tabletop RPGs as a meaningful occupation.
I’d like to make it more engaging for the audience with some quotes/anecdotes. And instead relying on my local group and my own ramblings, I was hoping y’all might be interested in sharing your thoughts/experiences on the matter.
So fellow forumites, how has the hobby of tabletop RPGs impacted your life?
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Post by stork on Apr 18, 2018 7:27:49 GMT -8
Somewhere in the back log we addressed this specific question.
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Post by ayslyn on Apr 18, 2018 8:30:31 GMT -8
I know that they have certainly impacted my wallet....
^.^
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Post by greatwyrm on Apr 18, 2018 17:59:59 GMT -8
Well, I've often claimed that spending my teenage years poring over rule books full of charts and conflicting statements was the perfect thing to prepare me for a career in insurance. :-) If you could see some of the stuff I have to sort through day-to-day, it's not that far from the truth.
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sockjack
Apprentice Douchebag
Another Successful Oneshot!
Posts: 56
Preferred Game Systems: DRYH, Fate, Mazerats, PbTa
Currently Running: SI'Sah Stories (The Sprawl Campaign), & Random Oneshots
Favorite Species of Monkey: Bad Monkeys
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Post by sockjack on Apr 18, 2018 21:25:52 GMT -8
Somewhere in the back log we addressed this specific question. Awesome! Do you happen to recall what season it may be from?
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Post by Forresst on Apr 19, 2018 1:24:11 GMT -8
If I had never taken up RPGs, I'd be a 0-charisma weirdo, instead of the 4-charisma oddly charming weirdo you see today. There's a really long story behind this next sentence but I'm only going to type it out if you ask: I only developed social skills in my early 20s, and that is not at all hyperbole and was medically induced. RPGs gave me the chance to practise some really common scenarios without having to explain to people who didn't know and frankly will never care why I didn't know them for real, with a layer of plausible deniability. I wasn't extremely uncomfortable with the idea of a friendship developing with this character, I was just not quite in my roleplaying sea legs. That confidence to try, and that built-in ability to explain away why I had to try, was the only reason I didn't just walk away from everything and turn into a complete shut-in.
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Post by cadave on Apr 21, 2018 3:04:41 GMT -8
Honestly for me the biggest impact came in my early 30s. At that point I had figured I’d met and become friends with all the people I was going to, not to say I felt I was lacking in a social circle but just that the amount of going out and meeting new people had dwindled after marriage and impending parenthood.
Enter Stu and the podcast, and as many of you know, the entrance of the B Team, and suddenly I had a whole new crowd of people I’m very happy to call friends. Getting to know and hang out with the Happy Jacks Crew & Listeners has been an absolute delight!
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20pints
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 19
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Post by 20pints on Apr 21, 2018 14:42:47 GMT -8
I made the leap from behind the DM screen and onto the stage doing musicals and plays. Monsieur Thenardier and Judas were my favorites. This lead to me pursuing a career in teaching Biology in California after growing up in Indiana. Because why? Well every good adventure needs a journey! Then onto Alaska and crab boats because everybody needs a harder skill challenge.
PBS, some great teachers, access to great libraries, a marine corps father with a heart three sizes big, and RPGs. Improvise and Overcome combined with All That Wander Are Not Lost is the Family Motto.
TLDR?
Big big impact.
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SirGuido
Supporter
Drizztmas Santa
Ask me about the Drizztmas Exchange!
Posts: 2,127
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, Traveller, Fate Accelerated, Masks
Currently Playing: Nothing.
Currently Running: Nothing.
Favorite Species of Monkey: Anything in a Cage.
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Post by SirGuido on Apr 21, 2018 17:35:28 GMT -8
Its impacted my life in quite a lot of ways.
1. It taught me the benefits of reading for retention and not just reading for reading's sake. 2. It absolutely broadened my vocabulary by quite a large margin. 3. If I hadn't gotten into RPGs, my friend circle would be incredibly small to nonexistent. The majority of the friends I currently have came from RPGs directly(met them in a game), or because of a shared interest in rpgs(forums, co-workers, etc). 4. RPGs taught me to try to get out of my own surroundings. I have never been very outgoing, but before RPGs I was painfully withdrawn and awkward. I rarely spoke unless spoken to, and I rarely left my house as a teen unless it was for something school related or my mom forced me to do so. 5. RPGs taught me to do quick math in my head. Be it calculating to hit bonuses, armor bonuses, spell effect areas, or what have you it all leads to quicker math. 6. And this one I think is THE MOST IMPORTANT, RPGs taught me to be comfortable with ME. It taught me that no matter who you are, be it dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, etc that as long as you are a decent person you have value and worth. And not to ever let someone take that away from you.
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Post by fray on Apr 22, 2018 21:31:01 GMT -8
Including many of the above...
Also, it made me want to do research into history, probabilities, cultures, planets, insects, animals, art, and so many more topics. I wanted to bring more details into my games to build my stories.
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clanhanna
Journeyman Douchebag
The Muffin
Posts: 221
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller, O.R.E, Mongoose Traveller
Currently Playing: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, D&D 5e
Currently Running: Vampire: The Dark Ages
Favorite Species of Monkey: Peanut-buttery Rhesus
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Post by clanhanna on Apr 24, 2018 6:57:04 GMT -8
Two huge effects.
One, I met my wife through gaming. She and I were attending the wedding of mutual friends, and we bonded over tabletop games.
Two, and this is a bit more complex, but bear with me. At a point in my late 20s, I was just kinda going through the motions of life. Nothing really got me excited, nothing balanced out the occasional lows that we all experience. I wasn't Depressed, thank goodness, just sort of blah. My best friend asked me what may have been the most important question I've ever been asked: "How much of your time do you spend consuming, and how much to you spend producing?" This was in regard to media, art, etc. At the time, I played WoW a lot and watched a lot of TV.
I watch very little TV now. I play in 3 or 4 tabletop games at a time, usually running one of them. I'm in a band. I spend FAR more of my "free" time producing than consuming, and I am SO much happier. Little things don't bother me as much. Even GIANT worries (money, health, etc) don't weigh on me as much. They're there, I can just cope with it all better.
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Balder
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 27
Preferred Game Systems: Pathfinder, Earthdawn, Traveller, D&D 5th, Dresden Fate
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragon 5E; Call of Cthulhu
Currently Running: Savage Worlds
Favorite Species of Monkey: Japanese Macaque
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Post by Balder on Apr 30, 2018 16:43:56 GMT -8
I met my best friend since high school through RPGs. Later in my life I connected with a social group in the town I reside by happening to talk about a game with a friend of mine at the time. Unbeknownst to me his business partner was a huge gamer and I was introduced to their group. They are comrades and brothers beyond blood to me.
I have used the vocabulary, the math skills, the group dynamics and social constructs to enter the business world. Now I am using RPGs to teach basic life skills to my son. Before RPGs I was a social stunted outsider. Through them and the people I have met playing them I am now able to interact with a lot of different people, geek and non-geek alike.
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