Finding Our Path

Greetings, Traveler*!

Scooter and I enjoyed a bit of a long weekend, though we didn't really go anywhere far, unless you count the awesome Cyclone Corral BBQ in Burlington, TX, and a journey to IKEA, though that is part of another story.

So, on Saturday, among other errands, Scooter and I decided to stop by a couple local gaming shops to see what they had available. At one, several people were conducting wargames of various types I wouldn't be able to name. They had a small selection of figures, scenery, and rulebooks for a few different tabletop RPGs, strategy games, card games etc. They had gently used copies of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and Bestiary for half the cover price. What they didn't have was any beginner boxes for games we were thinking of taking up.

The second store we visited has been in the same place since before I moved to the area almost two decades ago. This store has more stuff packed into a smaller space, including a wall of comic books in addition to the gaming items available. A card tournament was going on when we arrived; Magic the Gathering, I believe. The books we looked at were all full price, around $50 apiece, but they did have a couple introductory boxes for different games. We picked up the Pathfinder Beginner box, and decided to return to the first store to snatch up the half-price books. (Speaking of which, my daughter informed me that Half Price Books has several locations around Austin, about an hour from our home, that frequently have gaming books and other items we might use.)

I did an unboxing video for the Pathfinder Beginner Box, if any one is interested.

As for the actual gameplay, it went about as well as you might expect with two duffers poring over the rules for a new game. We decided to use two of the premade characters, which became a bit of a challenge in a dungeon designed for a group of four. But at least no one has died yet. In addition to fielding my own character, I took on the role of the Game Master, but avoided reading much about the campaign for fear of spoilers. This was a mistake in retrospect, because I needed to be more familiar with the concepts the introductory session was trying to impart. Even then, the Game Master's Guide and the Hero's Handbook both seemed to be missing the answer to a bit of information that would have been helpful during one of the fights.

The second session went much better. I was more familiar with what was going to happen, and we are both quick learners. Having to think about rules and calculations normally handled behind the scenes by computer games is quite an experience, but we got more opportunity for flexibility and "real" roleplay, which I like. Of course, I enjoy playing alone with Scooter, but I can imagine adding a couple more people would make the game more dynamic.


*Hmm, I like it. I shall now call you "Traveler" rather than "Dear Reader." Unless I forget.

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