rants to pandu

1. Kenal pertama jaman SMA kelas 2, ada teman yang tiba2 bahas kakaknya jadi Dungeon Master, dan main2. Lalu jaman kuliah tingkat satu, beli CD game bareng temen, Baldur’s Gate. Tapi yang mulai meleduk itu pas tingkat tiga, ada yang tiba2 bahas “eh tau dnd?” dan saya jawab “tahu”, karena ybs baru saja main dengan kelompoknya, dan ada buku PHB 3rd ed, entah fotokopian atau print2an bajakan dari kelompok ybs. Lalu dapat info dari para pemain magic the gathering, ada yang jualan dadu dan starter pack harga 70rb IDR. Jadilah meluncur kesana nekad beli, lalu nekad minjam bukunya, lalu ada seorang yang bilang “dulu saya di states main, tapi White Wolf dan Vampire”, lalu kami todong dia jadi storyteller pertama. One thing leads to another, ends up with random one shot, sampai pas ujian Sistem Kendali saya ga bisa ngerjain apa2, terus itu yang namanya kertas buram jadi penuh gambar peta. Pulangnya mampir, ngeliat grup tersebut, “eh guys, ada yang minat campaign? saya ada ide nih”. Jadi berkat Sistem Kendali kami jalankan quest pertama, dengan waktu itu tujuannya juga agar ada kenalan saya yang daripada main2 di luar kampus lebih baik main / mampir ke kampus demi tidak DO.

Meledak kedua pada saat bbrp oknum yang ada di sini pas lagi jalan2 melihat buku2 3rd ed, lalu impulsive buying, lalu nag2 pirate quest kapal, setelah 24 jam di nag “cupie, kapal” akhirnya bikin random one shots level 8, ga nyesel2 amat toh pada beli buku baru sayang kl ga dipakai. Setelah itu, mulai ramai, dan tahun 2003 mulai agresif nyeret orang-orang baru buat main, via satu unit kegiatan mahasiswa di kampus.


2. Saat ini DnD 5th, especially with variant (Ranks instead of Proficiency and Wound system) is the one I really love, many customization like 3rd, but still simple like Saga Edition/4e, and flexible enough, and can avoid ridiculous +82 stealth or 1200 damage ala PF, or the stress of allocating 13 skill points. Or Dex 54.


3. Simulation. In serious tone, I learnt teaching / management skills, english, public speaking, and general confidence in DM-ing / playing. Must admit I am a dense and blunt person, and had been awkward. But by using PnP, I can learn to see how people react to a problem, learn which went good and which went wrong, and use them in real life. And then I got addicted in asking questions to others through quest/session, “what would you do if this happens?” and see the answers.

Therefore lately, I am more interested to meet as many (and various) player as possible, and encourage everyone to meet (and PLAY with) each other. I always amazed with everyone new, ‘wow such thinking exist?’ or ‘huh? you did what? but why?’ and more than often I met another people in real life that made me ‘huh? I met this event somewhere during a session…’

But yeah, ngumpul and meet new people is one of them. But I also love boardgame / tactical games, but that is a bonus I think.


4. My first character was a half elf ranger, male. Dual swords etc. Then euh, I read Drizzt. Then euh, time to change maybe? Tried to play as female PCs, whom almost always became a victim of sekuhara.

Still, my most memorable character is my Chaotic Evil Merchant Princess, a bit inspired by Rupert Avery, specialists in Bluffing and Sailing.  “Hi, my name is Neves Renata de Alvares e Corte-Real. My friend call me Neves, but [you], may call me Ms. Alvares e Corte-Real :P “ who spent an entire round talking as Swift, Move, and Action, then Reaction, just because she can. And spending Heroic Point then got a natural 20 on a maxed out Sailor with Skill Focus (just because she can) and drifting hard turn and sudden stop using a sailing ship on a sea (thus became one of crucial winning step at the ship combat). Oh and how she influences the whole campaign using letters and articles. Chaotic Evil yes, but in the end only killed 1 humanoid (including enemies); my concept of Chaotic and Evil was different on that campaign.


There, a long rants. I wonder who will read all of them wkwk.